Headlines

▌Changpeng Zhao is looking for ways to reduce his stake in Binance US

Changpeng Zhao, founder, majority shareholder and chairman of cryptocurrency exchange Binance US (Binance.US), has been seeking ways to reduce his stake in the company, according to people familiar with the matter.

Changpeng Zhao has been trying to sell at least some of his company since last summer, one of the people said.

In recent weeks, since the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance for allegedly violating U.S. derivatives laws, another person familiar with the matter said.

Binance US executives have discussed how the move could help improve the company's image with US regulators.

Policies

▌US SEC Commissioner: If there is no cryptocurrency regulatory rules, the United States may lag behind Europe

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce has warned that without rules governing the crypto asset market, the U.S. could fall behind the European Union and the U.K.

The framework developed in Brussels and London could become a blueprint for lawmakers in Washington, she said.

At present, the United States does not have a system to regulate encrypted assets, but has chosen to launch a wave of enforcement cases against encrypted activities, mainly led by the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission Gensler.

Peirce is one of five members of the SEC who have often disagreed with Gensler on cryptocurrency regulation.

Gensler has resisted creating new rules for the crypto market, arguing that existing laws are clear enough. The U.S. crackdown on digital assets has raised questions about whether the industry will leave the U.S. to set up companies in overseas jurisdictions deemed crypto-friendly.

'We're stuck with the question, what happens if people move their companies to other jurisdictions,' Peirce said.

“The point is, if we build a good regulatory regime, people will come.”

Blockchain Application

▌Ethereum developers are planning the next hard fork "Dencun"

During Thursday's ethereum development call, developers discussed the next hard fork, "Dencun," a name derived from the portmanteau of two simultaneous upgrades on the ethereum blockchain's two main layers.

The execution layer, where all the protocol rules reside, will undergo the "Cancun" upgrade, while the consensus layer, which ensures blocks are validated, is called "Deneb".

At the heart of Dencun is EIP4844, also known as “proto-danksharding,” a proposal to scale blockchains by increasing space for data “blobs,” changes that are expected to also lower fees for layer 2 rollups.

Dencun is also expected to include a number of other technology upgrades, including EIP6780, 6475, and 1153.

The developers did not discuss the timing of the Dencun upgrade at this meeting, although they have said in the past that it is targeting a launch in the second half of 2023. The full picture of Dencun is expected to be determined in the next few weeks.

▌MakerDAO Releases Endgame Update Roadmap

MakerDAO released the Endgame update roadmap on Thursday, outlining the sweeping changes Endgame will bring to Maker over the upcoming 5 successive release phases.

Designed to improve efficiency, resilience and engagement, the update will introduce artificial intelligence (AI) governance tools and apply them to open, scalable processes.

The plan's short-term goal is to become the most widely used stablecoin project within three years, and the upgrade will eventually deploy a new blockchain (temporarily called NewChain), which will be tightly coupled to Ethereum, with the ability to use a hard fork as governance mechanism, improve the governance security of the ecosystem and implement a full range of advanced Endgame features and token economics.

The roadmap states that the launch of NewChain will be the last step in the Endgame launch process. Once deployed, MakerDAO will permanently enter the Endgame state, in which no further major changes are possible, and its core processes and power balance will remain decentralised, self-sustaining and never changing.

Cryptocurrency

▌Report: 38% of on-chain transactions in April were related to games

Data firm DappRadar said in an April market data report that blockchain games continue to account for a large portion of all on-chain transactions, with 38% of all cryptocurrency on-chain transactions in April being gaming-related, though compared with the previous month, daily active wallets decreased by 10% (about 672,000).

WAX, the blockchain behind Splinterlands and Alien Worlds, continues to occupy the top spot, but the Ethereum sidechain network Polygon may vie for its throne, the report said.

According to the report, Polygon is the second most popular gaming blockchain.

DappRadar reports that ethereum scaling solution Arbitrum also saw a surge in users in April, up more than 118% compared to the previous month, while Immutable X grew by around 9%.