It’s a bird, it’s a plane, no, it’s a crypto-whale

Follow me on Twitter @Jacqmelinek for breaking crypto news, memes and more.

Welcome back to Chain Reaction.

Earlier this week, I looked at what some big crypto whales’ wallets are doing, where they’ve parked their funds and how their activity signals movement in the broader market.

I examined six wallets provided to TechCrunch by Nansen’s portfolio data. The wallets are worth nearly half a billion dollars, with the majority of their assets allocated on the Ethereum blockchain, the data showed.

A majority of wallets contain “wrapped” crypto-assets, which are a tokenized version of the original coin that has the same value. For example, there is bitcoin (BTC) and wrapped bitcoin (wBTC) and an investor will own the latter if they want to use bitcoin on the Ethereum network, on which it does not work. However, it can through the wrapped version.

Overall, these whales are generally risk-averse, as the majority hold liquid strike tokens, stablecoins, and wrapped bitcoin and ether, indicating a conservative mindset.

There were also some surprising aspects to some of the wallets, which we dive into further here.

This week in web3

Former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton Feels ‘Vast Majority’ Of Crypto Tokens Are Securities (TC+)

The definition of a security is “deliberately broad and flexible,” said former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. But there is a chance that something once marked a security “may not always be a security.” So what could be causing that shift? Current utility versus future utility, Clayton said. Take broadway show tickets as an example: If someone bought 1,000 tickets for $10 and told their friends and family they could resell those tickets for $100 or $1,000, then that’s a security, he said. “But if you just buy the ticket 10 years later, it’s just a ticket.”

Hong Kong is eyeing a regulatory regime for stablecoins by 2024

While the Western world debates how to regulate stablecoins, Hong Kong is moving forward with a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies that are tied to traditional financial assets. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) is in the process of seeking public comment on stablecoins and aims to introduce a regulatory framework by the end of 2024, the city’s Undersecretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Joseph Chan Ho-lim, said. according to local media.

London attracts a16z’s first international office with ‘predictable’ crypto-regs

US VC giant Andreessen Horowitz – which has about $35 billion in assets under management – ​​is set to open its first (yes, the first) international office in London, led by one of the firm’s general partners, Sriram Krishnan. The office will focus on supporting the development of crypto, blockchain technologies and associated web3 startups. a16z committed $7.6 billion to crypto startups worldwide.

Robinhood’s Decision to Limit Crypto Trading Makes Good Sense (TC+)

Consumer trading and investment app Robinhood is moving to restrict holding and trading of certain major cryptocurrencies on its platform, barely a week after the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s lawsuits against crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase. After reviewing Robinhood’s most recent quarterly results, we feel that the decision is backed by some reason.

US DoJ indicts two Russians for hacking crypto exchange Mount Gox

The US Department of Justice has indicted two Russian citizens for hacking and the subsequent collapse of Mount Gox, one of the largest and most popular crypto exchanges. In an unsealed indictment, the DoJ named Alexey Bilyuchenko, 43, and Aleksandr Verner, 29, for cracking the exchange and conspiring to launder about 647,000 bitcoins, which are worth about $17.2 billion today. Mount Gox shut down in 2014 after filing for bankruptcy when the theft was revealed, and was then ordered into liquidation.

The newest pod

For this week’s episode, Jacquelyn interviewed Patrick Kaminski, the director of digital innovation for web3 and metaverse at L’Oreal, and Manon Cardiel, head of strategic planning and partnerships within web3 and metaverse at L’Oreal.

Patrick is the leader behind NYX Professional Makeup’s GORJS DAO, which launched in mid-January with the hopes of combining the NFT world and the beauty industry into the metaverse. While working on the GORJS project, Manon also helped launch NFT collections for companies such as Mugler and Yves Saint Laurent.

L’Oreal is best known for its beauty products, but the over 100 year old company is also home to a plethora of brands that many of us use and own such as Maybelline, Yves Saint Laurent, Armani, Kiehls, Valentino, Prada, CeraVe and more.

We discussed why L’Oreal wanted to get into the web3 ecosystem, what it’s like to incorporate a DAO into a traditional brand, and how other brands and companies are – or aren’t – in the cryptosphere.

We also looked at:

Growing Brand Loyalty Consumer Demand and Feedback Brand Skepticism of NFTs, Metaverse Advice to Brands Looking to Get on the Web3

ICYMI: We had a bonus episode! Jacquelyn interviewed Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase.

Grewal has been with Coinbase, the second largest crypto exchange worldwide, for almost three years. Previously, he was, among other things, the vice president and deputy general counsel at Facebook.

Last week, the SEC sued Coinbase for violations of securities laws, just one day after the SEC sued Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange.

We have in:

Potential Crypto Legislation from US Agencies Congressional Sentiment Towards Digital Assets Future of Assets Listed on Its Exchange Binance’s SEC Case

Subscribe to Chain Reaction on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite pod platform to keep up with the latest episodes, and please leave us a review if you like what you hear!

Follow the money

Gensyn raised $43M in round led by a16z for blockchain-based AI protocol. Ironforge raised $2.6M for its Solana-focused interface Crypto payment solution BoomFi raised $3.8M to improve crypto and fiat settlements Interoperability protocol Connext raised $7.5M to help developers build multi-chain apps Collectibles.com raised $5M -raised seed round to start web3 community and marketplace

This list was compiled with information from Messari as well as TechCrunch’s own reporting.

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