The Tribal Dive Series #3

What’s up, Tribers!? This crypto winter might be icy, but we’re sipping on hot cocoa, keeping warm by the fire, and following the exciting innovation happening all throughout the DeFi space. Big takeaway for the week is that market conditions remain choppy, but steady momentum is building around projects that are focused on transparency and real value creation. No more financial market smoke-and-mirrors, the future of DeFi is in creating real value for real people.

Here are some stories that we’re following this week:

DeFi News

• Sept 30 — Uniswap Labs eyes over $100 million in new funding. The decentralized crypto trading protocol, Uniswap Labs is putting together a $100M to $200M funding round at a $1 billion valuation (Link)
• Sept 29 — MetaMask Launches Beta Portfolio Dapp For An Improved Web3 Experience. The Portfolio Dapp (in beta) provides the ability to view your Ethereum wallets (even non-Metamask wallets) in one place, helping users keep better track of their assets. (Link)
• Sept 29 — The Crypto Market Integrity Coalition Welcomes Bittrex, BitGo, and Six Additional Companies. A self-regulatory rganization, the CMIC’s objective is to overcome market manipulation and promote better regulatory trust in the digital asset sector. (Link)
• Sept 29 — CEO of Maple Finance: Through transparency, DeFi has weathered the market crash, while CeFi has suffered. According to Maple Finance co-founder and CEO Sid Powell, DeFi’s transparency in lending and risk made it more durable than opaque CeFi models. (Link)

Policy and Regulation:

• Sept 28 — The CFTC served Ooki DAO papers by posting them in an online discussion forum. A CFTC paralegal posted the complaint to a website discussion forum, informing the members of Ooki DAO of the lawsuit. (Link)
• Sept 28 — California’s financial regulator brought enforcement actions against 11 little-known crypto companies. The Department of Financial Protection issued cease-and-desist orders against 11 little-known cryptocurrency companies, including Elevate Pass LLC and Metafi Yield, claiming they were misusing client funds or breaking state securities laws. (Link)
• Sept 24 — Crypto Is the Last ‘Bipartisan Issue’ on Capitol Hill. Faryar Shirzad, chief policy officer at Coinbase, discusses crypto regulation during an appearance on CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover.” (Link)
• Sept 22 — CFTC fines bZeroX founders Blockchain Protocol $250k and takes legal action against its successor DAO. The protocol and its creators are fined for engaging in illegal, off-exchange trading of digital assets, violating registration laws, and failing to implement a customer ID program. (Link)
• Sept 22 — General Counsel at Ripple claims that the SEC wants to “remake the law” rather than “apply it.” The legal battle between the U.S. SEC and payment protocol company Ripple Labs could conclude soon, if a judge rules for summary judgment (which would avoid a trial). (Link)

Worth a Read

• Sept 28 — “The DeFi Financial Crime Arms Race” Financial Crime Arms Race in the DeFi. Nasdaq VP argues that the crypto industry should develop better detection systems to protect protocol users and the protocols themselves. (Link)

That’s all that we have for the Dive this week! Until next time Tribers.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent. The information provided in this newsletter does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, trading advice, or any other sort of advice, and you should not treat any of the newsletter’s content as such. Do conduct your due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.

See any stories that should be included for our Tribal DeFi Dive? Drop them in our Discord!