Polygon Hermez to Scale Ethereum, FTX Supports Bitcoin Devs + More News

Linas Kmieliauskas
Last updated: | 2 min read

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
_____

Source: Adobe/H_Ko

Blockchain news

  • Polygon (MATIC), an Ethereum (ETH) layer 2 scaling solution, and Hermez Network (HEZ), an open-source ZK-Rollup optimized for token transfers “on the wings of Ethereum,” said they have agreed on a public network merge as they “share the common goal of scaling and bringing the world to Ethereum.” The Hermez Network is starting the process of integrating into the Polygon ecosystem, under the name Polygon Hermez. Polygon Hermez will be maintained and developed with the support of Polygon, which will fund the Hermez team operations. All components of the Hermez project: technology, live solutions, team, and HEZ token will be integrated into the Polygon ecosystem, they said, adding that the HEZ token will cease to exist after a specific date yet to be defined. MATIC will substitute the HEZ token as the utility token of Polygon Hermez.
    The maximum amount that will be committed for this merger from the Polygon treasury is 250m MATIC tokens, or roughly USD 250m based on the price at the time of reaching the agreement (August 4, 2021), Polygon said.

Adoption news

  • Major crypto derivatives exchange FTX announced a USD 150,000/year three-year commitment to Brink Technology, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting the Bitcoin (BTC) community through developer fellowship and grant programs. It is Brink’s first multi-year commitment from a crypto exchange.

Investments news

  • Investment firm Kryptoin Investment Advisors has filed a proposal for an ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Kryptoin Ethereum ETF Trust plans to issue its common shares on the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s BZX Exchange under a ticker that will be announced before the commencement of trading.
  • Startup building a decentralized credit protocol Exactly Finance has announced they have raised USD 3m in a seed funding round led by venture firm Kaszek. This was Kaszek’s first investment in decentralized finance (DeFi).

Wallets news

  • Major hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger has announced their integration with ETH liquid staking solution platform Lido to allow users to stake ETH. This solution allows users with any amount of ETH (instead of the usual requisite of ETH 32) to participate in securing the network and generating returns by staking.

Exchanges news

  • Binance stated that, starting today, they will discontinue a number of services for South Korean customers, including KRW trading pairs and payment options, peer-to-peer (P2P) merchant applications, and website support for the Korean language. They have added that this is part of their proactive compliance with local regulations.
  • FTX.US, an affiliate of crypto exchange FTX, is aiming to offer crypto derivative trading in less than a year, Markets Insider reported. Due to the US regulatory framework, the exchange currently offers only spot trading on the FTX.US platform.

Career news

  • Institutional crypto financial services provider Galaxy Digital said that Tim Grant, former Chief Executive Officer at SIX Digital Exchange (SDX), will join the firm as Head of Europe. According to the announcement, Grant will be responsible for expanding Galaxy Digital’s existing presence in Europe across all business lines, as well as for overseeing operations and key client relationships.

NFTs news

  • Non-fungible token (NFT) Bored Ape Yacht Club #3749 sold for a record ETH 400 (USD 1.28m) on NFT marketplace OpenSea. Based on rarity, this NFT is 27th out of the 100,000 minted, according to Rarity Tools.
  • Magazine Fortune has announced they have raised ETH 429 (USD 1.38m) in their first NFT auction. They sold a set of 256 limited edition NFTs of its latest cover art, where each was priced at ETH 1.