#282—Solana unveils new compliance features

Also, it’s not going so well for the SEC in its fight with Coinbase

Welcome to Yaka Stuff, our weekly newsletter that covers news, industry perspectives, and updates from the Hard Yaka ecosystem. Check out our last report here.

This week:

1. It’s not going so well for the SEC in its fight with Coinbase

2. Solana’s new token extensions

3. What we’re reading: How a 27-Year-Old Codebreaker Busted the Myth of Bitcoin’s Anonymity

4. AnChain.AI’s 2023 Web3 Risk Report

5. Stuff happens

1. It’s not going so well for the SEC in its fight with Coinbase

That’s according to Bloomberg’s legal expert, Elliot Stein,  who predicts a 70 percent chance the judge chooses to dismiss the case after 4 hours of oral arguments, in a widely circulated post on X:

“Our Thesis: Coinbase is 70% likely to beat the SEC, if not outright on this motion, then later. Even if the case survives, it likely reaches the Supreme Court, which we think will narrow Howey.”

Relevant:

• Coinbase Compares Buying Crypto to Collecting Beanie Babies

• Spot Ether ETF Applications Decisions Delayed by SEC

2. Solana’s new token extensions

They just released a slew of new features—including permissioned tokens with compliance functionality such as transfer hooks:

Transfer hook extensions are tools that give token issuers the power to dictate how tokens and users interact. This extension can be used to create complex token interactions based on a host of on-chain criteria.

Token issuers can use transfer hooks to enforce Know Your Customer KYC compliances on token holders, while game creators can use transfer hooks to enforce royalties each time gaming NFTs are bought and sold.

Token issuers will also have absolute authority using the permanent delegate extension. The issuer will now have the power to burn and seize tokens when required.

Relevant:

• Solana rolls out 13 new token extensions in bid to lure finance institutions onchain

• Solana Mobile (@solanamobile) on X

• R3 launches new DLT product suite and appoints Kate Karimson as Chief Commercial Officer

3. What we’re reading: How a 27-Year-Old Codebreaker Busted the Myth of Bitcoin’s Anonymity

Wired (via Mitja Simcic):

This is the story of the revelation in late 2013 that Bitcoin was, in fact, the opposite of untraceable—that its blockchain would actually allow researchers, tech companies, and law enforcement to trace and identify users with even more transparency than the existing financial system. That discovery would upend the world of cybercrime. Bitcoin tracing would, over the next few years, solve the mystery of the theft of a half-billion dollar stash of bitcoins from the world’s first crypto exchange, help enable the biggest dark-web drug market takedown in history, lead to the arrest of hundreds of pedophiles around the world in the bust of the dark web’s largest child sexual abuse video site, and result in the first-, second-, and third-biggest law enforcement monetary seizures in the history of the US Justice Department.

That 180-degree flip in the world’s understanding of cryptocurrency’s privacy properties, and the epic game of cat-and-mouse that followed, is the larger saga that unfolds in the book Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency, out this week in paperback.

Relevant:

• Bruised by stock market, Chinese rush into banned bitcoin

• Tesla's bitcoin holdings remained unchanged in Q4, earnings suggest

• Stolen Crypto Falls in 2023, but Hacking Remains a Threat

4. AnChain.AI’s 2023 Web3 Risk Report

Here are the highlights:

• A 38% decrease in total value hacked compared to 2022, yet a staggering $2.46B remains at risk.

• Web3's $2.46 billion security challenge, including insightful coverage of emerging threats, from pig butchering scams to smart contract attacks .

• The ongoing rug-pull epidemic in the DeFi space, including research in collaboration with University of Zurich.

• Tornado Cash's downfall, and the rise of alternative solutions

• Crypto's complex relationship with groups like Hamas and the Lazarus Group.

• The global stride towards Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) amidst Web3's regulatory crossroads.

Download it here.

5. Stuff happens

• The story of Visa Visa | Acquired Podcast

• Apple announces changes to iOS, Safari, and the App Store in the European Union

• Revolut launches Mobile Wallets, allowing for faster transfers across the world

• To promote its CBDC, Jamaica plans to fund PoS equipment upgrades - Ledger Insights - blockchain for enterprise

• Swiss Crypto Bank Sygnum Inches Closer to 'Unicorn' Status With $40M Raise

• Fed to allow emergency bank lending program to expire on March 11

• What's Next For Ethereum? on Bankless

• Someone Just Put Legendary '90s Video Game Doom on Dogecoin

• Tether’s Ascent: Breaking Down the Dominant Stablecoin's Growth

• DeFi lives

• Venmo and other payment app theft is ‘skyrocketing,’ Manhattan DA warns | CNN Business

• About the BIS Innovation Hub

• Crypto strikes back

• Terraform Labs Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the US - Unchained