Bitcoin Holds Above $40K Ahead of U.S. GDP, $5.8B Crypto Options Expiry

Traders have scaled back bets of aggressive rate cuts by the Federal Reserve ahead of the U.S. GDP report.Source

Ether Options Out of Sync With Bullish Sentiment on Street

The way ether options are priced suggests investor preference for bets that prices will fall, contradicting the bullish outlook presented by some analysts.Source

Tesla’s Bitcoin Holdings Remain Unchanged in Q4

The Elon Musk-led company holds over $387 million worth of bitcoin.Source

Swiss Crypto Bank Sygnum Inches Closer to ‘Unicorn’ Status With $40M Raise

The company said that its initial target for the funding round was $35 million.Source

Lido DAO Rebukes LayerZero by Endorsing Rivals Wormhole, Axelar for Crypto Bridge

LayerZero launched a Lido stETH bridge last October without asking for Lido DAO’s permission. The community responded this week by endorsing a pair of its biggest competitors.Source

The Digital Pound Consultation Will Drop Thursday, U.K. Official Says

There’s a number of issues around privacy, financial inclusion, whether there’s limits, monetary policy and interest, James Bowler, Permanent Secretary of the Treasury said.Source

Bitwise Becomes First Spot Bitcoin ETF Provider to Provide Wallet Address

Crypto asset manager Bitwise on Wednesday became the first of the ten spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers to share its digital wallet address with the public.Source

What’s Uniting the SEC’s Crypto Cases

Earlier this week, a federal judge asked attorneys with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission why – “big picture” – there wasn’t any sort of uniting regulation addressing crypto.Source

Polygon Plans ‘AggLayer,’ in Bid to Synthesize Modular, Monolithic Blockchains

The new “AggLayer,” set for launch next month, relies on zero-knowledge proofs, a type of cryptography that Polygon Labs is betting on as a core underpinning of future blockchain architecture.Source

The Protocol: Ethereum Developers Warn on ‘Diversity Problem’

In this week’s issue, a focus on Ethereum’s “diversity problem,” the week’s biggest blockchain project upgrades and highlights from Electric Capital’s annual report on developer activity. PLUS: We’ve got an exclusive interview with a top architect behind the XRP Ledger.Source