Market Watch | Bitcoin | $13,476 | 7 day: +3.7% | | Ethereum | $387 | 7 day: -1.3% | | All crypto | $394b | 7 day: +0.8% | | Bitcoin dominance | 63.5% | 7 day: +1.9% | Prices as of 2:45 p.m. EST
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 Joe Lubin Ethereum's (ETH) largest financial supporter, Joe Lubin's ConsenSys, warns that DeFi could threaten Ethereum 2.0. Ethereum 2.0 is not live yet. Read about its Medalla testnet in this prior edition of Inside Cryptocurrency. - Brooklyn-based ConsenSys, a blockchain software technology company founded by billionaire Joseph Lubin, published its Q3 2020 report regarding DeFi, suggesting that this summer's yield farming boom could have disastrous consequences for Ethereum 2.0.
- The genesis block of ETH 2.0 could occur within the next three months.
- Ethereum launched a testnet of Ethereum 2.0 in phase 0 dubbed Beacon. Testing has now advanced to the final phase, Medalla.
- The report indicates that the health of Ethereum 2.0 will depend on users that stay on the Ethereum network instead of potentially more lucrative, albeit higher risk, yield farms.
- DeFi ETH staking could become an adversary to ETH staking during the first phase of Ethereum 2.0.
- ConsenSys' head financier, Joe Lubin, is one of the largest ETH holders and an Ethereum co-founder.
- This story continues in part 2, below.
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Regarding ConsenSys: - In a 2018 podcast, podcaster Laura Shin pointed out concerns regarding ConsenSys and Lubin.
- In 2018, the company had 1,100 employees with negligible revenue at the time.
- ConsenSys produced two notable software solutions: Infura, infrastructure to provide tools to developers; and MetaMask, a popular browser plugin to access Ethereum wallets.
- The number of employees at ConsenSys decreased after a series of layoffs two years ago that Lubin called a "regrouping" event and is now at 500.
- According to a Breaker Magazine report, Lubin funded most of the ConsenSys' growth personally.
- Lubin continues to promote Ethereum through social media despite known business structure problems at ConsenSys.
- On Dec. 5, 2018, a Forbes cover story ran that called ConsenSys "a mess."
Decrypt 
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CoinTelegraph researches the ethical and legal status of decentralized finance (DeFi). - Cointelegraph highlighted the legal status of DeFi tokens based on a KuCoin exchange hack involving $281m.
- After news surfaced regarding the hack, many crypto companies and exchanges volunteered to freeze affected token addresses.
- Exhibiting centralized powers raises questions about decentralization, which is a definitive characteristic of most blockchains.
- Writer's note: For my thoughts on decentralization and bitcoin, see this prior edition of Inside Cryptocurrency.
- A liquidity aggregator called Orion protocol (ORN), whose 38m tokens were affected in KuCoin's hack, was among the first to respond to KuCoin's announcement. On Sept. 26, Orion protocol's team re-issued its tokens via a token swap rendering old contract addresses useless.
- Other affected DeFi projects like KardiaChain followed in Orion's footsteps and made the hacked contract addresses obsolete through a token swap.
- DeFi projects may seem to have full authority over tokens on their network, but they need the network validator's permission to freeze or lock ERC-20 tokens. While some projects decided instantly, OceanProtocol and others waited for users' input on Twitter.
- KardiaChain spokesperson Astrid Dang confirmed to CoinTelegraph that the KuCoin hack was a rare event when several crypto projects used centralized authorities to execute token swaps in order to protect funds.
- Cointelegraph reporters question whether DeFi projects contradicted promises of decentralization and immutability.
CoinTelegraph
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 Stuart Levy Large companies lure high-powered lawyers to assist with cryptocurrency compliance. - Coinbase has poached attorney Katherine Minarik from Dyson Inc. Minarik was a former partner at Bartlit Beck LLP, outside counsel to numerous Fortune 500 companies.
- Coinbase also recently hired Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) ex-top lawyer to serve as its deputy general counsel of product and commercial.
- HSBC (HSBA.L) has hired Barclays' general counsel, Bob Hoyt. Barclays (BARC.L) is HSBC's top competitor. Hoyt replaces Stuart Levey. Levey is now CEO of a financial technology consortium leading the Libra stablecoin project.
- Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has poached Anthony Albanese, NYSE's chief regulatory officer and former head of NYDFS. Albanese will assist a16z's cryptocurrency portfolio companies with compliance.
Law360
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The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) will now consider "climate-related risks" in its supervision of cryptocurrency miners. - The NYDFS sent a letter to all regulated companies within the state, including cryptocurrency miners.
- NYDFS expects companies dealing with digital currencies to re-evaluate risks and develop methods to reduce climate impact.
- An increase of one-degree Celsius in global temperatures has already reduced U.S. GDP.
- NYDFS states that further GDP reduction could increase default rates, decrease lending activity, and expand asset depreciation and other losses.
- The letter is similar to a Sept. statement from the NYDFS to the state's insurance providers.
- CFTC Chairman Heath Tarbert raised similar concerns about cryptocurrency mining impacting the environment during CoinDesk's Invest: Ethereum Economy e-conference on Oct. 14.
Coindesk
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- The governor of the People's Bank of China reports $300m transacted in 4m transactions to date on China's DC/EP.
- Cryptocurrency broker Genesis issued new loans worth $5.2b during Q3 2020, an increase from its previous record of $2.2b in Q2, according to its Q3 performance report.
- Verizon (NYSE:VZ) launched "Full Transparency," a blockchain-based, open-source newsroom product intended to improvise new ways of publishing news releases from the Verizon Corporate newsroom, according to a news report dated Oct. 30.
- Ripple (XRP) is paying more money to Japan's $500b finance giant, SBI (8473.T), and MoneyGram (NASDAQ: MGI). We have covered Ripple's other XRP incentivization payments here and here. We briefed readers on Ripple's lawsuits here.
- The Caymans Islands' Ministry of Financial Services has published an initial set of rules regarding Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs). The Caymans are a tax haven and home of crypto-friendly companies like Real Vision.
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 |  | Written and curated by wide-eyed bitcoin watcher since $1, Aaron Wise. Streaming headline junkie, Associated Press fanboy, eye-strained news terminal watcher, 2017 founder of Cryptocurrency Newsfeed. Temporarily based in Florida while awaiting the construction of cryptopia. |  | | Editor | Edited by Eduardo Garcia in New York. Eduardo is writing an illustrated book about climate change that will be published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Bylines in The New York Times, The Guardian, Slate, Scientific American, and others. In one of his previous lives, Eduardo worked as a Reuters correspondent in Latin America for nearly a decade. | |
