Is the crypto winter showing signs of thawing?

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

The crypto winter is showing signs of retreating with two Solana projects planning airdrops and decentralised exchange volume soaring.
While spot Bitcoin ETFs may be in the works, our new columnist shows that economists still don’t like crypto.
This, Apefest’s UV-lights snafu, new EU laws, and much more in this week’s Roundup.

Happy Friday,

Eric here with this week’s Roundup.

The crypto winter shows signs of thawing with two Solana projects — Pyth Network and Jupiter — planning airdrops. And decentralised exchange volume has soared.

Adding to the euphoria is speculation that one or even all 12 spot Bitcoin ETF applications will get a greenlight.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink is behind one of them. It marks a U-turn after Fink once famously called Bitcoin an “index of money laundering.” As Tyler Pearson and Thomas Carreras noted this week, that shift may be an effort to attract younger investors.

Have a great weekend,

Eric

Portrait of Wolfgang Münchau. — Wolfgang Münchau (Rita Fortunato/DL News/Rita Fortunato/DL News)

Why they hate you

In his debut for DL News, columnist Wolfgang Münchau inks a scathing missive on why economists and bankers don’t like crypto bros. He does not pull his punches.

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ApeFest stage Hong Kong (Callan Quinn/Callan Quinn)

Yuga Labs says ultraviolet lights ‘likely’ cause of eye pain at ApeFest Hong Kong

ApeFest visitors complained about eye pain and skin irritation after the event. Yuga Labs said UV-A lights, usually found in tanning salons, had been “installed in one corner of the event” and were “the likely cause” of those issues.

Read the full story here.

Portrait of Damian Boeselager, member of the European parliament. — Damian Boeselager (Andrés Núñez)

EU passes Data Act that critics fear may drive DeFi out of Europe

The European Parliament has passed a landmark Data Act critics fear could drive DeFi developers out of the continent, Inbar Preiss reports. The law includes an article on smart contracts that has drawn the ire of the blockchain sector for its “lack of clarity.”

Read the full story here.