Interesting Action 👀

Success isn’t measured by money or power or social rank. Success is measured by your discipline and inner peace.” - Mike Ditka

In today’s email:

• ETH ETFs being submitted now 👀

• Stake gets hacked 🎰

• On Chain Privacy coming to Ethereum?

ETH ETFs

In a filing dated September 6th, ARK Invest and 21Shares formally requested the SEC's approval for the listing of shares in a spot Ether ETF on the Cboe BZX Exchange. This investment vehicle, known as the ARK 21Shares Ethereum ETF, will involve crypto exchange Coinbase serving as a custodian. Its primary objective is to gauge Ether's performance based on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate.

This submission from ARK Invest and 21Shares is just one among several spot crypto ETF proposals currently under review by the SEC. After asset management company Grayscale successfully appealed for the SEC to reconsider allowing its Bitcoin Trust to transform into a Bitcoin ETF, many firms are now harboring optimism regarding regulatory approval.

Stake

Stake.com, recognized as the world's largest cryptocurrency casino, recently fell victim to a cyberattack resulting in a substantial loss of $41.3 million. Consequently, the platform has temporarily halted all deposits and withdrawals, leaving many users unable to access their funds.

Yesterday, the crypto security firm Cyvers raised concerns regarding multiple unusual transactions associated with Stake.com's hot wallet.

The lion's share of the pilfered funds, totaling $17.8 million, was siphoned from Stake.com's hot wallet on the Binance Smart Chain. The remaining amount, $15.7 million, was withdrawn via Ethereum, while the final $7.8 million was taken on Polygon, as reported by web3 security agency Beosin.

ETH

In a research paper unveiled on Wednesday, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin and a team of four co-authors introduced a novel approach to address privacy concerns within blockchain technology. This innovative solution, known as "privacy pools," establishes a "smart contract-based privacy-enhancing protocol." Its primary objective is to create a clear distinction between transactions linked to criminal activity and those originating from legitimate users.

The paper, titled "Blockchain Privacy and Regulatory Compliance: Towards a Practical Equilibrium," arrives at a critical juncture when worries regarding privacy in the blockchain ecosystem are on the rise. Governments have intensified their efforts to combat criminal organizations utilizing privacy mixers to conceal and launder illicit funds.

Tornado Cash, a well-known privacy protocol, has faced scrutiny, even earning sanctions from the U.S. Treasury due to its alleged use by the North Korean hacking group Lazarus for money laundering.

Buterin acknowledged that Tornado Cash served as a valuable privacy tool but highlighted its limitations in disassociating from criminal activities within the network.

Privacy pools incorporating zero-knowledge technology offer a potential resolution, granting users transaction data privacy while simultaneously distinguishing it from any unlawful activity. By consolidating honest transactions, users can establish proof that their activities originate from legitimate sources.

The research paper explains, "All users with 'good' assets have strong incentives and the ability to prove their membership in a 'good'-only association set. Bad actors, on the other hand, will not be able to provide that proof."

As regulatory authorities intensify their efforts against criminal activities within the blockchain sphere, Buterin aims to demonstrate that these technological advancements can align with and adhere to regulatory frameworks.