HashStack #006

Here’s your TL;DR of the most compelling news and insights shaping the blockchain and Web3 ecosystem:

• BlackRock launched its Bitcoin ETF on CBOE Canada. 

• Ether.fi introduced Liquid BTC using Veda Labs’ vault infrastructure and MEV Capital curated strategy. 

• Coinswap announced v0.1.0 beta launch on Testnet 4. Coinswap is a decentralized, Sybil-resistant protocol for trustless Bitcoin UTXO swaps. 

• Unichain enabled permissionless fraud proof on testnet, marking progress in becoming a Stage 1 recognized rollup upon mainnet launch. 

• Phala Network launched L2 on Ethereum, combining its TEE capabilities with Succinct Labs’ ZKP Infrastructure and Conduit’s RaaS. 

• Synthetic announced closure of perpetuals platform on Arbitrum to focus on Base. 

• Sony’s L2, Soneium, launched on mainnet with Sony Group is also introducing 2 key projects to foster greater engagement between fans and creators through NFTs.

• Uniswap 2024 community report highlights key progress from developer growth, governance, unichain’s partners integration to impact investments in the DeFi sector.

• Pectra devnet 5 went live with all EIPs close to their production ready forms.  

• Up Network and DreamSmart announced Q1 2025 launch of Web3 AI Smart Glasses. 

• OpenAI rolls out beta access to Task for subscribers which allows them to instruct chatGPT to execute actions or reminders at specific times in future. 

• Fetch.ai launched a $10M accelerator for AI Agents startups.

• Microsoft announced plans to invest $3B into AI, cloud expansion, and training in India. 

• AI16z released a whitepaper for AI Agents and also introduced upgrades bringing in new integrations, fixes and major features.  

• Another new AI Agent framework, Pippin.

• Spark to allocate up to $1.15B to Ethena’s sUSDe and USDe, allowing community access to more diversified yields. 

• Usual’s USD0++ experienced a depeg after an unexpected announcement from the team regarding stablecoin redemption which sparked community fears. 

• Ongoing proposal to replace Chainlink’s USDe/USD price feed on AAVE and instead peg USDe with USDT sparked community pushback.

• Bridged USDC live on Sonic chain. 

• FDUSD issued by First Digital Labs now live on Solana. 

• Chainlink CCIP v1.5 Upgrade went live, allowing developers to easily leverage the no-code platform to manage and deploy cross-chain tokens across more than 20 blockchains. 

• Phantom Wallet raised $150M in a Series C round valuing it at $3B.

• Privasea raised a $15M series A round at a $150M valuation.

• Merit Systems raised $10M in seed funding led by a16z and Blockchain Capital.

• WalletConnect raised $13M in a Series B round.

• Sygnum raised $58M in a strategic growth round, placing it at a unicorn status.

• Moonpay acquired Helio for $175M.

• Chainalysis acquired AI Agent security startup, Alterya, for $150M. 

• DePIN project, Starpower, raised $2.5M. 

• SoSoValue raised $15M at a $200M valuation. 

• Carv announced the launch of Carv SVM Chain Testnet.

• Starknet introduced SN Stack, including Starknet OS, CairoVM, etc to empower appchain development. 

• DIN (previously Web3Go) announced AI Agent blockchain with BNB chain and NodeReal and launched testnet. 

These highlights barely scratch the surface of the action-packed start to the year. Stay tuned for our next edition to keep up with the ever-evolving Web3 landscape.