Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk’s weekly round-up of the most important stories in cryptocurrency technology development.
In this week’s edition of the Protocol Newsletter:
Trump’s Cryptocurrency Team Aptos Revamps Leadership TikTok Meets Token Kraken Scales Up
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network news
President-elect Trump’s Cryptocurrency Appointments: President-elect Donald Trump continues to make high-profile appointments embracing cryptocurrencies and emerging technologies in his second term. 1) Steven Millan, selected to chair the Council of Economic Advisers, is a cryptocurrency advocate who aims to integrate blockchain and decentralized finance into the U.S. economy. 2) Former college football player Beau Hines will head the newly formed Cryptographic Council. Mr. Hines is tasked with balancing innovation and consumer protection when building the regulatory framework for digital assets. 3) David Sachs, a Silicon Valley veteran and vocal advocate of blockchain, steps in as the AI and crypto czar. Sachs plans to integrate blockchain and AI to strengthen America’s advantages in both areas. These appointments mark a clear shift from President Trump’s previous skepticism toward digital assets. The big question now is how these moves will translate into meaningful policy amid regulatory gridlock and political friction.
APTOS Leadership Change: Mo Shaikh, CEO and co-founder of Aptos Labs, steps down and co-founder Avery Ching becomes CEO. Shaikh, who will continue to serve as a strategic advisor, highlighted the company’s accomplishments, including raising $400 million in venture funding and building a thriving ecosystem supported by partners such as BlackRock, Google, Mastercard and PayPal. Known for its layer-1 blockchain powered by Facebook’s Diem project’s Move programming language, Aptos Labs is expanding into financial and AI applications with the help of advisors including former Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein and OpenAI’s Kevin Weil. I am. This leadership change underscores the company’s continued focus on scalability, security, and innovation in blockchain technology.
SONIC to TIKTOK Airdrop: Sonic, a layer 2 solution on the Solana blockchain, announced plans to airdrop its native token, SONIC, to TikTok users. The initiative aims to bring TikTok’s vast user base into decentralized finance (DeFi) by integrating blockchain technology and social media platforms. The airdrop is part of Sonic’s strategy to enhance user engagement and accelerate the adoption of Layer 2 solutions to improve scalability and reduce transaction costs on the Solana network. By targeting TikTok users, Sonic seeks to bridge the gap between mainstream social media users and the DeFi ecosystem and foster broader participation in decentralized financial services.
Also:
MicroStrategy strengthens its long-standing Bitcoin strategy as its stock secures listing on the Nasdaq 100, adding 5,262 BTC to its holdings. Nokia has entered the world of cryptocurrencies with patented technology for encrypting digital assets, signaling a move towards blockchain innovation. Ripple’s General Counsel urges Congress to focus on regulating cryptocurrency practices, rather than targeting the technology itself and stifling innovation.
Feature: Kraken’s Ink Layer-2 is now live
Kraken, the seventh-largest cryptocurrency exchange, announced that its Layer 2 rollup network built on the Ethereum blockchain is now live.
The network, called Ink, is based on OP Stack, a customizable framework that allows developers to build their own rollups using Optimism’s technology. The main network launch was moved ahead of schedule, as the team originally planned to have Ink up and running in early 2025.
Kraken has agreed to receive 25 million OP tokens, valued at approximately $58 million, as part of the deal to build on top of the OP stack. Optimism acknowledges that distributing developer grants to participants building on the stack is part of the strategy, which in turn contributes to the broader “superchain” ecosystem. It will be. Coinbase, a Kraken competitor, announced in August 2023 that it would build a Layer 2 network: OP stack.
The product, called Base, is currently the second largest rollup network according to L2beat. At the time, Optimism said the base team would receive up to 118 million OP tokens and in return it would donate 2.5% of sequencer revenue or 15% of profits, whichever is higher, to Optimism Collective.
Read the full story by Margaux Nijkerk here
money center
Fundraising activities
Avalon Labs has secured $10 million in a Series A funding round to expand its Bitcoin-backed stablecoin, with the aim of increasing liquidity and stability in the cryptocurrency market. This investment reflects growing interest in Bitcoin-backed financial products as a bridge between traditional finance and digital assets.
SALES AND SUBSIDIES
Tether announced a $75 million deal to acquire a stake in video-sharing platform Rumble. This investment is aimed at supporting decentralized media and is consistent with Tether’s commitment to fostering open communication technologies.
data and tokens
Bonk (BONK) soared 30%, leading the rally in dog-themed meme tokens, while Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) also rose. Additionally, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has classified FLOKI as a utility token, which could impact its regulatory status.
Data corner: 60 million USDC outflow hits Hyperliquid
Hyper Liquid, a cryptocurrency exchange focused on perpetual contracts, reported a record $60 million outflow from USDC amid speculation that North Korea is investigating the platform. The sudden outflow of funds has raised questions about the exchange’s liquidity and operational stability. This highlights the growing tensions in the crypto market with geopolitical issues, as regulatory oversight and potential abuse of platforms by state actors come into focus. The incident highlighted the vulnerabilities of cryptocurrency markets, especially exchanges that handle high-risk financial products such as perpetual contracts. The Hyper Liquid situation may prompt further scrutiny of similar platforms, highlighting the need for stronger safeguards in the face of increasing global regulatory pressure.
Get the full scoop with Omkar Godbole here
calendar
January 9-12, 2025: CES, Las Vegas 15-19: World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland January 21-25: WAGMI Conference, Miami. 24-25: Bitcoin Adoption, Cape Town, South Africa. 30-31: PLAN B Forum, San Salvador, El Salvador. February. 1-6: Satoshi Roundtable, Dubai, February 19-20, 2025: ConsensusHK, Hong Kong. 23-24: NFT Paris February 23-March 2: ETHD Denver March 18-19: Digital Asset Summit, London May 14-16: Consensus, Toronto. May 27-29: Bitcoin 2025, Las Vegas.
