The Protocol: ‘Private Jet Brandization’ Is One Way Polkadot Burnt Cash

June
proved
to
be
an
incredibly
ugly
month
in
crypto
markets
(see
our
blood-red
chart
below),
but
wasn’t
completely
devoid
of
decent
blockchain
tech
stories.
One
obsession
of
crypto
twitterati
during
the
past
week
was
poring
over
the
line
items
in
Polkadot’s
treasury
transparency
report.
The
$6.8
million
to
sponsor
a
“prestigious
soccer
club”
was
just
one
of
many
expenses
held
up
to
public
scrutiny.

Handicapping
Solana’s
ETF
chances.
Crypto
hacks
in
1H
doubled
from
a
year
earlier
to
$572M.
Uniswap
had
the
least-bad
June
returns
among
members
of
the

CoinDesk
20.

Network
news

Polkadot’s
spending
more
than
doubled
from
the
prior
six
months’
clip.
(Polkadot)

BURN
RATE:
At
the
very
least
one
has
to
give
Polkadot
credit
for
transparency.
On
Tuesday
the
blockchain
project
released
a

lengthy
report,
including

spreadsheets
and
copies
of
invoices,
detailing
its
spending
over
the
past
six
months.
No
good
deed
goes
unpunished,
however,
and
right
on
cue,
twitterati
tore
into
the
project’s
multimillion-dollar
spending
on
activities
like
marketing,
advertising,
sponsorships,
events
and
influencers.
At
the
highest
level,
the
project
spent
$87
million
worth
of
its
own
DOT
tokens
on
various
activities
during
the
first
half
of
2024,
a
pace
that
would
exhaust
the
$245
million
currently
in
the
treasury
within
roughly
two
years,
as

relayed
by
CoinDesk’s
Shaurya
Malwa.
But
it
was
the
green-eyeshade
details
that
left
the
report’s
readers
agog
–
$4.9
million
for
influencers,
$1.9
million
to
sponsor
the
race
car
driver
Conor
Daly,
$1
million
for
digital
ads
on
CoinMarketCap,
$490,000
to
the
press-release
website
Chainwire,
$180,000
for
“private
jet
brandization,”
$6.8
million
for
a
“deal
with
a
prestigious
soccer
club,”
as
the
report
termed
it.
(Lionel
Messi’s
team,

Inter
Miami?)
Snarky
posters
on
X
remarked
that,
for
all
the
spending,
the
influencers
seemed

strangely
inactive
–
while
others
joked
that
the
report
was
finally
bringing
Polkadot
the

publicity
it
coveted.
Polkadot
officials
noted
that
the
spending
went
further
than
expected,
thanks
to
this
year’s
mostly-up
crypto
markets:
“We
can
observe
a
huge
jump
in
spending,
as
proposals
got
more
ambitious
in
scope
and
ask
size
recently,”
the
report
read.
“The
good
news
is
that
the
average
DOT
price
has
gone
up
this
half-year,
resulting
in
more
bang
for
the
DOT,
highlighted
by
the
fact
that
DOT
spending
went
up
by
2.4x,
but
the
USD-equivalent
value
is
up
3.2x
in
the
same
timeframe.”

NOT
SOL
FAST!
Hey,
Bitcoin
got
ETFs
earlier
this
year,
and
now
Ethereum
appears
headed
in
that
direction,
possibly
bringing
in

billions
of
dollars
within
months,
based
on
Galaxy
Digital
research.
So
what
about
an
ETF
for
Solana,
seen
as
one
of
the
most
promising
blockchains?
Probably
not
anytime
soon,
experts
are
saying.
The
speculation
kicked
off
last
week
as
the
investment
manager
VanEck
filed
for
a
Solana
ETF,
sending
the
project’s
native
token,
SOL,
up
8%.
Another
firm,
21Shares,

put
in
a
request
a
day
later.
But
as

reported
by
CoinDesk’s
Helene
Braun,
“Solana
hasn’t
cleared
a
prerequisite
for
the
Biden
administration’s
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission:
a
well-established
regulated
derivatives
market.
Both
bitcoin
and
ether
have
had
that,
in
the
form
of
CME
Group’s
cryptocurrency
futures
contracts.”
Another
possible
hurdle
is
that
the
SEC,
in
some
of
its
legal
cases,
has
alleged
that
SOL
is
an
unregistered
security
–
and
that
cloud
might
have
to
clear
before
an
ETF
sees
any
sunlight.
“It
is
unlikely
that
there
will
be
a
decision
on
this
in
the
near
future,”
as
Coinbase
Institutional
analysts
put
it
in
a
weekly
research
report.

WikiLeaks
co-founder

Julian
Assange
received
a

donation
of
8.07
bitcoins
(worth
roughly
$500,000)
from
one
entity,
helping
to
cover
the
cost
of
a
private
jet
that
flew
him
out
of
the
UK
and
ultimately
to
freedom
in
Australia
after
he
reached
a
plea
deal
with
the
U.S.
Department
of
Justice.
The
family
of

Tigran
Gambaryan,
an
executive
of
the
crypto
exchange
Binance
being
detained
in
Nigeria
in
connection
with
money-laundering
charges,
said
his

health
is
deteriorating.
He
complained
of
numbness
in
his
foot
as
well
as
back
pain,
and
has
double
pneumonia
and
malaria,
according
to
a
statement
from
the
family.
A
trial
in
the
case
was
adjourned
until
July
5
following
cross-examination
Monday
of
the
first
witness
from
the
country’s
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission.
Crypto
losses
due
to
hacks
and
rug
pulls
in
the
second
quarter
more
than
doubled
from
a
year
earlier
to
$572
million,

according
to
Immunefi.“CeFi
was
the
main
target
of
successful
exploits
at
70%
of
the
total
losses
in
Q2,
compared
to
DeFi
at
30%.”

Protocol
Village

Top
picks
of
the
past
week
from

our
Protocol
Village

column,
highlighting
key
blockchain
tech
upgrades
and
news.

Montage
from
the
website
singer-songwriter
Ainsley
Costello,
whose
music
can
be
heard
on
the
Bitcoin
Lightning
Network-friendly
music
platform
Wavlake.
(ainsleycostello.com)

1.
Developer
teams
behind
the

Tezos
blockchain
unveiled
“Tezos
X,”
a
set
of
technological
upgrades
they
say
could
bring
a
“huge
boost
in
performance,
composability
and
interoperability.”
The

roadmap,
setting
out
a
development
plan
for
the
next
two
years,
calls
for
splitting
off
transaction
execution
into
a
separate
“canonical
rollup”
that
would
support
“atomic
transactions
across
smart
contracts
written
in
different
programming
languages.”
The
main
Tezos
blockchain
would
serve
as
a
base
layer
for
consensus
and
settlement.

2.
Igloo
Inc.,
Pudgy
Penguins’
parent
company,
on
Monday
announced
the
acquisition
of
the
Frame
team.
“Frame
co-founders
and
notable
blockchain
developers
Cygaar
and
Beans
will
contribute
towards
building
a
new
Ethereum
L2,
Abstract,
designed
to
take
on
the
consumer
crypto
opportunity,”

according
to
the
team.

3.
Worldcoin
has
announced
that
it
is
partnering
with
Alchemy
to
provide
reliable
infrastructure
for
World
Chain,
a
new
blockchain
designed
for
humans,

according
to
the
team.

4.
Blockchain
startup

Obol
Labs
has
formed
a
new
industry
group
that
aims
to
advance
the
growing
field
of

distributed
validator
technology
–
at
the
heart
of
the
latest
push
by
developers
to
eradicate
single
points
of
failures
within
decentralized
networks
like
Ethereum.
The

Obol
Collective
includes
a
consortium
of
Ethereum
ecosystem
players
“dedicated
to
the
security,
resiliency
and
decentralization
of
Ethereum
consensus,”
according
to
a
blog
post
Wednesday
from
Obol
Labs.
Early
participants
in
the
collective
include
EigenLayer,
Lido,
Figment,
Bitcoin
Suisse,
Nethermind,
Blockdaemon,
Chorus
One,
DappNode
and
ETH
Stakers.

5.
Wavlake,
a
music
and
podcast
distribution
platform,
has
partnered
with
ZBD
to
revolutionize
creator
payments.
According
to
the
team:
“Unlike
Spotify
and
Apple
Music,
which
pay
meager
royalties,
Wavlake
empowers
independent
musicians
and
podcasters.
Through
Wavlake,
creators
can
upload
content
distributed
across
platforms
like

Fountain.fm.
Listeners
can
tip
artists
using
the
Bitcoin
Lightning
Network,
enabling
instant
microtransactions.
Ainsley
Costello
earned
over
$700
in
Bitcoin
for
a
single
track,
outperforming
Spotify.”

Money
Center

Fundraisings

CEO
of
Pi
Squared
Grigore
Rosu
(Pi
Squared)

In
partnership
with
Bitcoin
staking
protocol

Babylon,
the
startup

Lombard
has

raised
$16
million
to
build
out
Bitcoin-based
restaking.
Prodia,
a
distributed
network
of
GPUs
for
AI
inference
solutions,
raised
$15
million,
led
by
Dragonfly
Capital,
to
build
more
scalable,
affordable
AI
solutions
powered
by
Web3,
according
to
the
team.
RedStone,
a
provider
of
oracle
data
feeds
for
blockchains,
announced
Tuesday
that
it

raised
$15
million
in
a
series
A
round,
led
by
Arrington
Capital.
(PROTOCOL
VILLAGE
EXCLUSIVE):

Astria,
a
shared
sequencer
network,
announced
a
$12.5
million
strategic
fundraise
led
by
dba
and
Placeholder
VC,
with
RockawayX
joining
the
round.
REDACTED,
building
an
ecosystem
of
products
to
form
an
“entertainment
datasphere,”
has
raised
$10
million
in
funding,
co-led
by
Spartan
Group
with
Saison
Capital,
Animoca
Brands,
Polygon
Ventures
Web3
founders,
VCs,
angel
investors
and
whales
like
Dingaling
and
Grail,
according
to
the

team.
OpenLedger,
the
sovereign
data
blockchain
for
AI,
raised
$8
million
in
its
seed
round,
led
by
Polychain
Capital
and
Borderless
Capital,
according
to
the
team.
Ethos
Network,
founded
in
2023
as
a
“a
credibility
protocol
that
encourages
users
to
stake
their
Ethereum
in
other
people,”
announced
the
close
of
its
$1.75
million
funding
round,
led
by
a
collective
group
of
prominent
Web3
angel
investors
including
Bharat
Krymo,
James
Hall,
0xQuit,
Tre,
Dingaling,
Sighduck,
Dragos,
0xMakesy
and
Zeneca.

Data
and
Tokens

Regulatory,
Policy
and
Legal

Uniswap’s
UNI
Lost
the
Least
in
Ugly
Month
for
Crypto
Markets

Leaders
and
laggards
alike
got
crushed
by
crypto
markets
in
June,
with
bellwether
bitcoin
(BTC)
falling
8.5%
–
and
this
week

dipping
below
$60,000,
well
off
the
all-time
high
above
$73,000.

All
members
of
the

CoinDesk
20
Index
were
losers
during
the
month.
Uniswap’s

UNI
turned
in
the
least
ugly
performance,
down
8.1%.

XRP
slid
8.8%
and
Ethereum’s

ETH
lost
9.4%.