GM, frens! Ambire here with our weekly newsletter. Today we’ll talk about: Ripple (XRP) winning against SEC, OpenSea’s new P2P exchange, Solana managing not to crash for 90 days straight, Ambire’s new podcast, Polygon’s continuous growth, and Google caving in to NFTs. Let’s get down to it:

XRP wins against SEC

A landmark legal victory for Ripple Labs Inc against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to have a significant impact on the crypto space.

The decision, which found that Ripple Labs did not violate securities law by selling its XRP token on exchanges, marks the first major setback for the SEC in its decade-long war against the crypto industry.

SEC sued Ripple and its founders in 2020 for allegedly conducting a $1.3 billion unregistered securities offering by selling XRP. However, U.S. District Judge in New York ruled that the sales on public crypto exchanges were not offers of securities because purchasers did not have a reasonable expectation of profit that depended on the token provider. This absolutely changes the game for XRP, exchanges and the entire crypto space.

In the meantime, SEC's chair Gary Gensler has asked the US senators for an additional budget of $109 million to help in regulating the crypto market. According to him, crypto is a "wild west" and it desperately needs regulation. Apparently, with more funds and resources, SEC would be better able to enforce laws in the crypto market.

Hopefully Gary has decided to go with a more lenient approach after the Ripple ruling and give the industry space to develop without senseless prosecution.

OpenSea launches a P2P NFT exchange

OpenSea is launching "Deals", essentially a P2P NFT exchange, to help traders build their collections and interact with other collectors. Deals will allow users to swap NFTs directly with each other.

P2P crypto exchanges is something crypto was all about once upon a time, and this launch brings that idea back to life. The traders will now have more control over their transactions and can negotiate better prices for their assets.

Deals homepage describes the process in detail. Users can enter the username, ENS name or wallet address of the person they want to make a deal with. They then can select up to 30 NFTs from badged (verified) collections on the same blockchain, as well as the amount of ETH they want to add to the swap, if any. Once they have finalized the selection of assets offered and accepted, they can send the deal for consideration.

Overall, it's nice to see crypto return to its roots, even if just slightly.

Solana brags 100% uptime since February

Solana had a great track record recently. Solana has not crashed for the entire quarter, according to the devs.

Solana being down created a sort of a meme in the crypto space, with people questioning its reliability and likening it to a slow-moving barge that is about to sink.

But the recent network performance report released by Solana Foundation shows that it has seen 100% uptime since February 2023, which is a stark contrast to its performance last year.

This is the first performance report Solana Foundation has posted since October last year. So is the Solana Down meme dead now? We shall see.

Ambire launches Web3 on Fire Podcast

The pilot episode of Ambire’s brand new podcast series, complementing the Web3 on Fire weekly newsletter, is now live! In each episode, Rob Edwards, community builder at Ambire, and his guests delve into the heart of the latest innovations in decentralized technology, including account abstraction, smart accounts (aka smart contract wallets), and the future of work in the Web3 ecosystem. Check out the first episode now:

Make sure to follow our new Twitter account, dedicated to the newsletter and podcast, too - that way you will never miss any news from Web3!

Polygon sees continuous growth

Polygon has seen some remarkable growth over the past few weeks and has now become one of the most popular blockchain networks in the world. The daily active users (DAU) on the Polygon's Layer 2 blockchain recently crossed the 405,000 mark, making it one of the highest DAU to date among blockchains.

ETH usually dominates most blockchains when it comes to DAU, but Polygon's low fees and faster transactions have made it a preferred choice for those looking to take advantage of the DeFi opportunities.

The fact that many new protocols are now being launched on Polygon reflects this growth. Ethereum currently has 855 protocols and BSC is sitting at 629 protocols, while Polygon boasts a total of 445 protocols.

MATIC's price also reacted positively to the network's growth, implying that a new rally for MATIC could be on the horizon.

Google Play changes its NFTs policy

Google has officially opened its doors to NFT games on its Play app store, but there are some restrictions that apply. Google does not allow gambling apps or games that involve real-money wagering.

The shift in policy supports developers who want to incorporate blockchain-based elements into their apps and games. Google's policy previously prohibited most blockchain-based apps from appearing in the Play Store, in 2018 Google banned all crypto mining apps, a rule which still stands today.

Google is clearly moving towards a more open policy towards Web3. It has already allowed ArDrive Mobile, an app for decentralized data storage, to appear in the store and allowed Axie Infinity: Origins to be listed in select Google Play markets. Additionally, Google Cloud announced an initiative last April 2023 to help Web3 developers accelerate their startups.

All in all, Google's new policy is a step in the right direction, hopefully leading to an even more open and supportive environment for developers of blockchain-based apps.

Other worthy reads:

A thread on Telegram trading bots from Patrick:

Coingecko’s Q2 industry report:

Some stats on hacks from PeckShield:

The fun page: our weekly meme collection

That's all for now, frens.

We'll see you next week. And remember, the market conditions are temporary, but our commitment to building a better DeFi is here to stay. Thanks for joining us and we look forward to seeing you back next week. Cheers!

Yours, The 🔥 Team

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