EU Shoots Down ‘Bitcoin Mining Ban’

EU Votes 32-23 Against 'De Facto Bitcoin Mining Ban' [Decrypt]

The European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) voted down a bill that would have been a de facto ban on Bitcoin mining. The bill, nicknamed MiCa, would have required any currencies trading in the EU to, “meet minimum environmental sustainability standards.”

The standards imposed would have made the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism unfeasible in the EU.

Though we’re not quite out of the woods…

Jake Chervinsky @jchervinsky

Make no mistake: if they manage to ban PoW, they'll come for PoS next, & every other sybil resistance mechanism after that. This isn't just about environmental impact: it's about the right of non-state money to exist. Their strategy is divide & conquer. Let's not fall for it.

March 14th 2022

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Solana Emerges as the New Battleground for NFT Market Share

Sequoia Capital Sees a Weakness in OpenSea’s NFT Dominance [Bloomberg]

Sequoia is betting on Solana as a beachhead for Opensea-competitor, Magic Eden, to establish itself before Opensea itself has a chance to expand onto Solana. Opensea currently controls 43% of the NFT market. Most transactions occur on the Ethereum chain, but OS offers support for Polygon and a lesser-known chain, Klatyn.

Solana itself has already come under scrutiny for its VC dealmaking.

Based on Opensea’s large userbase, Magic Eden will have to move quickly to capture the Solana NFT market before Opensea gets there itself.

The larger issue is whether most NFT projects will eventually choose Solana over Ethereum. Even with higher gas fees, most new and innovative projects still choose to launch on Ethereum.