Crypto Chronicles

1-The blockchain for tokenized assets is called Converge, and it was launched by Ethena and Securitize.

When it comes to investors, the network will serve to both retail and institutional investors by providing typical DeFi apps in addition to financial products that are in accordance with the standards of institutions.

Utilizing Ethereum's Virtual Machine as its foundation, Converge makes it possible for pre-existing Ethereum-based apps and smart contracts to continue operating without requiring any modifications. There are plans for Ethena to transfer its DeFi network onto Converge. This ecosystem now houses assets worth approximately $6 billion.

For the purpose of issuing and managing digital securities, Securitize, a company that specializes in tokenizing real-world assets, will use blockchain technology.

There are digital representations of financial products like as equities, bonds, and real estate that are referred to as tokenized assets.

The Converge platform will make it possible for institutions to deal with these assets on the blockchain while still adhering to regulatory requirements. Security for these assets will be provided by institutional-grade custodians such as Anchorage, Copper, and Fireblocks, among others.

Application development for distributed finance will be included into the network by partners such as Pendle, Aave Labs, and Maple Finance. Interoperability will also be supported by LayerZero and Wormhole, which will ensure that asset transfers across blockchains are carried out without any interruptions. Oracle service providers like as RedStone and Pyth will serve as sources of real-time pricing information.

The ENA token that Ethena uses will be used for the purpose of safeguarding the network, and the stablecoins USDe and USDtb will be utilized for the payment of transaction fees. The blockchain will include both permissionless DeFi apps as well as permissioned offers for users who are affiliated with institutions.

In order to overcome the legislative obstacles that have prevented institutions from properly participating with decentralized finance, Ethena and Securitize view Converge as a potential answer. The network intends to offer a bridge between conventional financial markets and blockchain-based markets by combining the efficiency of DeFi with infrastructure that is focused on compliance.

2-After the hacking of Bybit, North Korea has surpassed Bhutan and El Salvador in terms of its Bitcoin holdings.

Lazarus, a terrorist organization that receives funding from North Korea, has pushed the nation's Bitcoin holdings to a level that is higher than the stockpiles possessed by crypto-friendly nations Bhutan and El Salvador. According to the statistics provided by Arkham, Lazarus is in possession of 13,518 Bitcoins, which are now valued at nearly $1.1 billion.

nearly the course of many years, Lazarus was responsible for a multitude of cyber assaults and cryptocurrency exploits, such as the DMM Bitcoin exploit that occurred on the Japanese market in 2024 and the Ronin Network vulnerability that occurred in 2022. Each of these instances resulted in the theft of nearly $600 million and $308 million in cryptocurrency, respectively.

The entity with ties to the DPRK now owns more Bitcoin than Bhutan's 10,635 BTC hoard, which it has amassed via large-scale mining, and 6,118 BTC that are credited to El Salvador, which was the first government to use Bitcoin as legal cash.

The only sovereign Bitcoin portfolios that are currently known to be larger than North Korea's are the 198,109 Bitcoins that are owned by the United States government, the 194,000 Bitcoins that are held by China, the 61,000 Bitcoins that are held by the United Kingdom, and the 46,351 Bitcoins that are held by Ukraine.

The assault on Bybit that Lazarus carried out in February is the cause of the unexpected increase in North Korea's Bitcoin fortune. Bybit, a cryptocurrency exchange located in Dubai, said that more than 400,000 Ether had been unintentionally taken from their Safe multi-signature cold wallet.

Decentralized finance protocols such as THORChain, which were condemned by both in-house developers and the cryptocurrency community for their lack of stringent anti-criminal measures, were used by Lazarus in order to convert a sizeable amount of the Ethereum to Bitcoin. According to CNN, which cites a White House official, the revenues from Lazarus and the illegal cash garnered from other DPKR-funded syndicates are responsible for funding about fifty percent of North Korea's nuclear missile development.

3-Robinhood & Kalshi debut sports prediction market for college basketball

With the formation of a partnership with Kalshi, Robinhood seems to be expanding its presence in the prediction markets. This partnership will allow users to trade on college basketball contests. Fans are now able to buy and sell event contracts, with values moving in pennies according on how the market evaluates the possibilities of each team. Previously, fans were only able to fill out a bracket.

During the debut of the so-called prediction market hub, Robinhood said in a blog post that was published on Monday, March 17, that it "will allow customers to trade contracts for what the upper bound of the target fed funds rate will be in May, as well as the upcoming men's and women's College Basketball Tournaments."

"Now you can trade on the outcome of every match-up in the men's and women's college basketball tournaments, including the final championships," the firm with its headquarters in Menlo Park said on a web page that was specifically devoted to the topic. Participants who hold winning contracts at the time of settlement will be awarded a payment of one dollar for each contract, but those who hold losing contracts will earn nothing.

According to Robinhood, there are no mysteries to be found: if a contract is valued at 53 cents, this indicates that the market believes there is around a 53 percent probability that the result will occur. Additionally, users have the ability to sell their holdings before to the conclusion of the event, which enables them to reap gains or reduce losses depending on the movements of prices.

In the same way that other prediction markets, such as Polymarket, operate, each event contract is structured in a straightforward yes-or-no style. When a contract settles to the side that you own, you will get a payout of one dollar for each contract that you hold. If it does not, it will pay out zero dollars," Robinhood states in a section of its website devoted to frequently asked questions.

When it comes to a particular contract, users have the option of taking either the "Yes" or "No" side, but they are unable to hold both sides concurrently for the same event. On the other hand, they are able to play many positions in a variety of different matchups. Open interest, which is the quantity of active contracts held by users, is also shown on the platform in order to offer customers with information on market activity.

Additionally, the business said that the brokerage that is responsible for executing the orders may impose extra costs in addition to the $0.01 commission that is charged for each transaction on either side. The multinational brokerage firm claims that its event contracts are subject to restrictions imposed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. These contracts are made available in collaboration with the company's competitor, Kalshi, which is another prediction market platform that enables users to place wagers on elections, news events, and pop culture.

The intentions that Robinhood has for growing its prediction market service are yet unknown. This is due to the fact that the industry has been plagued by a significant amount of controversy, with disagreements about market resolutions being a recurrent problem.

In the past, Polymarket, which is one of the biggest prediction markets in terms of trade volume, has been subjected to criticism on many occasions about its settlement procedure. One example of this kind of situation was a market with the subject "Will Israel invade Lebanon in September?"

On the evening of September 30, Israel began conducting military operations in Lebanon with the intention of driving Hezbollah fighters back from the border. Despite the fact that prominent news sources often referred to the activity as a "invasion," implying that the market ought to come to a decision of yes, the market finally came to a decision of no, which prompted traders to react negatively.

It was Polymarket's stringent interpretation of its guidelines that determined the outcome of the verdict. Despite the fact that Israeli forces invaded Lebanon, there were some who stated that in order for there to be a "invasion," there must be either an official proclamation or an attempt to grab and retain land. Israel had not expressly satisfied these conditions thus far. The market was judged to not have formally satisfied the requirements for a yes conclusion, despite the fact that the phrase "invasion" was used extensively in the coverage of the market by the media.

As part of a larger trend of financial platforms providing new kinds of trading in addition to standard stocks and cryptocurrency, Robinhood has recently expanded its offerings to include event contracts. Furthermore, this is not the first time that the brokerage has attempted to participate in prediction markets. Prior to the elections in November, Robinhood had temporarily offered its own service and subsequently stated that it would be participating in a market for the result of the Super Bowl. Robinhood, on the other hand, discontinued the offering in February after receiving instructions from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to "not permit customers to access" sports event contracts.

Robinhood voiced its dissatisfaction at the time, noting that it had been in "regular communication with the CFTC about our intent and plans to offer this product" prior to the introduction of the product.

References

https://crypto.news/ethena-and-securitize-launch-converge-a-blockchain-for-tokenized-assets/

https://crypto.news/north-korea-leapfrogs-bhutan-el-salvador-in-bitcoin-holdings-after-bybit-hack/

https://crypto.news/robinhood-kalshi-debut-sports-prediction-market-for-college-basketball/