The Daily: Fed Chair Powell 'struck' by crypto debanking prevalence, Unichain goes live on mainnet and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter,  The Daily , which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Tuesday! It's eerily quiet in the crypto market as participants await a fresh catalyst, giving you the perfect opportunity to catch up on the industry's latest. 

In today's newsletter, Unichain goes live on mainnet, Fed Chair Jerome Powell calls for a 'fresh look' at crypto debanking, Binance and the SEC file a joint motion to halt their legal dispute and more.

Meanwhile, the Trump-supported DeFi project World Liberty Financial partners with Ondo Finance to expand tokenized RWA adoption.

Let's get started.

Uniswap Labs releases Unichain on mainnet

Uniswap Labs, the development team behind the largest Ethereum-based decentralized exchange, Uniswap, has launched its Layer 2 Unichain on mainnet , marking its second major product release in two weeks following Uniswap V4.

• Unichain aims to improve network security, minimize maximal extractable value (MEV) and accelerate Ethereum's rollup-centric roadmap.
• "For us, just having the most used onchain protocol and one of the most popular front-end interfaces, I think that over the years we've learned a lot," Uniswap founder Hayden Adams told The Block.
• Innovations include a new block-building system developed together with Flashbots called Rollup-Boost for faster block times and a fair priority gas auction system to reduce MEV activity like the frontrunning of transactions.
• Unichain also allows users to stake UNI tokens and run nodes to verify network transactions for enhanced security.
• Adams said 65% of Unichain's net chain revenue will go to validators and stakers, with ongoing UX improvements set for release throughout the year.

Fed Chair Powell 'struck' by crypto debanking

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said he and his colleagues are "struck" by the increasing prevalence of debanking in the crypto industry, sometimes referred to as "Operation Chokepoint 2.0," and a "fresh look" at the issue was required.

• "We don't intentionally do these things, but sometimes regulation leads things to happen and we need to be working on that," Powell said.
• During a press conference last month, Powell said banks can serve crypto customers as long as they can manage the risk.
• Debanking concerns have been brought back into the spotlight in Washington recently, with hearings and investigations examining the issue in more detail.

Binance and SEC halt legal dispute for 60 days

Binance and the SEC have filed a joint motion to pause their legal case for 60 days in consideration of the agency's new crypto task force and its impact on the regulatory landscape.

• "The work of this task force may impact and facilitate the potential resolution of this case," the filing stated.
• The SEC originally filed a complaint in June 2023 against Binance, alleging it operated as an unregistered exchange, broker-dealer and clearing agency for financial securities.
• However, under the new temporary leadership of Mark Uyeda, the SEC plans to scale back enforcement and clarify which crypto assets are securities, shifting from a "regulation by enforcement" approach.
• President Trump's nominee for permanent SEC Chair, crypto-friendly former regulator Paul Atkins, is still awaiting confirmation by the Senate.

OpenSea refutes 'false' KYC rumors for token airdrop

NFT marketplace OpenSea denied rumors that it would require a KYC identification process for users to participate in a potential token airdrop following outrage from some community members.

• The social media frenzy was sparked by terms of service stated on a test website apparently linked to the OpenSea Foundation, hinting at an airdrop.
• However, OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer responded that none of the rumors were true and the information was merely "boilerplate language," not reflective of the actual rules or policies that would govern any potential airdrop.
• OpenSea has not confirmed any plans for a token airdrop despite growing speculation over its new points system and platform updates.

CAR memecoin collapses 97% from peak

The Central African Republic's official memecoin, CAR, has collapsed around 97% from its peak less than two days after its launch, dropping from a market cap of $894 million to around $29 million on Tuesday.

• CAR's launch on Sunday was met with severe skepticism, though the country's President Faustin-Archange Touadéra has continued to post about the token.
• The memecoin sector has been particularly affected by recent market volatility following U.S. President Trump's tariff announcements, including his own token.

In the next 24 hours

• The latest U.S. CPI inflation data is released at 8:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Est. MoM 0.3%; Core 0.3%. Est. YoY 2.9%; Core 3.1%.
• U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies on the economic outlook and recent monetary policy actions before the Joint Economic Committee again at 10 a.m. U.S. FOMC member Raphael Bostic will speak at 12 p.m.
• Ethena is set to unlock 7.93 million ENA tokens worth $3.6 million, representing 0.25% of the circulating supply. Aethir will release 630 million ATH tokens worth $24.4 million, 10.21% of its circulating supply.
• World Web3 Expo kicks off in Dubai.

Never miss a beat with The Block's  daily digest  of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.