Aave Votes on Hosting Trump's DeFi Project

Former President Donald Trump’s decentralized finance project, World Liberty Financial, is taking shape with a proposal submitted to the Aave governance forum. The project will use Aave’s infrastructure to offer borrowing and lending services, allowing deposits in Ethereum, Wrapped Bitcoin, USDC, and USDT. In return, AaveDAO will receive 20% of all protocol fees and 7% of WLFI governance tokens.

The AaveDAO community will now decide whether to approve the project, which aims to attract first-time DeFi users. If approved, the platform will be accessible to all Aave users, including Americans. However, this move carries risks, as US-based DeFi projects have faced regulatory scrutiny from the SEC but it might find synergy with a potential Republican presidency.

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86-Year-Old Lawyer Sentenced for Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme

Grifting comes in all shapes and ages as, David Kagel, an 86-year-old former lawyer, has been sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay nearly $14 million for running a Bitcoin Ponzi scheme. Kagel and his accomplices scammed 80+ victims from 2017 to 2022 for over $60 million by promoting a fraudulent crypto trading bot with promises of high returns.

Kagel falsely claimed to hold 1,000 Bitcoin in escrow and used his law firm’s letterhead to lure investors. Kagel will serve his probation at a senior care facility, and his accomplices are awaiting trial. Despite his guilty plea, Kagel maintains he was a victim of poor decision-making. His law license has been revoked after multiple suspensions throughout his career.

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VanEck Ventures Launches With $30 Million Fintech Fund

VanEck, a global asset manager founded in 1955 and overseeing $118 billion in assets, has launched VanEck Ventures to invest in early-stage fintech, crypto, and AI startups. The firm is raising $30 million for its first fund, which will focus on tokenization and stablecoin platforms. The venture fund will be led by two former Circle Ventures executives, Wyatt Lonergan and Juan Lopez.

The fund aims to make 25 to 35 investments, with check sizes ranging from $500,000 to $1 million. VanEck’s move into venture capital aligns with its long-standing involvement in crypto. This expansion comes at a time when venture capital interest in crypto startups has surged, with over $2.2 billion raised by crypto VCs this year.

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ZachXBT Reveals Murad Mahmudov’s Alleged $24M Wallets

Crypto investigator ZachXBT has linked meme coin promoter Murad Mahmudov to 11 wallets holding over $24 million in tokens. ZachXBT claims that the wallets share a funding source and contain meme coins that Mahmudov frequently mentions. He also accused Mahmudov of manipulating the market by promoting coins while controlling large portions of their supply.

The crypto community has had mixed reactions, with some praising the transparency while others criticized the exposure of Mahmudov’s wallets. Meme coins have been a controversial topic, with critics pointing to insider profits at the expense of less experienced investors. Mahmudov has not yet responded to these allegations.

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Data of the Day

In the last 30 days, Aerodrome, a decentralized exchange (DEX) on the Ethereum Layer 2 Base blockchain, saw an impressive 118% growth in total value locked (TVL), outperforming all other DeFi projects (with at least $500 million in TVL).

Solana-based protocols like Raydium, Jupiter, and Marinade also posted solid gains, as Solana's use cases continue to broaden.

Meanwhile, AAVE has increased its dominance in the lending sector with a 14% growth, reaching $12.09 billion in TVL. Notably, Binance Staked ETH (BETH) also rose by 27%, reflecting the broader interest in Ethereum staking platforms.

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More Breaking News

• Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin may be in the running for a Nobel Prize in Economics, according to two economists discussing his contributions to crypto.
• Only 12.7% of Polymarket users have made profits in its prediction markets, with most earning less than $100, according to new onchain data.
• Hyperliquid's bridge to Arbitrum was locked for four hours on Monday after validators detected an "extremely rare edge case" but user funds were not at risk.
• Coinbase has finally enabled Bitcoin transfers to Taproot addresses, allowing users to benefit from Taproot’s privacy and cost-saving features after years of delay.
• The US government suggests Bitfinex may be the sole victim in the 2016 hack, though it's asking the court to allow Bitfinex customers to file potential claims.
• South Korea's Financial Services Commission plans to investigate Upbit's market monopoly structure, citing its 20% share in K-Bank's total deposits.
• Caroline Ellison, former Alameda Research CEO, has agreed to hand over most of her remaining assets to the FTX bankruptcy estate as part of a settlement.

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