Turnkey, a company specializing in building wallet infrastructure for blockchain developers, announced a successful $15 million Series A funding round led by Lightspeed Faction and Galaxy Ventures.

Founded by former Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) employees who contributed to the development of the U.S. crypto exchange’s custody service, Turnkey aims to assist application developers in constructing user-friendly blockchain wallets. The funding round, disclosed on Tuesday, saw participation from notable investors including Sequoia, Coinbase Ventures, Alchemy, Figment Capital, and Mirana Ventures. This round, finalized last October, follows a $7.5 million seed round in 2022.

CEO Bryce Ferguson explained, “At its simplest level, Turnkey provides secure, flexible, and scalable wallet infrastructure, offering developers a comprehensive toolkit for wallet-related tasks and cryptographic transactions.”

Ferguson highlighted the inspiration behind Turnkey’s inception, stemming from the realization at Coinbase that many crypto custodians treated cryptocurrency solely as a “buy-and-hold investment,” lacking the flexibility for users to actively utilize their assets. Turnkey’s objective is to empower custodians with tools enabling end-users to exercise greater control over their assets securely.

Released to the public in August, Turnkey’s product suite caters to various needs, serving as the backbone for applications requiring wallets and transaction signing, both for individual users and businesses. Notable clients include Alchemy, utilizing Turnkey to power its “wallet-as-a-service” offering, and enterprise-focused wallets like Mural, facilitating user-friendly invoicing and global payments.

Turnkey also caters to financial firms, with trading terminals embedding Turnkey’s wallets for transactional purposes. Additionally, individual users leverage Turnkey for broad transaction signing.

Ferguson emphasized Turnkey’s comprehensive approach, stating, “We built all of the wallet infrastructure from the ground up,” highlighting the platform’s ability to generate cryptographic key pairs and provide extensive tooling for accessing and managing these keys.

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Kenya is preparing to extradite Nadeem Anjarwalla, a Binance executive wanted by Nigerian authorities for alleged involvement in tax evasion and a dramatic escape from custody. Anjarwalla was apprehended in Kenya over the weekend in a joint operation involving several agencies, including the EFCC, Nigeria Police Force, Kenya Police Service, FBI, and INTERPOL, following weeks of search efforts. He is expected to be extradited to Nigeria within the week to face trial on tax evasion charges, with the possibility of additional charges related to illegal passport use and escape from custody.

Anjarwalla, Binance Africa’s regional manager, along with another executive, Tigran Gambrayan, encountered legal issues in Nigeria in February due to their association with the crypto exchange. Anjarwalla evaded custody in March using a Kenyan passport and had been evading authorities until his recent capture.

This development adds to the ongoing tension between Binance and Nigerian authorities. Gambrayan, who has been detained since February, is currently facing trial for alleged tax evasion. However, the proceedings have faced delays, with the court adjourning the case twice due to issues with formally serving charges to the exchange. Binance CEO Richard Teng has expressed willingness to cooperate with Nigerian authorities, but specific efforts to secure the release of the detained executives remain undisclosed.

Similarly, Gambrayan’Kenya to Extradite Binance Executive Linked to Tax Evasion to Nigeria attempts to secure bail have encountered obstacles, with a federal high court in Abuja postponing his bail application hearing. He is presently held at the Kuje Correctional Center pending further legal proceedings.

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Welcome to “Epoch V” of Bitcoin. The fourth successful halving of Bitcoin occurred on April 20, marking a programmed reduction in the amount of new bitcoin entering circulation through mining. As celebrations ensue worldwide, attention turns to what lies ahead.

Coinciding with the halving was the launch of Runes, a protocol facilitating the creation of meme coins on Bitcoin. This launch saw hundreds of tokens introduced, contributing over $80 million in fees to bitcoin miners. This surge in trading activity has driven transaction costs on Bitcoin to over $70 on average, a staggering 1,395.8% increase over the trailing 30-day average, according to TokenTerminal.

Some foresee “Epoch V,” leading up to the next halving in 2028, as the period when Bitcoin layer 2 solutions like the Lightning Network will gain traction. Bitcoin fees hit an all-time high of $128 on April 20, prompting many to explore alternative solutions. Bitcoin Core developer Ava Chow stated, “High fee environments will prompt people to look into them,” referring to Lightning and other layer 2 options.

A recent Messari report emphasized the necessity of layer-2 solutions for Bitcoin amidst rising on-chain activity, signaling a shift from Bitcoin as merely “digital gold” to a platform for innovation.

The launch of the Ordinals protocol last year, enabling new data storage methods on Bitcoin’s smallest units (satoshis), has catalyzed this shift. BitVM allows off-chain computation, Babylon facilitates staking and earning yield on BTC, while layer 2s like Stacks and Merlin host decentralized apps and meme coins.

Post-halving, tokens associated with Bitcoin layer 2s have outperformed BTC. For instance, Elastos  rose 11%, SatoshiVM  climbed 5%, and Stacks  gained nearly 20% to $2.87, partly driven by the anticipated Nakamoto upgrade.

While market dynamics may drive action to Bitcoin’s secondary layers, challenges persist. Higher BTC fees may price out users with low balances from platforms like Lightning, necessitating workarounds such as custodial services. Concerns arise over the erosion of sovereignty and anonymity with custodial Lightning solutions.

This landscape reflects the legacy of the Blocksize Wars, where the decision to prioritize layer 2 scaling over block size increases set Bitcoin’s current trajectory.

As Chow remarks, the choice between block size and transaction size adjustments represents a fundamental divide in Bitcoin’s scaling debate, shaping its evolution to date.

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In a bid to prevent the illicit use of cryptocurrency for money laundering, Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced plans to block local access to unauthorized crypto platforms. Investors are urged to withdraw funds from such platforms as authorities move to restrict their operations.

Following a meeting with a government committee on technology-related crimes, the SEC was tasked with identifying and submitting information on unauthorized digital asset service providers to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society. Once approved by the courts, access to these platforms will be prohibited.

While specific criteria for disqualifying platforms were not disclosed, the SEC provided a verification website to help investors assess legitimacy. Blocking access aligns with efforts to combat criminal activity, drawing parallels with similar actions taken in India and the Philippines.

Previously, the SEC initiated legal proceedings against unauthorized exchanges of Binance and Bybit. The agency emphasizes the risks associated with unregulated operators, highlighting the lack of legal protection and the potential for fraud.

This crackdown follows recent crypto-friendly measures by Thai authorities, including the extension of VAT exemption on crypto trading gains and permission for local institutions to invest in U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

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The total supply of USD-pegged stablecoins has soared to $165 billion, reaching its highest level in almost two years as new tokens flood the market, intensifying competition. Ethena’s USDe stablecoin, with a market cap of around $2.4 billion, has contributed to this growth, stabilizing the market at its current level.

This milestone, achieved last Thursday, reflects a significant uptick in stablecoin supply since late June 2022, nearing the previous all-time high of over $180 billion. While Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC remain dominant, the stablecoin market is diversifying with new entrants. USDT maintains a commanding 70% market share, according to DeFiLlama data.

The emergence of Ethena’s stablecoin launched just over two months ago, and PayPal’s collaboration with Paxos for its stablecoin introduction in August 2023, have contributed to the expanding stablecoin landscape. Ripple’s recent announcement of its plans to launch a USD-pegged stablecoin further underscores the market’s growth potential. Ripple forecasts the total stablecoin market to skyrocket to $2.8 trillion by 2028.

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