The Protocol: Friend.tech Fades as Crypto Craze, but Ethereum Is Scaling

This week in blockchain tech: Polygon’s new “chain development kit,” Farcaster’s move to Optimism, Shibarium’s return and Interlay’s new Bitcoin layer-2 network, and Pancake Swap expands to Consensys’s Linea.

SEC’s Grayscale Court Rout Puts Agency in Will-They, Won’t-They Role Starring Gensler

The crypto industry’s campaign to set up exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has now pushed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission against a wall with Grayscale Investments’ consequential court win, but it’s still up to the agency to decide whether to retreat or keep fighting.

Grayscale’s Victory Ignites a GBTC Trading Frenzy as Investors Bet on Narrowing Discount to Bitcoin Price

The SEC must review its rejection to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an exchange-traded fund, the appeals court ruled Tuesday.