ETH Researchers Quit EigenLayer Advisorship

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Good Morning.

The market is selling off a bit before the US election in two days, but we hit a local bottom after Cobie tweeted that BTC will go $100,000 regardless of who wins. Such power.

In Today's Email:

• What Matters: EigenLayer Losing Advisors 🔙 

• Product: Vivek Ramaswamy’s Strive 🗽 

• Charts: Trump's Odds Drop 10%+, COIN Fell 15% 📉 

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WHAT MATTERS

Ethereum Researchers Quit EigenLayer

State of play: Ethereum researchers Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist announced their resignation as advisors to the EigenLayer protocol, citing neutrality concerns.

• Drake and Feist's advisory roles drew criticism for potential conflicts of interest, especially as EigenLayer ranks high in Ethereum DeFi projects.

• Drake claimed his token allocation was significant, representing "millions of dollars" vesting over three years.

• In his statement, Drake apologized for his role and committed to a stricter personal policy to avoid future conflicts.

• Drake stated, “Going forward I will turn down all advisorships, angel investments, and security councils.”

• Despite a promised conflict of interest policy from the Ethereum Foundation in May, it has yet to be made public.

What’s next: As the community awaits a response from the Ethereum Foundation about the promised policy, this incident may prompt a reevaluation of advisor selection and management in the DeFi space.

For builders and investors: There needs to be more disclosures and transparency around advisors in crypto — especially if you’re involved with an entity as large as the Ethereum Foundation, given the political landscape of the crypto L1 ecosystem.

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PRODUCT OF THE WEEK

Vivek Ramaswamy’s Strive

Strive Enterprises is an asset management firm co-founded by Vivek Ramaswamy and Anson Frericks, focusing on integrating Bitcoin into standard investment portfolios for everyday Americans.

• Strive recently launched a wealth management arm, emphasizing Bitcoin as a hedge against various economic pressures.

• Vivek is a former presidential candidate and a current Trump surrogate.

• Strive has closed a $30M Series B investment round led by Cantor Fitzgerald.

• Strive plans to relocate from Columbus, Ohio, to Dallas, Texas.

• The company manages $1.7B in assets and promotes an "anti-ESG" investment strategy aimed at maximizing shareholder value.

Other cool products:

• Defx, an EVM-compatible DEX and L1.

• PoolTime, a prize-linked savings account.

• SynFutures, a permissionless on-chain orderbook.

• 4CAST, a platform on Solana for on-chain mini-games.

• Transient, an NFT innovation platform for creators, projects, and ecosystems.

CHARTS OF THE WEEK

Trump's Election Odds Drop Over 10%

State of play: Donald Trump's odds of winning the presidency have fallen over 10% on prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket as the election approaches.

• Trump’s odds have decreased by an average of 3.8% across these markets in the past week.

• On Polymarket, Trump's odds dropped from a high of 71.5% in July to ~57%, and on Kalshi, they fell from 65.2% to ~55%.

• In the context of these fluctuations, a French man named Théo, who placed a $30M bet on Trump's victory, denied any political connections or agenda.

• He stated that his bets were made with his own money based on the belief that polls were underestimating Trump.

• Théo claims a Trump win could yield him $80M, and he assesses Trump's chances of victory at 80-90%.

Our take: We shall see how this bet resolves.

Coinbase Shares Fall 15% on Disappointing Earnings

State of play: Coinbase shares fell 15.3% on Thursday last week, marking the largest drop since July 2022, after the company reported weaker-than-expected third-quarter earnings.

• Coinbase's net income of $75M missed analysts' expectations of $112.2M.

• Coinbase’s net revenue declined to $1.13B from $1.38B in the previous quarter.

• Despite the disappointing earnings, Coinbase announced a $1B share buyback program to demonstrate confidence in its operations.

• Coinbase’s letter to shareholders shows optimism about the future, citing a shift in political attitudes toward crypto.

• Coinbase pledged a $25M donation to a pro-crypto super PAC ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Our take: It remains to be seen if Coinbase’s effort in its institutional ETF business, offshore exchange business, and onchain Base L2 business will eventually make a significant improvement to its business model.

QUICK BITES

• Metawin loses $4M to exploits.

• Trump's odds fall 10% from highs on Polymarket.

• 21Shares files with SEC to launch XRP ETF in the US.

• Ethereum researchers drop EigenLayer advisor positions.

• Singapore pushes for the commercialization of tokenization.

• Taiwan’s FSC to heighten scrutiny of crypto listings on exchanges.

• UBS launched a tokenized money market investment fund on Ethereum.

NOTEWORTHY READS & MEME

• Jameson Lopp’s read on ossification.

• Dirt Roads’ read on prediction markets.

• Page One’s read on the creators’ economy.

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Disclaimer: All the information presented in this publication and its affiliates is strictly for educational purposes only. It should not be construed or taken as financial, legal, investment, or any other form of advice.