Hey, it’s Marc. I write about Bitcoin, Web3, and technology. ✌️

Welcome to another issue of my obsessively curated field notes.

“An optimistic civilization is open and not afraid to innovate, and is based on traditions of criticism.”

The timing for the EU parliament to approve MiCA, likely the most comprehensive framework for crypto assets globally, couldn’t be better. While the most liberal crypto folks might argue against most regulation, many see MiCA as a big win for the European digital asset space as it provides clear guidelines. And in this case, clarity is indeed better than uncertainty.

The SEC plans to start regulating DeFi platforms by amending the definition of an “exchange”. This might end the dreams of “permissionless, decentralized” DeFi – at least in the US. Projects such as Swiss-based Polimec are actively building on “regulatory compliant DeFi”.

Societe Generale has launched its Euro-pegged stablecoin on Ethereum. Apparently, every ERC-20 transfer must be approved in a separate ETH transaction submitted by a centralized registrar. Ups. Link

NYT article on Bitcoin mining’s electricity pollution made waves. Some of it was simply incorrect. Here’s what’s key:

Apparently, $100m worth of gold was stolen at Canada airport. Luckily, you don’t need to transport Bitcoin through airports. 🤭 Link