GM, GM, crypto fam! Welcome to your number one source for crypto news, DeFi, and everything in between. If you want to know what's going on in the world onchain, well, you've come to the right place.

What's in this email

1. Pavel Durov arrested in France
2. New Base onchain score
3. Anchorage Digital offering PYUSD rewards

Don't forget to check out the best longform "Good Reads" at the end of the email

Pavel Durov arrested in France

On Saturday night, Telegram's CEO Pavel Durov was arrested as he stepped off his private jet in France, where he planned to spend one-night having dinner.

He's now detained in French custody and has been charged with failing to prevent fraud, drug trafficking, organized crime, terrorism promotion, and cyber-bullying on his platform.

This morning, the charges against an unnamed person assumed to be Durov were announced:

1. Complicity - Administration of an online platform to enable an illicit transaction in an organized group,
2. Refusal to communicate, upon requests from authorized authorities, the information or documents necessary for the implementation and exploitation of interceptions authorized by law,
3. Complicity - Possession of an image of a minor with a pedo-pornographic nature,
4. Complicity - Distribution, offering, or making available in an organized group an image of a minor with a pornographic nature,
5. Complicity - Acquisition, transport, possession, offering, or sale of narcotics,
6. Complicity - Offering, selling, or making available without legitimate reason any equipment, instrument, program, or data designed or adapted for an attack on and access to the functioning of an automated data processing system,
7. Complicity - Fraud in an organized group,
8. Association of criminals with the intent to commit a crime or an offense punishable by 5 years.
9. Laundering of the proceeds derived from organized group’s offenses and crimes,
10. Providing cryptology services aiming to ensure confidentiality without certified declaration,
11. Providing a cryptology tool not solely ensuring authentication or integrity monitoring without prior declaration,
12. Importing a cryptology tool ensuring authentication or integrity monitoring without prior declaration.

Durov faces up to 20 years in prison.

Durov is Russian but also holds French and UAE citizenship.

The core accusations against Durov are that he is failing to moderate Telegram against a litany of crimes and not cooperating with authorities.

This morning, French President Emmanuel Macron posted on X:

I have seen false information regarding France following the arrest of Pavel Durov.

France is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship. It will remain so.

In a state governed by the rule of law, freedoms are upheld within a legal framework, both on social media and in real life, to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights.

It is up to the judiciary, in full independence, to enforce the law.

The arrest of the president of Telegram on French soil took place as part of an ongoing judicial investigation. It is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to rule on the matter.

Over the years, Durov has steered Telegram away from any and all government intrusions. He famously left Russia back in 2013 when the coup in Ukraine first took place, and he refused to give Russian authorities any data on its users or the encryption keys.

As a result, Durov's arrest will be twisted to fit ongoing political narratives. Independence comes at a cost.

EU officials claim Telegram enabled Russian military operations and violated the Digital Services Act. Russian officials are calling out France's detainment. Elon and Snowden are decrying "attacks on free speech."

No official charges have been announced yet, and Durov's detention has been extended to a maximum of 96 hours.

TON fell 17% on the news after Durov's arrest. The TON community released the following statement:

Following the recent news related to the Telegram’s founder Pavel Durov, we want to assure everyone that the TON community remains strong and fully operational.

As a community committed to freedom of speech and decentralization, we stand firmly by Pavel during this challenging time. Pavel has been a dedicated advocate for these values, and we believe his efforts to promote an open and decentralized internet will continue to inspire millions.

The TON community remains focused on our mission, and we will continue our work to uphold these principles globally. We encourage everyone to stay calm, united, and to keep building as we navigate this situation together. Thank you for your continued support.

What's your Base onchain score?

How much of a Base-head are you? You can now check any address for its on-chain score.

The score considers your transaction count, activity level, current daily streak, and more.

Anchorage is bringing stablecoin rewards to PYUSD

Selected institutions can now earn competitive rewards on PayPal USD (PYUSD) balances held at Anchorage Digital or in its recently launched institutional self-custody wallet, Porto. 

“Crypto innovators want to put their treasury cash to work but cannot compromise on asset security or accessibility. That’s why Anchorage Digital is proud to work with PayPal, a publicly-traded company with a proven track record in crypto innovation to launch Anchorage Digital’s stablecoin rewards program featuring PYUSD. Anchorage Digital looks forward to working with crypto innovators—including protocols, foundations, VCs, and startups—to unlock the next phase of growth by supporting access to our stablecoin rewards program.” - Nathan McCauley, CEO and Co-Founder of Anchorage Digital

With interest rates at 5%, this type of program allows institutions, exchanges, and other projects to capture part of the revenues earned by PYUSD and potentially funnel them back to users.

Expect PYUSD LP rewards on Curve and other DEXs to increase dramatically in the next few weeks.

PYUSD supply recently crossed $1bn as the stablecoin has grown to be the 3rd largest on Solana, with 64% of its $1.01 billion market cap on the network. It now trails behind USD Coin (USDC) with $2.55 billion and Tether (USDT) with $723.5 million.

The rapid growth resulted from several of Solana's largest DeFi protocols offering incentives. Money market Kamino doubled its rewards for PYUSD, offering $382.5 weekly. MarginFi soon followed with rewards, now offering 15% on a capped $60m of deposits.

Aave, Morpho, and Euler walk into a bar

Good Reads

• Delphi Digital publishes DeAI III: Composable Compute
• Mitchell Amador analyzes the real impact of an onchain hack
• The Giver analysis "The Ethical Long - Cycles and Capital Formation"
• Three Sigma publishes Unleashing the Power of Fuel: A Deep Dive into the Future of Ethereum Rollups and Sway
• Vitalik comments on the EF's ETH sales
• Vitalik also talks about what type of apps he likes on ETH – DeFi is not one of them.
• Vitalik continues his thoughts on DeFi and USDC
• Wei Dai writes TL;DR for the AO Whitepaper in Ethereum Lingo