☕️ On today's Top Picks:

📰 Crypto News

• ⭐️ Infura unveils partners that will power its Decentralized Infrastructure Network (DIN), a decentralized RPC-as-a-service solution.

• US SEC delays decision on Hashdex's application to convert Hashdex Bitcoin futures ETF to spot ETF, but said it would make a decision by Jan 2024.

• Blackrock files for spot Ethereum ETF with US SEC.

• Binance to launch cryptocurrency exchange in Thailand through joint venture with Gulf Energy.

• Tether to invest $500M in Bitcoin mining farms over the next 6 months.

• ⭐️ Nick Johnson, lead developer at Ethereum Name Service; criticizes Unstoppable Domains for patenting blockchain domain technology.

• Aave companies rebrand to Avara that umbrellas Aave, Lens Protocol, GHO, Sonar, and Family.

• EigenLayer launches Stage 2 testnet for EigenLayer and EigenDA that introduces new functionality for restakers, operators, and developers.

• Paxos to launch new USD-backed stablecoin in Singapore.

• Chainflip Labs announces $FLIP Token Generation Event (TGE) set for Nov 23rd.

• Web3 Foundation launches Decentralized Futures, a Polkadot initiative that allocates 20M USD and 5M $DOT to fuel projects.

• US Court dismisses a class-action lawsuit against Tether and Bitfinex.

• New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) unveils new restrictions that mandate cryptocurrency companies submit their coin listing and delisting policies for NYDFS approval.

• a16z crypto releases State of crypto 2023: Spotlight on crypto policy report.

⚡ Alpha

• Olimpio posts Gitcoin Grants 19 thread containing a list of projects to donate to on X.

• Polygon zkEVM Saga Campaign week 5 is live on Intract.

• Stargate launches educational campaign on Galxe.

• Starknet Quest launches LaFamiglia Rose quest in partnership with Nostra Finance.

• Catalyst launches Lynx Testnet - opBNB & BNB Chain quest on Galxe.

• the Farcaster: Fennec Fox NFT on Zora or Warpcast.

• DeBank reveals new Web3 Badge. Users who have a Total Value of Followers (TVF) greater than $1B on DeBank can mint the badge beginning Nov 18th.

🪂 Airdrops

• ⭐️ Pyth Network announces retrospective airdrop claim process is set to open on Nov 20th at 1400 UTC.

• Airdrop Official posts airdrop updates about Jupiter, Pyth, Celestia, Starknet, Linea, and LayerZero on X.

• mztacat posts thread on EtherScore, a Web3 reputation system; on X.

📰 Finance News

• South Korea’s National Pension Service buys ~$20M worth of Coinbase $COIN shares.

• ⭐️ US SEC requests federal judge force Elon Musk to testify regarding his acquisition of X.

• South Korean prosecutors call for Samsung chairman Jay Y. Lee to be jailed on charges of accounting fraud and stock price manipulation.

• Philippines to offer tokenized government treasury bonds worth $179M starting Nov. 20th.

• Exxon Mobil to invest up to $15B in a petrochemical project and carbon capture and storage (CCS) facilities in Indonesia.

🛡 Security and Exploits

• Poloniex deposit and withdrawal services set to resume in the coming week.

• ⭐️ Solana Labs states, "The CertiK video does not reveal any known vulnerability or security threat to Saga holders," in reference to CertiK's claims that the Solana phone has a bootloader vulnerability.

• ZachXBT posts warning regarding a large network of bot accounts impersonating him and other prominent companies that will claim x project is hacked and then lead the victim to a phishing link.

Token Unlocks

• Oasis Network / 196M $ROSE / ~$13.01M / 18 NOV

💰 Funding

• Taproot Wizards, a Bitcoin Ordinals project; raises $7.5M in Seed funding led by Standard Crypto.

• Sleek, a Web3 social network platform; raises $5M in Seed funding

• Shardbound, a Web3 multiplayer collectible tactics game; raises $5M.

• Hinkal, a privacy protocol; raises $4.1M in funding led by Draper Associates.

• Union, a hyper-efficient zero-knowledge interoperability layer; raises $4M in Seed funding led by Galileo.

• Rho Protocol, an onchain interest rates market for institutions; raises $2.2M in pre-Seed funding led by Speedinvest.

• Artifact, a universal player profile platform; raises $2M in pre-Seed funding.

• Nirvana Labs, a blockchain infrastructure company; raises $1.2M in pre-Seed funding.

🌾 The Degen Farmer