The a16z crypto Regulatory Update is a series that highlights the latest crypto regulation and policy happenings relevant to builders in web3 and crypto, as tracked and curated by the a16z crypto regulatory team. The roundups are based on recent news, the latest updates, new guidance, ongoing legislation, and frameworks released by regulatory agencies/bodies, industry consortia and professional associations, banks, governments, and other entities as they impact the crypto industry (or applications) around the world. We also occasionally include select other resources such as talks, posts, or other commentary – from us or from others – with the updates.

CertiK stated on social media that there were 751 security incidents in Web3 in 2023, resulting in losses of approximately 1.84 billion US dollars, a 51% decrease from 2022. Among them, the total loss of private key leakage incidents in 2023 exceeded 880 million US dollars, which was the highest among all types of incidents. The total loss of security incidents on Ethereum was 686 million US dollars, which was the highest among all chains. In addition, 35 cross-chain security incidents caused huge losses of nearly 800 million US dollars, highlighting the need to pay attention to interoperability vulnerabilities.

“When you’re young, you look at television and think, There’s a conspiracy. The networks have conspired to dumb us down. But when you get a little older, you realize that’s not true. The networks are in business to give people exactly what they want. That’s a far more depressing thought. Conspiracy is optimistic! You can shoot the bastards! We can have a revolution! But the networks are really in business to give people what they want. It’s the truth.” - Steve Jobs

Hong Kong Polytechnic University officially announced that two of its projects have received a total of approximately HKD 17.36 million in funding from the Intelligent Transportation Fund. Among them, the digital twin-based long-span bridge health monitoring project received approximately HKD 13.4 million in funding, while the blockchain information physical system for managing urban berths received HKD 3.95 million in funding. This project uses Web 3.0 and blockchain technology to establish decentralized identities for drivers, realize intelligent access control for parking lots, and develop spatiotemporal aggregation analysis systems, using artificial intelligence technology to evaluate the supply and demand of parking spaces.

Mantle Stake has now integrated with the OKX Web3 wallet. Users can stake ETH on Mantle Stake through the OKX Web3 wallet plugin, participate in network staking through validator nodes, receive tokens corresponding to their staked amount in mETH form, and earn profits. Mantle Stake is an Ethereum-based, permissionless, non-custodial liquidity staking protocol launched by the Mantle DAO team, focusing on providing liquidity staking derivatives for ETH stakers.It is reported that the OKX Web3 wallet is a one-stop Web3 gateway that supports 85+ public chains, with unified apps, plugins, and web interfaces covering five major areas: wallets, DEX, DeFi, NFT markets, and DApp exploration. It also supports Ordinals market, MPC and AA smart contract wallets, gas exchange, and hardware wallet connection.

According to a recent report by blockchain security firm Beosin, there has been a 53.9% decrease in total losses from hacks, phishing scams, and rug pulls in 2023 compared to the previous year. However, there has been an alarming surge in offline crypto crimes, with global losses increasing by 377% to $65.68 billion. DeFi projects faced the highest number of attacks, with 130 causing approximately $408 million in losses, while Ethereum experienced a substantial reduction in losses. The decline in cross-chain bridge attacks is a positive trend, responsible for only 7% of total losses. The report highlights significant attacks, including Mixin Network's cloud provider breach resulting in $200 million losses, Euler Finance's $197 million loss due to a contract vulnerability, and Poloniex's $126 million breach linked to a private key compromise.

As we enter 2024, the capital markets have found their footing and are moving higher. The Fed has taken interest rates as far as they want at this time and inflation has come down. It seems that a “soft landing” is likely. That is good news for the innovation economy because healthy capital markets are a necessary support system.

OKX Web3 DeFi has launched a subsidy campaign in collaboration with f(x). From 6:00 pm (UTC+8) on December 28, 2023 to 6:00 pm (UTC+8) on February 26, 2024, users can connect their wallets or create new OKX Web3 wallets and enter the DeFi page to search for f(x) for staking. Users can stake fETH and receive wstETH and up to 20% FXN rewards.

With gas low I was able to mint my next onchain piece; titled “Wanderer”. This image was taken with a gameboy camera. With cameras taking bigger and bigger images, forcing myself to create onchain and with a limited camera is thrilling. Both Wanderer and High In The City are available on Foundation for 0.1Eth.

According to official sources, Web3 content creation platform RepubliK has announced its integration with enterprise-level digital asset infrastructure provider Fireblocks.