The governance token of the rollup-based Layer-2 network Optimism has gone live. The token is set to shift the network’s structure by fueling the Optimism Collective, a governance system for funding composed of the Token House and the Citizens’ House.

Cryptocurrency companies have raised a record $30 billion of venture capital (VC) last year with the number of deals occurring in the sector remaining elevated even as digital asset prices fall, according to Morgan Stanley.

Russia’s central bank is said to be open to allowing the use of cryptocurrencies in international payments in what appears to be a possible relaxation of its opposition to digital assets.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Optimism’s Governance Token Goes Live
• Crypto Firms Raised $30 Billion of Venture Capital Last Year
• Russian Central Bank Open to Using Crypto for International Payments
• Crypto Investment Products’ AUM Declined 28% in May

Optimism’s Governance Token Goes Live

The governance token of the rollup-based Layer-2 network Optimism has gone live. The token is set to shift the network’s structure by fueling the Optimism Collective, a governance system for funding composed of the Token House and the Citizens’ House.

The token is trading under the ticker OP and was distributed via an airdrop to individuals who used the Optimism network before March 25. A total of 231,000 addresses can now claim 214 million tokens, equivalent to 5% of the supply.

The airdrop brings forward the Token House so OP holders can vote on projects associated with Optimism. Citizens’ House comes later this year to facilitate and govern funding for projects aimed at promoting public goods.

Rumors Optimism was launching a governance token started circulating on April 20, when an OP token page was spotted on Coinbase.

An additional 14% of OP’s overall supply has been reserved for future airdrops. A portion of the token’s supply is also set to be distributed to projects operating on Optimism.

Crypto Firms Raised $30 Billion of Venture Capital Last Year

Cryptocurrency companies raised a record $30 billion of venture capital (VC) last year with the number of deals occurring in the sector remaining elevated even as digital asset prices fall, according to Morgan Stanley.

In a report, the Wall Street giant noted deal activity is likely to drop, mirroring trends in other venture capital categories. The number of VC investments in cryptocurrency projects peaked in December, and could now slide as much as 50% by year-end if the industry matches other sectors.

Morgan Stanley’s report adds that the “worsening performance of some of the largest tech/crypto investors who are prioritizing existing holdings over deploying further dry powder” and the exit of “tourist capital” from token and equity investments could exacerbate the slowdown.

The bank says plentiful U.S. dollar liquidity and rising crypto prices fueled VC investments in the sector last year to more than 1,800 deals.

Russian Central Bank Open to Using Crypto for International Payments

Russia’s central bank is said to be open to allowing the use of cryptocurrencies in international payments in what appears to be a possible relaxation of its opposition to digital assets.

The central bank’s First Deputy Governor, Ksenia Yudaeva, has said that “in principle” the bank does not “object to the use of cryptocurrency in international transactions.” Yudaeva reiterated, however, that the central bank sees the wider use of cryptocurrency in the country as a threat. She said:

“We still believe that the active use of cryptocurrency within the country, especially within Russia’s financial infrastructure, creates great risks for citizens and users. We believe that in our country those risks could be reasonably large.”

Yudaeva’s comments come after Russia’s Finance Ministry said that allowing cryptocurrency to be used to settle international payments would help Russia counter the impact of Western sanctions.

Crypto Investment Products’ AUM Declined 28% in May

Cryptocurrency investment products have seen their assets under management plunge in May over falling cryptoassets prices in a sell-off exacerbated by the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, which saw LUNA and its algorithmic stablecoin become nearly worthless.

CryptoCompare’s latest Digital Asset Management Review details that last month, Bitcoin investment products’ assets under management fell 26.8% to $24 billion, but gained market share to now represent 70.1% of total assets under management.

Ethereum investment products, meanwhile, saw their assets under management fall 33.9% to $8.52 billion, while “other” and “basket” investment products fell 30.1% and 32.7% to $1.118 billion and $509 million respectively.

Every company saw their assets under management fall significantly last month, with the largest dollar value being Grayscale, which lost almost $10.6 billion in assets under management-.The largest percentage decrease belongs to Bitwise, which saw its AUM drop 33.8%.

Learn more via CryptoCompare’s Digital Assets Management Review.

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