Today's news tips:
Lee Ka-chiu: Promote the application of artificial intelligence in innovative financial services such as central bank digital currency and virtual asset trading
US prosecutors recommend five-year prison sentence for mastermind of 2016 Bitfinex cryptocurrency heist
Binance will launch BNSOL/USDT spot trading pair
Grayscale applied to the US SEC to convert its hybrid crypto fund containing BTC, ETH and SOL into an ETF
Kraken supports its users to re-stake ETH on EigenLayer
Securitize Launches USDC Conversion Service to Tokenize BlackRock’s BUIDL Fund
SingularityDAO plans to merge with Cogito Finance and SelfKey to form an AI-centric Layer-2 network
Blockchain game developer Azra Games completes $42 million Series A financing, led by Pantera Capital
Regulatory News
Lee Ka-chiu: Promote the application of artificial intelligence in innovative financial services such as central bank digital currency and virtual asset trading
According to Jinshi, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said: The government will continue to promote the policy stance and guidelines of innovative financial services such as central bank digital currency, mobile payment, virtual bank, virtual insurance, and virtual asset trading. The measures include: 1. Promoting cross-border payment applications with central bank digital currency. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is actively testing and exploring more technical solutions and scenarios related to cross-border trade settlement on a variety of central bank digital currency cross-border networks, and expanding the participation of public and private institutions. 2. Improving the regulation of virtual assets and transactions. The Treasury Bureau will complete the second round of consultation on the regulation of virtual asset over-the-counter transactions and submit a virtual licensing system for virtual asset custody service providers. 3. Promoting the tokenization of real-world assets and the digital currency ecosystem. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is promoting the Ensemble project.
US prosecutors recommend five-year prison sentence for mastermind of 2016 Bitfinex cryptocurrency heist
U.S. prosecutors have recommended to a judge that Ilya Lichtenstein, the mastermind of the largest cryptocurrency theft in history, should be sentenced to five years in prison for a money laundering conspiracy related to the $6 billion 2016 Bitfinex exchange hack, according to Bloomberg. Lichtenstein, who pleaded guilty last year, should serve more time than his rapper wife and co-conspirator Heather Morgan, the government revealed in court documents on Tuesday. Last week, prosecutors had said Morgan, the rapper who calls herself "Wall Street Crocodile," should be sentenced to 18 months in prison. Prosecutors said Lichtenstein fits the profile of a young cybercriminal whose online activities "have become normalized to some extent, thereby trivializing the impact on victims." "A severe sentence in this case will help break that cycle," government lawyers told a federal judge in Washington. Prosecutors did not ask for the maximum sentence for Lichtenstein, taking into account his cooperation in other criminal cases. Earlier this year, he testified in the government's case against the Bitcoin Fog mixing service for money laundering. They will be sentenced in November.
Italy Plans to Increase Capital Gains Tax on Bitcoin from 26% to 42%
According to Bloomberg, Italy plans to increase capital gains tax on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin from 26% to 42%.
Project News
Aethir: Today's ATH large transfers by the foundation are for various funding programs, please don't panic
@Jadenonclouds, chief architect of decentralized GPU cloud computing provider Aethir, posted on the X platform: "The Aethir Foundation will begin transferring some ATH tokens to separate wallets for the various funding programs we plan. Users may notice some large ATH changes today. Please don't panic. Each different funding wallet will be labeled in the next few days." Aethir officials also forwarded this post and said: "Preparation for the ecological fund has begun. This $100 million fund will support various growth plans of artificial intelligence and game innovators. Applications are open." Earlier news, Aethir launched a $100 million ecological fund to accelerate AI and game innovation.
Binance will launch BNSOL/USDT spot trading pair
According to the official announcement, Binance will launch the BNSOL/USDT spot trading pair at 16:00 (GMT+8) on October 17, 2024. In addition, Binance will open trading robot services for the following trading pairs at 16:00 (GMT+8) on October 17, 2024: BNSOL/USDT (spot algorithmic orders). Binance Leverage will add BNSOL collateral assets, BNSOL/USDT full-position and single-position leveraged trading pairs, and BNSOL/SOL full-position leveraged trading pairs at 18:00 (GMT+8) on October 17, 2024.
Gotbit: CEO has been arrested in Portugal and will fully cooperate with the investigation to clear up misunderstandings
Market maker Gotbit officially posted on X: "Our CEO Alex Andryunin was arrested in Portugal. We don't have more details at the moment, but rest assured that your account at Gotbit is safe. Our goal is to prove the innocence of the company and CEO Alex Andryunin. We are ready to fully cooperate with the authorities, provide all necessary documents to support the investigation, and quickly resolve this misunderstanding. We will update as soon as we have more information."
The cause of the serious security issues in the Cosmos Hub liquidity staking module was revealed, including the involvement of North Korean agents in most of the code writing
All in Bits, a software development company in the Cosmos ecosystem, said it had discovered the reasons why the Liquidity Staking Module (LSM) of the Cosmos Hub had serious security issues, including that most of the LSM code was written by North Korean agents; LSM is not an independent module, but a set of modifications to the existing staking, allocation, and slashing modules, which may affect all staked ATOMs; vulnerabilities that allow slashing circumvention still exist; 19 months of unaudited code changes; major misrepresentations by Zaki Manian and Iqlusion; lack of transparency in ICF, Stride Labs, and informal systems. All in Bits recommends an immediate fix for the major staking vulnerabilities of LSM; an immediate and comprehensive LSM audit; a full disclosure of the timeline of investigations involving North Korean agents; a blacklist of ICF-related parties; and a new audit and oversight protocol for ICF-funded projects.
a16z co-founder: I have no relationship with Meme coin GOAT and do not play any role in it
Marc Andreessen, co-founder of a16z, posted on the X platform: "To be clear, this summer I sent a $50,000 unconditional research grant of my own money to terminal of truths and its founder Andy Ayrey, which had no strings attached. The grant was designed to support independent AI research and has been fruitful. However, I have nothing to do with the Meme coin GOAT. I did not participate in its creation, play no role in it, have no financial interest, and do not hold any of the Meme coins."
Canary Capital Group, co-founded by former Valkyrie Funds, submits Litecoin ETF application to the US SEC
According to CoinDesk, Canary Capital Group, a new investment company focusing on digital assets, submitted an S-1 application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday to launch the Canary Litecoin ETF. The S-1 document is a necessary document for a company to issue new securities and list them on a public stock exchange. It is one of the two documents required to launch an exchange-traded product (the other is a 19b-4 filing document). Canary Capital Group was founded by Steven McClurg, the former co-founder of Valkyrie Funds. It has only been established for about a month and submitted an XRP fund application to the U.S. SEC a week ago.
Grayscale applied to the US SEC to convert its hybrid crypto fund containing BTC, ETH and SOL into an ETF
Grayscale Investments submitted an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday to convert its hybrid crypto fund containing Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP and Avalanche into an exchange-traded fund (ETF), The Block reported. The company has previously converted Bitcoin and Ethereum funds into ETFs. According to the company's website, Grayscale's cryptocurrency-based financial instrument, its Digital Large Cap Fund, trades under the symbol GDLC, is currently traded in the over-the-counter market with $524 million in assets under management. The fund is mainly composed of Bitcoin, accounting for nearly 75%, followed by Ethereum, accounting for about 19%. According to company documents, the rest is composed of SOL, XRP and AVAX.
Ripple reveals exchange and market maker partners for its RLUSD stablecoin, awaiting regulatory approval
According to CoinDesk, Ripple Labs announced that its upcoming exchange and market maker partners for the dollar-pegged stablecoin RLUSD are awaiting regulatory approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). Ripple has partnered with exchanges such as Bitstamp, Bitso, and Bullish, while Keyrock and B2C2 will serve as market makers for RLUSD. Monica Long, president of Ripple Labs, said that RLUSD will serve as an important bridge between payments and tokenization of real assets, and will be supported by short-term U.S. Treasury bonds, U.S. dollar deposits, and cash equivalents as its value. RLUSD plans to be tested on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum networks and is expected to be launched in the near future.
Arthur Hayes: I have significantly reduced my Meme coin holdings. The only Meme coin I currently hold is SCF.
Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, said in his latest article that due to geopolitical risks, he was prepared for a significant reduction in the value of his positions. When the situation in Iran and Israel escalated, he had significantly reduced his previously purchased Meme coins. The only Meme coin currently held is SCF. Arthur also said that there has been no instruction yet to Maelstrom's investment director Akshat to slow down or stop deploying funds to pre-sale token transactions. For the idle fiat currency held by Maelstrom, it will be pledged on Ethena to earn lucrative interest income while waiting for the opportunity to buy various cryptocurrencies with poor liquidity.
Kraken supports its users to re-stake ETH on EigenLayer
According to Decrypt, the crypto exchange Kraken said in a statement on Tuesday that its users can now re-stake ETH on the Ethereum network and receive additional rewards through projects on EigenLayer. This new feature aims to broaden investors' access to on-chain income opportunities and make re-staking easier for "a wider range of customers." Kraken's Staked will serve as a validator for ETH re-staking, and participating users can hold their rewards on Kraken or exchange them for fiat currency or other cryptocurrencies.
Securitize Launches USDC Conversion Service to Tokenize BlackRock’s BUIDL Fund
According to Decrypt, asset tokenization company Securitize announced the launch of a conversion service between Circle's stablecoin USDC for BlackRock's USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL). The move aims to reduce investment costs and simplify the subscription process for traditional financial investors to participate in BUIDL. Securitize has partnered with BlackRock to issue BUIDL tokens through the Ethereum blockchain. Blockchain infrastructure company Zero Hash will be responsible for the conversion service between the US dollar and digital assets. The BUIDL fund is currently valued at approximately US$550 million and allows institutional investors to invest in safe assets such as US Treasuries by purchasing tokenized shares and enjoy advantages such as instant settlement and enhanced liquidity.
SingularityDAO plans to merge with Cogito Finance and SelfKey to form an AI-centric Layer-2 network
According to CoinDesk, SingularityDAO, Cogito Finance and SelfKey plan to merge to form a new project Singularity Finance (SFI) focused on tokenizing the artificial intelligence (AI) economy. The new entity will provide a Layer-2 network for tokenizing assets such as GPUs and providing AI-driven financial tools. The merger will convert SelfKey's existing token KEY into SFI, while SingularityDAO's SDAO and Cogito's CGV tokens will be merged into SFI at a ratio of 1:80.353 and 1:10.89, respectively. The process may be adjusted based on discussions among stakeholders. Previously, SingularityNET completed a similar merger with AI projects such as Fetch.ai and Ocean Protocol in June.
Financing News
Blockchain game developer Azra Games completes $42 million Series A financing, led by Pantera Capital
Azra Games, a blockchain video game development company, announced the completion of a $42 million Series A financing, led by Pantera Capital, bringing the total financing amount to $68.3 million. Azra Games was founded in 2022 by veteran game designer Mark Otero, who was the developer of the hit game (Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes). Azra plans to develop a high-quality role-playing game called "Project Legends" and will integrate NFT and blockchain technology while promoting the development of the fourth generation of RPG games, first launched on mobile devices.
Blockstream Completes $210 Million Convertible Bond Financing, Led by Fulgur Ventures
According to The Block, Bitcoin infrastructure development company Blockstream announced the completion of $210 million in convertible bond financing, led by Fulgur Ventures. Blockstream plans to use the funds to accelerate the market application of its Layer 2 technology, expand its Bitcoin mining business, and enhance Bitcoin reserves. Blockstream's Layer 2 solutions include Liquid Network and Core Lightning, which are designed to boost the speed and cost efficiency of Bitcoin transactions. In addition, Blockstream also plans to leverage the asset tokenization potential of the Bitcoin ecosystem to build Liquid into an infrastructure for tokenizing real-world assets.
Opacity Network, a zero-knowledge proof data verification platform, completes $12 million seed round of financing, led by Archetype and others
Opacity Labs, the developer of Opacity Network, a data verification platform using zero-knowledge proofs, has raised $12 million in a seed round, The Block reported. Archetype and Breyer Capital co-led the round, with participation from a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator (CSX), Finality Capital Partners, Bodhi Ventures, and Escape Velocity (EV3). The company began fundraising in July and completed the round last month. The structure of this round of financing is a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) with a valuation cap and token warrants, and the specific valuation is not disclosed. This seed round of financing brings Opacity's total financing to $13.4 million, after the company's Pre-Seed round of financing of $1.4 million. According to reports, Opacity is a data verification network that uses zero-knowledge proofs, allowing users to verify information without revealing the underlying details. For example, an individual can verify the income of a mortgage application without revealing the actual amount. Opacity uses zkTLS (zero-knowledge transport layer security), an extension of the standard TLS protocol that combines zero-knowledge proofs to enhance privacy and security during data transmission. In addition, it also adopts a multi-party computation (MPC) architecture and EigenLayer's Active Verification Service (AVS) to act as a verifier of user data.
Crypto derivatives exchange Bitnomial completes $25 million funding round led by Ripple Labs and launches futures trading platform in the U.S.
According to The Block, crypto derivatives exchange Bitnomial announced on Tuesday that it had raised $25 million in a round of funding led by Ripple Labs and launched Botanical, a perpetual futures trading platform in the United States. Botanical is currently in closed beta and will provide investors with ways to trade perpetual futures, traditional futures and options, and will "use" Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin to settle perpetual futures. Bitnomial CEO Luke Hoersten said in a statement: "By launching Botanical, we have taken a bold step towards our mission of providing a regulated and innovative trading experience, which will provide an alternative to the DEX and VPN-based solutions common in perpetual trading today." Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said in a statement: "Bitnomial's approach of introducing offshore trading models to the U.S. derivatives industry has brought huge market opportunities because they have established compliant derivatives markets for digital assets such as XRP." Tuesday's announcement comes after Bitnomial filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last week, with the startup accusing the agency of violating federal securities laws by claiming that the exchange's unlisted XRP futures products had violated federal securities laws. In 2020, Bitnomial was one of the few U.S. businesses to receive CFTC approval to manage a designated contract market. The approval allows Bitnomial to offer Bitcoin futures and options.
‘Cyber Nation’ Project Praxis Raises $525 Million to Build Crypto-Friendly Cities
According to The Block, the "cyber state" project Praxis announced on Tuesday that it has received $525 million in funding to build a technology-forward city to support the development of encryption, artificial intelligence, energy and biotechnology. Praxis is led by 28-year-old co-founder Dryden Brown, and it has provided a large number of new investors, including Arch Lending, Manifold Trading, GEM Digital, and angel investors such as Farcaster CEO Dan Romero and Worldcoin co-founder Max Novendstern. The project has previously raised funds from Paradigm, Alameda Research and Three Arrows Capital.
“Seeing institutions like BlackRock committing to cryptocurrencies, we designed a crypto-native mechanism to finance large projects using tokenized real-world assets and partnered with Global Emerging Markets, the largest new urban development in the Middle East,” Praxis said in a statement. This financing, which consists primarily of extraction instruments, represents the first deployment of the mechanism. The project website also states that it has nearly 14,000 “Praxians” living around the world.
It should be noted that GEM Digital's previous investments were suspected to have problems, and its usual tricks were "investment commitments" and "large investments". Previously, PANews reported in 2022 that most of the projects invested by GEM did not have any highlights, and were basically announced in the form of investment commitments rather than direct investments. By cooperating with the project party to send out good news and then selling after pulling up the market, the profit distribution with the project party was completed.
Important data
Data: World Liberty Financial's current sales are $11.25 million
According to official website data, as of 16:46 Beijing time today, the Trump family-backed crypto project World Liberty Financial has sold about 750.21 WLFI tokens in the public token sale, and the remaining number of tokens is 19.25 billion. Calculated at $0.015 per token, the sales volume is about $11.25 million.
Tesla moves its remaining Bitcoin reserves worth about $770 million to multiple new addresses
According to The Block, according to on-chain data tracked by analysis firm Arkham Research, Tesla, the electric car giant run by Elon Musk, has moved 11,509 bitcoins worth about $770 million to about seven new addresses. This appears to be the company's entire remaining bitcoin reserves. The company invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in February 2021. Tesla conducted six test transactions before these token transfers, the first time Tesla has interacted with its Bitcoin wallet since Tesla sold most of its assets in 2022. It is unclear why the company moved bitcoin after more than two years of inactivity, but some suspect it may be preparing to sell more bitcoin. As of October 15, the number of bitcoins held by Tesla was estimated at 9,720, worth about $650 million, far less than the 43,000 at its peak. However, Arkham believes that Tesla holds a total of up to 11,509 bitcoins in 68 addresses, worth about $770 million at current prices. Musk’s space exploration company SpaceX, which is set to report third-quarter financial results after the market closes on Oct. 23, holds an additional 8,285 bitcoins, according to BitcoinTreasuries estimates.
The total net inflow of the US Bitcoin spot ETF yesterday was US$371 million, and the ETF net asset ratio reached 4.8%
According to SoSoValue data, yesterday (October 15, Eastern Time), the total net inflow of Bitcoin spot ETFs was $371 million. Yesterday, Grayscale ETF GBTC had a single-day net inflow of $7.9929 million, and the current historical net outflow of GBTC is $20.142 billion. Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF BTC had a single-day net inflow of $13.3601 million, and the current historical total net inflow of Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust BTC is $419 million. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest single-day net inflow yesterday was BlackRock ETF IBIT, with a single-day net inflow of $289 million, and the current historical total net inflow of IBIT is $22.067 billion. The second is Fidelity ETF FBTC, with a single-day net inflow of $35.0345 million, and the current historical total net inflow of FBTC is $10.260 billion. As of press time, the total net asset value of the Bitcoin spot ETF was US$63.126 billion, the ETF net asset ratio (market value as a percentage of the total market value of Bitcoin) reached 4.8%, and the historical cumulative net inflow has reached US$19.734 billion.
Bitcoin's market share reaches highest level since April 2021
According to Cointelegraph, amid the sluggish altcoin market, as the price of cryptocurrencies continues to climb, Bitcoin's market share has reached its highest level since April 2021. TradingView data shows that early this morning, Bitcoin's dominance reached its highest point in three and a half years, or 58.77%, while the price of Bitcoin also reached a ten-week high.
GOAT’s market value exceeds $300 million, and its price has increased by 137% in 24 hours
The market data shows that the market value of AI concept Meme coin GOAT has exceeded US$300 million. The token price is currently at US$0.3020, with a 24-hour increase of 137%.
Ethereum Foundation sells 100 ETH for 257,900 DAI
On-chain data shows that the address 0xd77…1f4, which is used by the Ethereum Foundation to sell ETH in small amounts and at high frequency, sold 100 ETH at a price of US$2,579 per ETH 20 minutes ago in exchange for 257,900 DAI.
The SOL redeemed by FTX/Alameda yesterday has been distributed to 20 addresses, of which $17.59 million worth of SOL has flowed into CEX
According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin’s monitoring, as before, the 178,631 SOL (US$28 million) redeemed by FTX/Alameda yesterday were distributed to 20 addresses 8 hours ago. Among them, 113,515 SOL (US$17.59 million) have flowed into Coinbase and Binance. The current SOL transfer pattern of FTX/Alameda is: about 170,000 SOL are redeemed from the 12th to the 15th of each month and distributed to 20 addresses. Then most of the SOL flows into Coinbase and Binance.
