Headlines
Biden campaign plans to hire meme manager to win support from young voters
According to The Washington Times, the Biden campaign plans to try to connect with Generation Z voters by hiring someone to manage its content and meme pages to communicate with young people, and in Daybook's job posting, the team is looking to hire a partner to manage Internet content for election campaigns, including meme content. The campaign believes that memes play an important role in presidential candidates trying to promote their campaigns.
zkSync issued a statement suggesting that it may not conduct witch report review
zkSync posted a message on the X platform suggesting that it may not conduct witch report review, and said that censorship is a killer of freedom and will also bring complete destruction to the project. Earlier news said that zkSync may plan to conduct TGE this week, with a total token supply of 21 billion. The screenshot of the internal message shows that the zkSync token airdrop is expected to occur around June 13.
Taiko officially announced the launch of the TKO airinvestment qualification inquiry page, which will allocate 5% of the initial supply.
Taiko, the Ethereum L2 network based on zkRollup, officially announced the launch of the first phase of the TKO airdrop on the X platform early this morning, and launched the airdrop qualification query page. It is reported that 5% of the initial token supply will be provided in the first phase. Users have 7 days to check their qualifications. After the check is completed, the claim window will be opened, and eligible users will have one month to claim TKO. Please note that the TKO airdrop claim has not yet been launched. Please refer to the official release information and beware of related scams. According to the TKO token economics model, its total supply is 1 billion, with the following specific distribution: -DAO Teasury accounts for 20%; -Guardian Prover Bonds account for 2%; -Grants RetroPGF accounts for 5%; -Trailblazer airdrop accounts for 10%; -Protocol Guild airdrop accounts for 1%; -Genesis airdrop accounts for up to 5%; -Liquidity and market making account for 5%; -Investors account for 11.62%; -Taiko Labs/Core Team accounts for 20%; -Taiko Foundation reserves account for 16.88%; -Taiko Official Prover Bonds account for 1.5%.
Industry News
Hong Kong Privacy Commissioner rules that Worldcoin violates privacy law and orders it to stop collecting iris and facial images
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data has completed its investigation into the Worldcoin project. Privacy Commissioner Chung Lai-ling ruled that the operation of Worldcoin in Hong Kong violated the Privacy Ordinance and has issued an enforcement notice requiring it to stop collecting citizens' iris and facial images with iris scanning devices. The investigation results show that Worldcoin violated the data protection principles of the Privacy Ordinance regarding the collection, retention, transparency, access and correction of personal data. The collection of facial and iris images was not necessary and was excessive. As for the fact that Worldcoin would retain personal data for up to 10 years for the training of artificial intelligence models for identity verification procedures, the Office believes that this period is too long and constitutes excessive retention of personal data. The Office also pointed out that when or before "World Coin" collected personal data, participants were not clearly informed of the information required by law, including the purpose of collecting personal data and the rights and methods of participants to access and correct personal data; "World Coin" collected personal data unfairly, and the relevant "Privacy Statement" and "Biometric Data Consent Form" not only lacked Chinese versions, but the staff at the operating point would not explain or confirm to the participants that they understood the contents of the documents, nor would they inform the participants of the risks of disclosing biometric data to them or answer the participants' questions. (Hong Kong Radio)
Gary Gensler Opposes Crypto Regulation Bill Ahead of House Vote FIT 21
U.S. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said on Wednesday that the 21st Century Financial Innovation and Technology Act (FIT 21) will harm investors and hinder the work of the SEC. He said FIT 21 will create new regulatory gaps, undermine decades of precedent on investment contract regulation, and expose investors and capital markets to immeasurable risks. FIT 21 is a bill jointly proposed by the House Agriculture Committee and the House Financial Services Committee to clarify how the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulate cryptocurrencies. The bill creates the term "digital commodities" for digital assets that do not meet the definition of securities, placing these assets under the supervision of the CFTC. Gensler believes that FIT 21 can allow cryptocurrency companies to self-certify that their cryptocurrency investments and products are "decentralized" and belong to the "special category" of "digital commodities", thereby avoiding SEC review. Gensler said the agency's ability to challenge these self-certifications will be limited by resource constraints, which could result in the vast majority of the cryptocurrency market being unregulated. Gensler also said the bill excludes cryptocurrency trading platforms from the definition of an exchange and repeals historically tested frameworks such as the Howey test, which will ultimately put investors at risk. The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the bill later Wednesday. (CoinDesk)
WisdomTree to List Physical Bitcoin and Ethereum ETPs on London Stock Exchange
Asset management company WisdomTree (WT) has received approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to list cryptocurrency exchange-traded products (ETPs) on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). According to an announcement on Wednesday, WisdomTree's physical Bitcoin (BTCW) and physical Ethereum (ETHW) ETPs are expected to start trading on May 28 and will be open only to professional investors with a fee rate of 35 basis points. WisdomTree said it was one of the first applicants to receive approval for its prospectus from the UK regulator. WisdomTree has more than $111 billion in global assets under management, and its WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund (BTCW) was one of the bitcoin spot ETFs approved by the United States in January. WisdomTree has offered cryptocurrency products on European exchanges since 2019. (CoinDesk)
Market News: BlackRock Confirms Spot Ethereum ETF Does Not Participate in Staking
According to market news, according to the spot Ethereum ETF application documents submitted by BlackRock, THE ISHARES ETHEREUM TRUST will not be involved in Ethereum staking.
NYSE Submits Amended 19B-4 Update for Bitwise Spot Ethereum ETF
According to market news, the New York Stock Exchange has submitted a 19 B-4 revised update for the Bitwise Spot Ethereum ETF, and it is reported that the ETF is expected to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The UK will hold a general election on July 4, and the Conservative Party may step down. The future of the cryptocurrency center plan is unclear.
The UK will hold an early general election on July 4, which may lead to the loss of power of the pro-cryptocurrency Conservative Party. The Conservative Party is committed to making the UK a cryptocurrency center and promoting legislation to recognize digital assets as regulated financial services. In March this year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated the cryptocurrency legislation plan at 10 Downing Street. It is expected that stablecoin and pledge-related legislation will be introduced within weeks, but no specific plan has been proposed. In the 2019 general election, the Conservative Party won 365 seats in the House of Commons and the Labour Party won 202 seats. However, the Conservative Party has experienced four prime ministers, including Liz Truss, who served the shortest time, and Boris Johnson, who resigned due to scandal. According to the latest polls, the Labour Party is leading in the upcoming general election and plans to make the UK a tokenization center and supports the Bank of England's digital pound plan, but has not yet expressed its position on cryptocurrency legislation. This election is not only about the fate of the Conservative Party's governance, but will also affect the future of the UK's cryptocurrency center plan.
The US House of Representatives will vote on the FIT 21 cryptocurrency bill for the first time today
The U.S. House of Representatives will vote for the first time this afternoon on the 21st Century Financial Innovation and Technology Act (FIT 21), a bill that aims to reshape the regulatory landscape for digital assets. It is expected to pass with bipartisan majority support. FIT 21 gives the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) greater power over the digital asset spot market and creates new jurisdictional boundaries for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry hopes the legislation will show momentum for digital assets. A handful of Democrats are expected to support it along with most Republicans, but prospects in the Senate are uncertain, with the White House expressing opposition but not threatening a veto. Supporters such as Jim Himes and Ro Khanna see the bill as an important step. Opponents such as Maxine Waters worry that deregulation could lead to market chaos. Groups including the AFL-CIO asked the House to oppose the bill, fearing that it would weaken existing securities laws and raise risks. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler warned that the bill could allow financial fraud to evade regulation.
Project News
Jupiter launches a massive unified market plan to bring multiple assets such as Meme Coin, RWA, etc. to Solana
Solana ecosystem DEX Jupiter announced the official launch of the "Giant Unified Market (GUM)" plan on the X platform, aiming to introduce Meme coins, RWA, stocks, and foreign exchange to the Solana chain and index them on Jupiter. In order to realize this vision on Solana, Jupiter launched the GUM Alliance composed of top asset, liquidity, and distribution teams, and will work with these partners to complete three main tasks in the next few months: 1. Introduce more assets to Solana; 2. Create a liquid market for these assets; 3. Integrate these markets into Jupiter and encourage adoption.
Whales Market: It is expected that the MOCA airdrop will distribute an average of 140,000 MOCA per NFT
Whales Market posted on the X platform that its Pre-Market has recently launched Mocaverse (MOCA). 31.5% of the total supply of MOCA tokens (used for network incentives) will be airdropped to Moca ID and Moca NFT holders (as well as Moca contributors). According to its speculation, the average holding is estimated to be 140,000 MOCA/NFT.
Chaos Labs proposes to increase the supply and borrowing limit of assets such as WETH on Arbitrum Aave V3
Aave's official governance forum shows that Chaos Labs has initiated an ARFC proposal to increase the supply and borrowing limits of some assets on Aave V3 on Arbitrum, including: -Increasing the WETH supply limit from 84,000 to 100,000, and the borrowing limit from 72,000 to 90,000; -Increasing the USDC supply limit from 200 million to 300 million, and the borrowing limit from 180 million to 270 million; -Increasing the WBTC supply limit from 4,200 to 5,000, and the borrowing limit remains at 1,100, without change. If the proposal is passed by the community vote, Chaos Labs will promote and implement these updates through the Risk Steward process.
Kakarot launches Sepolia testnet, opens public whitelist testnet phase
Kakarot, a zkEVM network built on the Cairo language, announced the launch of the Kakarot Sepolia testnet and the start of the public whitelist testnet phase. This is reportedly Kakarot’s first testnet phase.
PayPal: Exempt US users from exchange fees for BTC, ETH, etc. with PYUSD for a limited time of 6 days
PayPal announced on the X platform that in celebration of Bitcoin Pizza Day, from 10:00 pm on May 22, 2024 to 10:00 pm on May 28, 2024, there will be no exchange fee when converting PYUSD and BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH through the PayPal mobile app or official website. It is reported that this offer is only valid for PayPal cryptocurrency service users in the United States. For each conversion made during the promotion period, PayPal will disclose the applicable exchange rate, including the spread that varies according to market conditions. PayPal may cancel, suspend or modify this offer at any time at its sole discretion without prior notice.
Puffer Finance: The community will receive 1% of the total Olive airdrop tokens
LSD protocol Puffer Finance announced a partnership with Olive, a blockchain with native staking and re-staking returns. As part of this partnership, 1% of the total Olive airdrop tokens will be allocated to the Puffer community. The specific distribution is as follows: 1. 20% of the tokens will be distributed to all pufETH holders; 2. 80% will be reserved for new pufETH holders on the Olive chain.
MetaMask plans to integrate native Bitcoin network
According to people familiar with the matter, Consensys's Ethereum wallet MetaMask, which has more than 30 million monthly active users, is working to integrate native Bitcoin. One person said that access may be available within the next month, while another person familiar with the matter said that the functionality has not yet been determined, but it may be limited at first and gradually expanded over time. (Coindesk)
Renzo: Staking REZ earns ezPoints and provides bonus points to Season 1 airdrop participants
Renzo posted on the X platform that from May 22 to Season 2, staking REZ can earn ezPoints, and staking 5,000 REZ can earn 1 ezPoint per hour. In addition, Season 1 airdrop holders can get a 50% bonus, and they need to maintain a daily average REZ staking balance greater than the Season 1 REZ airdrop amount, and all Season 1 participants can get a 10% bonus. All bonuses will take effect at the end of Season 2.
Character*Voice
X platform plans to hide user "like" information, Vitalik suggests Farcaster to learn from Zupoll technology to implement ZK like
According to market news, X may hide all users' "likes" by default. In this regard, X engineer Haofei said: "Yes, we are making "likes" private. Public likes will incentivize wrong behaviors. For example, many people are afraid to like content that may be considered "excessive" for fear of retaliation from malicious commenters or to protect their public image. Soon, you will be able to like without worrying about who will see it. Also remind you that the more posts you like, the better your "recommended for you" algorithm will become." Vitalik Buterin commented on Warpcast: "This is a good decision. Preference fraud is a big problem in society, and we need to see people's true opinions. It would be very cool if Farcaster could follow suit and implement a zero-knowledge like (ZK likes) method. Maybe Zupoll's technology can be borrowed."
Coinbase CLO: Gary Gensler has informed the US Congress that securities laws apply to crypto assets involved in investment contracts
According to Coinbase CEO paulgrewal.eth’s post on X platform, Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, told the U.S. Congress today, May 22, that securities laws apply when crypto assets or crypto-related investment plans are offered or sold in the form of investment contracts. In addition, Gary Gensler told the U.S. Congress on May 6, 2021 that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has no regulatory framework for exchanges that trade crypto assets.
VanEck Digital Asset Research Director: Banks have also joined the ranks of those supporting the repeal of SAB 121
Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, said on Space that some entities with great financial influence have influenced ETF approvals. They have caused a shift in the SEC's actions, and you can see who is supporting the repeal of SAB 121, which is the banks, because they see the funds available in the custody and trading of these digital assets.
Cancellation of staking plan may weaken demand for spot Ethereum ETF
Many in the crypto market believe that the key changes made by issuers to spot Ethereum ETF applications are good for the Ethereum blockchain, but bad for the ETF product itself. Issuers including Fidelity and Ark have canceled plans to allow staking of Ethereum ETFs. Staking has always been a sensitive issue for Ethereum because it enables holders to earn a yield, raising questions about whether the token should be considered a security under U.S. regulators. Some market participants believe that if the ETF cannot stake its tokens, then the appeal of spot ETFs will be less than directly purchasing staking-enabled Ethereum.
Investment and Financing
OKX Ventures announces strategic investment in Monad Labs
According to official news, OKX Ventures announced a strategic investment in Monad Labs to promote innovation in Web3 and decentralized computing. Monad is an L1 chain that optimizes the architecture of EVM through "parallel EVM" + "parallel access to state database" + "high-performance HotStuff consensus" to achieve a throughput of more than 10,000 TPS, 1 second block time and single slot finality, while maintaining backward compatibility with EVM smart contracts and Ethereum infrastructure (such as MetaMask or Etherscan). Dora Yue, founder of OKX Ventures, said: "Monad's innovation and technical strength will provide a solid foundation for promoting Web3 innovation. We look forward to working with Monad to make positive contributions to the future development of decentralized computing. OKX Ventures' investment will provide Monad with the necessary resources and support to accelerate the development of its platform and expand its influence in the blockchain community, providing more efficient and scalable decentralized applications for developers and users around the world." Earlier in April, Layer 1 blockchain Monad Labs announced the completion of US$225 million in financing, led by Paradigm, with participation from Electric Capital, SevenX Ventures, IOSG Ventures and Greenoaks.
Liquidity re-pledge platform Kelp completes $9 million financing at a valuation of $90 million, led by SCB Limited and Laser Digital
Kelp, the Ethereum liquidity re-staking platform based on EigenLayer, announced that it has completed a $9 million financing with a valuation of $90 million. SCB Limited and Laser Digital led the investment, and Bankless Ventures, Hypersphere Ventures, ArkStream Capital, Draper Dragon, DACM, Cypher Capital, GSR, HTX Ventures and DWF Ventures, as well as angel investors such as Scott Moore of Gitcoin, Sam Kazemian of Frax Finance, Marc Zeller of Aave Chan Initiative, Saurabh Sharma of Jump Crypto and Amrit Kumar of AltLayer participated in the investment. It is reported that Kelp DAO is expected to launch a governance token "soon" and is "currently undergoing legal and exchange due diligence." (TheBlock)
Web3 climate analysis network WeatherXM completes $7.7 million Series A funding round led by Lightspeed Faction
Web3 climate analysis network WeatherXM has completed a $7.7 million Series A financing round, led by Lightspeed Faction, with participation from Protocol Labs, Borderless Capital, Arca, Alumni Ventures, Placeholder VC, Red Beard Ventures, Metaplanet, GS Futures, Consensys Mesh, and Westerly Ventures. WeatherXM is a network that uses cryptocurrency incentives to improve the accuracy of weather forecasts and is headquartered in Greece. (fortune)
Interoperability protocol Stripchain completes $10 million financing, led by Sora Ventures
Interoperability protocol Stripchain has completed a $10 million financing round led by Sora Ventures, with participation from Hyperithm, Shima Capital, Hypersphere, Mechanism and Ascensive Assets. Stripchain allows developers to create intents commands to perform operations such as transferring data between blockchains, which will enable applications to communicate and coordinate with different protocols. (Cointelgraph)
LeverFi Raises $10 Million OmniZK Developer Fund, Completes Four Investments
LeverFi, an on-chain leveraged trading protocol, announced that it has successfully raised $10 million in OmniZK developer funds from leading institutions, market makers, and private investors to support developers building BTCFi using OmniZK, ahead of the launch of the OmniZK testnet in Q2. OmniZK will allow developers to build and deploy scalable, interoperable DLC applications that are natively settled on the Bitcoin network. OmniZK represents a decentralized alternative to centralized Bitcoin L2, which is protected by multi-signature or institutional custodians. The OmniZK Developer Fund is specifically focused on the BTCFi project, with the goal of providing seed-stage investments of $100,000 to $500,000 (in multiple installments based on milestones) to high-quality development teams developing native Bitcoin financial applications. Currently, the OmniZK Developer Fund has made four investments in the BTCFi project and is ready to support more projects.
Security incidents
TonUP said that the pledge contract was hacked and planned to allocate funds to repurchase 307,264 tokens to compensate users
TonUP, the TON ecosystem Launchpad platform, posted on the X platform that its newly launched staking contract was hacked. Currently, the claim function of the staking platform is suspended. TonUP said it plans to allocate funds to repurchase 307,264 lost UP tokens to compensate staking users, and the extra UP purchased will be destroyed.
