Compiled by: Luan Peng, ChainCatcher
“What important events happened this week (August 12-18)?”
1. Forbes reporter: Harris team was absent from the "Crypto4Harris" event, and the industry still has doubts about its encryption stance
Forbes reporter Eleanor Terrett wrote that Harris herself and members of her campaign team were absent from the event. If the goal of the "Crypto4Harris" event on Wednesday night was to convince the skeptical digital asset industry that Harris's election as president was something they should support, then this event did little to no good.
Eleanor Terrett said: "I received over a hundred audience responses. Most respondents were neither satisfied with Harris' performance on the call nor convinced that she would cooperate with the so-called "crypto reset" that Democratic politicians and industry leaders have encouraged her to accept. This is mainly because Harris has not yet publicly stated her position on cryptocurrency."
2. BlackRock surpasses Grayscale to become the digital asset fund management company with the largest total assets under management
James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, disclosed on X that BlackRock recently surpassed Grayscale to become the digital asset fund management company with the largest total assets under management.
As of August 15, BlackRock's crypto ETF had $22 billion in assets under management, and Grayscale's crypto ETF had $20.7 billion in assets under management.
3. Mining company Core Scientific expands senior notes issuance to $400 million
Bitcoin mining company Core Scientific announced that it will issue an additional $400 million of 3.00% convertible senior notes due in 2029. The initial offering size was $350 million, and the offering size was increased due to favorable market conditions.
The notes are scheduled to settle on August 19, 2024 and will be offered privately to qualified institutional buyers. The first purchasers will receive an option to purchase an additional $60 million of the notes.
4. Trump's second son revealed that the new crypto project is "digital real estate" and called it collateral that anyone can obtain
According to Decrypt, Trump's second son Eric Trump revealed that the new crypto project is "digital real estate."
“It’s fair,” Eric Trump said. “It’s collateral that anyone can get and instantly access, and I don’t know if people realize what a game-changer this is for the banking and financial world. I hope we can help change that.”
5. 44% of institutional investors increased their holdings of Bitcoin spot ETFs in the second quarter
About 66% of institutional investors held or increased their holdings of bitcoin through U.S. spot exchange-traded funds in the second quarter, according to Bitwise.
According to 13F filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 44% of asset managers increased their Bitcoin ETF positions in the second quarter, while 22% held steady. Only 21% reduced their positions, and 13% exited.
“That’s a pretty good result, on par with other ETFs,” said Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise.
6. Korean Sports Commission employees stole colleagues’ wages and invested in Bitcoin
According to JTBC, the Korea Sports Council conducted an internal review and found that an employee stole company credit cards to buy beef and embezzled other employees' salaries to invest in Bitcoin.
The audit results showed that the employee used the company credit card of the Athletes Village Operation Department to purchase beef and other items worth about 600,000 won. He transferred about 3.5 million won (about 2,573 U.S. dollars) of other employees' wages to his own account by forging company emails, and used the money to invest in Bitcoin. He also used the company credit card to spend about 4.6 million won (about 3,383 U.S. dollars) of public funds at Japanese restaurants and other places.
7. Wells Fargo: After the Fed cuts interest rates, the stock market will usher in a 30-year surge
Paul Christopher, head of global investment strategy at Wells Fargo, said that U.S. stocks are about to see a rally not seen in 30 years.
Paul Christopher believes that today's market is similar to 1995, when the stock market was booming and the S&P 500 index (SPX) hit 77 all-time highs. Investors may face a similar environment. This is because inflation is falling, the economy "is not collapsing", and the U.S. Commerce Department estimates that gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.8% year-on-year in the second quarter.
Paul Christopher told CNBC on Thursday that the Fed is “in a good position if they can be proactive enough.”
8. a16z announced that it will establish its first super-large fund in Asia in Japan
According to the Nikkei report, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a large American venture capital firm, announced that it will establish its first super-large fund in Asia in Japan. It is understood that NTT Group and other companies participated in investing in this fund.
It is reported that this fund intends to include Japanese companies active in venture capital as a source of funds to replace China.
9. Australian regulator says 58% of crypto ads on Facebook are scams
Australia's competition regulator cites report that more than half of crypto ads on Facebook are either scams or violate Meta's policies.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it found 600 ads during its investigation. The agency is currently focusing on only 234 ads and claims that other celebrity scams may be discovered after the investigation process in this case is completed. The regulator said, "Since at least January 2018, Meta has been aware that a significant portion of cryptocurrency ads on the Facebook platform use misleading or deceptive promotional practices."
"Advertisers are required to agree to certain contractual terms, which include compliance with Meta's advertising policies. These policies prohibit the publication of advertisements that use deceptive or misleading practices," the ACCC said.
Although Meta allegedly removes individual ads after receiving complaints and sometimes bans the accounts involved, it continues to display and earn revenue from similar ads from the same celebrities or other public figures.
10. Financial lawyer Scott Johnsson: The US government may be selling Bitcoin
Financial lawyer Scott Johnsson said on Platform X that the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) is almost certainly selling Silk Road bitcoins. According to the service agreement signed between the USMS and Coinbase in June, the USMS has been sending bitcoins to the escrow address required by the agreement.
Given that the protocol requires that USMS’s assets must remain completely segregated, once the transfer ultimately reaches Coinbase Prime (or other mixing transaction addresses), it can be determined that USMS has sold or is about to sell these bitcoins.
The final sale will be confirmed at the latest in the fiscal year 2024 report on the Justice Department’s asset forfeiture program.
“What are some interesting articles worth reading this week (8.12-8.18)”
1. Each employee received an airdrop of more than $100,000, and EigenLayer was once again involved in a "bribery" controversy
EigenLayer is once again embroiled in controversy over alleged "bribery".
Yesterday, according to Coindesk’s investigation, employees of the re-staking protocol EigenLayer received a large number of airdropped tokens from ecological projects that rely on their technology. The total value of these tokens is close to $5 million at the highest, and is worth nearly $1 million as of press time.
Although EigenLabs clarified in its official blog that EigenLabs and the Eigen Foundation had banned employees from accepting such token airdrops in May this year.
EigenLabs also stated that there is no evidence that any Eigen Labs employee pressured any team to improperly benefit the Eigen Labs corporate entity or its employees.
But crypto users don’t seem to buy it. The comment section of the Coindesk X platform is full of questions about EigenLayer’s “bribery”.
2. Supporting Polymarket and challenging the CFTC, crypto giants are targeting the $100 billion online gambling market
As of August 14, Polymarket had placed bets on predictions related to the U.S. election that exceeded $600 million.
This massive bet has attracted the attention of US regulators, and the CFTC approved a proposal in May to ban event contracts for betting on political events.
On August 5, several U.S. senators and House representatives once again urged the CFTC to quickly finalize and implement this rule to prevent the commodification of U.S. elections.
Crypto giants Gemini, Crypto.com, Robinhood, Coinbase and other companies have collectively rebelled against the CFTC, believing that the latter has no right to regulate the prediction market.
Behind the game between the two parties may be the crypto giants' preference for the online prediction market.
Currently, the total transaction volume of the crypto prediction market is about $2 billion, but there is a much bigger market behind it. The global online gambling market is expected to grow from $60.63 billion in 2023 to $103.74 billion in 2028.
3. Interview with the founder of Sahara, which received $43 million in financing: Serving Microsoft and Amazon, how does Sahara help AI become an asset?
Since OpenAI released the large-scale AI model Sora, AI has once again become the most popular track in the market. Investment waves have continued, and innovative projects integrating AI and Web3 have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. According to the encrypted data platform Rootdata, the number of projects included in the "AI and Web3" section has reached nearly 240, which has obviously become an independent track. The decentralized AI network Sahara is one of the star projects in this section.
Founded by Sean Ren and Tyler Zhou in May last year, Sahara is a decentralized AI network infrastructure that helps AI assetization and aims to help users deploy or build customized, personalized AI products.
Sean Ren is a tenured professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Southern California and has 15 years of industry research experience in the field of AI; Tyler Zhou served as investment director at Binance Labs and participated in the investment and incubation of multiple projects.
In March this year, Sahara announced that it had completed a US$6 million financing round led by Polychain Capital as early as August last year, with participating investors including Sequoia Capital, Samsung Next, Nomad Capital and other investment institutions.
The two founders told ChainCatcher that Sahara has provided data services to more than 30 corporate clients, including well-known companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, MIT, Snapchat, Character AI, and has earned millions of dollars in revenue.
In an exclusive interview with ChainCatcher, Tyler Zhou revealed that Sahara will launch C-end user products in April-May; the Sahara testnet will be launched in Q3, and the mainnet will be launched in Q4.
On April 4, Sahara launched its first points event, Sahara Social, on the task platform Galxe for early users. Users can earn early points rewards by connecting to the Sahara network, registering for the waiting list, and other tasks.
4. The “Grayscale Effect” reappears. What does the listing of spot ETFs bring to Grayscale?
The US regulatory approval of crypto ETFs has saved Grayscale from danger, but it has also introduced stronger competitors. The landscape of crypto asset management has undergone tremendous changes due to the entry of traditional asset management companies. Grayscale's new layout is imminent, and it has launched 6 new crypto trusts in the past three months.
5. Staking 2024 Tokyo: The world’s largest staking gathering to explore the new era of Web3
As blockchain and Web3 technologies are changing with each passing day, Staking, as an important part of the cryptocurrency field, is leading a new trend of asset appreciation and ecological prosperity. With the vigorous development of the digital economy, Staking business has gradually become the focus of investors and blockchain project parties. As a focal event in this field, "The World's Largest Staking Gathering | Tokyo Station" will be grandly opened at the Tokyo Prince Garden Tower Hotel on August 28, 2024, building a bridge of communication and cooperation for global Staking enthusiasts and industry elites.
This Staking Conference is jointly hosted by authoritative organizations such as DP CAPITAL, Japanese cryptocurrency/Web3 entity CoinPost, decentralized Bitcoin reserve protocol Solv Protocol, and well-known Web3 media ChainCatcher, aiming to bring together the world's largest security, best risk management and reliable liquidity Staking project parties to jointly explore the development opportunities and future trends of Staking business. This event not only showcases the latest progress in Staking technology, but also provides participants with a valuable platform to gain in-depth understanding of market trends, share experiences, and expand cooperation networks.
Japan, as the leader in the cryptocurrency market in Asia and even the world, provides unique conditions for the prosperity of the Staking business with its mature market environment and high user retention rate. In recent years, Japan has made significant progress in the fields of blockchain technology and digital currencies. The government's cryptocurrency-friendly policies and improved regulatory environment have further promoted the development of the industry. Therefore, choosing to hold this global Staking conference in Japan will undoubtedly bring more business opportunities and development prospects to the participants.
6. Ecosystem projects have attracted more than 10 million US dollars. What early opportunities does Monad have to make money?
On July 25, three Monad ecosystem projects announced that they had received financing of more than one million US dollars.
Among them, MEV infrastructure and liquidity staking platform aPriori received an $8 million seed round of financing led by Pantera Capital. It is reported that this round of financing has brought the valuation of aPriori tokens to at least $100 million; liquidity staking agreement Kintsu completed $4 million in financing; on-chain order platform Kuru received $2 million in financing led by Electric Capital.
The investment lineup participating in this Monad ecological project is very luxurious. In addition to Pantera and Electric star investment institutions, there are also many well-known people in the industry such as Lido's Marin Tvrdic and Wormhole founder.
Since Monad completed a $225 million financing with a valuation of $3 billion in April this year, recent ecological projects have successively announced support from top capitals, which has further increased the popularity of the network.
Crypto KOL AB Kuai.Dong posted on social media that Monad is different in that many public chains have strong funding from the public chains themselves, but the applications on them are not very popular. In contrast, Monad, in addition to itself, has also received investment from well-known institutions for the applications it is building, such as Kintsu, Kuru, Monad Pad, and aPriori.
As the testnet launch approaches, the Monad ecosystem has become a new gold-digging opportunity for the crypto community.
7. Starknet is in a crisis of trust due to frequent CEO changes
Last week, the Starknet Foundation announced the change of its CEO. Diego Oliva, who has served as CEO of the Starknet Foundation since March 2023, has resigned and will be replaced by James Strudwick, who is responsible for the growth of the Starknet ecosystem.
This is not the first time that the Starknet team has changed important senior management this year. In January, Uri Kolodny, CEO of StarkWare, a Starknet developer, posted on the X platform that he had resigned as CEO due to family health reasons, and the CEO position was taken over by Eli Ben-Sasson, another co-founder and president of StarkWare.
Since the community criticized Starknet for airdrop distribution issues at the beginning of the year, the controversy it faces has not stopped. Recently, ZKX, the leading derivatives protocol in Starknet’s ecosystem, announced its closure less than two months after TGE. Amid the criticism from investors, members of the Starknet Foundation also encountered dissatisfaction with their defense of ZKX.
The frequent changes of CEOs, coupled with Starknet’s “inaction” after causing multiple public opinion crises, make it difficult for community users not to question the operating conditions of the organization behind it.
8. MicroStrategy Bitcoin 4th Anniversary: Review of its Acquisition Strategy and Market Influence
Summary of key points
MicroStrategy (MSTR) started buying Bitcoin in August 2020.
The company purchased more than 15,000 bitcoins five times.
Is there a correlation between these purchases and MSTR's stock price?
On August 11, 2020, MicroStrategy made its first bold foray into Bitcoin (BTC), making headlines and ushering in a new era for the entire industry.
Led by Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy has rapidly risen to become one of the world's largest public Bitcoin holders, revolutionizing the way companies think about financial management and transforming the industry's attitude toward digital assets.
As we approach the fourth anniversary of this decision, let’s dive into some of MicroStrategy’s major Bitcoin purchases and see how these strategic moves impacted the market.
9. The New York Times: Tether co-founder and his shattered encryption dream
On sunny days in 2022, cryptocurrency entrepreneur Brock Pierce enjoyed taking friends on a boat trip to Vieques, about 75 miles from his home in Puerto Rico. Pierce wanted to show off one of his “favorite” properties of his life: a once-glamorous beachfront resort that he’d bought for more than $15 million.
In its heyday, the resort was a W Hotel with a 6,000-square-foot spa, a restaurant run by a Michelin-starred chef and sweeping ocean views, and it was a mainstay of Vieques’ tourism industry. Then, in 2017, the hotel was hit by Hurricane Maria and forced to close. Pierce reopened it, using his cryptocurrency fortune to revitalize the hotel and the local economy.
10. Dialogue with Raydium: The biggest beneficiary of the pump.fun effect
The following is the original content:
Jack Kubanek: Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of Lightspeed, I’m your host Jack Kubanek and today I’m joined by Infra, the developer of Raydium, an anonymous developer who runs the Labs entity for Raydium. Raydium is a DeFi protocol that has been running on Solana for a while and has been gaining a lot of traction lately. Infra, thank you so much for joining Lightspeed.
Infra: Thank you for inviting me, it’s a pleasure to be here.
Jack Kubanek: What is your day-to-day job at Raydium?
Infra: A large part is operational oversight, including the management of third-party vendors, whether it's server-side, RPCs, or ensuring bills are paid. There is also some strategic work, thinking about future program development or smart contract development, as well as community interaction, marketing, brand positioning, and third-party integrations.