[Crypto Weekly] The accomplice of the "Crypto Queen" was sentenced! Hong Kong is eyeing the Ethereum ETF staking market! Trump is more likely to be elected than Biden!

#现货以太坊ETF获美SEC批准 #美众议院通过FIT21法案 #5月市场关键事件 $ETH 
SEC approves Ethereum ETFOn May 23, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved listing applications from major exchanges such as Nasdaq, Chicago Board Options Exchange and New York Stock Exchange, allowing them to list exchange-traded funds linked to the price of Ethereum. This approval is considered to be the SEC's "tacit recognition" that Ethereum is not a security, and it also opens the door for these products to begin trading later this year.
Currently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has not set a deadline for deciding on registration statements, and asset management companies planning to issue funds still need to obtain approval from regulators, leaving industry participants uncertain when trading can begin. JPMorgan believes the products will be available before November.
After the SEC approved a spot bitcoin ETF in January, nine issuers, including VanEck, ARK Investments/21Shares and BlackRock, applied to launch ETFs tied to Ethereum. Despite the positive feedback, these applicants must obtain approval for ETF registration statements detailing investor disclosures before the funds can begin trading.
US FIT21 encryption bill passedOn May 22, 2024, the Financial Innovation and Technology Act for the 21st Century (FIT21) was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives. Currently, the bill is submitted to the Senate for deliberation, but the prospects are unclear and it faces opposition from Senator Elizabeth Warren. FIT21 proposes to hand over primary control of cryptocurrencies to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which the industry believes is a more relaxed regulator than the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC will still regulate cryptocurrencies that are not decentralized enough, but FIT21 introduces a mechanism that allows cryptocurrencies classified as securities to be sold as commodities. Both the Biden administration and SEC Chairman Gary Gensler have issued statements opposing the regulation.
Dogecoin's Dog DiesKabosu, the original creator of Dogecoin, passed away at 6:50 a.m. on May 24, 2024. The death of the founder of the globally popular Shiba Inu meme has caused communities around the world to express their condolences, including Tesla founder Elon Musk, who is known as the "Godfather of Dogecoin." Musk posted a photo of "Kabosu reunited with the gorilla Harambe in heaven" to express his condolences to OG Doge.
Dogecoin is the original meme coin, created as a joke by developers to mock the seriousness of Bitcoin. But it gained near-mainstream attention in 2021 when Elon Musk (currently the world's third-richest person) began heavily promoting the currency on the Twitter platform he now owns. Its market capitalization has continued to grow and is now the ninth-largest cryptocurrency.
Many crypto exchanges exit Hong Kong marketHong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has required all cryptocurrency exchanges in the region to obtain operating licenses, which will take effect on June 1, and exchanges that fail to apply for licenses must cease services by May 31.
In accordance with this requirement, Gate.HK submitted a license application to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission on February 28. However, the exchange withdrew its application on May 22, citing the need for "significant reforms" to its trading platform. Since May 23, Gate.HK has stopped all new user attraction and marketing activities, and existing users can no longer make deposits and can only withdraw before August 28. Gate.HK will completely shut down its trading platform on May 28, when all tokens will be permanently delisted.
The cryptocurrency exchange intends to relaunch its services only after rebuilding its platform to comply with Hong Kong's regulatory requirements. These requirements include establishing anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures. The company said: "Gate.HK is actively carrying out the above rectification. We plan to resume our business in Hong Kong after obtaining relevant licenses in the future and contribute to the virtual asset ecosystem."
Another major global exchange, OKX, announced its exit from Hong Kong on May 24. The announcement stated that the OKX exchange will stop providing centralized virtual asset trading services to Hong Kong residents by May 31, 2024, adding: “Customer funds remain safe and withdrawal services will not be affected. After May 31, 2024, customers can only withdraw funds and can transfer funds to self-custodial wallets or third-party platforms.”
In addition, before Gate.HK's withdrawal, three other exchanges - Huobi Hong Kong, QuanXLab and IBTCEX - also withdrew their license applications in May. Hong Kong's new virtual asset regime imposes strict requirements on cryptocurrency exchanges applying for licenses, and the phenomenon of exchanges withdrawing from the Hong Kong market highlights the complexity and cost of regulatory compliance in Hong Kong. With only a few applicants left for Hong Kong's VATP license, the industry faces continued uncertainty and regulatory scrutiny.
Trump: U.S. encryption can't take second placeIn a post published on Truth Social, a social media platform owned by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) on May 25, Trump declared that the United States cannot be "second" in the cryptocurrency industry, and our country must become a leader in this field. He claimed: "I am very positive and open to cryptocurrency companies and everything related to this emerging industry." In addition, Trump pointed the finger at the current President Joe Biden, saying that "Corrupt Joe Biden is the worst president in the history of our country. He wants crypto to die slowly and painfully. That will never happen to me!"
It is reported that Trump will compete with Biden in the 2024 presidential election, and the US election day is scheduled for November 4. Trump's recent positive attitude towards cryptocurrencies has raised expectations in the cryptocurrency industry that he may win. According to Polymarket, Donald Trump has a 56% chance of winning the US election, while the current President Joe Biden has a 38% chance.
Musk builds a "supercomputing factory"Billionaire Elon Musk’s xAI initiative has partnered with Oracle to build a supercomputer to power the next-generation version of its “Grok” artificial intelligence (AI) large-scale language model.
Previously, Musk had attempted to raise $4 billion for the company at a $15 billion valuation, with subsequent comments suggesting the funds would be used to increase its GPU count from about 10,000 to 100,000. Shortly thereafter, Musk raised the funding target to $6 billion at an $18 billion valuation due to strong investor interest. If the information is correct and xAI intends to build a supercomputer, then the funds will likely be used to turn a cluster of 100,000 GPUs into a unified supercomputer architecture. Or in xAI's parlance, a "computing superfactory," a reference to some Tesla factories that have been dubbed "Gigafactories."
The moves come as Musk begins to raise expectations about the company’s capabilities and progress toward its ultimate goal of building artificial intelligence that can surpass human cognition. Musk said he believes xAI will catch up to industry leaders OpenAI and DeepMind Google by the end of 2024, and that by the end of 2025, AI systems will be able to do everything better than humans, at which point humans’ future role will be to “give AI meaning.”
Hong Kong Eyes Ethereum ETF Staking MarketThe Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission is considering allowing issuers of spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to include an ETH staking option, enabling them to generate passive income. Negotiations are currently underway to give the green light to ETH staking, with no clear deadline for a decision. If approved, staking on the Ethereum network would allow issuers to earn up to 3.6% per year by validating transactions.
But Hong Kong spot ether ETFs have received little attention since their launch on April 30. The three funds have custody of just $44.9 million, with net outflows of $2.2 million. On some days, the ether ETFs have had no inflows at all. In terms of fees, spot cryptocurrency ETFs charge more than 1% per year, while their U.S. counterparts charge less than 0.30%.
Solana (SOL) has been listed in Hong KongHashKey Global, the international subsidiary of Hong Kong-based HashKey Group, is expanding its cryptocurrency offerings, having entered the cryptocurrency market in April as part of the group’s strategy to expand its global presence. Initially, the platform listed around 20 digital assets for trading, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) as well as stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT (USDT). However, on May 24, 2024, HashKey Global added support for the SOL/USDT pair to be traded in its spot market, bringing the total number of tokens available for spot trading on the platform to 21.
SOL's listing on the exchange will bring the digital asset to wider attention in the Asian region, providing them with the opportunity to purchase the asset on a regulated exchange. However, the company said that due to regulatory uncertainty, the asset will not be available in certain regions such as the United States and mainland China, and the number of users who cannot access the Hong Kong market is four times the actual user base.
OSL Exchange joins MSCI Hong Kong IndexOn May 22, 2024, local cryptocurrency exchange OSL became the first cryptocurrency company in Hong Kong to join the MSCI Hong Kong Market Capitalization Weighted Index, which consists of 30 stocks. Patrick Pan, chairman and CEO of OSL, said: "As the business expands and the company attracts more and more investor interest, we expect it to be included in more stock indices." The MSCI Hong Kong Index is used by its namesake fund, the iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF, to track the performance of its underlying companies.
The company, formerly known as BC Technology Group, changed its name to its cryptocurrency exchange subsidiary this year to better reflect its digital asset business. Its shares have surged more than 170% over the past year, and along with HashKey Exchange, it became the first pair of licensed cryptocurrency exchanges in Hong Kong.
Accomplices of “Crypto Queen” SentencedOn October 31, 2018, police raided Wen Jian's home and found a wallet containing 61,000 Bitcoins, which they confiscated. The value of the confiscated Bitcoins soared from £1.4 billion at the time to more than £3 billion ($4 billion). According to reports, in March 2023, a jury found Wen guilty of money laundering involving 150 Bitcoins, worth nearly £8 million ($10 million), converting "substantial amounts" of Bitcoin into cash and other assets on behalf of her employer. Finally, on May 24, 2024, Wen Jian was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for participating in a Bitcoin (BTC) money laundering conspiracy.
Ms. Wen, 42, was allegedly recruited by Zhang Yadi, also known as Qian Zhimin, nicknamed "Crypto Queen," and her employer, who ran an international jewelry company, as a "front person" for the criminal operation. Ms. Zhang, who is accused of defrauding 130,000 Chinese investors of $5.6 billion between 2014 and 2017, was arrested in the UK earlier this month. Judge Sally Ann revealed that some of the proceeds of the fraud were converted into Bitcoin, transferred to cryptocurrency wallets, and then smuggled out of China using laptops.
During the trial, Ms. Wen said she was unaware of the illegal source of the funds and was simply trying to improve her and her son's lives. During their time together, Ms. Zhang funded Ms. Wen's son to move from China to the UK to attend a private school and purchased two properties in Dubai. In addition, Wen attempted to purchase luxury properties in London, such as a £23.5 million mansion in Hampstead and a luxury supporting property worth £12.5 million. These transactions triggered anti-money laundering checks and were ultimately cancelled because Wen could not explain the source of the Bitcoin.