● CFTC Chairman releases testimony at hearing: recommends that Congress take immediate legislative action to address the lack of regulation of digital assets
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam will appear before the House Agriculture Committee on the topic of “Providing Clarity for Digital Asset Spot Markets,” and his testimony has been released.
Rostin emphasized that Congress should take legislative action to address the lack of federal regulation of the digital commodity market, arguing that this would help protect customers, ensure market resilience and stability, and prevent risk contagion to the traditional financial system.
Rostin added that the goals of regulation should be to protect customer assets, monitor trading activity, prohibit conflicts of interest and enforce strict cybersecurity standards, among other things.
In addition, Rostin called on Congress to provide the necessary funding to ensure regulators have adequate resources to carry out their new regulatory responsibilities.
● The U.S. SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase, demanding the return of all illegal gains and payment of civil penalties
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in federal court in New York.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requests the court to make a final judgment, requiring the defendants and other related persons to permanently prohibit directly or indirectly violating the Securities Act; requiring the defendants to return all illegal gains obtained by violating the Exchange Act on a joint and several basis, and ordering Coinbase to return all illegal gains obtained by violating the Securities Act and prepaid interest; requiring the defendants to pay civil penalties under the Exchange Act and the Securities Act; and requiring the court to grant appropriate or necessary relief under the Exchange Act to protect the interests of investors. (Foresight News)
● SEC Chairman: SEC is ready to work with the crypto industry to comply with regulations
According to Walter Bloomberg, Gary Gensler, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said on CNBC's Squawk on the Street, "Cryptocurrencies should be no different from other securities and require compliance. Cryptocurrency exchanges are integrating more functions, and we don't need more digital currencies. If crypto tokens have real value, then SEC compliance will build trust. The SEC is ready to work with the crypto industry to comply with regulations." (Foresight News)
● U.S. Congress has sent letters to the heads of the Treasury Department and the IRS, asking for tax regulations on the crypto industry
U.S. Congressmen Brad Sherman and Stephen Lynch have written to the heads of the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) calling for tax regulations on the crypto industry, with Sherman and Lynch noting that "for many years, the (crypto) industry has been a major source of tax evasion and an important component of the nation's (U.S.) tax gap." The two highlighted a September 2020 audit report in which the U.S. Treasury Department's Inspector General for Taxation noted that the IRS was unable to identify taxpayers who supported cryptocurrencies due to a lack of reporting.
In addition, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law by Biden in November 2021, requires taxpayers to report cryptocurrency transactions starting in 2023. However, lawmakers said the proposed regulations have not yet been enacted. Halfway through 2023, Sherman and Lynch called for the immediate release of the proposed regulations to "close the tax gap and bring the cryptocurrency industry into full compliance with tax regulations." (Cointelegraph)
● Australian central bank report: Stablecoins may play an important role in the financial system and support the formulation of regulatory rules
The Reserve Bank of Australia has released an investigative report on the Digital Assets Bill, which aims to regulate cryptocurrency trading, custody services and the issuance of stablecoins.
“Stablecoin activity in Australia has been relatively limited to date, despite the potential for stablecoins to play a more significant role in the financial system in the future,” the bank wrote. “The RBA supports the development of stablecoin regulatory arrangements that support innovation while providing appropriate safeguards and protections for investors and users.”
The RBA also commented on central bank digital currencies, making it clear that no decision has been made on implementing a digital Australian dollar, but that it is "actively engaged" in CBDC research. The RBA noted that most countries that have issued CBDCs (the vast majority of which are Caribbean countries) use them to "improve the efficiency of domestic payment systems." (Blockworks)
● Huang Licheng: All BAYC and MAYC held have been transferred to Binance to show support
Huang Licheng, the “Big Brother”, announced on Twitter that he has transferred all his BAYC and MAYC to Binance to show his support for Binance. The on-chain data shows that the address marked as Huang Licheng’s “0x020ca address” has completed a large amount of BAYC transfers.
● Data: After the US SEC sued Binance, FBG Capital deposited the 44 million USDT previously cashed into Binance again
Lookonchain monitoring shows that before the news of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suing Binance came out, FBG Capital withdrew 35 million USDT from Binance and 9 million USDT from OKX. After the news of the SEC suing Binance came out, FBG Capital deposited all 44 million USDT into Binance.
● An ETH swing trading whale transferred 15.9 million USDT to Binance and bought 8,800 ETH
According to on-chain data analyst Yu Jin’s monitoring, after the market fell last night, a certain ETH swing trading whale address transferred 15.9 million USDT to Binance today, and withdrew 8,800 ETH from Binance half an hour later. The average purchase price may be US$1,807.
This address previously transferred 23,085 ETH (worth approximately US$44.16 million) to Binance after ETH rose on May 29, when the price of ETH was US$1,913.
● Arca Chief Investment Officer: "The US SEC sued Binance" will not affect the price of related currencies in the long term
Arca Chief Investment Officer Jeff Dorman said in an interview that the ones who are really hurt in the SEC's lawsuit against Binance are Coinbase, Kraken and other US trading platforms. They will have to decide whether to delist, and US market makers may also have to stop making markets for certain tokens listed as securities.
In addition, Dorman does not expect the lawsuit to have a long-term impact on the prices of the relevant coins, as they are still traded on offshore exchanges. (Bloomberg)
● Alchemy, Chainalysis and other 5 crypto companies were selected for the Forbes 2023 Fintech 50 list
Forbes released the 2023 Fintech Top 50 list, and five crypto companies were selected, namely Web3 developer platform Alchemy (valued at $10.2 billion), blockchain data tracking platform Chainalysis (valued at $8.6 billion), crypto custodian Fireblocks (valued at $8 billion), blockchain infrastructure provider Paxos (valued at $2.4 billion) and tax software company TaxBit (valued at $1.3 billion). This shows that the demand for infrastructure, crypto analysis and service providers in the industry, including the government, remains strong.
It is worth noting that TaxBit, a newcomer this year, has become an important partner of the IRS. (Forbes)
● Goldman Sachs report: The number of bitcoins held by exchanges fell 12% in May
Goldman Sachs (GS) said in a report that the amount of Bitcoin held on exchanges fell 12% in May, while the supply of Ethereum increased slightly. The bank said network congestion on the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains was a factor in May, which led to a 13.8% and 16.7% drop in monthly address activity for Bitcoin and Ethereum, respectively. The report added that Bitcoin's average hash rate continued to break new all-time highs in May, increasing 5.4% for the month, and miner revenue increased 16.4%. (CoinDesk)
● London venture capital firm IQ Capital raised $400 million to invest in AI, blockchain and other "deep technology" fields
London venture firm IQ Capital announced that it has raised $400 million, which will be used to increase investment in "deep technology" fields, including artificial intelligence, blockchain and quantum computing.
Max Bautin, co-founder and managing partner of IQ Capital, said deep tech companies will have a "transformative impact" in the coming years. (Pymnt)
● Apple releases its first MR headset, Vision Pro, which will be available in early 2024 for $3,499
On Monday (June 5th) local time, Apple's 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC23) was held in San Francisco, USA. At this WWDC conference, Apple released its first mixed reality (MR) headset device Vision Pro and the new 15-inch MacBook Air. In addition, the operating systems of all major Apple devices have been upgraded.
At the opening ceremony of WWDC 2023, Apple released its first MR headset, Apple Vision Pro, which is priced at $3,499 and will go on sale in early 2024. This is the first time Apple has launched a new product type since 2014 and it is also Apple’s first 3D camera product.
Apple CEO Cook said that this product is revolutionary. He also said that AR is a profound technology that will change the way people communicate, collaborate, work and entertain.
Apple Vision Pro is equipped with Apple's first 3D camera, which can be used to watch and shoot 3D videos. Vision Pro will focus on games, work, and communication. This device will bring the world into "spatial computing". Vision Pro relies only on voice, vision, and touch, and does not provide hardware control. In addition to the virtual keyboard, users can also input text messages to Apple Vision Pro through a Mac keyboard or Bluetooth keyboard. The new R1 chip will be specially developed for the first MR head display device Vision Pro.
Apple Vision Pro will go on sale in early 2024 for $3,499. According to Apple, users can control Vision Pro with their hands, eyes, and voice to experience movies, TV shows, and games in a more immersive way. (Xinhua Finance)
