Top 10 News of the Week
1. Mt.Gox cold wallet begins to transfer a large amount of link
Mt. Gox cold wallet began to transfer at 9:41 UTC+8 on May 28, of which 47.229k BTC was transferred to the new address: 1HeHLv…vHoV68, 23.797k BTC was transferred to the new address: 1zuWGg…FWGRH6, 47.229k BTC was transferred to the new address: 16eAGJ…37P9gX and 19.41k BTC was transferred to the new address: 15VuDC…gSZnh4. Mt. Gox issued an announcement stating that the reorganization trustee has not yet made direct BTC or BCH repayments through designated cryptocurrency exchanges, nor has it sold BTC and BCH for repayment of proceeds. Mark Karpelès, former CEO of Mt. Gox, also said on X that "the trustee is transferring tokens to another wallet to prepare for possible distributions this year, and will not sell Bitcoin immediately."
2. BlackRock submits revised S-1 statement Ethereum spot ETF is expected to be launched at the end of June link
BlackRock has filed an amended S-1 registration statement disclosing information about seed capital investors, paving the way for its proposed Ethereum ETF to go public. The amended document shows that on May 21, 2024, seed capital investors purchased a seed creation basket totaling 400,000 shares at a price of $25.00 per share, subject to conditions being met. The shares will trade under the symbol "ETHA." Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said BlackRock's amended S-1 is a "good sign" and that other companies are expected to file similar documents soon and could start trading around the end of June or July 4.
3. Biden campaign team begins to contact key figures in the cryptocurrency industry link
President Biden’s reelection campaign has begun reaching out to key figures in the cryptocurrency industry, seeking guidance on “the future development of the cryptocurrency community and cryptocurrency policy.” According to several sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, the outreach includes calls to key industry leaders that the Biden administration had previously rejected, marking a significant “shift” from Biden’s previously distant dealings with the industry. The outreach began about two weeks ago, the sources said, as the Biden camp becomes increasingly aware of the impact that cryptocurrency-related issues could have on what could be a fairly close presidential race.
This move may be related to the pressure from Trump's Dailaid. According to Bitcoincom, David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin Magazine and a cryptocurrency assistant for the Trump campaign, revealed that Trump had asked if Bitcoin could be used to solve the U.S. national debt problem. Bailey said that when he first met Trump, Trump asked him if Bitcoin could do something about the $35 trillion debt. Earlier, Bailey disclosed that his team has been advising Trump to develop a policy that is friendly to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Bailey also mentioned an executive order submitted to Trump, which will be signed on the first day of Trump's return to power.
4. US Treasury Deputy Secretary: The Treasury Department does not intend to ban cryptocurrency mixing services link
U.S. Treasury Deputy Secretary Brian Nelson said the Treasury Department does not intend to ban cryptocurrency mixing services. Nelson pointed out that the 2023 Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposal is aimed at promoting transparency rather than banning mixing services. He emphasized that the Treasury Department hopes to work with the crypto industry to find ways to enhance privacy without facilitating terrorist financing. Most current mixers are designed to circumvent anti-money laundering (AML) and KYC reporting requirements, which makes them attractive to criminals.
5. EU draft considers MEV as market abuse link
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) defines Maximum Extractable Value (MEV) as a clear example of illegal market abuse in its draft technical standards under its proposed Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. Crypto commentator Patrick Hansen noted that almost all EU-regulated crypto businesses, including exchanges and brokers, are required to detect and report MEV instances through comprehensive "suspicious transaction or order reports" (STORs). Actors involved in MEV may face investigations and enforcement actions not only from EU regulators, but also from international regulators. The deadline for consultation feedback set by ESMA is June 25, and the final standard is expected to have a significant impact on the EU crypto regulatory environment.
6. Binance sold GOPAX victims’ asset claims at less than half of their face value, causing GOPAX to lose tens of billions of won link
Korean media hankyung reported that Binance, the largest shareholder of the Korean exchange GOPAX, sold the asset claims of GOPAX victims for less than half of the face value. Initially, Binance promised to compensate 100% of the losses caused by the interruption of fund withdrawals of investors in the virtual deposit service GoFi last year (about 70 billion won at that time). In return, Binance acquired GOPAX shares at a price significantly lower than the market price and became its largest shareholder. However, Binance did not use its own funds to compensate, but sold the victims' asset claims at a low price to pay the compensation, which was actually a "debt for debt" behavior. In the process, after Binance sold the victims' asset claims, the prices of virtual assets such as Bitcoin rose sharply, resulting in an increase in the scale of victims. It is estimated that the amount of GoFi's debt, after deducting the repaid part, is currently about 100 billion won, causing GOPAX to lose at least tens of billions of won.
7. PayPal’s stablecoin PYUSD is now available on the Solana blockchain link
PayPal's stablecoin PYUSD has been launched on the Solana blockchain. Officials said that users can transfer PayPal's stablecoin to Solana through Crypto com, Phantom and Paxos (the issuer of PYUSD). Jose Fernandez da Ponte, senior vice president of blockchain, cryptocurrency and digital currency at PayPal, said the company is interested in Solana's potential in payments and peer-to-peer fund flows, not just for transactions. PYUSD debuted as an Ethereum-based stablecoin in August last year, backed by 1:1 assets (including US dollars and US Treasuries).
8. Bitcoin spot ETF has seen net inflows for 13 consecutive days link
According to SoSoValue data, yesterday (May 30, EST), the total net inflow of Bitcoin spot ETFs was $48.706 million. Yesterday, Grayscale ETF GBTC had a net outflow of $0.00 per day, and the current historical net outflow of GBTC is $17.777 billion. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest net inflow on a single day yesterday was Fidelity ETF FBTC, with a net inflow of $119 million per day, and the current total net inflow of FBTC has reached $8.884 billion. As of May 30, EST, Bitcoin spot ETFs have had net inflows for 13 consecutive days. Currently, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs is $59.026 billion, the ETF net asset ratio is 4.37%, and the historical cumulative net inflow has reached $13.809 billion.
9. Bernstein: The total market size of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs is expected to grow to $450 billion link
The Bernstein report pointed out that the total Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF market is expected to grow to $450 billion, indicating that more than $100 billion will flow into crypto ETFs in the next two years. Previously, the broker predicted that the high point of the Bitcoin cycle in 2025 would be $150,000, with a target price of $90,000 at the end of the year. In addition, the report stated that Ethereum is the first PoS token approved as a spot ETF, which has a positive impact on other blockchain tokens, and Solana (SOL) may benefit.
10. Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon raises $70 million led by Paradigm link
Babylon, a startup focused on Bitcoin staking, raised $70 million in its latest round of financing, led by Paradigm. This is also the largest investment in the Bitcoin ecosystem in recent times. Earlier, Binance Labs announced an investment in Babylon. At the end of 2023, it completed a $18 million financing, led by Polychain Capital and Hack VC.
Key financing events
Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon raises $70 million led by Paradigm link
AI-based DeFi platform Aperture Finance completes Series A funding at a valuation of $250 million link
Decentralized AI project GaiaNet announces $10 million in funding link
Oracle protocol Switchboard announces $7.5 million Series A funding link
Neynar announces $11 million Series A funding link
RWA tokenization platform Fortunafi announces completion of $9.51 million strategic seed round link
Mighty Jaxx Completes $11 Million Series A+ Funding link
Blockchain game developer Supervillain Labs announces completion of $4.5 million seed round of financing link
DePIN infrastructure Parasail completes $4 million seed round, led by Protocol Labs link
SocialFi infrastructure OpenSocial announces $5 million seed round of financing link
Blockchain node management platform NodeOps announces completion of $5 million seed round of financing link
Ethereum L2 network Mint Blockchain announces $5 million seed round link
PlayAI announces $4.3 million in seed funding link
Kuroro Beast, a blockchain game developer, announces the completion of a $2.5 million strategic financing link
For more industry funding events, please visit crypto-fundraising.info.
