Headlines
The European Central Bank cut interest rates by 25 basis points as expected, lowering the three major interest rates to 4.25%, 3.75%, and 4.50% respectively.
The European Central Bank cut interest rates by 25 basis points as expected, reducing the three major interest rates to 4.25%, 3.75%, and 4.50%, respectively. Among them: 1. The European Central Bank's marginal lending rate is 4.5%, expected to be 4.50%, and the previous value is 4.75%. 2. The European Central Bank's deposit facility rate is 3.75%, expected to be 3.75%, and the previous value is 4.00%. 3. The European Central Bank's main refinancing rate is 4.25%, expected to be 4.25%, and the previous value is 4.50%. (Jinshi)
LayerZero CEO responds to Sybil censorship: Work is not done yet
LayerZero CEO Bryan Pellegrino posted on X platform: “To those who ask when the witch (censorship) business will end” and added a picture “The work is not done yet.
Binance launches new coin mining on IO.NET (IO), you can use BNB and FDUSD for mining
According to the official announcement, Binance Launchcoin Mining has now launched the 55th project of decentralized artificial intelligence computing and cloud platform IO.NET (IO). Users can put BNB and FDUSD into the IO mining pool on the Launchpool website after 08:00 (Eastern Time) on June 7 to receive IO rewards. IO can be mined for a total of 4 days. The website is expected to be updated within about five hours of this announcement before the mining activity is open. Binance will launch IO.NET (IO) at 20:00 (Eastern Time) on June 11, and open IO/BTC, IO/USDT, IO/BNB, IO/FDUSD and IO/TRY trading markets, and seed tag trading rules will apply.
Industry News
Cryptocurrency-related Google searches are far less popular than the 2021 bull market, with the search value of "Bitcoin ETF" in the United States being only 1
Despite strong inflows into Bitcoin spot ETFs and Bitcoin prices breaking through $71,000, Google Trends data shows that Americans' search interest in Bitcoin, Bitcoin ETFs, Bitcoin prices or cryptocurrencies has dropped significantly compared to 2021. The data shows that on June 5, the Google search value of "Bitcoin" in the United States was 31 points, while "Bitcoin ETF" was only 1 point. Other searches, such as "Bitcoin price" and "crypto", received higher search values of 18 and 13 respectively, but are still far below the levels during the retail-driven bull market in 2021. (Cointelegraph)
Franklin Templeton plans to launch a new crypto fund that will invest in tokens other than BTC and ETH
According to The Information, Franklin Templeton, a well-known investment fund company, is considering launching a new crypto fund that will invest in a range of tokens other than Bitcoin and Ethereum.
ProShares has submitted an Ethereum spot ETF application to the US SEC
ProShares has filed a Form 19b-4 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list and trade an Ethereum spot ETF on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
ARK Invest may choose to withdraw from applying for Ethereum ETF due to fee competition
Cathie Wood's ARK Invest withdrew from the Ethereum ETF application, and the official reason for the withdrawal has not yet been given. Analysts believe that this withdrawal may be related to the recent fee competition in the ETF market. It is reported that ARK Invest has been pushing for the launch of the Ethereum ETF in the past few months, but in the face of competitors constantly reducing fees to attract investors, ARK Invest may have re-evaluated its strategy. (Coindesk)
Project News
AI interaction protocol Wayfinder has opened the PRIME staking window and will distribute 40% of the new tokens to stakers
Wayfinder (PROMOT), an AI interactive protocol launched by Parallel, has opened the staking window for PRIME and will distribute 40% of the total supply of PROMOT to all PRIME staking users. Users participating in the staking can currently choose a staking period of at least 21 days and up to three years to obtain different reward multiples. On-chain data shows that as of the time of posting, about 4.9 million PRIME have been staked.
io.net token economics: IO initial supply is 500 million, and the remaining 300 million will be used as rewards for suppliers and stakers
According to official news, io.net (IO) announced the details of token economics: the maximum supply of IO is fixed at 800 million, the initial supply is 500 million IO, and the remaining 300 million tokens will be issued and paid as rewards to suppliers and their stakers every hour. Rewards are issued to suppliers and their stakers on an hourly basis for 20 years. The rewards follow a deflationary model, starting at 8% in the first year and decreasing by 1.02% per month (about 12% per year) until the 800 million IO cap is reached. IO uses a programmatic token destruction system, in which the revenue generated by io.net from the IOG network is used to purchase and destroy IO. The IO destruction mechanism adjusts the number of IOs to be destroyed based on the price of IO. The initial supply of io.net at the time of creation was 500 million IO, of which 50% was allocated to the community, 12.5% to seed investors, 10.2% to Series A investors, 11.3% to core contributors, and 16% to R&D and ecology. The transfer restriction period for IO allocated to investors is three years, starting from the end of the 13th month, and will be lifted in 24 equal parts from IO until the end of the 36th month of the first distribution date; the transfer period for IO allocated to io.net employees is four years. The transfer restriction starts from the end of the 13th month, and will be lifted in 36 equal parts from IO until the end of the 48th month of the first distribution date.
Blast: DApps must distribute all Gold and Points to users before June 25 to be counted towards the airdrop
Blast posted on X platform that there are still 3 weeks to go before the Blast airdrop, and the last Gold distribution will be made before the airdrop. DApps must allocate all Gold and Points to users before 20:00 on June 25th to be included in the airdrop. The specific requirements are as follows:-Points and Gold must be in the user's EOA to be included in the airdrop;-Points and Gold that remain in the smart contract before the airdrop date will be excluded from the calculation. Any suspicious or internal DApp allocation will be audited and may result in it being blacklisted for future cooperation. If a user has Points or Gold in their EOA account, they must have logged into the Blast dashboard with that EOA at least once (by accepting an invitation or linking it to an existing account) to be included in the airdrop. Don't forget to link an embedded wallet (such as Privy) as well.
Sanctum: Wonderland Season 1 Officially Ends, Sanctum Profiles Launches This Month
Solana ecosystem liquidity staking protocol Sanctum announced on the X platform that Wonderland Season 1 has officially ended, and Season 2 will be launched later this year and will provide a different experience. In addition, Sanctum Profiles will be launched this month, allowing users to connect all wallets and social accounts.
Ultiverse opens ULTI airdrop
AI and game distribution platform Ultiverse announced on X Platform that it has opened ULTI airdrop claims.
Modular infrastructure Self Chain mainnet is launched, and airdrops will be made to early testnet contributors
According to official news, the modular infrastructure Self Chain announced the launch of the mainnet, which is currently in the mainnet Stage 1. This stage will introduce the foundation and professional genesis validators, and start generating blocks. Once Stage 1 is successfully completed, Self Chain will transition to the mainnet Stage 2, when token migration and staking functions will be enabled. In addition, the official said that airdrops will be made to early contributors, including validators or stakers who played an important role in the security of the Self Chain network during the test network phase. More airdrop information will be announced soon. The team is preparing to launch the mainnet Stage 2 and Stage 3, which will open more features and expand community participation. Earlier, Self Chain posted on the X platform that its mainnet plan was launched in three strategic stages to ensure a smooth launch.
Wormhole: Stake For Governance is now online, W holders can stake tokens to participate in governance
Wormhole announced on the X platform that Stake For Governance is now live. To participate in the Stake For Governance process, W tokens must be transferred to the EVM chain. This can be done in the governance portal. As part of the Wormhole Guardian security feature, up to 100 million W tokens can be transferred from Solana to the EVM chain every day.
Kraken plans to raise more than $100 million ahead of IPO
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is in talks for pre-IPO financing, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the company's plans. Kraken is seeking to raise more than $100 million, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. There have been constant rumors about Kraken going public in the past few years. The company has been busy dealing with charges filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last year, accusing it of operating an unregistered platform and improperly mixing customer funds. A spokesperson declined to comment on the financing, but said: "We have been exploring strategic paths to achieve Kraken's mission: to accelerate the global adoption of cryptocurrency. We remain fully focused on investing in this goal."
Ethena integrates with Aave to support USDe deposits and lending
Ethena Labs announced on the X platform that Ethena has been integrated with Aave, allowing users to deposit USDe on the Aave protocol and cycle their positions with other stablecoins on Aave. At the same time, stETH, weETH, ETH, and WBTC can also be deposited on Aave to borrow Ethena USDe or sUSDe.
Character*Voice
Uniswap founder: I have no opinion on meme coins or celebrity coins, it’s cool to create a market for memes
Hayden Adams, founder of Uniswap, said in a post on the X platform: “I have no problem with meme coins or celebrity coins - I think meme attention is valuable and it’s cool to create a market for it. That being said, the fundamental purpose and value of this technology goes far beyond financial games. And the best builders in this field are driven by positive social change. Iggy could have responded positively and donated the profits to social causes or other aspects. Instead, she (using the meme chart) showed contempt for the best builder in the entire field (Vitalik), which proved his point right.”
Standard Chartered: Bitcoin could reach $100,000 before US election
Standard Chartered analysts say the price of Bitcoin could rise to $100,000 before the U.S. presidential election in November. Geoffrey Kendrick, head of foreign exchange and digital asset research at Standard Chartered, said on Thursday: "As the U.S. election approaches, I expect Bitcoin to reach $100,000, and if Trump wins, it will reach $150,000 by the end of the year. The Biden administration recently showed pragmatism in approving an Ethereum spot ETF, but then Biden vetoed the effort to repeal SAB 121. So Trump is still friendlier than Biden." The analyst mentioned tomorrow's non-farm payrolls data, noting that if the data is "friendly," he expects the price of Bitcoin to hit a record high this weekend and will pave the way for Bitcoin to "rise to $80,000 by the end of June." Kendrick added that he sticks with his year-end price forecast for Bitcoin of $150,000 and $200,000 by the end of 2025. (The Block)
JPMorgan: US cryptocurrency regulation is targeting CBDCs and non-compliant stablecoins
JPMorgan Chase said that the US crypto regulatory measures have been strengthened in recent months, and the stablecoin bill is very likely to be approved before the presidential election. Once passed, it will pose a threat to Tether's dominance. The US House of Representatives passed a bill last month prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing central bank digital currencies. After that, the central bank is less likely to issue digital currencies. Emerging regulatory measures seem to oppose US banks' participation in cryptocurrencies, non-compliant stablecoins such as Tether, and the classification of all tokens other than Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) as securities." (Coindesk)
Arthur Hayes: The crypto bull market is awakening, go long on Bitcoin and then go long on altcoins
Arthur Hayes, founder of BitMEX, published his latest article "Group of Fools", which stated that central banks have begun to relax monetary policy, and these central bank policy changes will push the cryptocurrency market out of the summer doldrums. Go long on Bitcoin, then long on altcoins. It's time to redeploy excess US dollar liquidity to altcoins. The cryptocurrency bull market is awakening.
Base Protocol Manager: Call on Meme Coin Project to Lead More Users into Base Ecosystem
Jesse Pollak, head of the Base protocol, spoke at the Base Meme Summit and expressed the hope that more Meme coin projects in the Base ecosystem could set a small goal: to attract 10,000 new users to join the Base ecosystem, to call on more people to spread information about the Base ecosystem and Meme coins to their friends; to have face-to-face exchanges and conversations; to create vertical video content; to conduct creative experiments and to spread them on a larger scale.
Investment and Financing
io.net has raised $40 million in two rounds of private placements, with a latest valuation of $1 billion
According to a research report released by Binance Research, io.net has raised $40 million in two rounds of private placements, with a latest valuation of $1 billion. The initial token supply distribution of IO is as follows: 20% for early supporters-seed round sales; 16.24% for early supporters-Series A round sales; 18.14% for initial core contributors; 25.61% for R&D and ecosystem; 16% for the community; and 4% for Binance Launchpool.
Robinhood agrees to acquire Bitstamp for $200 million, transaction expected to close in first half of 2025
Trading platform Robinhood announced on Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp to expand its crypto business globally and attract institutional clients through new products. According to the press release, the $200 million all-cash transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025. Barclays Capital and Galaxy Digital are advisors to Robinhood and Bitstamp on the transaction. (CoinDesk)
Glacier Network completes $8 million financing with a valuation of $100 million, with Mask Network and others participating
The data-centric blockchain network Glacier Network announced that it has completed $8 million in angel and seed rounds of financing at a valuation of $100 million. ForesightX, UOB Venture Management, Laser Digital, Kucoin Ventures, Signum Capital, Cogitent Ventures, Gate Labs, Candaq Fintech Group, Open Digital Infrastructure Group, Mask Network, Dewhales Captial, DCI Capital, Polkastarter, Founderheads VC, Contribution Capital and Aza ventures participated in the investment. (TheBlock)
BitDeer plans to acquire ASIC chip design company Desiweminer in an all-stock transaction for $140 million
Bitcoin mining machine company Bitdeer will acquire ASIC chip design company Desiweminer in an all-stock transaction worth $140 million. It is reported that Bitdeer has agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Desiweminer with 20 million Class A common shares of BTDR on June 3. (Coindesk)
Sandbox Completes $20 Million in Financing, Led by Kingsway Capital
The Sandbox, a user-generated content metaverse platform, has completed a $20 million financing through convertible debt, led by Kingsway Capital and Animoca Brands, with participation from LG Tech Ventures and True Global Ventures, at a valuation of $1 billion. Noteholders can convert them into equity in Bacasable Global Limited under the same terms as existing preferred shares. (Venturebeat)
Yield-generating stablecoin issuer Mountain Protocol completes $8 million Series A funding round led by Multicoin Capital
Mountain Protocol, the issuer of yield-based stablecoins, announced the completion of an $8 million Series A financing round, led by Multicoin Capital, with participation from Castle Island Ventures, Coinbase Ventures and other investors. Mountain Protocol is the issuer of USDM, a yield-based stablecoin "fully backed by U.S. Treasuries." (Theblock)
Security incidents
A post-00s college student issued Tugoucoin and withdrew liquidity in seconds. He was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison and fined 30,000 yuan for fraud
Yang Qichao, a college student born in the 2000s, issued "Dogcoin" BFF on BNBChain. He was found guilty of fraud by the People's Court of Nanyang High-tech Industrial Development Zone, Henan Province, for withdrawing liquidity, which caused others to lose 50,000 USDT. He was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison and a fine of 30,000 yuan. On May 20, 2024, the case was heard in the second instance at the Intermediate People's Court of Nanyang City. Yang Qichao's defense lawyer still defended his innocence and believed that the virtual currency issued by the defendant Yang Qichao in this case has a unique and unalterable contract address, and there is no so-called "fake currency". The defendant and the reporter are both senior players in the currency circle and have a clear understanding of the risks of speculating on virtual currency. In addition, the platform allows liquidity to be added or withdrawn at any time, and the defendant's behavior does not violate the platform rules. The BFF coins held by the victim appreciated due to increased liquidity after the incident. If the transaction can be exchanged for more USDT coins than before, the victim will not suffer any losses. Yang Qichao, born in 2000, was a senior student about to graduate from a university in Zhejiang before the incident. In early May 2022, he paid attention to a community autonomous organization called District Future DAO, which carried out preliminary publicity and warm-up for the issuance of decentralized virtual tokens. He created a token BFF with the same English name as District Future, adding 300,000 BSC-USD and 630,000 BFF liquidity. In the same second that Yang Qichao added liquidity, Luo spent 50,000 USDT to exchange for 85,316.72 BFFs. Just 24 seconds later, Yang Qichao withdrew the liquidity of BFF, resulting in Luo using 81,043 BFFs to exchange for only 21.6 USDT. When tracing the source, Luo found Yang Qichao through a common WeChat friend. Luo asked Yang Qichao to refund his losses, but was rejected. On May 3, 2022, Luo reported to the police that he had been defrauded of more than 300,000 yuan (converted to 50,000 USDT) by investing in virtual currency. Soon, the police filed a criminal case on suspicion of fraud and arrested Yang Qichao in Hangzhou, Zhejiang in November of that year. (The Paper)
