Headlines
▌Arweave AO: AO token minting has been launched, and users can obtain AO by holding AR
Arweave AO tweeted that AO token minting has been launched and AR holders have begun to receive AO. Before the cross-chain bridge reward is launched on June 18, the minted AO tokens will be 100% awarded to AR token holders. After the cross-chain bridge reward is launched, 1/3 of the AO tokens will be distributed proportionally to AR holders, and 2/3 of the AO tokens will be distributed to users who cross-chain assets to AO. Users can deposit stETH to receive token rewards, and more assets will be supported in the future. AO tokens will remain locked until about 15% of the supply is minted. This will happen around February 8, 2025.
▌U.S. judge approves Terraform's $4.5 billion settlement with the SEC
U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff in New York has approved a $4.5 billion settlement between Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Under the agreement, Terraform and Kwon will pay a total of $4.47 billion in fines and penalties and will be essentially banned from entering the encryption industry. Among them, Terraform will pay $3.6 billion in forfeiture penalties, $420 million in civil penalties, and nearly $467 million in pre-judgment interest.
Kwon is currently detained in Montenegro after spending four months in jail for using a false passport to try to leave the country. A Montenegrin court is deciding competing extradition requests from the United States and South Korea, where he faces criminal charges.
Quotes
As of press time, according to Coingecko data:
The latest transaction price of BTC is $66,770.97, with a daily change of -2.2%;
ETH's latest transaction price is $3466.89, with a daily change of -2.6%;
BNB's latest transaction price is $599.22, with a daily change of -3.3%;
SOL's latest trading price is $147.24, with a daily change of -5.1%;
DOGE’s latest trading price is $0.141, with a daily change of -3.5%;
XPR’s most recent trading price is $0.4767, with a daily change of -3.0%.
policy
▌Ripple cites Terraform settlement as basis for lowering SEC's proposed $2 billion fine
Lawyers for Ripple Labs are attempting to use the recent fine against Terraform Labs in an effort to pay a lower penalty in its case with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Ripple, which has been engaged in a lengthy legal battle with the SEC over the past few years, said in a "supplemental authority notice" on Thursday that the financial penalty proposed by the regulator is unreasonable. The company compared the $2 billion fine the SEC proposed for it to sell XRP to institutional investors to the fine it imposed on Terraform Labs. Ripple argued that its fine should be closer to $10 million. On Wednesday, Terraform agreed to pay a $4.47 billion fine, and a judge approved the settlement late Thursday.
“The civil penalty sought by the SEC in the Terraform case demonstrates the unreasonableness of the civil penalty sought in this case,” Ripple’s lawyers said. “As Ripple’s objection explains, in similar (and even more severe) cases, the civil penalties agreed to by the SEC ranged from 0.6% to 1.8% of a defendant’s gross revenues. Terraform fits that pattern.”
▌Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority closes crypto bank FlowBank and initiates bankruptcy proceedings
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has decided to close FlowBank, a Swiss online bank that provides cryptocurrency services to customers. The regulator said that the bank no longer has sufficient capital to maintain its banking business, and there are good reasons to worry that the bank is currently over-indebted and has no prospects for restructuring. It is reported that Swiss law firm Walder Wyss has been appointed by FINMA as the bank's bankruptcy liquidator.
▌The UK advances global leadership in fintech and digital assets
Crypto advocacy group Stand with Crypto (SwC) was launched in London, just as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the general election. SwC has put forward a series of recommendations aimed at making the UK a global hub for fintech, digital assets and tokenization. The recommendations include promoting the UK as a hub for Web3 and tokenization, developing a regulatory framework for crypto assets, providing regulatory clarity for staking, promoting the benefits of decentralization, developing a cross-government blockchain strategy, developing a tokenization strategy for the City of London, and updating the legal framework for digital assets. These measures are designed to attract investment, promote innovation, and drive the development of the UK digital economy.
▌US SEC Chairman: CFTC has not yet established an adequate information disclosure system
According to Fox reporter Eleanor Terrett, during a budget hearing on Thursday, Senator Durbin asked SEC Chairman Gary Gensler whether he thought the CFTC had enough resources to regulate cryptocurrencies. Gensler said it "depends on what resources they're given. The CFTC has not yet established the same disclosure system as the SEC."
Biden nominates CFTC commissioners for senior positions at FDIC and Treasury
U.S. President Joe Biden announced the nomination of Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the nomination of CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson to serve as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions, according to a statement released by the White House on Thursday.
Both Democratic CFTC commissioners urged the agency to issue rules or guidelines to protect consumers and address conflicts of interest in the cryptocurrency space. Romero has warned of "contagion risks" in the cryptocurrency market and compared the industry to the 2008 financial crisis. Romero also sponsors the CFTC's Technology Advisory Committee, which voted earlier this year to submit a report to the commission calling for government and industry efforts to understand decentralized finance. Kristin Johnson said last year that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission should "immediately develop regulatory provisions on asset custody." The Biden administration is pushing for the first nomination hearing to begin the week of July 8.
▌US Senators question CFTC’s ability to regulate cryptocurrencies after FIT21 passes
U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, said at a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing on Thursday that after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the FIT21 bill, which would give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) more power and funding to regulate cryptocurrencies, some lawmakers are concerned that the CFTC "is taking on responsibilities far beyond their capabilities."
Durbin asked CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam at the hearing: "What exactly makes you think the CFTC can enter this rapidly changing, huge world and be an effective regulator?" Behnam said that there are loopholes in the regulation of "non-security commodity tokens" and that the CFTC has done a good job in taking enforcement actions against cryptocurrency entities.
▌US Congressman: SEC's crypto initiatives still have a lot of uncertainty and ambiguity
According to FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terrett on the X platform, U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty said he would push the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to focus on crypto regulatory clarity because the industry needs to have a proper ecosystem... otherwise it will push crypto outside the United States. However, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler countered that breaking the law and not liking the law are different from lack of clarity. Bill Hagerty said that there is still a lot of uncertainty and ambiguity in the SEC's move, but "there is no need for this."
▌U.S. Congressman Thomas Massie will propose a bill to end the Federal Reserve inspired by Bitcoin
According to Bitcoin Magazine, U.S. Congressman Thomas Massie said that after reading the book "The Bitcoin Standard", he decided to propose a bill to terminate the Federal Reserve.
Blockchain Applications
▌The Graph Foundation Completes Project Sunrise, Transitioning The Graph to a Fully Decentralized Data Layer
The Graph Foundation has completed Project Sunrise, marking the transition of blockchain data indexing and query protocol The Graph to a fully decentralized data layer.
Sunrise has completed a three-phase decentralization plan, in which subgraphs were upgraded from centralized hosting services to The Graph's global distributed network, which consists of individuals incentivized by tokens and independent companies that serve as data indexers. The Graph introduced subgraph technology to index Ethereum in 2018, but now has indexed more than 55 chains, including Optimism, Base, Arbitrum, Avalanche, NEAR, and Cosmos.
Zapper announces the launch of Zapper Protocol
DeFi asset management platform Zapper announced the launch of Zapper Protocol on the social platform. Its vision is to achieve Onchain Literacy and it will launch the token ZAP in the fourth quarter. More details will be disclosed later.
Cryptocurrency
▌Bloomberg ETF analyst: The previous prediction that the spot Ethereum ETF S-1 will be approved around July 4 may be postponed
Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas wrote on the X platform: "It is reported that issuers are still waiting for the SEC's Corporate and Financial Division to comment on the S-1 they submitted two weeks ago. This is the first time the department has reviewed these documents. Why? Because (most likely) the last-minute political shift surprised them. It is unclear whether they will prioritize this work. My previous prediction that the spot Ethereum ETF S-1 will be approved around July 4 may need to be postponed."
It was previously reported that the SEC chairman said at a hearing that the document may be approved this summer, but did not specify a specific date.
AO announces token economics: 36% allocated to AR holders, 64% allocated to cross-chain users
The AO project announced token economics, with 100% of its tokens allocated to the community, 36% to AR holders, and 64% to cross-chain users.
The AO token imitates Bitcoin, with a total of 21 million, which is halved every four years. The smallest unit of AO token is ARMSTRONG, named after Joe Armstrong, the co-inventor of Erlang, who is the biggest inspiration for the AO architecture. ARMSTRONG is similar to the smallest unit of Bitcoin, SATOSHI.
There are currently 1 million AO tokens in existence, AO token minting has been launched, and AR holders have begun to receive AO. Before the cross-chain bridge reward is launched, AO tokens will be 100% awarded to AR token holders.
Yesterday, AO announced that it will announce all the details of AO token economics on June 13, and 125 users were invited to participate in the live broadcast event.
▌The Holograph team has fixed the vulnerability and is working with multiple exchanges to block malicious accounts
The native token of the Holograph protocol, HLG, fell by more than 60% after a malicious attacker exploited a vulnerability to mint 1 billion HLG. Data shows that this incident caused the market price of HLG to fall sharply.
The attacker successfully minted an additional 1 billion HLG tokens by exploiting a vulnerability in the Holograph operating contract. The Holograph team has fixed the vulnerability and is working with multiple exchanges to block the malicious accounts involved.
According to the on-chain data, the wallet acc01ade.eth involved in this vulnerability also shows on its Github page that it is one of the contributors to the Holograph project. Currently, the team is conducting further investigations and contacting law enforcement agencies.
Important economic developments
▌The probability of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged in August is 87.6%
According to CME's "Fed Watch", the probability of the Fed keeping interest rates unchanged in August is 87.6%, and the probability of a 25 basis point rate cut is 12.4%. The probability of the Fed keeping interest rates unchanged in September is 29.8%, the probability of a cumulative 25 basis point rate cut is 62.0%, and the probability of a cumulative 50 basis point rate cut is 8.2%.
▌Nasdaq and S&P 500 both hit record closing highs for four consecutive trading days
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed with mixed gains and losses, with the Nasdaq up 0.34%, the S&P 500 up 0.23%, and the Dow down 0.17%. Among them, the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 continued to hit record closing highs for four consecutive trading days. Large technology stocks rose and fell alternately, Nvidia rose more than 3%, Tesla rose more than 2%, Apple, Microsoft, and Netflix rose slightly; Amazon and Google fell more than 1%, and Meta fell slightly. Among them, Apple's closing total market value was 3.29 trillion US dollars, surpassing Microsoft's 3.28 trillion US dollars, regaining the top spot in the U.S. stock market. Apple, Nvidia, and Microsoft all continued to hit new closing highs.
Golden Encyclopedia
What are Validiums?
Validiums is a Layer 2 scaling solution designed to optimize Ethereum performance by processing transactions off-chain. Vailidiums are primarily responsible for reducing the load on the Ethereum blockchain by processing most transactions off-chain and only sending concise proofs to the mainnet for verification. The off-chain transaction processing method significantly increases throughput and reduces mainnet congestion, resulting in a more efficient and cost-effective Ethereum experience.
Disclaimer: As a blockchain information platform, Golden Finance publishes articles for information reference only and is not intended as actual investment advice. Please establish a correct investment philosophy and be sure to raise your risk awareness.
