Headlines
▌Nvidia CEO Huang Renxun cashed out $31.2 million through a series of internal transactions
The latest regulatory filings show that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang cashed out $31.2 million through a series of internal transactions and sold 240,000 shares between June 13 and 14.
Venezuelan President uses cryptocurrency to circumvent sanctions
Critics of Venezuelan politics accuse President Nicolás Maduro and his government of increasingly relying on cryptocurrency transactions in an attempt to circumvent international sanctions. The United States recently reimposed gold and oil sanctions because Maduro failed to secure a deal for fair elections in July. Chainalysis’ analysis shows that Venezuela’s National Superintendence of Crypto Assets (SUNACRIP) is transferring large amounts of stablecoins, operations that facilitate financial operations even under sanctions.
Quotes
As of press time, according to Coingecko data:
The latest transaction price of BTC is $66,438.96, with a daily change of -0.3%;
ETH's latest transaction price is $3,507.48, with a daily change of -3.1%;
BNB's latest transaction price is $605.83, with a daily change of -0.9%;
SOL's latest trading price is $143.23, with a daily change of -4.9%;
DOGE’s latest trading price is $0.1288, with a daily change of -5.8%;
XPR recently traded at $0.5043, with a daily change of +3.2%.
policy
▌Cumberland DRW obtains BitLicense, a virtual currency license, from the New York Department of Financial Services
Digital asset trader and liquidity provider Cumberland DRW said on Monday that the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) granted its New York entity a virtual currency license, known as a BitLicense.
▌Opinion: Biden’s nomination of two CFTC commissioners may affect the agency’s cryptocurrency policy
Investment bank TD Cowen said President Biden’s nomination of two U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioners could influence the agency’s future approach to cryptocurrencies.
Last week, Biden nominated CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero to head the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Kristin Johnson to serve as assistant secretary for financial institutions at the Treasury Department. Both commissioners have pushed for the agency to issue rules or guidelines to protect consumers and address conflicts of interest in cryptocurrencies.
If Romero and Johnson are successfully appointed to their new positions, the CFTC will be left with Democratic Chairman Rostin Behnam and Republican commissioners Caroline Pham and Summer Mersinger, and the Republicans will have a majority.
TD Cowen said in a report on Monday that given the change, the Biden administration will quickly fill the two vacancies. However, replacements may not be confirmed until the fall.
Blockchain Applications
▌Foundation founders' upcoming new social network Rodeo is powered by the Farcaster social graph
Kayvon Tehranian, founder and CEO of NFT market Foundation, posted on social media, "A new social network called Rodeo is being developed. It is designed to be fun, simple and very social. It is currently by invitation only."
Farcaster co-founder Dan Romero said that the upcoming new social network (Rodeo) is supported by Farcaster's permissionless and decentralized social graph.
Cryptocurrency
FTX victims seek criminal forfeiture of company assets
In the criminal case against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), who is currently serving a 25-year sentence in federal prison, different groups have made competing claims to some or all of the assets involved.
In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, attorneys representing FTX debtors and the company’s Bahamian entity, FTX Digital Markets, argued that they have “preferential rights” to assets that can be used to satisfy an $11 billion court judgment against SBF. The legal team claims that FTX’s aircraft, funds held at Signature Bank, Farmington State Bank, and Silvergate Bank, sales of Robinhood stock, and political donations tied to former FTX executives should not be applied toward SBF’s judgment, but rather to victims of the defunct exchange.
“The preliminary forfeiture order is modified to provide for the return of specified property to the Debtors and/or FTX Digital, which will benefit all creditors and stakeholders in the Debtors’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings and FTX Digital’s liquidation in the Bahamas, including the victims of SBF’s crimes,” the filing said.
▌JPMorgan Chase questions sustainability of $12 billion crypto inflows
JPMorgan analysts raised questions about the sustainability of the $12 billion inflows into crypto assets so far this year. They noted that while much of the money has moved through spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), they are skeptical about the sustainability of inflows given the current high price of Bitcoin relative to production costs and gold. While annualized net inflows could reach $26 billion based on this trend, analysts remain skeptical, consistent with their early concerns about the impact of spot Bitcoin ETF approval on attracting new capital into the crypto space.
▌BlackRock and Fidelity Spot Bitcoin ETFs currently hold a total of 477,100 BTC
BlackRock and Fidelity currently hold a combined 477,121 BTC, worth $31.4 billion, for their spot Bitcoin ETFs. These ETFs now hold 262,721 more BTC than MicroStrategy.
▌Lifeboat Foundation accepts cryptocurrency donations but its non-profit status is questionable
The Lifeboat Foundation claims to be dedicated to “protecting humanity” and has been associated with prominent figures such as Jeffrey Epstein and Vitalik Buterin. Despite its claim to have non-profit 501(c)(3) status, it has been on the IRS’s automatic revocation list since 2020.
The foundation has been accepting cryptocurrency donations since 2013, with the first donation of 500 Bitcoins from Brian Cartmell, and currently holds a large amount of cryptocurrency that is not immediately converted into fiat currency. Among the donors are Jaan Tallinn and Charlie Shrem, and a total of more than 1,100 Bitcoins and 190 Ethereums have been received.
Currently, most donors are businesses looking to improve their search engine rankings by having their name and link displayed on their website.
▌Opinion: Speculative hot money turns to AI-related stocks, which is unfavorable to the crypto market
Youwei Yang, chief economist at BIT Mining, said that the shift of speculative hot money to AI-related stocks is unfavorable to the cryptocurrency market. The current U.S. stock market regards every piece of AI news as positive, and given the resulting FOMO, "cryptocurrency has lost its charm."
Youwei Yang believes: “There is only a certain amount of hot money in the market, and now all of this hot money is invested in the field of artificial intelligence. Until cryptocurrencies can break through some convincing narratives or constructive progress, cryptocurrencies will just trade sideways during this period, waiting for a major market shock.”
Important economic developments
▌The probability of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged in August is 90.7%
According to CME's "Fed Watch", the probability of the Fed keeping interest rates unchanged in August is 90.7%, and the probability of a 25 basis point rate cut is 9.3%. The probability of the Fed keeping interest rates unchanged in September is 39%, the probability of a cumulative 25 basis point rate cut is 55.7%, and the probability of a cumulative 50 basis point rate cut is 5.3%.
▌Federal Reserve Harker: Based on current forecasts, a rate cut in 2024 is appropriate
Fed's Patrick Harker said he thinks one rate cut would be appropriate this year based on his current forecasts, underscoring signals that rates are likely to remain elevated. "If everything goes as expected, I think one rate cut by the end of the year would be appropriate," Harker said. "In fact, I think there's a good chance that we'll get two or zero rate cuts this year, depending on which way the data is going. So we're going to remain data dependent." The Philadelphia Fed president currently expects economic growth to slow but remain above trend, with unemployment rising modestly. He also believes a return to the Fed's inflation target will be a "long process."
▌Nasdaq and S&P 500 hit new record closing highs
The three major U.S. stock indexes closed higher, with the Nasdaq up 0.95%, the S&P 500 up 0.77%, and the Dow up 0.49%. Among them, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 set new historical closing highs, and the Nasdaq continued to set new closing highs for six consecutive trading days. Most large technology stocks rose, with Tesla up more than 5%, Microsoft, Apple, and Intel up more than 1%, Netflix, Google, Amazon, and Meta up slightly; Nvidia fell slightly. Among them, Microsoft and Apple both set historical closing highs. GameStop fell more than 12%, and the company's CEO said that the company would focus on profitability and avoid speculation.
▌Citigroup raises its year-end target for the S&P 500 to 5,600
Citigroup strategists raised their year-end target for the S&P 500 to 5,600 from 5,100 previously, becoming the third Wall Street firm to raise its forecast for the benchmark index since Friday, following Goldman Sachs and Evercore ISI. Strategists led by Scott Chronert wrote in a note to clients on Monday that continued earnings revisions and the expansion of profit growth to non-tech stocks prompted the target increase. The latest forecast implies an upside of about 2% from Monday's level. Citigroup raised its full-year earnings per share forecast to $250 from $245.
Golden Encyclopedia
What is an inverse futures contract?
An inverse futures contract is a financial arrangement that requires the seller to pay the buyer the difference between the agreed price and the current price when the contract expires. Unlike traditional futures, the seller benefits from a fall in price.
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.
