Headlines

▌EigenLayer Foundation: EIGEN airdrop claim and pledge are now open

The EigenLayer Foundation announced that EIGEN airdrop claims and staking were launched at 1 a.m. on May 11.

▌The U.S. DOJ selects consulting firm FRA as Binance’s external regulator

According to people familiar with the matter, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has selected consulting firm Forensic Risk Alliance (FRA) as Binance's external regulator. Wall Street law firm Sullivan & Cromwell was initially considered the best choice for this role. The U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment on the matter. Spokespersons for Sullivan & Cromwell and FRA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Quotes

As of press time, according to Coingecko data:

The latest transaction price of BTC is $60,797.14, with a daily change of -3.4%;

ETH's latest transaction price is $2909.90, with a daily change of -3.9%;

BNB's latest trading price is $586.00, with a daily change of -1.6%;

SOL's latest trading price is $146.25, with a daily change of -4.3%;

DOGE’s latest trading price is $0.1442, with a daily change of -4.8%;

XPR recently traded at $0.5022, with a daily change of -3.3%.

policy

▌The U.S. Congress may vote on new legislation for the crypto industry before the end of May

Patrick McHenry, chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, said the new legislation will provide more clarity in regulation for the cryptocurrency industry and could be voted on by the House of Representatives at the end of May. The proposed legislation, called the 21st Century Financial Innovation and Technology (FIT21) Act, aims to provide a clear regulatory framework for digital assets and address long-standing market regulation and consumer protection issues.

▌The U.S. House of Representatives will hold a full vote on the cryptocurrency bill

The U.S. House of Representatives will hold a full house vote on the cryptocurrency market structure bill. The bill, the Financial Innovation and Technology Act for the 21st Century (FIT21), is the most comprehensive cryptocurrency legislation to date passed by a congressional committee and a milestone in important digital asset regulatory legislation. The bill was promoted by Republican Patrick McHenry, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and has been voted through by the House Rules Committee, and will become the first digital asset regulatory bill to pass the House of Representatives. McHenry said that the passage of the bill will provide a clear regulatory framework for the digital asset market, consolidate the United States' leadership in the global financial system, and strengthen its role as an international innovation center. Despite good progress, the bill may face challenges in the Senate, so further observation is needed.

▌The US SEC rejected Coinbase's request for an appeals court ruling on cryptocurrency rules

The U.S. SEC has rejected Coinbase's request for an appeals court to review whether traditional securities rules apply to cryptocurrencies. In its application, Coinbase said it hopes the appeals court will consider whether the Howey test, which has long been used for securities assessments, should be applied to digital assets. However, the SEC noted that Coinbase has not successfully demonstrated the need for such an assessment. The SEC said Coinbase attempted to create a "new legal test," but the attempt was rejected by the court. The court held that Coinbase's arguments lacked consistency and did not successfully prove that there was a decisive issue. Currently, the judge who is hearing the SEC's case against Coinbase will rule on Coinbase's interlocutory appeal motion.

Colombian President Suspected of Accepting $500,000 in Illegal Cryptocurrency Donations

Colombian President Gustavo Petro is suspected of accepting more than $500,000 in digital token donations from a scam cryptocurrency project during his 2022 campaign. According to a former contractor, the illegal donation took place during a meeting in February 2022, where the advantages of cryptocurrency and the possibility of working with the government were discussed. The allegation is one of the latest allegations President Petro faces during his campaign, following an investigation into his campaign by the Colombian Attorney General's Office last year.

▌Mark Cuban slams SEC chairman, says crypto voters will have a voice in 2024 election

Billionaire Mark Cuban responded to former 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's attitude towards cryptocurrencies on social media. Cuban accused Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler of failing to properly protect investors from fraud and warned Congress that cryptocurrency voters will have a voice in the 2024 election. A January poll showed that 51% of cryptocurrency voters support Trump as a presidential candidate, but there is a big split in the congressional elections. Trump said he would accept cryptocurrency donations to support his campaign, while Gensler believes that the cryptocurrency market is risky and needs regulation.

Blockchain Applications

▌Galaxy Researcher: Including EIP 3074 in the debate on Pectra is a positive sign

Christine Kim, a researcher at Galaxy Research, said that the debate over the inclusion of EIP 3074 in Pectra is a positive sign that Ethereum’s decentralized governance works and does not necessarily lead to a permanent chain split. Although the protocol developers decided to include EIP 3074 in Pectra in ACDE #185, the wallet developers present at the ACDE#186meeting disagreed, so all developers agreed to discuss the matter further in a separate conference call.

From the discussion of the EIP 3074 call, it can be seen that EIP 7702 proposed by Vitalik Buterin may be a way forward for a more flexible EOA in the short term, and all parties may reach an agreement. At present, there are still details to be resolved on the future of EIP 7702 and 3074, but the discussion so far has promoted constructive dialogue between different stakeholders and opened up a new path forward, enhancing consensus among participants. As long as Ethereum's governance processes, forums (ACD calls), and major players (Ethereum protocol developers) remain open for anyone to participate, it is possible to achieve the desired results and drive the Ethereum community forward.

Cryptocurrency

More than a third of US-listed ETFs may not be able to cover operating costs

According to data from Bloomberg Intelligence and industry insiders, the average expense ratio for new ETF development has risen to 0.63%, the highest since 2010, partly due to spot ETFs involving Bitcoin, reflecting that the industry's fee competition has reached its limit. Although cheap fees are good for investors, it is a challenge for issuers. The latest data shows that about one-third to more than half of US-listed ETFs may not cover operating costs. Fee competition in the ETF market is evolving into demand for high-fee, high-profit products. At the same time, the mutual fund industry faces the challenge of continued net closures as investors turn to more cost-effective ETFs. The mutual fund industry is trying to transform in a variety of ways to adapt to this change, but mutual funds still have an advantage in the US pension system.

ARK Invest and 21Shares’ proposed spot Ethereum ETF will not include staking

ARK Invest and 21Shares' proposal for a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) will not include staking. Previous filings mentioned the possible inclusion of a staking component, but the latest filing removed that content when it was updated last Friday. The move may mean a strategy adjustment with an eye on SEC approval. Analysts pointed out that the prospect of the SEC approving a spot Ethereum ETF is no longer optimistic, with one analyst lowering his estimate of the chance of approval from 70% to 25%. ARK Invest and 21 Shares have not yet commented on this.

▌JPMorgan holds several US spot Bitcoin ETFs

American financial giant JPMorgan Chase has announced its holdings in Bitcoin spot ETFs from Grayscale, ProShares, Bitwise, BlackRock, and Fidelity. According to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 10, JPMorgan Chase holds approximately $760,000 worth of ProShares BITO, BlackRock IBIT, Fidelity FBTC, Grayscale GBTC, and Bitwise BITB. In addition, the bank also holds 25,021 shares of Bitcoin ATM supplier Bitcoin Depot, worth approximately $47,000.

▌The address that defrauded 1,155 WBTC has returned more than 96% of the funds to the victims

Blockchain data shows that the address poisoning attacker tricked users into sending him 1,155 Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) (worth $68 million at the time), and the attacker has returned almost all of the stolen funds. The funds had been converted into Ether (ETH) while the attacker was holding them, and the price of ETH has fallen. However, the attacker returned about 22,960.07 ETH, worth about $65.7 million, accounting for more than 96% of the dollar value of the funds originally stolen.

Important economic developments

▌Fed Kashkari: The threshold for another rate hike is high, but this possibility cannot be ruled out

Kashkari of the Federal Reserve said that he is cautious about the restrictiveness of monetary policy; he is taking a wait-and-see attitude towards future monetary policy; he is in a wait-and-see state to see whether inflation stagnates; the threshold for another rate hike is high, but this possibility cannot be ruled out; if inflation data supports it, the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged.

▌The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded eight consecutive gains, and the three major U.S. stock indexes all rose for at least three consecutive weeks

The three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.32%, recording eight consecutive daily gains and a cumulative increase of 2.16% this week; the S&P 500 rose 0.16%, a cumulative increase of 1.85% this week; and the Nasdaq fell 0.03%, a cumulative increase of 1.14% this week. Among them, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose for four consecutive weeks, and the S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose for three consecutive weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its largest weekly increase since mid-December last year.

Golden Encyclopedia

How difficult is it to mine Bitcoin alone?

Mining Bitcoin solo requires a single miner to compete with all the other miners around the world. Bitcoin's Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus protocol makes mining a natural competition. Regardless of the power of the mining rig, the chances of a solo miner beating the rest of the world's miners to the target hashrate for a block are virtually zero.

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.