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Let's learn about blockchain , crypto, NFT and Airdrop.

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4️⃣ XRPL On-Chain Transactions Jump 108% In Q1 2024 📈 According to Ripple’s Q1 2024 XRP Markets Report, on-chain transaction activity on the XRPL increased by 108% during Q1 of 2024 and the average transaction cost almost halved to approximately $ 0.000856. The report stated that the decrease in average cost per transaction indicated a “reset” and that “no network congestion occurred in the quarter.” The report also highlighted that the distribution of XRP trading volume among cryptocurrency exchanges stayed steady in the first quarter, with Binance, Bybit and Upbit accounting for more than 70% of the total traded volume.
3️⃣ Venezuela Bans Crypto Mining To Protect Power Grid ▶️ According to local media reports, Venezuela’s Ministry of Electric Power plans to disconnect cryptocurrency mining farms from the national grid due to frequent power outages, as well as a fraud investigation against the national oil company PDVSA. Venezuela’s National Association of Cryptocurrencies also tweeted that crypto mining is prohibited in Venezuela. The move aims to regulate excessive energy consumption and guarantee a stable power supply for the population.@holdbtc.lens @lens/cryptohindio please shout out 🙏🏼
2️⃣ Phantom Wallet Climbs Apple App Store Charts 🔼 Cryptocurrency wallet Phantom Wallet has reportedly secured third place on the Apple App Store in the utility category, just behind Google and Google Chrome Apps. Given Phantom’s history of being initially launched as a Solana-only wallet, users speculate if this could be a bullish indicator for the Solana ecosystem. As for the overall ranking across all categories on the Apple app store, Phantom Wallet ranks 32nd, behind X and the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, ChatGPT.
MARKET MOVING NEWS! (19/05/24) 1️⃣ LayerZero Identifies Over 800K Addresses in Sybil Self-Reporting Phase ‼️ LayerZero Labs has officially concluded the Sybil self-reporting phase of its airdrop program. According to LayerZero, self-reported addresses that meet the criteria will receive 15% of their anticipated token allocation, while the remaining 85% will be redistributed to eligible users. A total of 803,093 addresses were identified as potential Sybil addresses. The complete list of addresses, including those self-reported and those identified through initial examinations by LayerZero, Chaos Labs and Nansen, has been released to the public.
4️⃣ Coinbase Says Market 'Underestimating' Timing And Odds Of Spot Ethereum ETF Approval 🤔 In a recently published report, Coinbase institutional research analyst David Han stated that the market may be underestimating the chances for a potential approval of the spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds. Notably, the SEC has key deadlines coming up on May 23 and May 24 to decide whether to approve the applications for spot Ethereum ETFs submitted by VanEck and ArkInvest/21 Shares, respectively. Han stated, We think the market may be underestimating the timing and odds of a potential approval. Ether may yet have the potential to surprise to the upside in the coming months [and] does not appear to have major sources of supply-side overhangs such as token unlocks or miner sell pressure.
3️⃣ Dolce & Gabbana Faces Class-Action Lawsuit After Alleged NFT Delivery Delay ▶️ According to a Bloomberg report, a disgruntled customer has filed a class-action lawsuit against Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana and digital assets platform UNXD after alleged delays in delivering NFT products caused the digital assets to lose 97% of their value. The customer identified as Luke Brown reportedly paid $ 6,000 for “DGFamily NFTs,” a Dolce & Gabbana product combining digital and physical assets as privileges and experiences within the brand’s greater ecosystem. The complaint alleged the company promised that the NFTs came with outfits to wear in the metaverse. However, the digital outfits reportedly showed up 20 days behind schedule and token holders still couldn’t actually use them for another 11 days because the fashion brand had failed to get approval from the metaverse platform ahead of time.
2️⃣ Kraken Considers Dropping USDT In Europe Ahead Of New Regulations 🔽 Crypto exchange Kraken is reportedly considering removing support for Tether’s USDT stablecoin in the European Union after the region approved the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). Kraken stated it is “actively reviewing” plans to comply with the upcoming MiCA framework. Notably, MiCA will be applied in two phases. The first phase will see rules applicable to stablecoins (asset-referenced, or ARTs, and e-money tokens, or EMTs) coming into force on June 30, 2024, while the second phase will see rules applicable to crypto service providers coming into force on Dec. 30, 2024. Tether has responded to Kraken’s remarks by stating that it expects exchanges to “rightfully focus on EUR liquidity for European customers, while maintaining USDT as an on-ramp off-ramp solution.”
🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (18/05/24) 1️⃣ Feds Charge Chinese Nationals in $ 73 Million 'Pig Butchering' Crypto Scam ❓ The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has reportedly arrested two Chinese nationals accused of orchestrating a large-scale cryptocurrency operation that involved laundering over $ 73 million from ‘pig butchering’ crypto scams. The DOJ has charged them with committing money laundering and six counts of international money laundering. The DOJ said, The fraud scheme involved more than $ 73 million laundered through U.S. financial institutions to bank accounts in the Bahamas and converted to the virtual asset USDT, or Tether. A cryptocurrency wallet involved in the scheme received more than $ 341 million in virtual assets.
4️⃣ Alameda's Sam Trabucco Resurfaces to Defend FTX Exec Ahead of Sentencing ☄️ Sam Trabucco, the former Alameda Research co-CEO, reportedly sent a character reference letter dated May 6 for former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame. Trabucco stated Salame was his best friend and wanted the consequences of his criminal actions to be “fair” based on his role in misappropriating FTX user funds. The letter reads, Ryan deserves to face the consequences of his actions — he intimately understands that. All I want is for those consequences to be fair — for him, but also for the world, which will be so much worse off not having him fully in it.
3️⃣ Telegram-Based Notcoin Debuts at $ 1B FDV on Ton Blockchain 🕯 Yesterday, Notcoin (NOT), a token belonging to the viral telegram clicker game of the same name, officially began trading on spot markets. The token debuted with a fully diluted value (FDV) of $ 1 billion and racked up $ 294 million in trading volume within the first hour of trading. Notcoin has a maximum supply of 102 billion, with 3% allocated to Binance Launchpool users and a further 1.5% set aside for OKX Jumpstart users.
2️⃣ US Senate Passes Measure Withdrawing SEC Accounting Bulletin ▶️ The U.S. Senate has reportedly joined the House of Representatives in voting to approve a resolution rejecting the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) controversial cryptocurrency accounting guidance known as SAB 121. The Senate voted 60-38 on the effort to overturn the policy. Notably, SAB 121 requires firms, including banks, that custody crypto to record customer crypto holdings as liabilities on their balance sheets. The resolution passed by the Senate seeks to formally disapprove of the SEC's guidance, with support from both Democrats and Republicans. The measure will now go to President Joe Biden's desk, who has previously stated that he will veto the resolution.
🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (17/05/24) 1️⃣ Memecoin Launcher Pump.Fun Claims Ex-Employee Behind $ 1.9M Exploit ‼️ Yesterday, Solana-based memecoin launchpad pump.fun suffered an exploit that resulted in over $ 1.9M being stolen from the total $ 45 million held in pump.fun’s bonding curve contracts. This left the platform compromised and prompted its leadership to temporarily shut the site down. In its post-mortem report on the attack, the memecoin launchpad identified a former employee as the person behind the exploit that occurred on the platform. The former employee reportedly used their privileged position to gain admin privileges. They then used flash loans to buy out memecoins until they reached 100% on their bonding curves, allowing them to gain liquidity to repay the loans. Pump.fun has announced that it has upgraded its contracts and that it plans to compensate affected users by seeding the LPs for each affected coin with an equal or greater amount of SOL liquidity within the next 24 hours.
Alts are completely dead but have patience & reward will be sweet!
6️⃣ Coinbase Recovers After System-Wide Outage, But User Withdrawals Remain Offline ‼️ Crypto exchange Coinbase suffered a major outage earlier today. The outage lasted three hours at 4:19 am UTC and eventually managed to fully recover by 7:34 am UTC. While the exact reason behind the outage remains unknown, Coinbase said it will continue investigating the issue.
5️⃣ Hong Kong’s Spot Bitcoin And Ether ETFs Experience Largest Net Daily Outflows Since Debut 🔍 According to data from SosoValue and Farside Investors, Hong Kong’s Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded their largest net outflows on Monday since debuting on April 30. ChinaAMC’s spot bitcoin ETF led the outflows with 251.65 BTC in outflows, followed by Harvest’s outflow of 147.86 BTC and Bosera HashKey’s 119.99 BTC. The three ETFs held about 3,560 BTC as of Monday, with total net assets shrinking to $ 219.7 million, compared to Friday's $ 262.7 million. Meanwhile, spot Ether ETFs from the same issuers saw total joint net outflows of $ 6.6 million. Harvest Global and ChinaAMC tied for most outflows with $ 3 million each.
4️⃣ Solana Meme Coins, GameStop Stock Rocket as 'Roaring Kitty' Returns on X 🕯 The return of Keith Gill, a financial analyst and investor who goes by the X handle ‘Roaring Kitty,’ on social media platform X has unleashed a massive flood of Solana-based meme coins through the pump.fun protocol. Notably, Gill is closely linked to GameStop’s stock rally in 2021. Gill announced his return to X (formerly Twitter) by posting a meme that refers to a period of “locking in,” a colloquial term for a period of intense focus or concentration. Users on X and Reddit took this as a sign that he was locking into trading markets. GME Stonks, GameOver, and KiethGillWifHat are a few examples of tokens launched through pump.fun in the last 24 hours. Stocks related to Gill such as GME also saw its price go up as high as 44% in pre-market trading, and as high as 100% on market open before trading was halted.
3️⃣ Biden Orders Removal Of Chinese-Owned Crypto Miner Near Missile Base 🧐 U.S. President Joe Biden has signed an order preventing MineOne Cloud Computing Investment - a China-linked crypto mining firm, from continuing to use land near a Wyoming nuclear missile base. Specifically, the order forces MineOne and its partners to remove all the improvements and mining equipment on the property located within a mile of the military facility in Cheyenne – a base that houses Minuteman III nuclear missiles. Biden stated, There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that MineOne Partners Limited, a British Virgin Islands company ultimately majority owned by Chinese nationals [...] might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.
2️⃣ DYdX Founder Antonio Juliano to Step Down as CEO of the Decentralised Exchange; Ivo Crnkovic-Rubsamen Takes Over ⚡️ Antonio Juliano, the founder of decentralised crypto exchange dYdX, is reportedly stepping down as CEO after seven years of heading the crypto derivatives platform. Juliano announced his decision to move from the exchange's daily operations to the position of chairman and president. Ivo Crnkovic-Rubsamen, dYdX’s former chief strategy officer, will be replacing Juliano as CEO.
🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (14/05/24) 1️⃣ Crypto Prime Brokerage Firm Falcon Labs Settles With CFTC Over Registration Violation ❓ Crypto prime brokerage firm Falcon Labs, Ltd. has reportedly paid $ 1.8 million in disgorgement and penalties to settle with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission after the agency said it should have been registered as a futures commission merchant (FCM). The CFTC said Falcon Labs was an "intermediary facilitating its customers’ trading on various digital asset exchanges." The CFTC also noted that Monday’s order was the "first action against an unregistered FCM that inappropriately facilitated access to digital asset exchanges."
Why #Alts Dumping? Liquidity is getting sucked by the memecoins with retail buyers that knows nothing about the fundamentals are throwing their money away.
Study this chart You can see the green line. 👀 Bitcoin's halving just happened. Price is hovering still below last cycles ATHs. Historical price data, + ETF, + trump/election, + global macro, + tech adoption, + momentum, + fundamentals, & everything else. The next 9-11 months (maybe 18) should be wild.
#Bitcoin    holders be like 👇
10 Imp Tips for this bull market - you can’t be rigid towards popular beliefs - you need to adapt according to trends - you can’t ignore memes - you need to learn fundamentals - you have to rotate funds in emerging narratives - you have to manage risks - you have to manage your feed in a way where you get access to regular alpha - you should start using DexScreener - you should stop following those people who adds no value to your journey - you should keep testing new protocols for potential incentives
6️⃣ Bitcoin Worth Over $ 60 Million Moved For The First Time In 10 Years 🔍 Two mysterious Bitcoin wallets that had been dormant for more than 10 years, holding a combined 1,000 Bitcoin (worth $ 61 million), have suddenly woken up and transferred almost all their BTC holdings to other wallets. While the funds sent from the first address were subsequently split and sent on to additional addresses, the funds sent from the second address are yet to be transferred further.
5️⃣ Synthetix Founder Kain Warwick Launches Infinex ☄️ Synthetix co-founder Kain Warwick has officially launched Infinex - a front-end site that aims to simplify DeFi by abstracting away barriers such as wallet setup, asset bridging, and gas fees into a single user-friendly layer. Infinex Account, the platform's main feature, will offer cross-chain capabilities secured through passkey authentication and social sign-in options. Infinex will operate alongside Synthetix and currently supports six blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon. Warwick stated, Infinex will make it possible for everyone to use crypto and gain access to the expansive options of on-chain trading without relying on someone’s centralised database and relinquishing control of their assets.
4️⃣ El Salvador Launches $ 360M Bitcoin Treasury Monitoring Website 💸 El Salvador has reportedly launched its own proof-of-reserves website. Notably, the website features various tools for monitoring the country’s Bitcoin holdings using on-chain data. The country’s Bitcoin treasury officially holds 5,748 BTC, roughly worth $ 360 million at current prices.
3️⃣ Metaplanet Makes Bitcoin a Reserve Asset As Japan’s Debt Mountain Grows 🕯 Tokyo-listed Metaplanet has reportedly adopted BTC as a strategic reserve asset and hedge against Japan's debt burden and the resulting volatility in the yen. The company stated that it acquired a total of 117.7 BTC ($ 7.19 million) since April. The company stated, Metaplanet has adopted bitcoin as its strategic reserve asset. The move is a direct response to sustained economic pressures in Japan, notably high government debt levels, prolonged periods of negative real interest rates, and the consequently weak yen. As the yen continues to weaken, Bitcoin offers a non-sovereign store of value that has, and may continue, to appreciate against traditional fiat currencies.
2️⃣ China Is Paying Some Workers In Digital Yuan – But Few Are Choosing To Use It ❓ According to a May 13 report from the South China Morning Post, some Chinese cities have begun paying state employees in the country’s CBDC. However, most of these early adopters are reportedly converting their earnings to cash immediately. The report suggested that many Chinese citizens remain hesitant to use a purely digital currency like the digital yuan due to broader fears of surveillance and its limited use cases. Sammy Lin, an account manager at a Chinese state bank in Suzhou stated, I prefer not to keep the money in the e-CNY app because there’s no interest if I leave it there. There are also not so many places, online or offline, where I can use the e-yuan.
🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (13/05/24) 1️⃣ North Korean Hackers Deploy ‘Durian’ Malware, Targeting Crypto Firms ‼️ According to a May 9 threat report from cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, North Korean hackers are using a “striking” new malware variant dubbed “Durian” to launch attacks on South Korean crypto firms. The report states that at least two cryptocurrency firms have experienced a series of targeted attacks from the North Korean hacking group Kimsuky. Specifically, Kimsuky used the new malware to exploit legitimate security software used exclusively by crypto firms in South Korea.
Don't get shakeout , We are very close. Holders will be very well rewarded. 📈💎
#Btc
#Gmx leading the perp DEX.
Bitcoin is consolidating in the same range for the last 70 days.. 👀
5️⃣ Eclipse CEO Steps Back Amid Harassment Allegations 🔍 Neel Somani, the founder and CEO of Ethereum scaling company Eclipse, has announced that he would be stepping back from his role as a "public face" for the company after a flurry of sexual harassment allegations against him resurfaced. Somani stated, Serious allegations have been made against me on Twitter in the last week. These allegations are false, but serious allegations about sexual misconduct warrant a serious and thoughtful response […] I'll be temporarily reducing my role as a public face for Eclipse. The senior leaders at Eclipse are well equipped to take on these responsibilities and this will allow these conversations to unfold and the truth to emerge about these allegations.
Bugs In Gains Network Fork Let Traders Profit 900% On Every Trade: Report ▶️ According to an April 19 report from blockchain security firm Zellic, two different bugs in a fork of the Gains Network leveraged trading protocol could have allowed traders to profit 900% on every trade, regardless of the price of the token traded. Notably, one of the bugs existed in a previous version of Gains but was later patched while the other was only found in a fork of the protocol. While Zellic’s staff has informed the developers of Gains forks Gambit Trade, Holdstation Exchange, and Krav Trade of the vulnerability, other Gains forks may still be vulnerable.
3️⃣ Grayscale Parent Digital Currency Group Reports $ 229M Revenue for Q1 💰 Digital Currency Group (DCG), the parent company of asset manager Grayscale, reported a first quarter revenue of $ 229 million. DCG stated that Grayscale accounted for $ 156 million of its first quarter revenue. Notably, sharp rises in the price of bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) kept the revenue from Grayscale flat from the previous quarter despite heavy redemptions and a reduced management fee following the conversion of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to an ETF. Two other notable DCG ventures, crypto mining pool Foundry and investing platform Luno, saw revenue increases of 35% and 46%, respectively.
2️⃣ Canadian Regulator Fines Binance $ 4.4M For AML And CFT Violations ‼️ The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) has reportedly imposed a $ 4.4 million administrative monetary penalty on Binance for failing to comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) regulations. According to the regulator, Binance failed to register as a foreign money services business. It also supposedly failed to report 5,902 crypto transactions bigger than $ 10,000 and their attached know-your-customer (KYC) information. The regulator reported that Binance’s activities for incurring the fine happened when it was winding down its operations in Canada in 2023.
4️⃣ Bitfinex CTO Denies Rumors Of Data Breach From Ransomware Group ❌ Bitfinex chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino has cast skepticism on claims by hacking group Fsociety that it hacked cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex’s database and leaked 22,500 customer emails and passwords. Ardoino stated that the claims “seems fake” after “deep analysis” of Bitfinex’s systems found no breach. He also noted that fewer than a quarter of the email addresses supposedly stolen from Bitfinex's servers match legitimate users. Ardoino further stated, Their post was published the 25th of April, giving 7 days to contact them. Yet we discovered about this claim only yesterday. If they had any real information they would have asked a ramson [sic] through our bug bounty, customer support ticket, emails, twitter etc. We couldn't find any request.
3️⃣ Coinbase Faces Copycat Class Action Suit Asserting Tokens Are Securities In Echo Of Pending Case 🔍 Crypto exchange Coinbase and its CEO Brian Armstrong are reportedly facing a new class-action lawsuit alleging investors were deceived into buying securities and claims the company’s business model is illegal, echoing a case already faced by the company. The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California by west coast law firm Scott+Scott and representing plaintiffs located in California and Florida, says Coinbase's sales of digital assets mean the company "knowingly, intentionally, and repeatedly violated state securities laws since it began doing business."
2️⃣ Sui Network Addresses Claims About Its Token Supply 🎙 In a recent post on X, the Sui Network clarified misunderstandings about its token supply, especially those relating to the distribution and control of its SUI token. Sui stated that its tokenomics are sound and that it uses reputable third parties to handle token storage. It also stated that its tokens are released according to a predetermined schedule, they are publicly accessible, and its founders cannot control the treasury or tokens allocated to investors, including the community reserve. The tweet reads, The founder of MystenLabs does not control the Sui Foundation treasury, the community reserve, stake subsidies, or any tokens allocated to investors […] Sui Foundation is the largest holder of locked tokens, which will be unlocked in accordance with the public emissions schedule. These tokens are used to support builders, advance the Move programming language, increase network security, and grow the ecosystem through initiatives like developer grants, hackathons, bug bounties, academic research, and more […] 100% of staking rewards earned by the Sui Foundation are returned to the community, and included in the publ
🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (05/05/24) 1️⃣ Vodafone Looks To Integrate Crypto Wallets With SIM Cards ‼️ United Kingdom-based telecommunications provider Vodafone is reportedly planning to bring blockchain technology to smartphone users by integrating cryptocurrency wallets with subscriber identity module (SIM) cards. The plans were revealed by Vodafone’s Blockchain Lead David Palmer in a recent interview with Yahoo Finance Future Focus. Palmer stated, By 2030 we’re expecting more than 20 billion mobile phones to be in operation, many of those being smartphones. […] So we’ve focused on linking the sim card to digital identity, linking the sim card to blockchains, and using the cryptography we have in those sim cards for that integration.
🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (02/05/24) 1️⃣ Spot Bitcoin ETFs Record Largest Daily Net Outflows Ever 🔽 Yesterday, United States-based spot Bitcoin ETFs posted record net outflows with $ 563.7 million leaving the funds. Notably, Fidelity’s FBTC experienced the largest net outflows, with over $ 191 million moving out of the fund, followed by Grayscale’s GBTC with $ 167.3 million net outflow. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust also saw its first-ever outflow day with $ 36.9 million of outflows. 2️⃣ Pike Finance Clarifies ‘USDC Vulnerability’ Statement On $ 1.6M Exploit ▶️ DeFi lending protocol Pike Finance suffered an exploit on April 30th that led to the loss of $ 1.68 million worth of digital assets across the Ethereum, Arbitrum and Optimism chains. Following the exploit, the team published an announcement saying that the exploit was related to a “USDC vulnerability.” This statement led to confusion among users as it seemed to hint at problems with the stablecoin issued by Circle. In an attempt to clear up this confusion, Pike has published a statement clarifying that the root cause of the exploit is unrelated to the functionality of USDC-issuer Circle product offerings. Rather, the exploit was caused by “weak security measures” in Pike's contract functions when handling transfers with the Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP), a service provided by Circle. 3️⃣ MicroStrategy Is Building ‘Decentralised ID’ on Bitcoin Using Ordinals-Like Inscriptions 💸 During a presentation at the annual MicroStrategy World conference in Las Vegas, MicroStrategy co-founder and Executive Chairman Michael Saylor announced the launch of ‘MicroStrategy Orange’ – an open-source decentralised identity solution on the Bitcoin network that uses Ordinal-based inscriptions to store and retrieve information. MicroStrategy has published an unofficial draft of the MicroStrategy Orange specification on Github. The platform consists of three fundamental pieces - Orange Service, Orange SDK and Orange Applications. Orange Service allows users to issue DIDs to their personnel and deploy applications, while Orange SDK and Orange Applications provide customization tools to integrate specific services on mobile and desktop devices. 4️⃣ Jack Dorsey's Block Faces Scrutiny From Federal Authorities Over Non-Compliant Crypto Services ‼️ According to an NBC News report, federal prosecutors are investigating fintech firm Block's Square and Cash App units over alleged sanctions violations and regulatory non-compliance issues. Specifically, Block's crypto unit is under scrutiny for allegedly processing transactions linked to sanctioned countries and terrorist organizations. Former employees of Block are cooperating with prosecutors as they uncover compliance failures within the company. NBC News has quoted a former Block worker saying that “everything in the compliance section was flawed,” with thousands of questionable transactions allegedly going unreported to the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control. 5️⃣ Proposed US Bill Wouldn’t Allow Taxing Block Rewards At Acquisition 🔍 U.S. lawmakers Rep. Drew Ferguson and Rep. Wiley Nickel have reportedly introduced the Providing Tax Clarity for Digital Assets Act to the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill seeks to clarify how Bitcoin and crypto miners are taxed over block rewards. Notably, the proposed legislation states that staking rewards would be considered created property under U.S. tax code, and that taxes on block rewards would be collected at the point of sale. Crypto advocacy group Coin Center described the bill as having “sensible policies” and the Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Sheila Warren called the legislation “right on point” for providing needed guidance. She stated that the proposed bill would “resolve major issues with how cryptocurrencies are taxed today and put the technology on a level playing field.”
🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (27/04/24) 1️⃣ Pantera Capital Buys Another Trove of Solana Tokens From FTX Auction 💰 According to a Bloomberg report, Pantera Capital successfully bought another batch of Solana tokens from the bankrupt FTX estate. While it remains unclear just how much Pantera managed to buy this time, anonymous sources state that roughly 2,000 SOL tokens were sold at the auction this week. 2️⃣ Custodia Files Appeal After Judge Rules Bank Is Not Entitled To Fed Master Account ☄️ Digital asset bank Custodia has reportedly filed a notice of appeal against a court ruling that affirmed the Federal Reserve's rejection of its bid for a master account. Specifically, in a judgment filed in March, Judge Scott Skavdahl said Federal Reserve Banks have discretion in whether or not to grant master accounts. He stated, Unless Federal Reserve Banks possess discretion to deny or reject a master account application, state chartering laws would be the only layer of insulation for the U.S. financial system. And in that scenario, one can readily foresee a 'race to the bottom' among states and politicians to attract business by reducing state chartering burdens through lax legislation, allowing minimally regulated institutions to gain ready access to the central bank's balances and Federal Reserve services. 3️⃣ Elizabeth Warren Claims Crypto Is the ‘Payment of Choice’ for Child Abuse Material 🧐 In a bipartisan open letter to the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security—cosigned by Louisiana U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called crypto the “payment of choice for child abuse material.” Warren and Cassidy cited a 2021 report by the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children to state that the anonymity provided by cryptocurrencies facilitates trade in images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children. They also cited a February report by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) that called Bitcoin the “convertible virtual currency” (CVC) of choice for child exploitation and human trafficking between 2020 and 2021. The letter asked the agencies to detail the "additional tools and resources" they need to deal with the problem. 4️⃣ ‘Lost’ Yuga Labs Restructures Again, With Layoffs, New Executive ‼️ Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs announced a restructuring initiative on Friday, including a new round of layoffs following a previous wave last October. Yuga Labs CEO Greg Solano announced the news via Twitter on Friday, sharing screenshots of a Slack message sent to the team. The screenshots read, I owe everyone a frank and honest explanation of what led to this decision. To put it simply: Yuga lost its way. Getting ourselves centered and on the right path means being a smaller, more agile, and crypto-native team. A team that does fewer things but does them brilliantly. […] The creative-first spirit that drove this company from inception has been getting muddied by labyrinthine corporate processes. We work hard and we care but somehow end up with groups and committees. We plan more than we ship. 4️⃣ DOJ Disputes Roman Storm's Characterisation of Tornado Cash Operations in New Filing 🔍 According to recent court filings, the U.S. Department of Justice is fighting against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm's motion to dismiss criminal charges by stating that the defence is presenting disputed facts that a jury should weigh in on. Specifically, Storm's attorneys had moved to dismiss the indictment at the end of March, arguing that Tornado Cash is not a custodial mixing service and that it doesn't fit the definition of a "financial institution." In Friday's filing, the DOJ disputed how the defence characterised Tornado Cash, stating,
🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (23/04/24) 1️⃣ PayPal Wants to Give Green Bitcoin Miners Extra BTC Rewards 💸 The blockchain research division of international payments giant PayPal has proposed a fix that seeks to "accelerate the clean energy transition for Bitcoin mining." This will reportedly involve encouraging Bitcoin miners to use low-carbon energy sources in exchange for incentives layered on top of the Bitcoin network. The firm hopes that the experimental incentive contributes to further discussion and innovation around Bitcoin and is seeking industry feedback on potential improvements. Under the proposal, “green miners” that use sustainable energy sources would be accredited with special “green keys,” which are associated with their public keys. Bitcoin transactions would be preferentially routed to these green miners by attaching lower fees but with an additional locked BTC reward in a multi-sig payout address that only the green miners can claim. 2️⃣ Two SEC Lawyers Resign After Agency Censured for Abuse of Power in Crypto Case 🧐 According to a Bloomberg report, two Securities and Exchange Commission lawyers - Michael Welsh and Joseph Watkins, were forced to resign after a federal judge sanctioned the agency last month for committing “gross abuse of power.” Notably, the sanctions were passed in a case where the SEC was attempting to secure a temporary restraining order against Utah-based crypto company Debt Box. In the case, Michael Welsh served as the former lead attorney and Joseph Watkins was the investigative attorney whose declaration served as the foundation for the SEC’s case against Debt Box. 3️⃣ NYSE Gauges Interest In 24/7 Stock Trading Like Crypto 🔍 The New York Stock Exchange is reportedly polling market participants on the merits of trading stocks around the clock as regulators scrutinise an application for the first 24/7 bourse. To test market sentiment, NYSE’s data analytics team put out a survey asking market participants whether they would support 24/7 or 24-hour weekday trading and if so, what systems should be put in place to protect traders from overnight price swings. Notably, the survey comes as start-up 24 Exchange, backed by Steve Cohen’s Point72 Ventures fund, is seeking SEC approval to launch the first round-the-clock exchange. 4️⃣ Ripple Says $ 10M Penalty Enough, Rejects SEC’s Ask of $ 1.95B Fine in Final Judgment 💰 In a recent filing, cross-border payment protocol Ripple contested the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) request to impose a $ 2 billion fine against the blockchain company, saying the penalty should not exceed $ 10 million. The filing reads, The Court should deny the SEC’s requests for an injunction, for disgorgement, and for pre-judgment interest, and should impose a civil penalty of no more than $ 10 million. The SEC’s remedial requests are more evidence of the administrative overreach that has beset this case. The agency acts as though it had prevailed entirely and had proved reckless conduct. It has done neither. The agency also seeks disgorgement barred by controlling Supreme Court and Circuit precedent and a separate penalty that exceeds by more than 20 times what it has obtained from any other defendant or respondent in a digital-asset case. 5️⃣ Venezuela To Accelerate Cryptocurrency Shift As Oil Sanctions Return ⚡️ According to a Reuters report, Venezuela's state-owned oil company, PDVSA, is looking to use Tether (USDT) as a means to bypass new sanctions placed on it by the United States. The U.S. Treasury Department last week gave PDVSA's customers and providers until May 31 to wind down transactions under a general license it did not renew due to a lack of electoral reforms. PDVSA is now trying to integrate more usage of USDT as a hedge against having foreign bank accounts frozen.
I win
🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (16/04/24) 1️⃣ Bitcoin Miners Could Be Forced Out of Norway With Data Center Law 💸 Norwegian lawmakers have reportedly passed a law placing data reporting requirements on Norway’s data centers. The new legislation will mandate official registration from all data centers in the country, including information about the owners and leaders of these centers and the type of digital services they offer. Norway will become the first European country to establish such a framework. The legislation is reportedly intended to regulate the use of energy devoted to crypto-mining operations. Digitalization Minister Karianne Tung stated, The purpose is to regulate the industry in such a way that we can close the door on the projects we do not want. 2️⃣ OKX Launches New Layer 2 On Mainnet, Aims to Bring 50 Million Users On-Chain 🔥 Crypto exchange OKX has announced the launch of the public mainnet of its new layer-2 blockchain called X Layer. OKX’s new layer-2 chain is an Ethereum-based zero-knowledge Layer 2 network that utilises the Polygon Chain Development Kit. OKX CMO Haider Rafique stated, We envision X Layer and other Layer 2 chains as the highway infrastructure of the Web3 world, with dApps as the marketplaces and self-hosted wallets as the vehicles that take you there. In pursuit of this vision, we are building an ecosystem that is as seamless and interoperable as possible. 3️⃣ Elizabeth Warren Demands U.S. CFTC Chair Explain His Chats With SBF ▶️ United States Senators Elizabeth Warren and Charles Grassley have reportedly sent a letter to Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair Rostin Behnam asking for "an accounting of all meetings and correspondence” of Behnam’s contacts with former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried during his tenure. The letter quotes Behnam’s statement before a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing in December that revealed CFTC officials had met with Bankman-Fried and his team as many as 10 times at the agency over a 14-month period. Behnam also reportedly told lawmakers in 2022 that he'd exchanged "a number of messages" with the FTX founder. 4️⃣ Crypto Exchange VALR Obtains South African License ‼️ South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has reportedly granted new crypto asset service provider (CASP) licenses to South African crypto exchange VALR. Notably, Pantera-backed VALR is among the first batch of crypto firms to obtain approvals from the FSCA. Other platforms that recently received a license from the FSCA include exchange platform Luno and crypto social investment platform Zignaly. 5⃣ Cryptojacker Conned $ 3.5M From Cloud Firms To Mine Crypto, Feds Allege 🔍 United States prosecutors have reportedly charged Charles O. Parks III with wire fraud and money laundering charges after he allegedly defrauded two cloud computing providers of $ 3.5 million to run a “large-scale illegal ‘cryptojacking’ operation” that mined $ 970,000 in cryptocurrencies. He now faces a combined maximum sentence of 50 years in prison and is scheduled to appear before an Omaha federal court on April 16.
🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (15/04/24) 1️⃣ Hong Kong Approves First Batch Of Spot Bitcoin, Ether ETFs In Drive To Become Crypto Hub 💸 Hong Kong has reportedly approved the applications of several spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds. Specifically, China Asset Management, Bosera Asset Management, and HashKey have received approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to offer retail asset management services related to spot crypto ETFs. While the firms did not disclose the timeline of the launch, the approval of these ETFs is expected to provide investors with new asset allocation opportunities and strengthen Hong Kong's position as an international financial center and virtual asset hub. 2️⃣ Gold-Backed PAXG Token Spikes to $ 2.9K Amid Geopolitical Tensions 📈 PAXG, the gold-backed digital asset from Paxos, spiked to an all-time of $ 2,923 over the weekend amid a backdrop of rising tensions in the Middle East. Notably, this places PAXG’s price at a premium of over 20% to the yellow metal's per-ounce price of $ 2,342.90 on Friday's New York close. This has also lead some to question Bitcoin’s value as a geopolitical hedge. A Paxos spokesperson stated, Geopolitical events create price movements; it is not simple or straightforward to know what the price of gold should be at any given moment. In addition, the main spot gold markets are only open from Sunday at 6pm until Friday early afternoon. When events occur globally over the weekend, the price of gold could not be referenced against the main spot market because it is closed. Gold has been very volatile recently and even on Friday, gold traded in a $ 100 range, which is virtually unprecedented. 3️⃣ Scam Crypto Projects Using Stolen Funds For Liquidity Disappear ‼️ Three crypto projects disappeared from the internet hours after blockchain investigator ZachXBT traced their liquidity to funds looted from previous hacks. Specifcally, ZachXBT identified that a wallet address holding stolen funds was providing liquidity to three new crypto projects: lending protocol Leaper Finance on Blast, Zebra DAO on Base and Glori Finance on Arbitrum. 4️⃣ Solana's Mainnet Beta Update V1.17.31 Aims To Resolve Congestion Issues ☄️ Solana developers have reportedly released a mainnet beta update, v1.17.31, to deal with the ongoing network congestion on the Solana blockchain. Solana v1.17.31 is now recommended for general use by MainnetBeta validators. Earlier, the failure rate of non-voting transactions on the Solana network was as high as 76.8% 5️⃣ UK to Issue New Crypto, Stablecoin Legislation by July, Minister Says 🔍 At the Innovate Finance Global Summit on Monday, UK Economic Secretary Bim Afolami revealed that U.K. government is planning to put forward legislation for stablecoins as well as for crypto staking, exchange and custody by June or July. Afolami stated, We are now working at pace to deliver the legislation to put our final proposals for our regime in place. Once it goes live, a whole host of crypto asset activities, including operating an exchange, taking custody of customers’ assets and other things, will come within the regulatory perimeter for the first time.
🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (14/04/24) 1️⃣ Binance Executive Tracked To Kenya, Extradition Underway 🔍 The Nigerian Government has reportedly traced Nadeem Arjarwalla, the Binance executive who escaped custody, currently hiding in Kenya. The authority is now taking steps to extradite him to Nigeria. The Nigerian government is collaborating with Interpol and Kenyan police to bring Arjarwalla back to Nigeria to face charges leveled against him. According to an immigration official, Arjarwalla fled Nigeria on a Kenyan passport, and authorities are now trying to determine how Anjarwalla acquired the passport, as he had no other travel documents while in custody. 2️⃣ Bitcoin Falls 8%, Drops Below $ 62K Before Rebound 🔽 Following news of Iran launching drones toward Israel, the price of BTC and the broader cryptocurrency market fell nearly 10% earlier today. Notably, data from Coinglass reveals that approximately $ 962.87M in liquidations have occurred within the past 24 hours. However, cryptocurrencies began to rebound sharply after Iran subsequently announced the end of military operations. Notably, Iran’s action is retaliation for an attack conducted by Israel days before, which targeted a diplomatic compound in Damascus, Syria, killing seven Iranians, including two generals. 3️⃣ Uniswap Labs Hikes Swap Fee To 0.25% From 0.15% On Trades Through Interface 🕯 Uniswap Labs, the main developer behind the Uniswap Protocol, has reportedly hiked the fee it charges to users for using its front-end interface to trade on the protocol from .15% to .25% for most swaps. The swaps excluded from the fee include swaps between stablecoins based on the same underlying currency and wraps between ETH and WETH. Users can also avoid the fee by using an alternative interface to access Uniswap rather than the one developed by Uniswap Labs. Interestingly, the fee hike was made on Apr. 10, mere hours after Uniswap founder Hayden Adams revealed that the SEC had sent a Wells Notice warning of an incoming lawsuit to the company. 4️⃣ GBTC Sees $ 166M Outflows Despite CEO’s ‘Equilibrium’ Remark ‼️ According to data from Farside Investors, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) continues to experience significant outflows, with over $ 166 million and more than 2,500 BTC withdrawn from the fund’s holdings on Friday, April 12. Notably, the significant outflows continue even though Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein hinted on April 10 that outflows from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust might be stabilizing. One potential reason behind the massive GBTC outflows is its comparatively high management fee of 1.5%, which is significantly higher than the 0.30% average fee charged by its competitors.
🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (13/04/24) 1️⃣ Coinbase Requests Interlocutory Appeal Over SEC’s ‘Controlling Question’ ▶️ In an April 12 filing before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, crypto exchange Coinbase requested the court to scrutinise a specific “controlling question” raised by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its ongoing lawsuit against the exchange. Coinbase stated, The question presented here is unencumbered by factual disputes and therefore ripe for immediate review […] Whether an “investment contract” can exist absent any post-sale obligation is a pure, controlling question of law. 2️⃣ Ethereum ETF Approval Could Come Monday—In Hong Kong: Report 🔍 According to a recent Bloomberg report, Chinese asset management firms Harvest Fund Management, Bosera Asset Management, and HashKey Capital are expected to get regulatory approval for spot bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds as early as Monday. The report also stated that if listing details are worked out in time with Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEX), the products could be launched by the end of the month. 3️⃣ Australian Court Hands Over $ 41 Million of Crypto Held by Blockchain Mining Group at Regulator's Request ☄️ An Australian Federal Court has reportedly agreed to a petition from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) to hand over approximately US$ 41 million in digital assets invested by over 450 Australians with the NGS group of blockchain mining companies to three specialists from McGrathNicol, an independent advisory and restructuring company. The ASIC stated that it had commenced civil proceedings against NGS Crypto, NGS Digital and NGS Group and the sole directors of the companies: Brett Mendham, Ryan Brown and Mark Ten Caten, respectively. The NGS companies have been accused of targeting local investors to establish self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) and then convert the funds into cryptocurrency for investment in blockchain mining packages with promised fixed-rate returns. 4️⃣ Software Engineer Sentenced To Three Years In Prison For Nirvana Hack ‼️ Shakeeb Ahmed, a security engineer who stole over $ 12 million from two different DEXs built on Solana, has reportedly been sentenced to three years in prison and three years of supervised release by a federal judge on Friday. Specifically, Ahmed was found guilty of flash loan attacks on the DEXs. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement that Ahmed’s conviction was the first for hacking a smart contract. Ahmed was also ordered to forfeit $ 12.3 million as well as “a significant quantity of cryptocurrency” and to pay the exchanges $ 5 million in restitution.
🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (12/04/24) 1️⃣ Chainlink Aims to Make Transfers Across Blockchains Safer with New Bridge App 'Transporter' ☄️ Decentralised oracle provider Chainlink has reportedly launched Transporter - an app that enables the cross-chain transfer of cryptocurrencies across the Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, BNB Chain, Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon, and WEMIX networks. Chainlink stated, Transferring crypto across chains has historically been a risky activity, with bridge hacks accounting for nearly 50% of all value hacked in Web3. Transporter leverages Chainlink CCIP’s unmatched levels of security, which include an independent Risk Management Network that continuously monitors and validates the behavior of every cross-chain transaction over CCIP. Source 2️⃣ FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Appeals Fraud Conviction 🔍 Lawyers representing former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried have reportedly filed the paperwork to appeal his conviction and sentence for fraud and conspiracy charges on Thursday. Notably, the filing came hours before the deadline to do so. According to reports, SBF’s filing will likely go to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, where a panel of judges could decide whether to affirm the decision in the former FTX CEO’s conviction in federal court or reverse the decision and set the groundwork for a possible new trial. Source 3️⃣ Pac Finance Reportedly Causes $ 24M In Liquidations Via Sudden Parameter Change 🔽 Users of Pac Finance, a lending protocol and Aave fork on Blast network, have reportedly suffered $ 24 million in liquidations on April 11 because of a sudden parameter change made by a developer wallet. According to smart contract developer Roffet.eth, this parameter change caused “the liquidation of a large number of ezETH leveraging farmers,” as these borrowers were now found to be violating the collateral rules for the protocol. Roffet called the parameter change “arbitrary,” since it was allegedly done without warning. Source 4️⃣ FBI Subpoenas 2022 Event Attendees After Theft From Bitcoin Core Dev 😳 According to Mike Schmidt, the co-founder of Bitcoin non-profit Brink, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has taken an interest in a Bitcoin core developer event held in October 2022. Notably, the FBI issued a subpoena to Schmidt demanding personal information of the attendees. The FBI subpoena is allegedly in connection with Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr’s claim that someone stole more than 200 BTC from him during the event. The subpoena sought first and last names, GitHub usernames, and email addresses of the attendees. Schmidt, following legal advice, complied with the request, although the subpoena included a confidentiality clause that expired a year later, shortly before Schmidt's disclosure. Source 5️⃣ EigenLayer Introduces Six Actively Validated Services Including Restaked Rollups And Ethereum-Native Oracle 🔴 EigenLayer has reportedly launched six new actively validated services (AVS). Notably, this expansion follows the initial introduction of EigenDA, EigenLayer’s first AVS. The new AVSs introduced include AltLayer, Brevis, Eoracle, Lagrange, WitnessChain, and Xterio. These services represent a broad spectrum of functionalities designed to address various needs within the Ethereum ecosystem. Source