Headlines
Federal Reserve’s Kashkari: Expected to cut interest rates no more than twice in 2024
Federal Reserve’s Kashkari stated that there is no need for economic weakness to lower inflation, and it is expected that interest rates will be cut no more than twice in 2024 (Jinshi).
Mt. Gox confirms transfer of Bitcoin in preparation for the repayment deadline on October 31st
Documents released by Mt. Gox indicate that the previous transfers were made in preparation for the repayment deadline for creditors on October 31st. According to the documents, the Rehabilitation Trustee is preparing to repay the cryptocurrency recovery claim portion through the distribution of allocated cryptocurrencies. This repayment means that, depending on the choice of the rehabilitation creditors, either (i) repayment will be made through designated cryptocurrency exchanges, representing the recovery creditors receiving Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash, or (ii) repayment will be made through the proceeds obtained from the sale of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. Recently, the Rehabilitation Trustee has received inquiries and concerns regarding the management of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. However, currently, neither repayment through designated cryptocurrency exchanges as in (i) nor the sale of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash for repayment as in (ii) has been made. The Rehabilitation Trustee currently manages Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash in a secure manner. Please wait patiently for the completion of the repayment as the Rehabilitation Trustee prepares for it (Cointelegraph). Previously, CryptoQuant researcher Axler Adler Jr. posted on the X platform stating that all BTC funds in Mt. Gox’s cold wallet have been transferred to a new wallet starting with 1JbezD. The current balance of the wallet starting with 1JbezD is 141,000 BTC.
ZKasino: Will refund ETH to non-participating bridgers at a ratio of 1:1
According to official news, ZKasino announced the launch of a two-step bridging refund process, where bridgers can register and receive ETH refunds at a 1:1 ratio. It is reported that the refund process for bridgers who choose not to participate in the ZKAS conversion has already been initiated. Bridgers can register by depositing the first batch of ZKAS bridging rewards they received, and they have 72 hours (UTC time from May 28th, 14:00 to May 31st, 14:00) to register. Bridgers can find their ZKAS on the ZKasino EVM chain and can deposit their ZKAS into the smart contract controlled by ZKasino. Registration data will be collected in the coming days. A new announcement will be released soon to provide data for public verification. The data will show which addresses can claim their ETH, and the claim portal will be opened after the data verification. Bridgers will be able to claim their ETH at a 1:1 ratio from the new audited bridging contract on the Ethereum mainnet.
Volatility Shares’ leveraged Ethereum ETF approved, trading to begin on June 4th
Volatility Shares announced that its 2x Ether ETF (ETHU) will become the first leveraged Ethereum ETF in the United States, with trading starting on June 4th. Volatility Shares previously launched the Volatility Shares 2x Bitcoin Fund in June 2023. Stuart Barton, Chief Investment Officer of Volatility Shares, stated in an interview that the approval of the leveraged Ethereum ETF could pave the way for the eventual approval of a spot Ethereum ETF (CoinDesk).
Industry News
Former FTX executive Ryan Salame ordered to pay over $11 million in forfeited funds and restitution in addition to imprisonment
According to the US Department of Justice website, Damian Williams, the Southern District of New York prosecutor, announced that Ryan Salame, CEO of FTX’s Bahamas subsidiary FTX Digital Markets Ltd., has been sentenced to 90 months (7.5 years) in prison. In addition to imprisonment, Ryan Salame has also been sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay over $6 million in forfeited funds and over $5 million in restitution (justice.gov).
Former CEO of FTX Bahamas subsidiary Ryan Salame sentenced to 7.5 years in prison
Ryan Salame, former CEO of FTX’s Bahamas subsidiary, has been sentenced to 7.5 years in prison. Ryan Salame reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in September, admitting to violations of campaign finance laws and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and the prosecution initially recommended a prison sentence of 5-7 years for Ryan Salame, former CEO of FTX’s Bahamas subsidiary (Bloomberg).
Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission: Non-exempt virtual asset trading platforms operating in Hong Kong to end on June 1st
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission issued a statement announcing the end of the period of non-exemption for virtual asset trading platforms operating in Hong Kong under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO) chapter 615 on June 1st, 2024. All virtual asset trading platforms operating in Hong Kong must be licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission under the AMLO or be an “applicant treated as licensed” virtual asset trading platform. Operating a virtual asset trading platform in Hong Kong in violation of the AMLO constitutes a criminal offense, and the Securities and Futures Commission will take appropriate action against any illegal activities. In the coming months, while the applicant treated as licensed virtual asset trading platforms continue their applications, the Securities and Futures Commission will conduct on-site inspections to determine their compliance with the regulatory requirements and will pay particular attention to their customer asset protection and Know Your Customer procedures. This move by the Securities and Futures Commission aims to safeguard the interests of investors, and the inspection results will affect the licensing application process. Similarly, if any violations of the major regulatory provisions on investor protection are identified during the inspection period, the Securities and Futures Commission will promptly reject the relevant licensing applications and take other regulatory actions.
Project News
Sei Foundation: Phase 2 airdrop to distribute over 27.42 million SEI tokens, eligibility check open
According to official news, the Sei Foundation announced that the Phase 2 airdrop will distribute 27,421,200 SEI tokens to 43,052 unique addresses as a reward for active users since the launch of the Sei mainnet, including stakers, liquidity providers, and NFT collectors. Users can now check their eligibility on the official website, and community members must confirm their eligibility before Phase 3, which is expected to take place in the coming weeks. Previously, Sei posted on the X platform stating that the first parallel EVM blockchain is now open to builders and early adopters, and the V2 upgrade Phase 2 (Alpha Launch) has begun.
Starknet Foundation launches 20 million STRK token incentive program for top ecosystem projects
As part of the Catalyst program, the Starknet Foundation announced the distribution of 20 million Starknet (STRK) tokens, worth approximately $25.2 million, to the top 21 projects in the ecosystem. Starknet Foundation CEO Diego Oliva stated that the program selects top-tier protocols that are user-facing based on a variety of factors, which are weighted in collaboration with Stark Foundation and independent third parties. These factors include total locked value, fees generated, active users, external funding, and security audits (Cointelegraph).
Polygon co-founder: Most of the work to transform Polygon into a ZK protocol has been completed
Polygon co-founder Sandeep stated on the X platform that they have been working on many strategic initiatives for Polygon over the past 18 months, particularly the complete transformation of Polygon into a leading ZK protocol. He mentioned that most of the transformation work has been completed, and as a result, he will take on the role of CBO.
People * Voices
DWF partner: In talks with some MEME coin projects and willing to deploy funds to promote their growth
DWF Labs partner Andrei Grachev revealed on the X platform that they are in talks with some MEME coin projects and are willing to deploy a significant amount of funds to promote their growth. More news will be released in the future.
Trump: Will seriously consider pardoning Julian Assange if elected president
Donald Trump stated that if elected president, he will “seriously consider” pardoning Julian Assange (Bitcoin Magazine). Previously, the UK High Court ruled on the appeal of WikiLeaks founder Assange’s extradition case, allowing him to appeal the extradition case.
Bernstein: ETH is the first proof-of-stake token approved as a spot ETF, similar tokens like SOL may benefit
Bernstein, a well-known brokerage firm, stated in a research report on Tuesday that ETH is the first proof-of-stake token approved as a spot ETF, paving the way for the development of blockchain assets from token sales. This has a positive impact on other similar proof-of-stake blockchain tokens, as they may follow the same precedent, and Solana (SOL) may benefit (CoinDesk).
Matrixport: Based on seasonality indicator, Bitcoin may reach new all-time high this summer
Matrixport posted on the X platform stating that seasonality has always been a good predictor of Bitcoin prices. While January 2024 is difficult to be bullish, February is a strong month for Bitcoin as predicted by seasonality. Bitcoin should still be bullish in early summer, with June and July being positive for Bitcoin. Overall, we should see new all-time highs this summer. Bitcoin tends to rise by 4% in June, and in the past 10 years, Bitcoin has risen in June for 6 times.
LayerZero co-founder responds to “hunter reporting 480,000 addresses” incident: Not every witch report is valid
In response to the community’s discussion on the “hunter submitting a witch report with 480,000 addresses” incident, LayerZero co-founder Bryan Pellegrino responded on the X platform that anyone can write anything they want in a report, but not every report is valid.
Investment and Financing
Parasail raises $4 million in seed funding at a valuation of $50 million, led by Protocol Labs
Parasail, a protocol focused on improving the security of DePIN hardware services, announced the completion of a $4 million seed funding round with a valuation of $50 million. The seed round was led by Protocol Labs, with participation from D 11 Labs, MH Ventures, BitRise Capital, E V3, Fenbushi Capital, Modular Capital, Faculty Group, DWF Ventures, Foresight Ventures, AGE Crypto, Waterdrip Capital, among others. The raised funds will be used to accelerate the implementation of various product features in the Parasail Master Plan, which aims to bring together assets and hardware on DePIN, providing users with service-level guarantees and dynamically coordinating hardware resources based on demand. Parasail TVL is over $50 million. In addition to providing security for hardware services through asset delegation, Parasail is building a universal adapter for hardware services and verification, enabling the flexible use and circulation of general-purpose hardware resources, such as graphics cards, storage, sensors, etc., in different DePIN ecosystems. With the Parasail protocol, DePIN projects can systematically and efficiently build their networks and mobilize hardware resources.
Decentralized AI project GaiaNet raises $10 million in funding, with participation from EVM Capital
Decentralized AI project GaiaNet has raised $10 million in funding, with participation from EVM Capital, Mirana Ventures, Mantle EcoFund, and Lex Sokolin from Generative Ventures and Brian Johnson from Republic Capital. The newly raised funds will support GaiaNet in developing educational tools for STEM students and realizing the decentralization of AI networks using distributed ledger technology (TheBlock).
Stablecoin project defi.money completes strategic funding round with participation from LayerZero Labs
Stablecoin project defi.money announced the completion of a strategic funding round with participation from GBV Capital, LayerZero Labs, and a group of angel investors including Michael Egorov, the founder of Curve Finance. The specific amount has not been disclosed. defi.money is an EVM-agnostic CDP protocol that combines Curve Finance’s innovative liquidation mechanism called LLAMMA. It aims to build a capital-efficient, scalable, and truly interoperable USD stablecoin for anyone, anywhere.
Web3 instant settlement payment provider Coinflow Labs raises $2.25 million in funding led by CMT Digital
Web3 instant settlement payment provider Coinflow Labs announced the completion of a $2.25 million seed funding round led by CMT Digital, with participation from Reciprocal Ventures, Jump Crypto, Draper Dragon, Digital Money Group, among others. Coinflow is a blockchain-based payment processor that enables instant settlement for payment acceptance and payment, providing additional value-added payment-related services such as refund protection, analytics, and KYC/KYB (Globenewswire).
