Headline: Blockchain Game Investments Reach Nearly $1 Billion in April
The total investment in blockchain games reached $988 million in April, marking the highest level since January 2021. The number of daily active wallets also reached a record-breaking 2.9 million for blockchain games. DappRadar, in collaboration with the Blockchain Game Alliance, released a report on blockchain games in April on May 17. The industry’s landmark month follows a similar trend in the overall decentralized application (Dapp) market. According to the report, the recent boom can be attributed to several factors, including renewed interest in digital assets in the gaming context and the continued trend of airdrop gaming, which has sparked interest in blockchain games. Additionally, the hot topic in the current Web3 industry is focused on the surge of new game tokens.
Bitcoin Network Transaction Fees Drop, High Priority Currently at 17 Sat/byte
According to data from mempool.space, Bitcoin network transaction fees have dropped, with high priority currently at 17 Sat/byte.
Market Trends
As of the time of writing, according to Coingecko data:
– BTC recent trading price is $66,888.72, with a daily change of +2.32%.
– ETH recent trading price is $3,098.33, with a daily change of +5.16%.
– BNB recent trading price is $579.24, with a daily change of +1.49%.
– SOL recent trading price is $170.54, with a daily change of +5.36%.
– DOGE recent trading price is $0.1547, with a daily change of +2.65%.
– XPR recent trading price is $0.5225, with a daily change of +1.58%.
Policy
Coinbase Analyst: SEC’s Approval Possibility of Spot Ethereum ETF at 30%-40% by the End of this Month
Coinbase’s institutional research analyst, David Han, stated in a report on May 15 that the main factor leading to the SEC’s approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF is the correlation between CME futures products and spot rates, which may also lead to the approval of a spot Ethereum ETF. The possibility of the SEC approving a spot Ethereum ETF by the end of this month is estimated to be between 30% and 40%.
Genesis Approved to Distribute Billions of Dollars to Creditors
Bankrupt cryptocurrency lending company Genesis Global Capital has won court approval for its plan to distribute billions of dollars in digital assets and cash to creditors, defeating its parent company and dismissing a legal challenge by its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG). Judge Sean Lane stated on Friday evening that he would confirm Genesis’ Chapter 11 repayment plan, which includes the unique structure of returning Bitcoin and other tokens to creditors. This decision clears the way for the return of customer assets frozen on the platform since November 2022, when the company suspended withdrawals following the collapse of other major cryptocurrency firms.
Securities Times: DDO Digital Options Soar to $80 Overseas and Continue to Sell Wildly
According to Securities Times, Dingyifeng office building has been completely vacated, with the floors filled with risk warnings about the digital option DDO, in order to alert investors to the alleged illegal activities of Dingyifeng’s digital options. In the “Dingdao Digital Option Subscription Agreement” obtained on-site by reporters, each DDO is valued at $1. Investors who have previously had expired and unpaid contracts will be required to sign new agreements, transferring their previous ownership of “common stock” to Dingdao Digital Options, and will hold an equivalent amount of DDO digital tokens. Currently, DDO digital options are listed and traded in Singapore. According to Gu Ming, an investment manager at Dingyifeng, the price has risen from the initial $1 to $80, and all the investors who signed the transfer have made a lot of profit. There are still many investors who want to invest in DDO, and the number of clients has reached a new high. Previously, the Shenzhen Local Financial Supervision Bureau issued a risk warning announcement, pointing out that Dingyifeng’s business activities related to DDO digital options are essentially the issuance and trading of virtual currencies, which are illegal financial activities and suspected illegal fundraising.
Blockchain Applications
zkSync Announces Final v24 Protocol Upgrade Before Handing Over Network Governance to the Community
zkSync announced on the X platform that it remains committed to its decentralization promise. Since supporting EIP4844 in March, this has been the sole focus. The upcoming v24 version is the final planned protocol upgrade before handing over network governance to the community. The remaining missing parts are expected to be completed by the end of June. Decentralization is an important and irreversible step that requires maximum attention at the intersection of complex technical and legal frameworks. In an industry characterized by speculation and short-term sacrifice, zkSync continues to strive to stand out and build a foundation of technology that can withstand the test of time.
Web3 Platform Radix Proposes Bottlenose Protocol Update to Its Node Operator Community
DeFi and Web3 platform Radix has proposed a Bottlenose protocol update to its node operator community, with an expected release around June 3. One of the highlights of this update is the introduction of AccountLockers, “lockers” for token deliveries, which can accept or reject token deposits to prevent unwanted deposits and simplify dApp accounting work. Other Bottlenose features include API and Radix Engine enhancements, as well as the addition of a recovery fee insurance fund.
Cryptocurrency
LayerZero Labs: Witch Self-Reporting Phase Concludes, Preliminary Determination of 803,093 Addresses as Potential Witches
LayerZero Labs announced on social media that the witch self-reporting phase has now concluded. Each eligible address will receive 15% of its expected token allocation, with the remaining 85% returned to qualifying users. A total of 803,093 addresses have been identified as potential witch addresses. The team initially flagged over 2 million addresses as potential witches but later adopted stricter criteria to reduce false positives. The team will continue to refine and improve the method during the bounty hunting process over the next two weeks. The initial list will not be updated during this time and will not affect bounty hunters. The final witch list will be announced after the bounty hunting concludes on May 31.
DeFi Market in Turmoil Since Receipt of SEC Wells Notice by Uniswap
It has been over a month since Uniswap Labs received a Wells notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), marking the beginning of the “DeFi war.” This is the first case against a major decentralized finance (DeFi) platform. The SEC previously targeted centralized entities, but recently issued Wells notices to Consensys and Robinhood’s crypto division as well. Following the news, the governance token UNI price dropped from $11.60 to $6.43 and is currently slightly above $7, with no significant rebound. The market capitalization share of DeFi tokens dropped to 3.63% on April 14, the lowest point since the Terra/Luna crash in June 2022. Despite this, it is unlikely that anything too severe will happen in the short term. For example, Coinbase received a Wells notice in March 2023 but was not sued until June, and the lawsuit is still ongoing, with Coinbase continuing to operate as usual. The dominance of DeFi currently hovers below 3.75%, the lowest it has been for consecutive days in history. The impact of the Wells notice on the DeFi space is significant, but it is still unclear what can boost this sub-sector apart from positive news from the lawsuits.
USDT Total Market Cap Surpasses $110 Billion
Tether’s treasury has minted $1 billion worth of USDT in the past 24 hours, bringing its annual minted total to $31 billion and pushing its total market cap beyond $110 billion.
Alex Labs: Attackers Seem to Refuse Negotiations, Compensation Measures to Be Announced Soon
Alex Labs released an update on the stolen funds incident on social media, stating that based on its investigation and discussions with security partners, it seems unlikely that the attackers will engage in negotiations. Therefore, Alex Labs will continue to cooperate with law enforcement in seeking support for recovery and tracking the attackers. The current priority is to recover a total of 13.7 million STX and develop a funding plan to support affected users. Details of this plan will be announced soon.
Important Economic Developments
Federal Reserve Director Bowman: Inflation Will Remain High for Some Time
Federal Reserve Director Bowman stated that inflation will remain high for some time, and if inflation stagnates or rebounds, the Federal Reserve is willing to restart rate hikes.
US Stock Market’s Three Major Indices Close Mixed
The three major indices of the US stock market closed mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.35%, the Nasdaq Composite falling 0.07%, and the S&P 500 Index rising 0.12%. Popular tech stocks had mixed performance, with NVIDIA falling nearly 2% and Tesla and Google rising over 1%.
Golden Encyclopedia
What is Ethereum Futures ETF?
An Ethereum futures ETF is an investment fund that tracks Ethereum futures contracts rather than Ethereum itself. Without actually holding the cryptocurrency, investors can use Ethereum futures ETFs to speculate on the future price of Ethereum. Ethereum futures ETFs do not hold tangible assets but invest in futures contracts. These contracts involve a commitment to buy or sell Ethereum at a predetermined price on a future date. Investors can purchase these contracts through the ETF without dealing with wallets or cryptocurrency exchanges, allowing them to be affected by the fluctuations in Ethereum’s price while the ETF simply pools investors’ funds to purchase them.
