Top Headlines
Arweave AO: AO Token Minting Launched, Users Can Earn AO by Holding AR
Arweave AO announced on Twitter the launch of AO token minting, with AR holders now starting to receive AO. Prior to the cross-chain bridge reward launch on June 18, minted AO tokens will be 100% awarded to AR token holders. After the cross-chain bridge reward launch, 1/3 of AO tokens will be distributed proportionally to AR holders, while 2/3 will go to users who cross-chain assets to AO. Users can deposit stETH to earn token rewards, with support for more assets in the future. AO tokens will remain locked until approximately 15% of the supply is minted, expected around February 8, 2025.
US Judge Approves Terraform’s $4.5 Billion Settlement with SEC
US District Judge Jed Rakoff in New York has approved the $4.5 billion settlement agreement between Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As per the agreement, Terraform and Kwon will pay a total of $4.47 billion in fines and penalties and are essentially barred from entering the crypto industry. Terraform will pay $3.6 billion in forfeiture fines, $420 million in civil fines, and nearly $467 million in pre-judgment interest. Kwon is currently detained in Montenegro, where he has been imprisoned for four months after attempting to leave the country with a fake passport. The Montenegrin court is deciding on extradition requests from the US and South Korea, where he faces criminal charges.
Market Update
According to Coingecko data at the time of writing:
BTC recent price: $66,770.97, 24h change: -2.2%;
ETH recent price: $3,466.89, 24h change: -2.6%;
BNB recent price: $599.22, 24h change: -3.3%;
SOL recent price: $147.24, 24h change: -5.1%;
DOGE recent price: $0.141, 24h change: -3.5%;
XPR recent price: $0.4767, 24h change: -3.0%.
Policy
Ripple Cites Terraform Settlement as Basis, Seeks to Lower SEC’s Proposed $20 Billion Fine
Ripple Labs’ lawyers are trying to leverage the recent fine against Terraform Labs in an effort to pay a lower fine in their case with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Ripple has been in a long legal battle with the SEC over the past few years and on Thursday, in a “Supplemental Authority Notice,” they argued that the financial penalties proposed by the regulator are unreasonable. The company believes their fine should be closer to $10 million. Terraform recently agreed to pay a $4.5 billion fine, and later that evening, a judge approved the settlement agreement. Ripple’s lawyers stated: “The civil penalties sought by the SEC in the Terraform case illustrate the unreasonableness of the civil penalties sought in this case.” “As explained in Ripple’s opposition, in similar (or even more serious) cases, SEC-agreed civil penalties range from 0.6% to 1.8% of the defendant’s total revenue. Terraform fits this pattern.”
Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority Shuts Down Crypto Bank FlowBank and Initiates Bankruptcy Proceedings
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has decided to shut down FlowBank, an online Swiss bank providing cryptocurrency services to clients. The regulator stated that the bank no longer had enough capital to sustain its banking operations and there were concerns about the bank’s current excessive debt and lack of prospects for restructuring. The Swiss law firm Walder Wyss has been appointed by FINMA as the liquidator for the bank.
UK Advances to Lead in Financial Technology and Digital Assets Globally
The crypto advocacy organization Stand with Crypto (SwC) launched in London, coinciding with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a general election. SwC put forward a series of proposals aimed at making the UK a global hub for financial technology, digital assets, and tokenization. The proposals include promoting the UK as a center for Web3 and tokenization, establishing a regulatory framework for crypto assets, providing clarity on custody regulations, promoting the advantages of decentralization, crafting a cross-government blockchain strategy, developing a tokenization strategy for the City of London, and updating the legal framework for digital assets. These measures aim to attract investment, foster innovation, and drive the development of the UK’s digital economy.
US SEC Chair: CFTC Has Not Established Sufficient Disclosure System
According to Fox reporter Eleanor Terrett, during a budget hearing on Thursday, Senator Durbin asked US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler whether he believes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has enough resources to regulate cryptocurrencies. Gensler stated that it “depends on what resources they get. The CFTC has not yet established the kind of disclosure system that the SEC has.”
Biden Nominates CFTC Commissioner for Senior Positions at FDIC and Treasury Department
According to a statement released by the White House on Thursday, US President Joe Biden announced the nomination of Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero to lead the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and nominated CFTC Commissioner Kristin Johnson to serve as Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions at the Treasury Department. Both Democratic CFTC commissioners have urged the agency to issue rules or guidelines to protect consumers and address conflicts of interest in the cryptocurrency space. Romero has warned of “contagion risks” in the crypto market and compared the industry to the 2008 financial crisis. Romero also sponsored the CFTC’s Technology Advisory Committee, which earlier this year voted to submit a report to the commission calling for government and industry efforts to understand decentralized finance. Kristin Johnson has previously stated that the CFTC should “promptly develop regulatory rules regarding asset custody.” The Biden administration is pushing for the first confirmation hearings to begin the week of July 8.
US Senator Questions CFTC’s Ability to Regulate Cryptocurrencies After FIT21 Passage
US Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, expressed concerns during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday that following the passage of the FIT21 bill in the US House of Representatives, which grants the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) more power and funding to regulate cryptocurrencies, some lawmakers worry that the CFTC “is taking on responsibilities far beyond their capabilities.” Durbin questioned CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam during the hearing: “What makes you think the CFTC can enter this rapidly changing, massive world and become an effective regulator?” Behnam responded that there are gaps in the regulation of “non-securities commodity tokens,” and that the CFTC is doing well in enforcing actions against entities involved in cryptocurrencies.
US Representative: SEC’s Crypto Measures Still Have Many Uncertainties and Ambiguities
According to FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, US Senator Bill Hagerty stated that he will push the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to address clarity in crypto regulation, as the industry needs a proper ecosystem… otherwise, crypto will be pushed outside of the US. However, SEC Chair Gary Gensler countered that violating the law and disliking the law with a lack of clarity are different things. Bill Hagerty noted that there are still many uncertainties and ambiguities in the SEC’s actions regarding crypto, but “there is no need for that.”
US Representative Thomas Massie Inspired by Bitcoin to Introduce Bill to End the Federal Reserve
According to Bitcoin Magazine, US Congressman Thomas Massie stated that after reading “The Bitcoin Standard” book, he decided to introduce a bill to terminate the Federal Reserve.
Blockchain Applications
Graph Foundation Completes Sunrise Plan, The Graph Transitions to Fully Decentralized Data Layer
The Graph Foundation has completed the Sunrise plan, marking the transition of the blockchain data indexing and query protocol The Graph to a fully decentralized data layer. Sunrise completed a three-stage decentralized plan, where subgraphs upgraded from centralized hosting services to The Graph’s globally distributed network, consisting of token-incentivized individuals and independent companies serving as data indexers. The Graph introduced subgraph technology in 2018 to index Ethereum but has now indexed over 55 chains, including Optimism, Base, Arbitrum, Avalanche, NEAR, and Cosmos.
Zapper Announces Launch of Zapper Protocol
DeFi asset management platform Zapper announced on social media the launch of Zapper Protocol, aiming to achieve Onchain Literacy, with the ZAP token set to launch in the fourth quarter, with more details to follow.
Cryptocurrency
Bloomberg ETF Analyst: Previous Forecast for Approval of Spot Ethereum ETF S-1 by July 4 Likely to Be Delayed
Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas stated on X platform: “Issuers are reportedly still awaiting comments from the SEC’s corporate finance division on the S-1 they submitted two weeks ago, the first time that division is reviewing these files, why? Because (most likely) a last-minute political shift caught them off guard. It’s unclear if they are prioritizing this work, which may require postponing my previous forecast for the approval of the Spot Ethereum ETF S-1 around July 4th.” Earlier reports indicated that the SEC Chair mentioned in a hearing that the document might be approved in the summer, without specifying a specific date.
AO Reveals Tokenomics: 36% Allocated to AR Holders, 64% to Cross-Chain Users
The AO project unveiled its tokenomics, with 100% of the tokens allocated to the community, 36% going to AR holders, and 64% to cross-chain users. The AO token mimics Bitcoin, with a total supply of 21 million tokens, halving every four years. The smallest unit of the AO token is ARMSTRONG, named after Joe Armstrong, a co-creator of Erlang and a major inspiration for the AO architecture. ARMSTRONG is similar to Bitcoin’s smallest unit SATOSHI. Currently, there are 1 million AO tokens in existence, with AO token minting launched, and AR holders beginning to receive AO. Prior to the cross-chain bridge reward launch, AO tokens will be 100% awarded to AR token holders.
Yesterday, AO announced that it will reveal all the details of AO tokenomics on June 13, with 125 users invited to participate in a live event.
Holograph Team Fixes Vulnerability and Collaborates with Multiple Exchanges to Block Malicious Accounts
After the native token HLG of the Holograph protocol experienced a malicious attack resulting in the minting of an additional 1 billion HLG tokens, the price dropped by over 60%. The team successfully fixed the vulnerability exploited by attackers and is working with multiple exchanges to block accounts involved in malicious activities. According to on-chain data, the wallet acc01ade.eth involved in the vulnerability has also been identified as a contributor to the Holograph project on their Github page. The team is conducting further investigations and cooperating with law enforcement agencies.
Key Economic Dynamics
Chance of the Fed Maintaining Rates Unchanged in August at 87.6%
According to CME’s “Fed Watch,” the probability of the Fed maintaining rates unchanged in August is 87.6%, with a 12.4% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut. The probability of the Fed holding rates unchanged in September is 29.8%, with a cumulative 62.0% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut and an 8.2% chance of a cumulative 50 basis point rate cut.
Nasdaq, S&P 500 Indexes Set New Record Highs for Four Consecutive Trading Days
US stock market indexes closed mixed, with the Nasdaq rising by 0.34%, the S&P 500 index increasing by 0.23%, and the Dow declining by 0.17%. Both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 indexes set new record highs for four consecutive trading days. Large-cap tech stocks saw mixed movements, with NVIDIA rising by over 3%, Tesla by over 2%, Apple, Microsoft, and Netflix slightly up, while Amazon, Google dropping by over 1%, and Meta slightly down. Apple closed with a total market value of $3.29 trillion, surpassing Microsoft’s $3.28 trillion, reclaiming the top spot in the US stock market. Apple, NVIDIA, and Microsoft all continued to set new closing highs.
Golden Encyclopedia
What are Validiums?
Validiums are a Layer 2 scaling solution designed to optimize Ethereum’s performance by processing transactions off-chain. Validiums are primarily responsible for off-chain processing of most transactions and only sending succinct proofs to the main network for verification, reducing the load on the Ethereum blockchain. The off-chain transaction processing method significantly improves throughput and reduces mainnet congestion, resulting in a more efficient and cost-effective Ethereum experience.
