Headlines
European Central Bank cuts rates as scheduled by 25 basis points, with the three major interest rates reduced to 4.25%, 3.75%, and 4.50% respectively. The marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank is now at 4.5%, as expected, with a previous value of 4.75%. The deposit facility rate is 3.75%, as expected, with a previous value of 4.00%. The main refinancing rate is 4.25%, as expected, with a previous value of 4.50%. (FX Street)
LayerZero CEO responds to witch hunt review: work is not yet completed
LayerZero CEO Bryan Pellegrino posted on X platform: “To those asking when the witch (review) business will end” with an image captioned “work is not yet completed.”
Binance launches new coin mining for IO.NET(IO), available for mining using BNB and FDUSD
According to an official announcement, Binance’s new coin mining has now launched the 55th phase project, the decentralized AI computing and cloud platform IO.NET(IO). Users can deposit BNB and FDUSD into the IO mining pool on the Launchpool website after 08:00 on June 7th (GMT+8) to receive IO rewards, with a total mining period of 4 days. The website is expected to be updated within approximately five hours before the mining activity opens. Binance will launch IO.NET(IO) on June 11th at 20:00 (GMT+8), and open IO/BTC, IO/USDT, IO/BNB, IO/FDUSD, and IO/TRY trading markets, following seed label trading rules.
Industry News
Cryptocurrency-related Google search interest far below 2021 bull market, “Bitcoin ETF” search in the US only at 1
Despite strong inflows into Bitcoin spot ETF funds and Bitcoin prices surpassing $71,000, Google Trends data shows a significant drop in search interest among Americans for Bitcoin, Bitcoin ETF, Bitcoin price, or cryptocurrency-related searches compared to 2021. On June 5th, the US Google search value for “Bitcoin” was 31, while “Bitcoin ETF” was only 1. Other searches like “Bitcoin price” and “crypto” received higher values of 18 and 13, respectively, but still well below levels seen during the retail-driven bull market of 2021. (Cointelegraph)
Franklin Templeton plans to launch a new crypto fund, to invest in tokens other than BTC and ETH
According to The Information, renowned investment fund company Franklin Templeton is considering launching a new crypto fund that will invest in a range of tokens other than Bitcoin and Ethereum.
ProShares submits Ethereum spot ETF application to the US SEC
ProShares has submitted Form 19b-4 to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for listing and trading an Ethereum spot ETF on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
ARK Invest may choose to withdraw Ethereum ETF application due to fee competition
ARK Invest, led by Cathie Wood, has decided to withdraw its Ethereum ETF application, with no official reason given for the withdrawal. Analysts suggest that this withdrawal may be related to fee competition in the ETF market, as competitors have been lowering fees to attract investors. It is reported that ARK Invest has been pushing for an Ethereum ETF launch in the past few months, but facing competitors continuously reducing fees to attract investors, ARK Invest may have reevaluated its strategy. (Coindesk)
Project News
AI interaction protocol Wayfinder opens PRIME staking window, distributing 40% of new tokens to stakers
The AI interaction protocol Wayfinder (PROMOT) launched the PRIME staking window, distributing 40% of the total PROMOT supply to all PRIME stakers. Users participating in staking can choose between a minimum of 21 days and a maximum of three years staking period to receive different reward multipliers. As of the announcement, approximately 4.9 million PRIME tokens have been staked.
IO.NET token economics: Initial supply of IO is 5 billion, with the remaining 3 billion allocated as rewards for suppliers and stakers
According to official information, IO.NET(IO) has released details of token economics: IO’s maximum supply is fixed at 8 billion tokens, with an initial supply of 5 billion IO tokens. The remaining 3 billion tokens will be issued as rewards to suppliers and stakers, distributed hourly over 20 years. The rewards follow a deflationary model, starting at 8% in the first year, decreasing by 1.02% monthly (approximately 12% annually) until the 8 billion IO limit is reached. IO utilizes a programmatic token burn system, where income generated from the IOG network is used to purchase and burn IO tokens. The initial supply of IO at genesis is 5 billion IO tokens, with community allocation accounting for 50%, seed investors 12.5%, Series A investors 10.2%, core contributors 11.3%, and research and ecosystem 16%. IO tokens allocated to investors have a transfer restriction period of three years, with the transfer restriction starting at the end of the 13th month and gradually releasing in 24 equal parts until the end of the 36th month from the initial allocation date; IO tokens allocated to IO.NET employees have a four-year transfer restriction. The transfer restriction starts at the end of the 13th month and releases in 36 equal parts from the IO token until the end of the 48th month from the initial allocation date.
Blast: DApps must distribute all Gold and Points to users by June 25th to be eligible for airdrop
Blast announced on the X platform that there are three weeks left until the Blast airdrop, with a final Gold distribution to be conducted before the airdrop. DApps must distribute all Gold and Points to users by 20:00 on June 25th to be included in the airdrop. Specific requirements include: Points and Gold must be in the user’s EOA to be included in the airdrop; Points and Gold remaining in the smart contract before the airdrop date will be excluded from the calculation. Any suspicious or internal DApp distributions will be audited and may result in blacklisting for future collaborations. Users must have logged in to the Blast dashboard at least once with that EOA account (either through accepting an invite or linking it to an existing account) to be eligible for the airdrop. Don’t forget to link an embedded wallet (such as Privy) as well.
Sanctum: Wonderland Season 1 officially ends, Sanctum Profiles to launch this month
Solana’s liquidity staking protocol Sanctum announced on the X platform that Wonderland Season 1 has officially ended, with Season 2 set to launch later this year, offering a different experience. Additionally, Sanctum Profiles will be launched this month, allowing users to connect all wallets and social accounts.
Ultiverse opens ULTI airdrop claim
AI and gaming distribution platform Ultiverse announced on the X platform that it has opened ULTI airdrop claims.
Modular infrastructure Self Chain mainnet goes live, to airdrop early contributors from the testnet
According to official information, the modular infrastructure Self Chain has announced the launch of its mainnet, currently in Stage 1. This stage will introduce the foundation and professional genesis validators, and begin block generation. Once Stage 1 is successfully completed, Self Chain will transition to Stage 2 of the mainnet, enabling token migration and staking functionality. Additionally, the official statement mentioned that they will airdrop early contributors, including validators or stakers who played a significant role in network security during the testnet phase on the Self Chain network. More information about the airdrop will be announced soon. The team is preparing to launch Stage 2 and Stage 3 of the mainnet, opening up more features and expanding community participation. In a previous announcement on the X platform, Self Chain stated that its mainnet would launch in three strategic stages to ensure a smooth launch.
Wormhole: Stake For Governance goes live, allowing W holders to stake tokens for governance
Wormhole announced on the X platform that Stake For Governance has launched. To participate in the Stake For Governance process, W tokens must be transferred to the EVM chain. This can be done through the governance portal. As part of the Wormhole Guardian security feature, a maximum of 100 million W tokens can be transferred from Solana to the EVM chain daily.
Kraken plans to raise over $1 billion before IPO
According to Bloomberg, sources familiar with the company’s plans revealed that the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is in discussions for pre-IPO funding. Kraken is seeking to raise over $1 billion in funds and expects to complete the process by the end of this year. Rumors about Kraken’s listing have been circulating for the past few years. The company has been busy dealing with charges brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last year, accusing it of operating an unregistered platform and mishandling customer funds. A spokesperson declined to comment on the fundraising but stated, “We have been exploring strategic paths to achieve Kraken’s mission of accelerating the global adoption of cryptocurrency. We remain focused on investing in this goal.”
Ethena integrates with Aave to support USDe deposits and lending
Ethena Labs announced on the X platform that it has integrated with Aave to support USDe deposits and borrowing.Platform announces that Ethena has integrated with Aave, allowing users to deposit USDe into the Aave protocol and leverage it against other stablecoins on Aave. Additionally, users can also deposit stETH, weETH, ETH, and WBTC on Aave to borrow Ethena USDe or sUSDe.
Uniswap founder: No opinion on meme coins, creating market for memes is cool
Founder of Uniswap, Hayden Adams, expressed in a post on X platform that he has no opinion on meme coins or celebrity coins. He believes that the attention around memes is valuable, and creating a market for them is cool. However, he emphasizes that the fundamental purpose and value of this technology go far beyond financial games. The best builders in this field are driven by positive social change. Iggy could have responded positively and donated profits to social causes or other areas. Instead, she (using a meme image) showed contempt towards the best builders in the field (Vitalik), which only proves his point.
Standard Chartered Bank: Bitcoin could reach $100,000 before US election
Analysts at Standard Chartered Bank suggest that the price of Bitcoin could rise to $100,000 before the US presidential election in November. Geoffrey Kendrick, Head of FX and Digital Asset Research at Standard Chartered Bank, stated on Thursday that he expects Bitcoin to reach $100,000 as the US election approaches, with a potential increase to $150,000 by the end of the year if Trump wins. The analyst mentioned tomorrow’s non-farm payroll data and indicated that if the data is “friendly,” he expects Bitcoin’s price to hit a new all-time high this weekend, setting the stage for Bitcoin to rise to $80,000 by the end of June. Kendrick also maintains his year-end price prediction for Bitcoin at $150,000 and $200,000 by the end of 2025 (The Block).
JPMorgan: US crypto regulations targeting CBDCs and non-compliant stablecoins
JPMorgan revealed that US crypto regulations have been strengthening in recent months, with a stablecoin bill likely to be approved before the presidential election, posing a threat to Tether’s dominant position. The US House of Representatives passed a bill last month prohibiting the Federal Reserve from issuing central bank digital currency, reducing the likelihood of central bank digital currency issuance. Emerging regulatory measures seem to oppose US banks participating in cryptocurrencies, non-compliant stablecoins (such as Tether), and categorizing all tokens other than Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) as securities (Coindesk).
Arthur Hayes: Cryptocurrency bull market awakening, bullish on Bitcoin and altcoins
Founder of BitMEX, Arthur Hayes, released a new article titled “Group of Fools,” stating that central banks around the world have begun to loosen monetary policies, which will drive the cryptocurrency market out of the summer slump. He suggests going long on Bitcoin and then on altcoins. It’s time to redeploy excess dollar liquidity into altcoins. The cryptocurrency bull market is awakening.
Head of Base Protocol: Calls for meme coin projects to attract more users to the Base ecosystem
Jesse Pollak, Head of Base Protocol, spoke at the Base Meme Summit, hoping that more meme coin projects in the Base ecosystem can set a small goal: to attract 10,000 new users to join the Base ecosystem. He calls for more people to spread information about the Base ecosystem and meme coins to their friends, engage in face-to-face communication and dialogue, create vertical domain video content, conduct creative experiments, and expand dissemination efforts.
Funding
io.net raises $40 million through two rounds of private funding, reaching a valuation of $1 billion
According to a research report by Binance Research Institute, io.net has raised $40 million through two rounds of private funding, reaching a valuation of $1 billion. The initial token supply allocation for IO is as follows: Early supporters – Seed round sale accounts for 20%; Early supporters – Series A round sale accounts for 16.24%; Initial core contributors account for 18.14%; Research and ecosystem account for 25.61%; Community account for 16%; Binance Launchpool account for 4%.
Robinhood agrees to acquire Bitstamp for $200 million, expected to complete the transaction in the first half of 2025
Trading platform Robinhood announced on Tuesday that the company has agreed to acquire cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp to expand its global crypto business and attract institutional clients through new products. The $200 million all-cash transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025. Barclays Capital and Galaxy Digital are the advisors for Robinhood and Bitstamp in this transaction (CoinDesk).
Glacier Network completes $8 million funding at a valuation of $100 million, with participation from Mask Network and others
Data-centric blockchain network Glacier Network announced the completion of an $8 million angel round and seed round at a valuation of $100 million, with participation from ForesightX, UOB Venture Management, Laser Digital, Kucoin Ventures, and others. (TheBlock).
Bitdeer plans to acquire ASIC chip design company Desiweminer in a $140 million all-stock transaction
Bitcoin mining company Bitdeer is set to acquire ASIC chip design company Desiweminer in a $140 million all-stock transaction. Bitdeer has agreed to acquire all outstanding shares of Desiweminer with 20 million Class A common shares of BTDR on June 3. (Coindesk).
Sandbox secures $20 million in funding, led by Kingsway Capital
User-generated content metaverse platform Sandbox raised $20 million in convertible debt funding, led by Kingsway Capital and Animoca Brands, with participation from LG Tech Ventures and True Global Ventures, valuing the company at $1 billion. Bondholders can convert their notes into equity of Bacasable Global Limited on the same terms as existing preferred stock (Venturebeat).
Revenue stablecoin issuer Mountain Protocol completes $8 million Series A funding, led by Multicoin Capital
Revenue stablecoin issuer Mountain Protocol announced the completion of an $8 million Series A funding round led by Multicoin Capital, with participation from Castle Island Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and other investors. Mountain Protocol is the issuer of USDM, a “fully-backed by US treasuries” revenue stablecoin (TheBlock).
Security incident
Post-00s college student sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison for fraud after issuing Shiba Inu coin and withdrawing liquidity
Post-00s college student Yang Qichao issued “Shiba Inu coin” BFF on BNBChain, causing losses of 50,000 USDT to others due to liquidity withdrawal. He was convicted of fraud by the People’s Court of Henan Nanyang High-tech Industrial Development Zone, sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison, and fined 30,000 RMB. The case was heard in the Second Intermediate People’s Court of Nanyang City on May 20, 2024. Yang’s defense lawyer argued for his innocence, stating that the virtual currency issued by Yang had a unique and unchangeable contract address, with no “counterfeit coins,” and both the defendant and the plaintiff were experienced players in the cryptocurrency circle, well aware of the risks associated with trading virtual currencies. Additionally, the platform allowed liquidity to be added or withdrawn at any time, and the defendant’s actions did not violate platform rules. The victim’s BFF coins increased in value after the incident due to increased liquidity, and if traded, could be exchanged for more USDT coins than before, resulting in no loss to the victim. Born in 2000, Yang was a senior student about to graduate from a university in Zhejiang before the incident. In early May 2022, he became involved in a community organization called Future of District DAO for the issuance of decentralized virtual tokens. He created a token called BFF, which had the same name as Future of District in English, and added liquidity of 300,000 BSC-USD and 630,000 BFF. At the same second that Yang added liquidity, someone named Luo spent 50,000 USDT to exchange for 85,316.72 BFF. Just 24 seconds later, Yang withdrew the liquidity of BFF, causing Luo to receive only 21.6 USDT in exchange for 81,043 BFF. Luo traced back and found Yang through a common WeChat friend. Luo demanded that Yang refund his losses, but was refused. On May 3, 2022, Luo reported that he was cheated out of more than 300,000 RMB (equivalent to 50,000 USDT) in virtual currency investments. Shortly after, the police launched a criminal investigation for fraud and arrested Yang in Hangzhou, Zhejiang in November of the same year. (The Paper)
