Today's Headlines:
Bloomberg Analyst: US SEC May Approve Spot Ethereum ETF 19b-4 File as Early as Wednesday
Crypto Lending Institution Genesis Reaches $2 Billion Settlement with Regulatory Agencies
Hollywood Actress Scarlett Johansson Criticizes OpenAI for Plagiarizing Her Voice for ChatGPT
Web3 Gaming Platform Gala Games Suspected of Being Hacked, Loss Exceeds $200 Million
Grayscale Appoints Peter Mintzberg of Goldman Sachs as New CEO
Bitcoin Hits Historic High Against Local Currencies in Japan, Argentina, and the Philippines
CoinShares: Digital Asset Investment Products Saw Net Inflows of $932 Million Last Week
Justin Sun Currently Holds 665,000 ETH, Equivalent to Approximately $24.47 Billion
Regulatory News
Bloomberg Analyst: US SEC May Approve Spot Ethereum ETF 19b-4 File as Early as Wednesday
Bloomberg's senior analyst Eric Balchunas tweeted that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly aiming to return the revised spot Ethereum ETF 19b-4 file to them by 10 a.m. local time (based on the large number of comments they just received today), and it may be approved as early as Wednesday. In addition, according to Cointelegraph citing Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, the approved 19b-4 must be accompanied by a signed S-1 registration statement in order to launch the spot Ethereum ETF. Even if the 19b-4s are approved this week, the signing of the S-1 may take several weeks or even months.
Earlier, Eric Balchunas stated that the probability of Ethereum spot ETF approval has increased from 25% to 75%. Later, Galaxy Research Director suggested that the SEC may recognize ETH itself as a non-security, while staked ETH is considered a security. Furthermore, Fidelity has also submitted an update to its spot Ethereum ETF S-1 application today.
Crypto Lending Institution Genesis Reaches $2 Billion Settlement with Regulatory Agencies
According to CNBC, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a $2 billion settlement agreement with cryptocurrency lending institution Genesis to compensate defrauded investors. Genesis, once a core business under Digital Currency Group (DCG), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2023 following the collapse of FTX, triggering industry-wide repercussions. In October, James filed a lawsuit against DCG, its subsidiary Genesis, and Gemini Trust, accusing them of misleading investors in the Gemini Earn project, resulting in over $1 billion in losses. The settlement agreement prohibits Genesis from operating in New York and establishes a victim fund, benefiting over 29,000 New York residents who invested in Genesis through the Gemini Earn product.
According to Reuters, the Central Bank of Brazil is gradually advancing the regulation of crypto assets and virtual asset service providers, with a specific regulatory proposal expected to be put forward by the end of this year. Despite some delays, the central bank has adopted a phased implementation approach to ensure the effectiveness and comprehensiveness of the regulations. Through new public consultations, the Central Bank of Brazil aims to gather more opinions to develop a more reasonable and feasible regulatory framework.
AI & NFT
Yuga Labs co-founder Garga.eth stated on X platform that Yuga Labs will no longer interfere with Cryptopunks, and Cryptopunks will be fully decentralized and stored on the blockchain. When the company acquired collections such as Cryptopunks a few years ago, it intended to preserve these collections as heritage. Yuga Labs' only intention is to support some museums and institutions in obtaining Cryptopunks. Additionally, the current plan is to randomly airdrop the latest NFT collection of Nina to SuperCoolWorld holders.
Hollywood Actress Scarlett Johansson Criticizes OpenAI for Plagiarizing Her Voice for ChatGPT
According to a report from Zhanzhang Home, Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson issued a strong statement, claiming that after she refused to provide her voice for ChatGPT, OpenAI shamelessly imitated her unique tone. Last week, OpenAI showcased a synthetic voice that closely resembled Scarlett Johansson's portrayal of an artificial intelligence assistant in the science fiction film "Her," but over the weekend, this new voice was suddenly disabled. Before OpenAI released its latest AI model GPT-4o and launched the more conversational ChatGPT mode, company founder Sam Altman sparked rumors by suggesting that the company would introduce a virtual assistant with a voice similar to Scarlett Johansson's in the 2013 romantic drama film "Her." He liked a user's post on the X social platform, indicating that he was watching the movie in preparation for OpenAI's spring update event, and during the event, he mentioned the word "her" in a tweet. One of the AI-generated voices used in the event was called "Sky," and some users believed it sounded similar to Scarlett Johansson's voice in the movie "Her." However, on May 19 at 2:33 AM Eastern Time, OpenAI released a statement on the X social platform revealing that the company was "pausing the use of Sky" and addressing questions about their choice of ChatGPT voice. Later that evening, representatives of Scarlett Johansson issued a statement to several media outlets, including NPR, publicly criticizing OpenAI and specifically Sam Altman, accusing them of contacting her nine months ago to provide her voice, which she refused. The statement claimed that Johansson was "shocked, angry, and incredulous" at Altman's use of her voice, to the extent that her closest friends and news organizations could not distinguish between them. According to the statement sent to NPR and other media outlets, Johansson stated that she had to hire a lawyer, who wrote to Altman and OpenAI, leading to the suspension and removal of the Sky voice.
Project Updates
Web3 gaming platform Gala Games suspected of being hacked, loss exceeds $200 million
According to The Block, the treasury of Web3 gaming platform Gala Games was suspected of being hacked on Monday. Someone minted 50 billion GALA tokens, worth over $200 million. As a result, GALA dropped nearly 15%.
Later, the founder of Gala Games stated that the GALA Ethereum contract is secure and they are cooperating with the FBI and other agencies to track down the attackers. The attacker of Gala Games has sold 5.92 billion GALA to obtain 5952 ETH, equivalent to approximately $21.8 million.
BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes pointed out in a recent article that the depreciation of the Japanese yen in the fall may accelerate, and to curb the depreciation, the Federal Reserve may reach an unlimited dollar-yen swap agreement with the Bank of Japan. Hayes believes that this move is equivalent to the Federal Reserve implementing yield curve control, which will lead to a significant devaluation of the US dollar. Hayes believes that a devaluation of the US dollar means a sharp increase in global US dollar liquidity. This will benefit the cryptocurrency market, led by Bitcoin. He expects that if the US and Japan central banks really implement a "blunt" currency swap policy, it will trigger a new round of cryptocurrency market rally. At that time, the price of Bitcoin is expected to hit $1 million, even reaching a new all-time high. Hayes advises cryptocurrency traders to closely monitor the future changes in the US dollar-yen exchange rate and consider increasing their cryptocurrency allocation. He emphasizes that once the market discovers that the US and Japan are conducting large-scale currency swaps and the scale of the swaps continues to expand, it is likely that a cryptocurrency bull market is imminent.
Sei Labs co-founder Jay stated on the X platform that the Sei V2 upgrade governance proposal has started on-chain voting, and if passed, the mainnet upgrade will take place on Monday, May 27. Upon review, the current proposal has a voting support rate of 100%, and the voting will end on May 26. Earlier, Sei announced the launch of the V2 upgrade plan in three phases, aiming to launch the first highly scalable parallelized EVM. The V2 upgrade will be divided into governance, Alpha release, and V2 readiness phases.
io.net: Reward eligibility checker is now live on the IOG Foundation website
The De-PIN protocol io.net in the Solana ecosystem stated on the X platform that the reward eligibility checker is now live on the IOG Foundation website. Users can enter their Solana address to verify if their wallet address is eligible for the rewards of the first season.
Prometheum's launch of Ethereum custody service renews concerns about SEC labeling ETH as a security
According to Decrypt, the controversial crypto platform Prometheum's launch of an Ethereum custody service has sparked strong opposition from a cryptocurrency advocacy organization, which claims it is colluding with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Prometheum launched the Ethereum custody service on Friday, after months of anticipation, with a willingness to protect assets on behalf of clients. The issue is that Prometheum's service classifies Ethereum as a security within the SEC's jurisdiction. The SEC has not made this declaration, although the agency has been accused of using it as a basis for its ongoing crackdown on the expanding crypto industry. Last month, Consensys filed a lawsuit against the SEC seeking a court confirmation that Ethereum is not actually a security.
In a statement regarding Prometheum's announcement, the Cedar Innovation Foundation said, "This announcement is just the latest attempt by the SEC to drive the cryptocurrency market out of the United States. Both the SEC and Prometheum have separately claimed that ETH is a security." While the company has not yet launched trading of Ethereum as a security, providing custody services to clients is considered a prerequisite step. The Cedar Innovation Foundation claims that Prometheum's business is "desperately trying to misclassify ETH as a security," and believes that this plan will be thwarted through litigation. The organization specifically mentioned SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, stating, "It's time for Congress to end Gary Gensler's political conspiracy."
Last May, Prometheum announced that it had obtained the first special purpose broker-dealer license under SEC guidance, which would allow it to custody digital asset securities.
According to a screenshot posted by Web3 security researcher @Plumferno on the X platform, the multi-chain fraudulent service provider Inferno Drainer announced its reopening to the public in its community, claiming to have new employees, new working methods, new support, and new features after over 6 months of private operation. During this time, they stole $125 million from their customers, bringing their total stolen amount to over $250 million. Previously, Inferno Drainer announced its closure at the end of November last year, claiming to have been stolen from for over $80 million. @Plumferno stated, "This is not good news, in case anyone is unaware of this… (yes, I know they never really closed, so I know many people won't be surprised by this at all)." Web3 anti-fraud platform Scam Sniffer commented, "This also explains why phishing websites using Inferno have recently surged after the hacking scam group Pink Drainer announced its exit."
Grayscale has appointed Peter Mintzberg from Goldman Sachs as the new CEO
According to The Wall Street Journal, Grayscale's CEO Michael Sonnenshein announced his resignation. Peter Mintzberg, the current global head of strategy at Goldman Sachs' asset and wealth management division, will become the new CEO of Grayscale on August 15 this year and will join Grayscale's board of directors. During this time, Grayscale's Chief Financial Officer Edward McGee will serve as interim CEO, leading the company until August. According to sources, Grayscale's board and its parent company Digital Currency Group began looking for a new CEO for the asset management company at the end of 2023, and the search for a new CEO is unrelated to the performance or outflows of funds from GBTC.
Vitalik praises the crypto-economic experiment 'Orb Land'
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated on Warpcast, "The crypto-economic experiment 'Orb Land' is really cool." "Orb Land" is a crypto-economic experiment initiated by Eric Wall, the founder of Taproot Wizards, aimed at tokenizing personal consulting services into NFTs. Holders of purchased Orbs will have the right to ask questions to the Orb creator and resell that right. Technically, Orb is an improved ERC-721 that supports the ERC-721 interface, and all transfer-related functions are restored. Although Orb can be displayed on OpenSea, it cannot be listed for sale on NFT trading markets such as OpenSea, Sudoswap, or Blur. In addition, ownership functions of Orb are managed through auctions and the Harberger tax system.
Binance announces the launch project open recruitment plan
According to the official announcement, Binance has observed tokens being issued with high valuations and low initial circulation. To cultivate a healthy industry ecosystem, Binance will first support small and medium-sized cryptocurrency projects. Binance invites high-quality teams and projects to apply for listing, including direct listing, Launchpools, and Megadrops. Binance hopes to promote the development of the blockchain ecosystem by supporting small and medium-sized projects with good fundamentals, organic community bases, sustainable business models, and industry responsibility. If the project meets the criteria, they can fill out an application form, and the Binance team will contact the pre-screened teams. Binance reserves the final decision-making authority.
Vitalik: A decentralized protocol for transferring assets between various L2s is needed
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated on the X platform, "We need an open decentralized (no operator, no management) protocol for quickly transferring assets from one L2 to another and integrating it into the default send interface of wallets. But before being too fixated on any fancy toys, do the groundwork first. The biggest user experience problem right now is that the L2-verse doesn't feel 'like one unified Ethereum.' It's much better than a year ago, but still far from perfect."
Later, Vitalik stated that the association of the decentralized protocol mentioned earlier also needs to be supplemented with an "infrastructure association." In addition,Vitalik praised ENS as the most successful non-financial application in the Ethereum ecosystem, with ENS's 24-hour increase expanding to 36.7%.
Dragonfly partner Haseeb Qureshi stated on the X platform, "The regulatory attitude change towards the Ethereum ETF indicates a softening of crypto policy by the Biden administration, as they do not want to lose votes in the election competition over 'small matters' (referring to crypto regulatory issues). In the coming months, the market will see other regulatory agencies also changing their attitudes." In addition, Jake Chervinsky, Chief Legal Officer of Variant Fund, stated on the X platform, "If a spot ETH ETF is really approved, everyone I know who understands the Washington regulatory situation will be greatly surprised, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. This means that the approval of the ETF may indicate a significant shift in US cryptocurrency regulatory policy after the SAB 121 vote, which may be more important than the ETF itself." Earlier, the proposal to overturn SAB 121 was passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on May 8 and May 17, and Biden will make the final decision on the proposal before May 28.
Potential US TikTok buyer plans to decentralize TikTok, may rely on Polkadot parachains
According to CryptoSlate, American billionaire Frank McCourt is leading a consortium to acquire TikTok and decentralize it using the Project Liberty's decentralized social network protocol (DSNP). McCourt's initiative, known as the "people's bid," represents the interests of several American companies on the platform. He is working with investment bank Guggenheim Securities and the law firm Kirkland & Ellis on this initiative. McCourt emphasized in a news statement that the bid aims to empower users by migrating TikTok to an open-source protocol. This move aims to restore control over digital identity and data, giving Americans significant voice and interests in the future of the network. McCourt plans to rebuild TikTok using DSNP and will utilize the Polkadot parachain social platform Frequency.
Coinbase derivatives trading platform to launch oil and gold futures products on June 3
According to Crowdfundinsider, Coinbase Derivatives is expanding its range of futures products to include oil and gold. On June 3, 2024, the platform will launch retail-sized "oil and gold" futures contracts to help traders further diversify their investment strategies. These new products will complement the "existing CFTC-regulated BTC, ETH, BCH, LTC, and DOGE crypto futures series."
Funding News
The DePIN project Blockless, which focuses on providing computing power support, announced that it has raised $8 million in two early-stage funding rounds. Blockless stated that NGC Ventures led a $3 million seed round of funding, and M31 Capital and Frachtis jointly led a $5 million seed round of funding. Other investors in these rounds include No Limit Holdings, MH Ventures, Interop Ventures, and Plassa Capital. Butian Li, co-founder of Blockless, stated that they plan to launch the testnet in the coming weeks and to release the mainnet and the native BLESS token in the third quarter.
Important Data
Bitcoin hits all-time highs against the Japanese, Argentine, and Philippine local currencies
According to Cointelegraph, with a 7% increase on the day, Bitcoin reached all-time highs in several countries in Asia and South America. The price of Bitcoin reached a daily and six-week high of $71,650 on May 21, with a 7% increase in the past 24 hours. According to CoinGecko's data, the asset has rebounded to within 3.4% of the all-time high of $73,738 reached on March 14. This significant movement also led to new peaks for Bitcoin against several fiat currencies. According to CoinMarketCap's data, in Japan, Bitcoin reached a historical high of 11.2 million yen on May 21. This is the first time the asset has exceeded 11 million yen in value. In recent months, the yen has depreciated against the dollar, losing 10% of its value since the beginning of the year. On May 21, Bitcoin also reached a peak in Argentina, touching 63.8 million Argentine pesos, slightly higher than the peak in mid-March. Over the past few years, this South American country has been struggling with inflation as high as 290% and currency devaluation. Industry observer Thomas Fahrer pointed out on X that other countries where the Bitcoin price has reached or come very close to the mid-March peak include the UK, Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Israel, Norway, India, South Korea, and Turkey.
Market: Bitcoin breaks $71,000, Ethereum breaks $3,600
According to the Euro OKX market, the price of Bitcoin has surpassed $71,000, currently at $71,250, with a 5.69% increase on the day. In addition, the price of Ethereum has surpassed $3,600, reaching $3,693.6 at one point, and is currently at $3,678.39, with a 17.94% increase on the day.
CoinShares: Digital asset investment products saw a net inflow of $932 million last week
According to the latest weekly report from CoinShares, digital asset investment products saw a second consecutive week of inflows, totaling $932 million. This inflow was mainly influenced by the CPI report, with the last three trading days accounting for 89% of the total flow. The US market dominated this inflow, totaling $1.002 billion. Grayscale, which has suffered $16.6 billion in outflows since the launch of its ETF in January, also saw a small inflow for the first time, totaling $18 million. The inflow of $942 million into Bitcoin indicates investors' optimistic outlook. Several altcoins also saw inflows, with Solana, Chainlink, and Cardano receiving $4.9 million, $3.7 million, and $1.9 million, respectively. On the other hand, Ethereum continued to see outflows of $23 million this week due to the uncertain prospects of SEC-approved spot ETFs. In addition, blockchain stocks continued to experience outflows, with only six weeks of inflows since the beginning of the year, totaling $512 million in outflows.
Coinglass data shows that the total open interest of Ethereum futures contracts has risen to 4.01 million ETH (approximately $14.69 billion), with a 25.48% increase in the past 24 hours, hitting a new all-time high in USD terms (still below the peak of 5 million ETH in 2022 in ETH terms). Among them, Binance's open interest in Ethereum futures is 1.5 million ETH (approximately $5.48 billion), ranking first, with a 32.37% increase in open interest in the past 24 hours. Bybit's open interest in Ethereum futures is 840,490 ETH (approximately $3.08 billion), ranking second, with a 38.82% increase in open interest in the past 24 hours.
EigenLayer TVL surpasses $18 billion, hitting a record high
DefiLlama data shows that the total value locked (TVL) in the liquidity re-staking protocol EigenLayer has surpassed $18 billion, currently at $18.116 billion, hitting a record high.
Justin Sun currently holds 665,000 ETH, approximately $2.447 billion
According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, Justin Sun currently holds 665,000 ETH (approximately $2.447 billion), of which 390,000 ETH ($1.435 billion) was purchased at an average price of $2984 between the end of 2023 and the end of April this year.
From 12/26/2023 to 1/5/2024, 17,883 ETH (worth $40.45 million) was withdrawn from a CEX address (average price of $2,262);
From 2/8/2024 to 2/25/2024, 173,863 ETH (worth $525.24 million) was purchased through withdrawals from a CEX address and on-chain purchases (average price of $2,869);
From 4/1/2024 to 4/25/2024, 176,117 ETH (worth $552 million) was purchased through withdrawals from a Binance address and on-chain purchases (average price of $3,138);
From 4/27/2024 to 4/29/2024, 22,316 ETH (worth $72.38 million) was withdrawn from a Binance address (average price of $3,244).
Of the 665,000 ETH, 247,000 ETH is stored in wallets, and 417,000 ETH is staked and restaked on platforms. Specifically, 215,217 ETH is staked on EigenLayer, 120,139 ETH is staked on Swell, 58,558 ETH is staked on Puffer, 23,225 ETH is staked on Lido, and 454 ETH is staked on etherfi.
Miners mine an empty block at Bitcoin block height 844293
According to Mempool data, at Bitcoin block height 844293 (about ten minutes ago), miners mined an empty block, which only contained the block reward (Coinbase) and one transaction. The time interval between this empty block and the previous block was only 23 seconds.
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