Today's Headlines:
- Hong Kong Monetary Authority Launches Second Phase of "Digital Currency at Cyberport" Pilot Program
- Mango Markets Proposes $500,000 Settlement Agreement with CFTC for Unregistered Trading Charges
- Kraken Completes Acquisition of Dutch Cryptocurrency Broker Coin Meester BV (BCM)
- Telegram: Illegal Search for User IP Addresses and Phone Numbers May Be Provided to Relevant Authorities
- Hamster Kombat: Recovers 6.8 Billion Tokens from 2.3 Million Cheaters
- Coinbase to Launch CoW Protocol (COW)
- Celestia Foundation Completes $100 Million Financing, Led by Bain Capital Crypto
- WazirX Attacker Laundered 57,500 ETH Through TornadoCash
Regulatory News
Central Bank Announces Interest Rate Cut and Reserve Requirement Reduction
According to Jin10, Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China, announced at a press conference at the State Council Information Office on the 24th that the reserve requirement ratio and policy interest rates will be lowered. The reserve requirement ratio will be reduced by 0.5 percentage points in the near future, releasing long-term liquidity of 1 trillion yuan. There may also be another reduction of 0.25-0.5 percentage points before the end of the year. At the same time, the central bank's policy interest rate will be lowered, with the 7-day reverse repurchase operation rate reduced by 0.2 percentage points, guiding the downswing of the loan market quoted interest rate (LPR).
According to the official website of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the HKMA today launched the second phase of the "Digital Currency at Cyberport" pilot program, further exploring new digital currencies that individuals and businesses can use, including "Digital Currency at Cyberport" and tokenized deposits. The project name has been changed to "Digital Currency at Cyberport+" to reflect a broader exploration of the digital currency ecosystem. 11 selected institutions will conduct innovative use case studies in three major areas: tokenized asset settlement, programmability, and offline payments. This phase of research will help the HKMA understand the design, implementation, and operation issues that may arise in the coexistence of public and private digital currency ecosystems. The "Digital Currency at Cyberport+" project will continue to advance the relevant work on technical and legal foundations, laying the groundwork for the potential issuance of "Digital Currency at Cyberport" for individual and business use in the future. The HKMA will work closely with the selected institutions for about 12 months to advance the work of the second phase, and plans to share the major achievements of the second phase with the public by the end of 2025.
Republican Party Urges SEC to Abandon SAB 121 Cryptocurrency Accounting Rules
According to Crypto Briefing, Republican members of both houses of Congress have written to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission urging the agency to repeal special accounting rules for cryptocurrencies, namely Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 (SAB 121). The letter was led by Patrick McHenry, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Senator Cynthia Lummis (Republican, Wyoming), and was signed by 13 senators and 29 representatives (mainly from the Financial Services Committee). Critics argue that the rule requires custodians to treat their clients' digital assets as liabilities on their balance sheets, disrupting standard practices and potentially increasing custodial costs. The letter also questions recent statements by the SEC's chief accountant, who admitted that some companies' arrangements are not within the scope of SAB 121. The signatories believe that these opaque negotiations have further confused the industry.
It is worth noting that SAB 121 is the only cryptocurrency-related issue on which the U.S. Congress has been able to pass legislation in both houses. Given recent statements supporting digital assets by U.S. presidential candidate Harris and the recent results of the presidential debate with Trump, cryptocurrencies and digital assets are likely to become a key point of contention between the two.
Project Updates
Kraken Completes Acquisition of Dutch Cryptocurrency Broker Coin Meester BV (BCM)
According to the official blog, the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has announced the completion of the acquisition of the Dutch cryptocurrency broker Coin Meester BV (BCM), stating that this is a key element of its European growth strategy. Kraken stated that through the acquisition of BCM, the company significantly expanded its business scope in the Netherlands and enhanced its business through the registration of a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in France and Poland. BCM, founded in 2017, is one of the "oldest registered cryptocurrency brokers" in the Netherlands. The company provides services for buying, selling, and staking cryptocurrencies, including access to over 170 different cryptocurrencies. In the coming months, BCM customers will benefit from Kraken's extensive product offerings, with access to over 200 digital assets and 24/7/365 real-time local language customer support.
DWF Labs Synthetic Stablecoin Product Expected to Launch in Q4 of This Year to Q1 of Next Year
DWF Labs co-founder Andrei Grachev shared details of the planned launch of the synthetic stablecoin product for DWF Labs on the X platform. The release of the synthetic stablecoin is expected in the fourth quarter of 2024 to the first quarter of 2025, with an expected Annual Percentage Yield (APY) as follows: stablecoin approximately 12%, BTC/ETH approximately 15%, blue-chip coins approximately 17%, and long-tail altcoins approximately 19%. The synthetic stablecoin has full-chain minting/redeeming functionality and has received whitelist commitments of approximately $500 million in total locked value (TVL) from partners and friends.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin shared a summary of his fireside chat at the recent Home Staking Summit in Singapore on the X platform, discussing the practical value of independent validators (including small businesses and communities) to the network, and what changes L1 can make to better support these validators. Vitalik emphasized that independent validators are both the "first line of defense" for the Ethereum network, providing censorship resistance, and the "last line of defense" by preventing the final confirmation of a faulty chain by 67%. As a censorship-resistant collective, independent validators are typically unrelated and inconsistent with any organization, making them difficult targets for regulatory capture or coercion. This means that while some organizations may attempt censorship on Ethereum, they may only delay these transactions. Comprehensive censorship would be extremely difficult because of the presence of independent validators (and other mechanisms) on Ethereum.
Vitalik discussed the possibility of raising the consensus threshold (e.g., from 67% to 85%) to enhance network security. However, he also pointed out that this may bring new challenges, such as reducing the cost of attacks to prevent final confirmation. He raised an interesting point that the current system may overpay to prevent a 33% attack, suggesting a reallocation of resources to strengthen defense against more serious attacks. Vitalik emphasized the importance of increasing the number of independent validators as a key component of the current final confirmation threshold. He also discussed measures that Ethereum's Layer 1 (L1) could take to better support and encourage independent staking.
Binance Coin-Margined Websocket to Undergo System Upgrade on September 26, Expected to Take 8 Hours
According to the official announcement, the Binance Coin-Margined Websocket will undergo a system upgrade on September 26, 2024, at 14:00 (GMT+8), with an expected duration of 8 hours. The upgrade aims to improve the performance and stability of the Binance Coin-Margined Websocket server. During the upgrade, there may be disconnections or brief data loss with the Binance Coin-Margined Websocket server. In the event of this, API users can reconnect to the Coin-Margined Websocket. The upgrade will not affect Coin-Margined contract trading.
Eigen Foundation: Transfer Restrictions on EIGEN Tokens Expected to be Lifted on September 30
The Eigen Foundation stated on the X platform, "The next major step in the evolution of EIGEN is coming. The transfer restrictions on EIGEN tokens are expected to be lifted on September 30, 2024. Please note that if a user's EIGEN is currently staked, there is a 7-day withdrawal period to unstake EIGEN."
BlackRock Runs Blockchain Node to Verify IBIT's Bitcoin Holdings, Ensuring Client Asset Security
Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg, revealed on the X platform that BlackRock runs a blockchain node to extract the Bitcoin balance from Coinbase Prime's wallet address every night to verify IBIT's Bitcoin holdings. If institutional clients request, they will show this data, but it will not be made public worldwide because they have received a large amount of spam information (such as sanctioned Bitcoin, NFT), and making this information public would only lead to an increase in spam information. Balchunas stated, "It needs to be known that this is by no means amateurish behavior. BlackRock manages approximately 500 ETFs, and the assets of these ETFs are held by custodians, and there have been no problems for decades. This is also why they and other ETF issuers are so trusted by U.S. advisors."
OpenAI Official Newsroom X Account Used for Selling Cryptocurrency Scams
According to The Verge, at 6:24 am Beijing time on September 24, the @OpenAINewsroom account, which shares OpenAI news and has nearly 54,000 followers, posted a now-deleted post promoting the "OPENAI" token. The post stated, "We are excited to announce the launch of OPEANAI: a token that bridges the gap between artificial intelligence and blockchain technology. All OpenAI users are eligible to receive the initial supply of OPENAI. Holding OPENAI will grant access to all our future beta programs." The post also included a link to a fake version of the OpenAI website. Currently, the related false posts are shown as "unavailable." The account was launched earlier this month.
According to The Block, Treasure DAO announced on Monday that its members voted with a 99.5% approval rate to approve the proposal to migrate the blockchain game ecosystem from Arbitrum to ZKsync. The proposal outlined the plan to launch the Treasure chain using ZKsync's ZK Stack technology. Earlier this month, the proposal was submitted to DAO members. Treasure DAO also stated on Monday that a new public testnet named 'Topaz' is being launched, which will allow games and players to start exploring and building in the new environment. The mainnet is planned to be launched in the next 1.5 to 2 months. Additionally, token swaps will be executed in the next few days between Treasure and the ZKsync Foundation.
DefiLlama Founder: cbBTC Not Included Due to Lack of Transparency in Providing Proof of Reserves
DefiLlama founder 0xngmi posted on the X platform that almost all cross-chain bridges (including WBTC) provide Proof of Reserves (PoR) to ensure that the issued tokens have sufficient asset backing, but Coinbase's cbBTC lacks transparency and does not provide PoR. He also pointed out that because of this, DefiLlama has not yet included cbBTC on the platform, as it cannot verify its Total Value Locked (TVL), and emphasized that DefiLlama treats all projects equally and will not make exceptions for Coinbase.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov stated in his personal channel that the Telegram search function is powerful and can help users find public channels and bots, but it has also been abused, with some users using this function to sell illegal goods. In the past few weeks, Telegram's dedicated team has significantly improved the security of the search using AI technology, and all identified violations are no longer accessible. Durov also stated that Telegram has updated its terms of service and privacy policy, explicitly stating that the IP addresses and phone numbers of violators may be provided to relevant authorities in response to legal requests to combat illegal activities and ensure the platform's security and legitimate use.
According to CoinDesk, a subsidiary of the Swiss and Singapore-based digital asset bank group Sygnum has obtained a Cryptocurrency Asset Service Provider (CASP) license in Liechtenstein. This registration enables Sygnum to provide regulated digital asset services to the European Economic Area (EEA) under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), including brokerage, custody, and banking services. This move signifies Sygnum's plans to expand into the EU market and prepare to expand its business under the MiCA framework, along with companies like Coinbase and Circle. The stablecoin regulations of MiCA came into effect in June of this year, with other related regulations expected to be implemented in December.
Binance will launch perpetual contracts for LOKAUSDT and GHSTUSDT. Additionally, Binance will list multiple spot trading pairs including 1MBABYDOGE/FDUSD, BTC/EURI, and CATI/BRL.
The Telegram ecosystem game Hamster Kombat announced on the X platform that it has banned over 2.3 million cheaters and recovered 6.8 billion tokens from them. 50% of the recovered tokens have been distributed to honest players, and the remaining 50% will be burned. Hamster Kombat provided examples of how it detected cheaters, such as someone connecting over 400 accounts to a Binance address, and another person inviting nearly 2,000 "friends," all of whom were flagged by their anti-cheating system. Previously, Hamster Kombat announced the distribution of airdrops, with players being able to claim 88.75% of the allocation on the first day.
Coinbase Assets announced on the X platform that Coinbase will add support for CoW Protocol (COW) on the Ethereum network (ERC-20 tokens). Trading will begin after 00:00 on September 25th if liquidity conditions are met. Additionally, Coinbase will support Moonwell (WELL) on the Base network (ERC-20 tokens), with trading pairs expected to go live in stages after 9:00 am Pacific Time on September 24th if liquidity conditions are met. The support for WELL may be restricted in certain supported jurisdictions.
Coinbase International Exchange announced that Coinbase International Exchange and Coinbase Advanced will launch the Catizen (CATI) perpetual contract trading market on September 26, 2024, at 17:30 (UTC+8) or later.
Funding News
According to The Information, decentralized prediction market Polymarket is in talks to raise over $50 million in new funding. The company is also discussing the possibility of launching a token that can be used for its prediction market operations. If Polymarket does proceed with the token issuance, it would be one of the most notable token releases since the crypto market's recovery from the 2022 crash. Investors in this funding round will receive token warrants, giving them the right to purchase tokens if they are issued in the future. However, Polymarket has not made a final decision, and there is no clear timeline for the token issuance.
According to The Information, artificial intelligence startup Anthropic has begun early-stage discussions with investors about funding, with a valuation of up to $40 billion being proposed. This represents a doubling of the company's valuation compared to the funding completed earlier this year. Anthropic generates revenue by selling access to its Claude conversational artificial intelligence.
Celestia Foundation has completed a $100 million funding round, with Bain Capital Crypto leading the investment.
According to The Block, modular blockchain Celestia Foundation has completed a $100 million funding round, with Bain Capital Crypto leading the investment and participation from Syncracy Capital, 1kx, Robot Ventures, Placeholder, and other companies. The total funding raised by the foundation has now reached $155 million. Celestia went live on the mainnet in October last year, and the network developers recently announced plans to expand Celestia's block capacity to 1GB. Earlier reports indicated that Celestia Foundation completed a $55 million funding round in 2022, with Bain Capital Crypto and Polychain Capital leading the investment.
Key Data
According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, a whale who previously exchanged ETH for WBTC when the ETH/BTC exchange rate was 0.0435, bought back ETH 8 hours ago: sold 640 WBTC (approximately $40.45 million) and exchanged them for 15,040 stETH. The ETH/BTC exchange rate was 0.0425. They now hold 15,040 stETH ($39.80 million) and 516 WBTC ($32.60 million). Additionally, they also bought 125,605 AAVE at $127 between 8/21-9/4, and these AAVE tokens currently have a floating profit of $5.75 million (+36%).
According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes transferred another 240,000 PENDLE ($950,000) to Binance 2 hours ago. He is almost done selling his PENDLE: he has sold 1.835 million PENDLE ($6.55 million) in the past 4 days, holding only 253,000 PENDLE. His comprehensive cost for PENDLE is approximately $2.89, and the recent average price for PENDLE transfers out is $3.57, resulting in a profit of $1.24 million.
According to The Data Nerd's monitoring, 4 hours ago, an address starting with 0xBCF withdrew 50,020 ETH (approximately $132.67 million) from Kraken.
According to on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa's monitoring, Taiwanese singer Huang Licheng (machibigbrother.eth) withdrew 460,000 CREAM tokens worth $8.52 million 10 hours ago after the 4-year staking period expired. During the early stages of DeFi Summer in September 2020, CREAM reached a peak of $282.4 (now priced at $18.42), and these tokens are currently estimated to be worth $13 million at the peak.
According to on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa's monitoring, two addresses of Dragonfly Capital deposited 62.62 million AEVO (approximately $25.04 million) to FalconX 6 hours ago, seemingly liquidating all positions since May, expecting a loss of $36.84 million. The two addresses previously withdrew 63.23 million RBN from Coinbase at an average price of $0.9882 between 05.13-05.15, then exchanged RBN one-to-one for AEVO, which is now priced at only $0.3999, a drop of nearly 59%.
According to PeckShieldAlert, the address labeled as the WazirX attacker has transferred the 11th batch of 5,000 Ethereum (worth approximately $13.2 million) to a new intermediate address 0x0641…7b4a. Previously, the attacker had laundered 49,000 ETH through TornadoCash. So far, the address of the WazirX attacker has laundered a total of 57,500 ETH through TornadoCash, worth approximately $152.4 million.
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