Today's News Highlights:
Hong Kong Government Plans to Launch Virtual Asset Custody Licensing System Next Year
Russia Implements Control Measures on Bitcoin Mining Operations
BlackRock to Vote on Whether Microsoft Should Explore Acquiring Bitcoin on Monday
Hong Kong Stock Exchange to Launch Virtual Asset Index Series on November 15
Ethena Labs: Tokens from Teams or Investors Without Any Lockup Used to Earn Rewards via sENA
Robinhood Launches US Election Prediction Contracts, Users Can Bet on Harris or Trump Winning
CoinShares: Net Inflows into Digital Asset Investment Products Reached $901 Million Last Week
Base's Daily Stablecoin Transfer Volume Surpasses All Other Chains for the First Time
Regulatory News
Hong Kong Government Plans to Launch Virtual Asset Custody Licensing System Next Year
According to East Net, the Hong Kong government intends to improve the regulation of virtual asset trading. The Deputy Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Chan Ho-lam, stated that the plan is to complete the second round of public consultation on the regulation of over-the-counter (OTC) trading of virtual assets next year, and to propose a licensing system for virtual asset custody service providers for consultation to ensure the safe custody of digital assets meets international standards. He emphasized the importance of a clear concept regarding virtual assets, stating that "only by providing a transparent, certain, and predictable regulatory environment can we effectively encourage financial innovation." Before the end of this year, a draft bill will be submitted to the Legislative Council to establish a licensing system for fiat stablecoin issuers, creating a secure framework for this emerging market. He pointed out that many financial institutions choose to establish regional headquarters or major regional operations in Hong Kong, which allows Web 3 companies to easily access a large number of potential customers, investors, and business partners, making Hong Kong an ideal place for their startups and expansions.
Later news includes that the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission plans to launch a virtual asset trading platform consultation group in early 2025; Hong Kong announces AI policies in the financial sector and proposes to extend cryptocurrency tax incentives; and the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong stated that several virtual asset trading platform licenses may be issued before the end of the year.
Russia Implements Control Measures on Bitcoin Mining Operations
According to Crypto Briefing, the Russian government has enacted a new law regulating digital currency trading aimed at controlling Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining activities. The law will take effect on November 1 and authorizes the Russian government to prohibit digital currency mining in designated areas or territories. The law also outlines the conditions for implementing such bans. Reports indicate that under the new regulations, the government can oversee the activities of mining infrastructure operators, shifting from previous obligations to formal rights. The law also expands the range of entities that can access digital currency identification addresses. Previously limited to the Federal Financial Monitoring Service, now all federal administrative agencies, including investigative and inquiry agencies, have this power. The new law allows individuals to mine without registration within specific electricity consumption limits, while businesses must register to mine legally. The Federal Tax Service will be responsible for overseeing the miner registry, which was previously managed by the Ministry of Digital Development. For companies that repeatedly violate regulations within a year, the Federal Tax Service can remove them from the miner registry, prohibiting them from providing services to unregistered or deregistered entities.
“Fed Mouthpiece”: New Inflation Risks May Arise After the US Election
According to Jin Ten, "Fed mouthpiece" Nick Timiraos stated that the Federal Reserve's two-and-a-half-year battle against inflation seems to have succeeded, but the US election may change this situation. Both candidates support policies that promote economic growth, which may prevent inflation from declining further. However, economists and even conservative advisors are concerned that the views supported by Trump are particularly likely to ignite inflation. These include his proposals for comprehensive tariffs on imported goods, expelling workers, and relying on the Fed to lower interest rates. Overall, these policies trend towards inflation. Trump's proposals may lead him into a new conflict with the Fed, whose task is to maintain low inflation. Any factors that reignite inflation could cause officials to slow down or even halt interest rate cuts.
Project Updates
BlackRock to Vote on Whether Microsoft Should Explore Acquiring Bitcoin on Monday
Crypto trader Fred Krueger posted on X that BlackRock owns 7% of Microsoft (MSFT), second only to Vanguard. Additionally, BlackRock holds 8% of MicroStrategy (MSTR). BlackRock will vote on Monday to decide whether Microsoft should explore acquiring Bitcoin. As a significant shareholder with about 7% of Microsoft, BlackRock typically votes its shares at shareholder meetings. As one of the largest asset management companies, BlackRock actively participates in corporate governance of its investment companies. They exercise voting rights on various issues such as board member elections, executive compensation, mergers and acquisitions, and other corporate policies. Their voting decisions follow their fiduciary duty to act in the best interests of the actual owners of the shares they manage—clients. Previously, it was reported that Microsoft's December shareholder meeting will review a Bitcoin investment proposal, with the board recommending a vote against it.
Hong Kong Stock Exchange to Launch Virtual Asset Index Series on November 15
According to Jin Ten, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange announced today that it will launch the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Virtual Asset Index Series (Index Series) on November 15, 2024, providing reliable benchmark prices for the rapidly emerging asset class of virtual assets, supporting Hong Kong's development as Asia's leading digital asset center. The index series will provide transparent and reliable benchmarks for the pricing of Bitcoin and Ethereum in the Asian time zone, aiming to provide a unified reference price for virtual assets and address price discrepancies between global exchanges. Hong Kong Stock Exchange Group CEO Charles Li stated, "We are pleased to launch the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Virtual Asset Index Series to meet the regional demand for this rapidly emerging asset class. By providing transparent and reliable real-time benchmarks, we hope to help investors make informed investment decisions, thereby supporting the healthy development of the virtual asset ecosystem and consolidating Hong Kong's position as an international financial center."
Market News: Tether CEO Claims Company Holds 82,454 BTC
According to Bitcoin Magazine on X, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino disclosed that the company holds 82,454 BTC, valued at approximately $5.55 billion.
1inch Announces Partnership with Bruce Lee's Family Company
According to the official blog, 1inch announced a long-term partnership with Bruce Lee's family company aimed at promoting the adoption of DeFi and Web3. 1inch stated that the name "1inch" itself originates from Bruce Lee's iconic "one-inch punch," and Bruce Lee's versatility, agility, and innovative spirit have always guided the development of products like Fusion+. 1inch also mentioned that under this partnership, 1inch and Bruce Lee's family company are launching an advertising campaign with the slogan "Take Cryptocurrency Seriously." The campaign aims to change the public's perception of cryptocurrency, moving it away from being seen as unserious or purely speculative, and conveying that cryptocurrency represents the future of the financial system.
Crypto Artist Beeple: NFT Speculators Have Left, Only Core Enthusiasts Remain
According to Decrypt, crypto artist Beeple (Mike Winkelmann) recently stated in an interview, "Currently, NFT speculators have left, and only a core group of enthusiasts who 'understand the technology' remain. Looking back at that time, I think it was crazy because NFTs were hated for much longer than they were loved. We lost a lot of users, but those people were never in it for the art; I could tell at a glance. Speculators have moved on, but people are still passionate about this stuff." It is reported that Beeple's NFT work "Everydays: The First 5,000 Days" was sold for $69.3 million in 2021, setting a historical record. Since then, enthusiasm around NFTs has significantly cooled, with trading volume plummeting by over 90%.
Cathie Wood: Global Economic Uncertainty Strengthens Our Confidence in Bitcoin
Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood, when asked in a Bloomberg interview whether she still believes in Bitcoin reaching the $1 million target, stated, "Yes, the greater the uncertainty and volatility in the global economy, the stronger our confidence in Bitcoin. One reason is that we have just experienced an inflation panic, which we believe was primarily caused by supply chain issues, and Bitcoin serves as a hedge against inflation."
According to DL News, FTX has agreed to drop its lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchange Bybit and has reached a $228 million settlement agreement, which will allow FTX to recover $175 million in digital assets from Bybit and sell other assets, including BIT tokens, to Bybit's investment arm Mirana Corp. for $53 million. Previously, FTX accused Bybit of transferring $327 million in assets from associated accounts on the eve of its collapse, preventing other users from withdrawing funds. Earlier this month, FTX's approved compensation plan is expected to allocate at least $12.6 billion to affected users. The compensation plan will be initiated within 60 days after the effective date, with the specific date yet to be determined.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino posted on X that he showcased a preview of Tether's Local AI development kit, which focuses on privacy and is powered by peer-to-peer technology, at the Lugano Plan ₿ event yesterday. The kit allows code to be written once and run anywhere, from $40 phones to flagship smartphones, from laptops to large machines with many H100s, and from smart refrigerators to car entertainment systems. Tether's AI SDK is highly modular, supporting any model (Marian, Llama, etc.) and loading/storing weights and fine-tuning data in P2P data structures, with plans to open source it after "real-world" testing.
Japanese Listed Company Metaplanet Increases Holdings by 156.78 Bitcoins
According to official news, Japanese listed company Metaplanet announced that it has purchased an additional 156.78 Bitcoins for 1.6 billion yen, bringing its total holdings to 1,018.17 Bitcoins, with an average purchase price of $61,552.
Ethena Team Questioned for Using 180 Million ENA to Earn Sats in Q3
X platform user @Nomad02887202 posted that the Ethena team is currently using 180 million ENA tokens (25% of the SENA supply) to earn Sats through liquidity mining in Q3, which effectively dilutes rewards for other participants, raising significant ethical concerns about the team. The timeline of evidence is as follows: August 22: Coinbase announced that its Prime service would become the primary custodian of ENA tokens for Ethena Labs and Foundation. August 23: Coinbase Prime custody address received over 3 billion ENA tokens, exceeding the total circulating supply of ENA at that time according to Ethena's allocation plan. There is reason to believe this is the Coinbase Prime custody address for ENA tokens locked by the core team of Ethena Labs and the Ethena Foundation. October 3: When SENA staking was launched through the S2 airdrop, the Coinbase Prime Custody address distributed 180 million ENA tokens to six wallets: • Day 1: 2 transfers (30 million and 35 million ENA) • Following days: 4 transfers (35 million, 30 million, 25 million, and 25 million ENA). @Nomad02887202 explained that these SENA can earn not only Sats but also Ethereal points (a DEX in collaboration with Ethena is set to launch by the end of 2024). Data shows that the Ethena team's SENA has currently accumulated 20% of the total Ethereal points. The user also pointed out, "These suspicious addresses have raised questions before. In Ethena's first community call, this was the most voted question, but the Ethena team chose to completely ignore it, which fully illustrates the team's ethics and attitude."
Ethena Labs: No Locked Tokens from Team or Investors Used to Earn Ethereal Rewards via sENA
In response to community concerns about whether the Ethena Labs team and investors earned sENA rewards through locked tokens, Ethena Labs released a statement on Discord and X confirming that no locked tokens from the team or investors were used to earn Ethereal rewards via sENA. Any ENA tokens transferred from related wallets are those unlocked according to the original token allocation plan.
Additionally, Ethena Labs stated that these unlocked tokens will not participate in any airdrops or related rewards. To enhance transparency, Ethena Labs will update the interface this week to display the total amount of sENA eligible for future airdrops, excluding any unallocated sENA tokens.
a16z Partner's Post Drives AI Venture Fund ai16z's Valuation Close to $100 Million
According to The Block, an emerging platform called Daos.fun has seen its AI venture fund named ai16z reach a valuation of nearly $100 million, driven by a post from a16z partner Marc Andreessen. The bot, modeled after Marc Andreessen's writings, manages a fund called ai16z, which currently holds assets worth about $1 million, mostly in Degen Spartan AI tokens created by the bot's creator, Shaw. The creators of the a16z fund aim to have Andreessen's AI replica trade based on recommendations from DAO members, which are weighted according to members' token holdings and the quality of the recommendations. Andreessen wrote in one post, "GAUNTLET THROWN," accompanied by a screenshot of the bot's X account. In another post, Andreessen wrote, "Hey, I have that T-shirt," along with a screenshot of the ai16z fund avatar. These posts reportedly caused the Daos.fun website to crash. At Andreessen's urging, the fund's valuation briefly approached $100 million, reaching a historical high of $96.6 million before falling nearly 50% to its current value of about $50 million, with volatility still high.
Robinhood Launches US Election Prediction Contracts, Users Can Bet on Harris or Trump Winning
According to CNBC, Robinhood announced that its users can now trade prediction contracts for the 2024 US presidential election, allowing bets on the outcomes for Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. The trading is provided by Robinhood's derivatives department in partnership with ForecastEx and is limited to US citizens who meet specific criteria.
Digital asset giant Tether announced that it will launch its mainstream stablecoin USDT on the Aptos network, becoming the first stablecoin issued on a chain supported by Move technology.
The Aptos network is known for its high performance, low transaction fees, and ultra-low latency, with daily active users increasing from 96,000 in January to 170,000 in July. This spring, Aptos processed 160 million transactions in a single day.
Important Data
CoinShares: Net Inflows into Digital Asset Investment Products Reached $901 Million Last Week
According to CoinShares' latest weekly report, net inflows into digital assets reached $901 million last week, bringing the year-to-date net inflow to $270 million, nearly three times the record set in 2021. The US led with inflows of $906 million, while Germany and Switzerland recorded inflows of $14.7 million and $9.2 million, respectively, and Canada, Brazil, and Hong Kong saw slight outflows of $10.1 million, $3.6 million, and $2.7 million, respectively.
In terms of assets, Bitcoin attracted $920 million in inflows, primarily influenced by US political factors, while short Bitcoin products saw outflows of $1.3 million. Ethereum experienced outflows of $34.7 million, making it the asset with the highest outflow, while Solana and blockchain stocks recorded inflows of $10.8 million and $12.2 million, respectively.
US Ethereum Spot ETF Saw Net Outflows of $24.45 Million Last Week
Base's Daily Stablecoin Transfer Volume Surpasses All Other Chains for the First Time
According to crypto KOL Peter Schroeder's tweet, on October 26, Base's daily stablecoin transfer volume surpassed all other chains for the first time. On that day, Base processed stablecoin transactions worth over $18.1 billion (99.9% being USDC), accounting for more than 30% of all stablecoin transaction volume that day.
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