BlockBeats will organize the key industry news content of the week (5.20-5.26) in this article, and recommend in-depth articles to help readers better understand the market and learn about industry trends.
This week's important news review
The US SEC simultaneously approved multiple Ethereum spot ETF 19b-4 forms, including BlackRock and Fidelity
On May 24, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved Form 19b-4 for multiple Ethereum spot ETFs, including those from BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale. Although the form has been approved, ETF issuers need to make the S-1 registration statement effective before they can begin trading. The SEC has just begun discussing the S-1 form with issuers. It is unclear how long this process will take, but some analysts speculate that it may take weeks. At the same time, according to the spot Ethereum ETF application documents submitted by BlackRock, the spot Ethereum ETF applied for this time does not involve participation in Ethereum staking. Related reading: "The second milestone this year! Ethereum spot ETF approved."
Subsequently, many institutions/VCs published their market forecasts for the approval of the Ethereum ETF. Among them, Geoff Kendrick, head of foreign exchange research and digital asset research at Standard Chartered Bank, expects the spot Ethereum ETF to drive an inflow of 2.39-9.15 million Ethereum in the first 12 months after approval. Given that we now see Bitcoin reaching a level of $150,000 by the end of 2024, this means that the price of Ethereum will reach $8,000. "Zhu Su, the former founder of Three Arrows Capital, wrote that ETH will rise 80% from $3,000 to $5,400, and Bitcoin will rise to $80,000 (ETH/BTC exchange rate reaches 0.0675), which will also be a new high for ETH prices. Related reading: "Ethereum spot ETF market forecast: it may rise to $8,000 this year after approval" , "If the SEC approves the Ethereum spot ETF, will there be more Altcoin ETFs?"
Trump promises to pardon the founder of Silk Road if elected, supports cryptocurrency and protests Biden's suppression
On May 26, former US President Donald Trump promised at the Libertarian Party National Convention in Washington, DC that if he was re-elected as president, he would commute the sentence of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht on the first day. Ulbricht was sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years in 2015 for creating and operating the Silk Road Dark Web market, which is effectively a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Silk Road operated from 2011 to 2013 and was mainly used for anonymous drug buying and selling. It is widely regarded as the first real use case of Bitcoin. Trump said that Ulbricht has served 11 years in prison and "we want him to come home."
Affected by the news, FreeRossDAO (FREE) rose by more than 200% in half an hour, and its market value exceeded 23 million. Before the speech that day, Trump also praised the cryptocurrency industry on social media, emphasizing that the United States must maintain its leading position in this field, while President Biden hopes that the crypto industry will "slowly die", but he will never allow this to happen during his tenure. Trump said he would stop Biden's actions to suppress cryptocurrencies and ensure that the future of crypto and Bitcoin is created in the United States, rather than being expelled overseas. He promised to support users' self-custody rights and told the 50 million crypto holders in the United States: "I will keep Elizabeth Warren and her minions away from your Bitcoin and never allow the creation of a central bank digital currency." In recent months, Trump's attitude towards crypto has clearly warmed up, and he has publicly expressed support for it many times and became the first presidential candidate of a major party to accept cryptocurrency donations.
Trump campaign begins accepting cryptocurrency donations; Biden campaign plans to hire meme manager
On May 22, the Trump campaign announced that it would begin accepting cryptocurrency donations. Trump supporters can donate using "any cryptocurrency accepted through Coinbase Commerce products," his campaign said in a press release. On the same day, the Biden campaign planned to work to connect with Generation Z voters by hiring a meme manager to manage its content and meme pages to communicate with young people, and in a job posting on Daybook, the team is seeking to hire a partner to manage Internet content for election campaigns, including meme content. The campaign believes that memes play an important role in presidential candidates trying to promote their campaigns. Related reading: "Trump wants to be America's first 'Bitcoin president'"
Binance Coin Listing Project Open Recruitment Plan
On May 20, according to the official announcement, Binance will take the lead in supporting small and medium-sized cryptocurrency projects. Binance sincerely invites high-quality teams and projects to apply for Binance listing projects, including: Direct Listing, Launchpools, Megadrops, etc. It hopes to promote the development of the blockchain ecosystem by strengthening support for small and medium-sized cryptocurrency projects with good fundamentals, organic community foundation, sustainable business models and industry responsibility.
Binance Megadrop Phase 2 will list Lista (LISTA)
On May 23, according to the official announcement, Binance announced that the second project to be launched on Megadrop is Lista (LISTA), a liquidity staking and decentralized stablecoin protocol. The maximum supply of LISTA tokens is 1,000,000,000, the initial circulation is 230,000,000 (23% of the maximum supply of tokens), and the total Megadrop is 100,000,000 (10% of the maximum supply of tokens). Binance will list LISTA after the completion of Megadrop, and the specific listing plan will be announced separately. Related reading: "A detailed explanation of ListaDAO: BNB Ecosystem's head LSDFi protocol"
Two core researchers of the Ethereum Foundation announced that they would serve as consultants for EigenLayer, which aroused users' doubts
Recently, Justin Drake and Dankrad Feist, core researchers of the Ethereum Foundation, have successively served as consultants for EigenLayer, which has aroused doubts from the community. On May 20, Justin Drake tweeted that although he can get a lot of EIGEN token rewards as a consultant, if the development direction of EigenLayer is contrary to the interests of Ethereum, he will be ready to terminate the consultant position at any time, and promised to reinvest all consultant income into valuable projects in the Ethereum ecosystem, whether it is investment or donation. On the 21st, Dankrad Feist responded that he and Justin Drake recently decided to become consultants for EigenLayer, with the same conditions, and joined the company as individuals, not representing the Ethereum Foundation, focusing on risks and decentralization. At the same time, he said that he did receive a large number of tokens from EigenLayer, but he did not think that this would change or affect his position on the development method of the core protocol. Related reading: "Ethereum researchers "work" for EigenLayer and receive millions of dollars in rewards, and the Ethereum Foundation suffers a crisis of trust" , "The Ethereum Foundation is caught in internal and external troubles: researchers and engineers debate fiercely, and members may have conflicts of interest as consultants for EigenLayer"
Justin Sun holds a total of 665,000 ETH, of which 390,000 were purchased from the end of last year to the end of April this year.
On May 21, according to Ember monitoring, Justin Sun currently holds a total of 665,000 ETH, worth approximately US$2.2447 billion, of which 390,000 were purchased from the end of last year to the end of April this year, with an average purchase price of US$2,984. Of the 665,000 ETH, 247,000 are in wallets, and 417,000 are on pledge and re-pledge platforms, including: 215,217 ETH in EigenLayer; 120,139 ETH in Swell; 58,558 ETH in Puffer; 23,225 ETH in Lido; 454 ETH in etherfi. Based on the current ETH price of US$3,684, Justin Sun's associated address has made a profit of more than US$11.43 million from the 22,317 ETH he added at an average price of US$3,193 at the end of April.
The decentralized social protocol Farcaster has completed a financing of US$150 million, with a total number of users exceeding 400,000.
On May 22, according to official news, the decentralized social protocol Farcaster completed a $150 million financing, led by Paradigm, with participation from a16z crypto, Haun, USV, Variant, Standard Crypto, etc. The announcement stated that this year will focus on the growth of daily active users and adding developer primitives to the protocol, such as channels and direct messaging. According to dune data, the total revenue of the decentralized social protocol farcaster has exceeded $1.45 million, currently reaching $1,457,863, and the total number of users has reached 400,871. The official account of BlockBeatsis https://warpcast.com/blockbeats , and readers are welcome to follow and communicate.
Taiko's online airdrop query page caused controversy, Taiko Co-founder said it would not disclose the detailed TKO Genesis airdrop rules
On May 23, Taiko, a zkrollup-based Ethereum second-layer network, launched an airdrop query page and announced token economics. The total supply of TKO tokens is 1 billion. The distribution ratio is as follows: DAO Teasury accounts for 20%, Guardian Prover Bonds accounts for 2%, Grants & RetroPGF accounts for 5%, Trailblazer airdrop accounts for 10%, Protocol Guild airdrop accounts for 1%, Genesis airdrop accounts for up to 5%, Liquidity and market making accounts for 5%, Investors account for 11.62%, Taiko Labs/Core Team accounts for 20%, Taiko Foundation reserves account for 16.88%, and Taiko official Prover Bonds account for 1.5%. On that day, many users complained in the community that the airdrop rules were unreasonable, but the number of serious interactive airdrops was 0. Taiko co-founder and CEO danielwang.eth posted on social media, "In order to avoid unnecessary debate, we will not disclose the detailed TKO Genesis airdrop rules. Our goal is fairness, but we cannot satisfy everyone. Congratulations to those who received TKO and apologize to those who did not."
DOGE MEME prototype KABOSU passed away, Vitalik, Musk and others tweeted to mourn
On May 24, DOGE prototype KABOSU passed away. Influenced by this news, DOGE rose 7% in 1 minute. Later that day, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin mourned KABOSU on social media, saying "Rest in peace Kabochan". Musk mourned the death of DOGE prototype Shiba Inu Kabosu on social media, saying: "Rest in peace".
Ordinals founder responds to previous "hara-kiri" joke promise
On May 20, Casey, founder of Ordinals, responded to the fact that the market value of Runes did not reach $1 billion by posting on the X platform: "Sorry, guys, it's over. Please stay tuned for the next Hell Money podcast, where I will commit seppuku and then Erin will behead me to end my pain." (Hell Money podcast is a Bitcoin-related podcast recorded by Casey.) According to a previous report by BlockBeats, Casey once joked that if "the market value of the Runes ecosystem did not reach $1 billion within a month of its launch, he would commit seppuku."
This week, rune tokens generally rose, and RUNES•X•BITCOIN rose by more than 53% in 24 hours
On May 23, rune tokens generally rose, among which: RUNES•X•BITCOIN unit price is now 0.00022 US dollars, with a 24-hour increase of 53.62%; DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON unit price is now 0.0043 US dollars, with a 24-hour increase of 21.81%; PEPE•GO•TO•THE•SUN unit price is now 0.0012 US dollars, with a 24-hour increase of 346.02%.
Hong Kong Privacy Commissioner rules that Worldcoin violates privacy law and requires it to stop collecting iris and facial images
On May 22, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data completed its investigation into the Worldcoin project. Privacy Commissioner Chung Lai-ling ruled that the operation of Worldcoin in Hong Kong violated the Privacy Ordinance and issued an enforcement notice requiring it to stop collecting citizens' iris and facial images with iris scanning devices. The investigation results showed that Worldcoin violated the data protection principles of the Privacy Ordinance regarding the collection, retention, transparency, access and correction of personal data. The collection of facial and iris images was not necessary and was excessive. As for the fact that Worldcoin would retain personal data for up to 10 years for the training of artificial intelligence models for identity verification procedures, the Office believed that the time was too long and constituted excessive retention of personal data.
Vitalik Buterin unlocked 845,205 STRK on Friday
On May 24, according to on-chain analyst Ember, Vitalik Buterin unlocked and received 845,205 STRKs worth $1.07 million from Starknet's Locked Token Grant contract.
Telegram to launch in-app currency Telegram Stars to counter Apple App Store payment restrictions
On May 23, foreign media reported that starting from June 12, Telegram will launch a new in-app currency, Telegram Stars. Users can purchase it through Apple and Google, and then use it to pay for digital goods and services within the Telegram bot/applet. It is reported that Apple has notified Telegram and issued a warning to it for violating Articles 4.7 and 3.1.1 of the Application Review Rules, that is, it accepts payments and services from customers without using Apple's internal purchase mechanism. It is reported that users will be able to purchase Stars through shopping tools in the App Store and Google Play, and may be charged a 30% service commission. Developers will be able to withdraw the token in TON.
Kelp Completes $9 Million Token Funding at $90 Million Valuation, Led by SCB Limited and Laser Digital
On May 22, the Ethereum re-staking protocol Kelp announced that it had completed a $9 million token financing at a valuation of $90 million, led by SCB Limited and Laser Digital, with participation from Bankless Ventures, Hypersphere Ventures, Draper Dragon, DACM, Cypher Capital, GSR, HTX Ventures and DWF Ventures. The protocol's co-founder Amitej Gajjala said that Kelp DAO expects to launch governance tokens "soon" and is "currently conducting legal and exchange due diligence." Gajjala said that Kelp also plans to launch liquidity re-staking services for other blockchains, including Bitcoin, Solana and BNB Chain, which are expected to be launched in the third quarter of this year.
This week's hot articles
Trump wants to be America's first "Bitcoin president"
On May 22, the Trump campaign team published an announcement on its official website stating that its campaign will begin accepting Bitcoin donations. Currently, Trump's supporters can use any cryptocurrency accepted by Coinbase Commerce products to donate to Trump. This move undoubtedly further clarifies the difference in policy inclinations between Trump and Biden on cryptocurrency matters. In this term that is about to end, Biden and his Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren launched a fierce and comprehensive "regulatory attack" on the cryptocurrency industry, and rounds of regulatory prosecutions have made many practitioners miserable. In addition to showing a friendly attitude towards cryptocurrencies, Trump may also be the first presidential candidate to personally participate in the cryptocurrency industry.
The second milestone of the year! Ethereum spot ETF approved
The approval of the Ethereum spot ETF may be unexpected. Unlike the Bitcoin spot ETF, investors began to make plans half a year before the Bitcoin spot ETF was approved, and a large amount of funds flowed in. However, the approval of Ethereum spot ETH is still a milestone event for the crypto industry, and its impact has also laid a positive foundation for the future development of the crypto industry.
With the official approval of the ETF, ETH almost broke through the $4,000 mark this morning, but behind the price climax, the Ethereum Foundation has come to a crossroads. Since last year's Montenegro EDCON, the industry's dissatisfaction with the Ethereum Foundation has begun to manifest. The organization seems to have entered a mid-life crisis, and has fallen into trouble in terms of structure, efficiency, and culture. With the rise of Solana again, the decline is fully revealed. After ETH officially became a global asset, the Ethereum Foundation seems to have become the biggest burden of this ecosystem.
Recently, several researchers from the Ethereum Foundation have disclosed to the public that they have accepted "consultant" positions with the Eigen Foundation, the entity behind the restaking protocol EigenLayer, and will receive valuable EIGEN tokens. This has caused great controversy and heated discussions in the community. The author believes that a detailed study of the ins and outs of this storm can help everyone understand the dilemma faced by Ethereum developers and the community at the "social consensus" level.
If the SEC approves an Ethereum spot ETF, will there be more Altcoin ETFs?
Ethereum is just one of many Altcoin traded on U.S. stock exchanges through trusts. There are more than a dozen publicly traded trusts in the U.S. that hold alternative crypto assets: Litecoin (LTC), Chainlink (LINK), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Decentraland (MANA), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Filecoin (FIL), Polkadot (DOT), Horizon (ZEN), Stellar Lumens (XLM), Livepeer (LPT), Zcash (ZEC), and Solana (SOL). So, if the SEC approves a spot Ethereum ETF, can it also approve other Altcoin ETFs?
Systemic contradictions intensify, retail investors fight against VCs in the crypto
Meme coins became a means for the community to resist VCs. Through fair distribution and high participation, Meme coins gained wider support and popularity, while VC coins were widely condemned. Ultimately, the absurdity of the capital formation process led to the confrontation between venture capital and retail investors. Venture capital accused Meme coins of disrupting the market, while retail investors, in turn, accused VCs of doing evil.
Arthur provides an in-depth analysis of how the global elite uses policy tools to maintain the status quo, even though these tools may cause pain now or in the future. His core point is that the exchange rate between the US dollar and the yen is one of the most important global economic variables, and explores the complex monetary policy interactions between Japan, the United States, and China and their far-reaching impact on the global economy.
On May 21, community member Rahul | Polygon Intern (@Rahul__Ghangas) posted a long article on the social media platform accusing Polygon's senior executives and internal staff of manipulating a meme coin called $ELE, and attached a large number of screenshots as evidence. In addition to Polygon executives, the evidence also involves Symbolic Capital, Multibit, BounceBit, GeekCartel, Salus Security and other projects and their leaders, but the relevant claims have not been confirmed. BlockBeats will continue to pay attention to the progress of the incident.
The discussion about "high FDV low circulation tokens" is hot these days. Many people believe that VC coins have become the culprit of this round of "mutual bull market". Haseeb, a partner of the cryptocurrency venture fund Dragonfly, refuted some views with data, and he believes that for VCs, project valuations have reached astronomical figures, and VCs will also face unlocking difficulties. This makes LPs think that this asset class is fake. Although it looks good on paper, it is actually very bad, and VCs don't want this. Asset prices gradually and steadily rise over time, which is what most people want.
Although Bitcoin has broken through its previous high this year, the crypto market has been feeling "sluggish" in the past two months. At the same time, many projects have issued tokens this year in the bull market. Unlike before, the current market prefers to use FDV (fully diluted value of tokens) as a potential criterion for judging projects. A new trend has sparked user discussion: many projects have low token circulation but very high FDV. Regarding this situation, crypto KOL @cobie wrote an article to express his views.
The prevalence of tokens with high valuations and low initial circulating supplies has been a topic of discussion in the crypto community in recent months. This stems from the concern that the market structure leaves little sustainable upside for traders following a token generation event (“TGE”). Factors such as an influx of private market capital, aggressive valuations, and optimistic market sentiment have contributed to the trend of issuing tokens at high fully diluted valuations (“FDV”).
On May 20, Binance announced that it will take the lead in supporting small and medium-sized cryptocurrency projects. This article aims to list some small and medium-sized cryptocurrency projects through financing data, investment institutions, project progress, user data, etc., to find "potential stocks" in the current market environment. Some of them have also received investment from Binance Labs, and obtaining relevant investment projects may also indicate that they are more in line with Binance standards to a certain extent.
Since the beginning of the year, Rune has been one of the most watched narratives and protocols in the Bitcoin ecosystem, but after Rune was launched, its market performance was not as good as expected. Despite this, well-known crypto KOLs and researchers have become more optimistic about Rune at this time. What are his reasons? What are the catalysts for the Rune market?
Critical moment! Major progress in US encryption bill will be decided at the end of the month
The US cryptocurrency bill has made important progress this month. The official a16z crypto account published an article last night interpreting the 21st Century Financial Innovation and Technology Act, also known as FIT21, which can make US cryptocurrency regulation clearer for everyone working in the industry or wanting to develop in this field. BlockBeats previously reported that on May 21, Politico reporter Eleanor Mueller posted on the X platform that people familiar with the matter revealed to her that the Democratic leaders of the House of Representatives said today that they would not oppose the encryption bill of the House Republicans.
South Korea's position and attention in the cryptocurrency industry has continued to increase over time. Analysis of mentions of "South Korea" (excluding North Korea) in major international media headlines confirms that global interest in the Korean cryptocurrency market is growing. The peak in the second half of 2017 in the chart was mainly about Luna and Do Kwon, but starting in the second half of 2023, we see more articles about government regulation or the Korean market, indicating that the trends and policies of the Korean market are becoming one of the global focuses.
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