Golden Weekly is a weekly blockchain industry summary column launched by Jinse Finance, covering the week's key news, mining information, project dynamics, technological progress and other industry dynamics. This article is one of the news weekly, taking you through this week's blockchain industry events.
Headlines
▌Trump: If elected president, he will pardon the founder of the Silk Road
Trump said at the Libertarian National Convention in Washington, DC that if he is re-elected as president, he will commute the sentence and release Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road. "If you vote for me, on my first day in office I will convert Ross Ulbricht's sentence to a limited term. He has served 11 years, and we will send him home." Previously, Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus 40 years in prison without parole in 2015 for creating and operating the Silk Road. Note: The Silk Road is a black market shopping website that uses Tor's hidden services to operate, mainly trading contraband items, and is considered the first real use case of Bitcoin.
▌BNB market value surpasses Blackstone Group
According to the latest data from 8marketcap, the market value of BNB has reached approximately US$91.35 billion, surpassing the Blackstone Group (currently worth approximately US$90.73 billion), the largest listed investment management company in the United States, and rising to 196th in global asset value ranking.
Coinbase announces the establishment of a technical anti-fraud alliance
Coinbase and industry leaders including Match Group, Meta, Kraken, Ripple, Gemini and GASO have launched the Technology Anti-Scam Alliance to combat online fraud and financial scams. The collaboration aims to protect and educate users, emphasizing that fraud is a technology-wide problem, not just limited to social media, cryptocurrency or finance.
▌World Economic Forum: CBDC may face decryption attacks from quantum computer systems
The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently issued a stark warning that central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could face decryption attacks from quantum computer systems.
▌Binance 's emergency license revocation decision by Florida was overturned
Market news: Binance’s decision to urgently revoke its license by Florida was overturned.
policy
▌Galaxy Research Director: SEC may seek a balance point in Ethereum ETF approval where ETH itself is not a security but the pledged ETH is a security
According to Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, on the X platform, if speculation about the SEC’s 180-degree turn on the Ethereum ETF is true, I guess they will try to find a balance between the following two: “ETH” itself is not a security, but “staked ETH” (or more far-fetchedly, “staked ETH as a service”) is a security. This is roughly consistent with their various lawsuits and reports on investigations, and may allow the SEC to approve the Ethereum ETF while maintaining the views they have previously stated and argued. In this case, the SEC may prohibit the ETF from staking its ETH holdings.
▌Well-known American lawyer: The US SEC will abandon the argument that ETH is a security
On May 21, Scott Johnsson, a well-known American financial lawyer, wrote on the X platform that the Ethereum spot ETF applied by Fidelity has stated that it will not pledge ETH, and the bigger signal is that the structure and disclosure of the commodity grantor trust have not changed. All signs indicate that the US Securities and Exchange Commission will abandon the argument that ETH is a security.
▌Hong Kong Privacy Commissioner ruled that Worldcoin violated the privacy law and required it to stop collecting iris and facial images
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data has 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 has issued an enforcement notice requiring it to stop collecting citizens' iris and facial images with iris scanning devices. The investigation results show 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 believes that this period is too long and constitutes excessive retention of personal data. Worldcoin confirmed that a total of 8,302 people were authenticated by facial and iris scanning during its operation in Hong Kong.
▌The Chairman of the U.S. SEC opposes the House's 21st Century Financial Innovation and Technology Act
U.S. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said on Wednesday that the 21st Century Financial Innovation and Technology Act (FIT21 Act) will harm investors' interests and hinder the work of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Gary Gensler believes that the bill will create new regulatory loopholes, undermine decades of precedent on investment contract supervision, and expose investors and capital markets to immeasurable risks.
▌US lawmakers urge the SEC to approve spot Ethereum ETF
As anticipation grows for the approval of a spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, members of the House of Representatives are urging securities regulators to approve the new product. On May 22, bipartisan members of the House of Representatives, including Majority Whip Tom Emmer and Democrat Josh Gottheimer, sent a letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, asking the SEC to approve a spot Ethereum ETF. The lawmakers believe that a potential spot Ethereum ETF would provide investors with an opportunity to invest in ETH in a more regulated and secure form. "We urge the Commission to maintain a consistent and fair approach in its review of pending applications for ETFs backed by other digital assets," the lawmakers wrote, adding: "Specifically, the Commission should apply the same principles it set out when approving spot Bitcoin ETPs when evaluating pending Ethereum ETF applications, as the legal considerations associated with Bitcoin also apply to Ethereum."
▌Malaysian police cracked a money laundering scam involving cryptocurrency, seized 18 luxury cars and froze $10.8 million in bank accounts
Malaysian law enforcement officers recently arrested ten suspects suspected of using cryptocurrency to launder money. Assets including cars worth more than $7.7 million were seized, bank accounts holding about $10.8 million were frozen, and law enforcement officers also seized brand-name watches worth more than $3.9 million, 18 luxury cars, motorcycles and handbags, and a total of $106,800 in cash. Malaysian Police Chief Tan Sri Razaruddin Hussein revealed that the eight men and two women arrested, aged between 28 and 51, used unregistered money changers and cryptocurrency exchanges to transfer funds from illegal activities from abroad to Malaysia. It is understood that they have been detained under Section 4 (1) of the Malaysian Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act.
Blockchain Applications
▌Uniswap founder: The FIT21 bill recognizes that CeFi and DeFi are fundamentally different and need to be studied and treated differently
Hayden Adams, founder of Uniswap, tweeted that this week the U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote on the FIT21 Act, a bipartisan bill that aims to regulate CeFi to prevent another FTX. The bill's view on DeFi is that no one is bound by this bill as far as decentralized finance is concerned, and it proposes research on DeFi, similar to Europe's research on MiCA. It is a big deal and a clear step in the right direction for the United States that Congress recognizes that CeFi and DeFi are fundamentally different and need to be studied and treated differently. Jinse Finance previously reported that about 50 organizations and companies, including Coinbase and a16z, wrote to the U.S. House of Representatives to support the FIT21 Act.
▌The EU plans to introduce blockchain infrastructure to improve record keeping and data transfer between member states
The European Union has launched a new organization that aims to introduce blockchain infrastructure and improve record keeping and data transfer between the bloc's 27 member states. This took place during a meeting of European Council telecommunications ministers in Brussels, where lawmakers also approved the EU's landmark artificial intelligence law. Mathieu Michel, Belgium's secretary of state for digitization, said the blockchain infrastructure will affect individuals and companies. Michel has promoted the blockchain project, which is managed by EU countries and is called Europeum. He told a press conference that Europeum will be tangible in the daily lives of European citizens. It will allow citizens to trace the origin of their products and enable businesses to protect their intellectual property by maintaining data on an immutable blockchain network. Ten European member states, including Italy, Poland and Greece, have agreed to help operate and launch the EU blockchain. Other European countries will still be able to use this blockchain infrastructure. Michel added that more countries are expected to join. Germany and France have not yet committed to the arrangement, but the latter has been supportive of the project.
▌Uniswap Labs: UNI token is a file format, not an investment contract
Uniswap Labs pointed out in its official blog that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission generated the Uniswap protocol as an unregistered securities exchange controlled by Uniswap Labs, the Uniswap interface belongs to an unregistered securities broker-dealer, and the UNI token is an investment contract. In fact, the UNI token is a file format, similar to PDF, and the protocol is a general computer program that anyone can use and integrate, just like TCP/IP. In the early days of the protocol, hundreds of thousands of users who received UNI tokens for their participation received the tokens for free, without contracts, and without the expectation of profiting from Uniswap Labs' efforts.
Near plans to use AI chatbots to help users write DApps
Near co-founder Illia Polosukhin shared the company's goal to empower dreamers without technical coding skills through an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot that can create decentralized applications (DApps) for them. In addition, the NEAR Foundation has also established HZN, an incubator and investment division focused on artificial intelligence projects, to provide support for early Web3 x AI projects.
▌Vitalik: For a Layer 2-centric ecosystem to succeed, it is necessary to understand and solve challenges such as coordination
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin wrote that "Layer2" and "sharding" are often described in public discussions as two opposing strategies for blockchain expansion. But when you dig deeper into the underlying technology, you'll find a mystery: the actual expansion methods are exactly the same. Both have some form of data sharding, both have fraud proofs or ZK-SNARK proofs, and both have ways to solve cross-{rollup, shard} communication. The main difference is: who is responsible for building and updating these parts, and how much autonomy they have. A Layer2-centric ecosystem is technically very realistic about sharding, but it's a shard that can create its own rules. This is very powerful and can inspire a lot of creativity and independent innovation. But it also has key challenges, especially in terms of coordination. For a Layer2-centric ecosystem like Ethereum to succeed, it needs to understand these challenges and solve them head-on to get as many advantages of a Layer1-centric ecosystem as possible and get as close as possible to having the best features of both.
Cryptocurrency
Major cryptocurrency exchanges announce over 1,200 job openings
Major cryptocurrency exchanges including Binance, Coinbase, OKX and Crypto.com are expanding their workforces, offering more than 1,200 job openings in total. Binance leads the hiring spree with 460 positions, followed by OKX with 414, Crypto.com with 335 and Coinbase with 224. The hiring activity is driven by market optimism, particularly around Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as well as increased venture capital investment. This trend is a clear shift from the massive layoffs the industry has experienced over the past two years. The hiring spree is driven by a positive market outlook and renewed confidence in the cryptocurrency industry, marking a period of growth and expansion for these leading exchanges.
▌Variant Fund Chief Legal Officer: If the spot Ethereum ETF is approved, it may mark a major shift in US policy on cryptocurrencies
Jake Chervinsky, chief legal officer of Variant Fund, wrote on X that if the spot Ethereum ETF is approved, everyone I know in Washington who is close to this process will be shocked. This means that after the SAB 121 vote, the approval may mark a major shift in US cryptocurrency policy, perhaps more important than the ETF itself.
▌Former Heartland Tri-State Bank CEO admits to embezzling $47 million to buy cryptocurrencies, leading to the bank's collapse
Shan Hanes, former CEO of Heartland Tri-State Bank, pleaded guilty Thursday to misappropriating $47.1 million for personal cryptocurrency purchases, leading to the bank's collapse. Hanes made at least 10 wire transfers from the Elkhart-based bank to cryptocurrency accounts from May to July 2023. The bank's collapse resulted in the total loss of investors' equity. The Kansas Banking Commission seized the bank, which was later acquired by Dream First Bank. U.S. Attorney Kate E. Brubacher described Hanes as a "con manipulator and con manipulator" and he faces up to 30 years in prison with sentencing set for Aug. 8, 2024.
▌The NFT project "2426C" planned by Edison Chen is suspected to be closed
According to Superme Intelligence Network, the NFT project "2426C" planned by Edison Chen in February 2022 is suspected to have closed down. Currently, the Official Twitter and Instagram of 2426C have not updated content since April 6, 2023; the Discord channel is also "quite deserted and has no traces of operation." Some netizens asked under Edison Chen's Instagram account but received no response. The NFT with the highest transaction price at the time that Edison Chen forwarded at the beginning of the project has fallen from 18.88 ETH at the time to the current 0.025 ETH. In addition, ETHSuperme Intelligence Network pointed out that the total revenue of NFTs sold by Edison Chen that year was about 38 million yuan. In addition, in addition to Edison Chen, the NFT projects supported by some other artists such as Shawn Yue are also close to zero.
▌Trump: Positive and open attitude towards cryptocurrency companies and related industries
Donald Trump made clear his support for cryptocurrency on Truth Social. Trump said: "The United States must be a leader in being positive and open to cryptocurrency companies and related industries." He also criticized Biden for wanting the crypto industry to "slowly and painfully die." In addition, Trump also said that he would never allow the creation of CBDC and keep congressmen who oppose cryptocurrency away from Bitcoin.
Important economic developments
▌Federal Reserve Mester: Expectations of three rate cuts this year are no longer appropriate
Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said on Monday that she believes the Fed's monetary policy is restrictive and that inflation will fall back toward the Fed's 2% target, but not quickly. Mester previously believed that the Fed might cut interest rates three times this year, but "given the evolution of the economy that I've seen so far, I don't think that's appropriate anymore," she said. "Given that inflation progress has stagnated in the first quarter, inflation risks have risen, and frankly, the actual situation has been a little stronger than I expected."
▌Federal Reserve Board member Waller: May consider cutting interest rates at the end of this year
Federal Reserve Board Governor Waller said that policies must keep inflation down; we are beginning to see downward pressure on demand from policies; monetary policy is already tight enough; judging from the data, we don't seem to need to raise interest rates; if the data supports it, we may consider lowering interest rates at the end of this year.
Goldman Sachs CEO Solomon predicts the Fed will not cut interest rates this year
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive David Solomon said he now doesn't expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year because the economy has shown greater resilience thanks to government spending. "I still don't see compelling data that we're going to cut rates," he said at a Boston College event, adding that he currently predicts "zero" rate cuts. Investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure are also making the economy more resilient in the face of monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve. Solomon also said there was a greater risk of a "real and tangible" slowdown in the economy than there was six months ago. He cited geopolitical fragility and said people are going to have to live with this for a long time.
▌U.S . Treasury Secretary: High interest rates put U.S. debt under test
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the prospect of higher interest rates in the long run makes it harder to control U.S. borrowing needs, highlighting the importance of focusing on increasing fiscal revenue in budget negotiations with Republican lawmakers. "We have raised our expectations for interest rates, and that does have an impact. That makes it more challenging to keep deficits and interest payments under control," Yellen said, reiterating the ratio of inflation-adjusted interest payments to GDP. The ratio has risen over the past year, but the White House expects it to stabilize at around 1.3% over the next decade. "I don't have a hard and fast rule, but I don't want to see it go above 2%," she said. It was her most explicit comment yet on the metric.
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