Headlines
▌Trump will return to the site of the "attempted assassination" on October 5 and hold a campaign rally
The campaign team of former US President and Republican presidential candidate Trump said on September 25 local time that Trump will return to Butler, Pennsylvania on October 5 to hold another campaign rally. Since Trump suffered the first "attempted assassination" at a campaign rally in Butler on July 13, he has stated several times that he will return to Butler for another rally.
▌ Meta launches new virtual reality headset to enter the metaverse
Meta unveiled a slew of new products at an event at its Menlo Park, California, headquarters on Wednesday, including an updated, lower-cost Quest 3S virtual reality headset and a host of enhancements to its artificial intelligence assistant, Meta AI.
The updates will bring a range of celebrity voices — including Awkwafina, John Cena and Dame Judi Dench — to the company’s AI assistant, which is integrated into most of Meta’s major apps, including Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Facebook.
The new products are Zuckerberg’s attempt to marry his vision for the social network with what’s possible with today’s technology. While Meta has had some success selling virtual reality headsets, and Ray-Ban augmented reality glasses have been unexpected hits, Zuckerberg’s vision for the metaverse is still years away.
Meta has invested nearly $50 billion in its Reality Labs division (the hardware part of the company) over the past few years. The division won’t be profitable anytime soon. In addition, Meta’s expansion into artificial intelligence and data centers is becoming increasingly expensive.
Quotes
As of press time, according to Coingecko data:
BTC's latest transaction price is $63,098.57, with a daily change of -1.7% ;
ETH's latest transaction price is $2,579.44, with a daily change of -2.7 % ;
BNB's latest transaction price is 587.31 USD, with a daily change of -3.0% ;
SOL's latest trading price is $148.15, with a daily change of -2.8% ;
DOGE's latest transaction price is 0.1086 yuan, with a daily change of -0.9% ;
XPR's most recent trading price was $0.5831, with a daily change of -1.3% .
policy
Harris said the United States should become a leader in the blockchain field and reiterated support for digital assets
U.S. Vice President Harris said in a speech to the Economic Club of Pittsburgh on Wednesday that under her leadership, the United States will "recommit" to maintaining global leadership in areas that will define the next century, "maintaining dominance in artificial intelligence and quantum computing, blockchain and other emerging technologies."
Harris, who had been silent on cryptocurrency on the campaign trail until last weekend, said at a recent Wall Street fundraiser in Manhattan that artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency are part of her vision for an “opportunity economy.”
VanEck analysts say the outcome of the November election could be a mixed blessing for cryptocurrencies. “We believe that while both Harris and Trump are bullish on Bitcoin, both parties have more nuanced impacts on the broader digital asset market,” the analysts wrote earlier this week. “Both administrations are likely to maintain, if not accelerate, fiscal spending, which could lead to further quantitative easing — especially if anti-business policies intensify.” They note that a Harris presidency could be more favorable for Bitcoin because it would “accelerate many of the structural issues driving Bitcoin adoption.”
▌South Korea sets up digital asset protection fund to help recover funds from failed crypto exchage
South Korea will set up a digital asset user protection fund to help users affected by failed crypto exchage recover their trapped funds. The fund was initiated by the self-regulatory organization DAXA and approved by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea. It is scheduled to start in October. As 10 of the 22 crypto exchage in South Korea have been closed and another 3 have suspended operations, the security of user funds has become a focus of attention. The fund will negotiate with the failed exchanges to transfer user funds and virtual assets to the bank accounts managed by the fund, and then contact users to arrange the return process.
▌Former US officials protested in front of the United Nations, calling for the release of Binance executives detained in Nigeria
A group of former US government employees and compliance officers who now work in the cryptocurrency industry held a protest in front of the United Nations in support of Binance Financial Crime Compliance Head Tigran Gambaryan, who has been detained in Nigeria since February. Gambaryan is on trial for alleged money laundering and is being held in the notorious Kuje prison, where his health has deteriorated. Former federal prosecutor Amanda Wick, who organized the protest, stressed that Gambaryan once worked for the US government as an IRS criminal investigator.
▌The U.S. SEC fined 23 companies and individuals more than $3.8 million for failing to report shareholdings and insider trading in a timely manner
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it has fined 23 entities and individuals more than $3.8 million for failing to timely report their holdings and transactions in public company stocks. The charges involved unsubstantiated filings of Forms 13D, 13G, and Forms 3, 4, and 5.
The companies that were fined included Alphabet ($750,000) and Goldman Sachs ($300,000). Other companies, such as Sunbeam Management and TALANTA Investment Group, received fines ranging from $40,000 to $200,000. At the same time, some executives were also fined up to $200,000 for failing to report in a timely manner.
The SEC emphasized that investors rely on timely reports to make wise investment decisions, and this move once again reminds large investors to submit required reports on time.
▌Judge supports SEC's allegation that Green Boxes constitute securities
Judge Ann Marie McIver Allen of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah said the SEC had sufficiently alleged that Green Boxes, combined with the custody agreement, constituted a security. This case is separate from an investigation into whether digital assets and their transactions meet the investment contract test.
Green United LLC failed to convince a federal court to dismiss the SEC's civil fraud lawsuit against it. The SEC filed a lawsuit in March 2023, accusing Green United founder Wright Thurston and his promoters of offering $3,000 investments in "Green Boxes" that were claimed to be able to mine GREEN tokens on the fictitious Green blockchain, and investors were promised a handsome return of 40% to 50%.
However, the SEC pointed out that Green United's mining machines never mined GREEN tokens because the tokens were not mineable and the so-called Green blockchain did not exist. The SEC believes that Green United's real intention was to deceive investors into buying fake S9 Antminers. Although investors effectively purchased equipment, they did not receive the expected token returns.
▌ Telegram wallet temporarily blocks access to UK users due to restructuring
Telegram announced that due to corporate restructuring, Telegram wallets for UK users will be temporarily restricted until the company is registered as a crypto asset provider with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Users can still withdraw funds to external wallets free of charge during this period.
Telegram said it registered as a crypto asset provider to comply with existing regulations. At the same time, the platform decided to share user data, including phone numbers and IP addresses, with law enforcement agencies under "valid legal requests" after the policy change, a move that has raised concerns among privacy and anti-censorship advocates. Telegram founder Pavel Durov defended the measures, saying they are aimed at protecting users from criminal activities.
In addition, Telegram also announced that it would disable the personal geolocation feature and replace it with the "Nearby Businesses" option, and stop supporting the "Telegraph" blogging tool because some users abused the platform to spread illegal content. Durov stressed that most users did not take advantage of this feature, but a small number of criminals posed a threat to the law-abiding community.
▌German MP: Some Bitcoin beginner books will be distributed in parliament
German MP Joana Cotar said she will be distributing some Bitcoin beginner books in parliament.
Blockchain Applications
▌ After LayerZero announced the secondary airdrop, cross-chain activity surged 433%
The cross-chain messaging protocol is experiencing a resurgence in cross-chain messaging following the announcement of its second airdrop, with average daily message volume rising to 98,000 on Saturday.
The recent surge represents a 433% increase from the previous low of 18,400 messages, indicating renewed interest in the protocol, which has seen a recent lull in activity, with average daily message volume hovering around 20,000 for several weeks.
The announcement of the second airdrop appears to be the catalyst for this sudden uptick in activity. Wallets that claimed ZRO tokens in the first airdrop but subsequently showed no activity will be excluded from this round, incentivizing real users to continue interacting with the protocol.
▌ NEAR Protocol: TruFin has launched its institutional-grade liquidity staking solution TruStake based on the network
NEAR Protocol stated on its social media that TruFin launched its institutional-grade liquidity staking solution TruStake, which runs on the NEAR network.
Cryptocurrency
▌ Curve considers removing TUSD as crvUSD collateral due to concerns raised by SEC allegations
Curve Finance is considering removing TrueUSD (TUSD) as collateral for its stablecoin crvUSD, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed securities law violation charges against TrueCoin and TrustToken. The charge alleges that 99% of TUSD’s reserve funds are invested in high-risk offshore funds, raising concerns about its security and solvency.
A proposal was made in Curve’s governance forum to reduce the TUSD collateral cap of crvUSD to zero and reduce its correlation with PayPal’s stablecoin PYUSD to reduce related risks. Currently, crvUSD’s main collateral includes Ethereum (ETH) and Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC).
▌Financial institutions are accelerating their exploration of Bitcoin mortgage loans, which are growing rapidly
Ledn, a fintech company focusing on cryptocurrencies, said that as Bitcoin (BTC) adoption increases and interest rates fall, more and more financial institutions are beginning to try Bitcoin mortgages. In the first half of 2024, Ledn processed approximately $1.16 billion in cryptocurrency loans, most of which came from financial institutions, with an annual loan yield of more than 10%.
The Bitcoin collateralized loan market is currently around $8.5 billion and is expected to grow to $45 billion by 2030. Ledn competes with other Bitcoin platforms such as Arch, Salt, and will face challenges from financial services giants such as Cantor Fitzgerald. The field is developing rapidly as more regulated cryptocurrency custodians enter the market.
▌ Nansen Chief Research Analyst: It is recommended to cut cryptocurrency holdings when the market rebounds
Aurelie Barthere, chief research analyst at blockchain analysis firm Nansen, said in a report that the Fed’s decision to cut interest rates simply “met market expectations” and that a lot of the additional “benefits” had already been reflected in riskier assets.
Barthere analyzed: "It makes sense to maintain a cryptocurrency allocation or participate in it because the Federal Reserve has just injected more vitality into this bull market. But a lot has been reflected in the prices of risky assets. Given the asymmetric downside risks, the safer strategy is to cut crypto holdings when the market rebounds."
▌ Frax Finance cooperates with Karak, a re-staking layer, to introduce native re-staking and DSS
Frax Finance, a hybrid algorithmic stablecoin protocol, announced a partnership with the re-staking layer Karak to introduce native re-staking functionality and DSS (decentralized security service) into the Frax Finance ecosystem, and natively support this functionality on Fraxtal, accelerating the realization of the vision of universally verifiable finance.
▌ Paypal is allowing US merchants to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies directly from their Paypal business accounts
PayPal said it is enabling U.S. merchants to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies directly from their PayPal business accounts. At launch, this business account feature will not be available in New York State, and the company is also giving business accounts the ability to transfer cryptocurrencies externally.
Important economic developments
▌Fed survey: More and more companies are postponing investment plans before the US election dust settles
More and more companies in the country are postponing major investments before the dust settles on the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The latest Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Survey of Financial Professionals released on Wednesday by the Atlanta Federal Reserve, the Richmond Federal Reserve, and Duke University's Fuqua School of Business showed that about 30% of companies have postponed, reduced or canceled investment plans due to uncertainty about the election results, up from 28% in the previous quarter.
▌Fed 's Kugler: Strongly supports the decision to cut interest rates by 50 basis points
Fed Governor Kugler said today that she "strongly supports" the Fed's decision to cut interest rates by 50 basis points, which reflects the focus on the job market. "The job market remains resilient, but the FOMC now needs to balance its focus so that it can continue to make progress in eliminating inflation while avoiding unnecessary pain and economic weakness," Kugler said. "I strongly support last week's decision (to cut interest rates by 50 basis points), and if inflation continues to make progress as I expect, I will support further rate cuts." Kugler expects inflation data released on Friday to show that price pressures continue to ease, and the PCE price index may be as low as 2.2% in August. She said it is appropriate for the Fed to focus on the job market now. The job market has cooled but is "still resilient" and the unemployment rate of 4.2% is "still quite low by historical standards."
▌The probability of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 25BP in November is 40.8%
According to CME's "Fed Watch", the probability of the Fed cutting interest rates by 25 basis points by November is 40.8%, and the probability of cutting interest rates by 50 basis points is 59.2%. The probability of a cumulative rate cut of 50 basis points by December is 19.5%, the probability of a cumulative rate cut of 75 basis points is 49.6%, and the probability of a cumulative rate cut of 100 basis points is 30.9%.
▌Federal Reserve Board member Kugler: Considering the lag in policy, it is necessary to cut interest rates in advance
Federal Reserve Board Governor Kugler said that the job market has cooled and he does not want it to weaken further; it is reasonable to shift the focus to employment; it will still take some time to reduce the inflation rate to 2%; considering the lag of policies, it is necessary to cut interest rates in advance; the neutral interest rate is not the main factor in interest rate decisions.
Golden Encyclopedia
What is the Algorithm of Thought (AoT)?
Algorithms of Thought (AoT) is a groundbreaking approach in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) that revolutionizes the way AI models think and reason. Developed by Microsoft Research, AoT introduces a new paradigm for large language models (LLMs) to enhance reasoning capabilities to solve complex problems. It aims to combine the best of both worlds: a nuanced, intuitive understanding of the human thought process with the structured, systematic nature of an algorithmic approach.
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