According to Bloomberg terminal information, as the BRICS summit opens in Kazan, Russia, cryptocurrency has become one of the topics. Russian lawmakers are pushing an idea that Russian miners can sell their tokens to international buyers, who can then use Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to pay for import fees, effectively circumventing Western sanctions. Sanctions have dealt a heavy blow to Russia, but cryptocurrencies provide an alternative to the traditional financial system dependent on the US dollar and banks.
American economist, Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Richard Wolf commented on this situation, saying that the BRICS alliance is surpassing the already peaked United States; the US is on a downward path and trying to maintain its international dominance; the BRICS countries are also gaining an economic advantage over the US.
According to CNN, the US Department of Justice recently warned Elon Musk's America PAC that its $1 million daily giveaway to registered voters in swing states may violate federal law. The Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section has sent a letter to the political action committee, stating that its "cash giveaways" may constitute illegal election-related activities.
According to federal law, paying people to register to vote is illegal, and Musk's activity requires participants to be registered voters in designated states and sign a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments. Although Musk has emphasized on social media that the winners are non-partisan and not even required to vote, experts believe the condition of restricting participation to registered voters still carries legal risks.
After receiving criticism, America PAC has reframed the prizes as "speaker position compensation", but the website terms have not substantially changed, still requiring winners to be registered voters. It is currently unclear whether the DOJ letter has prompted any adjustments to the activity.
Bank of Canada raises interest rates by 50 basis points, the fourth consecutive rate hike
According to China Fund News, the Bank of Canada on Wednesday raised interest rates by 50 basis points, lowering the benchmark rate from 4.25% to 3.75%, the largest reduction in borrowing costs since the initial COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020. The Bank of Canada said this is a sign of the country's return to a low-inflation era. To address soaring prices, the Bank of Canada had previously raised rates to the highest level in 20 years, but has now cut rates four times in a row since June. The inflation rate fell to 1.6% in September, below the 2% target.
Apple releases new AI preview, including features integrated with ChatGPT
According to TechCrunch, on Wednesday, Apple Intelligence released the latest updates for iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2 and macOS Sequoia 15.2, where developers will experience ChatGPT integration for the first time. At the same time, Apple has also launched other intelligent features, including Genmoji, Image Playground, Visual Intelligence and Image Wand. The public will also get access to Apple Intelligence features for the first time, such as integrated writing tools, image cleaning, article summarization, and a redesigned Siri input experience, which were provided in iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1 and 15.1 versions. However, they will have to wait for future updates to access the OpenAI platform. Users must select Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT separately during the setup process or in later settings. They do not need a ChatGPT account or a standalone app. However, without a premium account, their query access will be limited, but everyone can access all of OpenAI's models, including GPT-4.
OpenAI releases simplified consistent model sCM, significantly improving sampling speed
According to the OpenAI announcement, it has launched a brand new sCM (Simplified Consistent Model), which is based on a simplified continuous-time consistent model, providing higher training stability and scalability.
dYdX posted on X platform: "dYdX v3 Sunset process reminder, all trading, oracle price updates and funding payments will cease at 20:05 Beijing time on October 28. We encourage users to make plans to close positions and withdraw USDC from dYdX v3 smart contracts." According to the previous announcement, this change only affects dYdX v3 users, and users of dYdX Chain, dydx.trade or v4 API are not affected.
According to the official announcement of the Tapioca Foundation, on October 19, the Tapioca DAO suffered a social engineering attack, resulting in the theft of $4.7 million in funds. The team had previously offered a $1 million bounty to the hacker in exchange for the remaining $3.7 million, with a deadline of 4pm UTC on October 22. As the deadline has passed and no response has been received, the proposal is now void.
The Tapioca Foundation is currently cooperating with law enforcement agencies and several security teams, including ZeroShadow, Seal911 and the BNB Smart Chain team, as most of the stolen funds are still on that chain. Tapioca is now offering a 10% reward of the funds, encouraging any individual who can provide clues or take action to help recover the funds, with relevant information to be sent to tapiocahack@protonmail.com.
According to Lookonchain monitoring, an insider sold 500 million $SHAR tokens in a single transaction, accounting for 50% of the total supply, in exchange for 19,620 $SOL (about $3.38 million), causing the $SHAR price to plummet by 96%.
This insider previously used 16 wallets and 5,710 $SOL (about $948,000) to purchase 665.6 million $SHAR tokens (66.56% of the total supply), and distributed them across more than 100 wallets. Four hours ago, he collected 500 million $SHAR from 104 wallets and sold them in a single transaction, making a profit of 13,910 $SOL (about $2.4 million).
zkLink Core DAO announces delaying the unlocking of over 40% of ZKL tokens by six months
According to The Block, the zkLink Core DAO has announced a delay in the unlocking of its ZKL tokens, postponing the originally scheduled token unlocking on October 22 by six months. This decision affects 40.5% of the total ZKL token supply, impacting the token allocation for early private round investors, the team, and advisors, with the unlocking now delayed until April 22, 2025.
The crypto detective ZachXBT revealed on the X platform: "A Chinese over-the-counter (OTC) trader named 'Yicong Wang' has been helping the Lazarus Group convert millions of dollars in cryptocurrency stolen from various hacks into cash through bank transfers since 2022. A few months ago, a follower who completed a P2P transaction with Yicong Wang (an OTC trader who has used aliases such as Seawang, Greatdtrader, and BestRhea977) had their trading account frozen, and then they contacted me. They then shared with me a Tron wallet address belonging to Yicong Wang: THsSCBGazjjho7u2BQQsmrpbDv1Q237FL4. Recently, Yicong Wang has been in contact with them, requesting they place a larger USDT to CNY order by August 13, 2024, involving around $1.5 million at a rate far below the market rate. The relevant address is THjaAygUNkzoXufwEoKCzbUZHpsehL9rAZ. When reviewing the blockchain data related to Yicong Wang, you will notice the integration of a large amount of illicit funds from other hacking incidents involving the Irys co-founder, ALEX Labs, and the co-founders of EasyFi, Bondly, and Maverick.
Michael Saylor's comments on "regulated Bitcoin custody" were criticized by Vitalik
According to The Block, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently criticized the views of MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor. In a recent interview with the New Zealand Herald, Saylor stated that his concerns about using regulated entities to custody Bitcoin mainly stem from "paranoid crypto anarchists." He outlined the reasons why Bitcoin is a superior digital asset and store of value, and argued that it should be seen as "a digital currency that is vital to human progress." However, his views on regulated custody sparked strong reactions within the Bitcoin community, particularly from advocates of self-custody, who harshly criticized him and even questioned whether Saylor truly understands the essence of Bitcoin.
Regarding this controversy, Vitalik expressed his own views on the X platform. He bluntly stated: "I'm happy to say that I think Michael Saylor's comments are simply ridiculous. He seems to explicitly endorse methods of capturing crypto through regulation, but there are many precedents of such methods failing. I believe this is completely contrary to the core principles of crypto." Vitalik's remarks were in response to Casa co-founder and CTO Jameson Lopp, who had previously warned that "Bitcoin self-custody is not just for paranoid people. Convincing people to trust third-party custodians will actually have many long-term negative consequences." He emphasized that self-custody is not only crucial for individual Bitcoin holders, but is also key to maintaining decentralization, enhancing network security, preserving governance participation, and driving continuous innovation and expansion without relying on third parties.
In contrast to Lopp's perspective, Saylor advocates holding Bitcoin through regulated entities like BlackRock, Fidelity, JPMorgan, and State Street. He believes this is not only safer, but can also reduce volatility and mitigate risk of losses, as these institutions are less likely to become targets of government crackdowns compared to unregulated private entities.
The Layer1 blockchain MANTRA focused on RWA assets has launched its mainnet
MANTRA, a Layer1 blockchain focused on RWA assets, announced on the X platform that its mainnet has gone live, allowing users to perform several key activities, including: bridging OM tokens from ERC-20 to the MANTRA mainnet token to gain access to future RWA tokens; users can stake OM to help secure the network and earn on-chain staking rewards; OM will be an integral part of the RWA ledger; and earn KARMA by completing new tasks on the mainnet.
According to CoinDesk, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse revealed at the DC Fintech Week in Washington that long-time partner Citibank has terminated its relationship with his personal banking business due to his background in the cryptocurrency industry. Garlinghouse stated that this is the result of pressure from US government agencies on banking institutions to be cautious about engaging with crypto assets. He mentioned that Citibank gave him 5 days to handle his account funds and explicitly informed him that this was due to his "prominent position in the crypto industry" leading to increased scrutiny from federal regulators.
Garlinghouse criticized the Biden administration's regulatory approach to the crypto industry, particularly targeting the aggressive tactics of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, and expressed optimism that US crypto policy will improve regardless of the outcome of the November presidential election. He also mentioned that an XRP-linked ETF is "inevitable" and advised crypto startups to register overseas to avoid the uncertainty of US regulation.
According to The Block, Variational is a crypto derivatives trading protocol built on the Ethereum Layer2 network Arbitrum, and has raised $10.3 million in seed funding. The round was co-led by Bain Capital Crypto and Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India and Southeast Asia), with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Dragonfly Capital, North Island Ventures, Hack VC, and other investors.
Web3 mobile gaming platform Party Icon raises $9 million in seed funding, led by Bitkraft Ventures
Tesla's Bitcoin holdings unchanged in Q3 2024, Tesla Q3 net profit $2.167 billion
Tesla (TSLA) did not sell its $763 million worth of Bitcoin holdings in the third quarter of 2024. According to the latest financial report, the company neither increased nor decreased its holdings. However, Tesla did transfer its Bitcoin assets from its public wallets for the first time this quarter, involving a total of $760 million. According to Arkham Intelligence data, Tesla made multiple large transfers, including $75.18 million, $76.08 million, and $77.16 million to anonymous wallets, without any indication of selling or converting to other cryptocurrencies. Since reducing its holdings by 75% in the second quarter of 2022, Tesla has not made any further Bitcoin sales. Additionally, Elon Musk's SpaceX also holds around $560 million in Bitcoin, and the two companies collectively own approximately 19,788 Bitcoins, with a total market value of around $1.3 billion.
According to Tesla's Q3 2024 financial report, the company's quarterly profit exceeded analysts' expectations, and it expects its vehicle deliveries to "grow slightly" this year, causing the stock of the world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer to surge more than 9% after hours. The report shows that Tesla's third-quarter net profit was $2.167 billion, compared to the expected $1.78 billion, with a gross margin of 19.8%, higher than the expected 17.3%. Revenue grew 8% to $25.2 billion, slightly lower than the average expectation of $25.4 billion. Tesla stated: "Despite the ongoing macroeconomic headwinds, we expect our vehicle deliveries to grow slightly in 2024." Additionally, Tesla's cost per vehicle sold reached a historical low of around $35,100. Tesla still expects its affordable car model to begin production in the first half of 2025.
According to Arkham monitoring, last night, an address suspected to be associated with the Ethereum Foundation (0xd7...c1f4) transferred 100 ETH to the CoW Protocol, and then received approximately $257,400 in DAI from the CoW Protocol, which were then transferred to an address starting with "0x9eE" and marked as "Ethereum Foundation".
It is reported that since the beginning of this year, this suspected Ethereum Foundation address (0xd7...c1f4) has been selling ETH for DAI through the Cow Protocol on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, with amounts typically ranging from 50, 100, to 200 ETH.
Nate Geraci, President of The ETF Store, posted on X platform: "Since 2024, the US has launched 575 exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Ranked by inflow, 14 of the top 30 are spot BTC or ETH ETFs, including 6 of the top 10. The top 30 also include 2 ETFs related to MSTR (a company that holds a large amount of BTC). The traditional financial industry's interest in cryptocurrencies is real."
