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Top 10 News of the Week
1. Powell sticks to the Fed's cautious rate-cutting strategy
Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said in a speech at Stanford Business School that recent data on job growth and inflation have been higher than expected, and while policymakers generally believe that interest rates may fall later this year, this will only happen when they are "more confident that inflation is sustainably declining" to the Fed's 2% target. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said that a rate cut may not happen until the fourth quarter of this year, and he expects that only a quarter percentage point of rate cuts will be appropriate in 2024, far less than the three or more rate cuts expected by most of his colleagues.
2. The U.S. Department of Justice transferred 2,000 BTC to Coinbase
On April 3, the Silk Road BTC-related address bc1q…u478, which was seized by the U.S. Department of Justice, was distributed with two other addresses related to the Department of Justice. 2,000 BTC were transferred to Coinbase (3KrZ…TvX2), and the remaining 29,800 BTC were transferred to the new address bc1q…wzde.
3. Bitcoin miners earned $2.01 billion in March, a record monthly high
In March, Bitcoin miners earned $2.01 billion, a record high for monthly miners in U.S. dollars, with block reward subsidies reaching $1.93 billion. At the same time, the monthly transaction volume on the Bitcoin chain reached $2.11t that month, the highest since September 2022.
4. Tether purchased another 8,889 bitcoins, and its total holdings exceeded 75,000 bitcoins
The address marked as Tether increased its holdings by 8,889 bitcoins in the early morning of April 1, worth about $620 million. Its total holdings currently stand at 75,354 bitcoins , with a total value of about $5.31 billion. Tether began buying bitcoin in September 2022, with an initial purchase of 33,980 bitcoins. In May 2023, Tether announced that it would regularly distribute 15% of its realized net operating profits to purchase bitcoins.
5. The SEC is seeking public comments on some Ethereum spot ETFs
The SEC is seeking public comments on a number of Ethereum spot ETFs, including Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund, Grayscale Ethereum Trust, and Bitwise Ethereum Trust. “The Commission is issuing this notice to seek comments from interested parties on the proposed rule change,” the SEC said in a filing about Bitwise. The public comment period is 21 days.
6. Tron requested to dismiss the US SEC lawsuit, claiming that it has no jurisdiction over the provision of digital assets to foreign users on a global platform
Tron requested that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit be dismissed, claiming that it has no jurisdiction over "offering digital assets to foreign users on a global platform." Tron claimed that the sale of tokens was entirely overseas and that measures were taken to avoid the U.S. market, and that the SEC did not allege that the tokens were initially offered or sold to any U.S. residents. Previously, the SEC issued an electronic subpoena to Justin Sun, the Tron Foundation, the BitTorrent Foundation, and BitTorrent in March last year, alleging that they were suspected of illegally selling unregistered securities, fraud, and market manipulation.
7. Binance Weekly Updates
a. The Nigerian government postponed the trial of Binance’s tax evasion case to April 19
Binance executives have been detained in Nigeria for more than a month on tax evasion charges, and after their initial court appearance, the case was adjourned to April 19. Tigran Gambaryan, Binance's head of financial crime compliance, was charged along with the company on charges including failure to pay VAT and corporate income tax, and conspiracy to help customers evade taxes through its platform. He will continue to be detained by the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Judge Emeka Nwite postponed the hearing on the company to April 8.
b. Binance announced that its Inscription Market has integrated Atomicals (ARC-20) tokens
Binance announced that its Inscription Market has integrated Atomicals (ARC-20) tokens, allowing users to trade Atomicals (ARC-20 tokens) with zero fees in its Inscription Market. Previously, the Binance Inscription Market already supported Inscription tokens such as BRC-20 tokens.
c. BinanceNFT will stop supporting Bitcoin NFT transactions and deposits on April 18
Binance NFT will stop supporting Bitcoin NFT trading and deposits at 14:00 (ET) on April 18, 2024. Users are advised to withdraw their Bitcoin NFTs from Binance NFT through the Bitcoin network before 08:00 (ET) on May 18. In addition, the Binance NFT market will no longer support any airdrops, benefits or applications related to Bitcoin NFTs after April 10.
8. The FTX bankruptcy estate is scheduled to distribute the first funds to creditors before the end of 2024
According to the minutes of a meeting held by FTX Digital's joint official liquidators in the Bahamas, the FTX bankruptcy committee plans to begin distributing the first funds to creditors by the end of 2024. Creditors have been able to submit claims on the FTX claims portal since it went live on March 1. The current deadline for creditors to submit claims is May 15, but the minutes show that "based on recent developments, the deadline is expected to be extended to at least June 2024." Claims will be valued based on prices on November 11, 2022.
9. Forbes released the list of the world's billionaires, and the total wealth of the 17 people in the crypto industry reached 93 billion US dollars
Forbes released the 2024 list of the world's billionaires, 17 of whom are from the crypto field. The total value of the crypto assets, publicly disclosed stock portfolios, and private wealth held by these investors and entrepreneurs is estimated to be about $93 billion, more than twice the total wealth of the nine crypto billionaires on the list last year ($37 billion). Binance founder and former CEO CZ has become the richest person in cryptocurrency for the third consecutive year. His current net worth is estimated at $33 billion, far higher than last year's $10.5 billion, ranking 50th on the global billionaire list. In addition, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong ($11.2 billion) and MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor ($4.4 billion) were selected.
10. BCH Bitcoin Cash completed halving in the early morning of April 4
BCH Bitcoin Cash has completed halving in the early morning of April 4. As of press time, there are about 15 days left for Bitcoin halving; there are 54 days left for ETC halving. 2024 is the year of halving. Halving often plays an important role in the development history of Bitcoin. However, due to the special situation of Bitcoin ETF in 2024, it is generally believed that the significance of halving may be reduced.
Key financing events
Farcaster Development Company raises $1 billion in funding led by Paradigm
Blockchain XION announced the completion of a $25 million Series A financing round, with Multicoin and other investors participating
Ellipsis Labs Announces $20 Million Series A Financing, Led by Paradigm
IoTeX receives $50 million ecosystem investment from Amber Group and others
Solana Ecosystem Cross-Chain Communication Protocol Zeus Network Completes $8 Million in Financing at a $100 Million Valuation
Stablecoin startup Agora announces $12 million seed round
Gomble Games announces completion of 10 million USD financing, with Binance Labs and others participating
Gasp, an EigenLayer-based cross-chain exchange protocol, raises $5 million in a private round of financing
Yolo Investments invests $8 million in TON ecosystem
Ethereum L2 blockchain LightLink completes $6.2 million seed round
Bitcoin Layer 2 Solution UTXO Stack Completes Seed Round Financing, Led by ABCDE and SNZ Capital
Jump Capital and Cypher Capital co-lead $7.5 million seed round for web3 AI company Raiinmaker
Modular L2 blockchain Camp Network announces $4 million seed round
Blockchain technology company Hyperbridge completes $2.6 million financing through Polkadot Crowdloan
For more industry financing events, please visit crypto-fundraising.info.
