Odaily News reported that although the name Musk seems to represent the newly established Department of Government Efficiency to the outside world, the White House has clarified that Musk is not working for that department. Joshua Fisher, the White House Chief of Staff, stated that Musk is a senior advisor to the President, and his authority is not higher than other senior White House staff. Fisher said on Monday evening that Musk's role should be seen separately from the Government Efficiency Department he has supported.

On February 19, according to The <Block> report, the blockchain data platform Bubblemaps and the well-known YouTuber Coffeezilla's joint investigation showed that a trader named Naseem made a profit of $109 million through "sniping" in the TRUMP token trading. On-chain data shows that Naseem purchased tokens worth $1.09 million in the first second of the TRUMP launch, and paid $84,000 in priority transaction fees, then dispersed the funds to at least 9 wallets. Bubblemaps pointed out that although insider trading cannot be fully proven, the high correlation of multiple on-chain addresses "cannot be ignored". Naseem denied receiving inside information, claiming that his team predicted the launch time by observing the interaction of the Meteora liquidity pool.

Odaily Odaily reports that the latest compound project EGS of Pump Science has officially announced that it has completed 91.83% of the pre-sale refund to pre-sale investors and has launched on the Pump Science platform. It is reported that EGS is the first compound token to be launched on the Pump Science platform after Pump Science launched RIF and URO.

Odaily reported that FTX has announced the commencement of the first distribution of funds to approved claimants in the Convenience Classes of the FTX Chapter 11 restructuring plan. Customers are expected to receive the funds within 1 to 3 business days. The anticipated registration date for the next distribution is April 11, 2025, which will apply to holders of approved <FTX Class 5 Customer Entitlement Claims> and <Class 6 General Unsecured Claims>, as defined in the Plan. For Convenience Claims that were approved after the initial registration date but have not yet received a distribution, the registration date for the next distribution is also set for April 11, 2025. The next distribution is expected to commence on May 30, 2025.

Odaily reported that according to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has confirmed receiving the application for Bitwise's spot <XRP> ETF.

Odaily reports that the cryptocurrency custodian company BitGo Inc. has launched a global digital asset over-the-counter (OTC) trading business while planning to go public. This expansion comes as institutional investors (such as hedge funds) are seeing increased demand for cryptocurrencies. As one of the largest digital asset custodians in the US, BitGo primarily helps investors store their digital assets. According to sources, the company is considering an initial public offering (IPO) earlier this month. In a statement on Tuesday, BitGo said its OTC trading division will provide spot trading, options trading, and lending services to institutional investors to facilitate margin trading. Since the beginning of last year, the company has started providing services to some clients, with trading volumes reaching billions of dollars and lending exceeding $100 million. Furthermore, this trading platform not only serves the US, but also covers other jurisdictions including Hong Kong and the Middle East.

Odaily reports that Piero Cipollone, a member of the European Central Bank's Executive Board, said that the ECB's interest rate decisions should not ignore the tightening effect of unwinding past asset purchase programs on monetary policy. The Italian official said at an event organized by MNI that while the policy rate remains the main tool for adjusting the ECB's stance, the role of quantitative tightening in affecting the financial and financing environment - through the yield curve or bank lending - should also be taken into account.

On February 19, according to official information, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) announced plans to privately issue $2 billion in aggregate principal amount of 0% convertible senior notes due March 1, 2030, to be offered only to qualified institutional buyers, with the actual issuance subject to market conditions and other factors. The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of Bitcoin and as working capital.

On February 19, according to Decrypt, mining company MARA announced the completion of the acquisition of a wind farm in Hansford County, Texas, adding 240 MW of grid capacity and 114 MW of operational wind power generation capacity. The acquisition is part of MARA's goal of "converting sustainable resources into economic value." MARA CEO Fred Thiel stated that this move will help the company achieve near-zero operating costs. CFO Salman Khan added that this will increase the capital return rate and reduce the risk of shareholder dilution.

According to Coinglass data, the entire network had a liquidation of $153 million in the past 4 hours, of which $142 million was long position liquidation and $10.38 million was short position liquidation.

On February 19, according to <HT> market data, Bitcoin briefly fell below $94,000, currently quoted at $94,335.24, a 24-hour decline of 1.21%.

ChainCatcher news, OKX-BTC/USDT is currently trading at $94,112.50, down 1.52% in the last 24 hours.

On February 19, Mastercard's Crypto and Blockchain Business Lead Raj <Dent> stated that the company has transitioned from the experimental stage to providing actual crypto solutions. Mastercard recently collaborated with the compliance company Notabene, integrating its <Crypto Credential> system into the SafeTransact platform, enabling users to transfer crypto assets using email addresses instead of complex wallet addresses. Mastercard's focus for 2025 will be on three areas: building crypto on-and-off-ramps, expanding the <Crypto Credential> functionality, and the stablecoin business. The company currently supports financial institutions in using stablecoins for transaction settlements and plans to announce more partnerships and use cases this year.

On February 19, Argentine President Milley's spokesman Adolni said that it was an "insult" to think that Milley was involved in bribery in the promotion of cryptocurrency, and the government currently does not intend to fire any officials due to the cryptocurrency scandal. (Jinshi)

ChainCatcher news, <Curve Finance> founder Michael Egorov has launched a new project <Yield Basis> and raised $5 million at a $50 million valuation, the project aims to help tokenized Bitcoin and Ethereum holders earn yield from the market by mitigating Impermanent Loss.

Odaily reports that according to Aggr News, the Tether co-founder is developing a competing interest-bearing stablecoin.

According to ChainCatcher's message, DEXX has stated that the compensation work is progressing steadily. As of now, the compensation process has reached 30%. During the compensation process, some problems have been encountered, such as some users not receiving the compensation in a timely manner due to not generating a new secure wallet or not staking the Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). There have also been a large number of repeated customer service tickets, which has to some extent slowed down the compensation progress, but they are working hard to solve these problems and actively communicating and coordinating with users.

ChainCatcher news, FTX creditor representative Sunil disclosed that FTX has initiated its first repayment, with some payments already successfully completed, and users can check their accounts. This repayment is for creditors with claims of less than $50,000.

Odaily reports that Argentine President Milei will meet with Tesla CEO Musk and IMF Managing Director Georgieva in Washington on Thursday. (<金十>)

Here is the English translation: According to the official announcement, Gate.io will list Rivalz (RIZ) spot trading on 2025-02-21 21:00 (UTC+8). Meanwhile, the Gate.io Launchpool will open the first phase of RIZ mining on 2025-02-18 21:00 (UTC+8) for 3 days. Users only need to stake USDT or BTC to earn airdrops hourly and grab the initial bonus. The estimated annualized yield for the USDT beginner pool is as high as 121.67%, with a minimum stake of 0.1 USDT. The second phase of mining will be launched together with the RIZ spot trading, supporting users to stake RIZ or GT to earn airdrops, with an estimated annualized yield of up to 1703.33%.