FTX auditor Prager Metis reaches $1.95 million settlement with SEC
According to The Block, auditing firm Prager Metis has reached a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), agreeing to pay $1.95 million to resolve allegations of negligence in its audit of the now-defunct crypto exchage FTX. The SEC accused Prager Metis of "falsely stating" FTX's financial status in two audit reports submitted between February 2021 and April 2022 and failing to comply with generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS). In addition, the company did not fully disclose the potential risks of the relationship between FTX and Alameda Research.
BlackRock and Microsoft to set up $30 billion artificial intelligence investment fund
According to the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, BlackRock is planning to launch an artificial intelligence investment fund of more than $30 billion with technology giant Microsoft, which will build data centers and energy projects to meet the growing demand for electricity and infrastructure for artificial intelligence. BlackRock will launch this fund with its new infrastructure investment unit Global Infrastructure Partners, which will become one of the largest investment vehicles in Wall Street history. Microsoft and Abu Dhabi-backed investment company MGX are general partners of the fund. People familiar with the matter also said that chipmaker Nvidia will provide expertise. According to people familiar with the matter, the investment tool aims to address the huge demand for electricity and digital infrastructure to build artificial intelligence products. The computing power of artificial intelligence requires more energy than previous technological innovations, and the existing infrastructure is expected to face serious capacity bottlenecks in the next few years.
Coinbase Adds CoW Protocol (COW) to its Listing Roadmap
Coinbase Assets tweeted that it has added CoW Protocol (COW) to its coin listing roadmap today.
Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison sentencing hearing set for Sept. 24
According to Cointelegraph, the sentencing hearing of Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, will be held on September 24. In a document filed with the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York on September 17, U.S. prosecutors stated that Ellison gave "extraordinary cooperation" in the prosecution of former FTX CEO SBF, assisted in investigating the wrongdoings of Alameda Research and FTX, provided "credible and powerful testimony" against SBF at trial, and confessed his serious misconduct in the collapse of FTX. Although Ellison participated in the wrongdoing, prosecutors attributed the main responsibility to SBF. Ellison had previously pleaded guilty to seven charges of wire fraud, commodity fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. The prosecutor recommended a lighter sentence for him, and his lawyer requested that he had served his sentence and be subject to three years of supervised release. Like Ellison, Nishad Singh, former director of engineering at FTX, and co-founder Gary Wang also pleaded guilty to criminal charges and cooperated with prosecutors. They will attend sentencing hearings on October 30 and November 20, respectively.
Wintermute to launch new prediction market OutcomeMarket next week
According to The Block, crypto trading platform Wintermute will launch a new prediction market OutcomeMarket on Ethereum, Base and Arbitrum next week. The company is using Chaos Labs' Edge Proofs Oracle to develop OutcomeMarket, and will first launch betting markets for TRUMP and HARRIS tokens. "Unlike existing prediction markets that are limited to a single chain, the multi-chain approach allows users' native blockchain ecosystems to participate directly without cumbersome asset bridging," Wintermute wrote in a statement. Wintermute also pointed out that DeFi may be integrated in the future, such as providing users with returns or leverage. Wintermute also plans to use trading platforms Bebop, WOO and Backpack as market makers for two initial ERC-20 token markets, and will expand to more markets. Wintermute's trading pool will be supported by liquidity, and payments will be made when one party wins.
He Yi responded to the anxiety and rumors of the crypto in a long article. She said that from Bitcoin being called a "Ponzi scheme" by countless people over and over again, and being criticized by countless mainstream media, to the approval of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, it is of course a great victory. At the same time, we can see that the trading scale of traditional financial products related to cryptocurrencies is steadily expanding, such as: CME and ETF trading volume. Yes, the big ones are coming, but the way they come is different from the way everyone imagines that capital will take over without thinking. Just like the Internet changed the publishing industry and the television industry, it did not happen overnight, but it moistened things silently, and brought more than just the rise of Bitcoin.
In terms of the basic framework and process of listing on Binance, He Yi said that Binance listing consists of four links: business, research group, committee, and compliance review. Binance lists projects that users need, projects with users and traffic, projects that have a long life, and projects with solid business logic. He Yi finally said that if we have different opinions, then you may be right.
Deribit to launch BNB perpetual contracts and options on October 1
According to Deribit's official announcement, Deribit will launch BNB perpetual contracts and options on October 1, 2024, at 9:00 am UTC (17:00 Beijing time). The minimum order size for BNB-USDC perpetual contracts is 0.01 BNB, and the minimum price change is 0.05 USDC; the contract multiplier for BNB options is 1, the minimum order size is 1, the minimum price change is 0.1 USDC, and daily, weekly and monthly expiration options are available. The pricing and margin of the two products will use USDC, which is consistent with the standards of SOL and XRP. A non-trading version is currently available in the API for customers to prepare their systems.
Binance: Welcome to report any form of corruption, the reward will be up to 5 million US dollars
Binance Chinese posted on the X platform that recently, a screenshot of a KOL community circulating in the Chinese community triggered a discussion about Binance's "rat warehouse". Although the content of these screenshots was eventually confirmed to be a misunderstanding, Binance attaches great importance to such issues. Any behavior involving leakage or corruption will be dealt with seriously once verified.
According to the exchange's compliance requirements, all Binance employees need to complete relevant mandatory compliance training. At the same time, Binance also has an independent audit team that specializes in investigating such violations. If it is verified that there is information leakage or insider trading suspicion, Binance will immediately initiate legal proceedings to transfer the relevant personnel to the judicial authorities, and those who are serious will face criminal liability.
Reporting any form of corruption is welcome, and the reward will be up to $5 million. The reporting channel is open and transparent, and any clues about coin listing or other forms of corruption are always welcome. After verification, if it involves Binance internal personnel, you will be provided with a reward of $100,000 to $5 million while protecting your personal information.
Crypto VC Dragonfly is looking to raise $500 million for new fund
According to Bloomberg, crypto venture capital firm Dragonfly Capital is seeking to raise $500 million for its fourth fund, which will invest in early-stage projects. It is reported that it has successfully raised $250 million and plans to complete financing in the first quarter of next year.
VC firm Patron has raised $100 million for its new consumer venture fund
According to Bloomberg, Patron, a venture capital firm led by former gaming industry executives Jason Yeh, Brian Cho and Amber Atherton, has raised a new $100 million fund to focus on investing in early-stage consumer-oriented technology startups, especially technology inspired by games. The fund is backed by Silicon Valley heavyweights such as Marc Andreessen, Garry Tan and Ron Conway. Patron plans to invest in 20 to 25 companies in three years, with a single investment amount of $1 million to $4 million, focusing on using gaming industry experience to drive innovation in other markets, such as AI virtual assistants and smart shopping assistants.
Solana gaming company MagicBlock completes $3 million pre-seed financing, with a16z participating
According to Blockworks, Solana-based gaming company MagicBlock has completed $3 million in pre-seed financing, with venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) participating. The company plans to use the new funds to expand its team and develop technology, including introducing its game engine to the Solana mainnet and working with online games. Founded in September 2023, MagicBlock is currently developing a game engine that allows video games to run entirely on the chain.
