Headline
JPMorgan: PYUSD May Boost Ethereum TVL and Adoption Growth
JPMorgan stated that the stablecoin PYUSD, launched by PayPal this week, could increase Ethereum's TVL (Total Value Locked) and benefit it.
JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou stated, "This could encourage activity in Ethereum and strengthen its network utility as a stablecoin/DeFi platform. In other words, it would incentivize more companies to choose the Ethereum blockchain (or its L2 platform) for their stablecoin or decentralized projects in the future."
Panigirtzoglou mentioned that Ethereum could further benefit from PYUSD as the stablecoin can fill the gap left by the $20 billion shrinkage of BUSD (Binance USD). If PYUSD fills this gap, "DeFi TVL will shift towards the Ethereum blockchain (or its L2 platform)."
Industry News
A survey published by Nickel Digital Asset Management on Tuesday revealed that 92% of institutional investors and wealth management firms believe that the "enforcement oversight" approach of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is the best path for the development of the crypto industry.
In addition, about 90% of respondents believe that the recent actions taken by SEC against Coinbase and Binance will ultimately contribute positively to the development of the digital asset industry.
Anatoly Crachilov, CEO of Nickel Digital, stated in a statement: "Improving regulation is crucial if the digital asset industry is to continue its recent strong performance and become mainstream in investments."
This research was commissioned by Nickel Digital and conducted by market research company Pureprofile in July 2023, based on the opinions of 200 institutional investors and wealth management institutions from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Singapore, Switzerland, Brazil, and the United Arab Emirates.
In response to the difficulties faced by technology companies in opening bank accounts in Hong Kong, where the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government hopes to expand the virtual asset industry and build a good ecosystem, Linda Wong, CEO of HSBC Hong Kong, responded that misunderstandings may have occurred during communication between operators and banks. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Securities and Futures Commission have established clear frameworks for obtaining licenses under specific conditions, and being able to pass HSBC's KYC and AML reviews means that opening an account at the bank is possible. Regarding complaints in the market, it is necessary to consult the operators to determine if they comply with the regulatory framework.
German financial supervisory authority Bafin is investigating Worldcoin
According to Handelsblatt, a German business newspaper, the country's financial supervisory authority, Bafin, is investigating Worldcoin.
A spokesperson said, "If a company tries to enter the German market without necessary permissions, such as using a German website or application, we will investigate it."
Earlier on July 31st, Michael Will, the chairman of the German data regulatory agency, stated that the agency has been investigating the Worldcoin project since the end of last year due to its involvement with large-scale sensitive biometric data. Will stated that this brings many risks, including whether users have explicitly consented to the processing of their highly sensitive biometric data on a "full and explicit" informational basis.
In addition, the French privacy regulatory agency CNIL and the UK data regulatory agency Information Commissioner's Office are also investigating Worldcoin.
US Department of Justice says SBF still faces charges related to illegal campaign donations
US prosecutors stated in a letter on Tuesday that the Department of Justice still plans to charge SBF with implementing an "illegal campaign donations" scheme during SBF's trial in October. Two weeks ago, prosecutors stated that they couldn't bring this charge against SBF due to treaty obligations.
The letter says that prosecutors will submit a superseding indictment next week, charging SBF with seven counts, ready for trial in October. Each of these charges will come from the original indictment, with only the campaign donation charge being excluded due to the extradition treaty between the US and the Bahamas.
The letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan states that the Department of Justice intends to incorporate the campaign donation charge against SBF into the telecommunication fraud charges. "The superseding indictment will make clear that SBF is still charged with carrying out an illegal campaign donation scheme, which is part of the fraud and money laundering charges from the original indictment," the Department of Justice stated, adding that using client deposits for campaign activities falls under the telecommunication fraud charge raised in the original indictment.
The Department of Justice stated, "As part of the money laundering scheme from the original charges, the defendant also concealed the fraudulent income's source through political donations. As the government will outline in its forthcoming submission, the defendant's illegal campaign donation behavior will be admitted as direct evidence for the trial charges." (CoinDesk)
Previously, it was reported that SBF is currently scheduled for trial on October 2nd, facing seven charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He will then face trial again in March next year for an additional five charges, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, and conspiracy to bribe foreign government officials.
Data Changes
Data: Curve founder sold a total of 143.65 million CRV through OTC
According to Yunjin's monitoring, Curve founder sold 143.65 million CRV to 31 investors/institutions through OTC, with a capital conversion of $57.46 million.
Huobi denies that "the address where 200 million USDT is transferred to Huobi belongs to Justin Sun"
Yesterday afternoon, the address marked as "Justin Sun 3" on Etherscan (starting with 0x611F) transferred 5000 ETH to Huobi's deposit address. This morning, a whale (address starting with TT2T17K) withdrew 200 million USDT from JustLend and deposited it into Huobi. A spokesperson from Huobi denied that the related address belongs to Justin Sun.
It is reported that the address starting with TT2T17K is marked as one of the top 10 holders of TRX tokens.
According to previous reports, Whale Alert monitoring data shows that 200 million USDT was transferred from JustLend to an unknown address. Cinneamhain Ventures partner Adam Cochran retweeted the tweet and stated that after Justin Sun transferred 200 million USDT from JustLend to his personal wallet, he transferred it again to a new address.
Project News
Binance will support the BNB Smart Chain network upgrade and hard fork on August 10th
According to the official announcement, Binance will support the BNB Smart Chain (BEP 20) network upgrade and hard fork, with the following schedule:
Binance is expected to temporarily suspend the deposit and withdrawal services of the BNB Smart Chain (BEP 20) network at 09:45 on August 10th (UTC+8) to support the network upgrade and hard fork scheduled to take place at block height 30,720,096 of the BNB Smart Chain (BEP 20) network (estimated to be at 10:00 on August 10th (UTC+8)).
This BNB Smart Chain (BEP 20) network upgrade and hard fork will not result in any new forked coins. Binance will reopen the deposit and withdrawal services of the BNB Smart Chain (BEP 20) once the network upgrade and hard fork are completed and the network is stable, without further notice.
The previously hacked lending protocol EraLend announced:
1. It will deploy a new version protocol audited by PeckShield. The new protocol will be developed and upgraded as originally planned, and the old version protocol affected by the attack will be renamed EraLend Classic.
2. EraLend will continue its efforts to track and recover stolen funds until fully retrieved.
3. EraLend will hire SlowMist as a security consultant, providing support in recovery and subsequent product security for EraLend.
4. EraLend will gradually introduce other sources of repayment, including fundraising, potential zkSync airdrops, and diversified platform revenue, among others.
5. The new version protocol EraLend will cancel SyncSwap LP tokens as collateral, and all fee income will be used to compensate victims. The old version protocol EraLend Classic will stop all lending functions starting from 00:00 on August 8th (UTC), while repayment and withdrawal functions will continue to be available until all users exit.
Galaxy Digital Q2 Report: Loss narrows to $46 million, asset management revenue grows by 619% QoQ
Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd. announced that its loss in the second quarter has narrowed as cryptocurrency prices stabilize. The company reported a net loss of $46 million in Q2, or a loss of $0.14 per share, compared to a loss of $554.7 million, or a loss of $1.74 per share, in the same period last year.
"In the face of continued uncertainty and regulatory pressure, Galaxy Digital's operating business performed well in the second quarter," said the company's founder and CEO Michael Novogratz in a statement.
The company reported trading revenue of $59.5 million for this quarter, a 54% decrease from the first quarter, as trading volumes were impacted by slowed industry-wide cryptocurrency trading activity.
Additionally, the company's asset management revenue for this quarter was $33.8 million, a 619% increase from the previous quarter, primarily driven by increased realized gains from venture platform investments.
The Mantle Network governance page shows that Mantle Network will implement a Treasury governance proposal MIP-25 to execute an ETH staking strategy of up to 200,000 ETH. The main details include: establishing the Mantle Economic Committee as a subsidiary governance entity for making decisions, pledging ETH to the LSD protocol, with the Lido pledge cap set at 40,000 ETH, and potential commercial negotiations to determine the timing and scale of entry and exit.
Steadefi Contract Control Subject to Hacker Attack, Incurs $1.14 million loss
Steadefi tweeted that they suffered a loss of $1.14 million due to a hacker attack on their contract control. The funds in the borrowing treasury were drained by the hacker and converted to ETH and transferred across chains to Ethereum. However, the deposit treasury has not been completely depleted as the hacker does not have the authority to withdraw the funds. Steadefi stated that if the hacker returns the funds by 16:00 on August 10 (UTC+8), they will retain 10% of the attack amount.
Argent, the Starknet wallet, tweeted that due to an ongoing upgrade in Starknet, some old Starknet accounts also need to be upgraded. The upgrade is scheduled to take place on August 21. 95% of users will not be affected, but users who receive the update notification are advised to complete the upgrade by that date to avoid the risk of asset loss.
OneKey announced that starting from September 30, 2023, OneKey Card will no longer accept new user applications from the following countries or regions: mainland China, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Russia, North Macedonia, Sudan, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe. Users who have already activated their cards will not be affected and can continue to use them. This measure is taken to strictly comply with local laws and regulatory requirements.
DEXTools data shows that there are currently over 66 fake PYUSD tokens appearing on networks such as Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Base, with the majority of tokens circulating on Ethereum.
Scammers are attempting to commit fraud by issuing fake tokens on various networks using the PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin launched by PayPal. Investors should be aware of the risks.
Huobi to launch PayPal stablecoin PYUSD
According to the official announcement, Huobi will become the first exchange to support the listing of PYUSD stablecoin and will offer permanent zero fees for the PYUSD/USDT trading pair. Once the token enters circulation and the liquidity conditions mature, Huobi will initiate trading as soon as possible. Please stay tuned to Huobi's official announcement regarding the launch of PYUSD trading.
PayPal USD (PYUSD) is a USD stablecoin launched by PayPal for transfers and payments. PYUSD is issued by Paxos Trust Company and is backed 100% by USD deposits, short-term US government bonds, and similar cash equivalents. Currently, a total of 26.9 million PYUSD tokens have been issued.
Circle announced a new programmable Web3 wallet platform on Tuesday, aimed at helping businesses provide digital asset payment services to customers.
According to a press release, developers and merchants can integrate the wallet into their applications and customize it to build services that allow consumers to send, receive, and store cryptocurrencies, including Circle's USDC and NFTs.
Circle stated that the service is currently in public beta on Ethereum, Avalanche, and Polygon networks for developers to use, and plans to expand to other blockchains later this year.
Binance has announced that it has obtained two licenses in El Salvador, making it the "first fully licensed" cryptocurrency exchange in the country.
The company stated on Tuesday that the two licenses are the Bitcoin Service Provider (BSP) license issued by the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador and the first non-temporary Digital Assets Service Provider (DASP) license issued by El Salvador's National Digital Assets Commission. These licenses will allow Binance to offer tailored products and services in the country.
A spokesperson for the company mentioned that Binance was already providing services in El Salvador, but "only through an offshore exchange," and these licenses now allow the company to expand its services.
A court filing submitted on Tuesday reveals that Bitmain and cryptocurrency platform Anchorage Digital are expected to acquire equity in Core Scientific, the second-largest publicly listed Bitcoin mining company. The revised restructuring plan of the company requires a vote by the creditors, and many of the described settlements will require court approval.
Core Scientific will purchase 27,000 Bitmain Antminer S19j Pro mining machines for $77.1 million. Once the plan takes effect, the acquisition will be funded by $23 million in cash and $54 million in company equity.
It is reported that this may be Bitmain's first investment in a publicly listed cryptocurrency mining company. The company has not responded to requests for comments.
Companies providing funding to Core Scientific for the purchase of mining machines can choose to convert all of their debt into equity or assume 80% of the new company's secured debt based on the value of their debt. Documents show that only Anchorage Digital is expected to choose the equity option. As of the bankruptcy date, the company has $29 million in loans.
As of the application date, Mass Mutual Asset Finance, Barings, BlockFi, 36 Street Capital Partners, and Trinity Capital collectively hold approximately $193 million in loans to Core Scientific, and it is expected that these companies will choose to secure the debt.
The company is also in negotiations to offer $55 million in equity to existing common stockholders.
Investment bank B. Riley provides Core Scientific with $70 million in bankruptcy financing. The bank will convert the outstanding balance of this loan into a deferred loan and provide an additional $25 million in new financing.
If the secured note holders vote to accept the plan, they can receive new secured debt or equity equal to 75% of the value of their debt. If they do not vote to accept the plan, they will receive secured notes issued by the restructured company proportionally.
Person*Voice
Tether's Chief Technology Officer, Paolo Ardoino, tweeted today that more than 325 million USDT has been redeemed. In response to some users' feedback about the lengthy and difficult redemption process that requires many documents, Ardoino stated, "Due to Tether's reliance on strong banking partners, it is crucial to ensure proper KYC/AML checks before accepting customers. If not done, all Tether users will face risks."
Ardoino also mentioned that while Bitcoin is the only decentralized thing, USDT is not Bitcoin but a centralized stablecoin that uses a decentralized transport layer. Therefore, if you want to redeem fiat currency, please follow the rules of the fiat system.
Kyle Davies, co-founder of Three Arrows Capital (3AC), tweeted, "If I had 10 billion dollars, my top priority would be to acquire FTX and restart the platform. The plan is clear; a few adjustments need to be made, shutting down Alameda to bring the investment business closer to Three Arrows' model, reducing the amphetamine budget (possibly referring to the PR budget); what remains unchanged is the commitment to a user-first product strategy and driving rapid business growth once again."
Tom Wan, an on-chain analyst at 21 Shares' parent company, 21co, tweeted that PYUSD has been added to the Dune dashboard. The contract is set to be deployed in November 2022, with a current total supply exceeding 26.9 million coins.
According to previous reports, PayPal announced the launch of the PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin for transfers and payments. This stablecoin is issued by Paxos Trust Co. and backed by the US dollar, short-term Treasury bonds, and cash equivalents. PYUSD will gradually be made available to PayPal customers in the United States.
The contract address for PYUSD is 0x6c3ea9036406852006290770BEdFcAbA0e23A0e8. On-chain data shows that there are currently 26.9 million tokens issued and 8 holders.
Cryptocurrency smart contract auditor Pashov Krum pointed out the "centralization attack vector" risk in PayPal's USD stablecoin PYUSD, which includes operations that can freeze or suspend specific address on-chain functions, such as freezing the transfer function of a certain address and providing more control over the behavior of smart contracts.
In response, Ripple's Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz pointed out that the value of this centralized stablecoin is actually that PayPal has a legal obligation to convert PYUSD into USD, which helps prevent innocent recipients from receiving tokens that PayPal is not legally obligated to convert, thereby reducing risks.
Schwartz believes that PYUSD currently has three other risks: 1. The risk of PayPal not fulfilling its legal obligations. 2. Users mistakenly assuming that they have tokens representing PayPal's legal obligations, which is not actually the case. 3. Differences in opinions between users and PayPal regarding whether the token represents PayPal's legal obligations. This functionality mitigates these three risks.
David Schwartz also pointed out that PYUSD is not a true cryptocurrency, but traditional finance, just like money in a bank, which is "someone else's legal obligation".
Insider: Bitcoin spot ETF may be approved in "four to six months"
Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas tweeted that Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz said on this morning's earnings conference call that the approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF is just a matter of time, and it may be approved within "four to six months," according to "sources" from BlackRock and Invesco.
Previous news stated that ARK Invest founder and known as "Wood Sister" Cathie Wood predicted in an interview with Bloomberg that she expects the US SEC will not make a decision on the company's Bitcoin spot ETF by the deadline (August 13th). However, she believes that if the SEC approves a Bitcoin ETF, "it will approve multiple ETFs at once. Most of them are essentially the same."
