Evening News |Huobi's Li Lin may sell Huobi shares at a valuation of $3 billion; MakerDAO sells all USDC in the agreement
Organizer: AChai, Chain Catcher
"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"
1. Bloomberg: FTX and Sun Yuchen are in talks to acquire Li Lin's stake in Huobi for $3 billion
Huobi founder Li Lin is seeking to sell his majority stake in the trading platform for $3 billion. FTX and Sun Yuchen have made initial contact with him, and shareholders such as ZhenFund and Sequoia China learned of Li Lin's decision at the July shareholder meeting, with the deal potentially being completed by the end of this month.
In response, a Huobi spokesperson confirmed that Li Lin is in talks with several international institutions regarding the sale of his stake but declined to provide specific details. An FTX spokesperson declined to comment, while Sun Yuchen tweeted that he has not yet negotiated with Li Lin regarding the sale. (Bloomberg)
2. MakerDAO Co-founder: Considering selling all USDC in the protocol related to Tornado Cash sanctions
MakerDAO co-founder Rune Christensen stated that due to the sanctions on Tornado Cash, the consortium behind USDC, Centre, has frozen USDC funds in Tornado Cash wallets, and MakerDAO may choose to sell all USDC exposure in the protocol, which could lead to DAI decoupling from the dollar, necessitating preparations for this situation. According to Makerburn data, currently, 80% of the collateral backing DAI is Stablecoin, with 60% being USDC, and Maker's collateral includes approximately 3.44 billion USDC.
Previously, Vitalik Buterin responded to this proposal by stating, "Once ETH drops significantly, the value of the collateral will drop sharply, but the CDP will not be able to be liquidated, thus the entire system will face the risk of becoming partially backed." Rune Christensen mentioned that the recent U.S. Treasury sanctions on Tornado Cash are more severe than he initially thought. After the sanctions, the consortium behind USDC, Centre, froze USDC funds in Tornado Cash wallets. (Source link)
3. Sources: The main character of the American drama "Billions," billionaire Steve Cohen, is preparing to establish a crypto investment company
According to sources, hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen is preparing to establish an investment company focused on cryptocurrency.
It is reported that the new company is in its early stages, with business plans to provide spot cryptocurrency trading services, while Cohen's multi-strategy hedge fund company Point72 Asset Management has not yet ventured into this area. Steve Cohen has been interviewing potential candidates in recent weeks. (Source link)
4. Aptos releases v1.0 white paper: "Secure, Scalable, and Upgradable Web3 Infrastructure"
The public chain Aptos released its v1.0 white paper titled "Aptos Cross-Chain: Secure, Scalable, and Upgradable Web3 Infrastructure," which elaborates on the design philosophy of the protocol using the Move language and various technical innovations, including: the Aptos data model supporting flexible key management and hybrid custody options, and employing pipelining and modular approaches during critical transaction processing stages. Additionally, Aptos' modular architecture design supports client flexibility and optimizes for frequent and immediate upgrades.
The white paper states that Aptos' vision is to deliver a blockchain that can bring Web3 into the mainstream and build an ecosystem of decentralized applications to solve real-world user problems. (Source link)
5. Dutch authorities arrest suspected Tornado Cash developer
The Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) arrested a 29-year-old man in Amsterdam. He is suspected of participating in the development of Tornado Cash, concealing the flow of criminal funds, and facilitating money laundering. FIOD stated that it will pay additional attention to decentralized organizations supporting money laundering.
Previously, the U.S. Treasury added Tornado Cash to the sanctions list, prohibiting all U.S. individuals and entities from interacting with Tornado Cash or any Ethereum wallet addresses associated with the protocol. (Source link)
6. Solana MEV infrastructure developer Jito Labs completes $10 million Series A funding, led by Multicoin and Framework
Solana MEV infrastructure developer Jito Labs announced the completion of a $10 million Series A funding round, led by Multicoin Capital and Framework Ventures, with participation from Alameda Research, Solana Ventures, Delphi Digital, Robot Ventures, Solana Labs co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, Coral founder and former Alameda Research engineer Armani Ferrante, and Solana Foundation communications director Austin Federa.
It is reported that Jito Labs aims to improve the speed and finality of Solana transactions and provide rewards for validators and stakers. Jito Labs stated that its developed infrastructure is currently undergoing an audit by Neodyme and is expected to be operational within the next two months. (Source link)
7. Asset management giant BlackRock launches private trust, directly offering spot Bitcoin risk exposure
Asset management giant BlackRock has launched a private trust to provide U.S. institutional clients with direct exposure to spot Bitcoin. This trust will be available to institutional clients in the U.S. and will become BlackRock's first product to directly engage with Bitcoin prices.
Additionally, BlackRock stated in a statement, "Despite the sharp decline in the digital asset market, we still see strong interest from some institutional clients in how to efficiently and economically acquire these assets using our technology and product capabilities." (Source link)
"What Exciting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours"
In an in-depth discussion with Chain Catcher, Matt talked about the existing issues in CeFi, future developments, and the opportunities and challenges for Chinese entrepreneurs. Matt believes that the cryptocurrency field is still in a phase of rapid development, with many opportunities available. The market downturn can force asset management companies to iterate on risk control and strategies. The competition between CeFi and DeFi will be more beneficial for users and will reach a balance at some point in the future.
2. Stablecoins enter a competitive era, USDC sparks a paradigm dispute
At the end of July, the Aave community's decentralized stablecoin GHO proposal passed with 99.9% of the votes, marking the highest level of participation by Aave community members in decision-making since 2022. Additionally, the founder of Curve revealed plans to launch an over-collateralized stablecoin. Why are these leading DeFi protocols shifting their focus back to stablecoins? Why are stablecoins a battleground for everyone?
3. Bankless: Four Types of Investment Opportunities Under Ethereum's Merge**
The merge may be one of the most significant "catalysts" for the Ethereum network upgrade to date and will impact the network in multiple ways. Are there other investment opportunities for broader investors to leverage Ethereum's merge? Bankless shares four investment strategies to capitalize on Ethereum's merge.