Evening News | Blur will raise funds at a valuation of $1 billion; NYDFS states that the issuance of Binance-Peg BUSD is unauthorized
The bankruptcy court approved FTX to sell part of its tokens, stocks, subsidiaries, and other assets; Circle reported to NYDFS that Binance's reserves were insufficient to support BUSD.Organizer: Biscuit, ChainCatcher
"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"
1. Foreign Media: NFT Market Blur to Raise Funds at a Valuation of $1 Billion
Twitter user @tier10k revealed that, according to The Block Pro, the NFT market Blur will raise funds at a valuation of $1 billion. It is reported that Blur's total trading volume has exceeded 750,000 ETH, with nearly 1.6 million transactions. The Blur airdrop will open for claims at 1:00 AM Beijing time on February 15. (Source link)
2. New York Department of Financial Services: Binance-Peg BUSD Issuance Unauthorized and Not Issued by Paxos
The New York Department of Financial Services issued a notice regarding BUSD issued by Paxos, stating that Paxos is a limited-purpose trust company supervised by the New York State Department of Financial Services. It has now ordered Paxos to stop minting BUSD, as there are several unresolved issues regarding its relationship with Binance concerning BUSD.
The New York Department of Financial Services authorized Paxos to issue BUSD on the Ethereum blockchain, but has not authorized Binance-Peg BUSD on any blockchain, and Binance-Peg BUSD is not issued by Paxos.
According to regulatory requirements, all stablecoins issued by regulated entities must be fully backed 1:1 by cash or cash equivalents. These reserves are regularly reviewed through third-party certification and independent internal and external audits. Compliance with the New York Department of Financial Services' stablecoin guidelines and customized regulatory agreements is also part of the review process. (Source link)
3. Bloomberg: Circle Reported to NYDFS That Binance's Reserves Were Insufficient to Support BUSD
Stablecoin issuer Paxos issued a statement saying it has received a Wells Notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but firmly disagrees with the SEC staff's opinion, as BUSD is not a security under federal securities law. The BUSD issued by Paxos has always been backed 1:1 by dollar-denominated reserves, which are fully isolated and held in bankruptcy remote accounts. Paxos stated it will engage with SEC staff on this issue and is prepared to actively litigate if necessary. (Source link)
4. Paxos: Firmly Disagrees with SEC's Opinion and Will Litigate if Necessary
Stablecoin issuer Paxos issued a statement saying it has received a Wells Notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but firmly disagrees with the SEC staff's opinion, as BUSD is not a security under federal securities law. The BUSD issued by Paxos has always been backed 1:1 by dollar-denominated reserves, which are fully isolated and held in bankruptcy remote accounts. Paxos stated it will engage with SEC staff on this issue and is prepared to actively litigate if necessary. (Source link)
5. Bankruptcy Court Approves FTX to Sell Certain Tokens, Stocks, Subsidiaries, and Other Assets
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware has authorized and approved FTX to sell or transfer certain assets with a total sale price of less than or equal to $1 million, including investments held by FTX in private and public trading companies (warrants, tokens and token warrants, stocks, promissory notes, future equity, and future token rights), and also allows FTX to sell or transfer subsidiaries and other related interests, including limited partnership interests in venture capital and other investment funds.
It is reported that FTX's liquidators submitted a motion on January 18, stating that some investors expressed a strong motivation to repurchase FTX interests to facilitate raising additional funds from other investors. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware approved the motion on February 13, authorizing the sale or transfer of certain assets that are "relatively low in value" compared to FTX's total asset base. FTX's initial motion stated that approximately 185 investments were below $1 million. (The Block)
6. BlockFi: Creditors Will Receive Information on Claims Starting Today, April 1 is the Submission Deadline
The bankrupt crypto lending company BlockFi tweeted that starting today, BlockFi customers will receive important information regarding the claims process from BlockFi's claims agent Kroll via mail or email. If users agree with the scheduled claims information and electronic wallet account balance, there is no need to file a claim, and no further action is required at this time. The deadline for submitting claims is 6:00 AM Beijing time on April 1.
According to ChainCatcher's previous report, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey agreed to BlockFi's sale of its crypto mining assets to repay creditors. (Source link)
7. NFT Marketplace Magic Eden to Lay Off 22 Employees and Restructure
Magic Eden, the NFT marketplace, co-founder and CEO Jack Lu tweeted that in 2023, Magic Eden's focus areas include increasing cross-chain appeal, developing services for NFT creators, and exploring new use cases such as rewards and social experiences. The company needs to review its team structure and roles and has decided to lay off 22 employees and restructure the company.
According to ChainCatcher's previous report, on February 2, Magic Eden revised its funding from $27 million last March to $16.9 million. (Source link)
8. BitDAO's New Proposal Plans Budget for Testing and Mainnet Phase One of Its L2 Network Mantle
The BitDAO community initiated a proposal on Snapshot, proposing to plan a one-year budget for the previously launched Ethereum Layer 2 network Mantle, with 6 months of operating costs for the testnet set at 10 million BIT and 14 million USDC.
The budget allocation for Mantle's mainnet phase one (first year) is: 145 million BIT and 34 million USDC for the first year's mainnet operating expenses; 15,000 ETH for Ethereum Layer 1 gas fees (which will be offset by BIT transaction fees received on the Mantle Network); and a loan of 30 million BIT and $60 million equivalent in primary assets (these assets belong to BitDAO and can be tracked on-chain) to fund the specification bridge and node delegation. The voting deadline for this proposal is February 20 at 10:00 PM.
It is reported that in January, BitDAO's modular Ethereum Layer 2 network Mantle Network announced the launch of its testnet. Mantle obtains security from Ethereum through Rollups and is building a separate data availability layer in partnership with EigenLayer. (Source link)
9. "Rollup as a Service" Platform Caldera Raises $9 Million, Led by Sequoia and Dragonfly
Web3 infrastructure provider and "Rollup as a Service" platform Caldera announced that it has raised $9 million in two funding rounds, led by Shaun Maguire of Sequoia Capital and Ani Pai of Dragonfly, with participation from Neo, 1kx, Ethereal Ventures, and other angel investors. The funds will be used for hiring, partnerships, and integration.
Caldera allows anyone to launch and run dedicated, high-performance second-layer blockchain Rollups and operate lightweight, highly customizable blockchains while sharing Ethereum's security. By providing each application with its own "application Rollup," Caldera offers dedicated channels for application transactions, fundamentally reducing transaction costs and enabling projects to mitigate the risks of fee spikes and network disruptions. (Source link)
"What Exciting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours"
On February 14, the New York State Department of Financial Services ordered the crypto financial institution Paxos Trust Co. to stop issuing more BUSD Tokens, marking the end of the reign of a once top-three stablecoin giant. This "Libra heir," backed by the world's largest exchange, went from zero to billions in just four years, and then rushed onto the competitive stage of stablecoins amid rumors. Let’s take a look back at the rise and fall of this "stronghold in the crypto world."
Packman is the founder of Blur, who worked as a software engineer in Silicon Valley eight years ago and started his first venture in 2016. He shared Blur's advantages and recent NFT projects of interest at an event themed "Blur's Token Launch is Imminent, What NFTFi Segments Are Worth Watching?"
3. "Will the SEC's Settlement with Kraken Reshape the Ethereum Staking Landscape?"
The settlement between Kraken and the SEC could be bad news for many staking products, which allow users to stake with lower upfront costs or technical knowledge than usually required. Currently, there is approximately $25 billion worth of Ether staked on Ethereum, with 18% of the stake held by Coinbase and Kraken—two of the largest platforms offering staking services.
