Evening News | Binance may pay fines to resolve U.S. regulatory investigation; Hong Kong issues first batch of tokenized green bonds

整理：润升，ChainCatcher

"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"

1. Coinbase CEO: The U.S. Should Clarify Crypto Legislation, Hong Kong and Europe Are Leading

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong cited the news that "Hong Kong will officially open crypto trading to all citizens in June this year" on Twitter, stating that the U.S. may lose its long-standing status as a financial center due to the lack of clear regulations and a harsh regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies. Brian urged the U.S. Congress to take action as soon as possible to clarify legislation. He pointed out that the EU, the UK, and Hong Kong are currently leading in terms of openness to crypto. (Source link)

2. Binance CSO: Binance Expects to Pay Fines to Resolve U.S. Investigations

Binance Chief Strategy Officer Patrick Hillmann stated in an interview that the company expects to pay fines to resolve ongoing investigations by U.S. regulatory and law enforcement agencies regarding its business.

Patrick Hillmann mentioned that Binance has grown rapidly, initially as a company driven by software engineers who were unfamiliar with the laws and regulations designed to address bribery and corruption, money laundering, and economic sanctions risks. Hillmann noted that Binance has been working to fill gaps in early compliance efforts but still expects regulators to impose fines for past actions. (Wall Street Journal)

3. Hong Kong SAR Government Issues First Batch of Tokenized Green Bonds

The Hong Kong SAR government announced today the successful issuance of HKD 800 million in tokenized green bonds under the government green bond program. This is one of the world's first tokenized green bonds issued by a government.

The 1-year HKD 2 tokenized green bond was priced yesterday with a yield of 4.05%. This issuance is on a private blockchain network, with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's (HKMA) Central Moneymarkets Unit (CMU) serving as the settlement and delivery system for the bonds, and the platform being Goldman Sachs' tokenized platform GS DAPTM.

According to previous news from ChainCatcher, Goldman Sachs' new emerging digital asset platform GS DAP has officially launched. The platform is developed based on the Daml smart contract language and the privacy blockchain Canton, ensuring that digital assets share data only with qualified stakeholders through its privacy protocol while supporting the scalability needed for globally connected assets. (Source link)

4. Xu Mingxing: New OKB Chain to Launch in Q1, Independent from Existing OKC

OKX's Xu Mingxing tweeted that the new OKB Chain will launch in the first quarter, independent from the existing OKX Chain (OKC), starting to build a decentralized ecosystem for OKB. "It should be noted that OKX Chain (OKC) is a fully open community-built PoS chain, while OKB Chain is developed and operated by OKX, and the two chains are completely separate." (Source link)

5. U.S. SEC Votes to Tighten Crypto Custody Requirements

According to WSJ, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted 4 to 1 to approve a proposal that will expand the types of assets that investment advisers, such as hedge funds and pension funds, must hold with qualified custodians.

The proposal will also introduce new requirements for qualified custodians and notes that certain characteristics of cryptocurrencies may make compliance with the rules difficult, limiting how asset management companies handle client crypto assets, but will not impose new requirements on individual investors managing their own portfolios. (Source link)

6. Crypto Index Startup Alongside Raises $11 Million, Led by a16z

According to TechCrunch, the crypto index platform Alongside has completed an $11 million funding round, led by a16z, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Franklin Templeton Investments, Village Global, Not Boring Capital, and several angel investors.

In January, the startup launched its first product, the Alongside Crypto Market Index (AMKT), allowing users to gain broad exposure to the entire crypto asset market through a single token. (Source link)

7. SBF Requests Confidentiality for Two Bail Signers Who Are Stanford Scholars

According to The Block, a U.S. federal judge in Manhattan approved a motion to disclose the identities of SBF's two additional bail signers, who are Stanford Law School Dean Emeritus Larry Kramer and Stanford University Senior Research Scientist Andreas Paepcke. They signed bonds of $500,000 and $250,000, respectively, and participated in SBF's bail alongside SBF's parents last December, with Larry Kramer stating he decided to co-sign SBF's bail "in a personal capacity" and noted he has no commercial interest in the case.

Earlier reports indicated that at the beginning of this year, SBF requested the judge to keep the identities of the two individuals helping him with bail confidential; SBF was released on a $250 million bail last December. (Source link)

"What Interesting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours"

1. "U.S. Regulation Tightens Again, What Does the Newly Passed Custody Rule Mean for Crypto Institutions?"

On February 15, local time, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted 4 to 1 to approve a proposal regarding "Proposed Rules Regarding Investment Adviser Custody," which will expand the types of assets that investment advisers, such as hedge funds and pension funds, must hold with qualified custodians, aiming to raise the threshold for improper use and abuse of user assets by investment advisers. It is reported that after the SEC commissioners voted to approve this proposal, the SEC will also publicly solicit public opinions and then conduct another vote a few months later before finalizing it. What potential impacts does this proposal have on crypto custody institutions?

2. "FTX Investors Sue Sequoia, Paradigm; Should VC Investors Bear Legal Responsibility for Investment Failures?"

Recently, FTX investors have filed a lawsuit against venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital and Paradigm, claiming that the substantial investments made by these firms portrayed FTX as a trustworthy and legitimate cryptocurrency exchange. Investors accuse the investment firms of violating state and federal laws, including false statements, false advertising, and civil conspiracy. The collapse of FTX has not only dealt a heavy blow to the cryptocurrency industry but has also brought more adverse effects to the already impacted venture capital industry. Should venture capital firms bear more responsibility for investment failures in the face of legal accusations?

3. "Zhao Changpeng's Latest Responses on BUSD, Circle, U.S. Regulation, and More"

This article summarizes the questions answered by Zhao Changpeng during a Twitter AMA on February 14, covering topics such as BUSD, BUSD alternatives, and Circle. Zhao Changpeng explained that BUSD is not issued by Binance; it carries the Binance brand but is not created or operated by Binance. Although the minting of new BUSD tokens has stopped, the existing supply of BUSD in circulation is safe. If one looks at the notice from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), they will see that it specifically instructed Paxos to ensure that BUSD maintains a 1:1 peg and that customers can redeem it in an orderly manner.