Evening News ｜ Binance.US's weekly trading volume hit a record high last week; cross-chain bridge aggregator LI.FI completed a $17.5 million financing
Hardware wallet Ledger completes €100 million financing; Sun Yuchen is reported to have lost his Grenadian diplomatic status.整理：flowie，ChainCatcher
"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"
1. Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Xuan Changneng: Cryptocurrencies Have Not Solved the Problems of Fiat Currency and Carry Many Risks
Xuan Changneng, Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China, stated at the Boao Forum for Asia 2023 Annual Conference's roundtable on "Financial Infrastructure and Financial Services in the Digital Age" that it is necessary to accelerate the improvement of regulatory mechanisms that are compatible with the digital economy, as regulatory gaps can exacerbate irrational market behavior.
Xuan pointed out that, taking cryptocurrencies as an example, since the outbreak of the international financial crisis, major developed economies have implemented ultra-loose monetary policies for a long time, with large-scale quantitative easing (QE), leading market participants to worry about the devaluation of fiat currency assets, which sparked the Occupy Wall Street movement in the U.S. In this context, cryptocurrencies, based on blockchain technology, emphasize their decentralized and algorithmic properties, attempting to counter fiat currency, and have gained popularity in a liquidity-rich environment.
"However, from the current operational perspective, cryptocurrencies that emphasize decentralization, especially those created out of thin air, have not solved the problems associated with fiat currency. Moreover, the trading of cryptocurrencies involves exchanges with fiat currencies, leveraged trading, etc., which are largely controlled by trading platforms, issuers, or traders and market makers. Therefore, this is itself a very centralized process, hiding many risks." Xuan pointed out that this field lacks effective regulation, leading to frequent occurrences of market manipulation, fraud, abuse of related transactions, misappropriation of client assets, or mixing client assets with proprietary assets. Recently, some platforms like FTX and Binance have faced investigations by regulatory authorities in the U.S. Particularly with FTX, the deeper people dig, the more they feel it is simply a fraud, as its past external promotions misled many investors.
Xuan noted that in recent years, stablecoins pegged to fiat currencies, gold, and government bonds have emerged, partially addressing the issue of cryptocurrency value instability, and facilitating exchanges and cross-border payments, which have been welcomed by the market to some extent. However, there are also risks common to trading platform fraud and illegal trading activities, especially for cryptocurrencies created out of thin air. (Source link)
2. Hardware Wallet Ledger Completes €100 Million Financing at a Valuation of €1.3 Billion
Hardware wallet Ledger has completed €100 million ($109 million) in financing, with this round valuing the company at €1.3 billion. New investors True Global Ventures, Cité Gestion SPV, Digital Finance Group, and VaynerFund, along with existing investors 10T, Cap Horn, Morgan Creek, and Cathay Innovation participated. Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE acted as the exclusive placement agent, and Jones Day served as legal advisor. (Source link)
3. Cross-Chain Bridge Aggregator LI.FI Completes $17.5 Million Series A Financing Led by CoinFund and Superscrypt
Cross-chain bridge aggregator LI.FI announced the completion of $17.5 million in Series A financing, co-led by CoinFund and Superscrypt, with participation from Bloccelerate, L1 Digital, Circle, Factor, Perridon, Theta Capital, Three Point Capital, Abra, and nearly 20 angel investors.
It is reported that the new funds raised in this round will be used to promote LI.FI's development in more areas such as blockchains, DEXs, and cross-chain bridges, while strengthening its sales, business development, marketing, and other capabilities to support token and order flow trading. (Source link)
4. zkSync Articulates Decentralization Vision: Including Sequencers, ZK Provers, zkPorter, Community Governance, and zkSync Era
zkSync tweeted that its vision for decentralization is clear, with sequencers, ZK provers, zkPorter, community governance, and all other key components of the zkSync Era network to be decentralized after the core virtual machine and provers are consolidated and stabilized.
Previously, according to The Block, Matter Labs CEO Alex Gluchowski stated that once they want to decentralize the sequencer, they will need tokens, and the sequencer will be decentralized in about a year. (Source link)
5. Foreign Media: Tron Founder Justin Sun Has Lost Diplomatic Status
According to Grenada Broadcasting Network, Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun is no longer a diplomat of Grenada. At some point after the elections held in June 2022, he was stripped of his ambassador status due to the new National Party that granted him the position being dismissed by the National Democratic Congress.
It is reported that officials from Grenada's Office of Foreign Affairs and the Government Information Service did not respond to this. (Source link)
6. Data: USDC Stablecoin Market Cap Dropped by About $10 Billion to $32.5 Billion in the Past Two Weeks
The market cap of the USDC stablecoin has dropped by about $10 billion in the past two weeks, from $42.5 billion to $32.5 billion. Steven Zheng, research director at The Block, stated, "The events in early March have damaged cryptocurrency investors' and traders' trust in the reliability of stablecoins, even though Circle has provided full redemptions for USDC without delays." (Source link)
7. Blockchain Customer Reward Platform apM Coin Receives $5 Million Investment from DWF Labs
Blockchain customer reward platform apM Coin announced that it has received a $5 million investment and a $1.5 million optional cooperation contract from DWF Labs. apM Coin stated that through the investment and cooperation with DWF Labs, they will jointly develop and expand the inter-chain payment solutions of the apM Coin Project.
It is reported that apM Coin has partnered with apM Group, the largest B2B clothing wholesaler in South Korea, and the apM Members mobile application has introduced three shopping centers. In addition, the apM NFT e-Voucher service has been launched, which can be purchased in-app and used in the clothing wholesale market. (Source link)
8. Zhao Changpeng: Binance.US Achieved Record Weekly Trading Volume Last Week
Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng shared public data indicating that Binance.US (excluding Binance) reached a weekly trading volume of 41% of Coinbase (Global) last week, setting a new record. (Source link)
"What Interesting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours"
MetaMask officially announced support for EIP-4361 last week, and many friends are confused about this protocol. On the surface, it does not seem much different from ordinary signatures. This article provides an interpretation, emphasizing that while EIP-4361 itself is relatively minor, the areas it can imply are vast.
EIP-4361 is not a significant event like account abstraction or the Shanghai upgrade; rather, it aims to establish a standardized industry norm. This article analyzes the EIP-4361 protocol and the transformation of account systems from Web2 to Web3.
Whether from the strong cyclical nature of the market itself or from the supply and demand sides of fixed income products, there currently seems to be no development soil similar to that of traditional bond markets. What kind of bond market might be more suitable for the development of the crypto industry? This article provides a brief analysis and forecast.
