Daily Report | The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has been closely monitoring JPEX since March last year and has launched an investigation into its suspected illegal activities; Vitalik: ZK, ERC-4337, and enterprise-oriented solutions are worth paying attention to
U.S. SEC Chairman: The U.S. government may shut down at the end of this month, severely limiting the SEC's regulatory activities; intent-based crypto infrastructure company Essential completes $5.15 million seed round financing, led by Maven11.整理：bayemon.eth, ChainCatcher
"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"
1. Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission: Has Been Closely Monitoring JPEX Since Last March and Investigating Its Alleged Illegal Activities
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission announced that it has been closely monitoring JPEX since March of this year and is investigating the platform for its alleged false and misleading statements and unlicensed activities. Due to JPEX's continued uncooperative attitude and failure to provide substantial responses to the Commission's requests, JPEX was listed in July 2022 on the Commission's list of unlicensed companies and suspicious websites.
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission confirmed that JPEX has never contacted the Commission regarding a potential license application, and none of the entities under the JPEX Group have been licensed by the Commission, nor have they applied for a license to operate a virtual asset trading platform in Hong Kong. Therefore, there has been no communication between the Commission and JPEX regarding licensing matters. (Source Link)
2. Decentralized Information Market Protocol Freatic Completes $3.6 Million Seed Round Financing, Led by a16z Crypto
According to The Block, the decentralized information market protocol Freatic has completed a $3.6 million seed round financing, led by a16z Crypto, with participation from Anagram, Archetype, Not3Lau Capital, Robot Ventures, and Arweave. Angel investors include Stefano Bernardi, Meltem Demirors, Stephane Gosselin, Jutta Steiner, and MacLane Wilkison.
The company is reportedly building a decentralized protocol that combines the power of blockchain cryptography and game theory to accelerate the flow of real-world information about different markets. (Source Link)
3. PayPal's Venmo Wallet to Launch PYUSD
Payment giant PayPal's social payment platform Venmo will launch PayPal's USD stablecoin PYUSD. PayPal stated in a press release that its ERC-20 stablecoin will be available for purchase in "the coming weeks," allowing users to buy PYUSD through PayPal, Venmo, or compatible external wallets and send it to others.
Previous news indicated that PYUSD is issued by Paxos and is backed by USD deposits, short-term government bonds, and similar cash equivalents. Currently, Coinbase has already launched PayPal's USD stablecoin PYUSD. (Source Link)
4. Optimism: Conducting Private Token Sale of Approximately 116 Million OP Tokens to 7 Buyers
According to an official announcement, Optimism is conducting a private token sale of approximately 116 million OP tokens (about $162.4 million) to seven buyers for fund management purposes. These tokens will have a two-year lock-up period, during which buyers can delegate the tokens to unrelated third parties for governance participation.
Additionally, Optimism stated that these tokens come from the unallocated portion of the OP token treasury and are part of the foundation's original work budget, accounting for 30% of the initial supply; multiple OP transactions will occur starting today to inform the community in advance, all of which are planned transactions. (Source Link)
5. U.S. House Financial Services Committee Approves Bill to Ban CBDC Issuance
The U.S. House Financial Services Committee has approved a bill aimed at obstructing the issuance of central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States, which will be reviewed in the House. The bill aims to prohibit any CBDC pilot projects, ban the Federal Reserve from issuing retail digital currencies that could be used for citizen surveillance, and require government-backed tokens to obtain explicit authorization from Congress before making any progress.
Furthermore, U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry stated, "This bill will ensure that any U.S. CBDC must receive explicit authorization from Congress and protect the privacy of Americans and our financial system from the risks that CBDCs may pose." (Source Link)
6. DefiLlama Founder: friend.tech and Its Forks Store User Keys on the Front End, Making Funds Vulnerable to Theft
DefiLlama founder 0xngmi tweeted that "currently, friend.tech and all its forked versions store users' keys on the front end, making it possible to steal users' keys or all funds through front-end updates. Some people may not store the complete key on the front end, but they have the key in the front-end memory, so they are still vulnerable to supply attacks." (Source Link)
7. Vitalik: ZK, ERC-4337, and Enterprise Solutions Are Worth Watching; Don't Over Pursue Returns at the Expense of Security
Vitalik Buterin stated in a new blog post on Bankless:
The cryptocurrency space needs more imaginative innovations, not just improvements to existing systems, but the creation of a whole new ecosystem where components can complement each other. For example, decentralized social is moving in this direction.
Cryptocurrency can serve as a laboratory to test new mechanisms and ideas, such as new tools for public interest funding and capital allocation. These innovations can permeate the broader world.
Cryptocurrency can fill the gaps left by governments and markets in providing certain public goods, such as anti-aging research. Large-scale experiments can be conducted through community participation.
A balance needs to be found between decentralization and security. The goal is to build an ecosystem where people can earn returns without taking on enormous risks. This requires a shift from a mindset that solely pursues maximum returns.
New technologies like ZK and ERC-4337 create opportunities for newcomers to participate. There are also new tracks worth paying attention to, such as enterprise solutions.
As we enter the next bull market, key points to note: do not over pursue returns at the expense of security; find a balance between decentralization and security; change the mindset of solely pursuing maximum returns. (Source Link)
8. SEC Chairman: U.S. Government May Shut Down by End of Month, Severely Limiting SEC's Regulatory Activities
According to Bloomberg, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stated that due to the potential shutdown of the federal government by the end of the month, the SEC's regulatory activities will be severely limited, and it may not be able to fulfill some basic functions.
However, Gensler downplayed the notion that a shutdown would cause significant market turmoil. He stated, "The treasury market will still operate, and the stock market will continue to trade. It's just that we will lack market overseers."
The U.S. government is facing a shutdown crisis unless Congress reaches an agreement and passes a spending bill before the end of the month. Under Gary Gensler's leadership, the SEC has initiated multiple lawsuits against the cryptocurrency industry this year. (Source Link)
9. Intent-Based Crypto Infrastructure Company Essential Completes $5.15 Million Seed Round Financing, Led by Maven11
According to The Block, intent-focused crypto infrastructure company Essential has completed a $5.15 million seed round financing, led by Maven11, with participation from Robot Ventures, Karatage, Batuhan Dasgin, Skip, James Prestwich, Brandon Curtis, and Eclipse founder Neel Somani.
Essential aims to reshape the cryptocurrency trading supply chain to reduce what it describes as "rent-seeking intermediaries" and benefit users. (Source Link)
10. Zhang Zhilin Assists in JPEX Case Investigation at Hong Kong Police Headquarters Today
According to Sing Tao Daily, after the virtual asset trading platform JPEX was named by the Securities and Futures Commission as operating without a license, the police have arrested at least 11 people so far. Zhang Zhilin went to the Hong Kong Police Headquarters this morning to assist in the investigation and left in the afternoon.
JPEX had invited celebrities or influencers such as Zhang Zhilin, Lin Zuo, and Zhuang Simin to promote it, describing Zhang Zhilin as the "Hong Kong Regional Brand Ambassador."
Zhang Zhilin previously stated through a public relations company that he only recently noticed that his image was used by JPEX, indicating that he had received an invitation to shoot an advertisement earlier, during which JPEX claimed to be registered overseas and provided relevant proof, leading them to arrange a shoot in March 2022. However, in May of the same year, after learning that JPEX was under the regulation of the Securities and Futures Commission, he had notified JPEX in writing that if they could not obtain a license, they could not use his image for promotion, thus reserving the right to pursue further action. (Source Link)
"What Exciting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours"
1. "Eclipse Mainnet: A New L2 Paradigm Combining Solana and Ethereum Technologies"
The beauty of Ethereum lies in its continuous innovation. The rollup-centric roadmap exemplifies this, delegating execution and innovation to the free market. L2 has the incredible ability to leverage Ethereum's network effects and settlement guarantees while experimenting with the best new execution environments. Eclipse Mainnet is a natural realization of this vision.
If one day a higher-performing execution layer emerges, we would be very excited to see it deployed as a competitive Ethereum L2. Until then, SVM remains the standard.
2. "Social Tokenization: How Web3 is Changing Online Social and Business Models?"
Perhaps we have yet to realize that Web3 is business, but rather a novel form composed of new products—tokens. Tokens bundle the concepts of culture and products together. Products are subjects of reflexive narratives that can change form over time. Similarly, conspicuous consumption is fundamentally a means to achieve certain goals (status, happiness, excitement, etc.), and tokens are no different.
Through the simple casino of friend.tech, we have entered a new height of social interaction—transforming online commerce into a more bottom-up attribution culture built around token networks. In my view, this challenges traditional business perspectives and converts the meme premium of tokens into brand purchasing power.
3. "Bankless Conversations with Vitalik: Cryptocurrency Promotes Secondary Distribution in Human Society"
-- Excited about the decentralized social track; Farcaster and Lens are doing well.
-- The great vision of ETH is to truly create an independent open technology stack.
-- Building a user-friendly "slide" for new users is the holy grail of mass adoption.
-- Cryptocurrency can promote secondary distribution in human society, and ETH can exist as a system that facilitates distribution.
-- Asia's contribution to crypto is becoming unprecedentedly large.
-- The AA wallet track seems somewhat saturated; optimistic about builders focusing on security, infrastructure, and enterprise stacks.
-- The most important thing in the next bull market is to achieve a balance between returns and security.
Against the backdrop of rising standards and overcapacity in the global gaming industry, Web3 has become one of the ways for game manufacturers to recover costs due to its high profit margins throughout the entire lifecycle, attracting many web2 teams. However, the supply side of web3 is currently facing overcapacity, and the demand side is experiencing liquidity exhaustion, with drawbacks gradually emerging after two years of development. ```
