Daily Report ｜The U.S. Treasury Department designates "mixers" as major money laundering threats to national security; ConsenSys founder sued by over 20 former employees for depriving stock reward value

Organizer: Grapefruit, ChainCatcher

What important events have occurred in the past 24 hours?

1. DeFiance Capital Founder: Crypto hedge funds have at least $5 billion in liquid capital to deploy in the market, potentially driving the recent surge.

According to ChainCatcher, Arthur Cheong, founder and CEO of DeFiance Capital, stated on his social media platform that many are surprised by the strength of this rebound, but in such a low liquidity environment, most movements are primarily position-driven.

According to the latest VisionTrack Galaxy institutional cryptocurrency hedge fund and risk report, the total AUM of cryptocurrency hedge funds is $10 billion. Conversations with many peers indicate that most funds have long positions of about 50% or less, meaning there is at least $5 billion in liquid capital that can be deployed in the cryptocurrency space in a short time, which may be the reason for the recent rise.

In the medium term, it remains to be seen how the market will absorb over $5 billion in structural sell-off flows from FTX, Celsius bankruptcy assets, Bitcoin miners, U.S. government sell-offs, and potential Mt. Gox distributions. (Source link)

2. Bitcoin breaks $30,000

According to ChainCatcher, Bitcoin has broken $30,000, currently priced at $29,897, with a 24-hour increase of 5.5%. (Source link)

3. Axie Infinity will unlock 15.13 million AXS tonight, worth $63.5 million

According to ChainCatcher, Token Unlock reports that at 21:10 tonight, Axie Infinity will unlock 15.13 million AXS, worth approximately $63.5 million, accounting for about 11.5% of the circulating supply. (Source link)

4. Wall Street Journal: U.S. Treasury designates "mixers" as major money laundering threats to national security

According to ChainCatcher, the WSJ reports that the Biden administration has designated international cryptocurrency platforms commonly known as "mixers" as major money laundering threats to national security.

The U.S. Treasury has proposed an unprecedented measure using laws typically aimed at foreign banks and jurisdictions, requiring special record-keeping and reporting for any financial transactions involving international mixers. This approach, which could target an entire category of transactions, is a significant regulatory measure aimed at shaping the future of the global financial system.

The proposal comes in the context of increasing pressure from Congress on the role of cryptocurrencies in funding radical organizations following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced the proposed new regulations on Thursday, which will be open for public comment for 90 days before potentially being adopted. The proposed regulations allow for remedial actions against targets. (Source link)

5. Billionaire and top Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel reportedly became an FBI informant as early as 2021

According to ChainCatcher, Business Insider reports that billionaire and top Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel began providing information to Johnathan Buma, an FBI agent based in Los Angeles investigating political corruption and foreign influence activities, as a "Confidential Human Source" (CHS) in the summer of 2021.

Thiel's long-time partner Charles Johnson stated in a statement that he introduced Thiel to Buma, helping to recruit the billionaire as an FBI informant. A source familiar with Thiel's relationship with the FBI confirmed Johnson's account. Insider corroborated through another source that the FBI has added Thiel to its official registered informant list.

In addition to being a billionaire, top Silicon Valley investor, major donor to Trump, and co-founder of PayPal, Thiel is also a supporter of cryptocurrencies. According to crypto data platform RootData, Peter Thiel was also involved in founding the venture capital fund Valar Ventures, which has invested in several crypto companies, including the cryptocurrency exchange Bitpanda and the crypto lending platform Vauld. (Source link)

6. Bloomberg: ConsenSys founder sued by over 20 former employees, accused of depriving stock rewards

According to ChainCatcher, Bloomberg reports that over 20 former employees of ConsenSys, the parent company of MetaMask, have sued founder Joseph Lubin (also a co-founder of Ethereum) for depriving employees of stock rewards. These former employees worked in the early version of ConsenSys in 2014 and accepted lower salaries in exchange for promised equity in the company. Joseph Lubin ultimately allocated 30% of the holding company's shares to employees, with the suing former employees holding about 9% of the shares. In 2020, Joseph Lubin arranged for these assets (including some crypto tools developed by the suing software engineers and product designers) to be transferred to a new U.S. company, rendering the shares held by some of his earliest employees nearly worthless.

According to crypto data platform RootData, ConsenSys has raised over $700 million from investors, with a valuation exceeding $7 billion. (Source link)

7. Andre Cronje: The crypto winter is far from over

According to ChainCatcher, Andre Cronje, a director at the Fantom Foundation, stated that the cryptocurrency market is closely related to the overall macro market, and various factors indicate that the macroeconomic environment is far from bullish. Cronje said, "Look at the real estate market; it is just starting to slow down, the bubble has not yet burst, and the economic recession has not even fully begun. Purely from the perspective of investor value, the crypto winter is far from over." (Source link)

"What are some interesting articles worth reading in the past 24 hours?"

1. "How Friend.tech Turns Social into a New Generation of 'Online Luxury'?"

Essentially, users spending money on creators is an investment behavior. This spending is merely consumption behavior on Web2 platforms like Patreon or OnlyFans.

2. "Known as the Crypto 'Cash Cow,' how much did the simple work of sequencers take from us?"

In addition to the DApps we are familiar with in the Ethereum ecosystem, there are many tools and services that quietly extract value, "making a fortune in silence." With the increase of Ethereum L2s, the profitability of some L2s has gradually become known, leading to increased attention on the concept of sequencers.

Sequencers, as the name suggests, sort the transactions submitted by everyone while extracting some fees from them. So the question arises: many have raised concerns about centralized sequencers, so how does this "making a fortune in silence" tool actually operate? What does the future hold?

3. "A Brief Discussion on Crypto Traffic Entrances: Telegram, Discord, and PWA"

Telegram, which has the potential to become a crypto traffic entrance, has already gained much attention. This article will summarize crypto-related applications in Telegram and analyze their advantages and areas for improvement. Additionally, it will analyze why Discord has the opportunity to become a traffic entrance and the reasons for its lack of success, as well as the potential of browsers (PWA) as traffic entrances, with the main content including: