Daily Report ｜Reuters: Crypto lending platform Nexo seeks $3 billion in compensation from Bulgaria; Curve founder's lending position may face liquidation risk
Data: Grayscale ETF still holds $20.05 billion in net assets, accounting for about 80% of the total net assets of Bitcoin spot ETFs; Indonesia's total cryptocurrency tax revenue in 2023 is $31.7 million, a decrease of 62% compared to last year.Organizer: Luan Peng, ChainCatcher
"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"
1. Reuters: Crypto Lending Platform Nexo Seeks $3 Billion in Damages from Bulgaria
According to ChainCatcher, Reuters reported that cryptocurrency lending company Nexo is seeking $3 billion in damages from Bulgaria over a halted criminal investigation, claiming that the investigation derailed its plans to go public in the U.S. and a football sponsorship deal. "The investigation tarnished its reputation and undermined shareholder value."
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), based in Washington, is an international arbitration institution that handles disputes between international investors and states. Its website shows that the case was registered on January 18. An ICSID spokesperson could not confirm the amount of damages sought or other details. The Bulgarian Ministry of Finance stated that it has received the arbitration request from the ICSID, which will be reviewed by a specialized interdepartmental committee before proposing next steps. The prosecutor's office is also one of the defendants in the case.
Earlier reports indicated that Bulgarian authorities had dropped a money laundering investigation against Nexo executives. The investigation, which began on September 29, 2022, focused on allegations of involvement in organized crime and unauthorized banking activities through Nexo. Under relevant laws, four Nexo executives were accused of operating an organized crime group from 2018 to January 2023. Additionally, two of them faced charges for conducting unauthorized banking transactions between June 2018 and January 2023, involving lending and deposits in various currencies on the Nexo platform without proper authorization under the Credit Institutions Law (CLI). (Source link)
2. Data: Grayscale ETF Still Holds $20.05 Billion in Net Assets, About 80% of Total Bitcoin Spot ETF Net Assets
According to ChainCatcher, SoSoValue data shows that yesterday (Eastern Time, January 23), the total net outflow from Bitcoin spot ETFs was $105 million, with Grayscale (Grayscale Bitcoin Trust) ETF experiencing a net outflow of $515 million. Other ETFs, excluding Grayscale, had a total net inflow of $410 million, with the highest single-day net inflow being from BlackRock ETF IBIT at $160 million, followed by Fidelity ETF FBTC with a net inflow of $157 million.
Currently, Grayscale (Grayscale Bitcoin Trust) ETF still holds $20.05 billion in net assets, while the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETFs is $25.17 billion. (Source link)
3. Curve Founder’s Loan Position May Face Liquidation Risk
According to ChainCatcher, crypto researcher 0xLoki stated that Curve founder Michael Egorov's CRV debt position is once again facing liquidation risk. He has borrowed over $54 million across six lending platforms, with collateral and remaining wallet assets primarily in Curve. The safety factors for the six debt positions range from 1.28 to 2.29. If the CRV price drops another 23%, to $0.36, liquidation will be triggered.
Among them, the position with the lowest safety factor is Frax Lending, with a current borrowing rate of 35%. If the utilization rate continues to increase, Frax Lending may reopen its high-interest lending mode, accelerating the occurrence of liquidation. In this loan, Michael pledged 39 million CRV and borrowed 17 million Frax, while the CRV trading volume on Binance in the past 24 hours was 10.9 million. (Source link)
4. Indonesia's Total Crypto Tax Revenue in 2023 is $31.7 Million, Down 62% from Last Year
According to ChainCatcher, CoinDesk reported that the Indonesian Ministry of Finance stated that the total tax revenue from cryptocurrencies in 2023 was $31.7 million, a 62% decrease compared to the partial collection period when the tax regime was introduced in May 2022. Cryptocurrency transactions in Indonesia are subject to double taxation: a 0.1% income tax and a 0.11% value-added tax. Additionally, local cryptocurrency exchanges must pay about 0.04% in taxes to the national cryptocurrency exchange. (Source link)
"What Interesting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours"
1. “Review of Emerging Bitcoin L2 Projects Compatible with EVM”
With the launch of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Bitcoin has recently dominated major news headlines, maintaining high popularity, but critics argue that the network has failed to keep pace with innovations in the broader web3 ecosystem.
However, a number of emerging projects are building Bitcoin L2 networks that are compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) smart contracts, extending Bitcoin's utility beyond payments.
L2 networks are built on existing L1 blockchains, leveraging L1 for transaction finality and security. Ethereum's L2 ecosystem has seen rapid growth in recent years, providing low-cost transactions while inheriting the security of the Ethereum mainnet consensus layer. According to L2beat data, the current total value locked (TVL) in Ethereum L2 is $21.1 billion.
Stablecoins are often seen as the "killer application" of cryptocurrencies, playing a crucial role in connecting traditional finance with the digital asset ecosystem. In this field, dollar-backed stablecoins have experienced remarkable adoption over the past few years. Stablecoins facilitate 24/7 value exchange, serving as a store of value, medium of exchange, and providing a key value proposition for economies lacking dollars, especially in emerging markets where people face high inflation, currency devaluation, or limited basic financial services. With the continuous expansion of new issuers, collateral types, and utility, Tether (USDT) has become a dominant force.
As a stablecoin primarily backed by fiat currency, Tether accounts for over 75% of the stablecoin market cap exceeding $120 billion. However, this dominance comes with considerable skepticism, particularly surrounding the transparency of its reserves and the nature of the company managing Tether funds. Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick's recent comments on the legitimacy of its backing may alleviate some concerns. Nevertheless, the immense scale of USDT's influence warrants closer scrutiny.
In this article, we delve into Tether's rise, exploring its main growth avenues, adoption, usage nature, and reserve holdings, gaining a comprehensive understanding of this stablecoin giant through on-chain data.
3. “With the 2024 European Championship Approaching, Will SportFi Concept Assets Rise Again?”
In the current cryptocurrency market, competition across various sectors is intensifying. From artificial intelligence (AI), real-world assets (RWA), DEPIN to GameFi, numerous projects are actively participating and innovating.
Against this backdrop, the Chiliz project stands out with its unique SportFi (sports finance) model, creating its own ecosystem and attracting widespread attention through fan tokens and other products. Particularly during the previous World Cup, related fan tokens showed significant price increases. With the 2024 European Championship approaching, there is anticipation about whether Chiliz will spark a new trend this year. According to CoinGecko data, the total market cap of sports fan tokens in the Chiliz ecosystem has exceeded $300 million, a figure that cannot be ignored.
