Daily Report ｜ On February 23, the BitForex exchange's hot wallet experienced a capital outflow of 56 million USD, and user withdrawal requests were hindered; Wang Feng: will transfer all shares held in Element to Blueport Interactive, and will no longer hold any equity in Crypto projects
Montenegro High Court: The decision to extradite Do Kwon to the United States may be overturned again by the appellate court; the U.S. SEC has sought public comments on options trading for Bitwise and Grayscale's spot Bitcoin ETFs.Organizer: Luan Peng, ChainCatcher
"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"
1. Exchange BitForex's hot wallet experienced a $56 million outflow on February 23, user withdrawal requests blocked
According to ChainCatcher, on-chain detective ZachXBT reported that the cryptocurrency exchange Bitforex's hot wallet saw an outflow of approximately $56.5 million on February 23. Shortly after the outflow, user withdrawal requests were suspended, and the exchange has not issued any official announcement to date. Users are currently trying to contact the Bitforex team through social media for answers.
It is reported that a month ago, Bitforex's CEO announced his resignation. Bitforex holds 18% of TRB's supply and 7% of OMI's supply. (Source link)
2. Montenegro High Court: The decision to extradite Do Kwon to the U.S. may be overturned again by the appellate court
According to ChainCatcher, Digital Asset reported that the High Court in Podgorica, Montenegro's capital, stated, "The decision to extradite Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon to the U.S. may be overturned again."
Marija Rakovic, a public information officer at the Podgorica High Court, said, "The appellate court has overturned the High Court's extradition decision twice. If Do Kwon appeals the recent extradition decision, the appellate court may again overturn the High Court's decision to extradite him to the U.S." He added, "We do not intend to predict the appellate court's ruling, but rather (in principle) indicate our position on this possibility." (Source link)
3. Wang Feng: Will transfer all shares held in Element to Blueport Interactive, no longer holding any equity in Crypto projects personally
According to ChainCatcher, Wang Feng, founder of Blueport Interactive, tweeted, "I will transfer all my shares in Element to the Hong Kong-listed company Blueport Interactive Group Limited free of charge, making Element part of a listed company holding quality assets. I also announce that I will no longer personally hold any equity in Crypto projects; all my investment paths will be through assets under Blueport Interactive." (Source link)
4. U.S. SEC has sought public opinion on options trading for Bitwise and Grayscale's spot Bitcoin ETFs
According to ChainCatcher, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) proposed a rule change to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to modify rules allowing options trading for Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITC), Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), and any trust holding Bitcoin. If the rule change is approved, options will be traded in the same manner as options for other ETFs on the exchange (including commodity ETFs). The U.S. SEC has currently sought public opinion on options trading for Bitwise and Grayscale's spot Bitcoin ETFs. (Source link)
"What Exciting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours"
1. “Bitcoin ETF Approved for 40 Days, How Much Capital Has Entered?”
On January 11, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally approved the application for Bitcoin ETFs, with 11 Bitcoin ETFs listed. The entire crypto circle welcomed a new surge with this news, as Bitcoin's price gradually rebounded after briefly dropping from $49,000 to $38,500, successfully breaking through the $53,000 mark. So, is the Bitcoin ETF really becoming the biggest positive driving force for this round of bull market in the entire crypto market? PANews conducted a comprehensive review of the dynamics of Bitcoin ETFs during this period, exploring how much capital has entered Bitcoin in the world of Bitcoin ETFs over the past 40 days.
Romance scams, also known as "pig butchering," involve scammers "fattening up" victims to extract maximum possible value. This is a problem closely related to cryptocurrency and is becoming increasingly severe. Scammers first establish a relationship with victims (usually a romantic one), often by pretending to send a wrong number or connecting through dating apps. As the relationship deepens, the scammer ultimately lures the victim to invest money (cryptocurrency or fiat currency) in a fake investment opportunity and continues to entice them to invest until they eventually cut off contact.
According to incomplete statistics from RootData, during the period from February 19 to February 25, 2024, there were a total of 31 public financing events in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry, raising approximately $238 million.
From the distribution of sectors, the projects that received financing were mainly in the infrastructure and DeFi sectors, completing 10 and 11 financing rounds, respectively. The liquidity re-staking sector remains hot, with EigenLayer receiving $100 million in funding from a16z; Binance Labs announced an investment in Renzo. Other popular projects include execution layer system AltLayer, communication infrastructure Beoble, metaverse Matr1x, and Web3 streaming payment protocol Superfluid, among others.
Additionally, according to incomplete statistics from ChainCatcher, from the end of October 2023 to the end of January 2024, at least more than 11 Bitcoin mining companies announced that they had raised funds, totaling over $700 million. Furthermore, some mining companies are still actively seeking funding; Marathon Digital submitted an S-3 form to the SEC, planning to raise up to $750 million through a mixed equity offering. In three months, the planned financing exceeds $1.5 billion, as Bitcoin mining companies prepare ammunition for the upcoming halving.
