This Week's Key News Preview | The London Stock Exchange will launch cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund trading; SEC approves the listing and trading of Bitcoin spot ETF options; OKX will stop providing centralized trading services for Hong Kong users
Highlights of the week from May 27 to June 2.Organizer: Fairy, ChainCatcher
Key News:
- London Stock Exchange launches cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETN) trading
- Former FTX executive Ryan Salame to be sentenced
- LayerZero plans to reopen the witch bounty task
- U.S. SEC delays decision on Bitcoin spot ETF options listing and trading until May 29
- Coinbase International announces launch of Bonk, FLOKI, and Shiba Inu perpetual contracts
- BlockFi web platform will shut down on June 1
- U.S. House of Representatives to vote on crypto regulations and anti-CBDC legislation
- OKX withdraws Hong Kong VASP license application, ceases centralized trading services for Hong Kong users from May 31
- Dogechain Wallet will shut down on June 1
May 27 (Monday)
Neo (NEO) network upgrade and hard fork
Binance announced that starting from May 27, 2024, 05:00 (UTC), it will suspend deposits and withdrawals of tokens on the Neo (NEO) network to support its network upgrade and hard fork, ensuring the best user experience. The Neo network upgrade and hard fork will occur at block height 5,450,000.
Baidu's AI assistant "Xiao Du" launches the world's first Baidu Wenxin large model learning machine
Baidu's AI assistant "Xiao Du" will launch the world's first Baidu Wenxin large model learning machine on May 27.
Sei V2 mainnet upgrade will take place on May 27
Sei announced that it has voted to upgrade to V2 version through Proposal 55, and the Sei V2 mainnet upgrade will take place on May 27.
Memeland: MON staking platform will go live during TGE on May 27, stakers can earn MEME and other tokens
Memeland announced on the X platform that a new farming task regarding MON Protocol (MON) is now live on Stakeland. The MON staking platform will go live during TGE on May 27. MON stakers will receive MEME and other partner tokens.
Helius CEO: Solana v1.18 version expected to be released on May 27
Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz stated on the X platform that assuming everything goes smoothly, the Solana mainnet v1.18 version (to address current congestion issues) is planned to be released on May 27.
Bitlayer collaborates with Lorenzo and six other ecosystem projects for a joint mining festival
Bitcoin-native Layer 2 network Bitlayer announced a joint Mining Gala festival with Lorenzo, Bitsmiley, Avalon, Bitcow, Pell, Enzo, and Bitparty. The first mining festival will run from May 27 to June 10, with rewards consisting of exclusive airdrops and developer airdrops from the seven projects in the Bitlayer Dapp leaderboard competition. The projects will provide users with project token airdrops worth over $23.24 million, with most tokens expected to complete TGE within 1-2 months.
Dora Factory's second Dora Vota incentive testnet launched
Dora Factory's second Dora Vota incentive testnet launched on May 27, with the application deadline for validators set for May 24.
May 28 (Tuesday)
London Stock Exchange launches cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETN) trading
According to market news, the London Stock Exchange confirmed that it will launch trading of Bitcoin and Ethereum cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETN) on May 28, 2024.
Binance futures will stop supporting XRP and TUSD in the joint margin model
Starting from May 28, 2024, 14:00 (UTC+8), Binance futures will stop supporting XRP and TUSD as joint margin assets. After this time, any remaining XRP and TUSD balances in the USDT futures wallet will be automatically converted to USDT at the following ratio, with the conversion process taking approximately 24 hours.
Former FTX executive Ryan Salame to be sentenced
According to Bloomberg, U.S. prosecutors stated that former FTX executive Ryan Salame should be sentenced to 5 to 7 years in prison. Salame will be sentenced on May 28, while core members opposing SBF—Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, and Gary Wang—have not yet been sentenced.
Stargate V2 version will launch on May 28
Stargate's official account announced on the X platform that the V2 version will launch on May 28.
Blast will support upgraded blobs on May 28, Beijing time
Blast announced on X that it will support upgraded blobs at 2 PM Pacific Time on May 27 (5:00 AM Beijing time on May 28). After the upgrade, users will pay lower gas fees, while Dapps will earn more gas fee revenue. Infrastructure providers should upgrade to the latest Blast node supporting 4844.
LayerZero plans to reopen the witch bounty task
LayerZero Labs plans to reopen the witch bounty task submissions on Commonwealth, requiring submitters to pay a 0.5 ETH deposit. Only addresses that have paid the deposit will be eligible to submit reports. The deposit will be refunded after TGE, but if the report is found to be fraudulent, plagiarized, lacking methodology, or spam, the deposit will be forfeited.
The specific schedule is as follows: deposits can be paid to the designated address starting from May 25 at 10 AM, the report submission period will reopen for 48 hours starting from May 28 at 8 AM, and the submission and deposit payment will end on May 30 at 8 AM.
Chain game Illuvium's Open Beta testnet expected to open
Chain game Illuvium released a new roadmap and details for Private Beta 4. Users can test, find bugs, and earn airdrop points through Private Beta 4 and the public testnet. The specific timeline is as follows: pre-registration starts on April 15, 2024. Early participation will accumulate airdrop points. PB4 frenzy period: April 30 to May 28, a selected team will fully test the network. The public test version testnet will open from May 28 via the Epic Games launcher.
May 29 (Wednesday)
BNB Greenfield mainnet Serengeti hard fork scheduled for May 29
According to official news from BNB Chain, the BNB Greenfield network is about to undergo the Erdos hard fork, with key timing being: the mainnet Serengeti hard fork is planned to occur at block height 7,861,456, expected to happen at 07:00 UTC on May 29 based on current block intervals.
Binance futures will lower the automatic exchange threshold for multi-asset mode starting May 29
Binance announced that starting from May 29, 2024, 16:30 (UTC+8), the automatic exchange threshold for USDT and USDC multi-asset mode for regular users and VIP 1 users will be lowered to -5,000 USDT and -5,000 USDC.
Binance will launch USDC/TRY spot trading pair
According to the official announcement, Binance will launch the USDC/TRY spot trading pair on May 29, 2024, at 08:00 (UTC+8), and will enable spot algorithm order trading bot services.
Binance will release Cristiano Ronaldo's latest NFT collection on May 29
Binance announced that it will release the latest NFT collection of international football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo on May 29, with each NFT serving as a digital memento of Ronaldo's profound impact on world football. This NFT collection is exclusively issued by Binance, with specific NFT quantities and prices to be announced on the release date, May 29.
U.S. SEC delays decision on Bitcoin spot ETF options listing and trading until May 29
According to The Block Pro, the U.S. SEC has delayed its decision on the listing and trading of Bitcoin spot ETF options until May 29.
UK consultation deadline for implementing OECD crypto reporting framework
Following its spring budget speech, the UK has launched a consultation on its plans to implement the OECD crypto reporting framework. The UK Treasury predicts that implementing the crypto reporting framework could attract £35 million ($45 million) between 2026 and 2027, and £95 million in 2027 to 2028. The OECD framework is a new standard addressing tax compliance issues and an update to the existing offshore account framework, aimed at ensuring the exchange of relevant cryptocurrency transaction information across jurisdictions. The rules will take effect in 2026. The budget states: "The government is also implementing international standards to close the tax transparency gap that has emerged due to recent developments in fintech and the global crypto asset market." The consultation will end on May 29.
Stargate community "potential LayerZero token distribution" RFP proposal voting deadline
The cross-chain bridge Stargate community has initiated a voting proposal for "potential LayerZero token distribution." The proposal includes distributing potential LayerZero token rewards from Stargate DAO to cross-chain users, liquidity providers, and STG stakers. Of the tokens, 60% will be allocated to cross-chain users (42% for existing cross-chain users, 18% reserved for partner protocols in the nested RFP process), 20% to veSTG holders, 10% to LP providers, and 10% allocated to developers based on LayerZero recommendations. Currently, the proposal has received 93.01% approval votes and 6.99% opposition votes, with voting ending on May 29.
May 30 (Thursday)
VAEX will prohibit trading for Hong Kong users starting May 30
According to Ming Pao, the virtual asset trading platform VAEX plans to prohibit trading for Hong Kong users starting at 10 AM on May 30. Previous news indicated that VAEX's application for a virtual asset trading platform license in Hong Kong was withdrawn on May 24.
Coinbase International announces launch of Bonk, FLOKI, and Shiba Inu perpetual contracts
Coinbase International announced on the X platform that it will add support for Bonk, FLOKI, and Shiba Inu perpetual contracts on Coinbase International Exchange and Coinbase Advanced. The 1000BONK-PERP, 1000FLOKI-PERP, and 1000SHIB-PERP markets will open on May 30, 2024, at 9:30 AM UTC or later.
May 31 (Friday)
IBEX Pay will suspend all services in the U.S. starting May 31
Bitcoin Lightning Network payment service IBEX Pay announced on the X platform that after careful consideration, it has decided to suspend all IBEX Pay services in the U.S. starting May 31, 2024.
OKX withdraws Hong Kong VASP license application, ceases centralized trading services for Hong Kong users from May 31
Cryptocurrency exchange OKX announced that after careful consideration of business development prospects, it has decided to withdraw its virtual asset service provider (VASP) license application for OKX HK. Starting from May 31, 2024, OKX will cease to provide centralized virtual asset trading services to Hong Kong users as required by regulations, but withdrawal services will not be affected. After May 31, OKX will only support withdrawals for Hong Kong users. Meanwhile, OKX Web3 (self-custody wallet) product services will continue to be available for Hong Kong users.
Hong Kong SFC: Virtual asset trading platforms that did not submit license applications before February 29 must cease operations in Hong Kong by May 31
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission reminds investors to check the regulatory status of virtual asset trading platforms before March 1, 2024, as per the transitional arrangements of the SFC's regulatory regime for virtual asset trading platforms. Platforms operating in Hong Kong that did not submit license applications to the SFC by February 29, 2024, must cease operations in Hong Kong by May 31, 2024.
Backpack past event reward claim deadline is May 31 at 8 PM
Backpack announced on the X platform that the deadline for claiming past event rewards will be noon UTC on May 31 (8 PM Beijing time).
If users have received rewards in previous events but have not claimed them, please go to the Backpack Exchange in Questlog to claim.
Privacy project Ternoa zkEVM testnet planned for launch on May 31
Privacy project Ternoa, based on Ethereum and Substrate, announced on the X platform that its zkEVM testnet is planned for launch on May 31. Ternoa is supported by TEE co-processors and Polygon CDK, utilizing Avail for cross-chain compatibility.
June 1 (Saturday)
BlockFi web platform will shut down on June 1
BlockFi announced on the X platform that, as previously announced, the BlockFi web platform will shut down at 11:59 PM UTC on May 31, 2024 (7:59 AM Beijing time on June 1). After this time, customers will no longer be able to access the BlockFi platform.
Dogechain Wallet will shut down on June 1
One of the Dogecoin developers, Mishaboar, announced that the Dogechain Wallet will shut down on June 1. Users are advised to ensure they transfer their assets and back up their private keys before the shutdown on June 1.
zkSNACKs will shut down its CoinJoin mixing service starting June 1
Due to U.S. regulatory crackdowns on privacy tools and ongoing pressure from law enforcement, zkSNACKs will shut down its CoinJoin mixing service starting June 1.
Anvil will conduct governance token ANVL airdrop, snapshot expected on June 1
AF announced that to support the launch of the Anvil mainnet, it will airdrop ANVL tokens for free to addresses providing AMP collateral on the Capacity platform. The snapshot will occur at Ethereum block height 20,000,000, expected around June 1, 2024, UTC. At that time, users' ANVL holdings will correspond 1:1 with their staked AMP holdings.
LayerZero witch screening activity phase three will end on June 1, Beijing time
LayerZero Labs announced on Twitter that the self-reporting phase for witches has now ended. Each eligible address will receive 15% of its expected token allocation, while the remaining 85% will be returned to qualified users. 803,093 addresses were identified as potential witch addresses. The witch hunting bounty activity will start on May 18 at 10:00 Beijing time. The bounty report will close at 7:59 on June 1, and must include a clear methodology for at least 20 addresses. Successful bounty hunters reporting witches will receive 10% of the expected token allocation, while the witches will receive 0 allocation. The final witch list will be published after the bounty activity ends.
Specific Time Undetermined
U.S. House of Representatives to vote on crypto regulations and anti-CBDC legislation
House representatives are preparing to vote on two major cryptocurrency legislative bills. The "21st Century Financial Innovation and Technology Act" (FIT) initiated by Republican representatives and an anti-central bank digital currency (CBDC) bill will be submitted in the last week of May.
Blade Games' self-developed game Dune Factory plans to conduct public testing at the end of May
Blade Games' self-developed game Dune Factory started internal testing on May 1 and announced the internal testing rules and rewards on April 29. The game is planned for public testing at the end of May.
Gemini Earn will start returning cryptocurrency to customers by the end of May
According to The Block, Gemini, one of Genesis's creditors, announced that it will start returning the first batch of 97% of assets to customers in the Genesis Earn program in physical form by the end of this month. According to previous news, Genesis Global received court approval on Friday to return approximately $3 billion in cash and cryptocurrency to its customers in the bankruptcy liquidation, from which its parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG) cannot receive any fund distribution.
EOS new token economics model planned for deployment to mainnet by the end of May
EOS CEO Yves La Rose stated on the X platform: "Our current goal is to complete the coding, auditing, and testing of the new EOS token economics model and submit it as an MSIG (multi-signature proposal) for deployment to the mainnet by the end of May. After this initial activation phase, our goal is to launch EOS staking rewards by the end of June."
