Daily Report | LayerZero launches airdrop eligibility query page; Montenegro Prime Minister Milojko Spajic is one of the early investors in Do Kwon's Terra project; Pantera Capital is raising a new $1 billion fund and will invest $200 million in AI
June 19 News OverviewOrganizer: Luan Peng, ChainCatcher
Important News:
- Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan: Close consultations with mainland regulatory agencies to allow mainland investors to buy Hong Kong stocks in RMB
- Kanpai Pandas whale: Not an insider, the airdrop allocation from LayerZero is disappointing
- Bernstein: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency-related stocks have matured and are ready for institutional adoption
- Pantera Capital is raising a new $1 billion fund and will invest $200 million in AI
- Montenegro Prime Minister Milojko Spajic is one of the early investors in Do Kwon's Terra project
- Macquarie: The forecast for the Fed's first rate cut has been moved up from 2025 to December this year
- CryptoQuant CEO: Long-term Bitcoin holders sold $1.2 billion in BTC over the past two weeks, with ETF net outflows of $460 million
- LayerZero launches airdrop eligibility query page
"What important events happened in the past 24 hours"
According to Jiemian News, Hong Kong's Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Paul Chan, stated in Shanghai that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the mutual market access between Hong Kong and the mainland. Currently, there is a RMB counter for Hong Kong stocks, allowing 24 large-cap stocks to be traded in both HKD and RMB. They are now in close consultations with mainland regulatory agencies to implement direct purchases of RMB stocks listed in Hong Kong by mainland investors, connecting the RMB counter to the Hong Kong Stock Connect.
Kanpai Pandas whale: Not an insider, the airdrop allocation from LayerZero is disappointing
X user Axel Bitblaze, who received 10,000 LayerZero (ZRO) airdrops by holding 36 Kanpai Pandas, stated that he is not an insider. As the first NFT series integrating the LayerZero Omnichain protocol, holders should have received a larger share of ZRO airdrops. Axel also mentioned that the airdrop allocation given to on-chain users by LayerZero is disappointing: "The top 1% of wallets only received 200-500 tokens, which is crazy… My family and I also made efforts to interact to receive airdrop allocations, but despite ranking in the top 1%, these interactions only resulted in a small airdrop."
In a research report, Bernstein stated that Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency-related stocks are undervalued and suitable for institutional adoption. They pointed out that while some believe that trading for Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is over, they expect these ETFs to gain approval from major brokerages and large private banking platforms in the third and fourth quarters. This will significantly expand access to the world's largest cryptocurrency.
Pantera Capital is raising a new $1 billion fund and will invest $200 million in AI
Crypto hedge fund Pantera Capital is raising a new $1 billion fund. Portfolio manager Cosmo Jiang stated that over $200 million will be specifically allocated for artificial intelligence, and he is actively seeking projects that leverage AI to enhance blockchain businesses. Additionally, Cosmo Jiang mentioned that an earlier fund had injected about 15% to 20% of its capital into AI-related blockchain projects, and the new fund is expected to invest even more.
Montenegro Prime Minister Milojko Spajic is one of the early investors in Do Kwon's Terra project
According to Cointelegraph, a court document submitted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that Montenegro Prime Minister Milojko Spajic, who took office last October, is one of the early investors in Terra. He invested $75,000 in Singapore's Terraform Labs in April 2018, purchasing 750,000 LUNA. Before the court document was made public, the Prime Minister claimed he had never personally invested in failed cryptocurrency projects. He stated that his company was defrauded of $75,000, not him personally.
Macquarie Group economists expect that due to recent declines in inflation, the Federal Reserve will begin to ease monetary policy starting in December—rather than in the first quarter of 2025. "Breadth indicators show significant improvement, favoring a decline in inflation," economist David Doyle wrote on Tuesday regarding the May CPI report. "This improvement, combined with more mixed signals from the labor market, prompted us to bring forward our baseline scenario for FOMC easing." Macquarie currently expects a 25 basis point rate cut in the fourth quarter, specifically in December, having previously anticipated it in the first quarter of 2025.
CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju stated on X that over the past two weeks, long-term Bitcoin holders sold $1.2 billion in BTC, possibly through brokers; during the same period, there were net outflows of $460 million from ETFs. If this $1.6 billion in selling liquidity was not purchased over-the-counter, brokers might deposit Bitcoin into exchanges, affecting the market.
LayerZero launches airdrop eligibility query page
LayerZero Foundation announced on X that it has launched an airdrop eligibility query page.
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission today released its "2023-24 Annual Report," which disclosed four key strategic focuses for the next three years. It mentioned leading market transformation through technology and ESG, promoting tokenization to improve industry efficiency, and continuously improving the regulatory framework for virtual assets. Additionally, it stated the need to maintain market resilience and reduce harm, and will continue to combat various forms of market misconduct related to virtual assets.
Insider: ZKsync promises to provide over $20 million to enable Lens to build on it
According to DL News citing insiders, ZKsync has committed to providing a large amount of tokens for Lens to build on the protocol. The specific number of tokens is unclear, but those competing with ZKsync to attract Lens to their blockchain indicated that the offer they received was about 0.5% of the total supply of recently launched ZK tokens before withdrawing from the bidding war. Based on the current ZK token price of about $0.21, this amounts to approximately $22.4 million.
"What are some great articles worth reading in the past 24 hours"
Analyst: What led to the poor performance of altcoins in this cycle?
In the cryptocurrency space, the issue of excessive decentralization of altcoins has gradually emerged as a core factor in their poor performance in this cycle. Through in-depth research, I found that this decentralization poses a serious threat to the overall health of the cryptocurrency market. However, regrettably, it seems that we have yet to find a clear solution to address this challenge.
The purpose of writing this post is to hope that more people will gain a deeper understanding of this key issue affecting the future development of cryptocurrencies. It will explain how we got to this point, why prices behave this way, and what the future path looks like.
Investing in L2 vs. Investing in ETH: Which has a brighter future?
In recent years, Layer 2 (L2) solutions on Ethereum have made significant progress. Currently, the total value locked (TVL) in Ethereum L2 exceeds $40 billion, compared to just $10 billion a year ago. On @l2beat, you will find over 50 L2 projects, but the top 5-10 projects account for over 90% of the TVL.
After the implementation of the EIP-4844 proposal, transaction fees have significantly decreased, with transaction costs on platforms like Base and Arbitrum even falling below $0.01.
Opinion: Vitalik was wrong, the crypto space does need "stupid" Memecoins
If you are a celebrity, participating in the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is no longer trendy; Memecoins are in vogue.
BAYC can be considered the most successful project, sought after by mainstream society. However, the floor price of BAYC indicates that it has become outdated.
At the same time, celebrity Memecoins have generated cross-industry appeal, which most cryptocurrencies lack.
The idea that Memecoins have no utility is shortsighted. Memecoins are a key component of blockchain, serving as placeholders for "real" economic activities that may lead people to transition from traditional financial ports to blockchain ports. To achieve this, these ports must be able to handle hundreds of thousands of users trading Memecoins with silly names simultaneously.
On this point, even if some crypto enthusiasts are more sensitive to absurd and meaningless projects, their opposition to Memecoins may misunderstand the most active group in today's crypto space.
Sequoia India leads, a three-minute overview of the new ZK player Mystiko
The term ZK, once highly anticipated by the market, seems to be out of sync with the current market conditions, as interest has sharply declined amid a sluggish market. Additionally, ZK protocols like ZKsync, Polyhedra, and Taiko have faced market skepticism due to airdrop events, leading to a significant drop in market funds and sentiment.
Are there any overlooked new ZK projects during this market lull? As a Web3 infrastructure layer, Mystiko was among the first selected for CoinList's summer 2022 seed projects. In March of this year, Mystiko completed a $18 million seed round financing, led by Sequoia Capital India/SEA (now known as Peak XV Partners), with participation from Samsung Next, HashKey, CoinList, Naval Ravikant, and others. Both the seed round amount and the investor lineup are impressive.
Walking through the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the humid air, the never-ending lights, the roaring army of motorcycles, and the vibrant DJ shows in the square all reveal a sense of youth and vitality. Here, the Web3 industry is rapidly growing.
In 1986, Vietnam began to learn from China's "Doi Moi" policy, entering a period of rapid economic development, with an average GDP growth of 7% over the past thirty years, surpassing all countries in the ASEAN region and successfully ranking among the fastest-growing economies in the world. In recent years, during the global supply chain restructuring, Vietnam has also emerged as a winner, continuously rising in its position in global manufacturing.
Vietnam is the third most populous country in Southeast Asia and has become the 15th country in the world with a population exceeding 100 million. Data shows that nearly 70% of Vietnam's population is of working age. Meanwhile, the proportion of young people in the population has reached a historical high, with those aged 10 to 24 accounting for 21.1% of the total population. The optimistic economic development outlook and the large young population have made the entire Web3 industry see the potential for future market growth.
Returning to the Web3 industry itself, a report by Triple-A indicates that over 20 million people in Vietnam have held or used digital assets. In Chainalysis's 2023 report, Vietnam ranks as the third highest country in the Crypto Adoption Index, having ranked first in both 2022 and 2021. Additionally, in exchanges like Binance, BingX, and MEXC, the Vietnamese market has become one of the top five countries by trading volume. By December 2022, Vietnam had already birthed over 200 blockchain projects, with Coin98 and Coin68 (Kyros Ventures) recognized as the leading players.
The panorama of Vietnam's crypto industry shared by Kyros Ventures CEO Zane effectively showcases the entire Web3 ecosystem in Vietnam.
