Daily Report | The Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision tomorrow at 2 AM; Fidelity lists physical Bitcoin ETP on the London Stock Exchange; Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust will be listed for trading
July 31 News OverviewOrganizer: Luan Peng, ChainCatcher
Important News:
- Fidelity Lists Physical Bitcoin ETP on London Stock Exchange
- Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust to Begin Trading
- Federal Reserve to Announce Interest Rate Decision Tomorrow at 2 AM
- UK Law Commission Proposes New Property Category for Crypto Assets
- Insider: FBI Has Contacted WazirX Regarding Recent Security Incident
- Futu Securities to Officially Launch Crypto Trading Services on August 1
- Blockchain Climate Tech Company Raad Labs Completes $2.25 Million Financing, CoinFund Leads
- Bank of Japan Unexpectedly Raises Rates by 15 Basis Points, USD/JPY Drops 110 Points
"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"
Fidelity Lists Physical Bitcoin ETP on London Stock Exchange
Fidelity International has listed a physical Bitcoin ETP on the London Stock Exchange.
Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust to Begin Trading
According to official news, Grayscale has announced the launch of the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust, with the stock code BTC, which will start trading at 4 AM Eastern Time on Wednesday. "BTC" is listed as a derivative product of Grayscale's flagship fund GBTC, with a management fee of 0.15%.
Federal Reserve to Announce Interest Rate Decision Tomorrow at 2 AM
The Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision at 2 AM Beijing time on August 1. As of the time of publication, CME's "FedWatch" tool shows a 96.9% probability that the Fed will keep rates unchanged in August, with a 3.1% probability of a 25 basis point cut.
UK Law Commission Proposes New Property Category for Crypto Assets
The Law Commission for England and Wales has urged its government to classify all crypto assets as a new form of personal property in its final report on digital assets. The Law Commission is an independent body primarily responsible for reviewing and recommending legal reforms in England and Wales. On July 30, it released a supplementary report highlighting the inadequacies of the current classification of personal property and its legal implications for crypto assets.
UK law divides personal property into two main categories: tangible property (possessions) and intangible property (such as debts or rights). The Commission believes that digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, can embody both characteristics and hinder dispute resolution in court.
Insider: FBI Has Contacted WazirX Regarding Recent Security Incident
WazirX co-founder Nischal Shetty stated that the platform has sought assistance from several different Indian and international authorities regarding a recent security incident but declined to disclose specific names. WazirX has already filed a complaint with the police in Mumbai and reported the incident to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In).
WazirX declined to comment on whether the possibility of being acquired by other companies is included in the options for seeking help.
Shetty mentioned that he could not disclose how much INR WazirX has on its books, as it could "provide a new avenue for criminals to attack." He also noted that the reason WazirX currently does not allow cryptocurrency withdrawals is due to a lack of regulatory transparency.
Futu Securities to Officially Launch Crypto Trading Services on August 1
Futu Securities International (Hong Kong) announced that it will officially launch crypto trading services on August 1, becoming the first brokerage in Hong Kong to offer zero-commission trading for crypto.
Previous news indicated that Futu Securities was granted permission to provide virtual asset trading services to Hong Kong investors.
Blockchain Climate Tech Company Raad Labs Completes $2.25 Million Financing, CoinFund Leads
According to Businesswire, blockchain climate technology company Raad Labs announced the completion of $2.25 million in financing, led by CoinFund, with participation from Tribe, EV3, and Protagonist.
Raad Labs deploys distributed sensor networks through the DePIN model to improve climate data measurement and forecasting. The network can monitor weather patterns, greenhouse gas emissions, wildfire risks, soil degradation, and more. By leveraging web3 technology, Raad can incentivize sensor operators to generate high-quality data needed for precise environmental management.
Additionally, TJ Ragsdale has been appointed as the CEO and co-founder of Raad Labs, having previously co-founded the battery storage DePIN protocol Entheos Network.
Bank of Japan Unexpectedly Raises Rates by 15 Basis Points, USD/JPY Drops 110 Points
According to Jin10, the Bank of Japan unexpectedly raised rates by 15 basis points, causing USD/JPY to drop 110 points, currently reported at 151.81.
The Bank of Japan stated that starting in the first quarter of 2026, it will reduce its monthly bond purchase scale to 3 trillion yen. It plans to purchase 75 billion yen of Japanese government bonds with maturities over 25 years twice a month in August and September (previously it was 50 to 100 billion yen twice a month).
The ETF Store President Nate Geraci disclosed on X that during "one week" of trading, the iShares Ethereum ETF has ranked among the top 15 for inflows of all ETFs launched this year (out of approximately 330 new ETFs). The top four inflows were all for spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Women in the Cryptocurrency Industry Earn About 15% More Than Men
A salary survey by Pantera Capital found that women earn 15% more than men based on median base salaries.
The research indicates that women in the cryptocurrency field tend to be more experienced, often holding mid-to-senior positions with over five years of experience in similar roles. In contrast, a larger proportion of men occupy junior positions.
Additionally, a reasonable explanation is that women in cryptocurrency are "lindy." Being "lindy" means overcoming certain barriers that predict future success. This idea suggests that women who have overcome obstacles in the crypto industry possess hard-to-observe qualities such as resilience and high capability, combined with their time in the industry, leading to higher salaries.
"What Interesting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours"
Why Am I Confident About the Outlook for TON in the Next 6 Months?
I am very surprised by the number of emerging DeFi projects. Currently, many believe that TON is in a "Cretaceous-like period," with countless opportunities and projects emerging. TON may provide the "most unfair" advantage for projects built on this ecosystem.
As I mentioned earlier, I think this is a great opportunity for talented developers in Asia. Additionally, Telegram Stars may become the most successful fiat on-ramp in the crypto industry. Given the recent global environment and supportive news, I believe the second half of 2024 will be very exciting.
Bitcoin Gradually Becomes a Strategic Asset, How to Promote Its Adoption in Great Power Rivalry?
When Trump spoke to the audience at the Bitcoin Nashville Conference in 2024, he articulated a vision of transforming the U.S. into a global leader in cryptocurrency. At the end of his speech, he made a significant commitment: he promised never to sell the U.S. government's existing stock of 213,000 BTC. He described this massive reserve as the cornerstone of the national strategic Bitcoin reserve.
Although this initial statement may be challenged by today's Silk Road transactions, it raises a concept as old as Bitcoin itself—the game theory of inter-state Bitcoin adoption.
Game theory is a mathematical framework used to understand strategic interactions and is a useful tool for analyzing how nations view Bitcoin adoption. Generally, it helps us make better decisions in situations of uncertainty or incomplete information. In the specific context of inter-state Bitcoin adoption, studying game theory will help us understand how nations think about innovation, taxation, adoption, regulation, and other important variables.
A country's Bitcoin adoption strategy is best understood through two core concepts in game theory—First Mover Advantage and Payoff Matrix.
With Rate Hikes and Balance Sheet Reduction, Will the Bank of Japan Become More "Hawkish"?
The Bank of Japan has taken a "hawkish" step by announcing rate hikes and balance sheet reduction, demonstrating its determination for policy normalization.
On July 31, Wednesday, the Bank of Japan announced its latest interest rate decision, raising rates by 15 basis points to a policy rate of 0.15%-0.25%. The decision was passed with a 7-2 voting ratio, while the market had expected rates to remain unchanged.
At the same time, the Bank of Japan announced a balance sheet reduction plan, decreasing the scale of government bond purchases by 400 billion yen each quarter, no longer providing a range for bond purchases but rather a specified amount. The Bank of Japan unanimously voted to reduce the scale of bond purchases, but it was less than the previously expected reduction of 1 trillion yen per month.
The new monetary market operation guidelines will take effect on August 1, 2024. Analysts believe:
The Bank of Japan pointed out that inflation risks are skewed to the upside in the next two years, which may be the reason for its actions. If this outlook proves correct, the Bank of Japan may further raise rates.
After the announcement, the yen experienced sharp fluctuations against the dollar, currently falling below 153, having briefly surged past the 152 mark earlier. The Nikkei 225 index continued to decline after the Bank of Japan's decision, and Japanese 10-year government bond futures narrowed their intraday losses following the rate announcement.
Solana has recently led in various dimensions of data. Previously, PANews introduced the rapid development and landscape of its ecological liquid staking track. Besides these front-line projects, the validators behind Solana seem relatively mysterious. How much can one earn as a validator on Solana? What level of investment is required? PANews conducted some research on this business.
The consensus mechanism used by Solana combines Proof of History (PoH) and Proof of Stake (PoS). Token holders can stake their tokens with validators of their choice, with validators leading block production in proportion to the amount of staked tokens. Users participating in staking can also receive block rewards in proportion.
Typically, validators can decide to charge stakers a staking commission of 8% to 10%, while those who choose not to charge a commission and have a stable network are more favored by stakers.
There are two types of validator nodes on Solana: one that participates in voting and accounting, and another that serves as RPC nodes. RPC nodes can provide data access interfaces for developers and applications, with lower configuration requirements. However, RPC nodes do not directly participate in network validation and thus cannot earn block rewards.
In comparison, validator nodes have higher requirements for hardware bandwidth, memory, storage, etc. Therefore, they are generally deployed in data centers around the world, making it a business that is difficult for ordinary users to access.
On July 27, Trump made a series of commitments at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference held in Nashville, Tennessee. He stated that if he is re-elected president, he will strongly support the future development of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, emphasizing that the U.S. must lead in this field or risk being surpassed by China and other countries. He even mentioned that if elected, he would classify Bitcoin as a national strategic reserve asset, stating, "The federal government will retain all approximately 210,000 Bitcoins currently held, accounting for 1% of the total Bitcoin supply."
However, on July 29, Bitcoin, which had touched the $70,000 mark due to Trump's support, saw its price immediately pulled back due to news of the Biden administration moving Bitcoin. Economist Peter Schiff believes that the Biden administration will sell all Bitcoin before Trump takes office, and the transfer of $2 billion in Bitcoin on the 29th further validates this speculation.
While Trump wants to retain all Bitcoin currently held by the U.S., the current government immediately sells it, abandoning the opportunity to use this substantial reserve asset as the cornerstone of a national strategic reserve. Although Trump's statement on the 27th may be rendered ineffective by this week's selling event, it evokes a concept that has existed since Bitcoin's inception—the game theory of national Bitcoin adoption.
Is national Bitcoin adoption advantageous or disadvantageous? When should it be adopted to gain first-mover advantage? We can use two core concepts from game theory to understand: First Mover Advantage and Payoff Matrix.
