Daily Report | Zhao Changpeng is in custody after leaving prison; Sony will launch L2 Soneium; Russia plans to establish two cryptocurrency exchanges
Highlights of August 23rd整理：Fairy，ChainCatcher
Important News:
- Foreign Media: Zhao Changpeng has left prison but remains in custody
- Hong Kong International New Economy Research Institute: The virtual asset market will undergo a reshuffle, and some non-compliant U businesses and project parties may exit
- Sony to launch Ethereum Layer 2 network Soneium
- Foreign Media: Russia plans to establish two cryptocurrency exchanges
- Chinese police successfully extradite a major economic crime suspect from Thailand who used virtual digital currency for online pyramid schemes
- X ordered by the court to disclose the shareholder list, with multiple crypto and AI-related companies including Binance and a16z participating
"What important events happened in the past 24 hours"
Hong Kong International New Economy Research Institute: The virtual asset market will undergo a reshuffle, and some non-compliant U businesses and project parties may exit
Fu Rao, Executive Director of the Hong Kong International New Economy Research Institute, wrote in Ta Kung Pao that the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate of China jointly issued an interpretation regarding the application of laws in handling money laundering criminal cases, which explicitly lists virtual asset transactions as one of the methods of money laundering. This will have the following impacts on the virtual asset industry:
- Increased compliance costs for the industry. The introduction of regulations means that practitioners need to pay more attention to compliance issues and increase compliance investment to ensure that their business is legal and compliant. The market will undergo a reshuffle, and some non-compliant U businesses and project parties may exit the market, further increasing industry concentration.
- Strengthened investor education. The introduction of regulations will prompt investors to pay more attention to the risks of virtual assets and enhance their risk recognition capabilities.
- Gradual improvement of industry regulation. The release of this judicial interpretation will help regulatory authorities to more effectively supervise the virtual asset industry and promote its healthy development.
As Hong Kong vigorously develops the virtual asset economy, the mainland has responded first to the serious crimes most easily triggered by virtual assets. In this context, both U businesses and ordinary investors should enhance their legal awareness to ensure compliance in transactions and avoid legal risks.
Sony to launch Ethereum Layer 2 network Soneium
According to Coindesk, Japanese giant Sony Group and Singapore's Startale Labs announced on Friday that they will launch a new Layer 2 network called Soneium on the Ethereum blockchain. Soneium is expected to go live on the test network in the coming days and will utilize Optimism Rollup technology, built using the OP Stack of the Optimism blockchain ecosystem.
It is reported that the CEO of Startale Labs is Sota Watanabe, who is also the head of Sony Block Solutions Labs and a co-founder of Astar Network.
Foreign Media: Russia plans to establish two cryptocurrency exchanges
According to the Russian newspaper Kommersant, Russia plans to establish two cryptocurrency exchanges to support trading, one in Moscow and the other in St. Petersburg.
Insiders revealed that these exchanges may operate under an experimental legal framework, with the St. Petersburg exchange potentially based on the existing St. Petersburg Foreign Exchange Market (СПВБ). Initial plans include creating stablecoins pegged to the renminbi and a basket of currencies from BRICS nations. However, due to sanction risks, experts believe that the functionality of these exchanges may be limited and initially aimed primarily at large blue-chip companies.
OKX to delist FITFI, GARI, XPR, AKITA, TAMA, WNCG spot trading pairs
According to an official announcement, OKX will delist FITFI, GARI, XPR, AKITA, TAMA, and WNCG on August 30, 2024, from 4:00 PM to 4:30 PM (UTC+8). The specific trading pairs involved are FITFI/USDT, GARI/USDT, XPR/USDT, AKITA/USDT, TAMA/USDT, and WNCG/USDT.
Philippine police raid cryptocurrency scam center, arrest 99 people
The Philippine National Police (PNP) arrested 99 individuals suspected of participating in cryptocurrency and romance scams during a raid in Parañaque City. The unregistered company forced both foreign and local employees to engage in improper work.
Investigations revealed that the company used customer service representatives posing as wealthy models and other roles to deceive victims into investing in manipulated cryptocurrency trading platforms, demonstrating clear fraudulent intent.
Police found that 64 foreign nationals and 32 Filipino employees were involved in the scam as customer service representatives. Key figures include company manager Nan Shan, owner Su Detu, and supervisor Wu Jianbin. Those involved will face charges under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and the Philippine Securities Regulation Code.
Chinese police successfully extradite a major economic crime suspect from Thailand who used virtual digital currency for online pyramid schemes
According to CCTV News, a major economic crime suspect Zhang Moumou, who is accused of organizing and leading pyramid schemes, has been successfully extradited back to China from Thailand.
It is understood that since 2012, the MBI group led by suspect Zhang Moumou has required participants to pay fees ranging from 700 to 245,000 yuan to obtain platform membership by issuing virtual digital currency, using high returns as bait, and implementing online pyramid scheme activities based on the number of members developed and the amount of funds invested. The group has developed over ten million members, with involved funds exceeding 100 billion yuan.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank issues $300 million digital bond
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has successfully issued its first digital bond, raising $300 million. The bond is rated AAA with an annual interest rate of 4% and will mature in January 2027. This issuance was assisted by Citigroup and BMO Capital Markets and marks the first time an Asian institution has issued a digital bond on Euroclear's distributed ledger platform.
Notably, this is also the first issuance of a dollar-denominated digital bond on this platform. Citigroup will play a key role in the payment settlement between the bond issuance and investors and issuers. The bank will also serve as the issuance and payment agent. This digital bond issuance marks an important step in the application of blockchain technology in the financial sector. Although digital bonds currently remain a small part of the fixed income market, they are gaining increasing attention, with institutions such as the World Bank and the European Investment Bank also participating.
Former FTX executive Ryan Salame's partner Michelle Bond charged with violating campaign finance laws
A complaint made public on August 22 by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York shows that Michelle Bond, the partner of former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame, has been charged with violating campaign finance laws.
Prosecutors allege that Bond and an unnamed co-conspirator illegally provided funds for her 2022 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives. The indictment states that this co-conspirator may refer to Salame, who arranged a payment of $400,000. Bond is charged with conspiracy to cause illegal campaign contributions, causing and accepting excessive campaign contributions, causing and accepting illegal corporate contributions, and causing and accepting conduit contributions. The prosecution also accuses her of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and congressional committees to cover up her and her co-conspirator's actions.
Notably, Salame had previously pleaded guilty in September 2023 and was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison, scheduled to report to prison on October 13. His lawyer recently filed a motion to withdraw the guilty plea.
X ordered by the court to disclose shareholder list, with multiple crypto and AI-related companies participating including Binance and a16z
According to Decrypt, X (formerly Twitter) has publicly disclosed a shareholder list revealing that multiple companies related to cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence participated in the investment when Elon Musk acquired the platform for $44 billion in 2022. These shareholders include Binance Capital Management, as well as Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), which invests in crypto companies like Coinbase and Anchorage Digital, and ARK Invest, which holds shares in Robinhood and AI developer Anthropic. Additionally, the list includes nearly 30 entities related to Fidelity. The disclosure of the list was made in compliance with a court order, as most of the shareholders' identities had not been previously disclosed.
Colombian regulators accuse Worldcoin of violating data protection laws
The Colombian Superintendence of Industry and Commerce (SIC) has accused the decentralized identity project Worldcoin, founded by Sam Altman, and its parent company Tools for Humanity of violating the country's personal data protection regulations.
SIC has issued a preliminary indictment, accusing these companies of failing to comply with relevant policies when collecting sensitive personal data. Worldcoin is currently collecting data at 25 locations in Colombia, including the capital Bogotá, using its Orb devices. If found guilty, SIC may impose economic sanctions on Worldcoin, temporarily suspending or permanently shutting down its operations in Colombia. Worldcoin has not yet responded to these accusations.
Foreign Media: Zhao Changpeng has left prison but remains in custody
According to Decrypt, Zhao Changpeng is expected to be released on September 29, according to information from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. However, he has been transferred this week from a minimum-security prison in Southern California to RRM Long Beach, a residential program designed to prepare inmates for reintegration into society upon their release.
RRM, or Residential Reentry Management, is commonly referred to as a "halfway house." In other words, some Twitter users claiming that Zhao Changpeng has been released are correct. However, he remains in the custody of the U.S. government and cannot move freely. By the end of September, Zhao Changpeng is expected to regain his freedom and may return to Dubai to reunite with his family. Since pleading guilty last November, Zhao Changpeng has not left the United States. Even after reaching a settlement with the U.S. government, he remains one of the wealthiest individuals in the cryptocurrency field, with a reported net worth of $47.7 billion.
As part of the settlement agreement, Zhao Changpeng is also prohibited from operating or managing Binance for three years. He has stated plans to use this time to focus on education and passive investment among other businesses.
U.S. SEC rejects Hex founder Richard Heart's motion to dismiss, case will continue
According to TheBlock, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rebutted Hex founder Richard Heart's attempt to dismiss the lawsuit against him, stating it has the authority to continue pursuing the case. The SEC alleges that Heart raised over $1 billion through unregistered securities offerings and used the funds for personal luxury purchases. Heart's lawyers counter that Hex, PulseChain, and Pulse X are not securities and that Heart did not promise investment returns, thus not constituting fraud. The SEC maintains that these assets are investment contracts and fall under the category of securities. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for October 24.
Previous report states that on July 31, the SEC sued Richard Heart, the founder of Hex and Pulsechain, for allegedly selling unregistered securities, claiming he misappropriated at least $12 million of client funds for personal luxury purchases instead of developing the protocol, thereby defrauding investors.
"What are the exciting articles worth reading in the past 24 hours"
Interview with Sun Yuchen: The second half of the Meme Launchpad competition, the rules have changed
The leading project in the Meme Launchpad, PumpFun, generated nearly $100 million in revenue in just six months with a team of only three people, and the project has not raised funds------this business narrative is so compelling that a batch of PumpFun projects have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. However, none have been able to shake PumpFun's position.
On August 13, TRON announced its entry into the Meme space, supporting its first fair launch meme coin platform, SunPump, attracting a large number of memes to the platform through gas fee reductions, subsidies, and incentives. About a week after SunPump went live, on August 22, Dune data showed that SunPump's revenue exceeded that of PumpFun. Sun Yuchen stated on the X platform that SunPump has achieved 30-40% of PumpFun's current traffic.
What factors led TRON to choose this timing to enter the Meme Launchpad space? Is the emergence of SunPump aimed at expanding traffic alongside PumpFun, or is it diverting traffic from PumpFun?
In this regard, ChainCatcher had an exclusive conversation with TRON founder Sun Yuchen, who stated that the current market is sluggish, and Meme is one of the few narratives that excite people, but the Meme Launchpad space is currently still a game of existing stock. If it wants to bring in new growth, the platform needs to have sufficiently low launch costs, deep liquidity, and even trading flexibility.
Meme launch platform melee: Over ten platforms emerge, Sun Pump enters, VCs on the sidelines
According to Dune Analytics data, since March 1 of this year, Pump.Fun has accumulated approximately $99.74 million in revenue. A super mini team of only three people has generated nearly $100 million in revenue in about six months.
Retail investors are cheering for the wealth effect on Pump.Fun, while competitors are ambitiously joining the Meme Launchpad feast. With TRON founder Sun Yuchen announcing that TRON will support the first fair launch trading meme coin platform "Sun Pump," this MemeCoin frenzy seems to have entered its second half.
In the face of the emerging competitors to Pump.Fun, more investment institutions and investors are maintaining a wait-and-see attitude.
"We're not investing because this cycle is too short. If the platform itself is profitable, it generally won't issue platform tokens; once issued, it won't be far from its demise," a venture capital firm that requested anonymity bluntly stated in an interview with ChainCatcher.
Sun Yuchen also pointed out the market realities in an interview with ChainCatcher, stating that nothing can create exciting narratives in a short time like Meme, and TRON hopes to inject new vitality into the stagnant market.
After Franklin Templeton, now Grayscale, is Avalanche迎来"又一春"?
Avalanche, which has been "silent for a long time," has recently received a series of favorable news and has gained the favor of many mainstream institutions. Last month, the California Department of Motor Vehicles began digitizing the ownership of 42 million vehicles onto the Avalanche network. Recently, the community initiated the ACP-77 proposal, aiming to change the validator dynamics of Avalanche L1 (formerly known as subnets), so that Avalanche L1 validators no longer need to validate the main network and stake at least 2,000 AVAX, reducing the operational costs for Avalanche L1 validators.
Earlier yesterday (August 22), Franklin Templeton announced the deployment of its tokenized treasury fund on Avalanche, followed by Grayscale announcing the launch of an investment trust for AVAX tokens. Driven by a series of positive news, AVAX rose 10.8% in the past 24 hours and 26.8% in the past week. The trading price broke through $25, currently reported at $25.78.
