This Week's News Preview | Microsoft will vote on whether to invest in BTC; Trump's second son will speak at the Bitcoin MENA Summit
Highlights of the week from December 9 to December 15.Organizer: Fairy, ChainCatcher
Key News:
- The Abu Dhabi Bitcoin MENA Summit will be held from December 9 to 10, with Trump's son speaking
- The U.S. will release November CPI data on December 11
- FASB's new fair value accounting rule for Bitcoin takes effect; companies must implement it for fiscal years starting after December 15
- ME Foundation: ME token will have its TGE on December 10 at 22:00
- KIP Protocol announces TGE on December 10, node holders will receive $KIP airdrop eligibility
- Suilend's native token SEND will launch on December 12
- Microsoft's shareholder meeting on December 10 will review a Bitcoin investment proposal, the board recommends voting against it
- Vancouver's mayor plans to launch a "Bitcoin-friendly city" initiative, Mayor Sim plans to propose it on December 11Motion Notice
December 9 (Monday)
OKX will launch MOVE (Movement) spot trading
According to the official announcement, OKX will launch MOVE (Movement) spot trading.
- MOVE deposit opening time: December 4 at 14:00 (UTC+8)
- MOVE auction time: December 9 from 19:00 to 20:00 (UTC+8)
- MOVE/USDT spot trading opening time: December 9 at 20:00 (UTC+8)
- MOVE withdrawal opening time: December 10 at 18:00 (UTC+8)
Binance Wealth Management launches on-chain earning, the first product Babylon Bitcoin staking will be launched on December 9
According to the official announcement, Binance Wealth Management launches on-chain earning, allowing users to participate in various on-chain protocols and earn returns through their Binance accounts. The first product for on-chain earning is Babylon Bitcoin staking, where users can stake Bitcoin into the Babylon protocol and earn on-chain returns.
Subscription will open on December 9, 2024, at 14:00 (UTC+8), with a limit of 1,000 Bitcoins, first come first served. The minimum subscription amount per account is 0.05 BTC, and the maximum subscription amount is 5 BTC. Please note that the on-chain earning page will go live on December 9, 2024, at 12:00 (UTC+8).
Ethereum Foundation: The 2025 EF Internship Program has been launched, applications are due on December 9
According to official news, the Ethereum Foundation has announced the launch of its first formal summer internship program, including research internships and software engineering internships, aimed at nurturing the next generation of Ethereum developers and researchers, who will contribute directly to key projects in areas such as protocol security, account abstraction, scalability research, and client development.
It is reported that selected interns will be assigned a short-term project and a mentor and are expected to work independently to some extent. Applications are currently open, with a deadline of December 9, 2024. After preliminary screening, formal interviews will be conducted, and notifications of selection are expected to be completed by January 10, 2025.
The Abu Dhabi Bitcoin MENA Summit will be held from December 9 to 10, with Trump's son speaking
Eric Trump, Trump's son, will attend the Bitcoin MENA Summit and give a speech. The Bitcoin MENA Summit will be held in Abu Dhabi from December 9 to 10.
December 10 (Tuesday)
ME Foundation: ME token will have its TGE on December 10 at 22:00
The ME Foundation announced that the Magic Eden token ME will have its TGE on December 10 at 22:00 Beijing time.
OKX will launch Magic Eden (ME) spot trading
According to the official announcement, OKX is about to launch ME (Magic Eden), which is dedicated to supporting the cross-chain ecological super Dapp strategy led by Magic Eden, primarily focusing on acquiring more users from different ecosystems, allowing users to achieve seamless multi-chain asset trading in the Magic Eden mobile wallet. The specific schedule is as follows:
- ME deposit opening time: December 6, 2024, at 10:00 (UTC+8)
- ME auction time: December 10, 2024, from 21:00 to 22:00 (UTC+8)
- ME/USDT spot trading opening time: December 10, 2024, at 22:00 (UTC+8)
- ME withdrawal opening time: December 11, 2024, at 18:00 (UTC+8)
Binance will delist GFT, IRIS, KEY, OAX, REN
According to the official announcement, Binance will stop trading and delist the following cryptocurrencies at 11:00 (UTC+8) on December 10, 2024: Gifto (GFT), IRISnet (IRIS), SelfKey (KEY), OAX (OAX), Ren (REN).
Binance contracts will fully close and automatically settle the KEYUSDT and RENUSDT perpetual contracts at 09:00 (UTC) on December 3. After the settlement is completed, the contracts will be delisted.
Binance emphasizes that it will regularly review the digital assets listed to ensure a high standard of coin quality. When a token no longer meets listing standards or there are significant changes in the industry environment, a thorough project review will be conducted, and it may be delisted.
Microsoft's shareholder meeting on December 10 will review a Bitcoin investment proposal, the board recommends voting against it
Microsoft will include the proposal to "evaluate investing in Bitcoin" as a voting item at its annual shareholder meeting on December 10. The proposal was put forward by the conservative think tank The National Center for Public Policy Research, but the board recommends shareholders vote against it, stating that "it is unnecessary," and that the company's management has "carefully considered" the relevant issues.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Microsoft stated that its global finance team regularly evaluates various investment assets, including cryptocurrencies, for diversification and risk management. Although Bitcoin has been considered in the past, due to factors such as volatility, the board has not made further investment decisions at this time. If the proposal passes, Microsoft would become the largest publicly traded crypto investment company, surpassing MicroStrategy and Tesla.
KIP Protocol announces TGE on December 10, node holders will receive $KIP airdrop eligibility
The decentralized AI underlying protocol KIP Protocol announced that it will conduct the KIP token TGE on December 10, further promoting the development of DeAI.
Its whitelist node sale (node.kip.pro) is currently ongoing and will end at 12:00 (UTC+8) on December 7. It is reported that all KIP node purchasers (including early whitelist supporters) will receive $KIP airdrop rewards, which can be operated within 7 days after the TGE.
KIP is a Web3 infrastructure built for AI app developers, model creators, and data owners, allowing for easy deployment and monetization of AI assets while fully retaining ownership. So far, KIP has implemented real use cases of DeAI in various fields such as education, entertainment (AI Agent), biotechnology, and government, with total financing exceeding $10 million.
December 11 (Wednesday)
Vancouver's mayor plans to launch a "Bitcoin-friendly city" initiative, Mayor Sim plans to propose it on December 11Motion Notice
Ken Sim, who has served as the mayor of Vancouver since 2022, announced that the city of Vancouver plans to add Bitcoin to its balance sheet as part of its efforts to diversify investments.
At the Vancouver City Council meeting held on November 26, Mayor Sim submitted a motion notice, which he plans to propose on December 11, titled "Maintaining the City's Purchasing Power through Financial Resource Diversification: Becoming a Bitcoin-Friendly City." As of November 27, the motion does not appear to have been published on the city government website, and the Vancouver mayor's office declined to comment.
It is unclear whether the mayor's motion is a response to local and federal governments in the U.S. considering legislation to establish Bitcoin reserves. After the 2024 elections, legislators in both the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have proposed plans for the government to hold Bitcoin as a reserve asset.
The U.S. Senate will vote next Wednesday on whether to re-nominate SEC Democratic Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw
FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terrett stated on platform X that the Senate Banking Committee will hold a meeting on Wednesday to vote on the re-nomination of Democratic SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw. If the Senate approves her nomination, she will continue to serve on the committee until 2029; if she is not approved, Trump will be able to nominate someone else.
During her tenure, Caroline Crenshaw has been a supporter of committee chair Gary Gensler, pushing for stricter climate reporting requirements and voting against the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs.
The U.S. will release November CPI data on December 11
On December 11 at 21:30 Beijing time, the U.S. will release November CPI data.
South Korea's opposition party plans to submit impeachment motion against Yoon Suk-yeol again
South Korea's opposition party previously stated that if the impeachment motion is not approved, they plan to immediately resubmit the impeachment motion. Since a rejected motion cannot be resubmitted within the same session, the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party, stated that it will propose the impeachment motion again at the temporary National Assembly meeting on the 11th of this month. This means that even if Yoon Suk-yeol avoids this impeachment motion, he will still face greater obstruction and pressure from the opposition party in the future. Xiang Haoyu, a distinguished researcher at the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies of the China Institute of International Studies, believes that Yoon Suk-yeol has two years and five months left in his term, and even if he is not impeached, his future governance will still be more difficult. Regarding the impeachment motion itself, regardless of the ruling party's attitude or whether Yoon Suk-yeol steps down, the contradictions and differences between South Korea's ruling and opposition parties will not be eliminated, which is determined by the differences in political ideas and policy lines between South Korea's progressive and conservative factions. The polarization of South Korea's political landscape and the serious division in society will continue.
December 12 (Thursday)
Bithumb will delist Radiant Capital (RDNT) spot trading
According to the official announcement, the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb is expected to delist Radiant Capital (RDNT) spot trading on December 12, 2024.
Suilend's native token SEND will launch on December 12
The Sui ecosystem lending protocol Suilend announced that SEND will launch on December 12, and the allocation checker is now online.
Early users of Suilend before the launch of Points in May 2024 will receive 2% of SEND, with Suilend points accounting for 18% of SEND; Rootlets will receive 3.333% of SEND, distributed in three airdrops of 1.111% each.
aelf's first halving will take place on December 12, reducing block rewards to 0.0625 ELF
AI-enhanced Layer 1 public chain aelf announced that its first halving will occur at 15:30 Beijing time on December 12, 2024, expected to happen at the main chain block height of 246,500,000. Since its mainnet launch in 2020, aelf has been operating stably for four years.
aelf COO Brian Liang stated that this halving not only represents a reduction in block rewards but also signifies a continuous evolution of aelf as a sustainable and innovative blockchain ecosystem. According to the aelf white paper, the network allocates 12% of ELF tokens for block rewards, halving every four years. After the halving, the block reward will decrease from 0.125 ELF to 0.0625 ELF.
EigenLayer plans to launch an upgraded version of Rewards v2 in January next year, with the testnet starting deployment on December 12 on Holesky
Eigen Labs plans to launch an upgraded version of Rewards v2, aimed at bringing greater flexibility, efficiency, and customization to rewards within the EigenLayer ecosystem. The testnet will start deployment on December 12 on the Holesky testnet, with the mainnet deployment scheduled for January next year.
This proposed upgrade is also the first EigenLayer improvement proposal (ELIP) using the EigenLayer governance process (EigenGov) recently announced by the Eigen Foundation. The Rewards v2 upgrade proposal expands the platform's reward capabilities and introduces several features: Operator-oriented rewards: AVS can reward operators based on performance or custom logic. Variable operator fees: Operators can set their own rates based on AVS, providing economic flexibility and attracting diverse participation. Batch reward claiming: Stakers and Operators can claim multiple rewards in a single transaction, reducing gas costs.
December 15 (Sunday)
FASB's new fair value accounting rule for Bitcoin takes effect; companies must implement it for fiscal years starting after December 15
According to the new fair value accounting rule for Bitcoin from the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), companies must officially adopt fair value accounting for Bitcoin for fiscal years starting after December 15. This rule change means that companies like MicroStrategy, Tesla, and Block will be able to record the high and low points of their cryptocurrency holdings. Under the new regulations, companies holding cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum will need to record these tokens at fair value, meaning the latest market value. Changes in fair value will be directly reflected in net income.
Under the new rules, companies must record their crypto assets as a separate item on their balance sheets. They must also disclose the amount of cryptocurrency holdings and any restrictions on those holdings in the footnotes of each reporting period. Annually, they must reconcile or disclose changes in the beginning and ending balances of crypto assets by category.
The new round of BNB Chain hackathon will open project submissions on December 15
The new round of BNB hackathon series activities for 2024 will open today. The prize pool for this event exceeds $458,000. Workshops began on November 26, and project submissions can be made from December 15 to December 24. This hackathon is community-driven, with no preset themes or wish lists.
Winners will be announced on January 16, 2025, and a one-month incubation period will begin. Ultimately, six winners will receive key support from BNB Chain, providing one month of technical incubation support and direct interview qualifications for the MVB program.
Developers can explore selected directions based on market trends and BNB Chain ecosystem priorities, such as:
- Stablecoins, DeFi, and payments: Solutions to enhance financial efficiency
- Telegram-based DApps and infrastructure: Social and gaming applications and tools
- AI-driven DApps and infrastructure: Combining AI, DeFi, gaming, and other fields
- New narratives (DeSoc, DeSci, DeBio): Linking Web3 with real-world infrastructure
Participants can also win exclusive rewards through sponsor challenges from UXUY, DEGO, THENA, Sonorous, Polyhedra, and Dorafactory.
