Daily Report | SEC charges Musk with securities violations; Coinbase publishes listing standards guide; Deribit CEO confirms interest in strategic investment
January 15 News OverviewOrganizer: Fairy, ChainCatcher
Important News:
- U.S. SEC sues Musk in federal court, accusing him of securities violations
- Insider: Trader Eugene is a co-founder of Tangent Ventures and a seed round investor in ENA tokens
- South Korea's Financial Commission will review Upbit's alleged KYC violations on January 21
- Deribit CEO confirms receipt of strategic investment interest, emphasizes it is not for sale
- Market news: TikTok is ready to shut down services for U.S. users on Sunday unless the Supreme Court intervenes to block the ban
- Market news: Thailand may allow Bitcoin ETFs to be listed on local exchanges for the first time
- Coinbase publicly releases listing standards guide: 90% of assets do not meet DASG review requirements
"What important events have occurred in the past 24 hours"
Hong Kong court delivers tokenized legal notice via blockchain, ordering the freezing of two Tron wallet assets
Hong Kong courts can now deliver tokenized legal notices to owners of illegal wallet addresses anonymously via blockchain. A court injunction shows that two wallet addresses on Tron received tokenized legal notices ordering the freezing of their assets.
Joshua Chu, cybersecurity advisor at Macro Systems, the technology provider for the tokenized legal notices, stated: "If transactions continue, it will violate criminal law. If centralized exchanges are involved, they may hesitate to deal with these wallets due to legal obligations."
Insider: Trader Eugene is a co-founder of Tangent Ventures and a seed round investor in ENA tokens
According to X platform user @MiyaHedge, trader Eugene Ng (@0xENAS) is actually Darryl Wang, co-founder of Tangent Ventures, who has promoted ENA tokens multiple times without disclosing his interests. It is reported that Eugene participated in the seed round investment of ENA tokens.
Miya has offered $1 million as a bond, requesting Eugene to prove he has no connection with Tangent Ventures. Miya pointed out that this behavior may violate relevant regulations in Singapore, and this matter has become an open secret in Singapore's trading circle, but over 99% of the crypto community is unaware of it.
Thailand proposes to ban Polymarket to combat online gambling
Thailand's cybercrime authorities have proposed banning the decentralized prediction market Polymarket, as it may be considered an online gambling site, which is illegal in the country.
The Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau of Thailand stated that suspending Polymarket is crucial to prevent the public from becoming victims of online gambling and to stop illegal activities involving cryptocurrencies, as such activities "could have serious impacts on the economy and society."
Cyber police indicated that the site facilitates betting on global events through cryptocurrencies, which may fall under illegal online gambling in Thailand. The police did not specify a timeline for a potential shutdown.
Eric Trump, son of Donald Trump, has followed Sui Network's official X account
According to information from Twitter (X), Eric Trump, son of Donald Trump, has followed Sui Network's official X account.
South Korea's Financial Commission will review Upbit's alleged KYC violations on January 21
According to South Korean media reports, the Financial Information Analysis Institute (FIU) of the Financial Commission plans to hold a sanctions review committee for Upbit on January 21. This is due to issues related to violations of customer identification (KYC) obligations found during on-site inspections of virtual asset service providers (VASP) updating their registrations. The review results may involve disciplinary actions against Upbit employees and the determination of fines.
Industry insiders expect that after this sanctions review, the registration update process for virtual asset service providers will gradually proceed. Upbit's registration update, originally scheduled for completion in October last year, has been delayed due to this incident and is still awaiting processing results.
Malaysian Prime Minister announces exploration of cryptocurrency and blockchain policies
According to the New Straits Times, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stated that the government is studying the formulation of digital finance policies to recognize cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. He discussed with the Abu Dhabi government and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao during the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Development Week on how to promote development in this field.
Anwar emphasized that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, like artificial intelligence, are rapidly changing the financial world, and Malaysia cannot fall behind. He suggested that the Ministry of Finance, the Securities Commission, and Bank Negara Malaysia conduct comprehensive research and stated that the government would draw on international experiences, including those from Binance and the UAE.
He revealed that he would submit a related policy draft to the cabinet and prioritize policy innovation in this field to break free from the constraints of the traditional financial system and move towards a new model of digital finance.
Deribit CEO confirms receipt of strategic investment interest, emphasizes it is not for sale
According to CoinDesk, Deribit CEO Luuk Strijers confirmed that the company has hired FT Partners as an advisor to evaluate strategic investment opportunities and potential secondary market equity transactions. He emphasized that Deribit is not for sale but has indeed received interest from multiple strategic investors.
Previously, there were reports that the crypto exchange Kraken had considered acquiring Deribit but did not make a formal offer. It is reported that Deribit's valuation could be between $4 billion and $5 billion or higher.
Currently, the bullish trend in the crypto market is driving an increase in merger and acquisition activities within the industry, including two significant acquisitions announced this week by Moonpay and Chainalysis.
On-chain user experience platform Reown completes $13 million Series B funding, led by USV and 1kx
On-chain user experience platform and WalletConnect network builder Reown announced the completion of a $13 million Series B funding round, led by Union Square Ventures (USV) and 1kx, with participation from Global Digital Asset Holdings (a joint investment company established by SC Ventures and SBI Holdings), Shopify Ventures, Kraken Ventures, Crypto.com Capital, Figment, Kiln, Everstake, BitGo Ventures, and Fenbushi.
To date, the company's total funding has reached $38 million, with the new funds intended to build its SDK—Reown AppKit and Reown WalletKit—to further develop the on-chain user experience platform, addressing issues such as enabling crypto subscription payments without using custodial accounts. Its crypto solution clients include financial infrastructure platform Stripe and gift card giant Raise.
Market news: TikTok is ready to shut down services for U.S. users on Sunday unless the Supreme Court intervenes to block the ban
According to The Information, citing two sources, TikTok is ready to shut down services for U.S. users on Sunday, as a U.S. ban will take effect on that day unless the Supreme Court intervenes to block it.
According to the plan, users attempting to open the TikTok app will see a pop-up message directing them to a website containing information about the ban. The informed source stated that TikTok plans to allow users to download all their data to carry their personal information records.
Market news: Thailand may allow Bitcoin ETFs to be listed on local exchanges for the first time
According to Bloomberg, the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is considering allowing Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to be listed on local exchanges for the first time to promote the country as a digital asset hub. SEC Secretary-General Pornanong Budsaratragoon stated that the proposed new regulations will allow individuals and institutions to invest in local Bitcoin ETFs. Previously, Thailand's One Asset Management launched a fund portfolio in June 2024 to provide investors with indirect exposure to overseas Bitcoin ETFs but has not yet allowed direct investment in Bitcoin products.
This potential policy shift comes amid increasing competition for digital asset hubs in the Asia-Pacific region. Singapore and Hong Kong have implemented supportive policies, while U.S. presidential candidate Trump has also pledged to make the U.S. a global cryptocurrency hub. Pornanong stated, "Like it or not, we must follow the pace of global cryptocurrency adoption. We need to adapt to changes and provide investors with more protected cryptocurrency investment options." Additionally, Thailand is gradually easing restrictions on digital assets, including considering launching a government bond-backed stablecoin and plans to establish a tourism service sandbox for Bitcoin trading in Phuket.
According to the latest data, as of November 30, Thailand has approximately 270,000 active cryptocurrency trading accounts.
Coinbase publicly releases listing standards guide: 90% of assets do not meet DASG review requirements
According to Coinbase's "Asset Listing Priorities and Standards," all assets must undergo legal, compliance, and technical security reviews by the Digital Asset Support Group (DASG) and pass rigorous business analysis before being listed on the exchange. Key assessments include market demand, project team performance, token distribution methods, and liquidity.
Other information:
- Assets that do not meet the standards may be suspended from trading.
- 90% of assets do not meet listing requirements.
- Support for new networks and token standards requires significant engineering workload.
Eric Trump reveals his holdings of BTC, ETH, SOL, and SUI
According to Benzinga, Eric Trump, son of the elected U.S. President Donald Trump, revealed his holdings of BTC, ETH, SOL, and SUI.
WLFI: Asset adjustments are not token sales, aimed at optimizing financial management
According to a tweet from World Liberty Financial (WLFI), the company recently conducted routine adjustments of its crypto assets aimed at financial management, paying expenses, and meeting working capital needs. WLFI clarified that this adjustment is not a token sale but a routine operation of asset reallocation to maintain the security and efficiency of its treasury, which is part of normal business management processes.
Ethereum Foundation researcher Alex Stokes announces co-leadership of Ethereum research with barnabe.eth
Ethereum Foundation researcher Alex Stokes announced that he will co-lead Ethereum research with barnabe.eth. He also introduced that the Ethereum Foundation has launched a research department, Ethereum Foundation Research, which will consist of five teams:
Application Research Group (ARG): Helps translate theory into practice;
Consensus Development: Many interests focus on improving the consensus layer;
Cryptography: Uses interesting mathematics to reduce trust in each part of the stack;
Protocol Security: Ensures the security of the software and specifications behind the network using various tools and bug bounty programs;
RIG: Economic/game-theoretic perspectives reinforce Ethereum's unique mechanisms.
Gary Gensler: U.S. presidential election results are unrelated to cryptocurrency industry funding
According to Cointelegraph, U.S. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stated in an interview with CNBC Squawk Box that he believes the funding from cryptocurrency voters and digital asset interest groups is unlikely to influence the U.S. election, resulting in the victory of elected President Trump.
Gensler will resign on the day of Trump's inauguration. In the interview, he discussed key points from his previous talks about investor protection during his leadership of the SEC.
Gensler said, "I believe that, as you pointed out, this election is funded by the cryptocurrency sector, but I think it is unrelated to the outcome of this election. The cryptocurrency sector is a highly speculative area that has not complied with various laws, whether they are anti-money laundering laws, sanctions laws, or securities laws."
U.S. SEC sues Musk in federal court, accusing him of securities violations
According to Bloomberg, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk in federal court in Washington, accusing him of securities violations. The specific details of the lawsuit have not yet been disclosed. Reports indicate that the relevant lawsuit has appeared in court documents.
Court documents show that the SEC's lawsuit against Musk relates to his purchase of Twitter stock.
"What are the noteworthy articles to read in the past 24 hours"
Franklin Templeton AI Agent report, 10 projects worth focusing on
In recent months, AI Agents have gained significant attention in the cryptocurrency space, sparking a wave of innovation and experimentation in their diverse interactions within the crypto world. AI Agents were initially designed and created by developers as complex software entities intended to autonomously complete various tasks using artificial intelligence. These intelligent agents possess varying degrees of autonomy, capable of making intelligent decisions based on their programming logic and data obtained through advanced algorithms.
AI Agents represent a new fusion of artificial intelligence and crypto technology, with autonomous AI entities managing tokens, participating in social media interactions, and even influencing market trends. This innovative field was pioneered by Andy Ayrey, who developed an AI chatbot named Truth Terminal. This chatbot was trained on internet culture and the concept of "infinite rooms," where the AI model can autonomously engage in conversations without direct human intervention. As an AI chatbot, Truth Terminal aims to simulate human dialogue using AI technology, with the ability to understand inputs, respond, execute tasks, and autonomously participate in interactions.
The capabilities of Truth Terminal first became apparent when it began posting content through its X account (@truth terminal), quickly attracting widespread attention. Particularly after its associated crypto wallet received a $50,000 Bitcoin donation from a16z venture capital partner Marc Andreessen, this generous act made Truth Terminal a focal point in the summer of 2024.
Countdown to resignation! SEC Chairman Gary Gensler gives public interviews, addressing 11 key questions about cryptocurrency and capital markets
With only six days left until the inauguration of elected U.S. President Donald Trump, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler gave consecutive interviews to CNBC and Yahoo Finance on January 14, sparking discussions about his leadership style and policy legacy. Previously, Gensler announced that he would resign from the SEC on January 20.
Based on these two interviews, PANews compiled 11 important questions about cryptocurrency and capital markets, along with Gensler's responses.
1. On January 14, the SEC took action against Robinhood and some private equity firms. With less than a week left in your term, can we expect more actions from the SEC?
We are entrusted by the public to ensure that capital markets operate for them, protect investors, and ensure compliance with the law. We have an important responsibility and will fulfill that responsibility, regardless of who is in leadership. There will be different leadership transitions this week and next, but we will continue to ensure that capital markets serve investors and that market participants comply with the law.
That is our job. Essentially, if we do not adhere to the facts and the law, how can we build trust in capital markets? In fact, honest actors in the market will benefit from this, as more investors are willing to enter the market and participate.
"If you don't like it, you can short it," CEX becomes exit liquidity
In 2024, centralized exchanges have performed poorly, being mocked as exit liquidity on-chain. According to a research report released by Animoca Digital Research, the average return rate of major exchanges in the first three quarters was negative.
As we enter 2025, the listing of new coins on centralized exchanges remains a tombstone for new coins. Can shorting really achieve perpetual profits? This article takes you through the listing situation of major exchanges in January.
Meme Popularity Rankings
According to meme token tracking and analysis platform GMGN, as of January 15, 19:45:
The top five popular Ethereum tokens in the past 24 hours are: ERS, FATAL, SPX, POPPY, POTUS
The top five popular Solana tokens in the past 24 hours are: SHIKOKU, SCAT, REDNOTE, FCP, GOC
The top five popular Base tokens in the past 24 hours are: VIRTUAL, TOSHI, AIXBT, PEPC, DEFAL
