Daily Report | VanEck submits on-chain economy ETF application to the SEC; Binance Wealth Management, one-click cryptocurrency purchase, flash exchange, leverage, and contracts launched on Sonic (S);
January 16 News OverviewOrganizer: Luan Peng, ChainCatcher
Important News:
- Binance Wealth Management, One-Click Buy, Instant Exchange, Leverage, and Contracts Launch Sonic (S)
- Cryptocurrency Exchange BitMEX Fined $100 Million by U.S. Department of Justice for Violating Bank Secrecy Act
- Xiaohongshu's Largest Shareholder Negotiating Sale of Partial Shares, Valuation Not Less Than $20 Billion
- Financial Times: Pension Funds Are Trying to Buy BTC
- U.S. SEC Appeals Ripple Case, Requests Appellate Court to Reexamine Relevant Rulings
- VanEck Submits Onchain Economy ETF Application to U.S. SEC
- South Korea's Financial Supervisory Authority Issues Business Suspension to Upbit, Final Penalty Details to be Determined on January 21
- Crypto Custodian Komainu Completes $75 Million Bitcoin Financing, Blockstream CEO Joins Its Board
"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"
Sun Yuchen: USDD 2.0 is Coming Soon, Annual Yield of 20%
TRON founder Sun Yuchen stated on social media: "USDD 2.0 is coming soon, with an annual yield of 20%, fully subsidized by TRON DAO. All interest will be sent in advance to a transparent address. Because we have sufficient funds. So stop asking me questions like 'where does the yield come from.'"
According to an announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice Southern District, cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX has been fined $100 million for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). BitMEX was accused of failing to establish and enforce anti-money laundering (AML) and customer identification (KYC) programs, deliberately evading U.S. laws for profit.
Its founders and executives had previously pleaded guilty, and the company will plead guilty in July 2024, with fines and two years of probation set for January 15, 2025.
According to Jinshi reports, informed sources revealed that Xiaohongshu's largest shareholder GGV Capital, GSR Ventures, and Tian Tu Capital are negotiating the sale of partial shares, with a valuation not less than $20 billion. Existing shareholders Sequoia Capital (formerly Sequoia China) and Hillhouse Investment have shown interest in acquiring, and Tencent is also considering increasing its stake.
Due to TikTok facing a potential ban in the U.S., this transaction has attracted market attention. Informed sources pointed out that due to existing shareholders having preemptive rights and the uncertain situation of TikTok, the transaction still carries uncertainty.
Financial Times: Pension Funds Are Trying to Buy BTC
According to the Financial Times, pension funds are attempting to purchase Bitcoin. Pension funds in Wisconsin and Michigan have become some of the largest holders of U.S. stock market funds focused on cryptocurrencies, while some pension fund management institutions in the UK and Australia have also made small allocations to Bitcoin through funds or derivatives in recent months.
As of the end of September, the Wisconsin Investment Board became the 12th largest shareholder of BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF, holding shares worth approximately $155 million. Michigan is the sixth largest shareholder of Grayscale's Ethereum ETF, with holdings valued at $12.9 million, and is also the 11th largest shareholder of ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF.
Since the U.S. election day, the UK pension fund consulting firm Mercer has received numerous inquiries, as trustees do not want to be uninformed about popular asset classes. Most pension funds have turned to the regulated U.S. spot Bitcoin or Ethereum ETFs approved last year. In the UK, pension consulting firm Cartwright has facilitated the first Bitcoin transaction, with a small undisclosed pension plan directly investing approximately £1.5 million in Bitcoin, hoping to fill funding gaps through excess returns.
At the same time, more than 50 individual savers wish to transfer their pensions entirely to cryptocurrencies. Cartwright is exploring the possibility of establishing a Bitcoin fund with two multi-employer pension funds. Australia's AMP pension fund management company is also using Bitcoin to enhance returns. AMP senior portfolio manager Steve Flegg stated that although cryptocurrencies are high-risk and novel, their scale and potential cannot be ignored, so AMP's portfolio has made moderate allocations to Bitcoin futures.
However, funds allocating Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies remain a minority in the pension industry, and most advisors are reluctant to recommend clients to venture into cryptocurrencies.
U.S. SEC Appeals Ripple Case, Requests Appellate Court to Reexamine Relevant Rulings
According to the preliminary brief filed by the SEC, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has appealed the Ripple case, focusing on the dispute regarding whether XRP sales constitute a securities offering. The SEC argues that the lower court made errors in its interpretation of securities law in certain rulings and requests the appellate court to reexamine the relevant decisions.
VanEck Submits Onchain Economy ETF Application to U.S. SEC
Asset management company VanEck submitted an application for the "Onchain Economy" exchange-traded fund (ETF) to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on January 15. According to the document, the fund will invest in cryptocurrency companies across the entire industry, including software developers, mining companies, cryptocurrency exchanges, infrastructure builders, payment companies, and other enterprises in the cryptocurrency field.
The asset manager defines these companies as "digital transformation companies" and stated: "The selection of digital transformation companies is based on fundamental analysis, market trends, the company's strategic positioning in the digital asset ecosystem, and valuation." The fund will also invest in digital asset tools such as commodity futures contracts but will not invest directly in digital assets by holding cryptocurrencies.
According to Korean media NAVER, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of South Korea issued a business suspension notice to Upbit, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, on January 9, mainly due to violations of customer identification (KYC) and other anti-money laundering obligations under the Specific Financial Transaction Information Act. The FIU found approximately 700,000 cases of improper KYC execution and violations related to business dealings with unregistered overseas virtual asset service providers during inspections.
Once the penalty is confirmed, Upbit will be restricted from new user-related business for up to six months. Upbit currently holds over 70% of the South Korean cryptocurrency trading market, and this penalty may affect its business license renewal review. The FIU will hold a sanctions committee meeting on January 21 to determine the final penalty details.
Crypto Custodian Komainu Completes $75 Million Bitcoin Financing, Blockstream CEO Joins Its Board
According to Bloomberg, cryptocurrency custodian Komainu Holdings Ltd., supported by Nomura Holdings Inc., has secured $75 million in Bitcoin financing from Blockstream Capital Partners.
The company plans to use these funds to support its global expansion plans and integrate collateral management and tokenization technology developed by Blockstream Corp. Blockstream CEO Adam Back will join Komainu's board.
Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley posted on X that some national governments are inquiring about Bitcoin ETF information and considering shifting some foreign government bond investments to Bitcoin.
Bithumb to Launch AGLD, CBK, HPO KRW Trading Pairs
According to Bithumb's announcement, AGLD, CBK, and HPO will launch on the KRW trading market today, with trading starting at 18:00 on January 16, 2025.
Binance Adjusts Leverage Limits for Copy Trading
According to the official announcement, Binance will adjust the leverage limits for the main trader's publicly disclosed portfolio in copy trading starting from January 17, 2025, at 00:00 (UTC). When the active copy trader's assets under management (AUM) exceed 400,000 USDT, the leverage for their publicly disclosed portfolio will be limited to 10 times. Main traders with AUM below 400,000 USDT will not be affected.
Currently, 8 States in the U.S. Are Leading the Push for Bitcoin Strategic Reserve Bills
According to Cointelegraph, currently, 8 states are leading the push for Bitcoin strategic reserve bills.
These include:
- Florida
- Alabama
- New Hampshire
- Pennsylvania
- Ohio
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Texas
Informed Sources: Biden Administration Considering Allowing TikTok to Continue Operating in the U.S.
According to Jinshi reports, three informed sources revealed that the Biden administration is considering how to allow TikTok to continue operating in the U.S. One government official stated that officials are "exploring various options" to prevent TikTok from being banned this Sunday (January 19).
Binance Wealth Management, One-Click Buy, Instant Exchange, Leverage, and Contracts Launch Sonic (S)
According to the official announcement, Binance Wealth Management, One-Click Buy, Instant Exchange, Leverage, and Contracts are launching Sonic (S). Binance will launch S 1-75x U-based perpetual contracts on January 16, 2025, at 18:00 (UTC+8).
"What Interesting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours"
RootData: 2024 Web3 Industry Investment Research Report
In 2024, a total of $10.112 billion was raised, an increase of 8.3% compared to 2023, with a total of 1,548 financing events and 102 M&A events, setting a historical high. Infrastructure, Layer 1/2, and DeFi remain the hottest tracks in blockchain, while tags like AI and DeSci have seen rapid increases in clicks. DePIN, RWA, AI, and consumer-grade Infra will be key focuses for industry development in 2025.
Interview with Artela CEO Jerry: Building the First Full-Chain AI High-Performance Public Chain
AI Agent is not just a part of sector rotation, but a long slope with thick snow.
RootData Roundtable: Development, Challenges, and Opportunities of Stablecoins
In this discussion, several guests from Perena, IOSG VC, Frax Finance, BiXin Ventures, Plume Network, and OKX comprehensively analyzed the future development direction of stablecoins, from market impact to institutional investment opportunities and innovative technology applications. Meanwhile, the discussion extended to trends like AI agents and RWA, exploring how new technologies can help blockchain and DeFi achieve mass user adoption.
Today, XRP's price broke above $3 for the first time since 2018, reaching $3.17 before publication, with a 24h increase of 9.2% and over 30% increase in the past week. The overall increase far exceeds the entire cryptocurrency market. Additionally, XRP's price is very close to its historical high of $3.4 set in January 2018.
On January 15, local U.S. time, on the last day of the appeal submission deadline, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission decided to appeal the Ripple case, requesting the appellate court to reexamine the relevant rulings. However, the market generally believes that the SEC is "wasting time," and the new SEC under the Trump administration will take a more friendly attitude towards cryptocurrencies, especially in such a typical case as Ripple.
Moreover, expectations for an XRP ETF remain strong. Ripple President Monica Long stated in a recent interview that XRP is likely to be the next cryptocurrency spot ETF after Bitcoin and Ethereum. Especially with the change in government, the approval of these applications will accelerate.
Additionally, last night, the release of CPI and PPI data, with core PCE inflation lower than expected, boosted investor confidence in the cryptocurrency market. The cryptocurrency market also experienced a broad rally.
XRP's price took this opportunity to rise again, as it has always done.
XRP was issued in March 2013 and began trading in April 2014, with a total issuance of 100 billion coins and an issuance price of 0.0000007 yuan.
Since its inception, XRP has been unique. In summary, it has years of bear market consolidation, followed by half a year of bull market surges, often increasing more than threefold or even tenfold in just over ten days.
What Impact Will Virtuals' Large Buyback Have?
This morning, Virtuals announced that it will use the 12,990,427.85 $VIRTUAL accumulated from post-bonding trading income for buybacks and destruction of related proxy tokens within the ecosystem based on time-weighted average price (TWAP) over the next 30 days. Tokens with significant buyback quantities, such as GAME, CANVO, and AIXBT, have all seen increases of over 20%.
Meme Popularity Rankings
According to the meme token tracking and analysis platform GMGN, as of January 16, 20:00:
The top five popular Ethereum tokens in the past 24 hours are: Yilongma, SPX, ERS, PEPU, KIKIUS
The top five popular Solana tokens in the past 24 hours are: $WAI, SHIKOKU, Boogie, CatTax, ARCANA AI
The top five popular Base tokens in the past 24 hours are: VIRTUAL, AIXBT, TOSHI, AERO, BRETT
