ChainCatcher news, according to official news from InfiniFi, the project has completed a $3 million pre-seed funding round. This round was led by Electric Capital, with participation from institutions such as New Form Capital, Kraynos Capital, and Baboon VC. InfiniFi plans to launch a dollar-pegged Deposit Receipt Token (DRT) in the second quarter of 2025 and will integrate with protocols such as AAVE, Pendle, and Ethena.

ChainCatcher news, Electric Capital partner Avichal stated on social media that the "golden age" of software engineers in San Francisco has come to an end. From 2000 to 2020, software engineers were the epitome of high-paying professions, but with over 100,000 layoffs in the tech industry by 2024, the globalization of remote work, and the rapid development of AI technology, the wealth trajectory of this profession has fundamentally changed. He compared the rise of ChatGPT to the "2008 moment" in the software engineering field, which altered the market landscape.However, Avichal pointed out that this is not all bad news. The future will be an era of small, efficient teams, and AI-driven efficiency gains will give rise to more billion-dollar companies built by teams of 10. AI-first companies will dominate the market, and designers, product managers, and domain experts will have unprecedented influence, driving the rise of a new generation of entrepreneurs.He predicts that as the cost of software production continues to decrease, the enterprise software industry will undergo profound changes, and the "easy money" era for ordinary software engineers has ended, while a new "gold rush" in San Francisco has quietly begun.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jiangxi Daily, recently, the Criminal Investigation Team of the Yongfeng County Public Security Bureau in Jiangxi Province, in conjunction with the Municipal Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Detachment, successfully dismantled a money laundering gang that used virtual currency for "electric fraud scoring."Since late January this year, the suspects Liang Mouyong, Zeng Mou, and Zhang Mouyong formed a "electric fraud scoring" team for profit, gradually recruiting others and developing a network. Liang Mouyong was responsible for using "paper**" overseas chat software to contact fraudsters for orders, while Zeng Mou and Zhang Mouyong were responsible for finding card farmers, collecting more than 10 bank accounts through borrowing and inducement, which were used to receive illegal funds. After the illegal funds were received, they were converted into virtual currency to achieve the purpose of money laundering. From January 24 to February 3, the gang transferred over 100,000 yuan.Currently, Liang Mouyong, Zeng Mou, and 6 others have been criminally detained by the public security organs according to the law, while Wen Moubo and Gao Moubing have been administratively punished by the public security organs according to the law. The case is still under further investigation.

ChainCatcher news, according to Protos, the Thai government cut off electricity, internet, and fuel supplies in the Thai-Myanmar border area at 9 AM on February 5 (10 AM Beijing time) to combat local cryptocurrency scam centers. This operation involved five service providers in the regions of Myawaddy, Payathonzu, and Tachilek.According to investigations, the KK Park scam center located in Myawaddy is suspected of defrauding $100 million worth of USDT through a "pig butchering" scheme. In 2023, Myanmar authorities rescued 1,200 imprisoned individuals in the area. This power cut operation is an important measure taken by the Thai government in response to pressure from China, following concerns raised by Chinese actors who were scammed in the region.Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha stated that scam activities severely affect Thailand's national image and that strict measures need to be taken. Although the power cut will impact local residents and the normal operation of hospitals, the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that relevant communities had been notified in advance.

ChainCatcher news, mining company Stronghold Digital has violated energy market rules while prioritizing its Bitcoin mining business, agreeing to pay over $1.4 million in fines and refunds.Stronghold has a contractual obligation to provide available power to the PJM grid to help ensure the reliability of the grid. However, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's enforcement office found that Stronghold failed to meet this obligation from June 2021 to May 2022, instead diverting power to its Bitcoin mining operations.Stronghold and Scrubgrass will repay PJM $678,635 in improperly earned capacity revenue and pay a civil penalty of $741,365 to the U.S. Treasury. The company must also submit compliance reports for at least two years and provide market rules training for its personnel.

ChainCatcher news, according to TASS, in 2024, experts from Rosseti North Caucasus branch, together with law enforcement agencies, stopped 6 cases of electricity theft from mining sites. The total amount of stolen energy was nearly 3.5 million kilowatt-hours. In terms of losses caused to the regional power grid complex, the losses exceeded 30 million rubles.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the clean energy electric vehicle charging technology company Nuvve, which is listed on Nasdaq, stated that it plans to use up to 30% of its remaining cash to purchase Bitcoin "based on its expected six months of operating expenses."Nuvve indicated that increasing its Bitcoin holdings would diversify its treasury assets, aligning with its goal of offering Bitcoin payment options.However, according to Google Finance data, on January 28, Nuvve (NVVE) closed up 1.81% at $2.81, down from an intraday high of over $4, but rose 1.42% in after-hours trading to $2.85.

ChainCatcher news, DWF Labs co-founder posted on platform X that they have participated in a transaction for the tokenization of 150 MhW of electricity. Although it's not much, big things always start from small beginnings. One of DWF Labs' goals is to create a global tokenization framework and market for tokenized energy that is efficient, transparent, and borderless.

ChainCatcher news, the Thai police have shut down a Bitcoin mining operation that is estimated to have stolen approximately $3 million worth of electricity. The mining site is located in the Phanat Nikhom district of Chonburi province in eastern Thailand, and the operation involved more than 1,000 machines. Although authorities could not provide an exact figure for the theft, its value could reach "hundreds of millions of baht."Miners tampered with the electricity meters of the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) to redirect power to their machines. An unidentified worker at the site told police that the electricity theft only occurred at night, while the meters were used correctly during the day to avoid detection.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, BIT Mining has acquired a 51-megawatt power facility and nearly 18,000 Bitcoin mining machines in Ethiopia through a $14 million deal. With electricity costs in Ethiopia being about 70% lower than in the United States, the company is able to transfer old mining machines that were retired in the U.S. for local use, extending the lifespan of the machines by about two years.It is reported that Ethiopia's abundant hydroelectric resources (partly from China-funded projects, such as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam) and the government's support for Bitcoin mining provide BIT Mining with a unique opportunity.Currently, Ethiopia contributes 1.5% of the Bitcoin network's hash rate, comparable to Norway. Despite facing social unrest, BIT Mining chose to purchase existing facilities rather than build new ones to mitigate potential risks.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, as various industries connect large data centers and facilities to the power grid, the demand for electricity in North America driven by cryptocurrency mining and artificial intelligence operations has reached new highs. The electricity consumption of crypto mining can vary, typically fluctuating with changes in market prices, which further complicates grid management and leads to sudden fluctuations in energy load demand during normal operations.NERC's latest long-term reliability assessment shows significant growth in areas such as Texas, with peak demand expected to grow at a rate of 4.6% per year by the summer of 2029, four times the previous forecast.

ChainCatcher news, Electric Capital partner Maria Shen will host a special discussion in X Space with Consensys Head of Developer Relations Francesco and HackQuest co-founder Harry, focusing on the latest developer report released by Electric Capital. The three guests will delve into the core conclusions of the report, strategies for onboarding developers from different ecosystems, future development trends of the Web3 developer ecosystem, and innovative directions in developer education, among other topics.

ChainCatcher news, according to a report by The Block, a developer report released by the venture capital firm Electric Capital found that Solana is the preferred blockchain for new developers. The report found that among the 39,148 new developers exploring cryptocurrency this year, 7,625 are developing on Solana, indicating that the number of developers on this network has increased by 83% year-over-year.The report states that this is the first time since 2016 that the growth rate of the Solana blockchain ecosystem has surpassed that of Ethereum. However, in terms of total developers, Ethereum remains the largest blockchain in North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Solana ranks second in the same regions based on the number of developers.Electric Capital's report also found that in 2024, Aptos, Base, Bitcoin, Internet Computer, NEAR, Polkadot, Polygon, Starknet, and Sui each added over 1,000 new developers. Additionally, BNB, Optimism, Scroll, Stellar, and TON also added 500 new developers.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, the Bernese Cantonal Parliament in Switzerland passed a proposal with 85 votes in favor and 46 against, which will explore the use of Bitcoin mining to absorb surplus electricity and stabilize the grid. The proposal was introduced by a bipartisan Bitcoin parliamentary group on March 14, 2024, and was approved despite government opposition. The proposal requires the government to submit reports on three key aspects: identifying unused energy areas in Bern, assessing the feasibility of collaborating with Swiss mining companies for Bitcoin mining, and analyzing its potential to stabilize the grid during fluctuations in power supply.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, French multinational company Schneider Electric has suffered a ransomware attack, with the hacker group "Hellcat" demanding $125,000 worth of baguettes or the cryptocurrency Monero as ransom, or they will publicly release 40GB of sensitive data stolen from the company.It is reported that the group published the ransom note through anonymous social media accounts, claiming to have obtained key information about the company's customers and operations. This attack marks the third cyber attack on Schneider Electric in two years.The company has confirmed that it is investigating the incident, stating that the attacked platform is in a quarantined environment and that the company's products and services have not been affected. Analysts point out that the hackers' choice of baguettes as a demand is for "marketing" purposes, to increase their visibility in the ransomware market.

ChainCatcher news, Electric Capital partner Maria Shen released a global cryptocurrency developer distribution research report showing that, through the analysis of over 110,000 developer profiles, North America's leading position in the share of cryptocurrency developers has been surpassed by Asia. The share of developers in North America has sharply declined from 44% in 2015 to 24% in 2024. Meanwhile, Asia's share has risen from 13% to 32%, becoming the largest continent for crypto talent for the first time.By country, the United States ranks first globally with a share of 18.8%, followed by India and the United Kingdom with 11.8% and 4.2%, respectively. Since 2015, the U.S. share of global cryptocurrency developers has plummeted by 51%. During the same period, the cryptocurrency market size skyrocketed from $5 billion to $2.4 trillion, an increase of nearly 480 times.Additionally, although the cryptocurrency industry is often thought to be concentrated in traditional tech hubs like California and New York, in reality, 64% of developers are distributed outside these areas. The study analyzed over 200,000 crypto-related Git commit records, involving more than 350,000 code repositories. Maria emphasized that cryptocurrency development should not be partisan, as developers are spread across states, representing different political backgrounds.