ChainCatcher news, two former senior employees of Coinbase Global Inc. are launching a cryptocurrency platform called TrueX, which will use PayPal Holdings Inc.'s stablecoin as its preferred trading token. Before co-founding TrueX, Vishal Gupta was the head of exchange at Coinbase. He was responsible for overseeing the launch of the USDC stablecoin during his tenure at Circle Internet Financial Ltd. Patrick McCreary previously served as a senior engineer at Coinbase. Both have worked at Goldman Sachs.

ChainCatcher news, according to foreign media reports, former U.S. President Donald Trump, along with his son and entrepreneurs, launched a new cryptocurrency platform called "World Liberty Financial" on Monday evening, which will be controlled by Trump's sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, but provided very few details.In a two-hour online presentation, the Trump family revealed almost no information except for encouraging people to purchase digital "tokens" to gain voting rights in platform decisions. "World Liberty Financial" intends to offer services based on so-called decentralized finance, allowing transactions without intermediaries like banks and third parties. Donald Trump Jr. referred to this as "the beginning of a financial revolution" during the meeting on X. (Jin Shi)

According to ChainCatcher news and CoinDesk reports, digital investment platform Abra and its founder and CEO William Barhydt have reached a settlement with financial regulators in 25 states. Abra will refund up to $82 million in cryptocurrency to U.S. customers in these states for operating its mobile application without the proper licenses. The settlement agreement requires Abra to cease accepting cryptocurrency distributions and trades from U.S. Abra Trade customers.Barhydt also agreed not to participate in any capacity in the money services business within these 25 states for the next five years. Charlie Clark, director of the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, stated that state financial regulators will hold violators accountable. An Abra spokesperson noted that this settlement also addresses issues related to unregistered securities sales with certain state securities regulators. Since June 2023, Abra has refunded over $250 million, approximately 99% of the assets held by its U.S. retail customers. Abra continues to operate in the U.S. through its SEC-registered investment advisor, Abra Capital Management.

ChainCatcher news, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) recently announced that it will conduct on-site office inspections of cryptocurrency platforms applying for licenses.The regulator emphasized that the 18 applicants "deemed to have obtained a license" will be required to undergo inspections to obtain approval for their applications. These inspections will take place in the coming months, during which the deemed licensed VATP applicants will submit their applications. The on-site inspections will focus on the cryptocurrency platforms' protection of customer assets and Know Your Customer (KYC) processes to determine whether the companies meet the SFC's regulatory requirements.The regulator also reminded applicants that during the application process, they must comply with all regulatory requirements and licensing conditions set by the SFC. These conditions include prohibiting residents of mainland China from accessing the platform's virtual asset-related services, marketing their services, or attracting retail users.

ChainCatcher news, according to Coindesk, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand has decided to block "unauthorized" crypto platforms, citing earlier decisions from countries such as India and the Philippines.According to the announcement on Friday, Thai authorities have decided to block "unauthorized" crypto platforms to enhance law enforcement efficiency and address online crime issues. Following a meeting of the Technology Crime Suppression Committee, the SEC was asked to submit information on unauthorized digital asset service providers to the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society to block access to these platforms.The announcement stated that the SEC has considered the impact on users and will give them time to manage their accounts before the service becomes unavailable. Therefore, the announcement urges users of the platform to quickly withdraw their assets from the platform.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the cryptocurrency platform Abra and its CEO William Barhydt have reached a settlement with the financial regulators of the state of Oregon. Under the terms of the settlement, Abra will return the assets held by Oregon users on the platform and cease the issuance of unregistered securities in the state. If Abra successfully returns all assets to Oregon customers by April 25, it will not face any fines.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, South Africa will issue licenses to about 60 cryptocurrency platforms by the end of March, making it one of the first countries on the African continent to require digital asset trading platforms to obtain operating licenses. The country's Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) stated that over 300 crypto asset providers are seeking approval, and the authority allows trading platforms to apply for licenses until November 30, or they risk facing enforcement actions. The FSCA will use existing financial services laws to regulate cryptocurrencies.

ChainCatcher message, Zhao Changpeng stated on the X platform (formerly Twitter) that Vitalik's Twitter account has been hacked, and users should remain vigilant while reading content on social media (even content from well-known KOLs).Twitter's account security is not designed as a financial platform. It needs more features, such as enabling two-factor authentication (2FA), and the login ID should be different from the username or email.Zhao Changpeng mentioned that in the past, his Twitter account had been locked several times due to hackers attempting brute force attacks (repeatedly trying different passwords), and these incidents occurred before Musk acquired Twitter. Additionally, Zhao Changpeng advised users to use two-factor authentication (such as Yubikey) on all crypto platforms.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, mining machine manufacturer Bitmain and crypto platform Anchorage Digital are expected to acquire a stake in Core Scientific (CORZ) to help the mining company emerge from bankruptcy protection. This company is the second largest publicly traded Bitcoin miner in the world.According to submitted documents, Core Scientific will purchase 27,000 Bitmain Antminer S19j XP mining machines for $77.1 million, with the purchase funds including $23 million in cash and $54 million in equity funding.

ChainCatcher news, the open-source programmable cryptocurrency platform Spacemesh will launch its mainnet on July 14. Anyone with a standard consumer-grade PC will be able to start running a node and earn Smesh tokens. Smesh users will receive their first rewards during the two weeks starting from August 11, and all Smesh users will receive their first rewards by August 15.The minimum requirements for running a node are: CPU: Intel or AMD x86-64 or 64-bit ARM, including Apple Silicon (but excluding Raspberry Pi); Memory: 1GiB+; Operating System: Windows 10/11, MacOS, Ubuntu 22.04+ or Fedora 36+; Disk Space: 50GiB of available disk space; a consistently active internet connection with no traffic limits, with a download speed of at least 5 mbps and an upload speed of at least 1 mbps.According to the crypto data platform RootData, Spacemesh has completed a total of $18 million in funding, with investors including institutions such as Polychain, Paradigm, and Coinbase Ventures. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg citing informed sources, Taiwan Mobile is in early-stage negotiations with cryptocurrency platforms for a strategic partnership, including a potential investment in one of the businesses. Additionally, the sources added that Taiwan is expected to release a digital asset regulatory handbook this year. (Source link)

ChainCatcher message, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stated during his appearance on Bloomberg TV that exchanges like Binance are fabricating trading volumes and have corruption issues. Crypto platforms are only creating wealth for themselves, and they are acting as counterparties to their users. The SEC finds it hard to trust these "casino operators" to protect investors' interests. The institutional boundaries and business models applicable to crypto systems have not been seen in any other financial sector. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, research from the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank shows that last year, the withdrawals on cryptocurrency platforms like Celsius Network were "led by customers with large holdings, some of whom are mature institutional clients." The study estimates that before Celsius froze withdrawals and eventually filed for bankruptcy, 35% of all withdrawals in June came from individuals with accounts holding over $1 million; account holders with investments exceeding $500,000 withdrew the fastest and had a higher withdrawal rate. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission CEO Ashley Alder stated during the Q&A session after the "How to Ensure Sustainable ESG Investment" sub-forum at the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2023 that cryptocurrency platforms are part of the entire Web 3.0 ecosystem, and we strongly support the development of the entire internet ecosystem. These virtual currency platforms must ensure the safety of all investors from the perspective of investor protection. (The Paper)

ChainCatcher news, the cryptocurrency platform Bybit announced today in collaboration with Nansen the reserve assets of the platform. The data shows that the total value of Bybit's reserve assets is approximately $1.9 billion, with the highest value asset being USDT; Stablecoin assets, including USDT and USDC, account for 54.10%; BTC (21.52%) and ETH (11.10%) together account for 32.62%; BIT reserves rank fifth, accounting for 4.99%.Bybit CEO Ben Zhou stated, "We are exploring new custody solutions that allow users to view their on-chain balances or third-party custody. Bybit guarantees a 1:1 reserve for all users, and Bybit will ensure that all user withdrawals are processed promptly during this special period." (source link)

ChainCatcher news, Forbes commented in an article that the total market capitalization of platform tokens created by over 16 cryptocurrency and DeFi exchanges worldwide exceeds $62 billion. These tokens are similar to FTX's FTT, which do not represent any equity in the company; their only value is that customers using these tokens can trade on the exchange at a discount. In systems similar to multi-level marketing organizations like Amway, introducing new traders to the platform can also earn customers exchange tokens.In contrast, DeFi tokens claim to provide holders with the ability to vote on proposals and changes. Exchange tokens serve as fuel for the self-fulfilling bubble of cryptocurrencies. However, in reality, many large DeFi platforms concentrate governance power in the hands of major investors and founding teams. Furthermore, just as FTT did not provide holders with shares in FTX, purchasing DeFi tokens does not necessarily transfer ownership to the underlying platform. The reason Coinbase and Kraken have not issued platform tokens may be due to concerns that platform tokens could be viewed as securities by the SEC.It is reported that among the 16 platforms listed by Forbes, the top three platform tokens by market capitalization are BNB, OKB, and UNI, with 12-month declines of 55%, 31%, and 78%, respectively. The top three 12-month declines are FTT (97%), SNX (78%), and CAKE (68%). (Forbes)