Today's news tips:
1. Grayscale launches new Dogecoin Trust Fund
2.21Shares applies to launch spot Polkadot ETF
3. Tether introduces stablecoin USDT to Bitcoin Lightning Network
4. Uniswap v4 is officially launched
5. Swarms is pushing for a new proposal to increase team holdings to 10% to prevent price manipulation
6. Vitalik Buterin reveals his holdings: BTC accounts for less than 10%, and non-ETH assets are all below 10%
7. Tether's profit in 2024 reached $13 billion, and its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds hit a record high
8. The US SEC postponed the decision to convert the Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund into an ETF
Regulatory/Macro
According to an official announcement, Canadian asset management company Purpose Investments Inc. has submitted a preliminary prospectus for the world's first Ripple (XRP) spot ETF to Canadian securities regulators. The ETF plans to invest most of its assets in XRP, aiming to provide investors with long-term capital appreciation opportunities under a regulated framework. Purpose Investments manages assets of over $23 billion and has previously launched the world's first Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. Company founder Som Seif said that the growth in XRP's institutional adoption has prompted this product innovation, and the ETF will lower the threshold for investors to participate. If ultimately approved, the product will need to be reviewed by the Canadian Securities Commission, and specific transaction fees and risk terms will be subject to the final prospectus.
Founder of Turkish exchange Thodex has some charges dropped, but still faces jail time for fraud
According to foreign media reports, the 22nd District Court of Istanbul, Turkey, withdrew the "organized crime" charges against Faruk Fatih Ozer, the founder of Thodex, but maintained his fraud charges and continued detention. Ozer was accused of defrauding more than 400,000 users in the 2021 Thodex exchange collapse, involving a total amount of US$2 billion, and was sentenced to 11,196 years in prison in September 2023. His legal team said it would push for further sentence reductions and emphasized that "the judicial process has not yet ended." Thodex was once Turkey's leading exchange. It suddenly closed in April 2021, leaving 391,000 users unable to withdraw cash. Ozer fled and was arrested and extradited in Albania in 2022. The court previously found him guilty of money laundering, fraud and other crimes, but the latest ruling found that some of the charges were insufficient.
Market News: US SEC postpones decision on conversion of Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund into ETF
unfolded. tweeted that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed the decision of the Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund to convert its BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, and ADA tokens into an ETF.
AI
Italian data regulator restricts DeepSeek and launches investigation
Italy’s data protection authority has launched an investigation into the artificial intelligence chatbot of Chinese startup DeepSeek and said it has banned it from processing the data of Italian users. The Italian data protection authority said it decided to take action after receiving a “completely inadequate” response to its inquiries about the company’s use of personal data.
The agency said in a statement it had ordered "urgent and immediate restrictions on the processing of data of Italian users by Hangzhou DeepSeek AI and Beijing DeepSeek AI, the Chinese companies that provide the DeepSeek chatbot service".
Meanwhile, authorities have launched an investigation, the statement said.
Project News
LayerZero Labs reached a settlement agreement with FTX's bankrupt assets, ending a two-year legal dispute. Previously, FTX's assets accused LayerZero of reaching a "fraudulent transaction" with Alameda Research in 2023, that is, a few days before FTX's bankruptcy, Alameda sold back its 5% equity (worth $150 million at the time of the lawsuit) to LayerZero on the condition of canceling a $45 million loan. Another transaction involving 100 million Stargate tokens (with an initial cost of $25 million and a repurchase price of $10 million) was not completed. LayerZero co-founder Bryan Pellegrino said that the original equity repurchase funds had been returned to FTX's assets, and that "after the settlement, we can focus on technology development."
According to the official announcement, the IOST Foundation announced an airdrop and staking plan to distribute 4.26 billion IOST tokens, aiming to reward loyal users, attract new users, and support builders. The token allocation for existing users is 40%, for new users is 35%, for ecosystem support is 23%, and for early bird voters is 2%. The plan focuses on long-term participation and emphasizes the sustainable development of the ecosystem.
Tether introduces stablecoin USDT to Bitcoin Lightning Network
According to Tether's official website, Tether announced that it will integrate its stablecoin USDT into the Bitcoin ecosystem, covering the base layer and the Lightning Network. This integration is developed by Lightning Labs through the Taproot-driven protocol Taproot Assets, which combines the "decentralization" and security of Bitcoin with the "speed and scalability" of the Lightning Network, redefining the application of stablecoins in Bitcoin. After the integration, USDT will run on Bitcoin's base layer and the second-layer Lightning Network, achieving high-speed and low-cost transactions.
MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor (@saylor) tweeted that MicroStrategy announced the pricing of its Strike preferred stock ($STRK) offering and increased the original transaction size from $250 million to $584 million.
According to the official announcement, Nasdaq-listed MicroStrategy (MSTR) announced the completion of the issuance of 7.3 million shares of Series A perpetual exercise preferred stock (STRK), priced at $80 per share, with an estimated net financing of $563.4 million. The liquidation price of the preferred stock is $100 per share, with an annual dividend rate of 8%, which can be paid in cash or Class A common stock and can be converted into common stock at an initial conversion price of $1,000 per share.
MicroStrategy said the financing will be used for general corporate purposes, including continuing to increase its holdings of Bitcoin and replenishing operating funds. According to the terms, if the total liquidation value of the outstanding preferred shares is less than 25% of the total issuance amount, the company can redeem them in full; if a major tax or legal event occurs, investors can request a repurchase.
The issuance is jointly underwritten by Barclays, Moelis & Company and other institutions, and is expected to be completed on February 5, 2025. As of January 2025, MicroStrategy holds approximately 190,000 bitcoins, and this financing may further expand its bitcoin holdings.
Grayscale launches new Dogecoin trust fund
Grayscale announced the launch of a new closed-end fund, Dogecoin Trust, which provides exposure to Dogecoin (DOGE). The asset management company believes that DOGE has become more than just a meme coin, but has become a tool for global financial inclusion, especially in areas with underdeveloped banking infrastructure. With its low transaction costs and fast transfer speeds, DOGE is seen as the best tool for international remittances. The launch of the trust comes shortly after President Trump took office, who promised to promote the development of the crypto industry and named one of his newly formed organizations "DOGE". With a market value of nearly $50 billion, DOGE is the world's largest meme coin.
According to Uniswap official news, Uniswap v4 is now online, becoming the latest version of the Uniswap protocol. After code contributions from hundreds of community members, nine independent audits, the largest security competition in history, and a $15.5 million bug bounty, Uniswap v4 is now enabled on multiple chains including Ethereum, Polygon, and Arbitrum. This update makes the protocol a highly customizable developer platform. Through the "hooks" plug-in, developers can customize logic for functions such as liquidity pools, exchanges, and handling fees.
According to the data, Uniswap v4 provides lower transaction costs. The cost of creating a new pool is 99.99% lower than the previous version. It also supports ETH trading pairs, which significantly saves gas fees. At the same time, this version has no critical security vulnerabilities, and all codes are open, and community contributions and audits are welcome. Liquidity providers can migrate to v4 through the Uniswap application, and traders' exchange processes will also be automatically routed through the v4 liquidity pool.
UBS tests ZKSync Layer-2 technology
Swiss banking giant UBS has completed a proof-of-concept for its "UBS Key4 Gold" gold product on the Ethereum Layer-2 network ZKSync. The move aims to explore how to expand its gold products while protecting privacy. Key4 Gold allows Swiss customers to purchase physical gold through real-time pricing, deep liquidity, and optional physical delivery.
FTX and K5 Global reach settlement
According to PR Newswire, on January 31, 2025, FTX Trading Ltd. (FTX.com) and FTX Recovery Trust announced a settlement with venture capital firm K5 Global, resolving the lawsuit filed by FTX in June 2024. FTX stated that the two parties will work together to maximize the recovery for FTX stakeholders.
FTX’s U.S. Bankruptcy Court-approved Chapter 11 reorganization plan became effective on January 3, 2025, with initial distributions expected to be made within 60 days.
21Shares files to launch Polkadot spot ETF
21Shares, a company focused on exchange-traded funds, has filed an S-1 registration application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch the Polkadot Trust. It will be traded on Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. and will track the performance of Polkadot Network's native token DOT. According to the statement, Coinbase Custody Company, LLC will custody its DOT. Earlier this week, Tuttle Capital applied for 10 leveraged cryptocurrency ETFs, including one that tracks Polkadot.
Tensor Foundation: TNSR Season 4 Airdrop Application is Now Open
The Tensor Foundation tweeted that the TNSR Season 4 airdrop claim is now open, with a total of 4% of the TNSR supply rewarded to active S4 users of Tensor Protocols, and nearly 50,000 wallets eligible for S4 rewards. In addition, users who claim in the VECTOR.FUN application will receive an additional 25% reward.
According to previous news , the Tensor Season 4 reward claim checking tool has been launched and claims will begin at the end of January next year.
NYSE applies to list and trade Grayscale’s spot Dogecoin ETF
NYSE Arca has filed a Form 19b-4 with the U.S. SEC seeking approval for a rule change to list and trade Grayscale’s spot Dogecoin ETF. The move comes swiftly after Grayscale’s earlier announcement of the launch of the Dogecoin Trust.
The document reads: "Similar to Bitcoin and Litecoin, Dogecoin can be used to pay for goods and services or can be exchanged for fiat currency, such as U.S. dollars, at an exchange rate determined by the digital asset trading platform or by individual end-user to end-user transactions under a barter system. In addition, Dogecoin can be used to pay transaction fees to miners for validating transactions on the Dogecoin network."
The proposed ETF will provide investors with exposure to Dogecoin without having to take direct ownership. Coinbase Custody Trust Company will serve as custodian, while Bank of New York Mellon will handle administration and transfer agent duties.
Swarms are pushing for a new proposal to increase team holdings to 10% to prevent price manipulation
The AI proxy protocol swarms tweeted that the price was manipulated because the team held too little coins (2%), and is currently promoting a new proposal to establish a DAO and increase the team's coin holdings to 10% to prevent market manipulation. The proposal will ensure that the team has the resources to continue to support the proxy infrastructure project and protect it from malicious whales and bad actors. In addition, the official will pay profits to DAO investors on a quarterly basis.
Viewpoint
CZ: Hype may gain in the short term, but builders win in the long term
CZ tweeted that hype may gain in the short term, but builders win in the long term.
Important data
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin (@VitalikButerin) revealed on social media that Bitcoin (BTC) accounts for less than 10% of his personal crypto assets, and the total holdings of all non-Ethereum (ETH) assets are also less than 10%.
Tether's profit reaches $13 billion in 2024, and its U.S. Treasury holdings hit a record high
Tether released its fourth quarter report for 2024, showing that its annual net profit exceeded $13 billion and the group's equity exceeded $20 billion. In the fourth quarter, its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds reached $113 billion, surpassing the historical record, making Tether one of the world's largest holders of U.S. Treasury bonds. At the same time, Tether's excess reserves exceeded $7 billion for the first time, an annual increase of 36%.
According to the monitoring of @ai_9684xtpa, an analyst on the chain, the whale who opened a position in TRUMP three days ago sold out seven hours ago, and lost $590,000 in this round of trading. The address 2geJd...m49Aj spent $2.8 million to buy 92,700 tokens during the rebound trend on January 28, and then the price of the token fell all the way, and sold all of them at an average price of $23.82 seven hours ago. However, the profits of the first three waves were relatively large, and the cumulative profit on TRUMP is currently $7.44 million.
