Today's news tips:
1. Jump Trading subsidiary Tai Mo Shan agrees to pay approximately $123 million to settle with the U.S. SEC
2. Binance Alpha announces the fourth batch of projects
3. Bloomberg: EU crypto exchanges have removed USDT from their shelves, which may cause Europe to miss out on Trump's crypto boom
4. IOST releases new token economics: 97% of newly issued tokens will be used by the community
5. People familiar with the matter said that the scope of authority of the crypto "Czar" David Sacks has changed from leadership to a general advisory role, which the latter denied
6. Cryptocurrency institutions such as Coinbase, Kraken and Ripple donated to Trump's inauguration
7. Uniswap L2 network Unichain mainnet will be launched early next year
8.Tether will make a $775 million strategic investment in video sharing platform Rumble
9.Tether CEO: Net profit is expected to reach $10 billion in 2024
Regulatory News
The French financial market regulator, Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), has approved French bank BPCE to conduct cryptocurrency business. According to an official notice issued by the AMF on December 20, BPCE's cryptocurrency subsidiary Hexarq has been granted the Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) authorization. With the approval, Hexarq is officially authorized to provide a range of crypto services, including crypto custody and the purchase, sale and trading of cryptocurrencies in euros.
In addition, the official website shows that BPCE's Hexarq will begin providing cryptocurrency investment services in the Banque Populaire and Caisse d'Épargne networks in 2025.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Tai Mo Shan, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jump Trading, with misleading investors about the stability of Terra USD (UST), a so-called “algorithmic stablecoin” issued by Terraform Labs PTE Ltd. (Terraform). The Commission also charged Tai Mo Shan with acting as a statutory underwriter and offering and selling securities in unregistered transactions, and LUNA, a crypto asset issued by Terraform, was offered and sold as a security.
As part of the settlement, Tai Mo Shan agreed to pay $73,452,756 in disgorgement, $12,916,153 in prejudgment interest, and a civil penalty of $36,726,378. Tai Mo Shan neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s findings and agreed to cease and desist from registration and fraud violations.
Google has released an update to its financial products and services policy, which will update the cryptocurrency and related product policy in January 2025 to clarify the scope and requirements of cryptocurrency-related business and service ads. From January 15, 2025, advertisers that provide cryptocurrency exchanges targeting the UK can promote these products and services after meeting the following requirements and obtaining Google certification.
United Kingdom (Cryptocurrency exchanges and software wallets): Google allows cryptocurrency exchange and cryptocurrency wallet ads targeting the United Kingdom as long as the advertiser is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Any other local legal requirements must also be complied with.
United Kingdom (Hardware Wallets): Google allows ads for hardware wallets that are used to hold private keys to cryptocurrencies, NFTs, or other crypto assets, without additional services such as buying, selling, exchanging, or trading the assets. Any other local legal requirements must also be complied with.
Advertisers must also be certified by Google.
Project News
Binance Alpha has announced the fourth batch of projects
According to official news, Binance Alpha announced the fourth batch of projects, namely: $BANANA, KOGE, BOB, MGP, PSTAKE, GNON, Shoggoth, LUCE, ODOS. The following is a brief introduction to the projects:
- $BANANA: A meme coin on the BNB chain, inspired by the “Banana for Scale” joke;
- KOGE: 48 Club® is a DAO on the BNB chain;
- BOB: a meme coin on the BNB chain;
- MGP: Magpie is a platform built on the BNB chain that aims to increase yields for liquidity providers and governance token holders of the high-veTokenomics protocol;
- PSTAKE: pSTAKE Finance is a Bitcoin yield and liquidity fast purchase and staking protocol;
- GNON: An AI meme coin on the Solana chain, whose cultural existence is quickly purchased and wrapped in a narrative full of philosophical concepts;
- Shoggoth: An AI concept meme coin on the Solana chain;
- LUCE: A meme coin on the Solana chain, inspired by the Saint Nianji fast purchase mascot "Luce";
- ODOS: A DEX aggregator.
According to Bloomberg, the EU crypto asset law will take full effect at the end of the year. In order to comply with the Crypto Asset Market Regulation (MiCA), many cryptocurrency exchanges in the EU have removed USDT, the mainstream stable currency Tether. This move is affecting the market for such tokens, with new issuers trying to fill the gap and investors defaulting to using euros for cryptocurrency trading.
The new EU rules are designed to give regulators a deeper understanding of cryptocurrency flows and help prevent crimes such as money laundering, which blockchain forensics experts say USDT is often used for. But cryptocurrency executives warn that MiCA could end up drying up market liquidity without achieving the EU's goals, making the bloc less attractive to digital asset traders at a critical time. "I understand the reasons for doing this to a certain extent, but it's quite exclusive and restrictive for EU customers themselves because USDT is the most liquid stablecoin by far," said Usman Ahmad, CEO of Zodia Markets, a crypto trading firm backed by Standard Chartered Bank.
Tether’s main competitor Circle received such a license in July. However, Tether has yet to obtain such a license, but has not ruled out the possibility of trying to obtain one in the future. In the event that Tether does not obtain a license, regulated exchanges must delist the token by December 30. Tether declined to comment on its own plans for an e-money license.
MANTRA, a Layer1 blockchain focused on RWA assets, said on the X platform that the updated OM token economics proposal is now live, with snapshot voting now open and mainnet voting to take place next week.
While the proposal proposes to adjust the token issuance schedule, individual allocations received through various activities will remain unchanged. The specific contents of the proposal include:
1. Adjust the vesting schedule for OM upgrade rewards. The cliff period will end on March 18, 2025, followed by a linear vesting period that will continue until October 16, 2028.
2. 10% of the initial airdrop allocation will be unlocked from March 18, 2025, followed by a 6-month cliff period until September 18, 2025. From that date, the remaining rewards will begin to vest in a linear manner and continue until March 18, 2027. In addition, a second phase of anti-sybil checks is proposed for all wallets. There will be no extension of the vesting period for airdrop rewards after this date.
3. The cliff period and vesting period for team and core contributor incentives will be extended. The cliff period will end on April 23, 2027, and the vesting period will end on October 22, 2029.
4. The token cliff period for Pre-Seed investors ends on October 23, 2025, and vesting ends on October 23, 2027. The token cliff period for Seed investors ends on April 23, 2025, and vesting ends on April 23, 2026.
5. The ecosystem allocation will remain unchanged, and the on-chain inflation rate will be reduced from 8% to 3% starting January 1, 2025.
The Stargate team said the downtime was caused by a failure of DVN's Executors
Web3 security company ExVul said on the X platform that Stargate has been down for nearly 6 hours. According to the Stargate team, the downtime is caused by a failure of DVN's Executors, and the LayerZero team is currently repairing it. According to the data on layerscan, there are currently 25.6k transactions blocked.
FTX-affiliated fund MNNC Group has raised over $100 million after changing its name from LedgerPrime
According to DL News, MNNC Group, which was renamed from FTX-affiliated crypto hedge fund LedgerPrime in February this year, revealed that the company has raised more than $100 million. According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, the Cayman Islands-based company raised $53 million through two funds. But Ayesha Kiani, chief operating officer of MNNC Group, said: "The amount is much more than that. This is just one of our onshore entities." Kiani said on Friday that MNNC Group manages more than "nine figures" in assets, but declined to elaborate further. This figure has increased from the "eight figures" disclosed by the fund to Bloomberg in February.
Kiani said LedgerPrime, which was liquidated and renamed MNNC Group after crypto exchange FTX collapsed in November 2022, currently has about 10 investors, but declined to disclose their names.
IOST releases new token economics: 97% of newly issued tokens will be used by the community
IOST announced in its official blog that in order to establish itself as the payment infrastructure of Web3, it has officially launched a strategic token evolution plan, which includes the following key components: enhanced staking mechanism, community priority allocation, multiple value protection measures, and growth acceleration pool.
In addition, IOST released a new token economic model, the key points are as follows:
1. Token distribution is as follows: ① The supply of existing IOST tokens will be strategically adjusted: the existing circulating supply is about 21.32 billion, and the new allocation for growth is 21.32 billion. ② 97% of the newly issued tokens are used for the community, including staking rewards, ecosystem growth and merchant incentives; ③ 3% are reserved for operating costs and team expansion.
2. The distribution of newly issued tokens is as follows: PayPIN node rewards (60%), airdrops and staking airdrops (20%), PayFi community incentives (8%), community developer subsidies (5%), Nexus DAO (4%), and team (3%).
3. Token destruction mechanism: Four interrelated token destruction mechanisms have been implemented, including: transaction fee destruction, node MEV destruction, ecosystem-based destruction, and DAO governance mechanism destruction. The combination of the four destruction mechanisms is expected to bring significant deflation as network adoption grows, and the total annual destruction is expected to be approximately US$8 million by the end of 2025.
OpenSea Foundation's official X account is now online and has released its first tweet
The official X account of OpenSea Foundation has been registered and launched, and released its first tweet "ocean enters the chat", which was forwarded by the official X account of OpenSea.
According to previous news , OpenSea has registered the OpenSea Foundation in the Cayman Islands.
Binance will launch AIXBTUSDT, FARTCOINUSDT, KMNOUSDT and CGPTUSDT 1-75x USDT perpetual contracts
According to the official announcement, Binance Futures will launch perpetual contracts at the following time, with a maximum leverage of 75 times:
- December 21, 2024 02:30 (GMT+8): AIXBTUSDT perpetual contract
- December 21, 2024 02:45 (GMT+8): FARTCOINUSDT perpetual contract
- December 21, 2024 03:00 (GMT+8): KMNOUSDT perpetual contract
- December 21, 2024 03:15 (GMT+8): CGPTUSDT perpetual contract
Please note that AIXBT(LINK), FARTCOIN(LINK) and CGPT(LINK) are now listed on Binance Alpha market.
Crypto 'Czar' David Sacks' purview shifts from leadership to general advisory role: Insider
According to Fortune, the scope of David Sacks' responsibilities, who was originally scheduled to serve as the "AI and Cryptocurrency Czar" of the Trump administration, has changed. Two people familiar with the inner workings of the transition team said that although the "Czar" position was originally considered a clear leadership role, it is now more like a general advisory position. It can be said that David Sacks will be supervised by Michael Kratsios, an executive at Scale AI who served as chief technology officer during Trump's first administration. A person familiar with the matter said that Michael Kratsios is deeply involved in the current transition work, and it is expected that he will continue to stay after Trump takes office and jointly lead all technology policy work with Gale Slater, who will focus on telecommunications and technology antitrust issues.
A person familiar with the matter explained that David Sacks' position was reduced to a more general advisory position in part because he did not divest from investment firm Craft Ventures and did not want to become a full-time government employee, which would require a formal confirmation process. In past administrations, many so-called political and policy "czars" have held official positions in the government, in specific departments, and often with Senate confirmation. If David Sacks were to receive formal employment status, he would most likely be a "special government employee," which Congress describes as a "temporary or intermittent consultant" who is not subject to the same conflict of interest standards as regular government employees. In fact, there are few restrictions on such a person continuing to do outside work or receive compensation, whether or not they are paid for government work.
Crypto "Czar" David Sacks tweeted: "Some traditional media reported tonight that my role has changed. This is completely wrong. I expect to spend half of my time in Washington directing policy and the other half in Silicon Valley."
Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple and other crypto institutions donated to Trump's inauguration
Major cryptocurrency companies are joining big tech and many other businesses in the U.S. in donating millions of dollars to President-elect Trump's inauguration, FOX Business reported. Cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Kraken each donated $1 million to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee to fund the three-day extravaganza, parade and dinner. Blockchain payments company Ripple also plans to donate $5 million. All three companies confirmed the donations to FOX Business, with Coinbase saying it was one of the first cryptocurrency companies to donate to the fund. Another cryptocurrency institution, digital asset payment provider MoonPay, will also donate to the fund, but declined to disclose the specific amount. A source at the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee said they were confident that they could raise $225 million before the inauguration.
The blind computing network Nillion mainnet will be launched in February 2025
Blind computing network Nillion tweeted that the mainnet will be launched in February 2025.
Related reading: Nillion completes $25 million in financing, what is its main feature of blind computing? What is the difference between it and ZKP and FHE?
Mike Dudas, former founder of The Block, resigns from Aptos advisory position starting today
Mike Dudas, former founder of The Block, tweeted that he would resign from his advisory position at Aptos starting today. Mike Dudas said that he has been an advisor to Aptos since 2022 and it is the "only" crypto project he serves as an advisor for.
Earlier news , Aptos Labs co-founder Mo Shaikh announced his resignation as CEO, and co-founder Avery Ching will take over.
Uniswap L2 network Unichain mainnet will be launched early next year
Uniswap L2 network Unichain announced the mainnet development roadmap, and the mainnet will be officially launched early next year. Since the launch of the Unichain Sepolia testnet in October, 50 million test transactions and more than 4 million test contracts have been deployed on the network. The Sepolia testnet is now public, and infrastructure providers are actively testing the mainnet. After the mainnet is launched, decentralization and performance improvements will continue to be promoted through new features. These features will first be launched on the experimental testnet for stability and performance testing, then transferred to Sepolia for more extensive testing, and finally launched on the mainnet. The first feature on the public experimental testnet is Flashblocks, which will reduce the effective block time to 250 milliseconds, making transactions instant. The Unichain verification network will also be launched on the experimental testnet, and the community will be invited to run test verification nodes.
Tether CEO: Net profit expected to reach $10 billion in 2024
According to Bloomberg, Paolo Ardoino, CEO of stablecoin issuer Tether Holdings Ltd., said in an interview that the company's net profit this year is expected to exceed $10 billion. According to data tracking agency CoinMarketCap, USDT's market value has increased by nearly $50 billion this year and is currently worth more than $140 billion. Most of Tether's earnings come from investing its reserves that support stablecoins (including USDT) in U.S. Treasuries, gold and other securities.
Ardoino said that this year Tether will invest more than half of its net profit. In the morning news, Tether agreed to invest $775 million in the video sharing network Rumble, including an initial commitment of $250 million in cash. Tether also supports Rumble to acquire up to 70 million shares at a price of $7.50 per share. Ardoino said: "Next year we plan to invest at least half of our profits," including artificial intelligence. "Our investment has just begun." He said that Tether plans to launch its own artificial intelligence platform in the first quarter, allowing people to interact with artificial intelligence using their mobile phones.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino tweeted that the preliminary design of Tether's artificial intelligence platform website has been completed and is expected to be launched at the end of the first quarter of 2025.
Financing News
Tether to make $775 million strategic investment in video-sharing platform Rumble
According to The block, stablecoin issuer Tether has made a $775 million "strategic investment" in video sharing platform Rumble. The move appears to indicate that Rumble is deepening its focus on the cryptocurrency industry, having announced last month that it would allocate up to $20 million of its excess cash reserves to Bitcoin.
Rumble said it will use $250 million of the proceeds to "support growth initiatives." The remaining funds will be used to acquire up to 70 million Class A common shares at $7.50 per share, the same price at which Tether invested. Rumble Chairman and CEO Chris Pavlovski will retain his controlling stake in the company and said no more than 10 million shares will be sold. Tether will purchase a total of 103,333,333 shares.
Important data
Of the 11.25 million LINK unlocked about 3 hours ago, 10.625 million were transferred to Binance
According to on-chain analyst Ember, the quarterly Chainlink unlocking took place 3 hours ago: 11.25 million LINK (US$258.14 million) were unlocked and transferred out from three non-circulating supply addresses of Chainlink, of which 10.625 million (US$243.82 million) were transferred to Binance, and 625,000 (US$14.32 million) were transferred to the 0xD50...8Af multi-signature address.
In November, DEX transaction volume exceeded 300 billion US dollars, setting a new record high
According to data from The Block Research, in November, decentralized exchange trading volume reached $300 billion, exceeding the previous cycle's high of $260 billion in May 2021. The ratio of DEX to CEX continued to rise, reaching 11% in November, up from 9.3% at the beginning of 2024 and 0.04% at the beginning of 2020.
10 new wallets withdrew 17,698 ETH from Binance, worth about $61.66 million
