Today's news tips:
Reuters: OpenAI is working with Broadcom and TSMC to create its own designed chips
Insider: Musk's xAI is negotiating a new round of financing at a valuation of $40 billion
dYdX announces layoffs of 35% of core team members
Consensys lays off 20% of its staff, CEO accuses SEC of abusing its power
Optimism Foundation Provides 25 Million OP Tokens to Kraken
Regulatory News
US Treasury’s new financial inclusion strategy makes no mention of cryptocurrencies
The U.S. Treasury Department has developed a new financial inclusion strategy to help people enter the financial system, but cryptocurrencies are mentioned only once in the 35-page report to promote the Treasury Department's work in labeling the harms of the industry, CoinDesk reported. Although Vice President Kamala Harris said during her campaign that she would encourage cryptocurrencies as part of her economic agenda, her current administration has distanced itself from digital assets, which may be the last time the U.S. Treasury Department mentions cryptocurrencies before next week's election. The Biden administration's Treasury Department noted in its report on Tuesday that it "fosters financial inclusion by developing and promoting research," and to this end it has released a report on "risks associated with digital assets" in 2022. It is unclear whether the vice president's office will have any say in the Treasury Department's latest strategy, but it seems to be in stark contrast to the open attitude toward cryptocurrencies she has been showing during her campaign.
Florida CFO proposes using Bitcoin to diversify state pension fund
According to Crypto Briefing, Florida's Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis wrote to Chris Spencer, Executive Director of the Florida Government Management Commission, asking the Government Management Commission to submit a report to explore the possibility of Bitcoin and other digital assets as viable investments for the state pension fund. Patronis cited Florida's strong economic performance and history of innovation as reasons to explore the potential of cryptocurrency investment. He argued that Bitcoin, often referred to as "digital gold," is able to diversify the state's investment portfolio and provide a hedge against the volatility of other asset classes. He suggested that the "Digital Currency Investment Pilot Project" is a good fit for the Florida Growth Fund, which allows for more innovative and emerging investments. Patronis' letter highlights recent developments in the cryptocurrency space, including President Trump's proposed national cryptocurrency reserve plan and Governor DeSantis' efforts to protect Florida residents from the impact of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). The letter also points to other states that have taken action to invest in cryptocurrencies. Wisconsin and Michigan have invested a small portion of their pension funds in cryptocurrencies, while the Arizona Senate has advanced work to include cryptocurrencies in state retirement funds. Additionally, Wyoming and Nebraska have enacted laws to attract the cryptocurrency mining industry, including creating a framework for chartering crypto banks.
PANews reported live on October 30 that at the Smartcon 2024 event in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Legislative Council member David Chiu said that the regulatory framework for stablecoins is expected to be submitted to the Hong Kong Legislative Council next month. The legislative process may take an additional two to three months, and the legislative process is planned to be completed early next year. David Chiu said that the HKMA currently allows potential issuers to test business plans and application scenarios through the "Stablecoin Issuer Sandbox". In addition, the Hong Kong government will complete the second round of public consultation on the regulation of virtual asset over-the-counter transactions (VAOTC) next year. This regulatory measure will specifically target over-the-counter exchanges that operate in the form of physical stores or online platforms, are easily accessible to the general public, and provide virtual asset spot transactions. In addition, David Chiu also revealed that the Hong Kong government will submit a proposed licensing system for virtual asset custody services as soon as possible, and it is expected to be subject to public consultation next year. Once the system comes into effect, it will regulate the safe custody of digital assets to meet international standards and ensure that the risks involved are properly managed.
According to Bitcoin.com, despite calls for his resignation and former President Trump's vow to remove him from office if he is re-elected, Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has reiterated his regulatory approach. Speaking at a fintech conference in Las Vegas on Monday, Gensler reiterated his commitment to the SEC while in office. With the November 5 election approaching, he acknowledged the political pressure, especially from the cryptocurrency industry, and said: "Democracy has its consequences, but we will continue to do what we are good at at the SEC until the referee blows the whistle, as I said."
AI
Reuters: OpenAI is working with Broadcom and TSMC to create its own designed chips
According to a report by Reuters, sources revealed that OpenAI is working with Broadcom and TSMC to build its first self-designed chip to support its artificial intelligence system. In addition to Nvidia chips, the company has also added AMD chips to meet its infrastructure needs. The report said that due to cost and time issues, OpenAI has temporarily abandoned plans to build a wafer foundry network. Instead, it plans to focus on internal chip design work.
Insider: Musk's xAI is negotiating a new round of financing at a valuation of $40 billion
According to Jiemian News, citing the Wall Street Journal, people familiar with the matter revealed that Musk's xAI company is negotiating a round of financing with investors, with a valuation of around $40 billion. Just a few months ago, the startup's last valuation was $24 billion, when it raised $6 billion in the spring. People familiar with the matter said that xAI hopes to raise billions of dollars in a new round of financing, and the cash raised will be counted in the $40 billion valuation. Financing discussions are still in the early stages, which means that the terms may change and the negotiations may break down.
Project News
Zhao Changpeng said he will attend Binance Blockchain Week on October 31
When asked when he will appear at Binance Blockchain Week in Dubai, former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said that he will probably take the stage around 4 pm Dubai time on October 31 (20:00 Beijing time).
PANews reported on the scene that Richard Teng, CEO of Binance, said in his opening speech at Binance Blockchain Week 2024 that the crypto industry has had a good momentum this year. Starting with the passage of the Bitcoin spot ETF in the United States, the industry has received great recognition. Now, all Fortune 200 institutions have their own blockchain plans. This momentum will bring the industry to a higher level in the future. Our entire industry has gone through a lot of tests, but it is still in its early stages because the ownership rate of cryptocurrencies is not high globally. I hope everyone can work together to promote innovation and believe that blockchain technology is a force for good.
Over Protocol has opened airdrop enquiries, and the OVER token airdrop allocation accounts for 5.45%
Lightweight node protocol Over Protocol said in an official blog that airdrop queries are now available on the OverFlex application (currently OverWallet). The airdrop allocation will take place after the mainnet launch, which is expected between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. 15% of the total token supply has been allocated to OCAP, of which 54.5 million OVER tokens (5.45%) are specifically used for the airdrop program. The remaining tokens will be used to support marketing, liquidity provision, grant programs, and ecosystem funds. The airdrop program is based on three key criteria: integrity, diligence value, and score.
Regarding the fact that 176 million TIA will be unlocked tonight, Taran, founder of the OTC platform STIX, posted on the X platform that a total of 92.3 million TIA will enter circulation after unlocking, which will constitute the upper limit of the selling pressure in the spot market. TIA has a 21-day unlocking period, and those who want to unlock TIA for trading on October 31 have already unlocked it in advance. The sum of the number of unlocked tokens, the number of tokens in the 21-day unlocking queue, and the number of approximately 24.1 million uncounted tokens equals 92.3 million TIA. This is equivalent to a maximum selling pressure of approximately US$460 million. Another interesting data point is that the ratio of the (actual) increase in circulating supply to the current circulating supply has reached a dilution level of 41.8%. A large number of tokens that were unlocked for the first time were sold to OTC buyers who hedged on perpetual contracts, resulting in a surge in open interest in the past few months. It is expected that these short positions will be reduced significantly, partially offsetting the selling pressure in the spot market. This fund reset may send a long signal to spot buyers. Short positions will continue to decline until unlocked, and the funding rate may reset to 0 or positive. Investors who missed the October 9th unlock deadline may also unlock during October, causing the spot supply (amount to be sold) to increase further in November. Regardless, the supply shock is huge, and this is the most anticipated unlocking event in this cycle. This, combined with the suppression of OTC premiums, may bring a lot of trading activity to this token.
According to previous news, Celestia (TIA) will unlock about 175.6 million tokens at 10 pm Beijing time on October 30, accounting for 79.75% of the current circulation and worth about US$941 million.
Ethereum Layer2 network Kroma has launched the KRO airdrop claim page
Kroma, an Ethereum Layer2 network developed by Lightscale, a subsidiary of South Korean gaming company Wemade, announced on the X platform that it has launched a KRO airdrop claiming page, with a claiming period of 90 days in the first quarter. Previously, the project stated that it would allocate 17% of the total KRO supply to the community airdrop. Please be careful to identify the official X account of the project and be wary of information and links released by fake accounts.
According to Solana Floor, Canadian listed company Sol Strategies sold $1.71 million worth of Bitcoin and bought 12,389 SOLs, increasing the value of its SOL holdings to $23.51 million. Sol Strategies (formerly Cypherpunk Holdings) is a Canada-based company focused on blockchain investment. The company recently rebranded to reflect its new investment strategy centered on Solana.
Lido Integrates Chainlink CCIP to Launch New Cross-Chain Staking on Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism
According to Cryptoslate, Lido announced the integration of Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) to enable cross-chain staking between Ethereum Layer2 networks such as Arbitrum, Base and Optimism. The integration will support Lido's direct staking function, allowing users to stake ETH from different blockchain networks and obtain wstETH. At the time of release, the feature supports staking through Arbitrum, Base and Optimism networks. In addition to the staking integration, Lido will also use Chainlink's data feed to determine the redemption rate of wstETH on Ethereum, providing reliable data for the exchange rate. In addition, Lido will use Chainlink Automation to batch process cross-chain ETH transfers, thereby enhancing liquidity management. Previously, Lido required users to exchange ETH for wstETH through a third-party platform, or manually bridge ETH to the Ethereum mainnet.
Circle plans to increase USDC stablecoin exchange fees
According to The Block, stablecoin issuer Circle will increase the exchange fee for its USDC stablecoin. Circle will charge a fee for USDC exchange exceeding $15 million, and an additional fee for instant redemptions exceeding $2 million per day. These fees start at 0.03% per transaction and can be as high as 0.1% for redemptions exceeding $15 million. The Block analyzed that not all cryptocurrency practitioners can benefit from the Fed's interest rate cuts. For stablecoin operators, falling interest rates mean less income from cash reserves to support their tokens. Therefore, it seems reasonable for Circle to adjust its fees in the face of a lower interest rate environment and IPO pressure. But given the growing competition in the stablecoin field, it is a tricky time to increase the cost of USDC redemption.
Visa and Coinbase Partner to Enable Real-Time Crypto Purchases with Debit Cards
Visa Inc. announced a partnership with crypto exchange Coinbase, and Visa customers with eligible debit cards will be able to deposit funds into their Coinbase Global Inc. accounts (sometimes even instantly), according to Bloomberg. Coinbase currently has connections with millions of customers' debit cards, but this new development will enable customers in the United States and the European Union to achieve real-time flow of funds, according to a statement released on Tuesday. Yanilsa Gonzalez Ore, head of Visa Direct North America, said that eligible Visa debit card holders can now "seize trading opportunities around the clock." Visa supports the Coinbase debit card, and the company said that customers can also use eligible debit cards to buy cryptocurrencies on Coinbase and withdraw funds from the platform to their bank accounts through the card.
dYdX announces layoffs of 35% of core team members
Antonio Juliano, the founder of dYdX who recently returned to the position of CEO, announced in an official blog that he has decided to lay off 35% of the dYdX core team members. Earlier this month, Juliano first hinted at the need to revitalize the company when he returned to the company as CEO and said he was "going to founder mode."
Consensys lays off 20% of its staff, CEO accuses SEC of abusing its power
According to Fortune, Ethereum infrastructure giant and MetaMask wallet developer Consensys announced a 20% layoff, involving more than 160 employees. Consensys founder and CEO Joe Lubin said in a blog post that the layoffs were caused by macroeconomic pressures and legal disputes with regulators. He pointed out that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)'s enforcement of the digital asset industry has led to the loss of a large number of jobs and investments, saying that the SEC's "abuse of power" is an important reason. Since its establishment in New York in 2014, Consensys has been committed to the development of Ethereum-related infrastructure. In recent years, regulatory uncertainty has seriously affected its development, especially the ongoing lawsuit with the SEC. Lubin said that the layoffs will involve all departments of the company and provide generous severance pay including career support and medical insurance.
DWF Labs released an announcement on the X platform stating that a partner of the agency was accused of inappropriate and unacceptable behavior. During the investigation of the matter, DWF Labs has decided to immediately dismiss the management and operations positions of the above-mentioned partners. Previously, X user @hananotsorry said that she was in danger when she came into contact with a DWF Labs partner, accusing the partner of drugging and raping the person involved, and was rescued after being informed by the relevant restaurant service staff. After the announcement of DWF Labs, the above-mentioned former partner of DWF Labs, Eugene Ng, has now cancelled his X account (@Eug_Ng). It is reported that in addition to being a DWF partner, Eugene Ng is also the co-founder of OpenEden, an RWA project invested by Binance.
Eugene Ng, a partner of DWF Labs who was previously fired for alleged "attempted rape", is also the co-founder of OpenEden, an RWA project invested by Binance. OpenEden officially issued a statement saying: "OpenEden has learned of the recent allegations against its team members. As a platform committed to maintaining the values of trust and integrity, we are frustrated by these allegations involving this person's personal behavior. Pending further investigation results, we will take immediate action to suspend and cancel this person's management and operations of the company and its affiliates. Jeremy Ng remains as CEO and the company's operations are not affected. We hope you can understand and wait patiently for this matter. We will update in a timely manner."
Solayer released the Solana-based decentralized stablecoin protocol Solayer USD (sUSD), which is the first synthetic stablecoin backed by real-world assets (RWA), allowing anyone to participate in tokenized investments in low-risk assets such as U.S. Treasuries with just $5. Solayer has partnered with OpenEden to exchange USDC for sUSD through a non-custodial RFQ market, achieving a fully decentralized and user-owned stablecoin architecture. sUSD is based on a basket of low-risk RWAs, currently supports U.S. Treasuries and will be expanded to other assets such as gold, with an annual yield of 4.33%, and the proceeds are automatically issued in the form of USDC without additional operations. sUSD provides users with a convenient channel to directly redeem USDC, and aims to achieve the integration of blockchain and the real economy through the Solana network.
According to CoinDesk, the US cryptocurrency exchange Kraken recently announced that it will build the Layer-2 network Ink based on Optimism's OP Stack framework and become part of the "super chain" ecosystem. In an agreement reached earlier this year, the Optimism Foundation agreed to provide Kraken with 25 million OP tokens, which were worth about $100 million at the time and are now about $42.5 million. This agreement allows Kraken to use OP Stack to create its custom Layer-2, and the tokens will be unlocked in batches on a monthly basis. In addition, Kraken has become another large participant in the development of Layer-2 networks using OP Stack technology after Coinbase, Uniswap and Sony, further promoting the rapid expansion of the Optimism ecosystem.
Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini announced that it has obtained preliminary approval for the "Major Payment Institution" (MPI) license issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and will be able to provide cross-border transfer and digital payment token services in Singapore. Since setting up its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore, Gemini has continued to expand its local business and strengthen team building, including the recently appointed Asia-Pacific head Saad Ahmed. Gemini plans to continue to expand its Singapore team and attract more high-end talents to support its compliance and development in the Asia-Pacific region.
Ethereum staking reward rate remained at around 3% in Q3, lower than the yield of other PoS chains
According to The Block, the staking yield of the Ethereum network remained at about 3% in the third quarter of 2024, down from more than 3.5% in July. Analysts pointed out that Ethereum's staking returns are lower than other major Layer 1 protocols such as Cosmos, Polkadot, Celestia and Solana, with yields of 7%-21%.
Low staking yields help reduce inflationary pressure on the network. Kaiko analysis shows that the Ethereum validator queue has averaged less than one day this year, a significant decrease from the 45-day peak in June 2023. Despite the reduction in on-chain activity and staking demand, the supply of stETH from Lido, a major staking service provider, has remained stable since the beginning of the year, with growth slowing to about 9.6 million ETH, reflecting the slowdown in the growth of the overall staking stock.
BNB Chain announced the 35 projects selected for its eighth season of the "Most Valuable Developer (MVB)" accelerator program, including: DeFi projects: Allo.xyz, Avalon, CarbonFi, Evoq Finance, Paimon, RateX, SparkleX, uDEX, Vanilla Finance, YieldFi, YieldNest; infrastructure projects: Alaya AI, APRO Oracle, Balloon Dogs, BAS, Blockus, Codatta, CodexField, Infinity Ground, Matchain, Yotta Labs; application layer projects: Alias, Alt.town, Balance, Bando, Cat Gold Miner, Four.meme, Gameland, GamerBoom, GraFun, Meet48, Moso, Nomis, REVOX and TaleX. These projects will showcase their results at the Demo Day on November 7, and Binance Labs will make investment decisions based on their performance.
Last year's MVB program incubated 13 projects, and Binance Labs invested in the top five projects in Season 7. These projects include Aggregata, Blum, Opinion Labs, SideKick, and Vooi.
Financing News
Bitcoin liquidity staking platform PumpBTC announced the completion of a $10 million seed round of financing, led by SevenX Ventures and Mirana Ventures, with participation from well-known institutions such as UTXO and Mantle Ecosystem Fund, and attracted many industry partners such as Quantstamp and Veda. This financing will help PumpBTC launch a new product BTC-Fi, a CeDeFi BTC liquidity vault that combines CeFi-level security and DeFi's BTC yield optimization, providing an automated yield strategy that allows Bitcoin holders to maximize their returns.
Since its launch in July 2024, PumpBTC has been deployed on more than 10 public chains, attracted a total locked volume of 3,400 BTC (approximately $240 million), and cooperated with more than 70 projects to build a multi-chain, multi-partner ecosystem, further promoting the development of CeDeFi.
Important data
According to SoSoValue data, as of press time, the total net asset value of the Bitcoin spot ETF is US$72.545 billion, and the ETF net asset ratio (market value to the total market value of Bitcoin) is 5.07%, which is the first time in history that it has exceeded 5%.
At the same time, it is worth noting that yesterday (October 29, US Eastern Time), the total net inflow of Bitcoin spot ETFs was US$870 million, the third highest single-day net inflow in history. The highest secondary net inflow was US$1.05 billion on March 12, and the second highest was US$887 million on June 4.
Among Wintermute’s top 20 Meme coins, 11 projects are listed on Binance, accounting for 55%
On-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa released an overview of Wintermute's market-making projects and stated that the meme projects that Wintermute chooses to make markets for are mostly high in market value. Among its TOP 20 holdings, 90% have a market value of over US$100 million and 30% have a market value of over US$1 billion. Among them, PEPE and COK are the market-making projects with the highest and lowest market values, respectively.
Listing situation: Among the top 20 Meme coins held by Wintermute, 11 projects have been listed on Binance, accounting for as high as 55%.
Available in stock: PEPE, NEIRO (lowercase), BONK, WIF, FLOKI, BABYDOGE;
Futures products already launched: PEPE, BONK, WIF, MOODENG, GOAT, MEW, NEIRO (uppercase), POPCAT, FLOKI, BABYDOGE.
A smart money address sold 135 WBTC for profit after BTC broke through $73,000
According to Lookonchain monitoring, after the BTC price broke through $73,000, a smart money address sold 135 WBTC (about $9.86 million) for profit. In the past three months, the address has made $5.5 million by going long on BTC and ETH through revolving loans on Aave. He bought 285.4 WBTC (about $16.75 million) at $58,688, making $4 million; and bought 4,850 ETH (about $11.29 million) at $2,329, making $1.5 million.
A whale increased its holdings by 600 BTC in two hours, equivalent to about 43.33 million US dollars
According to Lookonchain monitoring, a whale hoarded 600 BTC, equivalent to US$43.33 million, two hours ago. The whale has increased its holdings by a total of 2,000 BTC (approximately US$144.82 million) in the past two weeks, with a floating profit of US$6.3 million.
BlockFi transferred 12,067 ETH to Coinbase Prime, equivalent to $31.69 million
According to on-chain analyst Ember, the bankrupt and liquidated crypto lending platform BlockFi transferred 12,067 ETH (about 31.69 million US dollars) to Coinbase Prime 5 hours ago.
Tether minted 1 billion authorized but unissued USDT on the TRON network in the early morning
According to Whale Alert monitoring, at 04:43:51 Beijing time, Tether Treasury minted 1 billion USDT on the Tron network. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said that the 1 billion USDT was a supplement to the Tron inventory. This is an authorized but unissued transaction, which means that this additional issuance will be used for the next issuance request and cross-chain exchange inventory.
BTC breaks through $73,000, up 0.92% on the day
The OKX market data shows that BTC has just broken through $73,000 and is currently trading at $73,065.80 per coin, with a daily increase of 0.92%.
Greeks.live macro analyst Adam posted on the X platform that stimulated by the Bitcoin price breaking through $72,000, the options market's trading volume hit a one-month high today, with a total of more than $1 billion in cumulative block trades. Among them, the call option trading volume was about $700 million, and the put option trading volume was about $300 million. It is worth noting that a proportional spread strategy transaction: a large investor sold 250 call options with an exercise price of $75,000 and bought 500 call options with an exercise price of $90,000, indicating that it expected Bitcoin to either not reach a new high or quickly hit $100,000 once it broke through. This trading strategy saved about $13,000 in slippage through block trading, showing a bold and sophisticated market layout.
