Today's top news highlights:
Macroeconomic Outlook for Next Week: Warsh to Take Over as Fed Chair, Gold Awaits CPI "Verdict"
Binance: Emerging market users are viewing cryptocurrency exchanges as banking applications
The WorldCoin team transferred 30 million WLD tokens, worth $8.17 million, to Bitgo.
Garrett Jin deposited over $250 million worth of Ethereum into Binance.
Regulation & Macro
Macroeconomic Outlook for Next Week: Warsh to Take Over as Fed Chair, Gold Awaits CPI "Verdict"
The US dollar index fell for the second consecutive week, while gold closed at $4715.49 per ounce, up 2.17%. Easing geopolitical risks caused Brent crude to fall below $95, and WTI crude to drop to $90. Key events to watch next week: Monday: China's April CPI; Tuesday: Speech by New York Fed President Williams, US April CPI; Wednesday: US API crude oil inventories, final French April CPI, US April PPI; Thursday: UK Q1 GDP and other data, US March business inventories; Friday: Speech by Fed Governor Barr, US April industrial production. Fed Chair-designate Kevin Warsh is expected to be confirmed by the Senate on Monday and succeed Powell on May 15. The S&P 500 has risen 8% year-to-date, and the Nasdaq has risen nearly 13%, both reaching new highs.
Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store, said that SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s speech about balancing regulation and innovation seemed to point to prediction market ETFs, which may be launched soon.
A U.S. judge approved the transfer of approximately $71 million in ETH previously frozen on Arbitrum to Aave, but the legal freeze on the funds remains in effect. These funds are alleged to be linked to North Korean-related hacking attacks and are under judicial review as part of civil claims by victims of terrorism. This ruling is merely a technical step and does not alter the existing arrangements regarding asset freezes and claims rights.
Project Updates
The WorldCoin team transferred 30 million WLD tokens, worth $8.17 million, to Bitgo.
The WorldCoin team sent 30 million WLDs, worth $8.17 million, to the Bitgo Custody address. This wallet currently holds 153.65 million WLDs, worth $41.35 million.
Echelon will delist kAPT and stkAPT core collateral pool assets.
Echelon has announced the phase-out of kAPT and stkAPT in the Aptos core pool. Deposit and borrowing functions are currently disabled. Starting May 20th, the related E-Mode collateral ratio will be reduced to 0%, and they will be removed from E-Mode on May 27th. The liquidation threshold will be reduced to 0% on June 3rd. Users are advised to close or migrate their positions as soon as possible to avoid liquidation risks.
Investment and financing news
Opinions & Analysis
Binance: Emerging market users are viewing cryptocurrency exchanges as banking applications
Binance research shows that 77% of its platform users are from emerging markets, and these users are using crypto exchanges as an alternative financial infrastructure for savings, payments, and investments. 83% of users using two or more products simultaneously are from emerging markets, with savings rates approximately twice that of developed markets. About 36% of emerging market users with balances exceeding $10 allocate at least half of their assets to stablecoins, compared to 28% globally. With approximately 1.3 billion adults worldwide still lacking financial services and 4.7 billion lacking credit, the increasing use of stablecoins in cross-border remittances and savings has raised concerns from the IMF and Moody's about monetary sovereignty and financial resilience.
Important data
Garrett Jin deposited over $250 million worth of Ethereum into Binance.
Garrett Jin, an agent of the "1011 Insider Whale," deposited 108,169 ETH, equivalent to approximately $250 million, into Binance.
A whale who previously profited approximately $86.36 million by shorting a basket of altcoins is currently experiencing a paper loss of about $4.06 million on its 29 short positions. The shorted assets include 28 altcoins such as ZEC, TON, NEAR, and LIT, as well as crude oil contracts, with a total position of approximately $47.66 million, and the whale has been continuously adding to its positions. It was still showing a profit before May 4th, but subsequently turned into a loss due to the overall market rally.
