Today’s News Highlights:
The US CFTC accuses Opyn, ZeroEx, and Deridex of violating commodity trading laws and CFTC regulations, and a settlement agreement has been reached
The founder of the collapsed Turkish cryptocurrency exchange Thodex has been sentenced to 11,196 years in prison
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and four other departments issued the “Three-Year Action Plan for Innovative Development of Metaverse Industry (2023-2025)”
Time magazine releases the inaugural “TIME100 AI” list of the most influential people in the world of artificial intelligence
Former FTX executive Ryan Salame has pleaded guilty and will have over $1.5 billion in assets seized
Coinbase plans to focus on six markets outside the United States in the short term, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Singapore
AntChain announces the launch of the new Web3 brand ZAN, providing full-stack secure and trusted technology for Hong Kong and overseas markets
Binance NFT will end The Sandbox NFT staking program on September 26 and will no longer support the Polygon network
Regulatory News
The US CFTC accuses Opyn, ZeroEx, and Deridex of violating commodity trading laws and CFTC regulations, and a settlement agreement has been reached
According to official sources, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently announced enforcement actions in the DeFi space, accusing Opyn, Inc., ZeroEx, Inc., and Deridex, Inc. of violating the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations, including failure to register as a swap execution facility (SEF) or designated contract market (DCM), failure to register as a futures commission merchant (FCM), and failure to adopt a customer identification program.
According to the CFTC, Opyn provided trading of digital asset derivative tokens, while Deridex provided trading of perpetual contracts, both of which were deemed as swaps and leveraged or margined retail commodity transactions. However, they did not offer these services on registered exchanges or adopt the required compliance measures. ZeroEx provided trading of leveraged tokens and also did not offer these services on registered exchanges.
The CFTC ordered these three companies to pay civil penalties, namely Opyn $250,000, ZeroEx $200,000, and Deridex $100,000, and required them to cease the violations. Under the settlement agreement, the three companies agreed to pay civil penalties to avoid further legal action. Later today, CFTC Commissioner Summer K. Mersinger expressed opposition to the regulator’s aforementioned series of enforcement actions. A US judge dismisses the lawsuit by LianGuairaFi and two other venture capital firms against the founder of Curve Finance
According to CoinDesk, a lawsuit filed by venture capital firms LianGuairaFi Capital, Framework Ventures, and 1kx against Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov was dismissed by a judge in the US state of California, in part because the defendant did not reside in the state when the alleged misconduct occurred.
The founder of the collapsed Turkish cryptocurrency exchange Thodex has been sentenced to 11,196 years in prison
According to CoinDesk, Faruk Fatih Özer, the founder of Turkish cryptocurrency exchange Thodex, his sister Serap Özer, and his brother Güven Özer have been sentenced to 11,196 years, 10 months, and 15 days of imprisonment. They were also fined 135 million Turkish liras (approximately $5 million) by the judiciary.
Thodex is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in Turkey, but it suddenly went offline in April 2021, and Faruk Fatih Özer disappeared. Over 400,000 members were unable to access their cryptocurrency deposits worth $2 billion. Faruk Fatih Özer later fled to Albania but was arrested in August 2022 due to a red notice issued by Interpol. As of April 2023, Özer has been extradited to Turkey and was detained by the police upon arrival on seven charges, including establishing and managing a criminal organization, becoming a member of an organization, and using information systems as tools for fraud. The charges also include fraud against banks or credit institutions, businessmen or company executives, and cooperation managers, as well as the value of assets obtained from money laundering crimes. After the case was exposed, Özer’s siblings, sister, and four other senior employees were sentenced to imprisonment, and at least 83 people were detained during the investigation. In the final trial, 21 defendants face a maximum of 40,564 years of imprisonment.
Singapore’s Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS): There is no such thing as a “cryptocurrency sandbox,” and starting from the end of the year, regulations on the use of cryptocurrencies in the retail industry will gradually be implemented.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) responded on its official website to a report by the Financial Times criticizing the Singapore government’s lack of public consultation and oversight in adopting cryptocurrencies:
1. There is no such thing as a “cryptocurrency sandbox.” The Financial Technology Regulatory Sandbox launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in 2016 supports a wide range of fintech experiments. So far, none of the businesses that meet the conditions of this sandbox provide convenience for cryptocurrency payments.
2. The article mentions that MAS “actually links retail bank deposits with cryptocurrency payments” and allows cryptocurrency companies to access Singapore’s FAST interbank payment system. Any individual or company, including cryptocurrency companies, can use FAST as long as they have a bank account. Payments made through FAST are in fiat currency, not cryptocurrency. Payment transactions between customers and cryptocurrency companies through FAST do not mean that customers’ bank deposits are related to the company.
3. The recent cases of malicious software fraud mentioned by the Financial Times in Singapore are unrelated to cryptocurrencies. These fraud cases involve fraudsters controlling customers’ mobile devices and making unauthorized transfers of fiat currency through the banking system.
4. We agree that cryptocurrencies bring money laundering (ML) risks as well as risks to retail customers. MAS only issues licenses to cryptocurrency companies that have sound anti-money laundering measures, and most applicants have failed to succeed.
5. MAS also consulted the public on a series of regulatory measures to mitigate the risks of cryptocurrencies to retail customers. Starting from the end of this year, these measures will be gradually implemented, making Singapore one of the countries with the strictest regulatory system in the world for the use of cryptocurrencies in the retail industry.
Metaverse
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and four other departments issued the “Three-year Action Plan for the Innovative Development of the Metaverse Industry (2023-2025)”.
According to a report by Tonghuashun, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and four other departments issued the “Three-year Action Plan for the Innovative Development of the Metaverse Industry (2023-2025)”, which mentions the construction of advanced metaverse technologies and industry systems, strengthening the integration breakthrough of new generation information technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and virtual reality in the metaverse. It also promotes the layout of key metaverse technologies such as intelligent generation algorithms, distributed identity authentication, and data asset circulation in major national science and technology projects. Develop key foundational software, develop operating systems and middleware for the metaverse, break through modeling software, drawing engines, physics simulation engines, and immersive audio and video coding and decoding engines, and build an all-in-one metaverse development platform. Breakthroughs in high-end electronic components, accelerate the research and development innovation of graphics computing chips, high-end sensors, acoustic components, optical display devices, and other basic hardware.
Later today, it was reported that the above-mentioned document proposes to improve metaverse policies and regulations, guide financial capital to support metaverse development, and promote tax reduction and fee reduction policies to tilt towards related industries.
“TIME” magazine releases the inaugural “TIME100 AI” list of the most influential people in artificial intelligence: Academician Zeng Yi, Elon Musk, and Sam Altman among the selected.
According to PRNewswire, “TIME” magazine today unveiled the inaugural “TIME100 AI” list of the most influential people in artificial intelligence, which introduces the 100 most influential figures in the field of artificial intelligence today, including Academician Zeng Yi, founder of OpenAI and Worldcoin Sam Altman, founder of Google DeepMind Demis Hassabis, co-founder of a16z Marc Andreessen, CEO of Innovation Works Li Kaifu, and Elon Musk as the founder of artificial intelligence company xAI.
Ant Group releases financial mega-model: Two application products, “Zhi Xiao Bao 2.0” and “Zhi Xiao Zhu,” will go online after filing completion.
At the Bund Summit held in Shanghai, Ant Group officially released its financial mega-model. It is understood that Ant Financial’s mega-model is based on Ant’s self-developed basic mega-model, which is deeply customized for the financial industry and has a cluster of underlying computing power reaching tens of thousands of cards. It is currently undergoing comprehensive internal testing on Ant Group’s wealth and insurance platforms. On the same day, Ant Group also released two products based on the capabilities of the financial mega-model: the intelligent financial assistant “Zhi Xiao Bao 2.0” and the intelligent business assistant “Zhi Xiao Zhu,” demonstrating Ant’s full-stack layout and progress from basic mega-models to industry mega-models and industrial applications.
Project Updates
Former FTX executive Ryan Salame pleads guilty and will have over $1.5 billion in assets confiscated
According to CoinDesk, former FTX executive Ryan Salame admitted on Thursday to criminal charges related to the bankruptcy of FTX and was released on $1 million bail. He will have over $1.5 billion in assets confiscated. He admitted to conspiring to make illegal campaign donations and deceive the Federal Election Commission, as well as conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmission business. During his guilty plea, Salame told Judge Lewis Kaplan that he made political donations in his personal capacity, with funds coming from transfers made by a subsidiary of Alameda. As part of his plea agreement with the government, Salame has been required to surrender over $1.5 billion in assets. He has agreed to pay $6 million before sentencing in March next year. To satisfy this payment, Salame has agreed to provide the government with a “2021 Porsche car” and multiple properties, including two residences in Massachusetts, as well as ownership of the East Rood Farm company. In addition, Salame has been ordered to pay over $5.5 million in restitution to FTX creditors.
Bloomberg: JPMorgan is exploring blockchain-based payment and settlement system
According to Bloomberg, JPMorgan is exploring a blockchain-based digital payment and settlement system. A source familiar with the matter said that JPMorgan has developed most of the infrastructure for the project, which requires a digital deposit token, but the system cannot move forward without approval from US regulatory agencies. Once approved, JPMorgan can roll out the project to corporate clients within a year. The proposed digital token payment and settlement system can accelerate transaction speed while reducing costs. The deposit token is a digital version of customer deposits, which can be used to transfer funds to users of another bank or settle tokenized securities. As previously reported, JPMorgan launched its own cryptocurrency, JPMorgan Coin, in 2019. Last year, it collaborated with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to test a deposit token payment system.
Aave, Circle, Coinbase, and Base become founding members of Tokenized Asset Alliance
According to Cointelegraph, Aave, Centrifuge, Circle, Coinbase, Base, Credix, Goldfinch, and RWA.xyz have formed the Tokenized Asset Alliance (TAC) and become founding members of the alliance. However, any organization that shares the vision of creating a unified financial system on the blockchain can join the TAC charter.
The vision of TAC includes: 1. Advocating for the adoption of public blockchains and asset tokenization; 2. Creating a more open, fair, and transparent system for investors; 3. Addressing the inefficiencies of traditional finance and paving the way for a native blockchain financial system.
CZ: Binance has no liquidity problems, all customer funds are safe
Binance CEO CZ tweeted that there have been a lot of negative news/rumors recently, such as bank runs, lawsuits, fiat channels closing, product closures, employee attrition, and market exits. But Binance has no liquidity problems. All deposits and withdrawals are being handled properly. All customer funds are safe and 100% guaranteed. At the same time, the crypto industry has also seen many positive developments, such as winning lawsuits, resolving bank runs and recording deposits, new fiat channels, exiting old products and launching new ones, new employees, and new markets. The turnover rate of Binance’s founding team may be the lowest among tech startups of the same scale in the world. Binance is committed to building the crypto ecosystem.
Base Ecosystem Fund Announces Six Investments
Base, the L2 blockchain launched by Coinbase, has officially announced that its ecosystem fund, Base Ecosystem Fund, has completed investments in six projects. The projects include Avantis, a synthetic derivative protocol based on oracles; BSX, a decentralized limit order book; Onboard, an on-chain self-custody service (which raised $1.9 million in funding); OpenCover, an L2 insurance aggregator partnering with Nexus Mutual (which raised $4 million in seed funding); LianGuairagraph, an on-chain creator platform; and Truflation, an on-chain financial oracle. Base stated that it will collaborate with these teams to promote the development of the Base ecosystem and attract more builders and users to the platform.
Warning: Please update your Apple devices as soon as possible. Zero-click vulnerabilities and zero-day vulnerabilities BLASTLianGuaiSS have been actively exploited.
Citizen Lab on the X platform states: “We urge everyone to update their Apple devices as soon as possible. We have discovered an actively exploited zero-click vulnerability and zero-day vulnerability that is being used to spread the spyware Pegasus, developed by the Israeli cyber weapons company NSO Group.”
According to their report, this vulnerability chain, known as BLASTLianGuaiSS, can invade iPhones running the latest version of iOS (16.6) without any interaction from the victim. The vulnerability involves malicious images sent from the attacker’s iMessage account to the victim. Citizen Lab has disclosed its findings to Apple and is assisting them in their investigation. Apple has released two CVEs (CVE-2023-41064 and CVE-2023-41061) for this vulnerability chain. Please update your Apple devices immediately and urge those at higher risk due to their identity or work to enable Lockdown mode. Apple’s security engineering and architecture teams have confirmed that Lockdown mode can prevent this specific attack.
It is reported that Pegasus spyware is a Trojan horse software that can monitor all activities on the infected device and control the microphone and camera. Pegasus can decrypt encrypted communications of the victim (such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Line, WeChat, etc.) without the victim’s knowledge and without the assistance of the telecom operator, Apple, or other companies.
Grab, a multi-functional online service platform in Southeast Asia, adds Web3 wallet functionality, but does not support payment for services like transportation.
According to the official website, Grab, a multi-functional online service platform in Southeast Asia, has added Web3 wallet functionality to its “Finance” page, allowing users to store and manage digital assets, including SG Pitstop LianGuaick coupons and digital collectibles. With the Grab Web3 wallet, users can perform blockchain transactions, access educational articles about blockchain, view transaction history, and interact with their digital assets. The wallet currently only supports the Polygon blockchain, and Grab sponsors the fees for sending and receiving transactions for a limited time. However, it is not mentioned whether the Web3 wallet supports payment for services like transportation.
It is reported that Grab is one of the largest multi-functional online platforms in Southeast Asia, headquartered in Singapore. It was originally a taxi booking app but later expanded into various fields such as food delivery, logistics, payments, and financial services. Grab’s services are popular in many countries and regions in Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand.
Coinbase plans to focus on six markets outside the United States in the short term, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Singapore.
According to Cointelegraph, Coinbase plans to focus on several countries outside the United States in the short term because the cryptocurrency laws in these countries are relatively clear. Specifically, Coinbase will focus on expanding in the following six markets: the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, Singapore, and Australia. The company stated in a blog post that these countries are developing clear cryptocurrency regulations, so Coinbase will concentrate its efforts on obtaining licenses, registrations, and establishing and strengthening its business in these places.
Coinbase points out in the blog that progress is being made in cryptocurrency regulation around the world, but the United States has chosen to enforce existing rules and new regulations through the courts in a “strategic” manner. They believe that this approach may limit the influence of the United States in the cryptocurrency field. Therefore, Coinbase will focus on expanding its business in countries that have already established clear cryptocurrency rules.
Coinbase’s new priority market plan is part of its second phase of expansion, which includes a focus on partnering with global and local banks and payment providers to expand its fiat currency channels and ensure its governance system complies with regulations.
AntChain launches the new Web3 brand ZAN, providing full-stack secure and trustworthy technology for Hong Kong and overseas markets.
AntChain’s new Web3 brand ZAN was officially launched at the Shanghai Bund Summit. The brand provides Web3-oriented technological solutions for Hong Kong and overseas markets, with a focus on security and compliance technology products. Zhang Hui, former CTO of AntChain, serves as the CEO of ZAN. Zhang Hui introduced that ZAN provides rich technical services for compliant institutions and innovative companies in Hong Kong and overseas markets, supporting Web3 innovative businesses. This includes Web3 full-stack secure and trustworthy technology products and comprehensive solutions to promote the innovation and industrial-scale development of Web3 applications.
It is understood that ZAN inherits the blockchain technology capabilities accumulated by AntChain over the years and is built on the open-source technology matrix AntChain TrustBase of AntChain OpenLabs. AntChain TrustBase is an open-source technology system based on AntChain, which integrates AntChain’s many technological achievements, including widely concerned technologies such as wide-area network consensus algorithm, zero-knowledge proof (ZKP), and fully homomorphic encryption (FHE).
As the next-generation internet technology, Web3 has become a focus of attention at home and abroad due to its disruptive transformative power on industries. Hong Kong, Singapore, and other places are actively embracing Web3. Earlier this year, the Hong Kong SAR Government proposed the goal of promoting Hong Kong as an international digital asset center and launched a series of policies. Subsequently, technology companies including Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, and Huawei Cloud have successively launched Web3-related products and services for the Hong Kong and overseas markets to seize market opportunities.
ConsenSys: Decentralized Infura to be launched by the end of the year, Web2 cloud provider giants may join
According to Cointelegraph, Simon Morris, the strategic director of ConsenSys, stated at the 2023 Korean Blockchain Week that decentralized Infura will be launched by the end of this year, and major Web2 cloud providers may become part of this network.
Bitcoin Magazine CEO accuses DCG founder of using customer deposits to manipulate GBTC price, suspected of criminal behavior
David Bailey, CEO of Bitcoin Magazine, stated in a post that Barry Silbert, CEO of Grayscale, is engaged in criminal behavior. He “borrowed customer deposits to manipulate and support the price of GBTC, so that he can use it as collateral to borrow bitcoins from Genesis users who are aware of the situation.” He is actually insolvent. This is a criminal act.
Bailey claimed that Silbert spent as much as $500 million in 2022 to “support the GBTC market,” especially during the collapse of Do Kwon’s Terra Luna empire. It is alleged that Silbert spent $300 million in loan funds from Grayscale subsidiary Genesis, which were paid during the mid-May 2022 Terra Luna crash.
Bailey equates Silbert’s actions with the alleged criminal behavior of bankrupt FTX founder SBF. Similarly, Bailey believes that Silbert artificially inflated the value of GBTC in order to obtain more favorable bitcoin loans from BlockFi using this inflated collateral.
Binance NFT will stop The Sandbox NFT staking plan on September 26th and will no longer support the Polygon network
Binance NFT will stop The Sandbox NFT staking plan at 14:00 on September 26, 2023 (UTC+8). Starting from 14:00 on September 26, 2023 (UTC+8), users will no longer be able to stake LAND NFT hosted on the Polygon network on the Binance NFT marketplace to earn daily The Sandbox (SAND) rewards. All LAND NFTs currently staked on the Binance NFT marketplace will be automatically unstaked on September 27, 2023 (UTC+8) and returned to users’ Binance accounts after 10:00 on September 28, 2023 (UTC+8). The final SAND daily rewards will also be automatically distributed to users’ spot wallets after 10:00 on September 28, 2023 (UTC+8).
In addition, Binance NFT will no longer support the Polygon network starting from 14:00 on September 26, 2023 (UTC+8). Users should withdraw their NFTs from the Binance NFT marketplace via the Polygon network before 07:59 on January 1, 2024 (UTC+8).
Funding News
Blockchain invoice settlement platform Zeebu completes $25 million pre-sale round of financing
According to CryptoSlate, blockchain invoice settlement platform Zeebu has raised $25 million in a pre-sale round of financing, with participation from strategic investors such as Bankai Ventures.
It is reported that Zeebu uses blockchain technology to provide loyalty rewards, simplify invoice settlement, and improve transparency for telecom operators. Zeebu has established strategic partnerships with telecom providers such as Hayo Telecom Inc., Axistel FZE, Qatama Ltd, BBT Voice Limited, Broadband Telecom Inc., BridgeVoice Inc., and Novatel doo, with the goal of collaborating with over 100 such telecom operators to promote cross-border settlement processes.
Bloomberg: Alibaba Cloud is considering a private financing round of up to $3 billion before its listing in Hong Kong.
According to Bloomberg, Alibaba Cloud is considering a private financing round of up to $3 billion (10-20 billion RMB) before its listing in Hong Kong. The investors may include state-owned companies. Alibaba Cloud officials responded by saying that they have no comment at the moment. Currently, Alibaba Cloud has provided support for multiple Web3 projects. In April of this year, Pan Jiahe, the Director of Architecture and Web3 Solutions at Alibaba Cloud Hong Kong, stated that Alibaba Cloud can provide customized cloud service solutions for Web3 enterprises. Currently, several virtual asset enterprises have used Alibaba Cloud’s public and private cloud services.
Mining News
JPMorgan lowers Bitcoin mining cost estimate from $21,000 to $18,000
According to The Block, JPMorgan has lowered its estimate of Bitcoin production costs after revising the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) methodology. Analyst Nikolaos LianGuainigirtzoglou wrote in a report on Wednesday, “Using the new method, the current Bitcoin production cost is around $18,000, compared to $21,000 using the old method.” The analyst pointed out that as a result, changes in electricity prices now have a smaller impact on Bitcoin mining costs.
MakerDAO increases $50 million in RWA assets through BlockTower Andromeda again
According to Makerburn data, MakerDAO has once again increased $50 million in RWA assets through BlockTower Andromeda, mainly investing in short-term US government bonds. The annualized interest rate of these assets is 4.5%. In addition, the total RWA assets of the protocol have reached $2.513 billion.
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2023 Inclusionconf Bund Summit will be held from September 7th to 9th!
Ant Group and LianGuaiNews will co-host the “Fusion Innovation – Web3 New Development Forum” during the conference, inviting global experts and scholars to gather in Shanghai to discuss the new development of Web3. Register now!
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