Finishing: Mars Finance
Mars 财经加密Crypto Daily April 11, 2024
1. Today's news
U.S. President Joe Biden said in a speech today that he supports the forecast of interest rate cuts, and that inflation issues may delay interest rate cuts, possibly for a month, and there will be interest rate cuts before the end of the year.
Edgar Pavlovsky, founder of Solana's ecological margin protocol Marginfi, posted on social media that he has left the Marginfi team. Edgar acknowledges that Marginfi is a world-class team, but he personally disagrees with the way things are done inside or outside the team. Edgar says he wants to devote his energy to the work he believes is important to society.
Lawyers are still working through the issue, but Edgar himself has told everyone involved that he doesn't really care about tokens, money, or anything else personally. Even though my financial situation has been poor recently, my personal income has almost gone to zero. However, there are no next steps for Edgar at this time
Jupiter founder @weremeow posted on social media that over the past few months, the Jupiter team has been working behind the scenes on a series of infrastructure, process, and user experience upgrades to scale and enhance the myriad systems that run Jupiter. The root cause of the recent problems has been the congestion of the Solana network, spam at RPC endpoints, and the spike in the number of tokens with a large number of spam-like tokens with duplicate names. To that end, the team is undertaking a major upgrade to address this set of issues.
Giggle Academy, CZ's educational gaming program, is about to launch in beta and is now open to users to waitlist.
CZ posted on the X platform: "We worked hard to build the first lesson. We had a lot of discussions about what it would look like, the game engine to use, features, animations, interactive content, and more. Re-enter entrepreneurial mode, like in the good old days. ”
Previously, in March, CZ posted on the X platform that it would launch an education project called Giggle Academy, aiming to provide free basic education for all. The project now has an all-remote team of 10 people (both part-time and full-time). Recruitment is still ongoing, with initial plans for a team of 15 people. Regarding the progress of the project, the content of the first phonics (English) course has been finalized and is working on it, with an Android version of the app instead of a web version for the target market.
Later this month, Bitcoin's highly anticipated halving event is likely to spark a lot of bets on the network and eco-tokens involved, with traders expecting both technology and Meme coin projects to rise. "There are large pools of untapped funds in the Bitcoin ecosystem that are still dormant, and surprisingly few of the upline assets that traders can gain exposure to," Wintermute's OTC trading department said. It added, "If capital starts to flow into the Bitcoin ecosystem, tokens like RUNE, STX, and ORDI could benefit significantly and perform well." Meanwhile, Bartosz Lipinski, founder of crypto trading platform Cube.Exchange, said in an email that the Meme coin and the upcoming Runes protocol could trigger high-risk bets in the Bitcoin ecosystem. （CoinDesk）
BTC.com data shows that the Bitcoin mining difficulty has ushered in a mining difficulty adjustment at block height 838,656 (05:17:33 today), and the mining difficulty has increased by 3.92% to 86.39 T, a record high. Currently, the average computing power of the entire network is 629.72 EH/s.
According to Fortune magazine, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a Wells Notice to Uniswap, a leading decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, informing it of its intention to sue the company. The SEC's charges against Uniswap Labs, which developed the Uniswap protocol but do not control it, are unclear. Based on recent lawsuits filed against other cryptocurrency companies such as Coinbase, the SEC may charge Uniswap Labs with offering unregistered securities to the public, or failing to register as a broker or exchange. UniSwap founder Hayden Adams immediately issued a statement saying: I believe the product we offer is legit and ready to fight for DeFi.
Eighty percent of those who received Wells notices between 2011 and 2013 eventually faced charges of alleged violations of securities laws. There is usually 30 days to respond to the Wells Notice in the form of a legal summary
Coinbase has added Apple Pay as a payment option in the UK market, which means that Coinbase UK users can now use Apple Pay to make online and in-app purchases of cryptocurrency. With more than 6 million UK adults already owning cryptocurrency, Coinbase's move aims to further increase participation in the digital asset market, with the UK being Coinbase's second-largest market.
The US non-seasonally adjusted CPI recorded an annual rate of 3.5% in March, higher than expectations of 3.4% and the highest since September 2023. U.S. CPI came in higher than expected and spot gold fell $16 short-term to $2333 an ounce. After the March CPI data, swap markets show a reduced likelihood of a Fed rate cut in June.
2. Selected Articles
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a Wells notice alleging that decentralized finance platform Uniswap is not a registered security or broker. Uniswap has processed more than $2 trillion in transactions and is in the spotlight. Uniswap is legitimate, but the SEC is more concerned with protecting opaque systems than consumers, the founders said. They will fight against government agencies, possibly for years, but believe that freedom and DeFi are worth fighting for. Uniswap will continue to operate.
Edgar Pavlovsky, founder of Marginfi in the Solana ecosystem, announced his departure, sparking a controversy over SolBlaze's accusations of manipulating BLZE emissions allocation. Solend officially announced an airdrop to users who withdraw money from Marginfi and deposit to Solend, causing confusion in the community. Marginfi co-creator Mac Brennan was accused of attacking Solend, which he explained was to increase clicks and traffic, but the community was dissatisfied. This event caused the Marginfi TVL to drop, which was surpassed by Raydium. The Solana ecosystem is growing rapidly, but it is also highly competitive due to the large number of projects. The Solana DeFi circle will take over the negative public opinion caused by network congestion, and it will take time to observe the restoration of the ecological calm.
Runes is a new Bitcoin ecosystem designed to simplify token creation and management, and to harmonize with the Bitcoin infrastructure. It will be launched on April 20, the day of the Bitcoin halving, as an alternative to the BRC20 standard to capture 1,000x gains. The rune ecosystem is actively being built, and many projects have taken inspiration from it, including the OG projects Runestones and Runecoin. Rune holders will receive 3 rune meme airdrops, and many projects have also announced airdrops of runes. Ways to participate include downloading XverseApp, depositing BTC, purchasing pre-rune items, and more. The launch of Runes provides the opportunity to participate in a new ecosystem, with a focus on infrastructure and memecoins.
3. Project interpretation
Last year, AI + Web3 became a hot topic in the crypto circle, with more than 140 projects covering computing, verification, metaverse, games and other directions. Ethereum co-creator Vitalik explored the use cases of blockchain and AI combined, which was also frequently mentioned at the Hong Kong Web3 Carnival event.
Binance announced the listing of Bittensor (TAO) in 2024, which led to an increase in the price of TAO and the related tokens were also affected. TAOPad (TPAD) has become a hot project. There are many "TAO Dog" projects on the market, but most of them eventually go to zero. Will the launch of Binance make the Bittensor ecosystem hot again? Is the rise of the "TAO Earth Dogs" a "dead cat jump" or a rising signal?
On April 10, Zhu Su bought TAO tokens, which led to a 10.8% increase in the TAO price. TAO is Bittensor's native token and aims to channel digital market forces into the AI space. Since the beginning of this year, a number of AI projects have attracted much attention, such as Allora, Tensorplex and SaharaLabs, attracting the participation of many well-known investment institutions. Among them, SaharaLabs has attracted 30 corporate customers and achieved positive cash flow. Nillion has raised more than $20 million to build a non-blockchain decentralized network. Ritual has raised $25 million in funding for the launch of its Phase 1 product, Infernet, with plans to launch a Phase 2 product, Ritual Chain.
4. Investment and financing
Blockchain AI data labeling startup Sapien has announced the closing of a $5 million seed round with participation from Primitive Ventures, Animoca, Ravikant Capital, and Yield Guild Games, among others, with the funds Sapien will use to enhance its AI to better guide and assist with its data labeling, and will also be used to expand Sapien's blockchain infrastructure to build its human labeling team.
Singapore-based AI company Mindverse closed a $5 million seed round led by Square Peg. Mindverse will use the funding funds to further research and product development to advance its large-scale personalization models. Mindverse was founded in 2022 by former Meta executives and AI researchers. Its flagship products include MindOS Studio, an AI-native website that helps create personalized chat experiences and interfaces, and Mebot, a productivity tool that learns and remembers users' thoughts and preferences.
BORED SLOT, A CHAIN GAME BASED ON BAYC NFT, HAS CLOSED A $10 MILLION FUNDING ROUND WITH PARTICIPATION FROM PLUTUS VC AND LD CAPITAL.
The new funds will be used to launch an entertainment platform, and users can exchange for token rewards by participating in the entertainment platform. The parent company of BORED SLOT is Spin City, and Spin City's first SPC token will be used by BORED SLOT first.
Sortium, a Web3 game studio focused on generative AI, announced the closing of more than $4 million in funding, led by Signum Growth, with participation from Cathie Wood's ARK Investment Management LLC, IDG Blockchain, IVC Fund, Polygon, and 1881 S Group AG. Sortium will use the proceeds from this round to expand its operations and development efforts.
Previously, in January 2023, it was reported that Sortium, a developer of Web3 entertainment technology, completed a $7.75 million seed round of financing, with cryptocurrency hedge fund Arca participating.
HTX Ventures announced a strategic investment in Tomo, a comprehensive Web3 social app. This investment marks HTX Ventures' recognition of Tomo's strategic position within the Web3 space, its belief in SocialFi's transformative potential, and its commitment to broadening and enhancing the impact and ease of use of Web3 technology.
It is reported that as a one-stop social wallet platform, Tomo aims to revolutionize the way of digital social interaction and content monetization. Tomo recently closed a $3.5 million seed round led by Polychain Capital.
HTX Ventures is the global investment arm of Huobi HTX, integrating investment, incubation, and research to identify the best and most promising teams in the world. At present, HTX Ventures has supported more than 200 projects across multiple blockchain tracks, and some of the high-quality projects have been listed on Huobi HTX trading.
Binance announced that Binance Labs is investing in BounceBit to support Bitcoin restaking and CeDeFi innovation.
Decentralized GPU infrastructure company GPU.net announced the closing of a $5.25 million Series A funding round with participation from Momentum 6, Spicy Capital, Exnetwork Capital, BlackDragon, Crypto Banter, Fusion7 Venture Capital, Alex Becker, EllioTrader, and others.
Previously, it was reported in August 2023 that GPU.Net completed a $500,000 financing round with investors including Momentum 6 and Alphablockz. GPU.Net aims to meet the computing power needs of new technologies such as generative AI, Web3 metaverse, cryptocurrency mining, and high-end graphics rendering by providing decentralized GPU infrastructure.
Bitcoin mining rig maker Auradine has announced the closing of an $80 million Series B funding round with StepStone Group, Top Tier Capital Partners, MVP Ventures, Maverick Capital, Celesta Capital, Mayfield Fund, and Marathon Digital It is reported that this round of financing was carried out in the form of a mix of equity and debt, with a valuation of more than $500 million.
London-based blockchain recruitment and background research services Veremark has announced the closing of a US$3 million (£2.4 million) funding round led by Samaipata and Stage 2 Capital, with participation from ACF Investors and Vulpes Investment, among others. Verepass recently launched Verepass, a blockchain-based "career passport" service that allows job seekers to manage their verified credentials.
Founded in 2019, Veremark conducts background checks on potential employees for companies to check their qualifications and legal compliance, and can also be used to screen existing employees, business partners, limited partners, and founders. (UK Tech) reported in 2022 that Veremark closed an equity financing of $8.5 million (about £7.08 million), led by Stage 2 Capital.