Finishing: Mars Finance
Mars Crypto Daily April 25, 2024
1. Today's news
According to a report by CoinGecko, the lending market using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as collateral traded more than $2 billion in the first quarter, a sustained increase of 44% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. Lending platform Blend has shown significant dominance in the market, with a monthly loan volume of $562.3 million as of March 2024, accounting for nearly 93% of the market share.
The European Parliament voted on Wednesday to approve a series of laws, partly aimed at enhancing "due diligence measures and checks on the identity of customers," including so-called crypto asset managers. They must also report suspicious activity to the authorities. The new law will affect crypto asset service providers (CASPs), such as centralized crypto exchanges, as well as a variety of other institutions, including gambling services. Patrick Hansen, Circle's EU strategy and policy director, said in a post on X that the vote was expected and that the bill would be formally adopted by the Council of the European Union and would be implemented in three years' time.
ViaBTC has commissioned the CoinEx platform to conduct the auction of Bitcoin's fourth halving block rare satoshis "epic sats", with the current highest bid reaching 9 BTC, or about $575,539.06. Previously, on April 20, the Bitcoin mining pool ViaBTC successfully mined the 840,000th block, which is the halving block. This was followed by the launch of the rare Satoshi "epic sats" auction, with bids in bitcoin with a starting price of 1 BTC, and the auction will end at 0:00 Beijing time on April 26. The first satoshis mined in the first block of each halving period is called an "epic sat" because of its potential collectible value through the Ordinals protocol.
Rep. Maxine Waters, Democratic leader of the Financial Services Commission, predicted on Wednesday that she and her chair, Patrick McHenry, will soon reach an agreement on stablecoin regulatory legislation. "We are working towards a stablecoin bill in the near term," Waters said in an interview, has discussed stablecoins with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown, and said the Federal Reserve, Treasury Department and the White House all provided input to draft the bill.
SolanaFloor disclosed data on the X platform showing that in terms of annual NFT blockchain user adoption, Solana outpaced all other chains, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, accounting for 33% of the total, with 1.3 million blockchain users.
Google Cloud announced the launch of its Web3 portal on Platform X. This page allows developers to experiment on the testnet, discover blockchain datasets and development tools from Google Cloud and its partners, and learn about the Web3 Startup Program.
Jack Dorsey's Block (formerly Square) announced that it has completed the development of a 3nm bitcoin mining chip. It is reported that Block has been following up on the development of the chip since April 2023, and has cooperated with a world-renowned chip foundry (the specific name has not been disclosed) to carry out the complete design of the chip, and will provide independent mining chips and a complete mining system for Bitcoin miners in the future. Block had announced in May 2023 that it had completed a prototype of a 5nm Bitcoin mining chip, the same technology used by Bitmain's S21 mining rig.
The first batch of 6 virtual asset spot ETFs issued by Bosera International, ChinaAMC (Hong Kong) and Harvest International have been officially authorized by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission and are scheduled to be listed on April 30, 2024. Although the ETF was first offered by a Hong Kong company under a Chinese public fund, it should be noted that it is not currently available for trading by Chinese mainland investors.
According to the product list on the SFC website, the six virtual asset spot ETFs were officially authorized on 23 April 2024, namely Harvest Bitcoin Spot ETF (03439.HK), Harvest Ethereum Spot ETF (03179.HK), ChinaAMC Bitcoin ETF (03042.HK), ChinaAMC Ether ETF (03046.HK), Bosera HashKey Bitcoin ETF (03008.HK) and Bosera HashKey Ether ETF (03009.HK).
The Treasure Chain testnet went live with the launch of Treasure Ruby. This is the first version of the testnet, and the mainnet is scheduled to go live in Q3. The V1 testnet includes a new Treasure portal to test the network via a bridge, a browser, and the testnet MAGIC faucet, as well as the introduction of a new "Shards" points system. Treasure will also launch a game-specific Infinity Chain L3 built on Arbitrum Orbit and leverage EigenLayer to provide security through MAGIC-ETH staking. Treasure Chain is an L2 rollup built using Arbitrum Orbit technology and EigenDA to provide infrastructure for the next generation of gaming.
Democratic congressman leader Maxine Waters, who is on the Financial Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, predicted on Wednesday that she and Chair Patrick McHenry will soon reach an agreement on stablecoin regulatory legislation. In an interview, Waters said: "We are working towards a stablecoin bill in the near term. She added that she had discussed stablecoins with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown, and said the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department and the White House were all involved in drafting the bill. "This is to make sure that investors and people are protected," Waters said. We have to make sure that they have the assets that back the stablecoin. "Federal regulation can lend legitimacy to this asset class, which in turn could lead to wider adoption.
Prior to WWDC24, Apple released an "efficient language model with an open-source training and inference framework" on the Hugging Face platform called OpenELM. This is an open-source language model, and its source code and pre-trained model weights and training recipes are available in the Apple Github repository. According to reports, OpenELM uses a hierarchical scaling strategy to effectively allocate the parameters of each layer of the Transformer model, thereby improving accuracy. For example, with about 1 billion parameters, OpenELM is 2.36% more accurate than OLMo, and the number of pre-trained tokens required is only 50%. Unlike previous practices that only provide model weights and inference code and pre-train on private datasets, Apple's release includes a complete framework for training and evaluating language models on public datasets, including training logs, multiple checkpoints, and pre-training configurations. In addition, it has released code to convert models into MLX libraries for inference and fine-tuning on Apple devices. This general release aims to strengthen and strengthen the open research community and pave the way for future open research efforts.
Web3 community gaming platform Iskra announced on the X platform that it has completed a strategic round of financing, with Animoca Brands participating, and the specific amount and valuation information have not been disclosed. It is reported that Iskra will collaborate with Animoca Brands on several aspects of the Web3 gaming space, including joint marketing campaigns, as well as other potential initiatives. Iskra has migrated to the Base blockchain this year and entered into a strategic partnership with YGG.
To help customers make more efficient use of their AI computing resources, NVIDIA has entered into an undisclosed agreement to acquire Run:ai, a provider of Kubernetes-based workload management and orchestration software. Nvidia plans to retain Run:ai's current business model for the time being, and Run:ai employees will join Nvidia's R&D center in Israel. NVIDIA DGX and DGX Cloud customers will receive the capabilities that Run:AI provides for their AI workloads, especially large language model deployments. Today, Run:AI's solutions are integrated with products such as NVIDIA DGX, NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD, NVIDIA Base Command, NGC containers, and NVIDIA AI enterprise software. In addition, Israeli media outlet Calcalist expects the acquisition to be worth around $700 million.
In response to the news that "the Central Bank of Nigeria requires financial institutions to freeze the accounts of users related to Bybit, KuCoin, OKX and Binance exchanges", the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a document on platform X to clarify that CBN officials have not issued the notice, and the public should check the latest information on the official website to ensure that the news is reliable. Yesterday, Cointelegraph reported that a screenshot showed that the Central Bank of Nigeria requires all banks and financial institutions to identify individuals or entities that trade with cryptocurrency exchanges and put these accounts in "No Debit" (PND) status for six months, meaning that account holders will not be able to withdraw funds or make payments from the relevant accounts. According to the screenshot, the Central Bank of Nigeria lists cryptocurrency exchanges that are not licensed to operate in Nigeria, including Bybit, KuCoin, OKX, and Binance. The Central Bank of Nigeria will investigate and punish the illegal purchase and sale of stablecoin USDT on these platforms, especially those using peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. In addition, the Central Bank of Nigeria noted that financial institutions are prohibited from engaging in cryptocurrency trading or providing payment services to cryptocurrency exchanges.
Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, said BlackRock's spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, IBIT, has accounted for 24% of the company's total global ETF flows.
U.S. federal prosecutors have charged Samurai Wallet founders Keonne Rodriguez and William Lonergan Hill with conspiring to launder more than $100 million, according to a press release issued Wednesday. According to the press release, the duo developed, marketed, and operated the cryptocurrency mixer, which in 2015 to date, had facilitated about $2 billion in "illegal transactions" and laundered more than $100 million in crime proceeds. The two were charged with conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to operate an unauthorized money transmission business, with the charges carrying a maximum sentence of 20 years and 5 years, respectively.
According to a new report from Glassnode, Bitcoin (BTC) was generated 900 BTC per day before the fourth halving event, resulting in an inflation rate of 1.7%. The new figure after the halving is roughly equivalent to 450 BTC per day and an annual inflation rate of 0.85%, which puts the network's supply issuance rate significantly lower than gold's 2.3%, which is generally an important asset compared to Bitcoin. In addition, Bitcoin proponents argue that Bitcoin's digital nature makes it more divisible and portable than the precious metal, making Bitcoin a modern medium of exchange. As a result of the halving, Bitcoin's supply will be more limited than gold's, which means that Bitcoin will theoretically be better able to store its value over time than be defeated by inflation.
According to a KPMG survey, institutional investors in Canada have significantly increased their holdings of cryptocurrencies in 2023, with 75% of respondents holding the asset class. Institutional investors holding cryptocurrencies jumped from 29% two years ago to 75% in 2023. About two-thirds of respondents, including hedge funds, family offices, pension funds, private equity, and venture capital firms, have been exposed to crypto-related public stocks, up from 36% in 2021. Interest in crypto derivatives also appears to have increased, with 42% of companies reporting exposure to such products, compared to just 14% previously.
The Lummis-Gillibrand Payment Stablecoin Act, if passed, would make it clear that regulation "banks should be encouraged to enter the stablecoin market," and that the proposed bill would not allow Tether, if passed, if passed, by Senator Cynthia Lummis, Republican of Wyoming, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, in a report on Wednesday, and that the proposed bill would not allow Tether, after banks stepped in Dominance in the global stablecoin market will be weakened. The agency said Tether was issued by a non-US entity and would not have been allowed if the bill had passed. "This means that U.S. entities cannot hold or trade Tether, which could reduce demand while boosting U.S.-issued stablecoins," S&P Global said. However, we note that Tether trading activity is primarily occurring in emerging markets outside the U.S. and is driven by retail users and remittances. ”
Galxe, a Web3 infrastructure and digital credential network, has announced the launch of the GAL staking feature, which provides users with staking rewards through the Galxe Earn platform. With GAL staking, users can access Galxe Earn and use their staked GAL tokens to participate in exclusive airdrop events. Galxe Earn is reported to enable direct interaction between projects and stakeholders, such as token holders, NFT collectors, and social media followers, allowing projects to offer exclusive rewards, including whitelist locations and limited airdrop access, enhancing engagement and expanding the reach of the ecosystem.
Peter Thiel's venture capital arm, Founders Fund, has made a "strategic, long-term investment" in crypto accelerator Alliance. While the exact amount of the investment was not disclosed, Alliance co-founder Imran Khan said the Founders Fund has acquired a minority stake in Alliance. The investment was completed in October last year, and the details of the partnership were finalized in January this year, and as part of the investment, the Founders Fund will support Alliance's portfolio companies.
2. Selected articles
The three-disk theory proposed by Crypto Vedic believes that MEME coins represent the decentralization trend of the project, and are a combination of split disks, dividend disks and mutual aid disks. With the emergence of more and more MEME coins, mutual aid orders may be the main choice in this round of bull market, and retail investors are more inclined to play mutual aid markets, such as Restaking, DePin, and Layer 2. These three modes can appear separately or in combination, each with its own advantages and disadvantages, corresponding to the corresponding logic. In general, the development of the currency circle can be seen as the evolution of the Ponzi model.
The sharing economy optimizes the use of resources by lending idle goods and services to those in need, benefiting from the rationalization of consumption patterns and advances in information technology. However, as the market expanded, there were also negative effects. Blockchain technology can be used as an effective foundation to achieve true P2P resource sharing and solve the problem of economies of scale between supply and demand. IO.NET is a blockchain-based computing resource sharing platform that generates revenue by charging booking and rental fees, and utilizes IO tokens to manage and burn revenue. It provides users with highly flexible configurations and optimized workload allocation to enable the ecosystem to thrive. In the future, blockchain technology has the ability to liquidate the value of various assets, bringing innovation similar to another Uberization to our lives.
Ethena is a stablecoin that sits somewhere between centralized and decentralized, maintaining stability and earning yield through delta neutrality. It solves the problem of centralized and decentralized stablecoins, custody assets on-chain through OES services, and uses different strategies for arbitrage to provide diversified income for holders. USDe is a stablecoin that works with centralized exchanges and uses funding rate differences for arbitrage, but faces funding rate, custody, liquidity, and asset pegging risks. Ethena sets up an insurance fund to address risks.
3. Project interpretation
After the EigenLayer airdrop, depositors were concerned about a drop in yields, which could lead to the protocol being overvalued. To avoid large-scale outflows, EigenLayer may only distribute a small number of tokens, but this can lead to depositors feeling undervalued. The use of high leverage by speculators has stimulated demand for crypto applications, but implied returns that depositors are not happy with can lead to lower yields. In addition, EigenLayer is also a major ETH mining pool, with a 6,100% increase in deposits. If depositors switch to selling ETH, it could impact the DeFi ecosystem. However, there are still questions about whether EigenLayer's deposit levels are sustainable, and if the staking model proves unsustainable, it will be a major blow to the Ethereum ecosystem.
zkSync has more than 6 million active addresses, and L2 projects such as Starknet have implemented token airdrop plans and rewarded about 500,000 users. For the active address of zkSync Era, two airdrop scenarios are simulated, Plan A and Plan B. The address ranked 500,006 performed well, with the majority of users interacting with zkSync for more than 3 months, and the active months of accounts with more than 10 transactions were concentrated between 3-10 months. The number of zkSync Lite users is 1,864,953, and the Paymaster feature is popular with 765,898 addresses used. LIBERTAS OMNIBUS COLLECTION NFT AIRDROP HOLDERS HAVE HIGH MEDIA RATINGS.
4. Investment and financing
据官方消息，基于 EigenLayer 开发、针对以太坊的去中心化零知识证明验证层 Aligned Layer 宣布完成 2000 万美元 A 轮融资，Hack VC 领投，dao5、L2IV、Nomad Capital、Finality Capital Partners 等参投。 Aligned Layer 主网计划于 2024 年第二季度上线。
Monex Group, a Japanese financial services provider, has completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Canadian crypto asset company 3iQ Digital Holdings to expand its crypto business. Having previously launched the first regulated Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-listed fund in North America and the first Ethereum ETF with staking functionality on the Toronto Stock Exchange, Monex Group expects to address the demand for crypto asset management from institutional investors and exchanges around the world through the acquisition of 3iQ.
CycleX, an industry innovation RWA platform, has signed a share exchange memorandum with Nature's Miracle Holding Inc., a NASDAQ-listed company. The parties agreed that the transaction will be valued at approximately US$10 million, and the share swap is expected to be completed within the next two months. This strategic cooperation will provide NMHI with standardized financial services, provide customers with more stable, efficient and diversified solutions, and maintain its leading position in the industry.
At the same time, CycleX will also cooperate with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to jointly develop innovative tokenomics services. In addition, CycleX is conducting a Token airdrop campaign, which will incentivize early supporters. About CycleX, an innovative RWA platform with a deep focus on asset management and investment. The platform will provide more opportunities for investors by converting real-world assets into digital assets, increasing the liquidity and accessibility of assets.
Mars Financial News, Adot (a.xyz), a decentralized artificial intelligence search engine company founded by former Google core team engineers, announced the completion of a $3 million Pre-A round of financing, led by Hash Global, with participation from gumi Cryptos Capital (gCC) and Xin Family. To date, Adot has raised a total of $6 million. Other investors include SevenX Ventures, Mask Network, Var Capital, and Mixmarvel. It is reported that the funds will be used to promote the development of its decentralized AI search engine.