Headlines
CME has no plans to launch Solana futures
According to market news, CME has no plans to launch Solana futures. (Jinshi)
Insider: Biden campaign changes stance and begins contacting key figures in crypto industry
U.S. President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign has begun reaching out to key figures in the cryptocurrency industry, seeking guidance on “the crypto community and crypto policy moving forward,” according to people familiar with the matter, which the sources said marked a significant “shift” from the administration’s previous cold attitude toward the industry.
The outreach, which began about two weeks ago, marks a dramatic change in the Biden campaign’s attitude toward digital asset leaders, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions. As part of the new effort, Biden’s reelection team has called crypto industry leaders who were previously rejected by the Democratic candidate, according to one source. The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (The Block)
BlackRock Files Amended S-1 for Ethereum ETF, Including Seed Funding Information
BlackRock filed an amended S-1 registration statement for its proposed Ethereum ETF, disclosing information about seed funding investors.
“On May 21, 2024, Seed Capital Investor conditionally purchased 400,000 shares of Seed Creation Baskets at a price equal to $25 per share,” BlackRock said in the revised filing. The shares will be listed and traded under the ticker “ETHA.”
The SEC recently began talking to issuers about the S-1 form, and some analysts speculate that the process could take weeks. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas wrote on the X platform on Wednesday that BlackRocks filing of the revised S-1 document was a good sign. There is a reasonable possibility that the Ethereum ETF will be launched at the end of June, but analysts still believe it will be launched on July 4. (The Block)
Industry News
Lynn Martin, president of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), said at the 2024 Consensus Conference that if the U.S. regulatory environment becomes clearer, the NYSE will consider providing cryptocurrency trading services. Martin said that the U.S. Bitcoin spot ETF has accumulated $58 billion in assets since its listing, showing the markets strong demand for regulated crypto products.
Martin also said she remains optimistic about using blockchain technology to improve the efficiency and transparency of financial processes, especially for illiquid assets such as municipal bonds. (CoinDesk)
Earlier news said that the worlds largest futures exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group (CME Group), plans to launch Bitcoin spot trading.
CME has held discussions with traders who want to buy and sell cryptocurrencies on regulated markets, three people familiar with the matter said.
The plan, which has not yet been finalized, would mark a further incursion by major Wall Street institutions into the digital asset industry if implemented. CME declined to comment.
Deutsche Bank advances blockchain strategy, testing new Ethereum-based platform
Deutsche Bank has announced a strategic move into blockchain technology to address challenges facing the financial services industry.
The German banking giant is participating in Singapore’s Project Guardian, an initiative led by the Monetary Authority of Singapore that aims to harness the benefits that blockchain can bring to financial markets.
Deutsche Bank is currently testing a new platform based on the Ethereum network to provide services for tokenized funds under Project Guardian. Anand Rengarajan, head of securities services for Asia Pacific and the Middle East and global head of sales at Deutsche Bank, stressed the urgency of adopting innovative technologies. He said: Blockchain is critical to helping us remain competitive as margin compression affects the financial services industry.
According to Rengarajan, blockchain and smart contract-based solutions can significantly reduce costs, shorten transaction times and minimize risks. (Bloomberg)
Project News
OpenAI founder Sam Altman discusses Worldcoin investment with Argentine President
OpenAI founder Sam Altman and Argentine President Javier Milei met in San Francisco to discuss Worldcoin investments in the South American country, among other things.
On Wednesday, two of the project’s main backers, Tools for Humanity co-founders Sam Altman and Alex Blania, met with Argentine President Javier Milei. Tools for Humanity, co-founded by Blania and OpenAI CEO Altman, is the lead developer behind the Worldcoin project. “During the meeting, the Worldcoin team] discussed advances in AI, how to prepare humanity for AI, and its potential investments in Argentina,” said Blania.
LayerZero plans to expand to Solana this week
LayerZero revealed that it will expand to Solana on Wednesday. Once the expansion is completed, cryptocurrency holders on the Solana chain will be able to transfer assets to Arbitrum, Ethereum, Polygon, and 70 other blockchains supported by LayerZero. (Coindesk)
ZKasino announced yesterday that it has launched a two-step bridging process, which will return ETH to bridgers who do not participate in the ZKAS conversion at a ratio of 1:1. It also said that the team is still working hard and reassured that it will continue to do its best to make the project a success. However, the crypto community pointed out that ZKasino only gave bridge participants a short 72 hours to register (UTC time May 28 14:00-May 31 14:00, both working days). After three days, the registration function will be closed and deposits will also be stopped. This short period of time may prevent many people from recovering their deposits.
In addition, ZKasino also deliberately avoided the staking rewards previously obtained from user deposits. It is reported that after the Bridge-to-Earn program ends, ZKasino will convert investors ETH into Lidos Wrapped Staked Ether. Given the current Lido staking yield of 3.3% and the recent rise in ETH prices, the staking rewards are expected to exceed $100,000. (cryptoslate)
Character*Voice
Brian Nelson, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said at the Consensus conference that the U.S. Treasury Department has no intention of banning cryptocurrency mixing services.
It is reported that the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed in 2023 to classify cryptocurrency mixers as a major money laundering problem and require virtual asset service providers (VASPs) to report any crypto transactions involving mixers to the agency.
FinCEN’s proposal, along with a growing number of U.S. Department of Justice enforcement actions against mixing services, including Tornado Cash and Samourai Wallet, are seen by many in the industry as evidence of an impending complete ban on cryptocurrency mixing in the U.S., something the Treasury Department has strongly denied.
Nelson said the proposal is not to ban the use of mixers, but is intended to increase transparency. He also said he understands crypto users desire for financial privacy, but urged the crypto industry and the Treasury Department to work together to find ways to enhance privacy without supporting terrorist financing. (CoinDesk)
Vitalik Buterin: L2 is a cultural extension of Ethereum
Vitalik Buterin wrote that L2 is a cultural extension of Ethereum, pointing out that Ethereum is an L2-centric ecosystem, so you can freely build a sub-ecosystem with your unique functions independently, and this sub-ecosystem is also part of the larger Ethereum. Some specific ways that L2 can and does achieve cultural specialization include:
1. More willing to conduct user development or business development;
2. Emphasize the diversity of values;
3. Diversity of participants.
Apollo: The Feds promise to cut rates could make it harder to deliver
While some Fed officials have tried to keep open the possibility of another rate hike, the main message from the Fed is that the next step will be a rate cut. But the more dovish the Fed sounds, the looser financial conditions will be, and the harder it will be for the Fed to cut rates, Apollo analyst Torsten Slok said in a report. He called it the Fed rate cut reflexivity paradox. Slok said that since the Federal Open Market Committee began talking about rate cuts in November last year, U.S. stocks have rebounded and the household sector has also received a windfall. He said government spending has also provided an important boost to the economy. (Jinshi)
Investment and Financing
Decentralized AI infrastructure project GaiaNet completes $10 million seed round
Decentralized artificial intelligence project GaiaNet has completed a $10 million financing round. Its key strategic advisors include Lex Sokolin of Generative Ventures, Brian Johnson of Republic Capital, Shawn Ng of 7 RIDGE, Kishore Bhatia, EVM Capital, Mantle EcoFund and ByteTrade Lab.
It is reported that GaiaNet is a distributed AI infrastructure that aims to decentralize the current AI agent software. GaiaNet will not set up a centralized server, but will use a distributed edge node network controlled by individuals and enterprises to host AI models based on their proprietary domain knowledge and expertise. (Coindesk)
Oracle Solution API 3 Completes Strategic Round of Financing, Led by DWF Labs
According to market news, the oracle solution API 3 announced the completion of a strategic round of financing, led by DWF Labs. It is reported that this round is a strategic fund diversification financing, with a scale of 4 million USDC, of which DWF Labs contributed 2 million USDC, Spartan Group 1 million USDC, Laser Digital and Caladan (formerly AlphaLab) 500,000 USDC. DWF Labs received 711,744 API 3, Spartan Group received 355,872 API 3, Laser Digital and Caladan received 177,936 API 3. It is reported that the lock-up period of the tokens adopts the form of 12-month linear unlocking and 6-month cliff unlocking, which means that 50% of the tokens will be unlocked six months after the proposal is passed, and the remaining 50% will be unlocked linearly in the next six months.
Parasail Completes $4 Million Seed Round at $50 Million Valuation, Led by Protocol Labs
According to official news, Parasail Protocol, which focuses on improving the security of DePIN hardware services, recently announced the completion of a $4 million seed round of financing, with a valuation of $50 million. The seed round of financing was led by Protocol Labs, with participation from D 11 Labs, MH Ventures, BitRise Capital, E V3, Fenbushi Capital, Modular Capital, Faculty Group, DWF Ventures, Foresight Ventures, AGE Crypto, Waterdrip Capital and others.
According to the Parasail team, the financing funds will be used to accelerate the realization of various product functions in the Parasail Master Plan, that is, to pool assets and hardware on DePIN, provide service level guarantees for users, and dynamically coordinate hardware resources according to demand. It is reported that Parasail TVL exceeds 50 million US dollars.
In addition to providing security for hardware services through asset delegation, Parasail is building a universal adapter for hardware service provision and verification to enable the flexible use and circulation of common hardware resources (such as graphics cards, storage, sensors, etc.) in different DePIN ecosystems. With the help of the Parasail protocol, DePIN projects can systematically and efficiently build their networks and mobilize hardware resources.
Anzen Finance, the issuer of RWA stablecoin, announced the completion of a $4 million seed round of financing with participation from Mechanism Capital, Circle Ventures, Frax, Arca, Infinity Ventures, Cherubic Ventures, Palm Drive Ventures, M 31 Capital, Kraynos Capital, etc. It is reported that after the completion of this round of financing, its board of directors will not change. Anzen allows users to mint stablecoins USDz supported by a diversified portfolio of private credit assets, which are collateralized by real-world assets USDz, and the token can be pledged in other DeFi protocols. (TheBlock)
