LianGuai Morning News | Prosecutors ask to prevent CZ from returning to the UAE before sentencing. Gray scale plans to change GBTC code to BTC.

LianGuai Morning News | Prosecutors Request CZ to be Banned from Returning to UAE Before Sentencing. Gray Scale Aims to Revise GBTC Code to BTC.

Headlines

▌US Prosecutor Requests Federal Judge to Prevent Zhao Changpeng from Returning to the UAE before Sentencing

Documents show that US prosecutors have requested a federal judge to prevent Binance founder Zhao Changpeng from returning to the UAE before the sentencing. The US Department of Justice has asked the federal court to require Zhao to stay in the United States during his guilty plea and sentencing hearing. The documents state that Zhao’s bail amount “is insufficient to ensure his return to the UAE.”

Earlier, LianGuai reported that Binance founder and former CEO Zhao Changpeng had been released on a $175 million personal bond, and the sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 23, 2024, at 9:00 AM Pacific Time (February 24, 2024, 1:00 AM Beijing Time).

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▌Grayscale Submits ETF S-3 Filing, Plans to Change GBTC Ticker to BTC

Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart stated on X platform that Grayscale has submitted a new S-3/prospectus for its GBTC conversion application, planning to change GBTC’s ticker to BTC, which is in line with analysts’ expectations.

Analysts state that the filing provides more data points, confirming that Grayscale is in negotiations with the SEC and updating/change its product documents after discussions and feedback from the SEC.

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Market

As of press time, according to CoinMarketCap data:

The recent trading price of BTC is $37,441.5, with a daily change of +2.63%;

The recent trading price of ETH is $2,064.42, with a daily change of +1.48%;

The recent trading price of BNB is $236.1, with a daily change of +1.90%;

The recent trading price of XRP is $0.611, with a daily change of +2.98%;

The recent trading price of DOGE is $0.0757, with a daily change of +2.23%;

The recent trading price of ADA is $0.3803, with a daily change of +2.98%;

The recent trading price of SOL is $57.48, with a daily change of +4.55%.

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Policy

▌Blockchain Association: Attended 175 Congressional Meetings, Had Nearly 30 Conversations with White House Officials

The Blockchain Association, a crypto advocacy organization, has released its annual report showcasing the challenges and highlights faced by the crypto industry this year. The report states that the organization has attended 175 meetings in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and had nearly 30 conversations with White House officials.

Marisa Copel, Senior Legal Advisor at the Blockchain Association, said, “In addition to legislative work in Congress, our team has submitted numerous comment letters to regulatory agencies to ensure a fair and targeted rule-making process that will not have a negative impact on digital asset innovation in the United States.”

The Blockchain Association was established in 2018, led by CEO Kristin Smith. According to the website, the organization’s goal is to promote “future-oriented, innovative policies and regulatory frameworks for the cryptocurrency economy.”

▌The UK to establish a legislative digital securities sandbox to support the development of the digital assets industry

The mini-budget announced by the UK Treasury on Wednesday includes a provision to promote growth in the digital assets industry. The UK government plans to establish a legislative digital securities sandbox (DSS) to facilitate the adoption of digital assets in the financial market. The budget statement says, “The government will create statutory documents to establish a digital securities sandbox, fulfilling the Edinburgh Reform announcement, with implementation in 2023.”

The DSS plan is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2024. The UK government also plans to issue a response to the DSS consultation launched in July.

It is reported that the upcoming digital securities sandbox will be different from the existing digital sandbox launched by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in August of this year. The FCA’s digital sandbox aims to provide support for companies in the early stages of digital product development.

▌US court denies SBF’s latest release request

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has denied FTX former CEO SBF’s latest release request, meaning he will have to remain in prison until the ruling on March 28th. Court clerk Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe stated, “We have reviewed the defendant-appellant’s supplemental arguments and find them unpersuasive.”

▌Coinbase accuses SEC of continuous “delay” in responding to the petition for cryptographic regulations

In a letter to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Wednesday, Coinbase argued that the SEC has been continuously “delaying” in seeking new regulatory rules. Coinbase lawyer Eugene Scalia stated in the letter, “Only an order from this Court will prompt the Commission to act.” He believes that the latest information provided by the SEC to the court, apart from a promise to take further action, does not provide any additional information about its progress.

After submitting a petition last year requesting regulatory agencies to draft new rules for digital assets, Coinbase sued the SEC in April. The SEC stated in June that it needed approximately four months to respond to Coinbase’s request.

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Blockchain Applications

▌Serenity Shield launches data storage product StrongBox on the mainnet

Serenity Shield, a startup focusing on multi-chain data storage and inheritance solutions, has launched its flagship product StrongBox DApp on the mainnet. The team claims that it offers a fully on-chain inheritance solution with scalable storage of up to 1 PetaB, aiming to be prepared for large-scale adoption by B2B and B2B2C. Cloud 3.0 is redefining the concept of cloud storage, providing free encrypted, distributed, and redundant file storage for on-chain assets such as PDFs, text, audio, video, and cryptocurrencies.

▌Curv Finance has opened the weETH/WETH stable swap pool

Ethereum staking protocol ether.fi announced on X platform that Curv Finance has opened the weETH/WETH stable swap pool. The proposal to add the weETH/WETH trading pair to the dashboard controller is live on the governance forum.

▌KyberSwap potentially hacked, approximately $47 million stolen

According to on-chain data, decentralized exchange protocol KyberSwap appears to have been attacked, resulting in a loss of $47 million. The funds were taken from its Elastic Pools product. A user on X, named Spreek, pointed out that the funds unexpectedly moved from a wallet associated with the protocol to another wallet. These funds include $20.7 million in Arbitrum, $15 million in Optimism, $7 million in Ethereum, $3 million in Polygon, and $2 million in Base. A significant portion of the funds is denominated in various forms of Ether, including wrapped tokens and liquidity provider tokens, as well as other tokens including ARB and various stablecoins.

The pseudonymous employee of crypto data website DefiLlama, 0xngmi, stated on X that he investigated the transactions and does not believe this is an issue with the Kyber aggregator. It appears that the hacker simply depleted the funds in the Kyber liquidity provider pools, which have a total value of $72 million.

▌LightsLianGuairk CEO: Current non-custodial Lightning Network solutions involve “some form of compromise”

David Marcus, co-founder and CEO of Lightning Network payment solutions provider LightsLianGuairk, stated that while institutional custodial Lightning Networks are ready for prime time, he acknowledges that non-custodial usage still means compromising on certain functionalities.

Marcus outlined two challenges: offline acceptance of payments and reducing the cost of opening channels for small transactions. While solutions are being developed for these difficulties in the future, he acknowledges that current non-custodial Lightning Network users must face trade-offs. He stated, “Frankly, if you want full support for non-custodial Lightning Networks with the ability to receive offline, and make it economically feasible, you have to accept some form of compromise on the trust level of the solution.” However, Marcus remains optimistic about the future, emphasizing that Bitcoin is on its way to becoming the currency protocol of the internet with widespread adoption.

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Cryptocurrency

▌Bloomberg Analyst: Redemption issue is the main obstacle for SEC approval of a physically-backed Bitcoin ETF

ETF analyst Eric Balchunas from Bloomberg noted that the redemption issue is a key obstacle for the SEC to approve a physically-backed Bitcoin ETF. Issuers have rejected the SEC’s cash redemption requirement, which means investors’ shares would be sold by the fund company and then returned in cash. BlackRock and Ark Invest, on the other hand, strongly support in-kind redemption, which means market makers would receive Bitcoin as compensation and then sell it for cash. Analysts suggest this may be more tax-efficient for investors.

Anyway, Bloomberg analysts still believe that the probability of a Bitcoin spot ETF being approved by January 10, 2024 is 90%.

▌Former NYSE President: Bitcoin is a legitimate store of value

Tom Farley, former president of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and CEO of crypto trading platform Bullish, said in an interview that despite the volatility of Bitcoin, it is a great invention and a legitimate “store of value.” Farley also sees potential in a Bitcoin spot ETF, claiming that when such a product is approved in the United States, funds will “pour into the crypto industry” because it is easy to buy.

▌Ripple Chief Legal Officer: Binance settlement with DOJ is an important step towards industry compliance

Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty wrote on X platform that Binance’s settlement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) resolves the issue of anti-money laundering violations, which is an important step towards making the crypto industry comply with basic legal and security standards, as major banks have gone through similar regulatory processes before.

He emphasized that the lawsuit filed by the DOJ against Binance did not mention “cryptocurrency securities” or the SEC, highlighting an important distinction in the regulatory treatment of different types of digital assets.

Alderoty also questioned the term “cryptocurrency securities” used by the SEC, arguing that it lacks legal meaning and recognition, especially considering the way the DOJ handled the Binance case. He likened the SEC’s actions to that of a “spoiled child.”

▌Xapo Bank CEO: Cryptocurrency adoption surges among “grassroot users” in Latin America

Seamus Rocca, CEO of Xapo Bank, stated that although the cryptocurrency economy in Latin America is smaller compared to other regions, adoption among “grassroot users” is growing rapidly, especially in Argentina and Mexico. Xapo Bank aims to capitalize on this by facilitating cross-border transactions and providing secure, efficient services for cryptocurrencies and stablecoins to help reshape financial operations in the region.

Rocca explained that in Argentina, the rapid devaluation of the national currency with an inflation rate of up to 150% has made stablecoins like USDC increasingly important, as people are looking for alternatives to the peso. Xapo Bank offers one-to-one USD exchange for USDC and supports USDC transfers so that members can bypass the SWIFT payment system.

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Important Economic Developments

▌Beijing Commercial News: Decrease in retail investors is a sign of a mature stock market

According to media reports, there has been a noticeable decrease in the proportion of retail investors in A-shares, indicating that retail investors are either moving towards funds or exiting the stock market. This trend aligns with the investor structure of a mature stock market, and it is not ruled out that retail investors may further retreat in the future, as they do not hold any advantages in stock market investing. A decrease in the proportion of retail investors is a sign of a mature stock market, where institutional investors dominate and adhere to the value investing philosophy. Only by practicing value investing to the extreme can stable investment returns be achieved. Although there are occasional speculations and gambling by market manipulators, such actions are like moths to a flame in a rational investment market, and professional institutional investors will not take over-the-counter positions at high levels. (Jinshi Data APP)

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LianGuai Encyclopedia

▌What is NFT DApp?

Applications based on blockchain that integrate non-fungible tokens are known as NFT DApps. With these applications, users can create, buy, sell, and trade original digital products such as artworks, collectibles, and in-game items. NFT DApps leverage the transparency and security of blockchain technology to transform ownership, providing support for gamers, artists, and content creators. The importance of NFT DApps lies in their provision of decentralized markets, facilitating peer-to-peer transactions, introducing innovative forms of ownership, disrupting existing industries, and democratizing the global digital economy.

Disclaimer: LianGuai, as a blockchain information platform, publishes articles for information purposes only and should not be construed as actual investment advice. Everyone should adopt correct investment principles and enhance risk awareness.

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