Important news you missed during the 8 days of vacation

The long holiday is over, but there are still many major events that need attention in the 7*24 encryption field during these 8 days. BlockBeats has compiled the important news worthy of attention during the holiday for readers as follows.
September 29th
Three Arrows Capital Partners Zhu Su was arrested in Singapore and sentenced to four months in jail
Three Arrows Capital liquidation firm Teneo said the hedge fund's co-founder Zhu Su was arrested at Changi Airport on Sept. 29 as he tried to leave Singapore, Bloomberg reported. The company received a commitment order against Zhu Su after he failed to comply with a court order compelling him to cooperate with a liquidation investigation. Zhu Su was sentenced to four months in prison, according to a statement.
After the news of his arrest was revealed, the native token OX of Zhu Su’s newly created crypto claims and trading platform OPNX plummeted to US$0.01218 in a short period of time, a drop of more than 45% in 24 hours.
The price of "Keys" on its friend.tech platform plummeted from 0.961 ETH to 0.638 ETH in a short period of time, a drop of more than 33% in just 30 minutes.
The US SEC has again postponed its decision on four Bitcoin spot ETFs including BlackRock and Invesco
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Thursday it is launching additional proceedings to determine whether applications for bitcoin spot ETFs from BlackRock, Invesco, Valkyrie and Bitwise should be approved. The SEC said it is appropriate to initiate the proceedings now given the legal and policy issues raised by the proposed rule changes.
In a filing with Valkyrie on Thursday, the SEC asked commenters to provide relevant opinions and also wanted to know whether the proposed surveillance sharing agreement with crypto exchange Coinbase would help "detect, investigate and prevent fraud and manipulation." Commenters have 21 days to submit written data, opinions and arguments, and then 35 days to rebut, which means the approval process will take at least several months.
Former Multichain engineer team launches new cross-chain project ValueRouter
According to Multichain official news, the former Multichain engineering team launched a new cross-chain project ValueRouter after the disbandment of the Multichain team. It is reported that ValueRouter supports cross-chain asset transactions between Ethereum, Avalanche, Op Mainnet, and Arbitrum through the Circle cross-chain transmission protocol CCTP and the ValueRouter repeater.
September 30
FTX exploit address begins moving funds after 10 months of inactivity
The FTX exploiter address starting with 0x3e957 transferred the stolen funds in batches to a new address starting on September 30. This is the first time the hacker address has been active since FTX was hacked 10 months ago.
As of press time, the FTX attacker has converted a total of 75,636 ETH (about $124 million) into BTC and transferred it across the chain to the Bitcoin network, and currently still holds 109,485 ETH (about $179 million).
Since the FTX attacker used THORSwap, a cross-chain DEX aggregator based on THORChain, when transferring funds, THORSwap has decided to temporarily switch the protocol to maintenance mode. After that, the FTX attacker turned to exchange ETH for tBTC through the built-in Swap function of Metamask, and then bridged back to the Bitcoin network through the Threshold Network.
SEC Delays Decision on Three More Spot Bitcoin ETFs
On September 30, the US SEC officially postponed the decision on the applications of three spot Bitcoin ETFs from Fidelity, WisdomTree and VanEck. The SEC also asked commentators to provide their opinions. They have 21 days to submit written data, opinions and arguments; there is also a 35-day rebuttal period, which means that the approval process will be delayed for at least several months.
Invesco submits Ethereum spot ETF application to the US SEC
Asset management giant Invesco has submitted an application for the Ethereum spot ETF "Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF" to the US SEC. According to the information, Galaxy Digital Funds will serve as the execution agent of the Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF to facilitate the purchase and sale of Ether by the trust.
Floki multi-signature address deposits 15.8 billion FLOKI into Binance, sharing the same deposit address with DWF Labs
According to data from The Data Nerd, the Floki multi-signature address deposited 15.8 billion FLOKI (about $261,000) into Binance on September 30. It is worth noting that this Binance deposit address has been used to accept token assets from DWF Labs many times before.
LooksRare updates its token economic model, 50% of future fees will be used to repurchase LOOKS tokens
According to official news, the NFT market LooksRare has updated its token economic model. 50% of future fees will be used to repurchase LOOKS tokens from the market, 10% will be used as LooksRare protocol rewards, and 40% will be turned over to the protocol treasury.
October 1st
U.S. Senate passes short-term spending bill to avoid government shutdown
According to Jinshi, the U.S. Senate passed a short-term spending bill to avoid a government shutdown on October 1, and Biden has signed the short-term spending bill to avoid a U.S. government shutdown.
China Mobile Migu Video’s first NFT “Meelier” announced that it will be sold in the form of a blind box on OpenSea
According to official news, China Mobile Migu Video announced on its official Weibo that its first NFT "Meelier" will be sold globally during the Asian Games. The first NFT launched by Meelier will be officially sold globally on October 12. This NFT is based on the character in the popular mobile game "Panda Cafe" and will be sold in the form of blind boxes on OpenSea, with a global limited edition of 2,000.
October 2
SEC convenes multiple Bitcoin spot EFT applicants to attend a meeting for discussion
Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas posted on social media that the US SEC is convening multiple Bitcoin spot EFT applicants to attend a meeting for discussion. In addition, although the SEC finally postponed its decision on Bitcoin spot EFT last week, it still responded to various applicants on legal and other issues, breaking the typical "delay-delay-cold treatment and then rejection" model. Although the specific timeline is not clear, it is a good sign.
Grayscale has applied to convert Grayscale Ethereum Trust into an Ethereum spot ETF
Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said on social media that Grayscale has applied to convert Grayscale Ethereum Trust into an Ethereum spot ETF.
Coinbase receives major payment institution license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore
Coinbase announced that Coinbase Singapore has obtained a major payment institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Coinbase will develop and release products tailored for Singapore and will carry out training and recruitment programs in the Singapore Technology Center.
The 171st Ethereum Core Developers Consensus Meeting: Devnet-9 Release Postponed Again
Christine Kim, vice president of research at Galaxy, published a summary of the 171st Ethereum Core Developers Consensus Meeting (ACDE), where developers discussed the progress of the Dencun upgrade test and the release of Devnet-9 was postponed again. Developers also said that after the launch of Devnet-9, the 10th devnet will need to be launched for the Dencun upgrade, and the life cycle of Devnet-10 will be relatively short. Developers will also test the workflow of validators to obtain MEV using the MEV-Boost software on Devnet-9 and 10.
October 3
Fed's Mester: May need to raise rates again in 2023 and keep them there for a while
Fed's Mester said it may be necessary to raise interest rates again in 2023 and keep them there for a while. Despite progress, inflation remains too high. The Fed may have approached or reached its peak interest rate and is now evaluating how long to maintain that level. (Jinshi)
The total value of assets involved in Singapore's largest money laundering case has further expanded to S$2.8 billion
Singapore authorities have further expanded the total value of assets seized or frozen in the region's largest money laundering case to S$2.8 billion (US$2 billion), including 152 properties, 62 cars, thousands of bottles of wine, cryptocurrencies, gold bars and jewelry, according to Bloomberg. The government also said it may tighten immigration rules to curb illegal capital inflows.
It is understood that the initial amount involved was more than S$1 billion, which later increased to S$1.8 billion, and rose to S$2.4 billion on September 20. As of today (October 3), the total amount of assets frozen or subject to restriction orders has increased to S$2.8 billion.
Starknet Ecosystem Derivatives Protocol ZKX Launches Phase 1 of Token Airdrop, Distributing 4 Million ZKX
Starknet's decentralized derivatives protocol ZKX announced the launch of the first phase of token airdrops, which will be available from October 2 to October 16. The token ZKX is the protocol's governance token with a supply cap of 100 million. The first phase of the airdrop will distribute 4% of the total, and the second phase will distribute 11% of the total. ZKX said that the first phase of the airdrop is for Yakuza participants of SZN1 and SZN2, and the token will be available for trading once it goes online in early 2024.
October 4
StarkWare postpones first token unlock to April 2024
According to The Block, StarkWare announced that the first unlocking date of its native StarkNet (STRK) token will be postponed by more than five months, and the new unlocking date will be April 15, 2024. The previously planned unlocking date was November 29, 2023. Regarding the delay, a StarkWare spokesperson said: "We are focusing on technical construction. We will update the roadmap as needed, which also includes updates to the lock-up period." The first batch of unlocked tokens belong to StarkWare's core contributors, early supporters of the ecosystem, and employees.
US House Speaker McCarthy removed from office, crypto-friendly congressman Patrick Mchenry temporarily takes over
The U.S. House of Representatives voted to remove U.S. House Speaker McCarthy, making him the first Speaker of the House to be removed in U.S. history. Patrick Mchenry, chairman of the crypto-friendly House Financial Services Committee, was appointed interim Speaker of the House. The House will then need to elect a new Speaker, and McCarthy can run for the position again.
Ripple receives major payment institution license from Monetary Authority of Singapore
Ripple said its Singapore unit has been granted a major payment institution license by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, enabling it to continue offering digital payment token services in the fast-growing region. Ripple received preliminary approval in June, but now its subsidiary, Ripple Markets APAC Pte Ltd, has received the formal license.
October 5
Sui Foundation will recover 117 million SUI from external market makers to support ecological and community development
The Sui Foundation announced that it will recover 117 million SUI from external market makers and redistribute them to multiple channels to support the growth of the Sui network. Since these SUI have been released before, their redistribution will not affect the circulating supply of SUI. These SUI also include the 25 million staked SUI for the winners of the Sui Liquidity Staking Hackathon announced recently.
These new funds will be used to support the growing Sui ecosystem, including providing grants to developers to build the next generation of decentralized applications on Sui, as well as supporting the most advanced DeepBook CLOB, automated market maker, liquidity staking and lending protocols on Sui.
Arthur Hayes: Bitcoin price will reach $750,000-1 million by 2026
Arthur Hayes, founder of BitMEX, predicts that the price of Bitcoin will reach $750,000 to $1 million by 2026. This will be the largest financial market boom ever seen in human history, driven by the massive issuance of fiat currencies by countries around the world and the advent of the era of artificial intelligence.
October 6
Web3 credential data network Galxe was attacked and the website was shut down
Several community users reported that their assets were stolen after using their wallets to authorize the Web3 credential data network Galxe platform. Galxe later announced that the Galxe website is currently closed and it is working to fix the problem. Users are advised not to connect their wallets to Galxe during this period. As of press time, the issue is still being addressed, and a security vulnerability that affects the official website's DNS records has been discovered.
On-chain detective ZachXBT posted on social media that the Galxe theft looks likely to have been carried out by the same attacker who recently attacked the Balancer frontend.
Avalanche Ecosystem Blockchain Game Ascenders Announces It Will Stop Development
The blockchain game Ascenders recently announced to the community on Discord that it will stop developing games and its company will also cease operations. The announcement stated that the results of the Land NFT minting that the team carefully prepared in May 2023 were far from their expectations.
According to Niels, who claims to be an angel investor of Ascenders, investors' investments have been reduced to zero, and they learned in July this year that the company was facing bankruptcy due to no remaining funds.
On March 8 last year, Ascenders, an action role-playing blockchain game project based on Avalanche, announced the completion of a $6.4 million private round of financing, led by Paramount Capital, Three Arrows Capital, Sino Global Capital and Merit Circle. Participants included DeFiance Capital, Blizzard Fund, Colony Labs, GuildFi, Momentum 6, Forward Analytics, Avocado Guild, Zee Prime Capital, Snack Club, Layer X and Mintable.
Investment and Financing
Greylock Launches Newest Early-Stage Fund, Greylock 17, at $1 Billion
Well-known venture capital firm Greylock announced the launch of Greylock 17, its latest early-stage fund with a scale of US$1 billion, and Greylock Edge, a customized program to help founders achieve from idea to initial revenue and product market fit. Greylock 17 focuses on Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A founders, covering AI preferred companies in fields ranging from cybersecurity, infrastructure, SaaS to consumers, markets and commerce, as well as fintech and encryption. (Greylock has invested in 15 well-known blockchain projects such as Coinbase, Magic Eden, 0x, etc.)
ParaFi Capital seeks to raise $100 million for its second fund, has raised $39 million so far
According to unchainedcrypto, according to a new filing from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), ParaFi Capital, a crypto venture capital firm with $633 million in assets under management, has raised nearly $39 million for its second venture capital fund (ParaFi Venture Fund II), with a target of $100 million. Filing data shows that since the fund opened for investment on May 15, ParaFi Venture Fund II LP has raised $38,915,000 from 52 investors.
CMCC Global's new fund raises $100 million, focusing on Hong Kong blockchain startups
According to the South China Morning Post, CMCC Global, a Hong Kong venture capital firm focusing on cryptocurrencies, announced that its newly established fund "Titan Fund" has completed the first round of fundraising of US$100 million. More than 30 investors including Block.one, Yingke Group, Winklevoss Capital, Jebsen Capital and Animoca Brands founder Yat Siu participated in the investment.
Martin Baumann, co-founder of CMCC Global, said in an interview that Titan Fund is CMCC Global's fourth fund and will provide equity investment in early-stage blockchain startups, with a focus on Hong Kong. Of the five investments made, two are in Hong Kong companies.
Singapore’s Whampoa Group and Saison Capital both plan to launch $100 million venture funds to focus on blockchain investments
According to Nikkei Asian Review, citing people familiar with the matter, as global crypto trading volumes gradually recover, Singapore-based Whampoa Group will launch a $100 million venture fund by the end of this year. Whampoa Group is a multi-family office that invests in global technology companies. The venture fund may invest in Series A financing for Web3 and digital assets, and it was previously reported that the fund will be launched in the fourth quarter of 2022. Meanwhile, Credit Saison's venture capital arm Saison Capital is also doubling down on blockchain and cryptocurrency, and the company has set aside $100 million for venture investments, including Web2 and Web3. So far, it has completed 42 transactions in the blockchain field.
Web3 startup IYK completes $16.8 million seed round, led by a16z Crypto
According to The Block, Web3 startup IYK has completed a $16.8 million seed round of financing, led by a16z Crypto, with participation from 1kx, Synergis Capital, Collaborativecurrency, Lattice Capital and gmoney. IYK is a Web3 startup founded in 2021 that provides tools to brands such as Adidas and Johnnie Walker to help connect the real world and the digital world. The company has currently recruited more than 100 creators from industries such as fashion, music and art. In order to attract more brands and creators, it is launching a self-service platform to help create digital physical experiences.
Blackbird Completes $24 Million Series A Funding, Led by a16z Crypto
Blackbird announced the completion of a $24 million Series A financing round, led by a16z Crypto, with participation from Amex Ventures and QED Investors. Blackbird aims to provide restaurants with loyalty and connection tools so that every guest can have a dining experience like a regular customer. Every time you dine out, click Blackbird to get access, rewards, benefits, and FLY loyalty points.
TON receives tens of millions of dollars in investment from MEXC Ventures, a venture capital firm under MEXC
According to Cointelgraph, TON Blockchain announced that it has received tens of millions of dollars in investment from MEXC Ventures, a venture capital company under MEXC. The specific amount has not been disclosed. MEXC and TON Foundation have established a strategic partnership. MEXC will provide marketing services and promotion for TON-based projects listed on its platform, and plans to launch TON mortgage services, cancel TON token transaction fees, etc.
TomoChain Announces Seven-Figure Investment from DWF Labs
TomoChain announced on October 2 that it had received a seven-digit locked token investment from DWF Labs to strengthen Web3 infrastructure construction and promote the large-scale adoption of Web3.
DWF Labs announces $7.5 million investment in AirDAO
According to official news, DWF Labs has invested $7.5 million in AirDAO.
Grimmers, chairman of the AirDAO Council, said in the official community that on the first day of announcing the investment from DWF Labs, AirDAO provided it with 1.5 billion tokens to be used for market making on CEX and future DEX, without a lock-up period, because DWF Labs needs tokens to fulfill its commitments at the time of investment. After 36 months, the loan will be returned to AirDAO in the same way as the last transaction. As for the $7.5 million invested by DWF Labs, the tokens purchased at a small discount will have a 12-month lock-up period, and DWF Labs will receive 1/3 of these token shares at the end of 12 months, and 1/36 of these total amounts each month thereafter until the end of 36 months.
Web3 social protocol Phaver completes $7 million in financing, with Polygon Ventures and others participating
Web3 social protocol Phaver has completed a $7 million financing round, with participation from Polygon Ventures, Nomad Capital, Symbolic Capital, dao5, 33DAO, Foresight Ventures, Alphanonce, f.actor and Superhero Capital. The new funds will be used to expand the team size as well as product development and other partnerships. Phaver aims to help users join the Web3 social platform more easily and provide a Web3 entry experience similar to existing social platforms.
Two protocols that had received Paradigm investment announced the cessation of operations
Yield Protocol, a fixed-rate lending protocol, announced that it will cease operations. Due to the current lack of demand for Yield Protocol's fixed-rate borrowing and increasing regulatory requirements in the United States, Europe, and the United Kingdom, the team decided not to continue developing the protocol.
In June 2021, the fixed-rate lending agreement Yield Protocol announced the completion of a $10 million Series A financing round led by Paradigm.
The DAO salary payment system Utopia recently announced that it will shut down its services on November 6, 2023. The product will be free to use until the end of this month. The announcement emphasized that this action does not mean closing the company, but abandoning existing products and existing directions.
In June 2022, the DAO salary payment system Utopia announced the completion of a $23 million Series A financing round led by Paradigm.
Macroeconomic and crypto market data
The number of active developers in the crypto space is the lowest since 2020
The number of active open source developers in the crypto space has reached its lowest point since 2020, according to Web3 venture capital firms a16z and Electric Capital. a16z's Crypto State Index shows that crypto coders have fallen by nearly half from last year's peak, sliding from 36,500 in January 2022 to 19,630 in September 2023. The last time developers were below this level was at the beginning of the crypto bull run in December 2020, when there were about 18,100 developers.
The total trading volume of 6 Ethereum futures ETFs on the first day of launch was only $2 million
Vetle Lund of K33 Research said the six Ethereum futures ETFs launched in the U.S. on Oct. 2 were "disappointing," with a total first-day trading volume of just $2 million, and that investors have yet to warm up to Ethereum futures ETFs. Lund said ProShares' EETH and VanEck's EFUT were the most popular Ethereum ETFs, with trading volumes of about $850,000 and $500,000, respectively, and nearly 50% of EFUT's volume occurred in the first minute of trading. Monday's flurry of launches is like the debut of Bitcoin futures ETFs in 2021, but in terms of trading volume, the situation is completely different. Bitcoin futures ETFs have traded more than $1 billion in just two days, with ProShares' BITO trading $200 million in the first 15 minutes of trading.
DEX transaction volume in September hits new low since January 2021
According to data from The Block, the total DEX transaction volume in September reached US$31.89 billion, a decrease of 23.54% from US$41.71 billion in August, setting a new low since January 2021 (US$51.12 billion).
U.S. core PCE posts smallest monthly gain since late 2020 as traders continue to bet the Fed’s rate hikes are over (September 29)
The Fed’s preferred measure of underlying inflation increased at the slowest monthly pace since late 2020, while consumer spending edged up. The core PCE price index, which excludes the more volatile food and energy components, rose 0.1% in August, the data showed. The overall PCE price index rose 0.4%, reflecting higher energy costs.
Traders continued to bet that the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes are over following the release of the U.S. PCE data.
The US non-farm payrolls data for September was nearly twice as high as expected. The market expects the interest rate cut to be postponed from July next year to September (October 6)
The seasonally adjusted non-farm payrolls in the United States in September were 336,000, compared with expectations of 170,000 and the previous value of 187,000. After the data came out, the Fed swap market fully priced in the Fed's interest rate cut to be postponed from July next year to September next year.
Messari: friend.tech’s daily fee income is 6 times that of OpenSea, about $320,000
According to statistics from crypto research firm Messari, friend.tech has attracted 300,000 unique users and has daily fee revenue of $320,000 (six times that of OpenSea).
FTX, the author of "The Big Short", reveals in his new book
Michael Lewis, the author of The Big Short, published his new book about SBF, Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon, on October 3. The book revealed some unknown stories behind FTX and SBF, including exclusive information such as "SBF considered paying Trump $5 billion to stop him from running for president."
CZ rejected SBF's $40 million futures trading platform cooperation proposal, and was willing to pay $80 million for 20% of FTX shares
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) proposed a partnership to Binance founder CZ in early 2019, hoping to introduce the cryptocurrency futures trading platform technology developed by his team to Binance at a price of $40 million. In this proposal, Alameda Research is responsible for providing technical support, while Binance is responsible for bringing customer and market trust. After detailed deliberation, CZ decided to reject SBF's proposal and choose to develop a futures trading platform independently. To this end, SBF turned to independent development, intending to build a futures trading platform that can not only satisfy the cryptocurrency community, but also cater to large professional trading companies such as Jane Street. FTX initially issued 350 million FTT tokens, some of which were provided to employees at a price of 5 cents and some were provided to important cryptocurrency people, including CZ, at a price of 10 cents. Although CZ and most FTX employees chose to refuse, the strong buying demand from external investors prompted SBF to raise the token price from 20 cents to 70 cents. On July 29, 2019, FTT was listed on FTX, opening at $1 and then rising to $1.5. A few weeks later, CZ contacted SBF and proposed to buy 20% of FTX for $80 million.
SBF repurchased CZ’s FTX shares for $2.275 billion in 2021 to address regulatory challenges
Faced with increasing regulatory scrutiny, particularly regulators’ strict requirements for FTX’s investor list and their personal details, SBF believes that maintaining CZ as FTX’s second-largest shareholder is no longer in the company’s long-term interests.
In order to avoid this regulatory pressure, SBF proactively proposed to CZ in mid-2021 to buy back the FTX shares it purchased for $80 million at the end of 2019. CZ offered a price of $2.2 billion. Despite the high price, SBF agreed to pay. But when the two parties were about to sign a formal agreement, CZ suddenly asked for an additional $75 million. SBF agreed to this additional fee and eventually completed the equity buyback.
FTX once lost a large amount of money due to hacker attacks but concealed it, with the highest loss in a single attack reaching US$600 million
FTX has lost a lot of money in hacking attacks, but in order to avoid "encouraging" other hackers, they chose to keep the losses secret. The largest hacking attacks took place in March and April 2021. A trader opened an account on FTX and cornered the market for two tokens with extremely small trading volumes, BitMax (BTMX) and MobileCoin (MOB). His purchases greatly pushed up the prices of the two tokens, with the price of MobileCoin rising from $2.50 to $54 in just a few weeks. The reason for the increase in the prices of the two tokens was that the trader discovered that FTX's risk management system had a flaw that allowed traders to borrow Bitcoin and other easily sellable cryptocurrencies with the value of their MobileCoin and BitMax holdings. The trader pushed the value of MobileCoin and BitMax to outrageous levels so that he could borrow cryptocurrencies that were actually valuable from FTX. Once he successfully borrowed, he disappeared where he was, leaving FTX with a bunch of collapsed tokens, from which FTX lost about $600 million this time alone, and the value of all losses caused by the theft added up to more than $1 billion.
Jump Trading Loses Over $200 Million in FTX Bankruptcy
Jump Trading lost $206 million in the FTX bankruptcy, one of the largest losses of any company other than FTX or Alameda. In addition, “Tai Mo Shan Limited” is a subsidiary of Jump Trading, which lost more than $75 million.
SBF once amended the rules to extend the employee SRM lock-up period after the SRM surged
As the price of Serum (SRM) tokens has risen sharply in 2021, SBF is worried that its employees may no longer be willing to work up to 14 hours a day for its crypto trading platform as they become rich by holding a large number of SRM tokens. Therefore, the release rules of SRM tokens have been modified to lock employees' SRM tokens for seven years.