Weekly preview | Hong Kong Exchange HashKeyExchange begins serving retail investors; Optimism and Hedera will unlock tokens worth tens of millions of dollars

News preview:
HashKey, a licensed virtual asset platform approved by the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission, will release a trading platform application for retail investors on August 28. Doodles and casual shoe brand Crocs will jointly launch limited edition hole shoes on August 29. Optimism will upgrade the OP Mainnet sorter in the early morning of August 29, and its token OP will unlock approximately 24.16 million tokens at 12:00 on August 30, worth approximately US$35.5 million. Gitcoin's 18th round of donation event Gitcoin Grants 18 will end on August 29. OpenSea will shut down the royalty enforcement tool "Operator Filter" on August 31; OpenSea Pro will start charging a 0.5% platform fee for all OpenSea orders and sell orders created on OpenSea Pro on the same day. Hedera (HBAR) will unlock approximately 1.15 billion tokens at 8:00 on September 1, worth approximately US$66 million.
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August 28
Policy supervision:
Brazil plans to increase taxes on cryptocurrencies held overseas, and Congress will vote on the bill on August 28
Brazilian lawmakers are moving forward with legislation to increase taxes on cryptocurrencies held overseas. According to local reports, a congressional committee has approved an amendment to a bill that would treat cryptocurrencies as "financial assets" for foreign investment tax purposes. In addition, the draft bill would tax gains arising from fluctuations in crypto asset prices relative to the Brazilian fiat currency and from fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. Brazil's Congress will vote on the bill on August 28. If approved, the new tax system would take effect in January 2024.
Exchange:
HashKey will launch a virtual asset platform for retail investors on August 28, limiting investment to no more than 30% of total assets
HashKey, a licensed virtual asset platform approved by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, will release a trading platform application for retail investors on August 28. Livio Weng, chief operating officer of HashKey Group, said in an interview that retail investors can initially invest in Bitcoin and Ethereum, and will be limited to investing in virtual assets not exceeding 30% of total assets.
Project dynamics:
Jam launches the concept dApp of “friendship token”, and the beta test whitelist will be open for application on August 28
Web3 social application Jam (formerly Purple) will launch a dApp with the concept of "Friends Token" based on the decentralized social protocol Farcaster and the Web3 social graph protocol Lens Protocol. Just like Friend.tech, this feature will enable users to purchase and trade shares of content creators and their posts directly in the social dApp, and users can also trade shares of the actual content itself. Beta testing whitelist applications will be open from August 28. In addition, Jam will provide airdrop incentives to creators in communities such as Lens, Farcaster, and Mirror, and also plans to airdrop to friend.tech users. Jam will also launch its own DAO token in the future, allowing the community to actively participate in governance initiatives.
Decentralized domain name protocol SPACE ID will open .sei domain name public registration on August 28
CoinList to Stop Registration for Chainflip Token Sale on August 28
McDonald's Hong Kong launches McNuggets themed metaverse, access will last until August 28
The Hong Kong branch of U.S. fast-food chain McDonald's Corp. launched its own virtual world on Thursday. The McNuggetsLand metaverse was built on online gaming platform The Sandbox to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Chicken McNuggets, which was first sold worldwide in 1983. The Hong Kong McDonald's Metaverse allows Sandbox users to play mini-games in a McNuggets-themed virtual space. Players are rewarded with SAND tokens, the native cryptocurrency of the Sandbox ecosystem, and in-game accessories for completing tasks and other McNuggets-themed activities. Sandbox users in Hong Kong can also earn real-world McDonald's coupons by completing tasks in McNuggets Land. Access to the metaverse will last until August 28.
Digital asset management company 3IQ plans to add Ethereum staking services to its two funds around August 28
Digital asset management company 3iQ will begin offering staking services to clients for its The Ether Fund and 3iQ Ether ETF on or around August 28, making these products the first ETFs in the world to offer such services. 3iQ said its staking services will provide yield-enhancing opportunities for the fund and its unit holders. Through staking, the fund will receive rewards in the form of ETH, which will be reflected in the fund's net asset value (NAV) through value-added gains, while increasing the fund's exposure to ETH. 3iQ will use Coinbase Custody's institutional staking infrastructure to support ETH staking in these products.
Token unlocking:
SingularityNET (AGIX) will unlock approximately 9.82 million tokens at 8:00 on August 28, worth approximately $1.76 million
Galxe (GAL) will unlock about 580,000 tokens at 20:00 on August 28, worth about $680,000
August 29
Exchange:
Bitstamp will stop providing SOL and other 7 tokens trading to US users from August 29
Crypto exchange Bitstamp will stop offering trading of seven tokens, including Axie Infinity (AXS), Chiliz (CHZ), Decentraland (MANA), Polygon (MATIC), Near (NEAR), Sandbox (SAND), and Solana (SOL), to U.S. users starting August 29. Bitstamp said in an announcement on August 8 that U.S. customers will soon be unable to trade the seven cryptocurrencies due to "recent developments." While the company did not specify the reason for the suspension, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused all seven tokens of being unregistered securities in its lawsuit against Binance and Coinbase. Bitstamp said that users should close orders involving the above assets before August 29, 2023. After this deadline, related trading activities will be permanently stopped on the Bitstamp platform. Users can still hold the seven tokens in their accounts and withdraw them at any time.
Project dynamics:
Doodles and Crocs will collaborate on a limited edition pair of Crocs on August 29
The limited edition Crocs co-branded by Doodles and casual shoe brand Crocs will be launched on August 29th, priced at $120. The series will be available for 24-hour pre-sale to OG holders at 0:00 on August 29th, Beijing time, with a pre-sale price of $99. The public sale will be open at 00:00 on August 30th, Beijing time, and will last for 48 hours. Buyers are entitled to a Crocs Box digital collection, which can be destroyed to unlock two Crocs wearable devices and a Stoodio Beta Pass for use in Doodles 2.
Optimism will upgrade the OP Mainnet sorter in the early morning of August 29, and the OP Mainnet is expected to be down for five minutes
Ethereum's second-layer solution Optimism said on the X platform that at 01:00 Beijing time on August 29, there will be up to five minutes of downtime on the OP mainnet because the sorter deployment configuration needs to be upgraded to achieve zero-downtime deployment in the future.
Gitcoin Grants 18 will end on August 29
Token unlocking:
dYdX (DYDX) will unlock approximately 6.52 million tokens at 23:00 on August 29, worth approximately $13.7 million
August 30
Policy supervision:
Thailand SEC: Cryptocurrency deposit and loan services are prohibited from August 30
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand (SEC) has previously issued warning disclosure rules on cryptocurrency trading risks and service bans. The main contents are as follows: 1. The disclosure of cryptocurrency trading risk warnings will take effect on July 31, 2023, requiring cryptocurrency trading center operators, cryptocurrency brokers, and cryptocurrency traders to disclose warnings about potential risks associated with cryptocurrency trading. 2. Digital asset business operators are prohibited from providing or supporting digital asset custody services that provide returns and lending (deposits and loans) to depositors, which will take effect on August 30, 2023.
Project dynamics:
BNB Chain releases BSC mainnet v1.2.9, Hertz hard fork is expected to be deployed on August 30
BNB Chain released BSC Mainnet v1.2.9, which introduced Plato and Hertz (Berlin, London) hard forks, which have been fully tested on the testnet and are ready to be deployed on the mainnet. Plato has been deployed, and Hertz is expected to be deployed on August 30 (block height 31,302,048).
The minting event for EigenLayer’s second NFT series, EigenWorlds, will last until August 30
EigenLayer's second NFT series, EigenWorlds, is now open for minting. All community members can mint NFTs until August 30th. While anyone is eligible to mint NFTs, there are 3 different levels depending on whether the wallet has the following behaviors: 1. Restaker (has been re-staking in EigenLayer) 2. Collector (holds Zora NFTs) 3. Base Layer (has no interaction with the EigenLayer ecosystem).
Token unlocking:
Optimism (OP) will unlock approximately 24.16 million tokens at 12:00 on August 30, worth approximately US$35.5 million.
August 31
Exchange:
Coinbase to Suspend Trading of USDT, DAI, and RAI in Canada on August 31
Coinbase said in an email to users: "We regularly monitor the assets on the exchange to ensure that they meet our listing standards. Based on our recent review, Coinbase will suspend trading of RAI, Dai and USDT in Canada at 12:00 local time on August 31st." After the suspension of trading, Canadian users can still access the above stablecoins. According to previous news, Coinbase announced its official entry into the Canadian market. Canadian users can use Coinbase for transactions and can complete deposits and withdrawals through Interac electronic transfers.
Project dynamics:
BNB Greenfield testnet will be upgraded to v0.2.4 on August 31, and a proposal for Greenfield requirements will be launched
BNB Chain announced that BNB Greenfield will perform regular maintenance on the testnet version and upgrade it to v0.2.4 from 14:00-18:00 (Beijing time) on August 31. All buckets/objects previously stored on the Greenfield testnet will be cleared and no longer available for query, and all account balances will be reset. As the last reset before the mainnet, the main goals include resolving bugs in previous versions and introducing new features. In addition, BNB Chain has launched a request for proposals for the development of self-custody solutions for BNB Greenfield storage providers. The submission deadline is August 31, and the results will be announced on September 4.
StarkWare will open source Stone Prover on August 31
StarkWare announced that it will open source STARK Prover under the Apache 2.0 license on August 31, and has renamed it "Stone Prover". Developers will be able to independently review, utilize and build on Stone Prover without permission. StarkWare said that open sourcing Prover is an important step in the decentralization of Starknet. Currently, StarkWare has open sourced Cairo, Papyrus Full Node and all Starknet versions, and the new Starknet sequencer currently under construction will also be open source.
OpenSea Pro will charge a 0.5% platform fee for all orders starting August 31
OpenSea Pro tweeted that with the adjustment of creator fees, a 0.5% platform fee will be charged for all OpenSea orders and sell orders created on OpenSea Pro starting August 31. This adjustment is necessary to prevent market manipulation and keep trading data as accurate as possible.
OpenSea will shut down its royalty enforcement tool Operator Filter on August 31
OpenSea will shut down the royalty enforcement tool "Operator Filter" on August 31, and will move to an optional creator fee model. For collections that enable Operator Filter before August 31, and existing collections on all non-Ethereum blockchains, OpenSea will enforce creator royalties until February 29, 2024, after which the fees become optional. OpenSea said, "The launch of Operator Filter is intended to give creators more control, but it requires the support of everyone in the Web3 ecosystem, which is unfortunately not feasible."
Governance Voting:
The Yearn community’s proposal vote on “Wintermute YFI Loan and CRV Plan” will end on August 31
The Yearn community initiated a vote on the "Wintermute YFI Loan and CRV Plan". In the proposal, Wintermute requested the Yearn community to approve a YFI loan to Wintermute Trading and authorized the transfer of 350 YFI (about $1.98 million) from the DAO treasury to Wintermute Trading for a period of 12 months at an interest rate of 0.10%, and paid in kind at the end of the loan. The proposal will help rebalance the current yCRV/CRV 59%/41% of the funding pool, improve the yCRV peg, and increase the liquidity of the funding pool. In addition, as part of Wintermute's continued participation in Yearn, Wintermute plans to use its up to 3 million CRV (about $1.4 million) to purchase yCRV, and then add and deploy the assets to the yCRV-CRV Curve pool. The vote ended at 02:14 Beijing time on August 31.
The next Ethereum Core Developers Executive Meeting (ACDE) is scheduled to be held at 22:00 on August 31, Beijing time.
Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko summarized the latest Ethereum Core Developer Executive Meeting (ACDE), including the progress of Devnet 8, ElP-4788, Holesky testnet, updates on EIP editing, and the newly proposed EIP-7212 (secp256r1 precompilation). Tim Beiko also said that the next ACDE is scheduled for 22:00 on August 31, Beijing time.
The 15th Optimism Grants is now open, and applications will close on August 31
Token unlocking:
Euler (EUL) will unlock about 156,000 tokens at 6:20 on August 31, worth about $380,000
Nym (NYM) will unlock approximately 25 million tokens at 8:00 on August 31, worth approximately $3.5 million
1inch (1INCH) will unlock about 64,000 tokens at 8:00 on August 31, worth about $15,000
September 1st
Policy supervision:
UK Financial Conduct Authority: UK crypto companies will be required to implement the "travel rule" from September 1
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom announced that from September 1, 2023, crypto-asset businesses in the United Kingdom will be required to collect, verify and share information about the transfer of crypto-assets, the "travel rule". The rule aligns the practice of sending and receiving transactions by crypto-asset businesses with common practices in other financial services sectors. The FCA said that in order to further support crypto-asset businesses, it has been working with the industry, the Joint Anti-Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG) and Her Majesty's Treasury (HMT) to develop guidance to help businesses comply with the travel rule. Companies must enter the guidance by August 25, 2023.
Exchange:
Bitget announced the upgrade of KYC process. From September 1, new users must complete KYC certification before using the full service
Bitget announced that it will fully upgrade the KYC process to better protect user rights, comply with global crypto industry regulatory requirements, and create a safe and compliant trading environment. Starting from September 1, new registered users can use the full Bitget service after completing KYC certification. To ensure normal use, old users must complete KYC certification before October 1. If you encounter any problems, you can contact customer service and get 7*24 official service support.
Project dynamics:
CoinList will start the Chainflip token sale at midnight on September 1st, and registration is now open
CoinList announced that it will start the Chainflip (FLIP) token sale at 1:00 am (Beijing time) on September 1st, and registration is now open. The registration deadline is 20:00 on August 28, 2023 (Beijing time). The token supply for this sale is 4.5 million FLIP tokens (ERC-20), each token is $1.83. 100% unlocked on TGE at the launch of the mainnet, currently expected to be around October 24, 2023 (the date may change up to 120 days after the end of the sale). Initial purchase limit: minimum $100, maximum $4,000. Chainflip is a decentralized, trustless cross-chain transaction protocol that allows users to exchange native assets between any blockchain (including BTC, EVM, and underlying networks).
Bloomberg analyst: SEC may respond to BlackRock and Bitwise Bitcoin spot ETF on September 1
Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas tweeted that the U.S. SEC must respond to BlackRock and Bitwise's Bitcoin spot ETF application on September 1, but the decision may be delayed.
Uniswap Foundation is launching a new round of RFP proposals for V4, calling on the community to submit suggestions before September 1
The Uniswap Foundation tweeted that it is launching a new round of RFP proposals to prepare for Uniswap V4, including proposals related to "forming a development team for proof-of-concept (POC) "Hooks", "recruiting academic researchers and reliability auditors for risk research", "open source design of Uniswap LP user experience", and "making liquidity widgets". The Uniswap Foundation called on the community to submit their suggestions before September 1.
HashKey Capital to Launch New Compliant Secondary Liquidity Fund on September 1
HashKey Capital is launching a new compliant secondary liquidity fund, HashKey Digital Investment Fund, which will officially accept investor subscriptions from September 1, 2023. It is understood that the fund is licensed by the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission and managed by HashKey Capital Limited, and the managed investment portfolio is 100% composed of virtual assets. HashKey Capital's previous dedicated funds have raised more than US$560 million, with a cumulative asset management scale of nearly US$1 billion, and have invested in more than 500 blockchain projects worldwide.
community activity:
BNB Chain Hackvolution will last until September 1
BNB Chain launched the BNB Chain Hackvolution event, which will last from July 13 to September 1. The core of BNB Chain Hackvolution is to leverage the high performance and low cost of opBNB, as well as the programmability of Greenfield to create and manage data assets, enabling users to break through the limitations of Web3 and blockchain and build innovative dApps. This hackathon event will be evaluated based on three key aspects: technological innovation, business model, and team configuration, and the jury will select the best 12 projects.
Token unlocking:
Hedera (HBAR) will unlock approximately 1.15 billion tokens at 8:00 on September 1, worth approximately $66 million
Acala (ACA) will unlock approximately 27.43 million tokens at 15:00 on September 1, worth approximately $1.24 million
September 2
Exchange:
British digital bank Revolut announces suspension of cryptocurrency services in the United States from September 2
British digital bank Revolut announced the suspension of cryptocurrency services in the United States. The decision was influenced by the changing regulatory environment and uncertainty in the U.S. cryptocurrency market and will take effect on September 2, 2023. At that time, U.S. customers will no longer be able to place cryptocurrency purchase orders on the Revolut platform. Revolut plans to complete the delisting process on September 18. More comprehensive restrictions will be implemented from October 3, 2023. At that time, U.S. customers will be completely banned from accessing cryptocurrencies through Revolut. However, this decision does not affect Revolut's business outside the United States. A Revolut spokesperson said that U.S. customers only affect less than 1% of the company's cryptocurrency customers worldwide.
Project dynamics:
The SEC needs to make a decision on the ETF applications submitted by Ark Invest and 21Shares by September 2
Since August 11, Ark Invest and 21Shares have submitted three Bitcoin futures ETF applications to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The first proposed ETF, called the Ark 21Shares Active Bitcoin Futures ETF (ARKA), will invest in cash-settled Bitcoin futures contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), and may also hold U.S. Treasuries, money market instruments, and repurchase agreements. The second ETF, called the Ark 21Shares Active On-Chain Bitcoin Strategy ETF (ARKC), will invest at least 25% of its amount in Bitcoin futures contracts or ARKA, with the rest of its assets in cash and cash equivalents. The last ETF, called the Ark 21Shares Digital Assets and Blockchain Strategy ETF (ARKD), will invest in Bitcoin futures contracts or ARKA, as well as stocks of companies in the blockchain, digital assets, and fintech industries. According to previous news, the two companies applied for a Bitcoin spot ETF again in April this year. On August 11, the SEC postponed its decision on the ARK Invest Bitcoin spot ETF application, and September 2 will be the next deadline for making a decision.
September 3
Policy supervision:
Israel sets up special review panel on DAO regulation and solicits public opinions until September 3
The Israeli government has set up a special review team to explore the regulation of decentralized governance organizations (DAOs), and the public can submit comments on the government's plan by September 3. The review team, led by the chief economist of the Ministry of Finance and the head of the corporate and capital markets cluster of the Ministry of Justice, will review and consult on the purpose and type of activities carried out by decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), as well as the decision-making process within DAOs. The team will examine the required corporate status, taxation and other aspects of DAOs to "create legal certainty" and reduce risks.