MarsBit Crypto Daily October 25, 2023
1. Today's News
Polygon’s native token POL has been launched on the Ethereum mainnet
Polygon announced on the X platform that Polygon’s native token POL has been listed on the Ethereum mainnet. Polygon further stated that POL is a next-generation token that can power a massive ecosystem of ZK-based L2 chains. It does this through a native restaking protocol that allows POL holders to validate multiple chains and perform multiple roles on each chain, turning POL into an efficient token.
The Greed Fear Index shows that crypto market sentiment is now comparable to when BTC peaked at $69,000 two years ago
According to the Crypto Fear and Greed Index, market sentiment has recovered to levels comparable to those seen in mid-November 2021, when BTC prices reached $69,000. The index currently stands at 72 out of 100, which puts it in the "greed" zone. The strength in the market comes as BlackRock's spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) is gradually gaining approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. According to CoinGecko data, November 14, 2021 was the last time the index reached 72 points, just four days after BTC hit an all-time high of $69,044 on November 10, 2021.
Nansen: FTX and Alameda assets worth $8.6 million transferred to Binance, expected to be sold
According to Nansen's monitoring, $8.6 million worth of assets from FTX and Alameda were transferred to Binance. Nansen said: "We do not track off-chain movements, but it is speculated that this is to sell or prepare to sell these assets." The transferred assets include: $2.2 million in LINK, $1 million in AAVE, $2 million in MKR, and $3.4 million in ETH.
Earlier today, it was reported that FTX and Alameda asset receiving wallets transferred 2,904 ETH (about US$5.18 million), 1,341 MKR (about US$2.02 million), 11,974 AAVE (about US$1.03 million), and 198,804 LINK (about US$2.26 million) to Binance and Coinbase through wallet addresses starting with 0xde9A. The total value of these assets is approximately US$10.49 million.
Analyst: BTC will peak in December 2025, with an estimated price of $90,000 to $130,000
Crypto analyst CryptoCon wrote that according to the halving cycle theory, BTC will reach the mid-peak of the cycle ($47,000) in June 2024; the next cycle top will appear in December 2025, and the price is expected to reach $90,000 to $130,000.
85% of Rug Pull Events in Q3 Were Not Audited
According to blockchain security auditor Hacken, Rug Pulls accounted for more than 65% of all hacker attacks in the third quarter of 2023, and 85% of Rug Pull incidents were never audited.
IRS extends comment period on new crypto tax law to mid-November
The IRS has extended the comment period on new crypto tax laws until November 13, with the proposed rules set to take effect in 2026, affecting sales and transactions made in 2025. (Cointelegraph)
Earlier news, the U.S. Treasury Department recently released a nearly 300-page proposed rule that clearly defines "brokers" in the crypto industry and resolves years of uncertainty in tax reporting. According to the new rules, CEX, payment processors, some custodial wallet providers, some DEX, and individuals or entities that cash out issued crypto tokens will need to fulfill tax reporting obligations. The new rules also introduce a new tax form for newly designated brokers to use, resolving confusion about the applicable tax form.
ARK Invest sells another $1.8 million in GBTC and $1.7 million in COIN shares
Following the sale of $3.3 million in Coinbase shares and $2.5 million in GBTC on Monday, ARK Invest sold another $1.8 million in GBTC and $1.7 million in COIN shares on Tuesday local time.
Uniswap Foundation receives $46.2 million in funding to support work over the next two years
The Uniswap Foundation posted on social media that the governance community has approved the continued funding of the Uniswap Foundation. Previously, the Uniswap Foundation requested $46.2 million through a proposal to support work over the next two years.
As previously reported, the Uniswap Foundation transferred 6.8 million UNI to a new address and FalconX. In addition, the Uniswap Foundation-associated address transferred 3 million UNI to Wintermute’s Kraken deposit address.
Microsoft to shut down Airsim, the industrial metaverse project
According to Business Insider, Microsoft has confirmed that it will shut down its AI-based drone simulation software Airsim on December 15, after Microsoft officially stopped supporting its AI development platform Bonsai on October 19. Both projects are considered part of Microsoft's "Industrial Metaverse."
Galaxy Research: Bitcoin spot ETF inflows are expected to reach $14 billion in the first year
Galaxy Research released a report that used the total assets under management of the U.S. wealth management industry as a benchmark and classified and estimated the growth rate of various channels in the industry entering the Bitcoin spot ETF. The conclusion is that the capital inflow of the Bitcoin spot ETF is expected to reach US$14 billion in the first year after its launch, and will increase to US$27 billion in the second year, and will increase to US$39 billion in the third year after its launch.
The DOT ideal staking rate has increased from 51% to 59%, and the DOT staking rewards are expected to drop by about 7%.
PolkaWorld stated on the X platform that the DOT ideal staking rate has increased from 51% to 59%, and the DOT staking rewards are expected to drop by about 7% (from 1 DOT to 0.93 DOT). In addition, PolkaWorld stated that this is to leave enough space for the DOT unlocked by the crowd loan of lease 6-13 to ensure that the rewards will not drop significantly. If the crowd loan DOT is tied to the previous 51% ideal rate for staking, the rewards will drop significantly. Setting the ideal rate to 59% provides a buffer for handling these additional DOTs, avoiding a sharp reduction in rewards before the staking rate exceeds 59%. It is reported that when the block height reaches 17856000 (October 24), the first batch of 113 million DOTs participating in the crowd loan of the Polkadot ecosystem will be unlocked, accounting for about 7.4% of the total issuance.
Arthur Hayes: US Middle East policy may lead to a new round of inflation and a cryptocurrency bull market
Arthur Hayes, founder of crypto trading platform BitMEX, wrote in his blog that the US policy choices in the Ukraine crisis and the conflict between Israel and Palestine may further escalate tensions, leading to a massive increase in US military spending, which in turn will push up inflation expectations and Treasury yields. In this environment, investors will reduce their holdings of US debt and increase their holdings of gold and Bitcoin as safe-haven assets. Hayes believes this may lead to a new round of cryptocurrency bull market.
The prices of two Bitcoin futures ETFs in Hong Kong hit a new high since listing, with an increase of more than 15%
According to the Hong Kong Economic Journal, as the spot price of Bitcoin rose above $35,000, two Bitcoin futures ETFs listed on the Hong Kong stock market: CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF and Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF both hit new highs after listing, with increases of more than 15%. CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF hit a high of 14.9 yuan yesterday and closed at 14.52 yuan, an increase of 16.72%; Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF hit a high of 14.28 yuan and closed at 13.95 yuan. In addition, the transaction volume of CSOP Bitcoin Futures ETF has reached 176 million yuan, exceeding the market value of the ETF by about 158 million yuan.
BlockFi bankruptcy plan has taken effect, BlockFi Wallet customers can submit withdrawal requests
Crypto lending company BlockFi announced that its bankruptcy plan has come into effect, and BlockFi can officially begin to implement the actions detailed in the plan, including recovery, withdrawals, and claims in accordance with the plan. For BlockFi Wallet customers, withdrawal requests can currently be submitted, and the withdrawal window will close at 23:59 UTC on December 31, 2023.
For BIA and Loan customers, the company will begin winding down operations as scheduled to allow for the initial distribution of available assets from liquidated assets. Further updates on the timing of the first distribution will be sent in the coming months, with the goal of starting the first distribution in early 2024, with the most important being the recovery of funds from FTX and its affiliates.
FTX will make a decision on how to restart the exchange by mid-December, including options such as selling and restarting on its own
According to Bloomberg, FTX is considering proposals from three bidders to restart the exchange and will make a decision on how to proceed by mid-December. FTX is currently negotiating with investors on the details of a potentially binding offer.
Possible options include selling the entire exchange, including a list of more than 9 million customers, or bringing in a partner to help restart the exchange. FTX is also considering restarting the exchange on its own. FTX and its main creditor group have initially resolved some disputes in the case, which will enable it to submit a detailed payment plan in December.
BlackRock Spot Bitcoin ETF Re-Lives DTCC
BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF (IBTC) has been relisted on the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) website. Earlier on October 24, Eastern Time, it was discovered that the IBTC fund code was removed from the website, and DTCC also experienced a brief outage.
FTX in talks with three bidders to restart cryptocurrency exchange
According to Bloomberg, FTX is negotiating with three bidders to restart the cryptocurrency exchange, and the company will make a decision on how to proceed by mid-December. FTX is negotiating with investors on the details of a potentially binding offer, with options including selling the entire exchange (containing more than 9 million customer lists) or bringing in partners to help restart the exchange. FTX is also considering restarting the trading platform on its own. Company lawyer Andrew Dietderich said at a court hearing that FTX and its main creditor groups have initially resolved some of the most difficult disputes in the case, which will enable the company to submit a detailed payment plan in December. Since filing for bankruptcy last year, FTX has been working to raise funds to repay creditors. According to court documents, FTX's administrators have recovered about $7 billion in assets to date, including $3.4 billion in cryptocurrencies.
dYdX is open-sourcing V4 code to start the transition to the Cosmos ecosystem
dYdX announced on Tuesday that it is open-sourcing its code, marking the beginning of the V4 upgrade and the transition from the Ethereum Layer 2 network to an independent blockchain in the Cosmos ecosystem. dYdX Trading Inc., the developer behind dYdX, said the V4 upgrade will make the DEX fully decentralized and community-operated, meaning the company will no longer control the protocol and will not charge transaction fees.
Nansen: Scroll has attracted nearly $20 million in deposits, and 30% of total Ethereum deposits come from the top 10 depositors
Nansen posted on the X platform that the L2 blockchain Scroll has attracted nearly $20 million in deposits since its mainnet launch last week, with the largest deposits being ETH, USDC and USDT, and 30% of the total Ethereum deposits coming from the top 10 Scroll depositors. In addition, regarding the distribution of US dollar deposits, more than 50% of wallets deposit $10-100 on the network, and 25% of wallets deposit $100-1000. This deposit distribution is very similar to Starknet. Nearly 50% of the wallets connected to Scroll were created more than a year ago, and less than 10% were created less than a month ago. This shows that there are a large number of "real" users on the network so far, not just newly created wallets.
2. Selected articles
Arthur Hayes: US Middle East policy will trigger a new round of inflation and a cryptocurrency bull market
The financial instruments focused on in this article are 10-year and 30-year Treasury bonds, and the long-term U.S. Treasury exchange-traded fund (ETF) TLT.
Ten thousand words long article: A panoramic analysis of DeFi token economics
In DeFi protocols, users can receive rewards by holding, soft-locking, locking, or staking/delegating tokens. The voting custody model was pioneered by Curve Finance. Most protocols reward users in the form of shared revenue, and the voting custody token model has become the most comprehensive approach. Well-known protocols grant voting rights through tokens.
BRC20 upgrades to BRC100, $odri governance empowerment, what happened to the ecosystem after Bitcoin returned to $30,000?
Since the beginning of this year, the Bitcoin ecosystem and narrative have become lively as the price of BTC has gradually risen. In the past two weeks, the price of Bitcoin has reached an 18-month high, breaking through the $35,000 mark yesterday.
Animoca founder: Web3 in my eyes, an era that belongs to the community
Animoca Brands Chairman and Co-founder Yat Siu shared marketing in the Web3 era, allowing users to own their own NFTs or digital assets, participate in the network, and earn more income.
In the past few days when Bitcoin has skyrocketed, which coins have the whales bought on the chain?
From October 11 to 24, the price of Bitcoin rose from US$26,000 to US$35,000. Ten whales executed transactions such as KIMCHI, LDO, LINK, PEPE, RLB, SUSHI, BITCOIN, FTM and UNI. The total net purchase value was approximately US$14,919,845.45 and the total net sale value was approximately US$9,764,937.45. From the perspective of VPVR, the situation of ETH is not as optimistic as BTC, and there is a certain possibility of rebound shipment.
Is the copycat carnival season coming? What are the signs before the vanguard rises?
Cryptocurrencies have surged recently, with millions of dollars of capital inflows into CoinShares' investment products. The price of LINK has exceeded $11, and negative news has frequently appeared about WLD's on-chain actions. The TRB token has soared from $7.24 at the beginning of June to over $100 today. Investors should take all factors into consideration and strictly control risks.
3. Project Interpretation
Understanding Scroll's Universal Zero-Knowledge Rollup Architecture
As a general-purpose ZK-Rollup based on the zkEVM, Scroll aims to provide the highest level of EVM compatibility for existing applications and tools.
Taproot Bitcoin: The Future of Bitcoin Privacy and Scalability
The Taproot upgrade is an important protocol upgrade for the Bitcoin network. It combines Schnorr signatures and MAST functions to enhance the privacy and efficiency of transactions, support more complex smart contracts, and benefit other Bitcoin solutions such as Bitcoin financial platforms.
SocialFi Top 3 Showdown: Friend.Tech Vs Stars Arena Vs TOMO
Although many keys are already quite expensive due to the overly steep pricing curve, and the transaction volume has dropped significantly compared to the previous two weeks, it is interesting that the number of new users continues to grow, with daily growth even reaching a new high, and there are still many new users pouring in.
IV. Investment and Financing
Base Ecosystem DEX PRINT3R Completes $500,000 Pre-Seed Round of Financing, Led by MH Ventures
Base ecosystem DEX PRINT3R announced the completion of a US$500,000 Pre-Seed round of financing, led by MH Ventures, with participation from 300DAO, Onchain Wizard, PrimapesDAO, Homeless Ventures and 2Shares.
ZK development startup Virtual Labs raises $1.2 million at a $20 million valuation, led by OP Crypto
ZK development startup Virtual Labs announced the completion of a $1.2 million Pre-Seed round of financing at a valuation of $20 million, led by OP Crypto, with participation from Byzantine Marine, Koyamaki Ventures, NEAR Foundation, and several angel investors. Virtual Labs is committed to using zero-knowledge technology to enhance the Web3 user experience by eliminating gas fees, delays, and cumbersome wallet interactions. The company's flagship product, Virtual rollup, is a ZK state channel that facilitates unlimited transactions from an unlimited number of participants.
Saudi NEOM Investment Fund completes new round of investment in Animoca Brands and other companies
NEOM Tech & Digital, the technology subsidiary of the "Neom" new city construction project led by Saudi Crown Prince Salman, announced the establishment of the NEOM Investment Fund (NIF) to support the construction and development of 14 priority areas in NEOM. NIF will invest in technology startups globally through mergers and acquisitions and venture capital, focusing on pioneering growth companies and next-generation industries. NIF will also establish joint ventures and partnerships with large multinational companies, institutional investors and innovators in NEOM. As part of its establishment, NIF announced a new round of investment in companies such as Pony.ai, Regent, Boom Technology, BlueNalu and Animoca Brands.
Nocturne Labs Completes $6 Million Seed Round, Vitalik Buterin and Others Participate
Crypto startup Nocturne Labs has completed a $6 million seed round of financing, led by Bain Capital Crypto and Polychain Capital, with participation from Vitalik Buterin, Bankless Ventures, Hack VC, Robot Ventures, etc. This round of financing comes with token warrants, and the valuation has not yet been announced