Today's news tips:
FBI arrests SEC X hacker
Microsoft will terminate the Azure OpenAI service for individuals in China, only available to enterprise customers
Worldcoin Launches Next-Generation Iris Scanning Orb Device, Will Launch Door-to-Door Iris Scanning Service and Deep Face Technology
ZKsync’s new proposal proposes the Ignite plan to distribute 300 million ZK tokens to DeFi users within 9 months
Kraken Launches Wrapped Bitcoin Product kBTC
Musk further reveals plans for 'Ministry of Government Efficiency' during Trump campaign, driving DOGE tokens higher
Singapore's DBS Bank launches 'DBS Token Services' to provide blockchain-based banking solutions to institutional clients
Polymarket’s official app downloads ranked first in the “Newspapers and magazines” category on the US App Store
Regulatory News
The US SEC formally appealed its lawsuit against Ripple regarding XRP
According to Bitcoin.com, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has formally appealed its ruling on the lawsuit with Ripple regarding XRP. On Thursday, the regulator filed Form C with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In this case, the SEC is the plaintiff and appellant, and the defendants are Ripple Labs Inc. and its senior executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen. The SEC's initial lawsuit accused Ripple and its leaders of offering and selling XRP without the necessary registration, in violation of the relevant provisions of the 1933 (Securities Act). In the appeal, the SEC objected to several important rulings. It questioned the court's conclusion that the XRP sold by Ripple on the digital asset platform was not an unregistered security, and the decision that Garlinghouse and Larsen's personal sales did not violate the Securities Act. The SEC also objected to the ruling that Ripple's non-cash XRP distribution in exchange for services did not violate the 1933 (Securities Act).
On July 13, 2023, Ripple won a partial victory when the court ruled that XRP sales on digital trading platforms were not considered securities. However, the court determined that XRP sold by Ripple to institutional investors were unregistered securities. In addition, the court ruled that Garlinghouse and Larsen's personal XRP sales did not constitute illegal behavior. On August 7 of this year, the court issued a final judgment requiring Ripple to pay a civil penalty of $125 million and prohibiting the company from violating (Securities Laws) again.
US CFTC says court's ruling allowing Kalshi to launch prediction market was wrong
According to The Block, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said that a U.S. district court judge was wrong in ruling that the commission blocked the prediction market Kalshi from providing U.S. election predictions. In an appeal brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Federal Circuit on Wednesday, the CFTC argued that the ruling should be "overturned and the commission's order restored." The CFTC said in the brief: "The district court made mistakes at every stage. It refused to accept the ordinary meaning of four independent terms or phrases in the legal provisions, or simply confused them." These phrases include "gambling" and "trading." This happened about a year after the CFTC said Kalshi could not provide election contracts. The CFTC said that these contracts were "contrary to the public interest" and involved gambling. In the CFTC's brief, the commission delved into the content of the (Commodity Exchange Act), including protecting "all market participants from fraudulent or other abusive sales practices."
Kalshi filed the lawsuit in November 2023. Then, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in September that the CFTC exceeded its statutory authority when trying to prevent Kalshi from offering election contracts. In his ruling, the judge said that Kalshi's contracts did not involve "illegal activities or gambling." The commission quickly appealed the ruling, but it was ultimately rejected by a federal appeals court on October 2. Since then, Kalshi has launched betting on who will win the U.S. presidential election.
FBI arrests man behind SEC X hack
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Alabama man Eric Council Jr. was arrested by the FBI for participating in the January 2024 hack of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) account X (formerly Twitter). The hacker released a false message claiming that the SEC approved the Bitcoin ETF, causing the price of Bitcoin to briefly surge by $1,000. The attack was achieved through SIM swapping, and Council was charged with identity theft and device fraud. The SEC and the FBI are closely investigating the case. It is reported that the Alabama man who allegedly attacked the SEC through SIM swapping in January 2024 had searched Google for "SECGOV hack", "How to determine if you are being investigated by the FBI" and "Signs of being investigated by law enforcement or the FBI when not notified" after the hacking.
Ireland is urgently updating financial regulations to cover cryptocurrencies
According to the Irish Examiner, the Irish government is urgently drafting legislation to ensure that digital assets and cryptocurrency companies are regulated before the EU's new anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing law comes into effect on December 30. Finance Minister Jack Chambers has been approved to update financial regulations to ensure consistency with the new EU regulations. Earlier this year, Irish police seized about 6.5 million euros in cryptocurrencies in an investigation of darknet markets and money laundering activities.
AI
Microsoft will terminate the Azure OpenAI service for individuals in China, only available to enterprise customers
According to China Business News, several developers received emails from Microsoft stating that due to local regulatory requirements, Microsoft Azure OpenAI service will be shut down on October 21, and in the future only corporate customers in mainland China will be able to subscribe to Azure's OpenAI service.
Most developers received the email on the morning of the 17th. One developer said, "This is the only window for individuals to legally use OpenAI in China, and it is now closed." At the same time, some developers were dissatisfied with Microsoft's "only four days to process." Microsoft has not yet made a statement on this matter.
Project News
Worldcoin Launches Next-Generation Iris Scanning Orb Device, Will Launch Door-to-Door Iris Scanning Service and Deep Face Technology
PANews reported on October 18 that according to Techcrunch, the digital identity project Worldcoin (now renamed World Network), backed by Sam Altman, demonstrated its next-generation iris scanning device "Orb" and other tools at a live event in San Francisco. The new Orb is easier to mass-produce, has fewer parts, and runs three times faster. World said that people will soon be able to authenticate their identities in coffee shops, and announced a partnership with Rappi, the number one delivery service company in Latin America, so that people can make appointments for door-to-door Orb verification services.
Additionally, World launched Deep Face, its attempt to combat online deepfakes and impersonation using human verification services. The startup said Deep Face could be used to enhance the functionality of apps like FaceTime, Zoom and X, but didn’t provide details on how that would be achieved. The company also announced a beta version of its World ID credential, an alternative to government IDs for use online.
Worldcoin announced its name change to World Network, and its Layer2 network World Chain has been launched on the mainnet
According to The Block, the digital identity project Worldcoin, which is backed by Sam Altman, is changing its name to World Network, or World for short. The name change comes as the project also announced that its Layer2 network World Chain has gone live on the mainnet. World Chain is a second-layer blockchain network connected to the project and secured by Ethereum. Optimism, Alchemy, Uniswap, Safe, Dune, and Etherscan will support the launch of the blockchain. The blockchain is built using OP Stack, and World Network said that user transactions account for about 44% of OP Mainnet activity, making it the largest application on the network. World wrote in a press release: "As the project scales and the importance of World ID's human protocol proof increases, the name 'Worldcoin' can no longer cover the project's mission of accelerating everyone's development. With the three pillars of World Chain, World ID, and Worldcoin, World has truly built a network of real, verified humans, aiming to achieve an optimistic future in which humans will continue to be at the center of artificial intelligence progress."
Later in the day, Uniswap and LayerZero both announced that they were live on the World Chain mainnet.
YGG expands beyond gaming and launches new project "FoW" that provides decentralized money-making opportunities
According to the official blog, Yield Guild Games (YGG) announced the launch of Future of Work (FoW), a new project designed to provide its community with decentralized earning opportunities in the broader Web3 ecosystem. FoW's scope has expanded beyond gaming, and it has achieved broader applications by tapping into the growing demand for human input in areas such as AI data annotation and decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN). The YGG community was introduced to FoW during Season 6 of the Guild Advancement Program (GAP), where AI bounty tasks featuring partner projects Sapien, FrodoBots, and Navigate highlighted gamified tasks on each platform.
Binance will end Scroll (SCR) pre-market trading and list spot trading to add seed tag
According to the official announcement, Binance will end the pre-market trading of Scroll (SCR) at 17:00 (ET on October 21, 2024), and open the spot trading pairs of SCR/BTC, SCR/USDT, SCR/FDUSD, and SCR/TRY at 16:00 (ET on October 22, 2024). The SCR deposit channel is now open, and the SCR withdrawal is expected to be open at 16:00 (ET on October 23, 2024), and the transfer function will be restored before 18:00 (ET on October 21, 2024). Seed tags will be applied to SCR.
Eclipse: Official bridge is online, Eclipse mainnet is open to the public
Ethereum SVM Layer2 network Eclipse said on the X platform that the official bridge is online, users can claim the commemorative NFT "Path of Discovery", and the minting window will be open for 7 days. In the next 4 months, all platform fees on Scope will be donated to the Eclipse Creator Fund to support artists and their creative activities on Eclipse. With the Eclipse mainnet open to the public, the withdrawal function will be launched in the next few weeks.
New documents show Trump family will receive 75% of crypto project WLFI’s net income and bear no liability
According to CNBC, the crypto project of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, World Liberty Financial, released a 13-page document on Thursday, describing its mission and how tokens are distributed, and pointed out that Trump and his family can get 75% of the net income, that is, the Trump family will receive 22.5 billion "WLFI" tokens, which are currently worth $337.5 million based on the price of 1.5 cents per token when it was issued this week. The document also shows that Trump and his family do not bear any responsibility. It shows that none of them are directors, employees, managers or operators of WLF or its affiliates, and says that the project and tokens "have nothing to do with politics and are not associated with any political campaign."
WLF's white paper says a Delaware corporation called DT Marks DEFI LLC, which is associated with Trump, will receive three-quarters of the net protocol revenue. The document released Thursday defines net protocol revenue as revenues received by WLF from "any source (including, but not limited to, platform usage fees, token sale proceeds, advertising, or other sources of revenue), after deducting agreed-upon expenses and reserves required for the ongoing operations of WLF." About $30 million of the initial revenue is earmarked for reserves to cover operating expenses and other financial obligations. The remaining 25% of net protocol revenue will go to Axiom Management Group (AMG), a Puerto Rico limited liability company wholly owned by co-founders Chase Herro and Zachary Folkman. AMG has agreed to assign half of its rights to net protocol revenue to a third limited liability company, WC Digital Fi, which is an affiliate of Trump confidant and political donor Steve Witkoff and "certain family members." Witkoff's son Zachary is also listed as one of the project's co-founders.
Coinbase International will launch Turbo perpetual futures contracts
Coinbase International Station announced on the X platform that Coinbase International Station and Coinbase Advanced will add support for Turbo perpetual futures contracts. The TURBO-PERP market is expected to open at or after 17:30 on October 24, 2024, Beijing time.
ZKsync’s new proposal proposes the Ignite plan to distribute 300 million ZK tokens to DeFi users within 9 months
ZKsync has released its first governance proposal, called ZKsync Ignite, which plans to transform ZKsync Era into the liquidity center of Elastic Chain through this project. To this end, 300 million ZK tokens will be distributed to DeFi users in the next 9 months. The proposal has been announced on the ZK Nation forum and aims to promote the further development and expansion of the ZKsync ecosystem.
Kraken Launches Wrapped Bitcoin Product kBTC
According to the official blog, Kraken has launched a new wrapped Bitcoin product, kBTC, which is a cross-network compatible ERC-20 token fully managed by Kraken. kBTC is 1:1 supported by Bitcoin and can be used in decentralized applications such as DeFi, expanding Bitcoin's application scenarios through interoperability with networks such as Ethereum and OP Mainnet. Kraken emphasizes its best custody process and transparency, and users can verify kBTC reserves on the chain at any time.
Kaiko Report: Wash Trading on DeFi Issuers Remains “Prevalent”
PANews reported on October 18 that according to Bloomberg, research firm Kaiko said that the wash trading strategy used to increase the value of the FBI-created token NexFundAI is still a common practice in decentralized financial exchanges (DEX) and can also be encountered in some centralized exchanges.
Kaiko analysts said in a report on Thursday that its data showed that many of the more than 200,000 assets on Ethereum DEX lacked utility and were controlled by individuals; some token issuers were building short-term liquidity pools on the exchange Uniswap, where they controlled liquidity and conducted wash trades to attract other investors; once others entered, the issuers would dump the tokens, earning up to 22 times their initial Ethereum investment in about 10 days; the analysis revealed widespread fraud among token issuers, beyond the scope of the FBI's NexFundAI investigation.
Musk further reveals plans for 'Ministry of Government Efficiency' during Trump campaign, driving DOGE tokens higher
PANews October 18 news, according to CoinDesk, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose in the U.S. after hours on Thursday as entrepreneur Elon Musk further disclosed his proposed "Department of Government Efficiency" plan at the Pennsylvania Town Hall. The event encouraged early voting in key states where Republicans and Democrats are evenly matched. The proposed department, abbreviated as DOGE, will seek to improve the efficiency of the government's use of taxpayer funds while streamlining the departments responsible for spending. Musk said at the town hall meeting on Thursday that the proposed department could operate like a company, rewarding those who perform well and punishing those who fail to achieve results. Crypto traders expect that Trump's victory may trigger more discussions about "Dogecoin", and if Dogecoin really becomes part of the government, it will stimulate retail investors' attention and interest in Dogecoin in the future.
Coingecko data shows that the price of DOGE token is currently $0.1333, with a 24-hour increase of 8.6%.
Radiant Capital: This security breach is extremely complex. The FBI has fully intervened to actively track down and freeze the stolen assets
PANews reported on October 18 that the multi-chain lending agreement Radiant Capital posted on the X platform that on October 16, 2024, Radiant Capital suffered an extremely complex security vulnerability incident, resulting in a loss of US$50 million in funds. The attackers broke into the hardware wallets of multiple developers by injecting a highly advanced malware. The way these devices were hacked was so covert that the front end of the Safe wallet (formerly known as Gnosis Safe) displayed legitimate transaction data, while the back end was simultaneously signing and executing tampered transactions. The security vulnerability occurred in the regular multi-signature emission adjustment process, which is designed to make periodic adjustments based on market conditions and utilization. Throughout the process, DAO contributors always strictly adhered to industry-standard operating procedures. They used Tenderly to simulate and verify each transaction, and multiple developers conducted a detailed review at each signing stage. No anomalies were found in either Tenderly or Safe's front-end inspections. However, shockingly, the attack was completely undetected in the Gnosis Safe user interface and the regular manual review of transactions during the Tenderly simulation stage. This fact has been confirmed by external security teams including Security Alliance and HypernativeLabs. Faced with this severe challenge, Radiant Capital quickly worked closely with Seal911 and Hypernative and strengthened multi-signature control measures. At the same time, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and zeroShadow also fully intervened to actively track down and freeze the stolen assets.
BNB beacon chain will be officially shut down at 14:00 on November 19
According to the announcement released on the BNB Chain official blog, BNB Beacon Chain will implement the final "Sunset Hardfork" plan at block height 384,544,850 at 6:00 UTC on November 19, 2024 (14:00 Beijing time). At that time, BNB Beacon Chain will stop running and nodes will need to be updated to version 0.10.24.
Singapore's DBS Bank launches 'DBS Token Services' to provide blockchain-based banking solutions to institutional clients
According to The Block, DBS, the largest bank in Singapore, has launched a new service called "DBS Token Services" to provide institutional clients with blockchain-based banking solutions. The service integrates tokenization and smart contract functions and combines with DBS's existing banking services to help companies optimize liquidity management and simplify operational processes.
DBS said that the service is based on a permissioned blockchain compatible with the Ethereum virtual machine, integrating a core payment engine and a variety of industry payment infrastructures. New services include "Treasury Tokens", "Conditional Payments" and "Programmable Rewards". Through smart contracts, institutions can manage the use of funds more flexibly.
Eigenlayer's official X account is suspected to be stolen, and a fake airdrop link was released
Mudit Gupta, Chief Information Security Officer of Polygon, said on the X platform that Eigenlayer's official Twitter account has been hacked. Currently, hackers may be spreading false links claiming that there are new airdrop activities. Mudit reminded users not to click on any links and emphasized that there are currently no new airdrop plans. Users are advised to be vigilant and avoid being deceived.
Financing News
zkPass Completes $12.5 Million Series A Financing, Valuing $100 Million
Privacy-preserving data verification protocol zkPass has completed a $12.5 million Series A financing round, with a valuation of $100 million. Investors in this round of financing include dao5, Animoca Brands, Flow Traders, Amber Group, IOBC Capital, Signum Capital, MH Ventures and WAGMI Ventures. This round of financing was carried out through a Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT) structure, and zkPass plans to launch tokens in the first quarter of next year. zkPass uses zero-knowledge proof technology to allow users to verify information, such as identity or financial records, without sharing specific data.
Important data
The U.S. Bitcoin spot ETF had a total net inflow of $470 million yesterday, continuing its net inflow for 5 consecutive days
PANews reported on October 18 that according to SoSoValue data, yesterday (October 17, Eastern Time), the total net inflow of Bitcoin spot ETFs was US$470 million. Yesterday, Grayscale ETF GBTC had a single-day net inflow of US$45.7048 million, and the current historical net outflow of GBTC is US$20.096 billion. Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF BTC had a single-day net outflow of US$0.00, and the current total historical net inflow of Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust BTC is US$419 million. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest single-day net inflow yesterday was BlackRock ETF IBIT, with a single-day net inflow of US$309 million, and the current total historical net inflow of IBIT reached US$22.77 billion. Next is the ETF ARKB of Ark Invest and 21Shares, with a single-day net inflow of $100 million. Currently, the total net inflow of ARKB has reached $2.748 billion. As of press time, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETF is $64.061 billion, and the ETF net asset ratio (market value to the total market value of Bitcoin) is 4.84%, and the cumulative net inflow has reached $20.664 billion.
Later in the day, it was reported that BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF has attracted more than $1 billion in funds so far this week.
Trump's cryptocurrency holdings have increased by $6.1 million this year, and more than 65% of his holdings are Meme coins
According to Arkham data, Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency holdings have increased by $6.1 million since the beginning of the year. More than 65% of his current cryptocurrency holdings are in Memecoin.
Polymarket’s official app ranks first in the “Newspapers and magazines” category on the US App Store
The official app of the decentralized prediction market Polymarket currently ranks first in the download ranking of "Newspapers and Magazines" (free) in the Apple App Store in the United States. Surpassing traditional giants such as the New York Times, CNN and the Wall Street Journal. According to The Block, the betting volume on the 2024 US presidential election on the decentralized prediction platform Polymarket has exceeded $2 billion. The market has increased betting volume by $1 billion in the past 24 days. Currently, Donald Trump has a 62.3% chance of winning, with a betting volume of $608 million, and Kamala Harris has a 37.5% chance of winning, with a betting volume of $405 million. The US presidential election has become the main growth driver for Polymarket.
