● After Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, Binance supports the cryptocurrency market with proof of reserves
Led by Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Binance used Proof of Reserves to stabilize cryptocurrency markets following the collapse of Silvergate and Silicon Valley Bank, converting USDC into other cryptocurrencies while keeping USDC reserves intact.
According to researcher Aleksandar Djakovic, Binance relied on proof of reserves to prevent the crypto market from collapsing after the collapse of Silvergate and Silicon Valley Bank. Earlier this year, Binance internally converted all USDC deposited by users to BUSD while retaining USDC reserves. As can be seen from the customer net asset ratio on March 1, the total amount of Binance's net assets exceeding user net assets is about $3.5 billion.
● SEC submits letter to SDNY requesting an appeal in Ripple case
According to The Block, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday that it had submitted a letter to the Southern District of New York (SDNY) requesting an interlocutory appeal of Judge Torres’ July 13 summary judgment in the SEC vs Ripple case. The SEC stated in the letter: The SEC seeks to prove the court’s ruling that the defendant’s “programmed” offers and sales to XRP buyers through crypto asset trading platforms, as well as Ripple’s “other distributions” in exchange for labor and services, do not involve an offer or sale of securities under the Howey test.
The SEC noted in its filing that Ripple must respond by August 16, 2023 (one week from the letter submission), and proposed filing a court brief outlining the appeal on August 18. If the judge approves the filing, Ripple will have two weeks to respond and the SEC will have another week to respond to Ripple.
● Former Chairman of the US CFTC: PayPal Stablecoin "has value beyond encryption"
According to CoinDesk, Timothy Massad, former chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said this is the first time a traditional financial company has launched its own stablecoin, and PayPal’s stablecoin debut shows that the technology "has value beyond encryption." PayPal said, "We believe this technology may benefit a wider range of payments."
As previously reported, PayPal launched the US dollar stablecoin PayPal USD (PYUSD) for transfers and payments. The stablecoin is issued by Paxos and is backed by US dollars, short-term government bonds and cash equivalents. It will gradually be opened to PayPal's customers in the United States.
● Bernstein Report: The stablecoin market will grow to $2.8 trillion in the next five years
According to CoinDesk, Wall Street investment bank Bernstein said in a research report on Wednesday that the stablecoin market is expected to grow from the current $125 billion to $2.8 trillion in tokenized digital currencies in the next five years. The report said that integration with consumer platforms will lead to a "growth flywheel" for stablecoins, enabling them to attract users and expand distribution outside of crypto-native platforms.
● The Russian Central Bank will start a digital ruble pilot with 13 banks next week
The Russian Central Bank announced on Wednesday that it will begin a digital ruble pilot with 13 banks next week to expand its pilot, CoinDesk reported.
According to the announcement of the Russian Central Bank, the test will be conducted among 13 banks and their limited customers. The first phase of the test will focus on digital wallets, transfers between citizens, the use of QR codes to purchase goods and services, and simple automatic payments. Specifically, pilot participants will be able to use digital ruble payments at 30 retail outlets in 11 cities in Russia. By the end of this year, the central bank will expand the participation of citizens and businesses.
● Microsoft and Aptos reach a cooperation to explore digital payments and tokenization
Aptos Labs announced a new partnership with tech giant Microsoft, The Block reported. In addition to the two parties exploring "innovative solutions" related to asset tokenization, digital payments, and central bank digital currencies, Aptos will also utilize Microsoft's Azure OpenAI services.
The two companies said in a statement that at the outset, the collaboration will focus on using Microsoft's AI capabilities to simplify the process of onboarding users to Web3 and help "developers build smart contracts and decentralized applications." Using Microsoft's AI technology, Aptos said it will launch Aptos Assistant, a "user-friendly and secure" digital assistant that can answer questions about the Aptos blockchain.
● Bitcoin mining difficulty slightly increased by 0.12% to 52.39 T
According to BTC.com data, the difficulty of Bitcoin mining was adjusted at 20:27 (block height 802368), and the difficulty of mining increased by 0.12% to 52.39 T. The current average computing power of the entire network is 376.43 EH/s.
● FDUSD’s trading volume in the past 24 hours reached 24 million USD
Data disclosed by Tom Wan, an on-chain analyst at 21Shares’ parent company 21co, showed that the supply of FDUSD increased by 91% in the past 7 days, and the total supply on Ethereum was 265 million.
● The total TVL of RWA track projects exceeded US$1 billion
According to DefiLlama data, the total TVL of RWA track projects exceeded US$1 billion, reaching US$1.057 billion, and its ranking in Protocol Categories rose to 10th place, surpassing the total TVL of Synthetics track projects.
