Compiled by: Xi Xiangxiang, ChainCatcher
“What important events have occurred in the past 24 hours?”
1. Hong Kong ZhongAn Bank will provide cryptocurrency to fiat currency exchange services through licensed exchanges
According to Bloomberg, Ronald Iu, CEO of ZA Bank, said in an interview on Tuesday that ZA Bank in Hong Kong will provide crypto token to fiat currency exchange services through licensed exchanges. Ronald Iu said that ZA Bank will serve as a settlement bank for customers, allowing them to withdraw in Hong Kong, Chinese and US currencies after depositing crypto tokens on the exchange.
Ronald Iu also stated that the business model has been operating with HashKey and OSL, which are currently the only two licensed cryptocurrency exchanges in Hong Kong. ZhongAn Bank will also provide the same services to other licensed exchanges. (Source link)
2. Ethereum Shanghai upgrade will start at 6:30 tomorrow morning
According to OKLink data, Ethereum is less than 22 hours away from the Shanghai upgrade, which is expected to start at around 6:30 am Beijing time on April 13, with the Epoch being 194048 hours.
The current Ethereum staked amount is about 18.13 million, the stake rate is 15.06%, and the annualized staked income APY is 3.75%. (Source link)
3. Data: The scale of financing in the crypto industry in Q1 2023 reached US$2.3 billion, the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2020
According to RootData data, from January to March 2023, the crypto industry disclosed a total of 309 project financing events, with a total financing amount of US$2.317 billion, far lower than the US$12.48 billion from January to March 2022, a year-on-year decrease of about 81%. Compared with US$3.463 billion from October to December 2022, there was also a significant decline, a month-on-month decrease of 33%.
Among them, the number and amount of financing in the infrastructure track are the highest among the nine tracks, with an average single financing amount of more than 10 million US dollars; the number of financings in the DeFi track ranks second and the financing amount ranks fourth; the game and social entertainment tracks rank third and fourth in the number of financings. (Source link)
4. Hong Kong SFC requires DeFi projects to be regulated and apply for licenses
Cai Zhonghui, interim director of the Intermediary Department of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, said at today's "2023 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival" that DeFi projects need to be regulated by the SFC, and automatic trading services are also subject to SFC supervision. If decentralized exchanges involve virtual assets, they also need to apply for a license. Some DeFi protocols are nominally decentralized, but in reality a small number of developers hold a large number of governance tokens, and it is necessary to analyze their substance rather than superficial statements. (Source link)
5. Zhao Changpeng responded to the delisting of QLC: Binance will not notify the project owner in advance of the delisting, and the delisting of QLC is due to slow development
Web3 social media platform Kepple (formerly QLC Chain) tweeted: “The team has been waiting for Binance’s decision for weeks, hoping to get support for the QLC to KPL token swap, but it was unexpectedly removed from Binance without prior notice.”
In response, Binance founder Zhao Changpeng said that they would not notify the project team in advance of the delisting. There is no reason for the project team to have the opportunity to act/trade before users. Binance will notify all users uniformly. In addition, they will regularly delist projects that fall below certain standards, such as no active developers, no progress, etc.
In addition, Zhao Changpeng explained in response to a user tweet about the delisting of QLC: "I was told that the project has not had much development in the past few years and was recently sold to another project. It does not currently meet our listing standards." (Source link)
6. Solana Web3 mobile phone Saga will hold a product launch conference at 1:00 on April 14
Solana officially tweeted that its Web3 mobile phone Saga will hold a product launch conference at 1:00 am Beijing time on April 14. The project will broadcast the conference live on the official website, Twitter and Youtube. (Source link)
7. Twitter will merge with Musk's new company "X Corp."
Twitter is no longer an independent company after merging with a new company called X Corp., according to a document filed in a California court on April 4, Bloomberg reported.
X Corp. was incorporated in Nevada on March 9, and its merger with Twitter was filed on March 15, according to records filed with the state. Musk is president of the company and its parent, X Holdings Corp., with authorized capital of $2 million.
Twitter has undergone an overhaul since Musk bought the company for $44 billion last year. Musk has said the Twitter acquisition would be a "catalyst" for the creation of X. (Bloomberg)
8. The Hong Kong Web3.0 Association was established today, and the Web3Hub Fund was established with the Financial Secretary as the chairman of the fund
The Hong Kong Web3.0 Association was established on the 11th. In addition to the relevant associations, Hong Kong will also set up the Web3Hub Fund to support more overseas Web3.0 companies to settle in Hong Kong. The fund will be chaired by Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po and will have a management committee composed of experts from the fields of financial technology, blockchain, and cryptocurrency.
The fund will cooperate with the Hong Kong Science Park, the Innovation and Technology Commission and other institutions to provide one-stop services for overseas Web3.0 companies. It is reported that the fund has received applications from multiple Web3.0 projects from the United States, Europe, Singapore and other places, covering areas including DeFi, NFT, Metaverse, decentralized social media (Dsocial), etc. The fund plans to start investing and supporting these projects in the second half of this year. (Source link)
9. HashKey launches ecological points HSK, with a total supply of 1 billion
According to official news, digital asset financial service provider HashKey launched the ecological points HSK on Ethereum, aiming to incentivize contributors to the HashKey ecosystem, including its users and partners. The total supply of HSK is 1 billion, of which 65% of HSK will be allocated to ecological growth, 30% to the team, and 5% to the reserve. HSK will be issued as a reward for using HashKey exchange business, and will be expanded to more business line reward programs in the future. HSK will be regularly repurchased and destroyed from the circulating supply to offset the dilution effect of reward distribution. (Source link)
"What are the interesting articles worth reading in the past 24 hours?"
1. "Sun Yuchen has been in office for half a year, but Huobi is getting further and further away from the "three major" goals"
Justin Sun appeared in Hong Kong yesterday, seemingly sweeping away rumors of selling Huobi and being accused by the US SEC. In the weeks before arriving in Hong Kong, he was still caught up in a series of negative news, including rumors of selling Huobi, being accused by the US SEC, and being complained by big investors. It cannot be ignored that Justin Sun and Huobi have indeed faced multiple difficulties recently. So, how is Huobi performing? This article will conduct an in-depth analysis based on recent events and data.
2. "Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade, How Can Old DeFi Applications Get a Piece of the LSD Pie?"
Ethereum staking may give rise to hundreds of billions of LST. This new asset is reconstructing and changing the income structure of traditional DeFi applications. DeFi products built around this new asset class may become new investment opportunities in the market. At present, many DeFi applications have benefited from these businesses. In the future, how will the old DeFi applications enter the LSD track?
3. "a16z Releases 2023 Crypto Market Status Report: Seven Key Points"
Emerging technologies develop in cycles. In the cryptocurrency space, this cycle includes periods of explosion and so-called crypto winters. A16z believes that it is easy for casual observers to overlook the rapid progress being made in the crypto industry. This report aims to address the imbalance between price movement noise and tracking important signals, revealing the progress of Web3 technology persistence. Overall, the report reflects that the crypto industry may be healthier than market prices, and the development and continuous innovation cycle that a stable product needs to go through.
