Weekly News Selection | Ethereum has completed the Shanghai upgrade, and users can now withdraw staked ETH and related income; Hong Kong will invest more than HK$700 million to accelerate the development of the digital economy

Compiled by: Xi Xiangxiang, ChainCatcher

Important Information

1. Ethereum has completed the Shanghai upgrade, and users can now withdraw the staked ETH and related income

According to ChainCatcher, according to OKLink data, Ethereum has completed the Shanghai upgrade (Epoch is 194048). This upgrade includes: upgrade of the execution layer (Shanghai upgrade), upgrade of the consensus layer (Capella upgrade), and changes to the engine API. Previously, in September 2022, Ethereum successfully transitioned to the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, and staking 32 ETH can become a validator. This Shanghai upgrade adds a withdrawal function, and users can withdraw the staked ETH and related income. (Source link)

2. Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee: Over HK$700 million will be invested to accelerate the development of the digital economy

ChainCatcher reported that at the 2023 Digital Economy Summit, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee said that this year's budget will allocate more than HK$700 million to accelerate the development of the digital economy, and more than HK$9 million to launch a series of international initiatives and measures. He stressed that the development of Hong Kong's virtual asset industry will be promoted, and the third-generation Internet represented by Web3.0 has great development potential. (The Paper)

3. FTX has recovered $7.3 billion in assets and may consider restarting its trading business

According to ChainCatcher, lawyers from Sullivan & Cromwell said at a court hearing on Wednesday that FTX is considering reopening its trading platform business at some point in the future. One possible option is that FTX's creditors convert their claims into shares of the restarted trading platform. Its lawyers told the court that a restructuring plan will be submitted in July, which may be confirmed in the second quarter of next year. However, the restart still requires a lot of fundraising, and there is currently internal controversy over whether the restart funds should come from FTX's assets or third-party capital.

In addition, lawyers said that FTX has currently recovered approximately $7.3 billion in assets, which is higher than the $1.9 billion in January.

As soon as the news came out, the price of FTT rose rapidly, with a 24-hour increase of more than 75% and now at $2.41. (Source link)

4. Twitter will support users to trade cryptocurrencies, stocks and other financial assets through cooperation with eToro

ChainCatcher news: According to CNBC, Twitter will allow its users to access stocks, cryptocurrencies and other financial assets by cooperating with social investment platform eToro. Starting Thursday, the Twitter application will launch a new feature that will allow users to view market charts; buy and sell stocks and other assets from eToro; and view market data for more financial instruments. (Source link)

5. Ethereum Layer 2 total locked value exceeds $10 billion for the first time

According to L2BEAT data, Ethereum Layer 2 total locked value (TVL) exceeded $10 billion for the first time, and is currently about $10.29 billion, setting a new record high. Among them, Arbitrum TVL is about $6.83 billion, and Optimism TVL is about $2.13 billion. (Source link)

6. EOS launches EOS EVM mainnet beta

The EOS Foundation has deployed a beta version of the EOS EVM on its mainnet. The beta release follows the launch of the testnet late last month.

“Our goal is to create an interoperable future that bridges the gap between blockchains, developers, and users,” said Yves La Rose, Founder of the EOS Network Foundation. “With the EOS EVM, Ethereum developers and users can now more easily take advantage of the low fees, blazing speed, and reliability of the EOS network. The EOS EVM is an important milestone that represents our commitment to a multi-chain future.”

It is reported that the goal of EOS EVM is to become the industry's highest-performance and best-compatible EVM. In addition, EOS Network Ventures recently announced that it will invest $20 million in GameFi and EOS EVM projects. (Source link)

7. zkSync ecosystem DEX project SyncDex Finance is suspected of running away

According to ChainCatcher, the zkSync ecosystem DEX project SyncDex Finance is suspected to have run away, and its official Twitter account and Discord channel have been closed.

A user disclosed that he had pledged more than 100 ETH and 98,444.8 USDC in total in the project. The pledge pool is currently locked and users are unable to withdraw funds. (Source link)

8. 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)

9. ZhongAn Bank in Hong Kong 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)

10. The scale of crypto industry financing 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)

11. 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)

12. Hashkey Pro, a compliant exchange under Hashkey Group, is about to be launched

According to Chaincatcher, Hashkey Group will soon launch a compliant exchange called Hashkey Pro, which is expected to be launched in the second quarter of this year and has been licensed by the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission. After HashKey Pro goes online, it will first be open to institutions and qualified investors. The exchange has confirmed that it has local and Chinese banking partners in Hong Kong and supports US dollar deposits and withdrawals through direct bank transfers.

Earlier today, Hashkey Group announced that it will launch the ecological points HSK. According to the white paper, users who register, trade, and provide liquidity on HashKey PRO in the early stage can receive ecosystem rewards. At the same time, HSK can also enjoy transaction fee discounts. The transaction fees of Maker settled in HSK can be completely waived at the lowest; the withdrawal fees of specific assets can be waived; the newly launched assets can be traded in advance; and new products and upgraded functions can be accessed. (Source link)

13. Bank of America and Fidelity both had indirect exposure to Bitcoin by increasing their holdings of MicroStrategy shares in Q1

Bank of America and Fidelity Bank held a large number of MicroStrategy shares on their balance sheets in the first quarter, indicating that institutions still have interest in indirect Bitcoin exposure. As of the end of March, Bank of America showed that it had purchased 86,147 shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR) in the first quarter. According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Fidelity increased its holdings by 97,199 shares during the same period.

Since MicroStrategy began holding Bitcoin as a reserve on its balance sheet, the company's stock price has closely tracked the price of Bitcoin. Many traders still view the stock as one of the closest publicly traded proxies for Bitcoin spot exposure. As of April 4, MicroStrategy held 140,000 Bitcoins.

ChainCatcher previously reported that BofA Securities, Inc. and Fidelity Management & Research Company both became MicroStrategy's top 10 shareholders in the first quarter of 2023. (Source link)

Important financing/venture capital news

1. Sei Network completed a $30 million financing with a valuation of $800 million, with participation from IOBC Capital and others

Sei Network announced that it has completed a $30 million financing at a valuation of $800 million, with participation from IOBC Capital, Distributed Global, Multicoin Capital, Asymmetric Capital Partners, Flow Traders, Hypersphere Ventures, Jump Capital and Bixin Ventures. This round of funds will be used for development and market promotion in the Asia-Pacific region.

It is reported that Sei is still in the public test network stage and plans to launch the main network later this year.

According to the encryption data platform RootData, Sei Network completed $5 million in the previous round of financing. Past investors include Multicoin Capital, Coinbase Ventures, GSR, Flow Traders, and Hudson River Trading. The new round of financing brings Sei Network's total financing to $35 million to date. (Source link)

2. Sei Labs Ecosystem Fund Completes $50 Million New Round of Financing, Bitget and Foresight Ventures Participate

According to Fortune, Sei Labs announced that it had completed a round of financing with a valuation of US$800 million. Its ecological fund completed a new round of financing of US$50 million. Bitget and Foresight Ventures participated in the investment. As of now, the company's total financing amount has reached US$120 million. (Source link)

3. Hong Kong Web3Hub Ecosystem Fund officially launched with a scale of US$10 million

At the "2023 Hong Kong Web3 Carnival" session four "MetaEra x BitMart Special: Where are the opportunities in Metaverse", Mr. Zhang Guojun, Deputy Secretary for Justice of the Hong Kong Department of Justice, delivered a speech and announced the launch of the Hong Kong Web3Hub Ecological Acceleration Plan with a scale of US$10 million, which will encourage more companies to settle in Hong Kong.

Combining blockchain skills and artificial intelligence to provide a convenient, cost-effective and secure platform. Looking to the future, Hong Kong must better develop the unique advantages of "one country, two systems", drive Hong Kong's high-quality development with technological innovation, and attract talents from home and abroad.

4. Indian venture capital fund pi Ventures received a $12 million investment commitment from SIDBI Bank

Indian early-stage venture capital fund pi Ventures announced that it has received an investment commitment of 100 crore Indian rupees (about 12 million US dollars) from the Fund for Startups (FFS) managed by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). The fund is also supported by BII, Nippon India Digital Innovation AIF (NIDIA), Accel, Colruyt, and investors such as Binny Bansal and Varun Alagh. pi Ventures announced that it will use this money to invest in cross-industry deep technology startups such as artificial intelligence and blockchain.

Currently, pi Ventures' investment portfolio in the crypto and blockchain industries includes Web3 network security company Silence Laboratories, industrial technology company SwitchOn, blockchain B2B currency supply chain management platform OweMe, etc. (Source link)

5. Web3 game studio Mayhem Studios completes $20 million Series A financing, led by Sequoia Capital

Mayhem Studios, a studio under the Indian P2E game development company Mobile Premier League (MPL), announced the completion of a US$20 million Series A financing round led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Steadview Capital, Truecaller and others.

It is reported that MPL launched the NFT market Good Game Exchange (GGX) last month, and also launched a Web3 game strategy based on P2E to earn money while playing as part of the group's development plan. (Source link)

6. Zero-knowledge proof L2 project CryptoGPT completes $10 million financing with a valuation of $250 million, led by DWF Labs

According to CoinDesk, the zero-knowledge proof Layer 2 network CryptoGPT has completed a $10 million financing at a valuation of $250 million, led by DWF Labs. CryptoGPT aims to allow users to make money by monetizing data in areas such as fitness, dating, games, and education, and plans to launch NFTs that store owner activity data.

It is reported that CryptoGPT recently launched the AI ​​assistant "Alex" focusing on Web3, and is developing its ZK Rollup-based Layer 2 blockchain and AI engine, which will collect, encrypt and transmit data for commercial applications. (Source link)

7. Tradier, a financial services company that provides cryptocurrency transactions, completed a $24.6 million Series B financing round led by PEAK6 Strategic Capital

Tradier, a financial services company that provides retail cryptocurrency trading, announced the completion of a $24.6 million Series B financing round led by PEAK6 Strategic Capital, with participation from Prime Capital and KF Business Ventures.

It is reported that Tradier's full-featured platform supports cryptocurrency, stock and options trading, and users can seamlessly navigate between Tradier Brokerage and crypto accounts. The company plans to use the new funds to expand its product range, expand APIs, and enhance global debit financing, futures and cryptocurrency market segments. (Source link)

8. Bankruptcy claims trading platform Xclaim completes $7 million Series A financing

Bankruptcy claims trading platform Xclaim announced the completion of a $7 million Series A funding round. Xclaim allows trading of major bankruptcy creditor claims, including FTX, Genesis, and BlockFi. Currently, FTX's claim price is 19 cents, up from 13 cents earlier this year, while Genesis is 52.5 cents and BlockFi is 18 cents. (Source link)

9. NFT social platform HUG completes $5 million financing, led by DIGITAL

NFT social platform HUG has completed a $5 million seed round of financing, led by DIGITAL, with participation from OKX Ventures, L'Oréal's BOLD Venture Capital Fund, Venrex, Jae Holdings, Cryptology, Samara and Aa Sons. HUG aims to build a social marketplace that connects digital art and NFT creators with existing and potential collectors. (Source link)