PA Daily | FTX Claims to Launch Around July 3rd; Celsius to Convert Clients’ Altcoins to Bitcoin and Ether

Today’s news tip:

1. DOJ agrees to try SBF on only original 8 charges for now

2. Financial Times: Hong Kong Monetary Authority urges HSBC and Standard Chartered to accept crypto exchanges as customers

3. The FTX claims application website has been launched and will be officially launched around July 3rd

4. The new Brazilian law that will take effect on June 20 identifies the central bank as the crypto regulator

5. Sei clarified: Participating in testnet incentives or airdrops does not require face recognition or KYC

6.Celsius applied to the court to sell customers’ altcoins and convert them into Bitcoin and Ethereum from July 1st

7. Spanish encryption exchange Bit2Me completes $15 million financing

8. USDT accounted for more than 70% of the Curve stablecoin 3pool, and USDT was slightly unanchored

Regulatory News

DOJ agrees to try SBF on only original 8 charges for now

As CoinDesk reported, U.S. Justice Department prosecutors now intend to try FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) solely on the eight counts they filed in December 2022, namely conspiring to commit wire fraud against customers. , wire fraud against a customer, conspiracy to wire fraud against a lender, wire fraud against a lender, conspiracy to commit commodity fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to defraud the United States and violation of campaign finance laws. Prosecutors stated: “In view of the uncertainty of when the Bahamas will make a decision on the specificity, in order to simplify the proof of the trial and reduce the burden of trial preparation for the defendant, the government intends to proceed with the trial on the charges contained in the original indictment as scheduled.”

SBF previously faced a total of 13 charges, but five of those were filed as superseding indictments in February and March 2023. It was previously reported yesterday that the Bahamas court temporarily prohibited the government from agreeing to the additional criminal proceedings after the extradition of SBF by the United States.

Financial Times: Hong Kong Monetary Authority Urges HSBC and Standard Chartered to Accept Crypto Exchanges as Clients

At a meeting last month, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority questioned why banks in the UK and China did not accept cryptocurrency exchanges as customers, the Financial Times reported, citing sources. Banks, including China, are pressuring them to include cryptocurrency trading platforms as clients.

The Fed paused raising interest rates, and the benchmark interest rate remained unchanged in the range of 5.00%-5.25%

At 2 a.m. Beijing time on Thursday, the Federal Reserve ended its two-day monetary policy meeting and announced that it would not raise interest rates at this meeting, keeping the benchmark interest rate unchanged at the range of 5.00%-5.25%. The first pause in rate hikes after ten hikes. But the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) expects another 2.25 percentage point hike by the end of the year. The Fed’s FOMC economic forecasts show that the median GDP growth forecasts from 2023 to the end of 2025 are 1.0%, 1.1%, and 1.8%, respectively.

In the news later today, Powell said that there is no sign of inflation peaking and falling, and further interest rate hikes are still necessary.

New Brazilian law to take effect on June 20 identifies central bank as crypto regulator

According to Portaldobitcoin, Brazil issued a decree regulating the application of cryptocurrency laws and identified the central bank as the regulator with the power to authorize who can operate in the market. In cases where virtual assets are allocated as securities, the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) will be in charge of regulation. Brazil’s cryptocurrency regulatory framework was established by Act No. 4,401/2021, which was approved by the House of Representatives in November last year and later in December by then-President of the Republic Jair Bolsonaro. The law will come into effect next Tuesday, June 20.

NFT

! [PA Daily | FTX claims will start around July 3rd; Celsius intends to convert customers’ altcoins into Bitcoin and Ethereum](https://img.gateio.im/social/moments-69a80767fe -6140bda79f-dd1a6f-62a40f)

metaverse

Shanghai Municipal Government: Develop new digital economies such as blockchain and Web3.0, and promote major applications in Metaverse

According to the official website of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government issued the “Shanghai Three-Year Action Plan for Promoting High-quality Manufacturing Development (2023-2025)” today. In terms of key tasks, it is planned to lay out new tracks and future industries. Implement the “four new tracks” and “five future industries” action plans, develop new digital economies such as blockchain and Web3.0, promote major applications in the Metaverse, and deploy carbon capture and utilization, “ammonia-hydrogen” and efficient energy storage and other green and low-carbon fields, and create terminal brands such as intelligent networked vehicles, intelligent robots, intelligent wearables, and virtual displays; accelerate the layout of future industrial segments, and build future industrial pilot areas such as Zhangjiang, Lingang, and Daling Bay.

Prior to the news on June 13, the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission issued the “Shanghai “Metaverse” Key Technology Research Action Plan (2023-2025)”.

Project News

The FTX claim claim website has been launched and will be officially launched around July 3

The FTX Claims website has gone live and will serve as the debtor’s client claims portal, which will be activated upon execution of a court order related to the motion on or about July 3, 2023.

FTX Debtors recently filed a Client Deadline Motion (the “Motion”), which seeks, among other things, to establish a deadline for clients to file proof of claims and to approve a process for doing so. The motion is scheduled to be heard in court on June 28, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Pro-Cryptocurrency Miami Mayor Suarez Files Papers for US Presidential Race

According to China News Agency, the mayor of Miami, Florida, Suarez (Federal Election) submitted a document to the Federal Election Commission on the 14th local time to participate in the 2024 US presidential election. Suarez will deliver a speech at the Reagan Presidential Library in California on the 15th, officially announcing his participation in the 2024 presidential election. During his tenure as mayor of Miami, Suarez was committed to attracting technology companies to Miami and building Miami into a cryptocurrency center and the next “Silicon Valley”, gaining national attention.

At present, more than 10 Republicans have announced their participation in the presidential election, including former President Trump, former Vice President Pence, Florida Governor DeSantis, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Senator Smith Cotter et al.

Prior to the news in April last year, the mayor of Miami had stated that the next US president must be a candidate who supports Bitcoin.

Criminal trial of Mango Markets attacker by US judge set for Dec. 4

U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan announced a Dec. 4 criminal trial for Mango Markets attacker Avraham Eisenberg, who was charged with merchandise fraud, merchandise manipulation and wire fraud, but pleaded not guilty, Bloomberg reported. Eisenberg faces up to 20 years in prison on wire fraud charges.

According to previous news, Eisenberg made a profit of US$114 million in 20 minutes by illegally manipulating the price of MNGO, the governance token of Mango Markets, in October last year. After that, he returned US$67 million, but refused to return the remaining funds. He was arrested in Puerto Rico last December and charged by U.S. prosecutors, and subsequently charged by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the U.S. Securities Commission (SEC). On January 26 this year, Mango Labs sued Avraham Eisenberg, aiming to recover all losses. The prosecution’s criminal case against it is currently pending, while the civil case has been put on hold.

Sei clarifies: Participating in testnet incentives or airdrops does not require face recognition or KYC

The public chain Sei Network said on Twitter: "We want to clarify some widely spread misconceptions that face recognition is required for Sei testnet incentives or airdrops. In fact, face recognition is not required to participate in Sei’s testnet incentives or airdrops Or KYC. After receiving feedback from Sei’s Discord that there were a lot of bot attacks, Sei Foundation tried to add a third-party face recognition tool in Discord. Sei will not use any form of face recognition and KYC.”

Gauntlet suggested freezing the CRV market in Aave v2, Aave responded that there is no need to enforce it through governance

DeFi risk manager Gauntlet said on Twitter that it is recommended to freeze CRV on Aave v2, which aims to significantly reduce the risk of loss. Users are encouraged to migrate to Aave v3. Gauntlet said that the risk parameters of v3 are more suitable for the CRV lending market. Among them, freezing the CRV market of v2 will restrict user operations, including operations such as depositing and lending.

In response, Marc Zeller, head of integration at Aave, responded: “Users should be free to take advantage of the protocol, and need to be careful to implement “solutions” that may bring more negative effects than benefits. Currently, by increasing the reserve factor (RF) or Lowering the liquidation threshold (LT) while artificially increasing the odds of liquidation is probably not the smartest approach. We generally encourage Aave v3 over v2. One of the reasons for this large position growth in v2 is due to the overly conservative CRV parameter in v3 Resulting in an impediment to a seamless migration, there is no need, in our view, to enforce any action through governance at this time.”

Binance Files to Deregister Its Local Entity in Cyprus

According to The Block, according to the official website of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, the encryption exchange Binance has applied for deregistration in Cyprus. A Binance spokesperson said: “We are working hard to prepare our business to be fully compliant with MiCA (EU Crypto Assets Market Act) when it is implemented within the next 18 months. To this end, we have decided to withdraw our efforts in Cyprus and focus on Placed on less regulated entities in the EU, especially the larger registered markets where we already have a mature footprint, including France, Italy and Spain. Binance will continue to comply with applicable EU laws.” The spokesperson said that the application is being sued by the SEC before submitting.

Prior to the news in October last year, Binance announced that it had obtained the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC)'s Type 3 Encrypted Asset Service Provider (CASP) registration, which can provide spot, custody, pledge and other services.

CryptoQuant CEO: Haru Invest suspected of hiding funds transfers to FTX from customers

CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said: “OXT Research reported that Haru Invest used FTX. If true, they have been silent on their clients for a full year after FTX collapsed.” OXT Research tweeted The special representative said: "Haru Invest’s BTC balance has never been particularly high, and the highest transaction volume is in the summer of 2022. It is monitored that Haru Invest’s two fund transactions to FTX are the largest transfer transactions of its Bitcoin address.

Prior to the news on June 13, Haru Invest stated that it had suspended deposit and withdrawal requests due to service partner issues.

The Graph is in the final stages of migrating to Arbitrum

According to The Block, the decentralized index protocol The Graph has entered the final stage of migrating to the Ethereum Layer 2 network Arbitrum. The transition is aimed at reducing gas fees, speeding up transactions and increasing the accessibility of the protocol.

The transition to Arbitrum was previously voted on and approved by network participants through improvement proposals. The process begins in 2022 with the initial deployment as the first phase and the second phase enabling Layer 2 protocol rewards. Today marks the start of the third phase of the integration, representing a full migration to the Arbitrum network.

Users of The Graph will have the option to transition to Arbitrum across all of its products, with protocol rewards gradually moving away from Ethereum and eventually fully operational on Arbitrum. The Graph core developers are actively building Layer 2 transfer tools to help network participants make the transition. Delegators can delegate The Graph’s native token, GRT, which is more efficient due to the lower gas fees available on Arbitrum. The Graph said that indexers can apply for GRT rewards, and the gas can be reduced by up to 300 times after the transition.

Forbes reveals: Chen Guangying is the mysterious executive in charge of Binance Finance

“Forbes” published a cover article titled “Meet Chen Guangying, She is the Mysterious Executive in Charge of Binance Finance”, which mentioned the bank account controlled by Binance executive Guangying Chen (Chen Guangying) and the director of Binance entity More than any other executive except CEO Changpeng Zhao.

She is currently a director of 8 major Binance companies and is a signatory to dozens of bank accounts of 27 entities registered in 13 countries, overseeing the company’s finances and has processed $148 billion since 2019 Deposits and withdrawals. According to relevant documents, since 2019, Chen Guangying’s salary has reached 32 million U.S. dollars, and she has also signed Binance’s most important business deals. Chinese company records examined by Forbes show that while Zhao Changpeng is listed as the chief executive of Shanghai Bijie Network Technology Co., Ltd., it is Chen Guangying who controls the company on paper. She holds 93% of the shares and is listed as the founder and sole legal representative.

A former Binance executive said: “Chen Guangying is someone Changpeng Zhao trusts, she is the gateway to the Binance treasury; she has all the control.” She is needed because she is the authorized person for all bank accounts, and Chen Guangying is the real chief financial officer." Zhao Changpeng previously stated in a blog post in 2022 that Chen Guangying is a “passport holder from a European country, and she and her family Live there in peace.” But “Forbes” pointed out that this contradicted what it knew. A former executive said: “Wherever Zhao Changpeng goes, Chen Guangying goes.”

Voyager may reopen withdrawals to customers this month

In a court filing Wednesday, Voyager outlined plans to reopen to customers between June 20 and July 5 so creditors can withdraw about 35 percent of their cryptocurrencies, Blockworks reported. Voyager shut down its core line of business in July 2022, stopping customer deposits and withdrawals in the process. Paul R. Hage, the agency’s supervisor of bankruptcy proceedings, told creditors in the filing that they will be able to view their projected initial distributions on Voyager’s app on Friday. The initial distribution of cryptocurrency will be made to creditors within three to seven calendar days of the submission of the withdrawal request. A month ago, a judge allowed Voyager and its counterparties to liquidate the company. Previously, Voyager had been fighting for a Chapter 11 reorganization. The company said at the time it planned to return about $1.3 billion to customers. Reuters previously said the recovery rate was expected to be around 35%. The litigation involving Three Arrows Capital and FTX will significantly increase Voyager’s existing assets, thereby improving the client’s asset recovery rate. It is reported that Voyager is asking FTX to repay approximately $445 million in loans. The company’s claim against 3AC is $650 million.

Prometheum claimed at the hearing that it represents an “encryption compliance path” and does not need to update regulations. Some lawmakers pointed out that its statement is absurd

According to tweets from Castle Island Ventures general partner Matt Walsh, financial lawyer Scott Johnsson, and Paradigm legal head Rodrigo, the company has previously received the first special-purpose broker-dealer license under the guidelines of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Aaron Kaplan, CEO of crypto startup Prometheum, attended a June 13 hearing by Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on digital assets as a witness, declaring that it represented a “path to compliance for cryptocurrencies,” while those who demanded an update Regulation people just flout the law. The Prometheum CEO reads pre-written notes at the meeting, clearly coordinating the narrative with Democratic members of Congress (or the US SEC).

However, Rodrigo analyzed that unless the project first registers the token with the SEC, Prometheum’s alternative trading system (ATS) will not be able to trade any tokens. Matt Walsh commented that Prometheum’s ATS is a bicycle without wheels. U.S. Rep. Mike Flood also pointed out at the hearing that Prometheum’s claims are nonsense, more precisely, they cannot trade any widely traded assets (BTC, ETH), which is why actual regulatory clarity needs to be achieved.

In addition, Matt Walsh pointed out that Pitchbook data shows that Prometheum has raised $48.19 million. Like all private companies, they are required to file Form D when raising capital. Oddly enough, even in their early rounds, they use investment banks to raise money (very rare for early stage VC-backed startups). Walsh also said: “It is strange that this fringe player with no business model is being cited by the SEC as an example of compliance when actual businesses in the United States are not given a fair chance.”

Japanese Telecom Giant Fujitsu to Launch Blockchain-Based Web3 Acceleration Platform on June 30

According to Forkast, Japanese telecommunications giant Fujitsu said in a press release on Thursday that after completing a one-year pilot trial, the company will launch a new cross-border cooperation platform based on blockchain technology on June 30, Namely “Fujitsu Web3 Acceleration Platform” to connect transactions in different economic regions using blockchain technology.

The trial, which has now been completed, utilizes Fujitsu’s blockchain technology called ConnectionChain and is focused on improving cross-border settlement of securities in regions such as Japan, China, South Korea and other Southeast Asian countries, it is reported. Launched in January 2022, the pilot project is a partnership with the Philippines-based Asian Development Bank, blockchain infrastructure firm ConsenSys, digital financial solutions firm R3, and Tokyo-based tech firm Soramitsu.

People familiar with the matter: BlackRock to submit Bitcoin ETF application, priced using Coinbase Custody

According to CoinDesk, citing people familiar with the matter, the asset management giant BlackRock is about to submit an application for a Bitcoin ETF (trading platform trading fund). BlackRock will use Coinbase (COIN) Custody to price the spot market data of ETF and cryptocurrency trading platforms. . It is reported that BlackRock has been working with Coinbase since the middle of last year to allow institutional investors to directly use cryptocurrencies. It is unclear whether the ETF is spot or futures.

Coinbase to Repurchase $64.5M in Convertible Senior Notes at ~29% Discount

Coinbase announced that it will repurchase 0.50% convertible senior notes due in 2026 with a total principal amount of US$64.5 million at a discount of approximately 29%. The company estimates that it will spend approximately US$45.5 million in cash to complete the repurchase. The repurchase is expected to be Completion on or about June 20, 2023, subject to customary closing conditions. Following such closings, approximately $1.373 billion of the principal amount of the notes remained outstanding.

Celsius Applies to Court to Sell Clients’ Altcoins and Convert them to Bitcoin and Ether Starting July 1

According to a filing dated June 14, the Official Committee of Celsius Debtors and Unsecured Creditors intends to convert all altcoins other than bitcoin and ether into the two cryptocurrencies subject to court approval. This will not affect tokens held in withholding or escrow accounts, and the sale will begin on July 1. In the event of an objection, the Court will address the objection at a hearing on June 28, 2023 at 10:00 AM ET. The filing states that the conversion will not affect any creditor’s claims. Debtors also try to maximize currency exchange as much as possible.

In addition, Celsius may face objections from creditors as it files a new bankruptcy plan after Fahrenheit won an auction of its assets.

Finance News

Spanish Crypto Exchange Bit2Me Completes $15 Million Financing

According to CoinDesk, the Spanish cryptocurrency exchange Bit2Me completed a new round of financing of US$15 million. Investcorp led the investment, and Telefónica Ventures, the investment arm of Telefónica, Spain’s largest telecommunications company, Stratminds VC, Cardano and YGG Fund participated in the investment. Bit2Me will use the funds to boost its market share in Spain, where the company was born, and to accelerate its expansion in Latin America.

It is reported that Bit2Me was established in 2014 and is the first encryption service provider licensed by the Bank of Spain.

Web3 short video platform Cheelee completes $10 million financing

According to Globenewswire, Web3 short video platform Cheelee has completed a financing of US$10 million, and VC SILA participated in the investment. Cheelee has raised a total of $32.75 million in financing to date. The new funds will be used to accelerate the development and marketing of its vertical video social networking applications.

It is reported that Cheelee provides a free “NFT glasses” for new users, which can monitor the viewing time of videos and convert them into corresponding points according to the length of time, and then exchange token rewards.

Previously, in November last year, Cheelee completed $8 million in financing.

Important data

USDT accounted for more than 70% of the Curve stablecoin 3pool, and USDT was slightly unanchored

The data shows that the proportion of stablecoin 3pool on the Curve platform has tilted, of which USDT accounted for 70.29%. In addition, the market shows that the stable currency USDT has slightly unanchored and fell to around $0.9982.

Tether Chief Technology Officer Paolo Ardoino said: “The market is volatile today, so it is easy for attackers to take advantage of this general sentiment. But Tethe is as always ready, and we are ready to redeem any amount.”

According to news earlier today, as of 12:43 noon today, a total of 205 million USDTs have been sold in the 3CRV pool in the past 3 days, resulting in a net outflow of 130 million US dollars.

Data: A certain address has increased its holdings of 15,000 BTC today, and its current holdings rank fourth

According to Bitinfocharts data, addresses starting with bc1ql4 have increased their holdings of 15,200 BTC today. The current balance of this address is 111,700.2 BTC, and the current holdings rank fourth.

Data: CRV on Aave v2 faces a liquidation risk of over $100 million at $0.374

According to DefiLlama data, if the CRV price falls to $0.374, 288.8 million CRV (approximately $108.5 million) in the Aave v2 CRV market will be at risk of liquidation. CRV price is currently at $0.5743.

According to news later today, stETH on Aave v2 is facing a liquidation risk of about $74.5 million at nearly $1567.

Data: Binance.US market share in US drops to 2.7%, lowest level since December 2020

According to The Block, data from encryption data company Kaiko showed that Binance.US’s market share in the United States fell by 2.7%, the lowest level since December 2020.

In addition to the continuous decline in Binance.US trading volume in the past 3 months, Binance.US has also been squeezed out of market share by all exchanges that support USD. It accounted for 16.1% of spot trading volume on other dollar-backed exchanges in April, but that figure fell to 8.5% in May. It is currently around 5.4%, although data for June is incomplete.

Data: More than 1 billion TUSD minted by Binance address

Whale monitoring shows that at 19:30:45 Beijing time on June 15, the Binance address minted 1,072,566,000 TUSD (about 1.07 billion U.S. dollars) on the Tron chain.