2024-09-27 21:35

Zhao, who has been in a halfway house since late August, was released on Friday. Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has been released from prison, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Zhao’s release comes two days ahead of his scheduled release date this Sunday, Sep. 29. The BOP is legally allowed to release prisoners early if their release date falls on a weekend or holiday. In April, Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) by failing to set up an adequate know-your-customer (KYC) program at Binance. As part of his guilty plea, Zhao also agreed to pay a $50 million fine and step down as CEO of the crypto exchange. The exchange agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine to various U.S. regulators to settle related charges. Though custodial sentences for violations of the BSA are unusual (former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes, who pleaded guilty to similar charges in 2022 was sentenced only to probation), Zhao’s four-month sentence was lenient compared to the three years sought by federal prosecutors. The judge overseeing Zhao’s case, U.S. District Judge Richard Jones of the Western District of Washington, seemed to be swayed by Zhao’s squeaky-clean criminal record and positive reputation – aided by 161 letters of support from his friends, family, and colleagues. Zhao – formerly known as Inmate #88087-510 – served three months in a low-security prison, Lompoc II, on California’s central coast. In August, he was moved to a halfway house in San Pedro, California. At an estimated net worth of $25.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires’ Index, he is believed to be the richest person to ever go to prison in the U.S. A spokesperson for Zhao declined to comment when reached by CoinDesk. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/09/27/binance-founder-changpeng-cz-zhao-is-a-free-man/

2024-09-27 19:21

Mango DAO, Mango Labs and Blockworks Foundation agreed to settle charges with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Friday. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled charges with Mango DAO, Mango Labs LLC and Blockworks Foundation alleging that the MNGO token was an unregistered security and that the latter entities offered unregistered broker services. The entities will destroy their MNGO tokens and ask crypto exchanges to stop trading the tokens, as well as pay $700,000 total as part of the settlement, which is still subject to a court's approval, the SEC announced Friday in a press release. The settlement comes just over a month after Mango DAO held an open vote on whether it should adopt the settlement offer proposal. The DAO voted on a settlement proposal with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) earlier this week as well, which passed unanimously. Mango DAO members vote on proposals through the MNGO governance token. It's unclear what the project's future will look like without the token. The SEC's press release noted that Mango DAO and Blockworks Foundation (no relation to the news and events business) sold $70 million worth of MNGO tokens starting in August 2021. As part of the settlement, Mango DAO, Blockworks Foundation and Mango Labs are neither admitting nor denying the charges. In a statement, SEC Acting Crypto and Cyber Unit Chief Jorge Tenreiro said any entity that offers "securities-intermediary functions" needs to register or otherwise be exempt from registration with the SEC. "Since the inception of our crypto enforcement program, our view has been that the label ‘DAO’ does not change the reality of who is behind a project, what activities they engage in, or whether their activities need to be registered. Nor does engaging in intermediation of securities with the aid of automated or open source software change the nature of such activities," he said in the statement. Last year, Mango Markets – which has struggled to recover since Avraham Eisenberg drained more than $110 million worth of tokens from the exchange in 2022 – tried relaunching the decentralized trading venue. Eisenberg was convicted of fraud and market manipulation tied to his actions around Mango earlier this year, though his sentencing has been pushed to Dec. 12. https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/09/27/mango-markets-agrees-to-destroy-mngo-tokens-in-sec-settlement/

2024-09-27 19:17

The latest in blockchain tech upgrades, funding announcements and deals. For the period of Sept. 26-Oct. 2. Friday, Sept. 27 Bedrock to Integrate Chainlink Proof of Reserve After $2M Exploit Involving UniBTC Smart Contract Bedrock released a post-mortem on a vulnerability in the uniBTC smart contract that was exploited, "allowing the exploiter to mint 30.8 uniBTC and swap them for wBTC in Uniswap pools." According to the post: "In response, we paused the vulnerable contract and implemented a fix to mitigate the vulnerability, which was later confirmed to have affected approximately $2 million in liquidity, primarily within the Uniswap pool." Separately, the Chainlink team sent this message: "Following today’s security exploit on Bedrock's platform involving uniBTC, Bedrock is integrating Chainlink Proof of Reserve (PoR) to help secure their minting function and fortify the security of their protocol." (LINK) Thursday, Sept. 26 Helium Mobile Strikes Sponsorship Deal With USC Trojans Helium Mobile, a mobile network enabled by the Helium Network's blockchain-powered wireless infrastructure, says it has entered into a sponsorship deal with the University of Southern California (USC) and its Trojans college sports teams. According to a message from a Helium rep: "By leveraging the world’s first people-built wireless network, Helium Mobile enables users to contribute to coverage and benefit from affordable, reliable phone service. The crypto incentive model rewards subscribers and Hotspot operators for supporting network growth, driving participation in decentralized wireless." In an email, the rep wrote: "Expect stadium branding, activations and on-site giveaways." Ethereum Name Service Developer ENS Labs Integrates With Arianee for 'Onchain Brand Identity Management' ENS Labs, behind the Ethereum Name Service for human-readable blockchain address identifiers, has integrated with Arianee "to enhance onchain brand identity management, according to the team: "This collaboration will enable brands to directly link their corporate domain names to ENS names. Under their ENS domain, companies can authenticate all digital ownerships and tokenization of assets. Luxury watchmaker Breitling is first adopter of this integration, utilizing ENS domains to verify product authenticity and digital ownership. Every Breitling watch will now have a blockchain-based digital passport, verifiable only through the brand’s ENS name." 'Gaia Domain Name' Lauches to Simplify Interactions in Decentralized AI Ecosystem Gaia launched the Gaia Domain Name (GDN) to simplify interactions in its decentralized AI ecosystem. According to the team: "Like Ethereum Name Service, GDN allows users to register readable domain names, replacing complex wallet addresses with intuitive identities. This initiative addresses issues in centralized AI, such as IP theft and bias, by protecting knowledge owners and providing a more accurate data foundation for innovators. GDN also lets domain owners grow nodes and agents linked to their domains, earning token rewards for their contributions." Arthur Hayes-Backed Maelstrom Awards Second Bitcoin Developer Grant to BIP Editor Atack Maelstrom, a decentralization-focused venture firm managed by the family office of BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes, announced in a press release Thursday that Jon Atack (GitHub profile) is the second recipient of its Bitcoin Grant Program, to continue his research and development work. According to a bio, Atack started contributing to Bitcoin Core in 2019 and recently was made a maintainer and editor of the Bitcoin Improvement Proposals (BIPs) repository. "Bitcoin isn't perfect," Atack said in the press release. "Among other things, it needs further decentralization, continued vigilance, review, bug-fixing, updates, maintenance and improved robustness, performance, privacy, scaling, documentation and user experience." Maestrom awarded its first developer grant earlier this month, after unveiling the program in July. The goal is to fund open-source Bitcoin developers, since unlike many newer crypto projects, Bitcoin has no single company or foundation driving the strategy or providing top-down funding. Bitcoin 'Hybrid' Layer-2 Project BOB Launches DEX Uniswap V3 PROTOCOL VILLAGE EXCLUSIVE: BOB (“Build on Bitcoin”), a "hybrid" layer-2 project focused on Bitcoin with Ethereum's EVM compatibility, has launched Uniswap v3, now available via the Oku decentralized exchange aggregator, according to the team: "This integration enhances trading efficiency, reduces slippage and improves liquidity provisioning for users. Additionally, traders and liquidity providers can earn Spice points during BOB Fusion's final season, incentivizing active participation." Hinkal, Privacy-Focused Self-Custodial Protocol, Launches 'Shared Privacy' Hinkal, an institutional self-custodial protocol designed for cross-chain shared privacy, has launched Shared Privacy, "a solution that extends ETH’s privacy protocols to multiple chains and eliminates bootstrapping separate anonymity sets on each chain," according to the team: "This tech is a leap that scales on-chain privacy horizontally across networks and fixes fragmented privacy solutions. It introduces Liquid Privacy Tokens, enabling stakers to earn yield while contributing to privacy via Hinkal’s permissionless, self-custodial Anonymity Staking system." Anoma, RISC Zero Disclose Plan to 'Bring Intents to the ZkVM' Anoma and RISC Zero disclosed that they are "teaming up to bring intents to the zkVM." According to a message from Protocol Village: "Using the Anoma Resource Machine as a backend for RISC Zero’s zkVM will enable intent-centric apps to generate ZK proofs that can be verified by Ethereum or any blockchain. This will enable any chain to verify that user intents have been satisfied. By marrying the user-friendliness of intents with the zkVM’s off-chain computation and on-chain verification, this collaboration will unlock massive scalability for multichain dapps that have the same ease of use as Web2 applications." Hermetica Launches Bitcoin-Backed Stablecoin USDh on Stacks Hermetica has launched its bitcoin-backed stablecoin USDh on the Stacks layer-2 network, making it the "first Bitcoin-backed stablecoin to enter the thriving Bitcoin ecosystem," according to the team. "This will transform the way Bitcoiners can store value and earn yields up to 25%, all while maintaining full control of their assets." The effort is leveraging liquidity technology from Velar, a DeFi protocol with Bitcoin finality, according to the team. XProtocol, Built on Base Chain, Unveils XForge as 'World's First Node-Operated DePIN Smartphone' XProtocol, an entertainment-focused blockchain built on the U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase's Ethereum layer-2 network, Base, has unveiled what it says is "the world’s first node-operated DePIN smartphone." According to the team, the Web3 startup’s new Android device, XForge, functions as a fully operational blockchain node. Users can participate in the DePIN network directly from their phone, earning rewards, airdrops and cryptocurrency incentives: "XForge represents the next evolution in mobile devices, combining blockchain power with smartphone convenience." Oasys, Arbitrum Foundation, Uprising Launching First Gaming-Focused Arbitrum Orbit Chain Beyond Ethereum Oasys, Arbitrum Foundation, and layer-2 Uprising have teamed up to launch what they say is the first gaming-focused Arbitrum Orbit blockchain beyond Ethereum." According to the team: "Uprising, a layer-2 gaming yield blockchain, and Oasys, a layer-1 gaming chain, are collaborating to enhance Web3 gaming through Arbitrum Orbit technology. This marks the first deployment of Arbitrum Orbit for gaming outside Ethereum, showcasing a shared vision for blockchain gaming's future." Bitcoin Staking Protocol Babylon Forms Strategic Alliance With Asphere to Allow Developers to Deploy Customizable L2s The Babylon Bitcoin staking protocol has entered a strategic alliance with Asphere, a scaling solution from the team behind Ankr, "to empower developers with an end-to-end solution for launching innovative Bitcoin layer 2s, according to the team: "The solution will allow developers to seamlessly deploy highly customizable L2s backed by the unparalleled security of the Bitcoin network. This enables developers to tap into Bitcoin’s vast liquidity, leverage Bitcoin’s $1 trillion market cap for ironclad security, and achieve extremely fast finality when building new use cases within the original blockchain ecosystem." Nomic Brings Bitcoin-Backed 'nBTC' to Berachain Nomic DAO Foundation, supporting the Nomic Network, a blockchain powering a decentralized custody engine for Bitcoin, announced the launch of nBTC, a 1:1 bitcoin-backed token, on Berachain, an Ethereum-compatible layer-1 network. The move follows Nomic’s recent Ethereum upgrade, which made nBTC natively available as an ERC-token on Ethereum, and capable of deployments to EVM-compatible chains, according to the team: "This integration allows users to directly deposit BTC for nBTC, bringing Bitcoin’s substantial liquidity into Berachain’s ecosystem, which operates on a unique proof-of-liquidity consensus model. This will enhance the capabilities of Bitcoin within Berachain’s growing ecosystem, offering developers the ability to integrate nBTC into DeFi protocols and to build BTC-backed applications without relying on centralized intermediaries." ZKVerify, Hyberbridge Team Up to Deliver Cross-Chain ZK proof Verification ZkVerify, a blockchain designed to provide zero-knowledge proof verifications, and Hyperbridge, a so-called coprocessor where verification operations are performed offchain and then the results securely reported back, have teamed up to deliver cross-chain zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) verification, cutting costs by over 90%, according to the team: "ZkVerify handles the computationally heavy proof verification off-chain, enhancing scalability, while Hyperbridge makes verified proofs accessible across multiple blockchain networks, reducing gas fees. This partnership tackles Ethereum's limitations and supports a broader range of cryptographic techniques, fostering innovation and cost-effective ZKP solutions for developers and end-users across various blockchains." Lido, Fireblocks Form Partnership Making It Easier for Institutions to Liquid-Stake ETH Lido, a liquid staking project that's the largest DeFi protocol overall, has partnered with Fireblocks, a digital-asset security firm, to make it easier and more secure for institutions to liquid-stake ETH, according to the team: "This integration allows institutions to stake any amount of ETH and receive liquid stETH, providing flexibility to trade or use their staked assets without locking them up, giving instant liquidity. By simplifying the staking process, this integration makes liquid staking more accessible for retail exchanges and institutions." Theta Labs Launches 'EdgeCloud for Mobile,' Implements AI Video Detection Theta Labs, the developer behind the entertainment-focused blockchain project Theta Network, has launched EdgeCloud for Mobile, allowing Android users to contribute spare GPU power to the Theta EdgeCloud network and earn TFUEL tokens. According to the team: "Available on Google Play, the app lets users provide resources during idle times, supporting AI research in media, healthcare and finance. Using a Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN), Theta EdgeCloud cuts GPU-intensive task costs by over 50% compared to traditional cloud providers, offering scalable, decentralized AI model training and inference services." The blog post reads: "For the first time ever, the Theta team has implemented a video object detection AI model (VOD_AI) that runs on consumer grade Android mobile devices, delivering true computation at the edge and enabling unparalleled scalability and reach. VOD_AI is a computer vision technique that uses AI to analyze video frames to identify objects by scanning video frames, looking for potential objects and drawing bounding boxes around them. This process is similar to how the human visual cortex works." (THETA) EOS Network Unveils Major Upgrade with 1-Second Transaction Finality EOS Network has successfully launched its groundbreaking Spring 1.0 upgrade, "featuring the Savanna consensus algorithm, which enhances transaction finality to just one second, over 100X faster than previous versions," according to the team: "This significant improvement in speed, security and scalability marks a new chapter for the network. With BLS cryptography, the upgrade reflects EOS’s community commitment for future network development." (EOS) GFT, Red Date Integrate Hedera-Based Stablecoins, EMTECH CBDC Sandbox Into Universal Digital Payments Network GFT, a global IT engineering and solutions provider, and Red Date Technology, a decentralized cloud infrastructure company, have integrated Hedera network-based stablecoins and the EMTECH CBDC Sandbox into the Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN). According to the team: "This integration will make it easier to create programmable payment applications using stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on Hedera. In this proof of concept, GFT developed and integrated two custom transaction nodes, connecting the UDPN to digital currency systems via a single transaction gateway—one for stablecoins from the Hedera Stablecoin Studio, and one for CBDCs from the EMTECH CBDC Sandbox." (HBAR) Movement Labs Launches Accelerator 'Move Collective,' Highlights Funding for Early Participants Movement Labs, a network focused on open-source tooling for the Move smart contract language, announced the launch of its elite accelerator program, "Move Collective." According to a press release, "This innovative program is designed to nurture and support the most promising projects in the Movement ecosystem, offering comprehensive support to projects at various stages of development." The following companies "leveraged the resources and support provided by the Move Collective to connect with investors and secure their pre-seed funding:" Lync: $1.5 million for their consumer-centric rollup HelixLabs: $2 million for their innovative cross-chain interoperability solution Nexio: $2.2 million for their parallelized Bitcoin rollup Echelon: $3.5 million for their decentralized lending protocol Meridian: $4 million for their advanced DeFi platform https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/09/25/protocol-village/

2024-09-27 14:47

A $10 billion surge in stablecoin minting over the past weeks has flooded the crypto market with liquidity, 10X Research's Markus Thielen noted. Impressive gains since the U.S. Federal Reserve's mid-September rate cut and subsequent China stimulus plans have pushed bitcoin (BTC) out of its downtrend, according to a new research report. "FOMO is Back: Are You Holding Enough Bitcoin and Altcoins to Ride the New Wave," is the title of 10X Research's Markus Thielen's latest analysis. "With bitcoin breaking above $65,000, we anticipate a swift move toward $70,000, followed by new all-time highs in the near term." Thielen took note of a sharp increase in stablecoin minting following the Fed's July meeting, at which it left rates unchanged but indicated a September easing was likely. Nearly $10 billion in stablecoin minting ensued in the subsequent weeks, said Thielen, flooding the crypto markets with liquidity and sharply surpassing spot ETF flows. Of particular interest, said Thielen, Circle's USDC accounted for 40% of recent stablecoin inflows, a far higher share versus Tether's USDT than is typical. It's important, he said, as while USDT minting on TRON is typically associated with capital preservation, USDC minting could indicate a rise in DeFi activity. Noting that 55% of currently mined bitcoins are coming from Chinese mining pools, Thielen said that country's massive monetary and fiscal stimulus measures – announced just after the Fed rate cut – could trigger large capital outflows from China and into cryptos. "The likelihood of a Q4 rally is exceptionally high, with gains likely front-loaded," Thielen concluded. "A major surge could be on the horizon, sparking even more FOMO across the crypto space." Bitcoin currently is higher by 2.3% over the past 24 hours and nearly 12% month-over-month to $66,300, its strongest level since late July. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/09/27/bitcoin-fomo-is-back-10x-researchs-markus-thielen/

2024-09-27 12:35

“The new inflow of cash could indirectly push up the price of bitcoin, particularly in the long term perspective,” one analyst said. Bitcoin's price has been positively correlated with the size of the People's Bank of China's (PBOC) balance sheet over the past eight years. The PBOC is considering a massive stimulus of up to 1 trillion yuan ($142 billion) to bolster its economy, leading to a surge in Asian stock markets, including a notable rise in the CSI 300 Index. Some say this stimulus could indirectly benefit bitcoin by potentially increasing investments in blockchain and crypto-related ventures. Bitcoin (BTC) prices seem to have tracked the growth in the Chinese central bank's balance sheet over the past eight years, maintaining a notable positive 30-day correlation. The People's Bank of China (PBOC), holds roughly $6.22 trillion worth of U.S. dollars on its balance sheet. At press time, the 30-day correlation coefficient between bitcoin's price and the PBOC's balance sheet size was 0.66, according to data source TradingView. Its always been positive except 2016 and from late 2022 to 2023. On the other hand, as of writing, bitcoin had a -0.88 correlation over 30 days with the Federal Reserve's balance sheet, the lowest on record since 2016. A strong correlation means a co-efficient of 0.6-0.9, and 0.8-1 is considered a very strong correlation. Correlations are a statistical measure of how two variables are related and can be used in financial markets to predict or track asset prices. The positive correlation is noteworthy as early this week, the PBOC said it was considering injecting up to 1 trillion yuan ($142 billion) of capital into its biggest state banks to increase their capacity to support the struggling economy. The central bank also cut the reserve requirement ratio for mainland banks by 50 basis points (bps) while lowering the seven-day reverse repo rate – the interest rate at which a central bank borrows funds from commercial banks – by 20 bps to 1.5%. BTC has gained nearly 3% this week and is up over 10% for the month, according to CoinDesk data. Asian stocks led by China have also surged in the wake of PBOC's stimulus bazooka. The CSI 300 Index of large-cap shares soared 4.5% on Friday, bringing this week’s gain to 16% in the biggest run since 2008. Like the U.S., China's stimulus aims to lower unemployment and spur business growth. The new inflow of cash could indirectly push up the price of Bitcoin, particularly from a long-term perspective, market analyst Nick Ruck told CoinDesk in a Telegram message on Friday. “The stimulus could lead to increased investment in blockchain companies that may include mining technology and startups,” Ruck said. “Select funds may also be able to increase exposure to crypto-related investments offshore, such as in stock-listed firms and ETFs in Hong Kong.” The bump won’t be limited to bitcoin, some say, as all riskier assets are expected to get a boost in the coming months. “It’s all the green light for global risk markets as U.S. equities hit new ATHs for the 3rd time this week, helped by a rapid-fire of furious stimulus to resuscitate the long-struggling Chinese economy,” Augustine Fan, head of insights at SOFA, told CoinDesk. “This has led macro observers to turn explicitly bullish on all risk assets in the interim, with a seemingly globally synchronized easing move that was reminiscent of the easy-money days from the QE era.” “Naturally, crypto prices are still highly correlated to equity performance. However, investor sentiment seems to have flipped to a ‘buy the dip’ mode, and risk-reward favors a continued rally with no or little downside catalysts in sight,” Fan added. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/09/27/bitcoin-prices-show-positive-30-day-correlation-with-chinas-central-bank-balance-sheet/

2024-09-27 12:01

The latest price moves in crypto markets in context for Sept. 27, 2024. Latest Prices CoinDesk 20 Index: 2,090.20 +1.76% Bitcoin (BTC): $65,567.06 +1.8% Ether (ETH): $2,649.73 +0.83% S&P 500: 5,745.37 +0.4% Gold: $2,666.73 -0.22% Nikkei 225: 39,829.56 +2.32% Top Stories Bitcoin closed in on a return to $66,000, climbing to its highest point since the start of August. BTC rose to over $65,900 during mid-morning in Europe, an increase of over 3% in the previous 24 hours. Bitcoin then retreated to trade just above $65,500. Spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. enjoyed a monster day on Thursday, registering inflows of $365 million and bringing the weekly total to over $600 million. The broader digital asset market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 Index, is also higher by around 1.8%, with dogecoin leading the gains. DOGE jumped around 9% to nearly $0.125 amid a surge in memecoin prices. China's plans for a huge stimulus package lit a fire under memecoins, with both SHIB and FLOKI registering double-digit gains. Memecoin prices tend to respond positively to liquidity injections because the increased availability of cash nurtures a greater appetite for risk among traders. Memecoins are community-driven and jump when the market displays risk-on behavior. "Leading the gains are the SOL and BTC ecosystems, indicating a strong focus on meme coins as overall liquidity grows. While not nearly as explosive as meme coins on the aforementioned chains, meme coins on Ethereum, such as $PEPE and $SHIB, are also experiencing heightened interest from the market," HashKey OTC CEO Li Liang said. TIA, the token of data-availability network Celestia, posted its best monthly gain this year, confounding traders who'd positioned for a drop in the price as the result of a $1.13 billion token unlock due next month. September's market-beating 40% surge takes place against a background of some market participants seeking downside hedges due to concerns the token unlock due Oct. 31, equivalent to 16% of its total supply, will flood the market and depress prices. However, the bias for shorts, likely stemming from the hedging activity, might have led to a short squeeze, contributing to the TIA rally. "Traders tried to sell ahead of the [unlock] event from Julyish. I'd argue the squeeze has already happened," Jake Ostovskis, an over-the-counter trader at Wintermute, told CoinDesk. Chart of the Day The chart shows the dollar value locked in the number of active XRP call and put options on Deribit. At $18.7 million, open interest in calls is at least five times greater than in put options, a sign of bias for bullish bets. Source: Amberdata - Omkar Godbole Trending Posts SEC's Gensler Won't Reveal His View on Trump's Bitcoin Reserve, Reiterates Bitcoin Isn't a Security BlackRock Highlights Bitcoin’s Unique Properties as Approved IBIT Options Could Cement Risk-Off Status Binance Founder Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao Could Be Released on Friday https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/09/27/first-mover-americas-bitcoin-nears-66k-after-monster-etf-day/