Forum
Finance
Specials
On-chain Eco
Entry
Podcasts
Activities
OPRR
This week in review | Singapore cracks down on one of the largest money laundering cases in recent years; Connext and Clipper announce airdrop information.
BlockBeats will compile industry news highlights for the week of 8.14-8.20 in this article, and recommend in-depth articles to help readers better understand the market and industry trends.
Weekly News Recap
WSJ: SpaceX has sold $373 million worth of Bitcoin held during 2021-2022, specific timing is unclear
On August 18th, according to the Wall Street Journal, SpaceX has sold $373 million worth of Bitcoin obtained during 2021-2022. The report stated that the Wall Street Journal reporter reviewed SpaceX's financial documents, which recorded $373 million worth of Bitcoin holdings on the balance sheets for 2021 and 2022, but the specific timing and amount of the sale is unclear. Perhaps affected by the news, the cryptocurrency market plummeted again in a short period of time on the same day, with the 24-hour decline of multiple mainstream currencies exceeding 10%, and the total amount of liquidation on the entire network exceeding $1 billion at one point, setting a new high for the year. Related reading: "Bitcoin falls below $26,000 in the short term, with liquidation exceeding $1 billion in 24 hours".
Singapore police seized assets worth $736 million, including virtual asset information files, in an anti-money laundering operation
On August 16, according to official sources, Singapore police seized and froze SGD 1 billion (approximately $736 million) in cash and assets in the largest anti-money laundering operation. Ten suspects between the ages of 31 and 44 were arrested on charges of forgery, money laundering, and resisting lawful arrest. Twelve people assisted in the investigation, and eight others are currently wanted. These individuals are believed to be connected and are neither Singapore citizens nor permanent residents. Related reading: "Lianhe Zaobao: Singapore cracks down on one of the largest money laundering cases in recent years, arresting 10 suspects with a total amount involved of up to SGD 1 billion".
Guangxi Court tries "Time-Space Cloud, Filecoin" organization and leaders for involvement in pyramid scheme, involving over 600 million yuan
On August 15th, the People's Court of Pingnan County in Guangxi recently publicly tried four defendants, including Lai Mouhang, for organizing and leading pyramid schemes, involving over 600 million yuan. They deceived participants by selling storage servers to mine fil coins, promoting joint mining, cloud computing power and other packages, and the more investment and downline development, the more profits they gained. In June 2018, the defendant established Shenzhen Time-Space Cloud Technology Co., Ltd. In September 2019, the defendant Lai Mouhang used the domain name ipfs.cn to set up the IPFS China Community website and WeChat public account, vigorously promoting and exaggerating the investment prospects of distributed storage technology and the economic model of filecoin.io.
Sei releases airdrop rules, users can now check their eligibility for airdrops; Foundation expands the number of eligible wallets for airdrops
On August 15th, according to official sources, Sei has opened a webpage for users to check their eligibility for airdrops. Whitelisted users must bridge eligible assets to Sei, including the following networks: Solana, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, and Osmosis. Related reading: "Detailed explanation of Sei airdrop rules". On August 17th, the Sei Foundation officially announced on social media that due to high demand, the number of qualified wallets for cross-chain airdrops will be increased from 500,000 to 1.5 million.
Clipper releases airdrop eligibility standards, SAIL token to be launched by the end of August
On August 17th, decentralized exchange platform Clipper announced that it will take over Clipper through the issuance of AdmiralDAO's SAIL token. The governance token plan is set to launch by the end of August 2023 and eligibility standards for the airdrop have already been released.
Connext launches token NEXT, airdrop application opens on September 5th
On August 17th, Layer2 interoperability protocol Connext will launch its native token called NEXT on September 5th. The Connext team also plans to airdrop NEXT tokens to early users of Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Gnosis Chain, with applications opening on September 5th.
CyberConnect (CYBER) Airdrop is now open for claiming
On August 15th, the CyberConnect (CYBER) Airdrop was opened for claiming. CyberConnect will distribute a total of 2.4 million CYBER tokens as airdrop rewards to community users in Season 1, accounting for 2.4% of the total token supply. Users who hold Mystery Box, The Shards, Mini Shards, W3ST, CyberProfile Premium Handle, and CyberProfile Early Adopter NFT are eligible to claim the airdrop.
Warning: zkSync ecosystem DEX Merlin refund website is a phishing site, users should not interact
Huobi founder Li Lin rents and buys a luxury home in Hong Kong for over HKD 1 billion
On August 14th, Li Lin, the founder of Huobi, purchased a unit in the largest estate in Kowloon, located at Dragon Horse Path, Mid-Levels, for over HKD 1 billion. According to Ming Pao, the property was sold in the form of a lease before purchase, with a lease term of 90 months, or about 7 and a half years, starting from September 1st. After the 7 and a half year lease term is completed, the buyer has the option to renew the lease for an additional 3 months, and then purchase the unit at a subscription price of HKD 1 billion, based on a practical area of 11,692 square feet, or HKD 85,529 per square foot. If the buyer exercises the subscription right for HKD 1 billion, the transaction price may set a new record for a first-hand estate in Kowloon. Previously, Li Lin sold his Huobi shares to Sun Yuchen for over USD 1 billion. Li Lin also likes to purchase properties in Shenzhen, Beijing, and other cities.
NFT project Cool Cats CEO Stephen Teglas announces resignation
On August 19th, Stephen Teglas, CEO of NFT project Cool Cats, announced his resignation. Clon, the project's founder and digital artist, will take over leadership and be responsible for overall strategy and daily operations.
ZetaChain Completes $27 Million Equity Financing with Participation from Jane Street Capital
On August 16th, ZetaChain, a Layer 1 network for full-chain interoperability, announced the completion of a $27 million equity financing round. The round was participated by Blockchain.com, Human Capital, VY Capital, Sky9 Capital, Jane Street Capital, Smrti Lab, VistaLabs, CMT Digital, Foundation Capital, Lingfeng Capital, GSR, Kudasai, Krust, and others.
friend.tech Completes Seed Round Investment with Participation from Paradigm; Distributes First Batch of Airdropped Points to 44,000 Users
On August 19th, friend.tech announced that it has completed its seed round investment with participation from Paradigm. It also announced that it has distributed the first batch of airdropped points to 44,000 users. During the six-month testing phase, 1 billion points will be distributed and airdrop activities will take place every Friday. Point records will be kept off-chain and will have special uses once the testing phase is over. Related reading: "New Product Review: friend.tech Boosts KOLs on Twitter and Creator Tokens are Hot Again"
Binance releases XIRTAM asset recovery progress update, automatic fund return time is September 4th
On August 17th, Binance released an update on the progress of the XIRTAM asset recovery: Binance has been continuously communicating and resolving the issue since the XIRTAM incident occurred, and has opened a form to collect information for users to apply for asset returns. At present, Binance's security team has been working hard to calculate the asset losses of all affected users, ensuring the accuracy of the calculations and the amount of damaged assets.
Coinbase to suspend USDT, DAI, and RAI stablecoin trading for Canadian users
On August 18th, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced that it will suspend trading of Tether (USDT), DAI, and RAI stablecoins for Canadian users starting from August 31st. In an email notification sent to users on August 17th, Coinbase stated that "We regularly monitor the assets on our trading platform to ensure they meet our listing standards," and based on their review, Canadian users will no longer be able to trade the aforementioned stablecoins starting from September.
Base Ecological Lending Protocol SwirlLend Suspected of Running Away, Protocol Tokens and TVL Close to Zero
On August 16th, according to DefiLlama data, the TVL of SwirlLend, a lending protocol in the Base ecosystem, has dropped from $784,000 to $49,200. In addition, the official Twitter account of the protocol has been deactivated. According to on-chain information, the price of SwirlLend protocol token SWI also fell close to zero at 10 am this morning.
Coca-Cola releases series of NFTs on Base Chain
On August 14th, according to official sources, the well-known beverage brand Coca-Cola released a series of NFTs on the Base Chain. This NFT series combines world art works with Coca-Cola's iconic bottle design. Currently, there are 5 NFTs available for minting in this series, with minting prices ranging from 0.0011ETH to 0.014ETH.
This Week's Popular Articles
Let 45 million people get in touch with Bitcoin, will Argentina become the next El Salvador?
"Due to the current situation, we are temporarily unable to display prices on the shelves. Please inquire about prices at the checkout counter. All cash promotions are suspended until further notice. Thank you for your understanding." This notice was posted outside a small market in Argentina and fully reflects the chaos in the Argentine economy in recent years. It is hard to imagine that Argentina was once among the top ten economies in the world in terms of total economic output in the early 20th century. In recent years, due to factors such as the international economic and financial situation and the pandemic, Argentina's domestic economic growth has not only slowed significantly, but the inflation rate has also reached 100%, and the value of the peso has depreciated sharply, making it the weakest currency in the world this year. Bank of America's pessimistic forecast predicts that the official exchange rate of the peso will fall to 545 by the end of this year and to 1193 by the end of next year. Therefore, in the complex situation of the domestic economy, the new election in Argentina is hoped by many people."
Who is behind Binance: The borderless company in 4,000 resumes
42 days after the launch of its product, Binance ranked tenth in global trading volume; 92 days later, it ranked fifth; 156 days later, it ranked third; and on day 165, it became the global number one - and it remains so today. How did they achieve all of this? Uncovering the story of this company and "Finding Zhao Changpeng" is a massive undertaking, and this article is just a small beginning. It comes from our guest author, Wang Hanyang, who, along with his friends, combed through over 4,000 resumes found on the internet from people claiming to have worked or interned at Binance. Their backgrounds and experiences pieced together a small part of the puzzle of this mysterious company.
The Lianhe Zaobao newspaper published an article this week reporting on the largest money laundering case uncovered in Singapore in recent years, and released photos and introductions of 10 suspects. These 10 individuals are originally from China and are suspected of committing crimes such as forging documents and laundering black money, involving an amount exceeding 1 billion Singapore dollars.
Gitcoin Guide: What are the high-quality projects in Round 18 donations?
This donation is called Gitcoin Grant 18, which is divided into four encrypted parts: Web3 open source software, Web3 community and education, climate solutions, Ethereum infrastructure, and an additional Featured Rounds for project creators.
Under the Crypto Winter, PUA, the Luma Studio may face a wave of bankruptcies
On August 15th, when SEI/Cyber officially went online with Binance, the Lumaos community was in chaos, with many claiming to have been PUA/anti-Lumaos. They quickly reached a consensus: "Domestic projects only know how to PUA, without any vision. To Lumaos, we must focus on foreign teams and high-financing projects." The hardest hit were the full-time Lumaos people, with many exclaiming on Twitter that "the Lumaos studio is about to face a wave of bankruptcies." Indeed, we have found that many small and medium-sized Lumaos studios have entered a state of suspension and shutdown.
靠美债养活的 Coinbase，还在续命路上
Coinbase, which relies on US Treasury bonds for survival, is still struggling to stay afloat.
Under the shadow of the cold winter of encryption, the days of exchanges are not easy. With a significant decrease in trading volume, revenue has also continued to decline. The recently released Coinbase Q2 financial report shows that the trading volume in the second quarter of 2023 decreased by 37% compared to the previous quarter, and trading revenue also declined. For the first time, it was surpassed by the revenue source of "subscriptions and services", which means that the revenue structure of cryptocurrency exchanges is undergoing a transformation, which may redefine the current cryptocurrency landscape.
Since the Black Mountain EDCON in April, "ZK" has become the hottest word of the year, expanding the narrative space brought by Ethereum to new heights. What ZK will look like in the future still requires more imagination. The Proof Market built by the =nil; Foundation has sparked my infinite imagination for this billion-dollar era. Recently, I had a deep conversation with Mikhail Komarov, co-founder of the =nil; Foundation, discussing topics related to the =nil; Foundation, zkLLVM, and Proof Market.
Detailed explanation of Sei airdrop rules
Sei has released an explanatory document to clarify the eligibility and rules for airdrop distribution to users.
Mint Ventures: Layout upgrade in Cancun, who is the better choice between OP and ARB?
In 2023, the Cancun upgrade is undoubtedly one of the most critical industry events after the Shanghai upgrade, and the L2 project that benefits from it is also a key track we are focusing on this year. The Cancun upgrade included in EIP4844 is expected to take place between October 2023 and January 2024. The token prices of the two main L2 projects, Arbitrum (hereinafter referred to as ARB) and Optimism (hereinafter referred to as OP), which are included in the upgrade, experienced a deep correction after reaching new highs in the first half of the year, and it may still be a better time to layout.
Detailed explanation of Binance Launchpool, a stable financial lottery for BNB holders
There are many criticisms in the market that Launchpool cannot bring enough returns to users. The logic of participating in Binance Launchpool is different from Binance Launchpad. Binance Launchpool is more inclined towards financial products for BNB and some stablecoin holders, with a longer cycle and relatively fixed returns, suitable for users who already hold BNB and have a low risk preference. At the same time, Binance also provides users with stablecoin pool mining, which allows them to obtain new coin returns without risk. Therefore, BlockBeats will analyze the real rate of return of Binance Launchpool and how to participate to obtain the best return.
出师未捷，Tornado Cash 的「维权」之路并不容易
Translation:
The road to "rights protection" for Tornado Cash is not easy, despite its initial success
On August 17th, despite the support of giants such as Coinbase, a team of six people including Ethereum core developers and Coinbase employees failed in their lawsuit accusing the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of exceeding its authority in sanctioning Tornado Cash. After this sanction event, a large number of DeFi protocols banned addresses related to Tornado Cash, the Github code repository of founding team members was also deleted, and even its co-founder Alexey Pertsev was arrested in the Netherlands on August 12, 2022 (released in April 2023) on charges of "concealing criminal funds flow and facilitating money laundering". In addition, the Tornado Cash Discord channel and DAO governance forum were also closed on the same day.
Welcome to join the official community of BlockBeats by Lu Dong
Telegram subscription group: https://t.me/theblockbeats
Telegram communication group: https://t.me/theblockbeatsApp
Twitter official account: https://twitter.com/BlockBeatsAsia
Welcome to join the official BlockBeats community:
Telegram Subscription Group: https://t.me/theblockbeats
Telegram Discussion Group: https://t.me/BlockBeats_App
Official Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/BlockBeatsAsia
