[Link to FM] FTX surpasses Coinbase to become the second largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange, and Coinbase will list Kusama

【Data Intelligence】

The total venture capital investment in the encryption industry fell to US$4.219 billion in May, a decrease of 38% month-on-month

On June 2, according to TechCrunch, market analysis company Dove Metrics data disclosed that the total venture capital investment in the encryption industry has dropped from $6.829 billion in April to $4.219 billion in May, a drop of 38%. However, although the amount of venture capital funds in the encryption industry has declined in the short term, it is still significantly higher than the level a year ago. In May 2021, the financing scale of the encryption industry was only 22.33%, an increase of 89% year-on-year.

The total market capitalization of metaverse-related encrypted assets is $13.93 billion

According to the latest data, the total market value of metaverse-related encrypted assets is 13.93 billion US dollars, and the 24-hour trading volume is 3.1 billion US dollars, a decrease of 29.13%. The top five NFT tokens by current market value are: ApeCoin ($1.92 billion), Decentraland ($1.83 billion), TheSandbox ($1.71 billion), AxieInfinity ($1.42 billion), THETA ($1.26 billion).

【 Regulatory News 】

DOJ charges former OpenSea product manager with NFT insider trading

A court has charged OpenSea's former product chief Nate Chastain with wire fraud and money laundering following an insider trading scandal. Nate Chastain was arrested Wednesday morning in New York, New York. He will appear in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, according to a press release from the Justice Department on Wednesday. Chastain has previously been accused of using a secret Ethereum wallet to purchase NFTs based on confidential information, which will soon appear on OpenSea’s homepage. According to the indictment, he is allegedly responsible for selecting which NFTs will appear on the homepage. From approximately June to September 2021, he sold the works for two to five times their original purchase price, according to the DOJ indictment. These practices have been likened to front-running and insider trading, activities in which individuals profit off of non-public information. These activities are prohibited in traditional financial markets, and law enforcement has indicated that these laws will apply as well.

South Korea will establish a "Digital Assets Committee" to strengthen the supervision of encrypted transactions

South Korean officials will set up a digital asset committee to oversee cryptocurrency trading platforms as early as next month, news agency NEWSPIM reported on June 1. The committee will make policy recommendations on issues such as listing standards and investor protection for cryptocurrencies on South Korean trading platforms.

【Industry Trends】

GameStop Earned $76.9M in Sales Revenue from IMX Token Sales in Q1

Gaming retailerGameStop (GME) released its financial results for the first quarter of 2022 on Wednesday, including $76.9 million in sales revenue from the sale of IMX tokens as part of its partnership with NFT extension platform Immutable. GameStop sold IMX tokens acquired as part of its deal with Immutable in February, generating $76.9 million in proceeds. The company reported negative cash flow of $236.3 million in the first quarter. GameStop said it will take steps to support the recently launched digital asset wallet to allow gamers and other users to store, send, receive and spend cryptocurrencies and NFTs in decentralized applications. GameStop's NFT marketplace is expected to launch in the second quarter . The company's management said on the earnings call that the digital asset wallet has received "substantial" downloads from the Chrome app store, and CEO Matt Furlong mentioned: "We firmly believe that digital assets are at the heart of the future of gaming."

Crypto lending and trading firm Genesis puts $75M into Maple's Solana-based lending platform

Crypto lending and trading firm Genesis is investing $75 million in Maple's Solana-based lending platform to expand its decentralized finance (DeFi) business. With the capital injection, Genesis will become the first centralized exchange for Maple's Solana platform capital pool, after Maple launched its Solana-based platform earlier this year and also runs a lending platform on Ethereum. Trading firms Wintermute and Amber Group plan to borrow from the pool, according to Genesis. Genesis said that borrowers on the Maple platform go through a due diligence process overseen by fund pool representatives, thereby reducing credit risk, running part of the loan book through Maple’s infrastructure, and reducing operating costs by replacing traditional software tools with on-chain functions.

Coinbase will list Kusama (KSM)

On June 2, Coinbase announced that it will list Kusama (KSM), and deposits are now open. If the liquidity conditions are met, trading will begin at or after 9:00 a.m. Pacific time on Thursday, June 2, and KSM-USD and KSM-USDT trading pairs will be launched in stages.

Blockchain infrastructure company InfStones receives $66 million in financing SoftBank, GGV lead investment

Blockchain infrastructure providerInfStones has raised $66 million in a new funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and GGV Capital. Other participants in the round included INCE Capital, 10T Fund, SNZ Holding and A&T Fund. The round comes just over three months after InfStones raised $33 million, bringing the company's total funding to more than $100 million. The new capital will help InfStones grow its team, build out its blockchain infrastructure solutions, expand into new markets and pursue potential partnerships and acquisitions.

Project Galaxy announced that it will launch the GAL chain based on the BNB application side chain

On June 1, NFT infrastructure service provider Project Galaxy announced that it will launch its exclusive GAL chain based on the BNB application side chain. The chain is currently under construction and will be launched soon. Project Galaxy said that the launch of the GAL chain aims to bring a new experience to Web3 certificates. Through the new GAL chain, users will be able to manage and contribute digital credentials to the Project Galaxy ecosystem, and then use these credentials through application modules, oracle credentials, and API credentials. In short, Project Galaxy's digital identities will have many more use cases.

【Elite Viewpoint】

V God: The difference between low-carbon and technology left is not the only difference, all teams have differences

Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, tweeted that today, we saw that science fiction writer Cory Doctorow signed a letter arguing for stricter regulation of cryptocurrencies, which disturbed and confused many cryptocurrency advocates because many People look up to his vision and see themselves as fellow travelers. The Cory Doctorow speech had some specific concerns about financialization. But it feels like there's a deeper reason, the low-carb vs. tech left divide isn't the only one, all teams have it. Idealistic small movements can easily lose their idealism once they get bigger and get mixed up with other energies that are more likely to lead to something negative. As Cory mentioned, cryptocurrencies started as decentralized enthusiasts, but now there are various types of "rich people". It's an inevitable part of getting bigger in the market, and in non-financial sports too, norms and scammers of all types often emerge over time.

Federal Reserve: There are both risks and opportunities in stablecoins and central bank digital currencies

On June 1, Federal Reserve Williams stated that digital currencies are booming. This includes cryptocurrencies that are not fully backed by other assets. These also include stablecoins fully backed by safe and liquid assets, as well as central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Both stablecoins and CBDCs fully backed by safe assets could become new ways to hold money and make payments. While all of these innovations open up the possibility of doing things differently than in the past, they also introduce risks, and we must carefully consider proper regulation to protect consumers and investors and ensure the stability and safety of the financial system.

【What to watch today】

FTX surpasses Coinbase to become the second largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange

According to data compiled by The Block Research, FTX surpassed Coinbase in May this year to become the second-largest centralized cryptocurrency exchange in terms of market share. As of now, Binance still dominates with a market share of 64.1%, followed by FTX (10.8%) and Coinbase (9.6%). After Coinbase are Kraken (3.7%), Bitfinex (2.6%) and LMAX Digital (2.6%). According to The Block’s Legal Volume Index, cryptocurrency trading volumes overall rose 19.6% in May to $830.4 billion.

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