Russia warns France over Durov case, Trump launches new crypto project

Headlines

▌Russia warns France not to take political action in Telegram CEO case

Russia warns France not to take political action in Telegram CEO case, and criminal charges against Telegram CEO Pavel Durov could be seen as "political persecution". Durov, a Russian-born French citizen, was detained in Paris on suspicion of failing to control illegal content on the information platform. He was released on bail, but must remain in France and report to the police regularly. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Russian officials support Durov, who has Russian citizenship, and are willing to help him.

▌World Liberty Financial, a new crypto project launched by Trump, claims to provide high-yield investment opportunities

Former US President Donald Trump has launched a new cryptocurrency project called World Liberty Financial, claiming to provide "high-yield" investment opportunities. According to metadata on the project's website, the platform is "the only crypto DeFi platform backed by Donald J. Trump" and aims to connect users with the best tools in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space to achieve secure "high-yield" crypto investments. Its website calls on users to "Join the financial revolution now!" The platform's trademark was filed in mid-July by attorney Alex Golubitsky, who confirmed that it was related to Trump's cryptocurrency plans. Trump and his son Eric have been promoting the new platform as Trump's latest attempt in the cryptocurrency field. At the same time, Trump has also launched a fourth NFT series, hoping to continue the success of previous crypto collectibles sales. Trump has promised to make the United States a "global crypto capital" if he is re-elected president. At present, the press office of World Liberty Financial has not yet commented on the matter.

Market

As of press time, according to Coingecko data:

BTC's latest transaction price is 59,385.47 US dollars, with a daily increase or decrease of +0.6%;

ETH's latest transaction price is 2,528.76 yuan, with a daily increase or decrease of +0.0%;

BNB's latest transaction price is 536.80 US dollars, with a daily increase or decrease of +0.0%;

SOL's latest transaction price is 140.00 US dollars, with a daily increase or decrease of -2.7%;

DOGE's latest transaction price is $0.1004, with a daily increase or decrease of +0.8%;

XPR's latest transaction price is $0.5619, with a daily increase or decrease of -1.3%.

Policy

▌The U.S. House Financial Services Committee plans to hold multiple cryptocurrency hearings in September

The U.S. House Financial Services Committee plans to hold multiple hearings in September, focusing on cryptocurrency-related issues, including decentralized finance (DeFi), regulation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the impact of the "pig killing" scam. The first hearing on September 10 will focus on DeFi, a hearing on SEC enforcement and the "pig killing" scam will be held on September 18, and the full committee hearing on September 23 will involve SEC testimony and is expected to focus on the regulation of digital assets. Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry is retiring and has expressed his hope to complete a cryptocurrency legislation by the end of the year.

▌Trump: Ready to announce plan to make the United States the world's "crypto capital"

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Trump announced that he will launch a plan to ensure that the United States becomes the "global crypto capital." Trump posted on the social media platform on Thursday, but did not reveal any details. The video he shared also included a decentralized financial project that his sons have recently promoted. "This afternoon (morning on the 30th Beijing time), I will present my plan to ensure that the United States becomes the global crypto capital," Trump said in the video.

▌French President Macron: Did not know Pavel Durov arrived in France and had no plans to meet him

French President Emmanuel Macron held a press conference during a diplomatic visit to Serbia. In a televised interview, the French leader told reporters that he did not invite Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov to France and did not know he was coming to France.  

According to a translated version of Macron's response, the French president said: "For my part, I was completely unaware that Mr. Pavel Durov was coming to France. This is normal because I was not aware of people coming to France from all over the world, whether they have French nationality or not." The French president then reiterated that Pavel Durov's case would be handled by the "independent action of the French judicial system."  

France has faced widespread international backlash over its decision to arrest Durov, and Macron insisted that the decision to detain the tech entrepreneur was not politically motivated.

▌Salvadoran President: Bitcoin has not yet been as widely adopted as we would like

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said in an interview with Time magazine that the monetary experiment with Bitcoin as legal tender has had mixed results. When asked if Bitcoin monetization has been "successful," Bukele said: "Bitcoin has not been as widely adopted as we would like it to be. Many Salvadorans use it. Most of the country's large businesses use it. The positive thing is that it is voluntary; we have never forced anyone to adopt it. We offer it as an option, and those who choose to use it have benefited from the rise of Bitcoin. I certainly hope that more people adopt it, but we have always prided ourselves on being a free country, free in every way." Nayib Bukele noted that despite the limited effect of Bitcoin's domestic application, it has enhanced El Salvador's "brand", attracted foreign investment, and promoted the development of tourism. Several Bitcoin companies have offices or headquarters in the country.

Blockchain Applications

▌Ethereum DApp transaction volume rose 36% in a week, but ETH price has not recovered

According to DappRadar data, Ethereum decentralized application (DApp) transaction volume rose 36% in the past week, mainly driven by decentralized exchange Uniswap and automated market maker Balancer. Uniswap transaction volume increased 35% to $30.8 billion, while automated market maker Balancer transaction volume increased 46% to $18.1 billion. However, ETH price did not follow the rise. Since falling to $2,396 on August 27, ETH price has rebounded to $2,534, but it has still fallen 22% in the past 30 days.

▌Sony blockchain Soneium partners with Transak to provide global fiat currency access

Sony’s blockchain project Soneium has partnered with Transak to provide global fiat currency access services, providing users with the option to join the ecosystem using traditional payment methods. It is reported that the integration of Soneium and Transak may promote "broader adoption of blockchain technology within the gaming community" and may create new tokenization opportunities, where gamers can purchase, transfer and trade in-game assets and NFTs using traditional payment methods supported by Transak.  

Transak is a Web3 payment infrastructure provider that announced in July that it would provide fiat currency access services for Uniswap wallets.

Cryptocurrency

▌Bitcoin DeFi protocol Threshold proposes to merge its wrapped Bitcoin version with WBTC

Bitcoin DeFi protocol Threshold proposes to merge its wrapped Bitcoin version with WBTC. Under the plan, BitGo will become the “largest holder” of Threshold T tokens while also transferring control of the minting and burning mechanism for WBTC to “ensure the continued stability of WBTC, the sanctity of its collateral, and the security of the users and protocols that rely on it.” If the proposal put forward by NuCypher co-founder MacLane Wilkison is approved, Threshold will mint an additional 1,655,250,000 T tokens (a 15% increase in supply, or approximately $36 million) that will then be owned by BitGo, which will transfer the token freeze and minting/redemption privileges of WBTC to the Threshold DAO. Crypto.com Partners with Standard Chartered to Provide Seamless Deposits and Withdrawals to Retail Users Globally Crypto.com today announced the launch of global retail services, including seamless deposits and withdrawals for millions of Crypto.com App retail users from more than 90 countries.  

Crypto.com’s global retail services will be available to users around the world through the company’s regional hub in Dubai. The expansion is supported by the forward-looking regulatory framework established by Standard Chartered and Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA), ensuring a strong and secure environment to support the growth of digital assets.  

The service will begin rolling out next month to customers across the UAE, who will be able to access Crypto.com retail products and services, including the ability to buy, sell and trade over 250 cryptocurrencies, through the Crypto.com app. Thereafter, Crypto.com will gradually expand the service to other retail customers around the world.

▌Former FTX Executive Ryan Salame Withdraws Request to Enforce Plea Agreement

Former FTX executive Ryan Salame has withdrawn his request to a New York court to enforce his plea agreement with prosecutors or to vacate his guilty plea and set aside his sentence. Salame was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison in May. His request to withdraw was to allow his partner, Michelle Bond, to raise relevant issues in her case. 

Salame's lawyers said prosecutors promised to stop investigating Bond when they facilitated Salame's guilty plea. Bond, Salame's long-term partner and mother of his children, served on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). She was charged with accepting illegal campaign donations when she ran for Congress in 2022. Bond appeared in court in the Southern District of New York on August 22 and was granted bail of $1 million. She faces four charges related to campaign finance violations, with a maximum sentence of five years in prison for each count.

▌CryptoPunks Returns to the Top of NFT Daily Sales with Over $704,000 in Sales

According to CryptoSlam data, CryptoPunks dominated the NFT market on Wednesday with a total daily sales of $704,104.  

This week, CryptoPunks and DMarket alternated at the top of the NFT daily sales chart. DMarket, based on Mythos, a collection of NFTs that represent in-game virtual items, dropped to fourth place with sales of $442,778. The second-best collection of the day was Solana Monkey Business on the Solana blockchain, with total sales of $512,179. In third place was Immutable’s Guild of Guardians Heroes, with daily sales of $502,144. In fifth place was DogeZuki Collection on Solana, with sales of $342,557.

Important Economic Dynamics

▌Poll: Harris expands her advantage over Trump on economic issues

The Wall Street Journal poll shows that Harris's approval rating is 48%, while Trump's approval rating is 47%; the error is plus or minus 2.5%.  

In addition, the Bloomberg/Morningstar poll shows that US Vice President Harris has expanded her advantage over Trump on economic issues; Harris is leading or tied in 7 states; Harris has maintained good momentum in swing states after the Democratic National Convention.

▌The probability of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 25 basis points in September is 67%

According to CME's "Fed Watch", the probability of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 25 basis points in September is 67%, and the probability of a 50 basis point cut is 33%. The probability of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 50 basis points by November is 44%, the probability of cutting interest rates by 75 basis points is 45%, and the probability of cutting interest rates by 100 basis points is 11%.

▌Apple is in talks to join OpenAI's new round of financing

Apple (AAPL.O) is in talks to raise funds for OpenAI, a move that will solidify the relationship between Apple and OpenAI. The investment will be part of a new round of financing for OpenAI that will value the company at more than $100 billion, people familiar with the matter said. Venture capital firm Thrive Capital is leading the multi-billion dollar round, and Apple rival Microsoft is also expected to participate, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. It is not yet known how much Apple or Microsoft will invest in OpenAI in this round.

▌ECB Governing Council Member Nagel: Don't rush to cut rates

ECB Governing Council Member and German Central Bank President Nagel said on Thursday that the European Central Bank must remain "cautious" and not rush to cut key interest rates. In his speech, Nagel said that the tightening of the job market and economic growth may delay the euro zone's sustained return to the central bank's 2% inflation target. "It cannot be taken for granted that prices will return to stability in a timely manner. Therefore, we need to be cautious and never reduce policy rates too quickly," he said. The ECB cut its key interest rate in June, and investors expect policymakers to cut rates again at their next meeting on September 12. Earlier on Thursday, data released by the German Statistics Office showed that Germany's inflation rate returned to the ECB's target in August. Germany's economy shrank in the three months to June, and recent surveys showed continued weakness.

Golden Encyclopedia

▌What is the new domain name dacc.eth registered by Vitalik?

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has chosen a new Ethereum domain name that specifically refers to "defensive accelerationism." Buterin's d/acc advocates a controlled, cautious approach to technological development and promotes more decentralization. This philosophy "seeks to create and maintain a more democratic world and attempts to avoid centralization as the preferred solution to our problems."

Disclaimer: As a blockchain information platform, Golden Finance publishes articles for information reference only and is not intended as actual investment advice. Please establish correct investment concepts and be sure to increase risk awareness.