US SEC seeks $5.3 billion fine against Kwon; Grayscale GBTC outflow slows

Headline

▌The US SEC seeks a $5.3 billion fine from Terraform Labs and Do Kwon

After a jury found Terraform Labs and Do Kwon guilty of fraud in a case with the SEC, the SEC filed a motion seeking $5.3 billion in disgorgement and civil penalties.  

In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on April 19, the SEC asked Kwon and Terraform to pay approximately $4.7 billion in disgorgement and prejudgment interest after the civil case was adjudicated, as well as a total of $520 million in civil penalties, of which Terraform paid $420 million and Kwon paid $100 million.

▌Grayscale GBTC fund outflow is slowing down, with an outflow of US$35 million yesterday

According to HODL15Capital monitoring data, Grayscale spot Bitcoin ETF GBTC saw an outflow of US$35 million yesterday (April 22), and fund outflows are slowing down.

Market

As of press time, according to Coingecko data:

BTC's latest transaction price is $66,840.3, with a daily increase or decrease of +2.9%;

ETH's latest transaction price is $3,200.53, with a daily increase or decrease of +1.7%;

BNB's latest transaction price is $605.25, with a daily increase or decrease of +4.5%;

ORDI's latest transaction price is $49.33, with a daily increase or decrease of +0.7%；

DOGE's latest transaction price is $0.1612, with a daily increase or decrease of +1.8%；

SOL's latest transaction price is $156.99, with a daily increase or decrease of +5.7%。

Policy

▌U.S. presidential candidate Kennedy: If elected, put the entire U.S. budget on the blockchain

U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy (RFK Jr.) announced his plan to put the entire U.S. budget on the blockchain if he is elected president of the United States. Kennedy explained that every American can view every budget item in the entire budget at any time, 24 hours a day. He added that if someone spends $16,000 on a toilet seat, everyone will know about it.

▌Canadian Crypto Miners Face Energy Limitations

Manitoba, Canada, is extending the moratorium on new electricity connections, and British Columbia is legislating to ban the supply of electricity to new miners. In November 2022, the Manitoba government of Canada suspended electricity connections for cryptocurrency mining operations for 18 months, and now, the moratorium will last until April 30, 2026.

▌Report: Stablecoin bill proposed by US lawmakers is beneficial to issuers

According to a report from investment bank TD Cowen, a bill proposed by US Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis would benefit stablecoin issuers. The Lummis-Gillibrand Payment Stablecoin Act, introduced last week, would establish “clear rules of conduct” for stablecoin issuers, the bank said in a report on Monday. “In our view, the Lummis-Gillibrand Act would be positive for stablecoin issuers because it would establish clear rules of conduct,” said TD Cowen’s Washington research group, led by Jaret Seiberg. “It would also be symbolically important for the cryptocurrency industry as a whole, as it would be the first constructive cryptocurrency legislation to come out of Congress.” If passed, the bill would require stablecoin issuers to hold a one-to-one cash or cash equivalent reserve to back their tokens. The bill would also ban algorithmic stablecoins and stipulate that issuers and users cannot use stablecoins for illegal or unauthorized purposes, such as money laundering. ▌ Two U.S. SEC lawyers were forced to resign for abuse of power. Two U.S. SEC lawyers were forced to resign for abuse of power. The Utah District Court ordered the SEC to pay Debt Box’s legal fees. The judge criticized the SEC for making false statements in seeking a restraining order, saying it "harmed the integrity of the proceedings." The SEC moved to dismiss the case but was rejected by the judge, ruling that it abused its power. Senate Republicans condemned the SEC's unethical behavior and called for review of other cases. The case is still under trial and has attracted much attention.

Blockchain Applications

▌Bitcoin L2 Network Stacks' "Nakamoto" Upgrade to Activate in May

Bitcoin L2 Network Stacks began an upgrade called "Nakamoto", which started at Bitcoin block height 840,360 and aims to solve network congestion problems. Network creator Muneeb Ali said that Stacks' original design produced blocks at the same speed as Bitcoin, which led to congestion problems. This upgrade will separate Stacks' block production schedule from Bitcoin's. "Nakamoto" will introduce a new way to produce Stacks blocks and update its unique proof-of-transfer consensus algorithm. The upgrade will be fully activated in May.

▌Hedera: InterWork Alliance uses Hedera and other technologies to release Carbon Emission Token Protocol Version 1.0

Hedera published a post on the X platform stating that InterWork Alliance (IWA) released Carbon Emission Token (CET) Protocol Version 1.0 to provide guidance for tokenized emission solutions that can be audited through DLT for measurement, reporting and verification (MRV). By leveraging distributed ledger technologies such as Hedera, organizations can improve the transparency, accuracy and quality of emission data, thereby developing more effective strategies on a standardized framework.

▌Increase in Bitcoin transaction fees may promote the adoption of solutions such as Layer2

Ava Chow, a Bitcoin Core developer, said that any factor that causes transaction fees to soar may prompt people to seek other solutions. Lightning Network is an option, and there are also high-fee environments like Fedimint, Ark and many Layer2 networks that will prompt people to investigate them. This was echoed by a recent report from Messari, which argued that Bitcoin’s Layer 2 solutions are not just a luxury but a necessity as on-chain activity levels continue to rise, with analyst Nikhil Chaturvedi writing that Bitcoin is no longer just “digital gold” but a platform to build on.

Cryptocurrency

▌Seamless Protocol Launches Lending Market for Altcoins on Base

DeFi lending protocol Seamless Protocol has launched a lending market specifically for altcoins on Coinbase’s Layer2 network Base. Base-based altcoins DEGEN and SEAM are the first two tokens supported by the platform.

▌Total Stablecoin Supply Reaches Highest Level in Nearly Two Years

Total stablecoin supply reached $165 billion last Thursday, the highest level of supply since late June 2022, according to The Block Data Dashboard. Ripple said earlier this month that supply will reach $2.8 trillion by 2028.

▌Ledger Live to offer cryptocurrency exchange and instant purchase services through MoonPay

Ledger Live will offer new cryptocurrency instant purchase and exchange services through MoonPay, which has invested in the hardware wallet company. As part of the partnership, the two companies are also working together to provide educational content for cryptocurrency traders.

▌QCP Capital: Some altcoin funding rates are severely negative or may lead to a rapid rise in a short squeeze

QCP Capital said that the funding rates of some altcoins and MemeCoin are severely negative, which may lead to a rapid rise in a short squeeze.

▌72% of people in the UAE hold Bitcoin

According to Watcher.Guru on the X platform, the United Arab Emirates leads the Middle East in cryptocurrency adoption, with 72% of local users investing in Bitcoin. Last year, daily cryptocurrency trading volume in the Middle East grew 166%. In 2024, there will be an average of 500,000 cryptocurrency traders per day in the local area.

▌Venezuelan oil companies accelerate their embrace of USDT

As the United States re-imposes oil sanctions on Venezuela, Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA plans to increase the use of digital currencies in crude oil and fuel exports, according to three people familiar with the matter. The U.S. Treasury Department last week asked PDVSA's customers and suppliers to end transactions by May 31. The move will make it more difficult for Venezuela to increase oil production and exports because companies will have to wait for individual U.S. authorization to do business with Venezuela. PDVSA has been slowly adopting USDT, or Tether, in oil sales since last year, and people familiar with the matter said the reinstatement of oil sanctions is accelerating the shift, a move to reduce the risk that sales revenue will be frozen in foreign bank accounts due to sanctions.

Important Economic Dynamics

▌The probability of the Fed keeping interest rates unchanged in May is 95.4%

According to CME's "Fed Watch", the probability of the Fed keeping interest rates unchanged in May is 95.4%, and the probability of a 25 basis point rate cut is 4.6%. The probability of the Fed keeping interest rates unchanged by June is 85.0%, the probability of a cumulative 25 basis point rate cut is 14.5%, and the probability of a cumulative 50 basis point rate cut is 0.5%.

▌BlackRock Investment Officer: The Fed has room to cut interest rates twice this year

Rick Rieder, BlackRock's chief investment officer for global fixed income, believes that bond investors who have been suffering from rising yields for the past month are expected to find some comfort from slowing inflation and the Federal Reserve soon. With inflation slowing in the coming months, the Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates twice this year. "It's becoming increasingly difficult for them to do this, but I still think they can." Rieder said that BlackRock has reduced its interest rate exposure and its investments are more focused on short-term duration. Once it sees a few good inflation reports and evidence of slowing employment, it can start to extend its duration.

▌The three major U.S. stock indexes and the crypto sector closed up collectively

The U.S. stock market opened higher and the three major indexes closed up collectively. The Nasdaq rose 1.11%, the S&P 500 rose 0.87%, and the Dow rose 0.67%. The crypto sector closed higher, with Riot Blockchain (RIOT.O) up 23.11% and MicroStrategy (MSTR.O) up 12.7%. Most large technology stocks rose, with Nvidia up more than 4%, Google and Amazon up more than 1%, Intel, Microsoft, Apple, and Meat up slightly; Tesla fell more than 3%, and Netflix fell slightly.

Golden Encyclopedia

▌What is decentralized science?

Decentralized Science (DeSci) within the Web3 framework is a paradigm shift in scientific research characterized by four basic principles: incentives, transparency, decentralization, and collaboration. DeSci places great emphasis on transparency and supports free and open access to methods, data, and conclusions. DeSci creates an open and accountable environment by encouraging transparency, making scientific research more reproducible and credible. Collaboration is at the core of DeSci, which leverages distributed networks to enable cross-border, censorship-resistant collaboration. DeSci promotes diversity of viewpoints, expertise sharing, and group problem solving by eliminating institutional and geographic boundaries.

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