[Link to FM] Telegram supports in-app purchases of Bitcoin and Toncoin, Goldman Sachs offers Bitcoin-backed loans for the first time

【Data Intelligence】

Bitcoin mining company Argo's fiscal year 2021 revenue increased 291% to $100 million

Bitcoin mining company Argo announced its fiscal 2021 earnings report on Thursday, in which revenue rose 291% to $100 million (£74 million), with a mining profit margin of 84%, up from 41% in 2020. Argo attributed the result to a "significant increase" in the hash rate, a "temporary decrease in the difficulty of the Bitcoin network," and an increase in the price of Bitcoin in 2021. In 2021, Argo mined a total of 2,045 bitcoins, a 17% drop compared to the previous year, which the company attributes to the 2020 block reward halving. As of March 2022, Argo holds 2,700 bitcoins worth $122.9 million.

Robinhood’s Q1 crypto revenue was $54M, up 12.5% QoQ

According to the financial performance report disclosed on Thursday, the encryption revenue of Robinhood Markets (HOOD) in the first quarter of 2022 was US$54 million, compared with US$48 million in the fourth quarter of last year, an increase of 12.5% from the previous quarter. The company’s crypto revenue was $51 million in the third quarter of last year, down from a record $233 million in the previous quarter. The company said that as of March 31, 2022, net cumulative funding accounts increased to 22.8 million from 18 million in the same period last year.

【 Regulatory News 】

Panama Approves a Bill to Regulate the Use and Commercialization of Crypto Assets in the Country

On April 29, the National Assembly of Panama approved a bill to regulate the use and commercialization of encrypted assets in the country.

【Industry Trends】

Coinbase Launches Coinbase Intelligence, a Compliance Product Suite to Reduce Fraud

News on April 29, Coinbase announced on Thursday the launch of Coinbase Intelligence, a compliance product suite designed to help protect the encrypted economy from bad actors. As part of the suite, Coinbase will also launch a new product, Coinbase Know Your Transaction (KYT), and provide an update to an existing product, Coinbase Analytics, an internal tool for leveraging "first-party transaction data," which is now Rebranded to Coinbase Tracer. Coinbase KYT allows companies to spot illicit transactions through an API and monitor transactions in real time to mitigate risk based on a "proprietary risk scoring system." “At Coinbase, we advocate for the importance of developing the crypto market in a fair and compliant manner to drive innovation and expand economic freedom for everyone,” the announcement said. We look forward to addressing future compliance opportunities with additional products and features to help ensure everyone can safely participate in the cryptoeconomy.

DeFi trading platform Hashflow launches bridgeless cross-chain swap

The DeFi trading platform Hashflow has launched bridgeless cross-chain swaps to achieve local-to-local swaps. Unlike most DeFi trading platforms that use AMMs to facilitate transactions, Hashflow uses a request for quotation (RFQ) model where professional market makers set token prices. Exchanges between Ethereum, Avalanche, BNB Chain, Arbitrum, and Polygon will be supported at launch.

Three Arrows Capital moves headquarters from Singapore to Dubai

Crypto venture capital firm Three Arrows Capital is moving its headquarters from Singapore to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The plan comes as Three Arrows organizes its first-ever fund, which will take money from outside investors, according to a source familiar with the matter. Three Arrows Capital is the latest cryptocurrency giant to focus on the Middle East as the regulatory environment in Singapore appears to have deteriorated.Su Zhu, the co-founder of Three Arrows Capital, confirmed that he will move to Dubai, and said that the energy source of Dubai’s digital asset industry is now electricity. We have decided to move the headquarters of Three Arrows to Dubai. I look forward to meeting more technology startups. Three Arrows declined to comment on the fundraising plans. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the country’s central bank and financial regulator, has begun cracking down on crypto activities, adding several crypto companies to its Investor Alert List (IAL), the report said.

Goldman Sachs Offers First Bitcoin-Backed Loan

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has offered the first bitcoin-backed loan facility, an important step by a major U.S. bank to accelerate Wall Street's acceptance of cryptocurrencies. A Goldman spokeswoman said the secured lending facility lends cash against bitcoins owned by borrowers. Wall Street banks are ramping up their cryptocurrency offerings after surging prices and popularity sapped years of headwinds. In March, Goldman Sachs traded bitcoin options over-the-counter for the first time and has a digital asset team. For Goldman, the step marks an entry into a new line of business.

Ethereum Name Service (ENS) NFT 24-hour transaction volume exceeds BAYC

According to data from the OpenSea website, the 24-hour transaction volume of Ethereum Name Service (ENS) NFT reached 1140.08ETH, surpassing that of Boring Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). ENS NFT trading volume has increased by 191.59% in the past 24 hours and by 2,012% in the past week. According to official information, ENS domain owners with four digits or less can join the private Discord channel 10kclub. The current base price for a three-digit domain name is 6.5 ETH ($18,850), while the base price for a four-digit domain is closer to 0.5 ETH ($1,450).

HashKey Group Receives In-Principle Approval from Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission

On April 28, HashKey Group, an Asian digital asset financial services group, received approval-in-principle (AIP) from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. HashKey will be one of the first Virtual Asset Trading Platform Operators (VATPOs) in Hong Kong to be approved to operate an institutional-grade virtual asset trading platform for professional investors, including licensed financial institutions.

【Elite Viewpoint】

A16z Analysis: What kind of NFT should you mint?

A16z Analysis: What kind of NFT should you mint? According to the data set, NFT collections whose minting price is set greater than 0.25 ETH rarely achieve returns higher than 10 times. Many of the most successful NFT projects were minted with less than $5 million raised. If a creator receives a large amount of upfront income, it may become less motivated to pursue the long-term success of the project.

【What to watch today】

Telegram supports in-app purchases of Bitcoin and Toncoin

Telegram already supports in-app purchases of Bitcoin and Toncoin (TON), users can send and receive TON within the app, or buy Bitcoin through the “@wallet” bot function. The TON Foundation said on Thursday that the bot functionality has been used by 800,000 Telegram accounts, and that it aims to make sending TON as easy as sending a text message. People can easily acquire goods and services by sending Toncoin through a bot in the Telegram app.” As previously reported, the TON Foundation has raised $1 billion worth of TON to advance its ecosystem.

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