Starship aims for test flight tomorrow night, US securities regulator investigates "roaring kitten"

Headline

▌Musk's Starship aims for fourth test flight tomorrow night

Musk's space exploration company SpaceX has received regulatory approval to conduct the fourth test flight of Starship on June 6, with a launch window within 120 minutes starting at 20:00 tomorrow night (Thursday) Beijing time. In this test flight, SpaceX's focus is no longer on entering orbit, but on demonstrating the ability to return and reuse Starship and super-heavy rockets.

▌US Securities Regulators Investigate GameStop Trading of "Roaring Kitten"

The Massachusetts Securities Regulator is investigating GameStop's trading activities. A spokesman for the agency said it is investigating the activities of GameStop investor Keith Gill. Earlier on June 3, GameStop's US stock price surged 110% before the market opened. An earlier post on Reddit claimed to show that investor Keith Gill, also known as "Roaring Kitty," had built a $181 million position in GameStop.

Market

As of press time, according to Coingecko data:

BTC's latest transaction price is $70,600.1, with a daily increase or decrease of +2.6%;

ETH's latest transaction price is $3,814.82, with a daily increase or decrease of +1.3%;

BNB's latest transaction price is $686.51, with a daily increase or decrease of +9.6%;

SOL's latest transaction price is $171.81, with a daily increase or decrease of +4.2%；

DOGE's latest transaction price is $0.1616, with a daily increase or decrease of +2.1%；

XPR's latest transaction price is $0.526, with a daily increase or decrease of +1.1%。

Policy

▌U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Budget Aims to Prevent SEC from Implementing SAB 121

The upcoming House of Representatives appropriations budget may prevent the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from implementing its controversial Staff Accounting Bulletin 121 (SAB 121). Eleanor Terrett, a FOX Business reporter who reported the news on June 4, said the bill would prohibit the SEC from using appropriations to implement the rule. Appropriations allow agencies to incur debt and pay money from the U.S. Treasury for a stated purpose. A policy rider in the budget states that the SEC is prohibited from implementing or enforcing Accounting Bulletin No. 121, which imposes harmful digital asset requirements. It is unclear whether the budget bill will be passed in its current form. The House of Representatives, which currently has a Republican majority, is likely to pass the appropriations bill at a hearing on June 5. However, the Senate, which has a Democratic and Independent majority, will need to negotiate its own appropriations bill with the House bill. Terrett said Democratic support for an earlier resolution with the same goal, HJ Res. 109, means the Senate is likely to keep the rider in the budget. The bill aims to provide the SEC with a total of $2 billion by 2025, instead of the $2.59 billion requested by SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.

▌Ukrainian police raid crypto scam call center, arrest 14

Ukrainian National Police raided a scam call center network that promised fake cryptocurrency investments and defrauded victims in Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan and the European Union. During the operation, police detained 14 suspects and seized 12 luxury cars, 136 computer devices, 951 SIM cards and $64,500 in funds. The scammers posed as stock exchange employees and used psychological techniques to persuade victims to invest in cryptocurrencies and transfer funds to digital wallets and bank cards controlled by criminal organizations. Police said one of the organizers of the network was linked to a "thief kingpin" nicknamed "Khmyelo."

▌New South Korean law requires interest on crypto deposits

A new South Korean law will require banks to pay interest on deposits in cryptocurrency exchanges, which could seriously affect KBank's profits. KBank currently has $3.6 billion in deposits from major cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, accounting for more than 20% of its customer balances. Under the new law, if the interest rate is set at 1%, KBank will need to pay about 50 billion won ($36 million) in interest, which is equivalent to its current profit. The law will take effect in July 2024, and the timing is particularly unfavorable for KBank, which is preparing to go public. Upbit is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, and other Korean banks do not have significant exposure to cryptocurrency deposits.

▌Tether CEO: EU MiCA regulations contain some "problematic" requirements

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said that the EU's Crypto-Assets Regulatory Market (MiCA) regulations "contain several problematic requirements." He said: "These requirements may not only make the work of stablecoin issuers extremely complicated, but also make EU-licensed stablecoins extremely vulnerable and more risky to operate. As with any regulatory framework of this scale, further discussion of technical implementation standards is essential to give the market clarity on certain regulations."  

According to MiCA, to become a regulated stablecoin provider in the EU, issuers must have an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license. Ardoino said Tether has had extensive contact with its European exchange counterparties on relevant requirements, including those related to the continued listing of USDt and other Tether tokens, and interpretation of key regulatory terms.

▌The U.S. SEC closes the office that has attracted much attention due to the DEBT Box crypto lawsuit

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the closure of its Salt Lake City office, which has attracted much attention due to its unsuccessful prosecution of the DEBT Box crypto company. Previously, the SEC filed a request to dismiss the lawsuit and the case against DEBT Box was dismissed by the judge. The case triggered the resignation of lawyers and accusations against the agency, which ultimately led to the closure of the office. The SEC transferred its Denver office to take over enforcement jurisdiction.

Blockchain Applications

▌Sotheby’s to Auction BAYC Series’ “Golden Orangutan” NFT

Sotheby’s is about to auction a golden orangutan NFT created by Yuga Labs, along with other rare digital artworks. The auction will test the staying power of orangutan-themed assets in the art world. The auction items include an NFT from Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), as well as other rare digital artworks.

Cryptocurrency

▌FTX: Plans to pay more than $200 million in taxes to the IRS, not $24 billion

According to legal documents on June 3, FTX plans to pay $200 million in priority taxes and $685 million in subordinate tax claims to the IRS. Priority tax claims (such as taxes) are payments that must be paid before other debts, while subordinate claims are paid only after priority obligations are fulfilled.  

FTX argued in bankruptcy court that the amount it owed was much less than the $24 billion claimed by the IRS. Previously, the IRS claimed that FTX owed $44 billion in taxes, but later reduced the amount to $24 billion.  

The FTX debtors, who were responsible for managing the company during its bankruptcy, believe that the IRS incorrectly included the funds misappropriated by Sam Bankman-Fried and other tax liabilities in its calculations. The IRS disagrees with the debtors' arguments and plans to seek huge tax liabilities if a settlement cannot be reached. The objection deadline for the case is June 17, and the hearing date is June 25, 2024.

▌Ripple CEO: Spot XRP ETF is expected in 2025

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said he expects a spot XRP ETF to appear in 2025.

▌Bitwise Chief Investment Officer: Washington's crypto political shift brings opportunities

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said that the political shift in Washington, D.C. regarding crypto has been underestimated. He pointed out that the crypto industry has accumulated strong political power in Washington, and if people realize this change, the market would have hit new highs long ago. Hougan believes that once Wall Street accepts crypto assets, the market will usher in a major leap.

▌Bain Capital Crypto is raising a second crypto fund

Bain Capital Crypto is raising a second cryptocurrency fund, and the relevant documents have been submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Bain Capital launched its first $560 million crypto fund in March 2022. Despite the subsequent market downturn, the fund has continued to invest actively in 2022 and 2023, including participating in Sam Altman's Worldcoin's $115 million financing. The first fund is co-led by Stefan Cohen and Alex Evans and focuses on early investments and liquid tokens in the field of decentralized finance (DeFi) and Web3. At present, the fund has invested nearly $100 million in multiple projects. Bain Capital Crypto has not yet commented on the new fund, citing compliance issues.

▌Global Web3 financing totaled $917 million in May, and Farcaster was valued at $1 billion

According to Cailianshe Venture Capital, there were 100 financing events in the global Web3 field in May, which was basically the same as in April; the total financing amounted to $917 million, a month-on-month decrease of 5.46%.  

In terms of sub-tracks, the blockchain infrastructure track had the largest number and total amount of financing in May, with 41 projects in this track receiving a total of $498 million, but the total financing amount of this track decreased by nearly $100 million compared with April; the DeFi track and CeFi track maintained a certain growth in total financing amount.  

From the perspective of institutional investors, Animoca Brands, OKX Ventures and Coinbase Ventures are the top three investment institutions in May. Animoca Brands invested 9 times, 4 of which were in blockchain infrastructure; OKX Ventures invested 5 times, 3 of which were in blockchain infrastructure; Coinbase Ventures invested 4 times, all in blockchain infrastructure.

▌Rune casting accounts for 77.1% of all Bitcoin transactions in the past 24 hours

Ordinals developer and Runestone initiator Leonidas posted on social media that rune casting accounted for 77.1% of all Bitcoin transactions in the past 24 hours.

▌Report: BTC volatility may increase, long-term holders will face seller pressure

According to the Glassnode market report on Tuesday, seller pressure from long-term BTC holders (those who hold Bitcoin for 3 months to 3 years) is increasing, and the report added: "We can expect that if the price rises, the motivation of this group of people to sell more supply will increase and further increase their unrealized profits."  

The Glassnode report predicts that volatility will increase after the relative stability of the Bitcoin market in the past week. The report added: "The seller risk ratio of long-term and short-term holders has been readjusted, indicating that a new balance has been found. This shows that the market is ready to act and expectations for near-term volatility should increase."

▌Fidelity: Bitcoin has entered a more mature stage of adoption

Jurrien Timmer, head of global macro at Fidelity, said that Bitcoin has entered the late stage of the adoption cycle and volatility has decreased. He pointed out that Bitcoin has become an important part of the portfolio and recommended allocating 2% of funds to Bitcoin. He predicts that Bitcoin will gradually mature and become less volatile, which will attract more institutional investors.

▌Report: Spot Ethereum ETF is expected to attract $4 billion in inflows

A spot Ethereum ETF that can directly hold Ether (ETH) is about to be listed in the United States and may attract $4 billion in inflows in the first five months, according to a report by crypto analysis firm K33 Research. K33 estimates that the inflow of ETHETFs in the first five months is between $3 billion and $4.8 billion. This estimate is slightly higher than JPMorgan's forecast of $3 billion this year.

According to the report, at current prices, this is equivalent to 800,000 to 1.26 million ETH accumulated in the ETF, accounting for about 0.7%-1.05% of the total token supply, resulting in a supply crunch for ETH assets, and ETH prices may suffer a supply "shock". K33 analysts predict that with the launch of the Ethereum ETF, the price of ETH is expected to start outperforming BTC after the ETH/BTC pair has experienced a downward trend for nearly two and a half years. Vetle Lunde, senior analyst at K33 Research, said: "This huge supply absorption shock should drive ETH's price appreciation."

Important Economic Dynamics

▌The probability of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged in June is 99.8%

According to CME's "Fed Watch": The probability of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged in June is 99.8%, and the probability of raising interest rates by 25 basis points is 0.2%. The probability of the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates unchanged by August is 82.3%, the probability of a cumulative 25 basis point rate cut is 17.5%, and the probability of raising interest rates by 25 basis points is 0.1%.

▌The three major U.S. stock indexes all closed slightly higher

The three major U.S. stock indexes all closed slightly higher, with the Dow up 0.35%, the Nasdaq up 0.17%, and the S&P 500 up 0.15%. Nvidia rose more than 1%, continuing to hit a record high.

▌Zimbabwe's New Currency ZiG Faces Challenges and Opportunities

Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), the new currency launched by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (ZRB), has performed well in the foreign exchange market but is facing difficulties in its own country. The ZRB has taken new measures to crack down on black market trading and called on the public through its X-account to report illegal traders and businesses that refuse to accept ZiG. Since the ZiG was launched in physical form, its exchange rate against the US dollar has risen by 1.9%.   

On May 15, police arrested 224 illegal foreign exchange traders, and the RBZ Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) froze 90 bank accounts and monitored bank activities to detect illegal transactions. The crackdown has significantly reduced the number of illegal money changers in and around Harare's central business district. However, coin shortages continue to plague the central bank, and the RBZ plans to increase the supply of small change.   

From June 10, Zimbabwe’s Homelink Financial Services will offer ZiG debit card withdrawals in seven cities, with other financial institutions to join in the future. ZiG is Zimbabwe’s sixth currency in 15 years, backed by gold and foreign exchange, but its launch has received mixed reactions from the public.

Golden Encyclopedia

▌What is Liquidity Staking?

Liquidity staking allows stakers to maintain liquidity of staked tokens by using alternative tokens, which they can use to earn additional yield through DeFi protocols. Liquidity staking enables cryptocurrency holders to participate in staking without giving up control of their holdings. This changes the way users do staking. Projects such as Lido have introduced liquidity staking, providing tokenization of staked assets in the form of tokens and derivatives.

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