Important information last night and this morning (March 18-March 19)
Reprinted from panewslab
03/19/2025·3M
North Carolina Bitcoin Reserves Act intends to authorize 10% of public funds to purchase Bitcoin
According to Bitcoin Laws, North Carolina Bitcoin Reserves Act SB327 authorizes the state secretary of the Treasury to allocate up to 10% of public funds to Bitcoin. The details are as follows: the custody method is multi-signature cold storage; the reserve proof is monthly audit; the holding policy is to allow the sale of North Carolina only under the "severe financial crisis" and strict conditions plus North Carolina currently has $9.5 billion in its general fund.
Nvidia launches general basic model of robot GR00T N1
According to IT Home, at the Nvidia GTC 2025 conference early this morning, Nvidia CEO Huang Renxun announced the launch of the GR00T N1, the world's first open source humanoid robot functional model. Nvidia also launched Simulation Frameworks for accelerating robot development. Huang Renxun also expressed the huge potential of the robot market yet to be developed. According to Huang Renxun, NVIDIA, DeepMind and Disney are collaborating on developing a robot platform called Newton.
23pds, chief information security officer of Slow Mist Technology, posted on the X platform that hackers are exploiting server-side request forgery (SSRF) vulnerability (CVE-2024-27564) in ChatGPT to attack U.S. financial and government organizations.
According to Decrypt, Carl Rinsch, director of the 2013 film "47 Ronin", starring Keanu Reeves, was arrested in West Hollywood on Tuesday and charged with wire fraud and money laundering for allegedly misappropriating $11 million from a "famous streaming platform", which multiple reports claim is Netflix. Prosecutors said Rinsch asked a streaming service company for additional funds in 2020 to complete his sci-fi series White Horse, but transferred the money to a personal account and began trading securities; his production company had received $44 million in payments before requesting the additional funds; by late April 2020, he had lost more than half of his funds through high-risk investments, including "highly speculative options and cryptocurrency trading," and an ETF that tracks the S&P 500. Rinsch also used the funds to “speculate cryptocurrencies—which ultimately proved profitable,” the indictment said. According to the indictment, Rinsch allegedly used the proceeds to spend $2.4 million on five Rolls-Royces and a Ferrari, $3.7 million on furniture and antiques, $652,000 on watches and clothes, $638,000 on two mattresses, and $295,000 on luxury bedding and linen products. Rinsch never delivered a completed TV series to Netflix, and despite completing the "six-episode short film", he never returned the money. If convicted of wire fraud, Lynch could face up to 20 years in prison. Money laundering charges may also be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, while five counts of currency transactions with property from crimes can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison each. If all charges are convicted, his total sentence may reach 90 years.
MyShell launches AI proxy launch and tokenization platform Shell Launchpad
AI consumer layer MyShell recently announced on the X platform that Shell Launchpad is now online, a tool to start AI proxy and tokenize AI proxy. Shell Launchpad provides three modes for creating AI agents: ① Classic mode, suitable for beginners who build basic AI agents; ② Professional configuration mode, that is, low-code options for advanced developers; ③ ShellAgent mode, a professional framework for building multi-agent applications without coding.
Dubai Financial Services Authority launches tokenized regulatory sandbox
According to Cryptoslate, the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) announced that it would invite companies to apply to join its tokenized regulatory sandbox, with the application deadline being April 24, 2025. DFSA is an independent agency responsible for overseeing the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). In a March 17 announcement, DFSA said the sandbox program is designed to attract companies that want to provide tokenized investment products and services. The sandbox provides a controlled environment for businesses to test tokenized financial solutions under the supervision of regulators. DFSA made it clear that eligible services include tokenized stocks, bonds, Islamic bonds and collective investment fund units. Whether it is an existing enterprise that has obtained DFSA authorization and wants to expand its tokenization business, or a new applicant who qualifies for the application, you can submit an application. After submitting the application, the company will enter the evaluation process. Successfully selected businesses will receive structured testing opportunities in the sandbox and receive tailor-made regulatory guidance. DFSA stressed that only companies with strong business models and solid compliance capabilities will be selected. The sandbox program is part of DFSA's wider innovative testing license program, aiming to help businesses improve their financial products and prepare for full authorization.
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal criticized the U.S. Treasury Department for ignoring the Fifth Circuit ruling that the Fifth Circuit requested Tornado Cash to be removed from the sanctions list, noting that the government has mistakenly applied sanctions laws to immutable smart contracts, Cryptonews reported. Grewal’s comments on X are in response to the U.S. government’s handling of a recent ruling from the Fifth Circuit that found Tornado Cash’s immutable smart contracts were not eligible for property under the U.S. sanctions law. The court found that this classification meant that Tornado Cash had to be removed from the Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Personnel (SDN) list. Despite the court's ruling, Treasury officials said in court documents that they would set out to remove Tornado Cash from the list, but requested more time, saying the ruling only applies to immutable smart contracts and does not affect the broader designation of Tornado Cash as an entity. The Ministry of Finance also fears that currency mixers will be used for money laundering, especially the funds of North Korea's Lazarus Group, on the grounds of national security. Grewal retorted that the Treasury’s response was not adequate, suggesting it had not learned lessons from the court’s ruling. He said Coinbase will submit a reply to support the court's ruling and challenge the Treasury's approach. Earlier in January, the U.S. Court of Appeal overturned the Tornado Cash ruling and the case was sent back for retrial.
Suspected that Justin Sun pledged 60,000 ETH to Lido yesterday, worth more than US$100 million.
According to Arkham monitoring, it is suspected that Justin Sun pledged 60,000 ETH to Lido yesterday, worth more than US$100 million.
According to a new survey conducted by Coinbase and EY-Parthenon, institutional investors are increasingly bullish on cryptocurrencies, with 83% planning to expand their allocation this year. The study, which surveyed 352 institutional decision makers in January, found that investors' confidence in digital assets continues to grow as regulatory transparency increases and wider application scenarios emerge. The majority (59%) of respondents plan to allocate more than 5% of their managed assets (AUM) into cryptocurrencies in 2025, indicating that cryptocurrencies are transitioning from a niche investment to a key component of their portfolio. In addition, stablecoins continue to gain favor from institutions, with 84% of the surveyed investors currently using or considering using them for various purposes other than trading. Earnings generation (73%), Forex (69%) and internal cash management (68%) were listed as the main drivers of adoption. DeFi, while still in the early stages of institutional participation, is expected to achieve significant growth. Currently, only 24% of investors participate in DeFi, but this figure is expected to triple by 2027 to 75%. Although Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to dominate institutional portfolios, 73% of respondents said they hold at least one altcoin. In addition, 68% of investors expressed interest in exchange-traded products (ETPs) that provide single asset exposure. Despite optimism, regulatory uncertainty remains a major challenge. More than half (52%) of the surveyed investors listed regulation as their primary concern, followed by volatility (47%) and custody security (33%). However, 68% believe that clearer regulation will drive the next wave of institutional crypto adoption. The report highlights the continuous shift of institutional investors to digital assets, increasing allocation, diversified application scenarios and expanding product participation.
The Ethereum Foundation stated in its official blog that during the activation of the Pectra test network, problems with the change in the configuration of Ethereum test online deposit contracts on the client were exposed. Although the recovery process of the Sepolia network is relatively direct and has been fully restored, the Holesky network has experienced a large number of inactive leaks in the recovery mechanism. The Holesky network has since completed its final confirmation, but it will take about a year for the exiting validator to be completely removed from the validator cluster. While stakers can test deposits, merges, and all other Pectra features, the scale of the exit queue makes it impossible for Holesky to use to test the full validator lifecycle within a reasonable time frame. To solve this problem, a new testnet has been launched: Hoodi. It will activate the Pectra network upgrade on epoch 2048 (Wednesday, March 26, 2025 15:37:12 Beijing time). In the future, staking operators and infrastructure providers should use Hoodi for validator testing. To allow time for migration, Holesky testnet will support it until September 2025. All other Pectra features can be tested on Holesky except for the validator exit. Testnet and its uses summary: Holesky: Verifier and staking provider (expected termination date is September 30, 2025). Client developers will also use Holesky to test Gas limit increase and other protocol stress tests. Sepolia: Application and Tools Developer (expected termination date is September 30, 2026). Hoodi: Verifier and staking provider (expected termination date is September 30, 2028). Planned Sepolia alternative: expected to be launched in March 2026.
Bo Hines says U.S. stablecoin bill could be delivered to Trump within two months
According to Cryptoslate, Bo Hines, executive director of the U.S. President's Digital Assets Task Force, said the U.S. stablecoin regulation bill could be submitted to President Donald Trump within two months. In a speech at the Blockworks Digital Assets Summit, Hines said the market did not fully understand how stablecoin legislation can benefit the U.S. economy and dollar dominance. In addition, he believes that regulating stablecoins may change the historical course of financial markets. The Senate Banking Committee passed the stablecoin regulation bill, the GENIUS Act, on March 13 with 18 votes in favor and 6 votes against. The bill, which has received bipartisan support, has now paved the way for a full Senate vote. The bill proposes guidelines for the issuance and regulation of U.S. stablecoins, such as these tokens must be backed by US dollars, insured bank deposits or short-term Treasury bills in a 1:1 ratio. Hines highlighted the bipartisan efforts to ratify the bill, saying there aren’t many issues in Washington, D.C. that will bring the two parties together to push the U.S. forward in a comprehensive way like the current crypto industry.
According to The Block, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced the launch of “Verified Pools” on Tuesday, a liquidity pool that is only open to users verified through it. According to the announcement released by the company, qualified individuals and institutions in the United States, Singapore, the Netherlands, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands and the Channel Islands can use Coinbase's Verified Pools to conduct safer and more transparent digital asset transactions without intermediaries. Users can connect to these liquidity pools through an institution-level Prime Onchain Wallet, Coinbase Wallet, or other wallets with Coinbase verification credentials. Verified Pools is built on the Layer 2 network Base incubated by Coinbase, supported by developer platform Uniswap v4 and optimized by risk management company Gauntlet.
Raydium is developing Meme coin issuing platform LaunchLab to compete with Pump.fun
According to The Block, Solana's ecological decentralized exchange Raydium plans to launch a Meme coin issuance platform "LaunchLab", to compete with Pump.fun. Raydium's "LaunchLab" is essentially a fork of Pump.fun, but with some selective differences. It will take a similar logarithmic binding curve, but also allows third-party user interfaces to set fees and access Raydium's liquidity pool directly. The project has been in development for months, according to reports.
According to NFT Plazas, Peer Global Inc. completed a new round of financing of $10.5 million, increasing its total investment to $65.5 million. The financing, led by the Tommy Mai family office, will be used to expand Peer's development team, enhance its artificial intelligence capabilities, and refine its meta-universe platform. According to reports, Peer is a technology platform that integrates artificial intelligence to create interactive digital environments. The company launched a 3D personal planet, allowing users to create and customize digital spaces for social interaction. Peer's Metauniverse Engine provides developers with tools to build digital environments generated by AI. Peer's monetization strategy includes virtual property sales, i.e. users can purchase and personalize digital spaces.
Cathie Wood: To tokenize the company's funds as permitted by US regulations
According to CoinDesk, Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood hopes to put some of the company's funds on the chain as permitted by the U.S. regulatory environment. "We think tokenization will be very important, and we want to be able to tokenize our Venture Fund (ARKVX) or our Digital Asset Revolution Fund. I think regulation is gradually opening up, which will allow us to do that. So, we want to seize this opportunity." Coinbase, the main holding company of Ark Invest, is also exploring the issuance of securities tokens, but there is a lack of specific plans as it is being discussed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Although the market size is expected to grow to $1 trillion by 2030, regulatory uncertainty still hinders the tokenization process in the United States.
Cathie Wood: Most Meme coins will eventually become "worthless", buyers need to be cautious
According to Bloomberg, Cathie Wood, founder and CEO of ARK Investment Management LLC, said in an interview that most so-called Meme coins in the cryptocurrency space may end up being "worthless". She noted that the combination of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence is giving birth to “millions of” Meme coins that “these coins will not be worth too much”, adding that her private fund did not invest in these coins. "If I were to say one thing to people who bought Meme coins, it was: buyers should be cautious. There is nothing more to learn from than losing money, and they would understand that the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators would not be responsible for these Meme coins." She also said that Meme coins would become a "digital collectible", adding that some of them could "withstanding the test of time" and that Trump-related Meme coins might be one of them. Wood reiterates her optimism about larger and more mature crypto assets. She said that Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana use cases are increasing "rapidly" and will play an important role in the future.
EOS transformed into "web3 bank" and renamed Vaulta, plans to launch new tokens
According to The Block, the public chain EOS will be renamed Vaulta and transformed into "web3 bank". If the proposal is approved, the EOS token will be exchanged for the new vaulta token starting in May. Vaulta will build around blockchain’s existing EOSIO software and integrate with exSat, a so-called “docking layer” that introduces smart contracts into Bitcoin. This cross-chain system will have 1 second transaction finality and support C++ and EVM-compatible smart contracts. Vaulta's "web3 banking operating system" will provide an institutional-level financial service through cooperation projects including Ceffu, Spirit Blockchain and Blockchain Insurance. The Vaulta Bank Advisory Board is composed of experts in the financial and blockchain industry, and will be from Systemic Trust, Tetra and ATB Financial.
Filecoin Eco DeFi Protocol Glif launches GLF governance tokens and airdrops 94 million
According to The Block, Filecoin's largest DeFi protocol, GLIF, released GLF governance tokens and airdropped 94 million pieces, accounting for 9.4% of the total supply. GLF will expand to new features such as loyalty rewards in the future. GLIF is expanding towards the decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN), surpassing the Filecoin ecosystem. At present, GLIF has locked up more than US$102 million in Filecoin and will support more DePIN networks in the future. The specific list has not been announced yet.
Bitcoin ETFs are inflowing 3,008 BTC today, and Ethereum ETFs are inflowing 287 ETHs
According to Lookonchain data, on March 18, the overall net inflow of 3,008 BTC (about US$244 million), of which 1,506 BTC (about US$122 million), and the current total holdings reach 195,885 BTC (about US$15.91 billion). In terms of Ethereum ETF, 9 funds had net inflows of 287 ETH (about US$540,000), of which 543 ETH (about US$1.02 million) were inflows of 8,484 ETH (about US$15.93 million).
Coinbase Prime Hot Wallet transfers about 102 BTC to Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust address
According to data on the link, at 23:16 Beijing time on March 18, 2025, Coinbase Prime Hot Wallet (3MqUP) transferred 101.90 BTC to the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust address (bc1qh), which is approximately US$8,327,943.73.
Binance Financial Management, one-click buying coins, flash exchange, and leverage Bubblemaps (BMT)
According to Binance announcement, Bubblemaps (BMT) will be launched on multiple Binance platform products, the specific time is as follows (East Eighth District time): • Binance Financial Management: BMT guaranteed and earning current products will be launched at 23:00 on March 18, 2025 and will be open for subscription. • Fixed Investment: From 18:00 on March 19, 2025, users can purchase BMT through Binance Fixed Investment. • One-click buying and selling coins: Within 1 hour after BMT is launched, users can use credit/debit cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay, etc. to purchase, or use their wallet balance to trade. • Flash exchange transaction: Within one hour after BMT is launched, it supports redemption of BTC, USDT, etc., and there is no handling fee. • Leveraged trading: From 23:20 on March 18, 2025, BMT will add new full-position and position-by-position leverage trading pairs (BMT/USDT, BMT/USDC).
According to CoinDesk, Sky (former MakerDAO) plans to invest $1 billion in tokenized US Treasury products from BlackRock-Securitize, Superstate and Centrifuge to accelerate adoption of RWA (real-world assets) on DeFi platform Spark. Among them, the BUIDL issued by BlackRock-Securitize will receive US$500 million, Superstate's USTB will receive US$300 million, and Centrifuge's JTRSY will receive US$200 million. The decision was determined by Steakhouse Financial after evaluating 39 applicants, and the final allocation still requires governance approval.
Crypto development platform Crossmint completes $23.6 million in financing, led by Ribbit Capital
According to Fortune, crypto development platform Crossmint announced a $23.6 million financing, covering seed rounds, A rounds and strategic financing, led by Ribbit Capital, with Franklin Templeton, Nyca, First Round, Lightspeed Faction and others participating. Crossmint provides API tools to help developers easily integrate encryption without having to understand blockchain technology. Currently, its customers include 40,000 companies and developers including Adidas, Red Bull, Coinbase, etc. Its stablecoin API and AI robot payment capabilities are highly favored, with subscriptions increasing by 1,100% in 2024. Crossmint plans to further expand the traditional financial and technology enterprise market and form a differentiated layout with competitors such as Alchemy.
Nasdaq submits a rule change application and plans to list 21Shares Polkadot ETF
According to documents filed by Nasdaq, 21Shares plans to launch the Polkadot spot ETF (21Shares Polkadot Trust) and has submitted an application for listing to the SEC. The ETF is managed by 21Shares US LLC and hosted by Coinbase Custody, and is benchmarked by the CME CF Polkadot index, allowing investors to gain exposure without having to hold DOT directly. At present, the application is still pending approval by the SEC.
Web3 workflow protocol Halliday completed US$20 million Series A financing, led by a16z crypto
According to The Block, Web3 workflow agreement developer Halliday announced that it had completed a $20 million Series A financing, led by a16z crypto. Other participants include Avalanche Blizzard Fund, Creditbly Neutral, Alt Layer and several angel investors, bringing its total financing to $26 million. Halliday is committed to simplifying the smart contract creation process, and its infrastructure allows developers to delegate workflows to automated systems to reduce development time. The company plans to use the new fund to expand its engineering team (currently 17 people) and further develop workflow protocols and payment applications Halliday Payments. Halliday CEO Griffin Dunaif said the company's goal is to bring blockchain into the software era, allowing developers to build applications in hours rather than years, and to promote the application of secure AI systems in decentralized networks. Halliday was founded in April 2022 and is headquartered in San Francisco.
It is suspected that Ethena will deploy USDe in Hyperliquid, or wait for HyperEVM interoperability
The information on the chain shows that Ethena has purchased the USDe transaction code on Hyperliquid and confirms its plan to integrate its stablecoin USDe on the Hyperliquid network. The analysis found that the wallet that purchased the USDe code 0x4758...d605 funding source can be traced to the Ethena Deployer (EOA), further verified the relevance of the Ethena team. In addition, Ethena recently sent funds to Hyperliquid and set up a 4-8 multi-signment wallet, indicating that it may be preparing for deployment. It is worth noting that the relevant proposals were proposed in the Ethena Governance Forum in October last year, but the official has not announced the progress. At present, Ethena may officially deploy USDe after the HyperEVM and HyperCore interoperability function is launched.
Google announces $32 billion in all-cash acquisition of cybersecurity company Wiz
Google announced that it will acquire cybersecurity company Wiz for $32 billion in all-cash. After the acquisition is completed, Wiz will join Google Cloud. Google said the acquisition is an important investment in two major growth trends in the era of artificial intelligence - cloud security and multi-cloud usage capabilities, aiming to enhance Google Cloud's competitiveness in the field of cybersecurity. Wiz's products will continue to function properly and are available on all major cloud platforms including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud Platform.
Strategy announces 5 million preferred shares to raise funds, plans to increase Bitcoin
According to SEC filings, Strategy Inc (formerly MicroStrategy) announced that it will issue 5 million additional shares of Series A Perpetual Strife Preferred Stock to raise funds to continue its Bitcoin reserve strategy. The preferred stock accumulates a fixed dividend of 10% per year, paid quarterly, and unpaid dividends will be calculated as compound interest, up to 18%. In addition, MicroStrategy has the right to redeem the preferred stock under certain conditions, and holders can also request the company to buy back in the event of a "significant change" event. The issuance will be jointly held by Morgan Stanley, Barclays, Citigroup and Moelis & Company as bookkeepers, and is a public offering registered with the SEC. The initial liquidation priority for this stock is set at USD 100 per share and may be adjusted with market conditions.
According to CoinDesk, Peregrine Exploration, the development company behind the stablecoin agreement Level, recently completed a new round of financing of US$2.6 million, led by Dragonfly Capital and participated by Polychain, with the total financing amount increasing to US$6 million. New investors include Flowdesk, Echo Syndicates, Native Crypto, Feisty Collective, as well as Frax founder Sam Kazemian and Injective co-founder Albert Chon. Level's revenue stablecoin lvlUSD has exceeded $80 million in supply since the beta launch, and plans to include Morpho as its source of income while expanding the utility of lvlUSD. Currently, users can mint lvlUSD by depositing USDC or USDT and pledging to earn income in DeFi protocols such as Aave, with an annualized rate of return of 8.3%, higher than some money market funds.
According to on-chain detective ZachXBT, in the process of assisting the freezing of Bybit hacking funds, it deeply realized that the crypto industry has serious problems in security vulnerabilities and hacking attacks. He said that nearly 100% of the monthly transaction volume and fees of multiple "decentralized" protocols have recently come from the North Korean hacker group DPRK, but these projects refuse to assume any responsibility. Additionally, centralized exchanges (CEXs) responded slowly, and hackers took only a few minutes to launder money, while some CEXs took hours to take action. ZachXBT also criticized the KYT (Transaction Monitoring) system for having serious flaws and easy to evade. The KYC (identity Authentication) mechanism is more like a data breach risk for ordinary users due to account leakage and internal personnel issues, but is almost ineffective in preventing illegal capital flows. He pointed out that the recent successful laundering of $1.4 billion in North Korean hacker DPRK has fully exposed the compliance and security system loopholes in the industry, and is worried that only if the government enforces supervision, the industry can improve.
Binance HODLer airdrop launches Bubblemaps (BMT)
According to Binance announcement, Bubblemaps (BMT) became the 12th airdrop project on the HODLer Airdrops page. Previously, users who subscribe to BNB to Simple Earn or On-Chain Yields will receive a BMT airdrop, which is expected to be queried within 5 hours, and the airdrop will be distributed to the spot account at least 1 hour before the transaction starts. Binance will launch the BMT/USDT, BMT/USDC, BMT/BNB, BMT/FDUSD, BMT/TRY trading pairs on March 18, 2025 at 15:00 (UTC) and mark the Seed Tag. Users can start recharge BMT within 2 hours to prepare for transactions. According to reports, the initial and maximum supply of BMT is 1 billion pieces, of which 3% (30 million pieces) are used for HODLer airdrops, and an additional 30 million pieces will be used for marketing in batches in 6 months. The circulating supply at the time of its launch is about 261.5 million pieces (26.15%). Supports BNB Smart Chain and Solana networks.
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