Important information last night (January 23-January 24)
Reprinted from panewslab
01/24/2025·3M
The U.S. SEC has officially revoked the crypto accounting policy SAB 121
According to the official website, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the withdrawal of the crypto accounting policy SAB 121 in the latest Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 122. The document withdraws the interpretive guidance contained in Topic 5.FF, titled “Accounting for the Protection Obligations of Entities Holding Crypto-Assets for Users of Their Platforms.” Entities should withdraw Topic 5.FF on a fully retrospective basis for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024. In addition, the SEC emphasized that entities should continue to be obligated to disclose risks related to the custody of crypto assets in accordance with existing regulations.
According to Fox Business News, Trump signed an executive order establishing the President’s Digital Asset Markets Working Group. The task force is to develop a federal regulatory framework for managing digital assets, including stablecoins, and evaluate strategies. The creation of a national digital asset reserve. The working group will be chaired by White House “AI and Cryptocurrency Czar” David Sacks, and its members include the Secretary of the Treasury, the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the heads of other relevant departments and agencies. The executive order directs the departments to make recommendations to the task force on any regulations and other agency actions affecting the digital asset sector that should be rescinded or modified. In addition, the executive order prohibits agencies from taking any action to establish, issue or promote a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The executive order also revoked the previous government’s “Digital Asset Executive Order” and the Treasury Department’s “Digital Asset International Participation Framework,” saying that these two executive orders suppressed innovation and harmed U.S. economic freedom and global development in the field of digital finance. leadership position.
Prior to yesterday’s news, Trump said that the United States will become the global capital of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency.
Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka warns against buying fraudulent meme coin named after her
Ivanka Trump, the daughter of US President Donald Trump, has warned investors not to buy a fraudulent meme coin named after her. On Thursday local time, Ivanka wrote on social media Trump's or '$IVANKA' counterfeit cryptocurrencies are promoted without my consent and approval. To be clear, I have no affiliation with this coin and may deceive consumers and defraud them. Hard-earned money. Additionally, the unauthorized use of my name and likeness violates my rights." Ivanka added: "This promotion is deceptive, exploitative, and unacceptable to my legal team. It is being reviewed and steps will be taken to stop the continued misuse of my name."
Earlier this week, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce was appointed to lead the agency’s newly announced cryptocurrency working group, The Block reported. However, investment bank TD Cowen pointed to concerns that her term will end in June. TD Cowen’s Washington research team wrote in a report on Thursday: “The SEC’s move to establish a working group is an important and overdue step towards regulatory clarity in the cryptocurrency space. Our only concern is that Peirce He may resign at the end of his term in June. "According to the SEC's official website, if the chairman and committee members are not replaced after the end of their term, they can continue to serve for up to 18 months. It is reported that Peirce is known as the “crypto mom” for her support of innovation in the cryptocurrency field and has long advocated balanced cryptocurrency regulation.
Senator Lummis announced as chair of Senate Banking Subcommittee on Digital Assets
U.S. Senator Lummis has been announced as chair of the Senate Banking Digital Assets Subcommittee. Senator Cynthia Lummis said that digital assets are the future. If the United States wants to maintain its leadership in global financial innovation, Congress needs to pass bipartisan legislation as soon as possible to establish a comprehensive legal framework for digital assets and at the same time enhance the strength of the US dollar through strategic Bitcoin reserves. She pledged to push the bill to President Trump's desk and lay the foundation for America's financial future.
According to data from Glassnode, Bitcoin’s current price trend is very similar to the pattern of previous market cycles, especially the 2015-2018 cycle, The Block reported. Glassnode’s analysis of Bitcoin’s historical market data highlights significant growth in early cycles. The first cycle began with the genesis block in 2009 and ended in 2011, during which the price of Bitcoin increased 80.51 times. The subsequent 2011-2015 cycle increased by 55.30 times. However, more recent cycles, such as 2015-2018 and 2018-2022, have seen more modest growth rates of 2.80x and 3.31x respectively, reflecting the trend of diminishing returns as Bitcoin matures as an asset class. . In its latest report, Glassnode noted that the current cycle’s growth is very similar to the 2015-2018 cycle. At the corresponding stage of the 2015-2018 cycle, Bitcoin was up 562%. Today, it is up about 630% from the 2022 cycle low of $15,000, suggesting further growth is possible. However, the size of future increases remains uncertain. Bitget Wallet COO Alvin Kan has made a speculative prediction that if Bitcoin can replicate the percentage gains of the 2015-2018 cycle, it could theoretically reach $1.7 million — an 11,374% increase from its previous low. However, such projections highlight the challenges of applying historical patterns to future scenarios. "While historical cycles provide valuable context, today's market environment is fundamentally different," Kan said.
Expert North Korean hacking group may be behind $70 million stolen from Phemex exchange
According to The Block, multiple blockchain security experts have analyzed that North Korean hackers may be behind the theft of more than $70 million worth of crypto exchange Phemex. The Singapore-based exchange was hacked on Thursday and later announced it was suspending withdrawals after suspicious activity was reported to it by multiple blockchain security firms. Approximately $30 million in funds had been stolen at that time, but the attacks appear to be continuing, with more tokens being stolen.
The attack appears to follow a similar threat pattern that has emerged when other well-known crypto exchanges have been attacked. Taylor, chief security researcher at MetaMask Monahan said: “In this event, a large number of different assets were withdrawn from multiple chains at the same time. These tokens were then immediately exchanged for native assets of the chain, starting with freezeable stablecoins and then in order of value. One by one, as with many attacks, the attackers appear to have targeted large assets first and then moved on. Start targeting less well-known tokens. All of these activities occur simultaneously, but they are not scripted. Assets are manually sent to a new address for redemption and then transferred to another new address. The assets will remain in storage until the actual money laundering team picks them up next week or next month." Due to the high number of transactions and the wide range of blockchains targeted, Monahan said the attack was likely the work of "a repeat threat actor group."
Vitalik warns: Political tokens 'are tools for unlimited political bribery'
According to The Block, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin posted on social media on Thursday that political tokens could lead to "unlimited" bribery. Buterin’s comments are part of a broader discussion surrounding trends in the cryptocurrency industry, especially in the context of political leaders such as U.S. President Donald Trump embracing cryptocurrencies. Buterin noted that some parts of the industry are in conflict with each other over their short-and long-term values, likening them to "highly addictive mobile games" and chess.
Buterin wrote on , it's time to discuss the difference between short-term 'sugar high' fun and long-term fulfillment and wealth accumulation that is not recommended for newbies. This is not to say 'fun'. Fun is bad', but rather akin to the difference between modern highly addictive mobile games and chess or World of Warcraft. Now it's time to discuss the fact that large-scale political tokens cross another line: More than a source of fun, their harm is limited, at best, to the mistakes of willing participants, they are vehicles for unlimited political bribery, including from foreign governments.”
Two recently announced large-scale political coins are TRUMP and MELANIA, both of which are associated with President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. Both coins were launched before Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States on January 20 and experienced significant price drops shortly after.
According to Fox Business News reporter Eleanor Terrett, crypto czar David Sacks said in an interview that they have not yet decided whether to advance the digital asset reserve plan. Sacks said: "Yes, we will evaluate this. We have not decided yet. Do. We need to study this.” In addition, Sacks stated that the Digital Asset Working Group will develop a regulatory framework by:
- implementing market structures and defining what digital assets, securities, commodities, collectibles, etc. are; 2) expanding the dominance of the U.S. dollar through stablecoins; 3) Assessing national digital asset reserves. Sacks also stated that he views TRUMP coins as a collectible like baseball cards and is not concerned about possible conflicts of interest in the president’s issuance of such coins; central bank digital currency (CBDC) is a threat to liberty and freedom, And stablecoins are a better choice. Expanding the dollar’s dominance in the digital realm could create trillions of dollars in demand for U.S. Treasuries, “which could be very useful for us to basically support our debt and lower long-term interest rates.” Earlier today, it was reported that Trump signed an executive order on cryptocurrency, which includes evaluating the creation of a national digital asset reserve and banning CBDC.
Singapore court approves WazirX to repay $235 million to hacking victims
According to Cointelegraph, Indian crypto exchange WazirX received approval from the Singapore High Court for its restructuring plan, paving the way for the repayment of $235 million in user funds stolen by North Korea’s Lazarus Group in July 2024. According to the plan, users are expected to recover 75%-80% of their account balance through token distribution. The restructuring plan, submitted by WazirX parent company Zettai, aims to avoid liquidation and restore creditor rights through a court-supervised process. Initial compensation will be completed within 10 working days after the plan is adopted, and the remaining claims will be linked to newly issued "recovery tokens", which will be repurchased through platform earnings and asset recovery. WazirX has frozen some of the stolen funds and is working with multiple governments to trace the remaining assets. The court stated that a quick resolution and distribution of funds were in the best interests of users, favoring the option of restructuring over liquidation.
According to Jinshi reports, OpenAI released its first AI agent tool Operator on Thursday, which can perform web-based operations on behalf of users. In addition, OpenAI founder Sam Altman said that the free version of ChatGPT will launch O3-mini.
Binance Labs changes its name to YZI Labs, and first head Ella Zhang returns
Binance Labs announced that it will change its name to YZi Labs to reflect its independence and expand its investment focus into Web3, artificial intelligence (AI), and biotech. The name change marks the institution’s independence from the Binance brand and adapts to the broader technology landscape. Changpeng Zhao (CZ) will still actively participate in investment activities and provide guidance and support to entrepreneurs. At the same time, Ella Zhang, the original head of Binance Labs, returns as the head of YZi Labs to promote the next stage of innovation and growth. YZi Labs will focus on supporting projects with long-term impact and exploring the intersection of Web3 with AI and biotechnology. It is planned to re-optimize the incubation project and introduce a 12-week offline residency event to create an immersive cooperation environment for entrepreneurs. YZi Labs currently manages a portfolio of more than 250 projects in 25 countries around the world, and more than 65 companies have participated in its incubation programs.
Ledger co-creator Balland released after kidnapping in France
According to Tree News, Ledger co-founder Balland was kidnapped in France and released. Specific details of the case have not yet been disclosed, and relevant investigations are ongoing.
Coinbase International Station will launch Animecoin perpetual contract
Coinbase International Exchange and Coinbase Advanced announced that they will support Animecoin (ANIME) perpetual contract trading. The ANIME-PERP market is expected to open for trading on or after 18:00 (UTC) on January 23, 2025.
DEXX will start compensation on February 8: direct one-time compensation for US$50,000 and below
DEXX officially stated that the platform has received a total of US$15 million in investment and cooperation from 7 leading exchanges, VCs and industry star project parties, and will gradually start user compensation on February 8. The compensation plan is as follows: • Users whose losses amount to US$50,000 or less will receive one-time compensation; • Users whose losses exceed US$50,000 will be contacted by customer service personnel to confirm the details. The new version of DEXX will be launched after completing multiple rounds of security upgrades and offensive and defensive tests. New features include "wallet authorization code", new safe wallet and risk wallet isolation, etc., and has been reviewed by multiple audits and security agencies. In addition, all damaged users will receive airdrop compensation in the platform token TGE. Officials recommend that users conduct transactions after the compensation is completed and the platform is restarted.
Circle launches Paymaster function to support the use of USDC to pay transaction fees
Circle announced the launch of the Paymaster function, which allows users to pay transaction fees in USDC on Arbitrum and Base without holding native tokens such as ETH. Paymaster will accept USDC and complete the process of paying native tokens to blockchain validators on behalf of the user. The service will be expanded to Ethereum, Polygon POS and Solana chains in the future and will charge a 10% gas fee for each transaction, but to encourage adoption, the fee will be waived until June 30.
BlackRock CEO Fink: Hopes the U.S. SEC will approve the tokenization of bonds and stocks
BlackRock CEO Fink: Hopes the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve the tokenization of bonds and stocks.
Binance Alpha adds VINE, BUZZ and BID
The App page shows that Binance Alpha has added VINE, BUZZ and BID. The project introduction is as follows:
Norwegian Wealth Fund CEO: I don’t think cryptocurrencies will be part of our portfolio in the short term.
Upbit launches Animecoin (ANIME) trading pairs for South Korean won, BTC and USDT
According to the official announcement, South Korean crypto exchange Upbit will list Animecoin (ANIME) on the Korean Won, BTC, and USDT markets, and plans to start the recharge service of ANIME at 22:00 on January 23, 2025 (local time). The specific trading opening hours will be announced separately, and will be notified one hour in advance once the liquidity in the platform is sufficient. ANIME is based on the Arbitrum One network.
GMGN data shows that the market value of ALON, the Meme token of the same name of Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen, once exceeded US$260 million and is currently back to about US$140 million.
According to news earlier today , Pump.fun co-founder Alon Cohen said that he did not create the ALON token, but had taken over the token TG group and paid Dexscreener fees.
According to Onchain Lens monitoring, in the past 4 hours, the Trump family encryption project World Liberty Financial (WLFI) spent 2.65 million USDT to purchase 10.61 million TRX, and spent 10 million USDC to purchase 3,079 ETH. They also exchanged 4,700 ETH (worth $15.68 million) for 4,700 stETH and staked them on Lido. They staked a total of 14,701.58 ETH, worth $49 million.
Ethereum Layer-2 protocol transaction throughput hits new high
According to CoinDesk, the transaction throughput of the Ethereum Layer-2 protocol hit a new high. According to growthepie.xyz data, the cumulative transaction throughput of the Layer-2 protocol has soared to 29.64 million gas units per second (Mgas/s), the highest level in history, of which Coinbase's BASE accounts for 67%. As an expansion solution for main chains such as Ethereum, Layer-2 protocols are designed to process more transactions at lower costs. The surge in throughput has also raised concerns that continued demand could exhaust network capacity.
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