PA Daily | Wall Street's famous short seller Jim Chanos is buying Bitcoin; South Korean actress Huang Zhengyin misappropriates 4.2 billion won of company investment in cryptocurrency
Reprinted from panewslab
05/15/2025·24DToday's news tips:
Ukraine plans to launch strategic Bitcoin reserves under new crypto law
Jim Chanos, famous Wall Street short seller: We are selling MicroStrategy stocks and buying Bitcoin
MetaMask says its team is still considering launching native tokens
Regulatory/Macro
According to Korean media reports, actress Huang Zhengyin was sued for allegedly embezzling funds from her actual holding brokerage firm investing in cryptocurrencies. On May 15, the Jeju District Court held its first public trial on the case. According to the indictment, Huang Zhengyin misappropriated a total of 4.34 billion won of the company's funds from early 2022 to December, of which 4.2 billion won were used for cryptocurrency investment. Huang Zhengyin's lawyer admitted the charges, saying he invested in cryptocurrencies for the sake of developing the company, and emphasized that the company's earnings ultimately belong to Huang Zhengyin. Currently, Huang Zhengyin has repaid some of the losses by selling cryptocurrencies and planning to sell real estate. The court accepted the request and allowed the proceedings related to compensation.
Singapore court approves Sonic Labs' application for liquidation Multichain Foundation
According to Cointelegraph, the Singapore High Court issued a ruling on May 9 to approve Sonic Labs' application for liquidation of the Multichain Foundation. KPMG is designated as the liquidator and is responsible for handling the foundation's asset liquidation matters. The ruling originated from a hacking incident encountered by Multichain in July 2023, which caused losses to assets on chains including Fantom and Ethereum, with a total amount of more than US$210 million. Sonic Labs CEO Michael Kong said the company had to take legal measures as former Multichain employees refused to cooperate with the investigation. The liquidator will initiate the asset recovery procedure, and if the funds are successfully recovered, it will be returned to the affected users. Multichain has ceased operations in July 2024, and its CEO was previously detained by police.
Mastercard to launch new stablecoin payment card in partnership with MoonPay
According to Decrypt, Mastercard has reached a cooperation with crypto payment company MoonPay and will launch stablecoin payment card services to 150 million merchants around the world. The service is based on the technical architecture of Iron, a stablecoin payment company acquired by MoonPay in March this year, and will be automatically converted to fiat currency during transactions. This is another layout of MasterCard in the field of crypto payments after cooperating with OKX, Nuvei and Circle in April.
US Senator: Stablecoin bill has been deleted and the Senate plans to pass it before May 26
According to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Senate may pass the cross-party stablecoin bill as early as next week after deleting statements about cryptocurrency stakes in President Trump and his family. Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis believes that passing by May 26 is a "reasonable goal." Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said the bill's wording has been revised to remove clauses against Trump's cryptocurrency projects, such as Meme coins. She stressed that the revised bill has improved in consumer protection and other aspects, not focusing on Trump's moral issues, but aiming to regulate the stablecoin field. Earlier, Senate Democrats withdrew their support on May 8 over concerns that the bill would not resolve Trump's profitable cryptocurrency transactions. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong hopes the Senate vote early next week but declines to comment on the impact of Trump's Meme currency on the bill. The cryptocurrency industry is pushing Congress to pass the bill and another market structure bill before the November 3, 2026 midterm elections, which industry insiders say are narrow in time for legislation to pass before the midterm elections, and Trump is expected to sign the two bills before the August recess.
According to Bitcoin.com, Nasdaq listed blockchain company BTCS (stock code: BTCS) announced that it would raise $57.8 million through convertible notes to strategically increase its holdings in Ethereum. The first $7.8 million bond has been subscribed by ATW Partners. The company's CEO Charles Allen personally invested $95,000, and his affiliated trust followed up with $200,000. Financing will be used to purchase Ethereum to expand verification nodes and staking services. Previously, BTCS had increased its holdings in ETH through Aave agreement. HC Wainwright serves as the exclusive placement agent for the financing. BTCS said it will follow MicroStrategy's strategy and obtain continuous benefits through staking and block construction. The company also operates the ChainQ data analysis platform, and relevant transaction details have been submitted to the SEC for filing.
Ukraine plans to launch strategic Bitcoin reserves under new crypto law
Ukraine is developing a legal framework for holding bitcoin in its national reserves, and a special parliamentary committee led by financial officials is finalizing the draft legislation, Coincentral reported. Senior MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak confirmed that Ukraine plans to build a cryptocurrency reserve infrastructure, and he is responsible for overseeing the preparation of relevant draft laws. The proposal aims to regulate how countries acquire, store and manage Bitcoin reserves, strives to be consistent with cryptocurrency regulations expected to be issued in 2025. The law will support holdings of digital assets for national fiscal planning, and the authorities will ensure transparency, compliance and supervision by central banks and regulators. It is reported that Ukraine is receiving support from Binance to establish national Bitcoin reserves, and cooperation includes providing guidance for reserve mechanisms and technical infrastructure. The two sides are actively discussing the implementation of the reserve strategy. In addition, Ukraine plans to coordinate with the National Bank and the International Monetary Fund to pass a comprehensive digital asset law in early 2025, covering fiscal policy formulation, exchange norms, anti-money laundering measures and capital gains taxes, etc., to clarify the legal responsibilities of market participants and state institutions.
Brazil's central bank proposes strict regulation of stablecoin transfers
According to The Defiant, several Brazilian government sources familiar with the relevant plans revealed that Brazilian government officials are considering issuing the country's first sovereign bond denominated in renminbi. At present, this move is still under consideration and no final decision has been made. The potential plan to issue RMB-denominated sovereign bonds will be a significant progress in Brazil's financial strategy. Meanwhile, as part of a new cryptocurrency regulatory framework, the Brazilian central bank has proposed strict regulation of stablecoins transfers. The proposed rules include restrictions on the sending of stablecoins to wallets that are not controlled by Brazilian entities, reflecting the country's tightening stance on domestic cryptocurrency transactions.
Viewpoint
Jim Chanos, famous Wall Street short seller: We are selling MicroStrategy stocks and buying Bitcoin
Jim Chanos, a well-known Wall Street short seller, said at the Sohn Investment Conference in New York that he is conducting an aggressive long-short trading involving MicroStrategy and Bitcoin. Chanos is also bullish on Bitcoin and shorted MicroStrategy, believing that the company holds a large amount of Bitcoin by leveraging, and the stock price has a large premium compared to its Bitcoin holdings. Chanos pointed out that it is unreasonable for MicroStrategy and its imitators to promote the idea of buying Bitcoin through corporate structures to retail investors and value it at a similar premium. He said that shorting MicroStrategy stock and buying Bitcoin is equivalent to buying for $1 and selling for $2.5. MicroStrategy's share price has risen by more than 220% over the past year, while Bitcoin's gains by nearly 70% over the same period.
Arthur Hayes said in a new post that he has re-invested his position in cryptocurrencies at market lows and believes that now is a good time to pick a quality altcoin that can outperform Bitcoin in the bull market. He is particularly optimistic about two projects: $PENDLE and $ETHFI. The return of foreign capital and the massive depreciation of US bonds will become the two major catalysts that drive Bitcoin to rise to $1 million by 2028. He mentioned that the 2028 US presidential election may bring policy uncertainty, but it is a critical period for Bitcoin to benefit. Although he believes Bitcoin will rise to $1 million, there are still opportunities to short-term tactical short selling. He pointed out that capital controls and currency printing are coming, but the road ahead is full of uncertainty. The Trump team is not consistent in capital control, so there may be different policy directions.
Crypto analyst Topher questioned the "50% creator revenue share" policy announced by pump.fun, which he pointed out that this may be just an additional fee to the community. Previously, in the PumpSwap fee model, the liquidity pool fee was 0.20% and the platform fee was 0.05%; on this basis, the current model added a 0.05% creator fee share. Topher believes that it is actually the community paying additional fees to support creators, and Pump's own income has not returned 50% of DEX revenue as claimed, which is misleading. He asked why Pump charged an additional 2.5 basis points on DEX, which was not a wise move in his opinion, given that the binding curve contributed almost all of Pump's revenue.
Blockstream CEO: Bitcoin may rise to $500,000 to $1 million during this cycle
According to Decrypt, Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, said that considering the continued inflow of institutional funds and the improvement of policy environment, Bitcoin's current price of $103,000 is significantly underestimated. He believes that Bitcoin may rise to $500,000 to $1 million during this cycle. Back pointed out that the US Bitcoin spot ETF has attracted more than US$41 billion in net inflows, and coupled with the Trump administration's crypto-friendly policies, the market fundamentals are significantly better than previous years.
According to analyst FilbFilb, Bitcoin's current price trend is extremely bullish and is facing a key battle to break through $100,000 and $2 trillion in market capitalization. He pointed out that Bitcoin has been rising rapidly recently, but it has shown a volatile trend in the area above $100,000, and its market value needs to shift US$2 trillion from resistance to support. FilbFilb believes that Bitcoin may fall below $100,000 in the short term, but the overall trend is good for the bulls. In addition, he mentioned that ETH/BTC needs to rebound to a key level of 0.03 to drive the altcoin market recovery. Looking ahead, the market generally expects Bitcoin to re-challenge its all-time high of $110,000 and may reach its target price of $120,000 to $150,000 in June. FilbFilb concluded, “Bitcoin is incredible in the long run, and a short-term pullback may occur, but the overall trend is extremely optimistic.”
Project News
Nous Research launches decentralized AI training network Psyche test network
Decentralized AI startup Nous Research has announced the launch of the decentralized AI training network Psyche Test Network, which aims to integrate global computing resources to train powerful AI models, allowing individuals and small communities to develop large models. Psyche coordinates through the Solana blockchain to support distributed GPU operation and plans to support trusted computing resources owned by the community in the future. Previous news, decentralized AI startup Nous Research completed a US$50 million Series A financing, led by Paradigm.
The third quarter of Solana's decentralized exchange Kamino has ended and will distribute a total of 350 million KMNO to users in May, worth approximately $26 million. The third season distribution inspector is online and the collection will be open in the next few days. A new reward mechanism will be launched in the fourth season, and more information will be released soon. During the third quarter, Kamino generated $72.9 million in interest income for users, and KMNO distribution increased its earnings by 35.6%. Previously, Binance will list Maple Finance (SYRUP) and Kamino Finance (KMNO) and add seed tags to them.
Phantom launches liquid pledged token Phantom Staked SOL (PSOL)
Phantom has announced the launch of its liquid staking token Phantom Staked SOL (PSOL), designed to provide users with a simple and powerful staking experience. With PSOL, users can earn SOL rewards while maintaining liquidity and support the Solana network.
Binance announced the participation threshold for NXPC airdrops, and users must reach 187 points of Alpha points before they can participate. In addition, points 143–186 (inclusive) and Binance account UID ends with 9 can also be qualified. Receiving NXPC airdrop will consume 15 Alpha points. Previous news, Binance: HODLer airdrop has been launched on Nexpace (NXPC) and will be launched on spot trading at 15:30 today.
Cardano founder reveals details of the “Glacier Drop” airdrop plan for privacy sidechain Midnight
According to CoinDesk, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson announced details of the airdrop plan for the privacy sidechain Midnight's "Glacier Drop" at the Consensus 2025 conference. The plan will distribute governance tokens NIGHT and privacy token DUST to 37 million users of 8 mainstream public chains, clearly excluding the share of venture capital institutions, and all tokens are directly targeted to ordinary users. Hoskinson also proposed the "collaborative economics" model, allowing developers to use native tokens such as ETH and SOL to pay for cross-chain application fees, and validators can also obtain benefits from cross-chain collaboration. The Midnight test network has been launched and the main network is expected to be launched by the end of 2025. This airdrop is seen as a strategic measure to alleviate industry divisions and respond to the entry of technology giants.
Lookonchain cited Dune data that Pump.fun's dominance is being challenged by new platforms such as Letsbonk.fun, Believe and LaunchLab. Among the daily "graduation" tokens on the market, Pump.fun has dropped from 98% to 57.5%. Letsbonk.fun accounts for 17.9%, Believe accounts for 12.9%, and LaunchLab accounts for 5%. The most popular Meme coins recently (LAUNCHCOIN, GOONC, DUPE, Hosico, etc.) are all released on Letsbonk.fun or Believe.
MetaMask says its team is still considering launching native tokens
According to The Block, Dan Finlay, co-founder of Ethereum Wallet MetaMask, was asked in a "Crypto Beat" podcast interview whether to create native MetaMask tokens, and he responded: "Maybe, if tokens are issued, they will be directly promoted in the wallet, and users can find links directly in the wallet." Although MetaMask currently has no specific token issuance plans, Finlay believes that under the relatively loose supervision of the Trump administration, the security of token issuance is higher. He hopes to take this opportunity to break through boundaries and set precedents. Finlay pointed out that the Securities Law is still the Securities Law, and many projects may still operate in the "gray zone". He also feared that potential MASK tokens would be exploited by scammers, saying that the relevant information would only be published in the wallet and on the official website. Since 2021, MetaMask has been discussing the issuance of tokens tentatively named MASK, and ConsenSys CEO Joseph Lubin also posted a preview. In 2022, Lubin further explained the intention to issue tokens and DAOs as part of the “Advanced Decentralization” plan. The DAO is described as a financing mechanism rather than a governance body, and it is clear that the token is not intended to "raise money quickly" and has also taken measures to prevent it from being used by airdrop hunters.
Important data
According to Lookonchain monitoring, a giant whale that had previously shorted BTC, ETH and SOL successfully turned losses into profits in the market pullback. It has currently made a profit of US$2.17 million on BTC and US$1.77 million on SOL, but is still losing US$141,000 on ETH. The latest data shows that the giant whale has begun to gradually close SOL short positions to lock in profits.
Deribit official releases that tomorrow (16:00 Beijing time on May 16), more than US$3.1 billion of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) options will expire on the platform. Among them, the nominal value of BTC options is US$2.66 billion, Put/Call is 0.99, and the maximum pain point is US$100,000; the nominal value of ETH options is US$525 million, the Put/Call ratio is 1.24, and the maximum pain point is US$2,200. The current skew of BTC is neutral, while the sell rights of ETH slightly exceeds the buy rights.
According to Lookonchain monitoring, a wallet that may be associated with DeFiance Capital has deposited 9.3 million LDOs (worth $10.1 million) to Binance, OKX, Bybit and Gate.io in the past two days.
According to SoSoValue data, yesterday (May 14 Eastern Time) Bitcoin spot ETFs had a total net inflow of US$320 million. Yesterday, the Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest single-day net inflow was Blackrock ETF IBIT, with a single-day net inflow of US$233 million. Currently, the total historical net inflow of IBIT has reached US$45.013 billion. The second is Fidelity ETF FBTC, with a single-day net inflow of US$36.1349 million. Currently, the total historical net inflow of FBTC has reached US$11.651 billion. As of press time, the total net asset value of Bitcoin spot ETF was US$121.845 billion, the net asset ratio of ETF (market value compared to the total market value of Bitcoin) reached 5.92%, and the historical cumulative net inflow has reached US$41.399 billion.
Binance Report: Meme Coin accounts for 41% of the AI crypto market, but DeFAI is still on the rise
The latest report from Binance Research Institute shows that in the AI-related cryptocurrency field, Meme coins dominate with a market share of 41%, while the DeFAI sector, which combines AI and decentralized finance, currently only accounts for 10%. The report points out that DeFAI is undergoing a transformation from proof of concept to infrastructure, and its development mainly relies on four core components: AI agents, development frameworks, protocol layers and trading markets. Recent industry trends have confirmed the growth trend of DeFAI. For example, Tether's newly launched QVAC project is in line with the characteristics of the DeFAI protocol framework. The report also warns that there are three major risks in this field: unclear definition of ownership of AI agents, insufficient operational transparency, and possible abuse problems in decentralized governance. Researchers believe that if an effective regulatory framework is established, DeFAI is expected to reshape the on-chain financial system.
According to Spot On Chain monitoring, Galaxy Digital transferred 39,834 ETH to Coinbase in the past eight hours, worth approximately US$103.6 million.
Financing
Josh Browder, founder and CEO of DoNotPay, disclosed on X that its venture capital firm Browder Capital has successfully raised the Browder Capital Fund Four, a $30 million fund supported by Sequoia Capital, Marc Andreessen (a16z United Chuang), Chris Dixon (a16z partner), Arthur Patterson (accel founder), Walter Kortschak (SignalFire founder) and other institutional investors, including Cendana Capital, General Endowment Management, Level Ventures, Hummingbird Ventures (Nomads and Slipstream).
Venture capital firm a16z Crypto led a $7 million seed round of financing from blockchain ticketing platform KYD Labs. KYD is built on Solana and aims to empower artists and venues to control ticket sales, fan data and revenue, and solve the problem of loss of revenue caused by the flow of secondary markets. It is said that after using the KYD system, the ticketing revenue of the famous New York venue LPR increased by 30%. KYD plans to expand to more than 100 U.S. venues by 2026, and launch two tokens $KYD and $TIX to strengthen the community and financial foundation.
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