Weekly | MGX invests US$2 billion in Binance and acquires minority stake in Binance; US SEC delays approval of DOGE, XRP, LTC, Solana and ADA spot ETFs
Reprinted from chaincatcher
03/16/2025·3MCompiled by: Luan Peng, ChainCatcher
“What important events happened this week (3.10-3.16)”
The TON Foundation has issued a statement saying that French authorities have returned the passport of Telegram founder Pavel Durov, giving him the right to leave the country freely. This news marks an important moment of resolution. With nearly 1 billion users worldwide, Telegram represents a global campaign dedicated to freedom of communication and inalienable privacy. As part of the decentralized TON community, the TON Foundation has always stood with Pavel, supporting his unwavering determination to defend online freedom of expression and privacy.
“Our commitment to these fundamental principles remains unwavering. We firmly believe that blockchain is #free technology—an innovative tool that can change the way we protect individual rights—and we are proud to be part of an ecosystem that empowers individuals to communicate freely and securely.”
Victor Ji, co-founder of Manta Network, posted a message saying: "We basically receive so-called invitations to buy and acquire coins from so-called active market makers and OTCs every day. My attitude is always there. Market makers are all blood-sucking borers in my eyes. They don't look at the fundamentals of the project at all, but every time they hold meetings, these people are very active in activities and run events. The boss is also a burden of money. Why? This money comes from the project community. If in this industry, the more funds don't pay attention to the fundamentals, the industry will collapse faster and faster, and market makers don't pay attention to the most blatant fundamentals. I believe that liquidity comes from real community trading. You are optimistic and bearish, both are natural markets. If market makers are willing to participate, you can buy coins in the market to get a position."
Victor Ji added: "If some project founders are worried about insufficient liquidity and are unwilling to pay for a retainer, then my suggestion is to make a loan, but the size must be the smallest. Our first Calamari in the Polkadot era was asked for more than 3% tokens by Sanjiang Market Making. These grandsons turned around and sold the coins. They told us that they were legit and would never sell coins. A real loan only requires no more than 0.2% of the coins. Because you think, if there is a lot of 200k in the depth of 2% up and down, 0.2% of the coins must be more than this value. If market makers want more coins, wouldn't they just come to smash the market?"
3.OKX will add USD trading pairs of some currencies
According to the official announcement, in order to support the development of the USD ecosystem and meet the diverse trading needs of users, the following USD trading pairs will be added to the USD trading area under Ouyi spot trading.
March 10, 2025 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm (UTC+8): MDT/USD, NULS/USD, MLN/USD, ERN/USD, PERP/USD, GLMR/USD, JOE/USD, XNO/USD, GHST/USD, SNT/USD, BNT/USD, TRA/USD, VENOM/USD, OXT/USD, LEO/USD, T/USD, ZERO/USD, DIA/USD, POR/USD, FLM/USD.
March 18, 2025 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm (UTC+8): SLP/USD, ALPHA/USD, ARTY/USD, DAO/USD, GLM/USD, WAXP/USD, DEP/USD, ICX/USD, KP3R/USD, G/USD, AERGO/USD, IQ/USD, NMR/USD, BZZ/USD, CELR/USD, UMA/USD, SD/USD, OMI/USD, TRB/USD, MAGIC/USD.
March 20, 2025 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm (UTC+8): CTXC/USD, CLV/USD, ACA/USD, PHA/USD, GOG/USD, BADGER/USD, ARG/USD, CVC/USD, BAND/USD, KNC/USD, LAMB/USD, CFG/USD, SC/USD, RSS3/USD, POLYDOGE/USD, ONE/USD, ACE/USD, PRQ/USD.
March 25, 2025 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm (UTC+8): API3/USD, ENJ/USD, KSM/USD, TNSR/USD, PENDLE/USD, MILO/USD, BAL/USD, MXC/USD, ORBS/USD, LSK/USD, RVN/USD, KISHU/USD, DGB/USD, ASTR/USD, AUCTION/USD, ELF/USD, RPL/USD, CVX/USD, SAMO/USD.
March 28, 2025 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm (UTC+8): GAS/USD, RACA/USD, GOAL/USD, MOVR/USD, BORA/USD, YFI/USD, PSTAKE/USD, AXS/USD, BICO/USD, ZRX/USD, ONT/USD, IOST/USD, XTZ/USD, EGLD/USD, RSR/USD, BABYDOGE/USD, OAS/USD, FLOW/USD, ZIL/USD, BAT/USD.
The Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission released the "ASPI-Re" roadmap for Hong Kong's virtual asset market. The Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission stated that in order to maintain its leading position in this ever-changing environment, the CSRC's regulatory roadmap is based on five pillars, namely "ASPI-Re" (Access, Safeguards, Products, Infrastructure and Relationships), aims to lead Hong Kong's virtual asset ecosystem into the future.
The 12 specific measures of the roadmap include promoting market participation, implementing adaptive compliance and product frameworks, and upgrading infrastructure in combination with the reliability of traditional finance and the effectiveness of blockchain technology. This series of measures reflects our pragmatic approach to strengthening Hong Kong’s role as a reliable virtual asset liquidity hub.
5.US SEC delays approval of DOGE, XRP, LTC, Solana and ADA spot ETF
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) postponed a number of cryptocurrency spot ETF applications this morning, including Grayscale Cardano (ADA) and DOGE spot ETFs, Canary's XRP, Solana, Litecoin spot ETFs and VanEck Solana spot ETFs.
6.Mesh, a crypto payment company, completed a US$82 million Series B financing, led by Paradigm
crypto payment company Mesh announced a $82 million Series B financing round to expand its stablecoin-based payment settlement network. This round of financing was led by Paradigm, with participation from ConsenSys, QuantumLight, Yolo Investments, Evolution VC, Hike Ventures, Opportuna and AltaIR Capital.
Mesh aims to build a payment network connecting crypto wallets, exchanges and payment service providers, and supports users to pay with crypto assets such as BTC, ETH, SOL, etc., while merchants can choose to settle in USDC, PYUSD or RLUSD.
7.Trump bought a red Tesla Model S
US President Trump bought a red Tesla (TSLA.O) Model S.
ChainCatcher previously reported that US President Trump posted on social media that "Musk is 'risky to step up' to help our country, he does a great job, but those radicals are trying to boycott Tesla in an illegal and collusional way to attack and hurt Musk and everything he represents. I will go and buy a brand new Tesla car tomorrow morning to express my trust and support for Musk."
8.Binance Alpha launches a new audit mechanism and deletes 21 tokens that do not meet the standards.
According to the official announcement, Binance Alpha has launched a new review mechanism to conduct regular review of characteristic tokens. Given the inherent instability and rapid development of the cryptocurrency industry, our review process facilitates dynamic adjustments to ensure that all projects on Binance Alpha continue to meet market-driven evaluation criteria. All tokens displayed in the Binance Alpha section will be evaluated within this framework:
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Quantitative indicators: trading volume stability, liquidity depth, on-chain trading frequency, token holder distribution and other related indicators.
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Qualitative criteria: Project team credibility, compliance with regulations, ecosystem synergy, community awareness, and other related factors.
If these standards do not meet the tokens, the token will be removed from the Binance Alpha.
According to the latest detailed investigation, the following tokens do not meet the Binance Wallet standards, will be removed from Binance Alpha: FAI, METAV, MLG, MONKY, PSTAKE, WHALES, GEL, VISTA, EVAN, MIRA, COCO, TAOCAT, FLOCK, OPUS, FREYA, AIXCB, VERTAI, STRDY, SEKOIA, VADER, ELIZA.
According to the official website of Abu Dhabi investment institution MGX, MGX Chairman Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the deputy chief of Abu Dhabi and national security adviser. He is the son of UAE founder Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.
It is reported that MGX was established by the Abu Dhabi Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technology Committee (AIATC) in March 2024. The committee was formed in January 2024 with Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan as chaired, and is responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies and strategies related to artificial intelligence and advanced technologies in the Emirates of Abu Dhabi.
ChainCatcher previously reported that cryptocurrency exchange Binance and Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence and advanced technology investor MGX announced a $2 billion investment transaction, which is Binance’s first institutional investment to date, marking an important step forward in promoting digital asset adoption and strengthening the role of blockchain in global finance, according to official sources. This is the largest single investment in a cryptocurrency company and the largest investment in a cryptocurrency (stablecoin) ever.
10.MGX invests US$2 billion in Binance and acquires minority stake in Binance
According to official sources, cryptocurrency exchange Binance and Abu Dhabi-based artificial intelligence and advanced technology investor MGX announced a $2 billion investment transaction, which is Binance’s first institutional investment to date, marking an important step forward in promoting digital asset adoption and strengthening the role of blockchain in global finance. This is the largest single investment in a cryptocurrency company and the largest investment in a cryptocurrency (stablecoin) ever.
It is reported that the investment represents MGX's first entry into the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector, acquiring a minority stake in Binance, as part of a broader strategy to support the transformative impact of blockchain on society.
11.Six members of Trump's cabinet hold cryptocurrency, with a total value of millions of dollars
After reviewing financial disclosures of members of the President’s cabinet in January, it found that among the 22 listed Bitcoin wallets, six members of the Trump Cabinet indirectly held Bitcoin through other financial instruments, or invested in cryptocurrencies, with a total value of millions of dollars.
The six members and holdings that invest in Bitcoin include:
- U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. disclosed a $1 million to $5 million Bitcoin Fidelity cryptocurrency account.
- Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, disclosed Bitcoin in a Coinbase wallet worth $1,001 to $15,000, and he said he would divest.
- National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard reported that she owns a Bitwise Bitcoin ETF trust worth between $15,001 and $50,000, and Bitcoin worth between $15,001 and $50,000, which she said she would divest.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed that he holds $15,001 to $50,000 worth of Bitcoin.
- U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's financial disclosure shows that he owns an iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF worth $250,000 to $500,000, and he will withdraw his investment no later than 90 days after confirmation.
- Transport Secretary Sean Duffy disclosed Bitcoin worth $250,000 to $500,000, Bitcoin held in Gemini wallet worth $250,000 to $500,000, and Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund worth $50,000 to $100,000.
12.Binance CEO: Trump's pro-cryptocurrency stance is a milestone
Binance CEO Richard Teng said of the Trump administration’s decision to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve that this is a “good first step” that could prompt other governments to consider “making cryptocurrency allocations.”
"The question is not whether to configure it, it's 2% or 5%, right? So we're having a lot of important conversations like this right now. The long-term driving force is very strong," commented Richard Teng.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao posted on social media, "Bloomberg has published another unfounded smear article, and they basically admit that the whole article was completely imagined. I/Binance has not reached a commercial deal with WLFI or anyone mentioned in the article, nor have we purchased any WLFI tokens."
14.Monitoring technology company Flock Safety is led by A16z to raise US$275 million
Atlanta-based surveillance technology company Flock Safety completed a $275 million financing led by Andreessen Horowitz (A16z), with a valuation of $7.5 billion, according to TechInAsia. Also involved in this round are Greenoaks Capital and Bedrock Capital.
So far, Flock Safety’s cumulative financing amount has exceeded US$950 million. The company plans to develop U.S.-made drones in 2025 and build a 100,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Georgia. The company focuses on providing AI-based security monitoring solutions, mainly aimed at government and enterprise customers.
Web3 asset data platform [RootData](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/RootData?k=NDk5MQ== "Web3 Asset Data Platform") has compiled Binance 's main team organizational structure chart based on public information and put forward the following views:
- Most Binance executives have luxurious resumes , from major Web2 companies such as Uber and Morgan, or crypto giants such as Kraken, Gemini, and OKX.
- Among the people counted by RootData, Binance is the crypto company with the most related characters. Currently, there are as many as140 included characters (including both on-the-job and resignation, both with certain influence in the industry), followed by HTX, a16z, Polygon, OKX, etc.
- Binance 's total number of employees at the beginning of this year was 5,000, of which 1,000 were located in the UAE . This figure fell about 37% from its peak in August 2023 (8,000 people), but is still a five-fold increase from 2020 . At present, Binance shows that there are still about 350 job recruitment positions, mainly engineers and compliance-related positions.
It is reported that after [Binance](https://www.rootdata.com/zh/Projects/detail/Binance?k=Mzg5NA== "The world's largest digital asset exchange") completed the largest financing in the history of the crypto industry, this towering tree once again became the focus of the market. For a long time, except for core members such as Zhao Changpeng and He Yi, most of Binance's executives have rarely been active in external communities such as Twitter, and the outside world knows very little about their organizational structure.
16.Michael Saylor: The main component of ETF BMAX is Strategy's convertible bonds
Strategy founder Michael Saylor posted on the X platform that the main component of ETF BMAX is Strategy's convertible bonds.
ChainCatcher previously reported that Strategy founder Michael Saylor posted a post on his personal social platform to introduce the new ETF BMAX, the first ETF to provide opportunities for retail investors and investment advisers, allowing them to invest in convertible bonds issued by companies that incorporate Bitcoin into their financial strategies.
According to the official announcement, Hong Kong-listed company Hong Kong-Ya Holdings (1723.HK), known as Hong Kong-listed Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy), announced a new appointment of a series of board and senior executive positions including directors, chairman, CEO, chief financial officer and chief information officer.
The new CEO John Riggins posted on a social platform that the overall changes in the company's directors have ended and Bitcoin-related (₿ig) products are about to enter the most important market in Asia.
The announcement shows that the new CEO John Riggins graduated from the University of Alabama in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in business administration, majoring in international economics and a minor in Chinese. Riggins has over 10 years of experience in the cryptocurrency industry and is a founding partner of UTXO’s Bitcoin Ecosystem Fund. Since February 2016, he has also served as the head of international operations at BTC Inc., the publisher of Bitcoin Magazine and organizer of the annual Bitcoin conference.
18.Former Ethereum Foundation Engineer: Ethereum should reduce research and focus on product delivery
According to crypto.news, Harikrishnan Mulackal, a former Solidity expert and compiler engineer at the Ethereum Foundation, said that Ethereum lacks a clear vision for development, which has led to the stagnation of changes in the Ethereum virtual machine (EVM).
Mulackal suggests that Ethereum needs more decisive leadership, otherwise the only viable path is "steadiness-no more change". He called for reduced research, focused on product delivery, and recommended a quarterly hard fork update.
At the same time, the Ethereum Foundation's continued sale of ETH and its relatively flat price performance may be restricting its development.
According to official news, Astar Network officially announced that its zkEVM will terminate operations on April 1, 2025.
Astar Network reminds users to pay attention to asset security and ensures that asset migration is completed before the network is shut down to avoid possible asset losses.
20.Telegram founder Pavel Durov is allowed to leave
According to Cointelegraph, the founder of the instant messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, has obtained permission from a French court to leave France and has returned to Dubai.
Durov was approved by French court on March 13 to allow him to travel to Dubai, the report said. AFP quoted an unnamed source as saying: "Durov left France this morning" and added that he left the country with the approval of the authorities.
The specific terms of the court's decision are not clear at present, and Durov himself and his legal team have not made a public statement on the matter.
“What are some great articles worth reading this week (3.10-3.16)”
Recently, Amber Premium, a digital wealth management platform under Amber Group, officially completed a merger with US-listed company iClick Interactive. The merged company was renamed "Amber International Holding Limited" and started trading on Nasdaq under the new stock code "AMBR".
AMBR closed at $11 yesterday, with a total turnover of $3.06 million and a total market value of $960 million.
In addition to Amber Group, from the beginning of this year to the present, Bitcoin reward financial services company Fold Holdings (FLD), has also completed its listing on Nasdaq, and Circle also plans to complete its IPO this year.
There are also several crypto companies that are promoting their listing plans. According to Bloomberg last week, Gemini has applied for a secret IPO and is working with Goldman Sachs and Citigroup to conduct the issuance. Crypto exchange Kraken is actively preparing for an IPO in the first quarter of 2026.
The crypto-friendly environment after Trump took office is expected to push 2025 to become the first year of crypto-IPO.
On February 27, Sky (former MakerDAO) officially announced the launch of Polaris on the X platform. However, except for this announcement, Polaris has almost nothing at present - the official website has not been online, the white paper has not been released, and even the official Twitter account has not posted a tweet.
But if you put aside these superficial "blanks", the story behind Polaris may be worth exploring. Polaris is launched by Sky and builds a DeFi ecosystem based on Berachain. The project plans to integrate USDS stablecoins into Berachain to build a "fully autonomous liquidity system" and inject liquidity support into the Berachain ecosystem.
Recently, the on-chain credit lending agreement 3Jane released a white paper. The content of the white paper shows that 3Jane is a credit-based money market that can achieve zero mortgage loans. Use zero-knowledge proof technology to verify the wallet address and bank account to provide credit loan quotas, and then use the method of fines and confiscation of credit points and auctioning default debts to practice risk control defaults for zero mortgage loans.
Although the unsecured credit market has become mature in traditional finance, in DeFi, it is still mainly based on excess mortgage lending, that is, the "bet 100 yuan and borrow 50 yuan". In addition, unsecured loan agreements such as Maple Finance and Goldfinch are already present, and are mainly aimed at institutions, market makers, etc., and it is difficult for ordinary users to borrow efficiently.
According to the white paper, 3Jane will create a credit-based currency market for peer-to-pool, supporting algorithms, real-time unsecured USDC credit lines, and providing funds for famers, traders, enterprises and AI agents.
Simply put, what 3Jane is doing is a very common credit loan product in traditional finance, such as the "Jiebei" in Alipay that uses the "Sesame Credit" score to obtain corresponding loans. However, in the encryption system that lacks support from centralized institutions, this product seems bold and radical.
At present, 3Jane products are still in the development stage, and the official has opened an application channel for early users and can fill in the relevant application early testing. However, it should be emphasized that the off-chain credit technology platform for 3Jane cooperates, such as Plaid, currently supports limited regions (such as the United States, Europe, etc.), and mainly supports the credit system of the United States. Therefore, in the early stages of the launch of 3Jane products, it may only support a small number of regions, and Asia and other places may be excluded.
4.The big waves wash away the sand, and a review of the seven mainstream DEXs in one article
The current status of decentralized exchanges has sparked widespread discussion in the past week.
Hyperliquid shocked the market due to the 50-fold leverage whales' "self-explosion arbitrage" and its HLP vault lost nearly US$4 million after receiving the liquidation order.
On the other hand, GMGN, which was in full swing during the Pump period, also fell into a dilemma that cannot be ignored. According to Dune, the platform's revenue has plummeted from $2.34 million on January 19 to $74,000 on March 11, plunging nearly 97%. At the same time, the community's feedback on high KOL marketing expenses, user churn and CEX entry have led to intensified competition, which has caused users to have further concerns about the future of GMGN.
In this way, ChainCatcher has included the recent returns of seven mainstream DEXs in this article for readers to refer to.
5.Sovereign funds have actually penetrated into the crypto market. Who will be the next big bettor?
Last night, Abu Dhabi's state-owned capital MGX announced a $2 billion investment in Binance, directly setting the largest single investment in the crypto space to date.
Unlike the uncertainty brought about by the change of regimes in North America, the sovereign funds of Middle Eastern countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar have been stable for a long time, and their assets are spread all over the world. Investment by them means entering a higher-dimensional capital circle.
What is even more intriguing is that Binance Lianchuang Heyi’s words: “Welcome sovereign funds, let’s forget about financial investors.” This makes people wonder why sovereign funds can be so favored? Have they been laid out long ago or have they just entered the market? Which sovereign fund will make a lot of money next time?
6.Be cruel and even cut the exchange! A deep article on how Hyperliquid was fucked for $1.8 million?
Today, the 50-fold leverage giant whale on Hyperliquid entered the market again, opening an ETH long order of about US$300 million, with a maximum floating profit of US$8 million. However, he quickly withdrew most of the principal and profits, actively compressing the liquidation price, which eventually led to the liquidation of 160,234.18 ETH (total value of US$306 million) being liquidated and leaving with 1.8 million USDC.
Contrary to the whale's profit, Hyperliquid's HLP vault suffered considerable losses in the incident. According to official Hyperliquid data, HLP lost about $4 million in 24 hours to fill the deficit caused by the huge position liquidation.
Yesterday, Bitcoin fell below $77,000, Ethereum lost $1,800, and altcoins were even more "bloody". In this haze of the market, anxiety seems to be an inevitable emotion, but why not change the angle and look at the future? The upcoming airdrop project may be hiding an undiscovered gem waiting for the next wealth to explode.
This article will take stock of projects that are about to airdrop or have potential airdrop opportunities in the near future, and will take you through the market fog and capture future opportunities.
8.With the return of the father of DeFi, can FlyingTulip continue the myth of YFI?
On March 10, Andre Cronje, founder of Sonic Labs, Yearn Finance, Keep3rV1, modified his personal social platform profile to join the title of "Flyingtulip Founder".
In the wave of continuous development of blockchain infrastructure, Optimum has entered the track with high-performance memory technology, attracting the attention of top investors.
On February 28, Optimum, a high-performance memory infrastructure for blockchain, announced the completion of an angel round of financing, with many well-known industry figures participating in the investment, including Polychain CTO Abhijeet Mahagaonkar, DeFiance Capital founder Arthur Cheong, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen, Wormhole co-founder Robinson Burkey, and Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal.
The first tweet from Optimum’s official X account was posted a month ago. The project has not yet published a white paper or technical roadmap. Although the project is still in its super early stages, the background of the project’s founding team is eye-catching enough: NEC, Dean of the Department of Computer Science of MIT, President of the Harvard Blockchain Association, etc. What kind of potential does this project with big shots hide?
10.Behind the collapse of GPS and SHELL: The complete operation chain of a currency circle "harvester"
Liquidity is the lifeline that maintains price stability, and market makers are the guardians of this lifeline. However, when the Guardian becomes a "predator", what kind of chaos will the market fall into?
GPS fell below the opening price 20 minutes after it went online on the exchange, and the price plummeted 74% from its high of $0.15. SHELL fell from $0.7 to $0.26. GPS and SHELL tokens have almost replicated price trend charts, as if controlled by the same invisible hand.
With the continued revelations from Binance investigation and community users, the incident quickly occupied everyone's weekend topics. A secret chain of interests gradually surfaced, and names such as Web3Port, Whisper, May Liu were pushed to the forefront, and the shady curtains behind the collapse were even more amazing than expected...
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