Today's news tips:
Jiangsu High Court: Overseas virtual currency investment is not protected by Chinese law
Trump nominates Brian Quintenz, head of crypto policy at a16z, as CFTC chairman, insider says
BitGo Considers IPO as Early as the Second Half of 2025, with a Valuation of Over $1.75 Billion
FTX/Alameda redeemed 184,000 SOL 6 hours ago and distributed them to 23 addresses
Regulatory/Macro
According to OKG Research data, 21 states in the United States have proposed bills related to Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR). Among them, Utah, Oklahoma and Arizona have made the fastest progress. Utah is expected to become the first state to implement SBR. Its Bitcoin Reserve Bill passed the vote of the House Economic Development Committee on January 28 and is currently awaiting Senate deliberation. If passed, it will take effect as early as May 7 this year. In addition, the relevant legislative process in Oklahoma and Arizona is also following closely.
Jiangsu High Court: Overseas virtual currency investment is not protected by Chinese law
According to the Jiangsu High Court's official account, the Jiangsu High Court released a typical case of foreign-related commercial trials, pointing out that overseas virtual currency investment is not protected by Chinese law. In the relevant case, Singaporean citizen Pan and Chinese citizen Tian signed a cooperation agreement with a third party to jointly operate the "MFA blockchain" project. Pan transferred 15.74 million yuan to Tian to purchase MFA virtual currency, but then the virtual account involved in the case was locked and could not be traded. The principal was lost, and Pan filed a lawsuit with the court. The Jiangsu High Court held in the second instance that Pan was a Singaporean citizen and that this case had foreign-related factors. According to my country's law on the application of law, if it involves my country's financial security and social public interests, the mandatory provisions of my country's laws and regulations should be directly applied. my country's laws and regulations prohibit virtual currency investment. In this case, the parties signed a contract to speculate on overseas virtual currencies, which violated the mandatory provisions of my country's financial supervision field. The investment losses claimed by the parties were not protected according to law, and the losses caused by this were borne by the parties themselves.
According to The Block, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially accepted the spot Solana (SOL) ETF listing application submitted by Cboe BZX Exchange, and the applicants include 21Shares, Bitwise, Canary Capital and VanEck. In addition, Franklin Templeton has also registered Franklin Solana Trust in Delaware, indicating that it plans to join the Solana ETF competition. Previously, the ETF conversion application submitted by Grayscale Solana Trust has entered the SEC public comment stage, taking a similar path to the Bitcoin ETF. Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas expect the Solana ETF to be approved at a 70% probability. However, how regulators define SOL as a commodity or security may still be a key issue in the approval process.
Powell says he will not promote central bank digital currency during his term
According to CoinDesk, the U.S. House of Representatives Digital Assets Subcommittee held a hearing on February 11 to explore the future development of the crypto industry in the United States and promote legislation to provide regulatory clarity. The hearing was themed "The Golden Age of Digital Assets," indicating the Republican-led committee's support for the crypto industry. Committee Chairman and Wisconsin Republican Bryan Steil said the Trump administration plans to establish a reasonable regulatory framework for responsible digital asset companies. Industry representatives stressed that Congress should enact basic laws as soon as possible to provide a clear market structure for the crypto industry. Former CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad suggested that lawmakers give the SEC and CFTC greater decision-making power over regulatory details. At the same time, Democratic lawmakers took the opportunity to criticize Trump's personally supported $TRUMP memecoin, accusing it of possible conflicts of interest and constitutional violations. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell also said on the same day that he would not promote central bank digital currency (CBDC) during his term.
AI
According to Cointelegraph, the United States and the United Kingdom refused to sign the international AI ethics agreement hosted by France, which aims to promote the inclusiveness, ethics and safety of AI technology. At the summit, US Vice President JD Vance criticized Europe's AI regulations for excessive intervention, saying that "excessive regulation could stifle this transformative industry" and opposed AI content censorship, believing it to be an act of "totalitarian censorship." The British government said that the agreement differed from its position at the 2023 AI Safety Summit. The AI Action Summit (February 10-11) attracted more than 100 countries, and 60 countries eventually signed a statement proposing initiatives such as the establishment of a public interest AI platform, an AI incubator and a global AI observatory. However, the United States and the United Kingdom did not join. Analysts pointed out that this marked a "clear shift" in US policy, that is, to prioritize the promotion of AI innovation and development rather than safety regulation. Previously, the Trump administration had revoked the Biden administration's AI regulatory framework after taking office.
Trump nominates Brian Quintenz, head of crypto policy at a16z, as CFTC chairman, insider says
According to Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, citing three people familiar with the matter, US President Trump has selected Brian Quintenz as the official chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Quintenz is currently the director of crypto policy at a16z and a former CFTC commissioner. CFTC's current acting chairwoman Caroline Pham has congratulated him and said that Quintenz has promoted many important initiatives during his tenure as a CFTC commissioner and is expected to play a leading role in crypto and innovation. The White House has not yet issued an official statement.
Project News
Binance will delist EDU/BTC, REZ/BTC, and USTC/FDUSD spot trading pairs
Binance announced that it will stop trading the following spot trading pairs at 11:00 Beijing time on February 14, 2025: EDU/BTC, REZ/BTC, USTC/FDUSD. The delisting is aimed at protecting users and maintaining a high-quality trading market. The decision is made after regular evaluation of multiple factors such as liquidity and trading volume.
Binance to Support Neutron and Polygon Network Upgrades and Hard Forks
Binance will support the network upgrade and hard fork of Neutron (NTRN) and Polygon (POL). Neutron (NTRN) will upgrade its network at block height 19,947,000 (estimated at 22:00 on February 12, 2025, GMT+8). Binance expects to suspend the token deposit and withdrawal services of the Neutron (NTRN) network at 21:00 on February 12, 2025, GMT+8. Polygon (POL) will upgrade its network and hard fork at block height 22,393,043 (estimated at 18:00 on February 13, 2025, GMT+8). Binance expects to suspend the token deposit and withdrawal services of the Polygon (POL) network at 17:00 on February 13, 2025, GMT+8.
According to CoinDesk, LinksDAO announced that it will issue community tokens LINKS to supplement its NFT ecosystem and be used for golf course acquisitions. The token is expected to be launched on the Base blockchain, with one-third of the supply to be allocated to LinksDAO NFT holders and the rest to NFT community members such as Pudgy Penguins and BAYC. LinksDAO has previously purchased a golf course in Scotland and plans to partially acquire the Hillcrest Golf Club in Kansas City. The transaction is subject to approval by a vote of NFT holders, but its governance is not completely decentralized. LinksDAO's goal is to allow every golf enthusiast to hold LINKS tokens to expand the influence of crypto clubs.
Binance will perform wallet maintenance on the Ethereum network (ETH) at 14:00 (ET on February 13, 2025). To support this maintenance, Binance will suspend deposits and withdrawals on the Ethereum network (ETH) at 13:55 (ET on February 13, 2025). The maintenance is expected to take 1 hour, and deposits and withdrawals will be automatically resumed after the maintenance is completed.
Story will launch token issuance and staking rewards on March 4, releasing 55,555 IPs per day
According to official news, Story will officially launch IP token issuance on March 4, 2025 (block 1,580,851), releasing 55,555 IPs per day and simultaneously launching staking rewards. Currently in the singularity period, users can stake but no rewards will be given, and it will take effect after the Big Bang Block. The staking reward mechanism adopts a time-weighted model, with flexible staking of 1x, 1.1x for 90 days, 1.5x for 360 days, and 2x for 540 days, while locked staking only enjoys 0.5x rewards (locked for 6 months). Story encourages long-term staking to enhance the security and stability of decentralized AI native IP infrastructure.
BitGo Considers IPO as Early as the Second Half of 2025, with a Valuation of Over $1.75 Billion
According to Bloomberg, BitGo, a US crypto custody company, is considering an initial public offering (IPO) as early as the second half of 2025 and is currently in talks with potential advisors. BitGo completed a $100 million financing in 2023, with a valuation of $1.75 billion. Investors include Goldman Sachs, DRW Holdings, Redpoint Ventures and Valor Equity Partners. The company provides crypto asset custody, trading, lending and other services to more than 1,500 institutional clients in more than 50 countries around the world, and handles about 8% of the world's Bitcoin trading volume. The IPO plan comes at a time when the US government's attitude towards the crypto industry has turned to support, and many crypto companies such as Gemini, Bullish Global, Circle and Kraken are also preparing to go public. In addition, BitGo CEO Mike Belshe provided support for Trump's campaign fundraising in July 2024.
Viewpoint
According to statistics from Messari researcher MONK, since the token generation event (TGE), the price performance of multi-chain project tokens has diverged significantly: Starknet fell 87%, Mode fell 70%, Blast fell 85%, zksync fell 47%, Scroll fell 50%, Dymension fell 87%, Berachain fell 59%, while Hyperliquid rose 1100% against the trend. In addition, between January and April this year, the market expects $17 billion in tokens to be unlocked, and the recent long position liquidation amount has been close to $10 billion. Former Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng commented that the market needs more dapps rather than chains.
Matrixport said that in the current context of inflation uncertainty, the market demand for safe-haven assets such as gold and Bitcoin remains strong. If the market expects the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates unchanged and liquidity tightens, gold will not rise in theory, but the actual situation shows that even if inflation is controllable, safe-haven demand still drives gold to strengthen. Although Bitcoin has consolidated recently, this trend may provide support for it. Matrixport recalled that it issued a bullish report when gold first broke through $2,000 per ounce, and the price of gold has since risen by more than 50%. Although the overall inflation rate in the United States has rebounded to 2.9%, Truflation data shows that the actual inflation level is closer to 2.0%. If the trend of inflation decline continues, the outlook for gold and Bitcoin remains bullish.
SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce: Most Memecoins May Not Be Regulated by the SEC
According to The Block, Hester Peirce, a member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said in an interview with Bloomberg that many Memecoins currently on the market may not fall within the scope of SEC regulation. She pointed out that the specific situation depends on the characteristics of individual tokens, but under current regulations, the SEC may not have the authority to regulate most Memecoins. The SEC Crypto Task Force led by Peirce is working to clarify which tokens can be considered "non-securities" to reduce regulatory uncertainty. This statement contrasts with the position of former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler that "the vast majority of crypto assets are securities." Although the Memecoin market's market value will increase by 500% to $120 billion in 2024, and President Trump has even launched a personal Memecoin, there are still risks of fraud and "pumping and dumping" in the market. Recently, an investor has filed a class action lawsuit against the Memecoin platform pump.fun, accusing it of violating securities laws.
Important data
According to @ai_9684xtpa, a "whale who spent $13.64 million to build positions in $PNUT and $ai16z in the past three months" began to build positions in $arc. So far, the whale's cumulative floating loss on these three Memecoins has reached $6.601 million. Among them, he holds 21.46 million $PNUT, with a cost of $0.3743 and a floating loss of $4.82 million; he holds 7.53 million $ai16z, with a cost of $0.7446 and a floating loss of $1.88 million; he holds 9.52 million $arc, with a cost of $0.2913, and currently has a floating profit of $99,000.
USDC Treasury minted nearly 100 million USDC on the Ethereum chain
According to Whale Alert monitoring, USDC Treasury minted 97,652,392 new USDC on the Ethereum chain at 15:43.
According to Lookonchain monitoring, a whale has just deposited 2 million EIGEN worth $3.18 million to Binance. Two months ago, the whale withdrew the same amount of EIGEN from Binance at a price of $4.53, with a total value of $9.07 million at the time. The current price of EIGEN has fallen to $1.59, and the whale has lost $5.89 million during the two-month holding period.
FTX/Alameda redeemed 184,000 SOL 6 hours ago and distributed them to 23 addresses
According to EmberCN, FTX/Alameda redeemed 184,162 SOL (about $37.73 million) from the pledge in the past 6 hours and distributed it to 23 addresses. Since November 2023, FTX/Alameda has redeemed and transferred a total of 4,629,000 SOL (about $555 million) through similar operations, with an average transfer price of $120. Most of these SOLs flowed to Coinbase and Binance. At present, there are still about 6.338 million SOL (about $1.25 billion) in the FTX/Alameda pledge address.
