Today's news tips:
1. The US SEC cryptocurrency working group has discussed new regulatory plans with multiple industry participants
2. NYSE Arca has applied to allow Grayscale’s Ethereum ETF to be collateralized
3. The US SEC requests a 28-day extension of Coinbase’s appeal
4. Argentine President Javier Milei released the MEME coin LIBRA, then said he did not know the specific details of the LIBRA project and deleted the tweet
5.KIP Protocol: LIBRA is a private enterprise project, and Argentine President Milley did not participate in its development
6. The team behind LIBRA has cashed out about $107 million
7. Ethereum Foundation: Pectra network upgrade plan launched on Ethereum testnet
8. Kaito AI will launch KAITO tokens and has released a white paper
9. BNB Chain will launch a $4.4 million Memecoin liquidity support plan
Regulatory/Macro
Georgia introduces bill to allow state treasurer to invest in Bitcoin
According to Bitcoin Magazine, Georgia has proposed a bill to allow state treasurers to invest in Bitcoin. According to the screenshots attached by the media, the bill involves state deposit institutions in order to stipulate that the state deposit board allows state treasurers to invest in Bitcoin; stipulate limits on such investments; stipulate requirements for safe handling of such assets; stipulate lending of such assets; repeal laws that conflict with it, etc.
According to the U.S. SEC memorandum, on February 5, 2025, the Crypto Task Force staff met with representatives of Jito Labs and Multicoin Capital Management. The topic of discussion between the two parties was ways to resolve issues related to the regulation of crypto assets. Representatives of Jito Labs and Multicoin Capital Management provided the attached document, which was discussed during the meeting. The attached document shows that the participants expected to discuss two main topics in the meeting: (i) the ability to use pledge as a function of ETP; and the potential model for pledge in certain crypto asset ETPs.
Fox Business News reporter Eleanor Terrett posted on X platform that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Crypto Task Force is recording logs of all its meetings with industry participants. So far, the task force has held meetings with Blockchain Association, Jito Labs and Multicoin Capital, Nasdaq, and Colin Lloyd, a partner in the commodities, futures and derivatives and capital markets team of law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. The topics of the meeting mainly focused on regulation and how the agency's new approach will affect certain markets and products.
Earlier news , the U.S. SEC cryptocurrency working group met with representatives from Jito Labs and Multicoin Capital Management to discuss adding a staking function to ETP.
US SEC asks for 28-day extension of Coinbase's appeal
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked for a 28-day extension to Coinbase’s appeal as part of a long-running legal dispute between the agency and the cryptocurrency exchange over how to classify digital assets. The SEC asked for an extension to March 14 from Feb. 14, the agency’s original deadline for a response. The legal dispute between Coinbase and the SEC centers on whether digital assets should be classified as securities, or whether they represent a new type of financial instrument.
In its latest court filing, the SEC said the formation of its new crypto working group will influence its response and the current potential classification issues. The SEC filing goes on to say: “Neither party will be prejudiced by the motion for an extension. This is not an expedited appeal, and Coinbase consents to the motion.”
Tether is working with US lawmakers to push for stablecoin regulation
Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett tweeted that Tether is working with U.S. lawmakers to influence how the U.S. regulates these fiat currencies. Tether, the issuer of the world's largest stablecoin USDT, has been controversial for its alleged lack of transparency. Critics say the company has never been fully audited, instead opting to have quarterly financial book reviews provided by global accounting firm BDO.
As Congress works to enact legislation to establish a regulatory framework for stablecoins in the United States, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company is actively communicating with lawmakers to promote relevant bills and is committed to complying with the laws that are ultimately passed. The bill is expected to be signed into law by President Trump as early as April. If passed, Tether will be required to undergo monthly audits by U.S. accounting firms and maintain a one-to-one reserve with regulatory-approved assets.
Chris Rose, a senator from West Virginia, submitted a bill proposing to allow the state fiscal investment committee to invest up to 10% of its funds in digital assets or precious metals to hedge against inflation risks. Digital assets refer to virtual currencies, cryptocurrencies, native electronic assets, including stablecoins and NFTs, and other purely digital assets that grant economic, ownership, or access rights or powers.
If it exceeds 10%, it does not have to sell its holdings, but it cannot make further purchases until it falls below 10%. State finances can invest in digital assets with a market value of more than $750 billion, and currently only Bitcoin meets the criteria. Assets can be held on-chain or invested through ETFs.
NYSE Arca has applied to allow Grayscale’s Ethereum ETF to be collateralized
New York Stock Exchange Arca has applied to allow Grayscale’s Ethereum ETF to be collateralized, according to new filings. Earlier this week, Cboe BZX Exchange asked the SEC to allow staking of ETH held in the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF.
If approved, these ETFs would be able to generate additional returns from their large ETH holdings, which could be passed on to investors. The NYSE filing states that the “trust” would also receive a portion of staking rewards.
Project News
Kaito AI to launch KAITO token, white paper now released
Kaito AI, an AI-based crypto search engine, has published an article on the X platform introducing the KAITO token and releasing its white paper. As its native currency and the basic building block of the Information Finance (InfoFi) network, KAITO plays three key roles: driving market forces, serving as a network currency, and enabling community governance. Token economics will be released soon. In addition, Kaito AI stated that through the development of Kaito Connect, InfoFi represents its long-term vision.
FTX's second phase of repayment is expected to take place in the second quarter of this year
Sunil, a representative of FTX creditors, disclosed that FTX has sent email notifications to customers who have not met the requirements for the first round of asset distribution. Customers who failed to participate in the first round of distribution on February 18, 2025 include: customer claims under review, customers with claims exceeding $50,000, and customers who have not completed KYC, tax and distributor requirements. After completing the relevant requirements, these customers will be included in the subsequent distribution plan, which is expected to be carried out in the second quarter of 2025.
According to previous news, FTX will start repaying creditors from February 18, 2025 , and the first phase of repayment will repay US$6.5 billion to US$7 billion .
Tether acquires minority stake in Juventus Football Club
Tether announced that it has acquired a minority stake in Juventus Football Club AG in the hope of taking sports digital asset synergies to a new level. Tether said that this acquisition is also an important milestone in Tether’s goal of integrating stablecoins, digital assets and technology into everyday life.
Ethereum Foundation: Pectra network upgrade plan launched on Ethereum testnet
According to the official blog of the Ethereum Foundation, the Pectra network upgrade is scheduled to be launched on the Ethereum testnet. It will be launched on Holesky at epoch 115968 (05:55 Beijing time on February 25), and then on Sepolia at epoch 222464 (15:29 Beijing time on March 5). The Pectra testnet client versions are listed below. After the two testnets are successfully upgraded, a mainnet activation epoch will be selected. Pectra was launched after last year's Dencun upgrade. It introduces more features such as enhanced Ethereum accounts, improved validator experience, and support for L2 expansion.
Binance announced an upgrade to its token disclosure mechanism to include token unlocking schedules, providing a more transparent and comprehensive view of market capitalization and circulating supply. In this update, Binance introduced two dimensions, market capitalization and unlocked market capitalization, to better reflect the financial situation of assets, while also distinguishing between circulating supply and unlocked circulating supply.
Under the new method, market capitalization will be calculated by multiplying the current price by the circulating supply (including unlocked tokens); if the unlocking data is not available, non-publicly accessible tokens will not be counted. Users can view the details of the token unlocking schedule for each project through the Binance website and App Project Overview section.
pump.fun launches mobile app for iOS and Android
According to official news, pump.fun announced the launch of mobile applications for iOS and Android, which support free creation of tokens, quick buying and selling of tokens, creation of monitoring lists, and management of investment portfolios.
Argentine President Javier Milei releases MEME coin LIBRA
Argentine President Javier Milei announced today through his official X and Instagram accounts the launch of a meme coin called LIBRA to boost Argentina's economic growth, and published the relevant contract address. The token is currently experiencing sharp price fluctuations, with its market value having fallen from a high of nearly $5 billion to $1.1 billion.
Coinbase adds MORPHO and PYTH to its listing roadmap
According to the official announcement, Coinbase added Morpho Token (MORPHO) and Pyth Network (PYTH) to the coin listing roadmap.
NYSE Arca has applied to allow Grayscale’s Ethereum ETF to be collateralized
New York Stock Exchange Arca has applied to allow Grayscale’s Ethereum ETF to be collateralized, according to new filings. Earlier this week, Cboe BZX Exchange asked the SEC to allow staking of ETH held in the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF.
If approved, these ETFs would be able to generate additional returns from their large ETH holdings, which could be passed on to investors. The NYSE filing states that the “trust” would also receive a portion of staking rewards.
BNB Chain to launch $4.4 million Memecoin liquidity support program
According to the official announcement, BNB Chain has launched a $4.4 million Memecoin liquidity support plan since February 18. BNB Chain will focus on the top Memecoins on a daily and weekly basis, and inject BNB liquidity directly from the BNB Chain Foundation wallet into the liquidity pool of the winning project. BNB Chain will provide 50% BNB + 50% Memecoin (purchased from the market) and add it to the most active liquidity pool of the Memecoin. The liquidity will remain in the pool permanently and will not be withdrawn. Winning criteria:
- Market capitalization: $1M or above
- Active holding addresses: no less than 1000
- Token supply contribution: The project needs to add 10% of the total supply to the liquidity pool
- Holdings distribution: The top 10 externally owned accounts (EOAs) cannot hold more than 10% of the total supply. These holders are encouraged to manage their assets through lock-up or linear release.
- Security measures: Projects must verify their token source code on BscScan or pass a security audit
Argentine President Javier Milei’s previously deleted tweet about the LIBRA token said: “A few hours ago, I posted a tweet, as I have done many times before, in support of a so-called private company, but obviously I have no relationship with it. I did not know the specifics of the project, and after learning about it, I decided not to promote it anymore (that’s why I deleted the tweet). To the despicable people of the political groups who want to use this situation to cause harm, I want to say that you confirm every day how despicable the politicians are, which makes me more determined to kick you out with my feet.”
According to GMGN data, after Argentine President Javier Milei deleted the MEME coin LIBRA tweet, its market value has fallen back to about $200 million. The current pool liquidity is about $14.8 million.
KIP Protocol, the development team behind the LIBRA project, tweeted, "The Viva la Libertad project aims to help Argentine private enterprises, and the LIBRA token has also been successful. Thank you for your trust and support. Regarding all the questions, I would like to clarify: this is a private enterprise project, and President Milei has not been or is not involved in the development of the project in any way." The official website of the Viva la Libertad project shows that the project is a private independent project developed by KIP Protocol. (The first person on the left in the picture below is KIP co-founder Julian, and the first person on the right is Argentine President Milei. The photo was published in October 2024)
Earlier news , after Argentine President Milley posted a tweet introducing the project and the token contract, he said that he did not know the specific details of the LIBRA project and had deleted the LIBRA token tweet.
Chaofan Shou, founder of the Solana-based re-staking protocol Solayer, tweeted that he and Solayer engineer @tonykebot lost more than $2 million on LIBRA. "Let's see what two hackers and a free weekend can bring us," and attached a picture of the core members of KIP Protocol.
Earlier on February 7, Solayer announced the LAYER token economics: the maximum supply is 1 billion, and 51.23% is allocated to the community and ecology.
Julian, co-founder of KIP Protocol, tweeted an initial response to the LIBRA token: Viva la Libertad aims to promote the Argentine economy by funding small projects and local businesses, supporting those who seek to grow businesses and contribute to national development. The funds are still on the chain and no SOL has been transferred. The KIP team participated in the project, but was primarily responsible for managing the allocation of funds to Argentine companies, not the token aspect. It should be noted that there was no pre-sale of the token and all sales were conducted through a unilateral liquidity pool. The team will develop an operating plan for the Libertad project based on the initial goals, and no SOL will be used except for running the Viva La Libertad project. Everything will be transparent and open. More details will be provided soon.
Viewpoint
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) made the following points on the X platform: 1. People say they like meme coins; what they really mean is that they want you to tell them which tokens they should buy to make money quickly; unfortunately, I can't, won't, and don't know how to do this. 2. The meme coin ecosystem on BSC is not yet mature. Last night, multiple platforms/dApps in the ecosystem experienced system performance issues; on the bright side, there is demand now and the platform will improve, although there will be some pain. PvP is also somewhat mythical, and people don't really want it. Other blockchains have players leading, managing, making markets, or "influencing" which tokens win. I'm not saying they are controlled by one entity; they may have evolved naturally over time. These elements are also lacking on BSC. Let's hope that this ecosystem can develop naturally. 3. As of this writing, according to Dex Screener, there are 6 Broccoli projects on BNB Chain with a market value of more than $200 million. Not sure if this is good or bad, or even if I understand this data correctly (Update: I was told: the 6 Broccoli projects you shared are all the same tokens, just different pools. This shows how little I know about memes). Please manage your own risk, and don't touch meme coins if you can't afford the price to drop. Finally, there is a lot more to meme coins than just meme coins. I also talked to stablecoin projects, AI projects, and other projects today.
Update : Zhao Changpeng deleted the above post and said: "No more tweets. People always over-interpret my tweets. Any random mention will be attached with some extra meaning."
Vitalik: Even in L2-dominated Ethereum, L1 Gas Limits Need to Be Raised
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin published his latest article "Why the L1 Gas Limit Needs to Be Increased Even in L2-Dominated Ethereum". The article states that an important recent discussion in the Ethereum roadmap is about how to increase the L1 gas limit. Recently, the L1 gas limit was increased from 30 million to 36 million, a 20% increase in capacity. Many people support further substantial increases in the near future. These increases are safe because of recent and upcoming technical improvements: improved efficiency of Ethereum clients, reduced need to store old history due to EIP-4444 (see roadmap), and future stateless clients. However, before we go down this path, it is important to ask a question: In the context of a Rollup-centric roadmap, is raising the L1 gas limit the right thing to do in the long run? We don't want to end up facing the centralization risks of high L1 use without really being sure we will benefit from it. This article argues that even in a world where most uses and applications are on L2, it is still valuable to significantly expand L1 because it enables simpler and safer application development patterns. The article concludes that even in an L2-dominated world, a ~10x expansion of L1 gas has significant value. This in turn means that the short-term L1 expansion that can be achieved in the next 1-2 years is valuable regardless of the long-term situation.
Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Fund, talked about Bitcoin again in the latest "All-In" podcast interview, and also mentioned the DeepSeek craze. He said that he saw currency depreciation through market trends, especially relative to gold, Bitcoin or other physical assets. More generally, all fiat currencies are depreciating, while gold, Bitcoin or other hard assets are relatively appreciating. Bitcoin or other digital assets is a topic worth discussing. Although commodities can hedge against inflation, they do not have the function of storing value. People cannot hold oil or wheat as a wealth storage tool for a long time like holding gold or Bitcoin.
Ray Dalio revealed that he still holds some Bitcoin, but not as much as gold. Bitcoin is one of his diversified investments, but he prefers gold because gold has several unique advantages:
- can move freely between countries;
- Central banks hold it as a reserve asset;
- It is harder to regulate than Bitcoin and can be held more “privately”;
- And gold cannot be taxed easily, but Bitcoin is different - regulators know the transaction path of Bitcoin and can easily regulate and tax it.
Important data
Hong Kong Family Office Avenir Group Holds $599 Million Worth of BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF
Hong Kong-based family office Avenir Group reported holding $599 million worth of BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF, according to Bitcoin Magazine.
The Wisconsin Investment Board, the body responsible for overseeing Wisconsin pension funds, increased its Bitcoin holdings to approximately $321 million, according to a Feb. 14 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Wisconsin pension fund previously disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in May 2024 that it held $164 million in Bitcoin ETFs. At the time, the pension fund held approximately 2.4 million shares of BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), worth $100 million, and 1 million shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), worth $64 million. The pension fund's latest filing shows that the fund has allocated all of its BTC exposure to IBIT and no longer holds any GBTC shares.
The Wisconsin Investment Board's increased investment in Bitcoin highlights a trend among pension funds to allocate part of their assets to Bitcoin to hedge against monetary inflation and diversify their portfolios.
11 suspected internal wallets made $43.8 million by selling LIBRA
According to Lookonchain monitoring, 11 suspected internal wallets made a profit of $43.8 million by selling $LIBRA. These 11 wallets were created a few hours before $LIBRA went online, and funds for purchasing $LIBRA were prepared in advance.
The team behind LIBRA has cashed out about $107 million
According to LookOnChain monitoring, 8 wallets related to the LIBRA team obtained 57.6 million USDC and 249,671 SOL (approximately US$49.7 million) by adding liquidity, removing liquidity and collecting fees, with a total cash out of approximately US$107 million.
According to the on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa, the smart money 0x177...4fe76 has held OM for more than a year. Today, it is suspected that it has reduced its position by 8.71 million tokens and made a profit of 61.23 million US dollars. 2024.01-03 This address withdrew 23.83 million tokens from Binance at an average price of 0.2261 US dollars, transferred 11.53 million tokens to a new address 11 months ago, and woke up nine hours ago and partially recharged it into the exchange.
