Harry Jung to Lead CFTC’s Crypto, DeFi, and Digital Asset Work
According to the official website of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), CFTC Acting Chairman Caroline D. Pham announced today the changes in the CFTC leadership. In addition to serving as the chief advisor to Acting Chairman Pham, Harry Jung will also lead the CFTC's work in the fields of cryptocurrency, DeFi and other digital assets. He will further promote the development of these areas based on his previous work experience as a designated federal official of the CFTC Global Market Advisory Committee. According to reports, Harry joined the CFTC in 2023 as an advisor and senior policy advisor to then-Commissioner Pham. Prior to joining the CFTC, Harry worked in the Office of the CEO and the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Citigroup.
US Court of Appeals overturns Tornado Cash sanctions ruling, case sent back for retrial
According to Bitcoin Magazine, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned the Texas District Court’s decision on Tornado Cash sanctions and sent the case back to the original court for retrial.
U.S. House Democrats call for ethics investigation into Trump's crypto project
According to Cointelegraph, U.S. Democratic Congressman Gerald Connolly of Virginia called on the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to investigate whether President Trump's cryptocurrency business conflicts with his presidential duties. In a letter to the Republican chairman of the committee, James Comer, on January 21, Connolly said that Trump may have profited from his World Liberty Financial (WLFI) platform and Meme coin TRUMP, which may violate ethical standards and pose national security risks; Trump's WLF platform is "particularly disturbing" because its largest investor, TRON founder Justin Sun, is a foreign entrepreneur, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused him of securities fraud. He added that such financial "entanglements" raise "serious national security concerns" that foreign forces may influence U.S. policies. "If such behavior is allowed to continue unchecked, it will send a signal to the American people that the Oversight Committee is unwilling or unable to enforce the standards it claims to maintain," Connolly wrote. He also said that without the intervention of the committee, Trump is unlikely to comply with "any of the provisions" of the Presidential Ethics Reform Act. The law requires financial disclosure and conflict of interest checks, among other things.
Kansas bill seeks to invest state employee retirement funds in Bitcoin ETFs
According to Bitcoin Magazine, Kansas Senator Bowser proposed Senate Bill No. 34, which aims to invest public employee retirement funds in Bitcoin ETFs. According to the text of the bill, the bill intends to authorize the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) Trust Board to invest up to 10% of the funds in the Kansas Public Employees Retirement Fund in Bitcoin ETF products.
U.S. Marshals Sold Ross Ulbricht’s 144,000 Confiscated Bitcoins for $334 Each
Although Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht has regained his freedom, his lost wealth cannot be recovered, according to Fortune magazine. In 2013, the FBI seized 144,000 Bitcoins held by Ulbricht, and the U.S. Marshals Service arranged a series of auctions in 2014 to sell more than 144,000 Bitcoins belonging to Ulbricht. Due to bad timing, the marshals sold the Bitcoins in early 2014, when the price of Bitcoin fell from more than $1,000 to a modern low of nearly $300. Today, 144,000 Bitcoins are worth about $14 billion, but at the time they sold for just over $48 million, equivalent to about $334 per coin - less than 0.5% of their current value. Ulbricht had filed a legal challenge to the confiscation, but ultimately gave up in 2017 and waived any claim to the Bitcoins. One of the biggest beneficiaries of the auction was venture capitalist Tim Draper, who snapped up about 30,000 Bitcoins. Meanwhile, the Justice Department has since pursued other cryptocurrency forfeiture cases tied to Silk Road, including seizing and selling bitcoin stolen by corrupt federal agents during the initial investigation and obtaining a court order this month to sell thousands of bitcoins the agency seized from an anonymous hacker who also robbed Ulbricht.
Trump-appointed US Health Secretary John F. Kennedy holds at least $1 million in Bitcoin
According to a form released by the U.S. Government Ethics Office on Wednesday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's appointed U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, holds assets worth between $6.9 million and $29.5 million, according to Bloomberg. According to his ethics agreement, he holds at least $1 million in Bitcoin, his most valuable asset, which he does not plan to sell. Trump has promised to provide a more friendly regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies than former President Joe Biden's administration.
Binance HODLer Airdrop Lists Animecoin (ANIME)
According to the Binance announcement, Animecoin (ANIME) will join the HODLer Airdrops program as the sixth project. Users who subscribe BNB to the Simple Earn product between 00:00 on January 17, 2025 and 23:59 on January 21, 2025 (UTC) will be eligible for the ANIME airdrop reward. The total amount of this airdrop is 500 million ANIME, accounting for 5% of the total token supply. ANIME will be listed on Binance at 22:00 on January 23, 2025 (Eastern Time 8), and will open trading pairs with USDT, USDC, BNB, FDUSD and TRY. The initial circulation supply of ANIME is 55.39%. ANIME smart contracts are deployed on Ethereum and Arbitrum chains.
Coinbase will list Toshi(TOSHI)
Coinbase Assets announced on the X platform that Coinbase will add support for Toshi (TOSHI) on the Base network. Do not send this asset through other networks, otherwise your funds may be at risk of loss. If liquidity conditions are met, trading will begin on or after 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time on January 23 (1:00 a.m. Beijing Time on January 24). Once the asset is in sufficient supply, the TOSHI-USD trading pair will start trading in stages.
Binance.US will list Official Trump (TRUMP)
According to the official announcement, Binance.US will list Official Trump (TRUMP). TRUMP deposits are now open on Binance.US, and trading of the TRUMP/USDT pair will begin at 6:00 a.m. EST on January 23 (19:00 Beijing time on January 23).
Animecoin, the animation project jointly launched by Arbitrum and Azuki, has launched the ANIME airdrop check page, and the airdrop will be available for claiming at 9 pm Beijing time today. According to the previously released ANIME token economics, the total supply of ANIME is 10 billion, and the initial circulation is 7.69 billion. Among them, 37.5% of the tokens will be allocated to the Azuki community, 13% will be used for AnimeDAO, 24.44% will be allocated to the Animecoin Foundation, 2% will be allocated to the cooperative community, 15.62% will be allocated to the team and consultants, and 7.44% will be used for Azuki.
AngelList and CoinList to Collaborate on New Way to Help Crypto Startups Raise Funds
According to Techcrunch, equity financing platform AngelList and token issuance and financing platform CoinListCoinList are teaming up to launch a way to help cryptocurrency-exclusive founders who use cryptocurrency to raise funds. They will work together to launch crypto special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and crypto roll-up vehicles (RUVs). This cooperation will provide users with a way to "raise funds in the form of an alliance and manage crypto startup investments in a cryptocurrency way." AngelList said that users will be able to fund cryptocurrency SPVs in the form of stablecoins-currently the fee is zero US dollars. CoinList CEO Raghav Gulati said: "Investors can use USDC to invest, which is more convenient for cryptocurrency investors who do not operate through banks." Tokens can be distributed to LPs in physical form and are compatible with "many non-US token issuers and investors." The two companies said that integration with CoinList software is "coming soon." RUVs are designed to collect investments raised by founders in specific rounds. The two companies said that the advantage is that startups do not need to worry about "managing compliance issues for many stakeholders" in the early stages. “Crypto startups often want to attract many angel investors,” Gulati said. “With RUVs, dozens of angel investors who need to sign documents, wire money, and get proper reporting on an ongoing basis can do that with AngelList Crypto RUVs.”
The community of decentralized stablecoin protocol Frax Finance has launched a new proposal to authorize an initial investment of $5 million in the Trump family crypto project World Liberty Financial (WLFI), positioning FRAX as part of the WLFI ecosystem, plus subsequent investments of up to $10 million, depending on the success of the partnership.
Cathie Wood: Trump is part of a new phase of the crypto revolution and may be useful in the future
Cathie Wood, CEO and chief investment officer of ARK Invest, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV: "We don't know how much practicality President Trump's Meme Coin has, but Trump is "leading the next stage of the cryptocurrency revolution." In addition, Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas posted on the X platform: "We asked Wood about her views on TRUMP. She said it was a meme coin and she would not buy it because she only holds BTC, ETH and SOL, but she didn't think it was a terrible thing. She thought it was part of a new stage that was coming and had certain practicality in the future."
Lido Lianchuang clarifies: Ethereum’s “Second Foundation” has not yet been established
According to The Block, in response to rumors that the Ethereum Foundation will separate a new organization, the "Second Foundation", Konstantin Lomashuk, co-founder of the liquid pledge protocol Lido, issued a statement saying: "In fact, the second foundation has not yet been established." He continued to write: "Ethereum is the ultimate world computer, and every Ethereum enthusiast can help it grow, evolve and succeed. If the second foundation is really established, it must have a clear goal to supplement the tremendous work of current contributors. I thank everyone for their support and think we need more organizations to contribute to Ethereum." Lomashuk's statement came after he participated in posts related to the "Second Foundation", which led some people to believe that he was the driving force behind the launch of this new organization. Given the strong response from the community, some people believe that the "Second Foundation" may be related to the "major transformation" that Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin promised to bring to the Ethereum Foundation. Earlier, on January 18, Vitalik said that after the Ethereum Foundation was criticized for its lack of participation in the Ethereum ecosystem, the foundation's leadership structure, communication with the network developer community, and support for them would undergo "major changes".
Bitwise applies to Delaware for registration of Dogecoin-related ETF
According to the official website of the Delaware Department of State, Bitwise has submitted documents to Delaware to apply for registration of the Bitwise Dogecoin ETF. The establishment date is January 22, 2025, and the registration agent is CSC DELAWARE TRUST COMPANY. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said: "Note: This is just a trust registration, and it is still not a formal ETF document submitted to the SEC. At least not yet."
CoinShares applied to Delaware last month to register a Dogecoin-related ETF
According to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, CoinShares submitted documents to the U.S. state of Delaware in December last year to apply for registration of the COINSHARES DOGE ETF.
CME website hints at XRP, SOL futures debut in February
According to Cointelegraph, the website of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) hinted at the launch of SOL and XRP futures contracts, which could be launched as early as February 10, but are subject to regulatory review. According to the website (which has since deleted the page), contracts for both assets will be available in standard and micro sizes, with the standard SOL contract size being 500 SOL and the micro contract size being 25 SOL. The standard-sized XRP futures contract size is 50,000 XRP, while the micro futures contract size is 2,500 XRP. All XRP and SOL contracts will be settled in U.S. dollars.
According to French media @LeFildInfo on the X platform, Eric Larch, the founder of Ledger, a leading company in the field of crypto security, was suspected of being kidnapped, and the kidnappers demanded Bitcoin as a ransom. Currently, the French police and the National Gendarmerie Special Forces (GIGN) have launched an investigation in the Viezon area. The focus is on Eric's estate in Méreau. Local media reported that a large number of gendarmes appeared in Méreau on January 21, a house was blocked and inspected by investigators, and neighbors were also asked if they found any suspicious circumstances. At present, French officials remain silent on the matter, and the progress of the case has yet to be further disclosed.
NYSE executives: more crypto companies are expected to go public
New York Stock Exchange executive Chris Taylor said that crypto companies are increasingly interested in public listings and more crypto companies are expected to go public.
According to Michael Saylor's tweet, MicroStrategy added 6,120 BTC through Bitcoin treasury operations last week, achieving a 1.36% yield based on its 450,000 BTC holdings. This is equivalent to about $642.6 million in value for the company at the current price of about $105,000/BTC, reflecting its commitment to maximizing shareholder returns.
Jupiter DAO: Jupuary airdrop claim is now live for three months
Jupiter DAO tweeted that the Jupuary airdrop claim is now live and the event will last for three months. If a user is marked as a witch, they can submit an appeal after January 27. If the user encounters problems when creating a Jupuary profile, they can try again later.
According to Bloomberg, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation he created are fully supporting a new startup that hopes to make Ethereum the best cryptocurrency on Wall Street. The company, called Etherealize, was founded by Vivek Raman, who worked as a bond trader at Nomura Holdings and UBS Group, and received investment from Buterin and the Ethereum Foundation. Although Buterin's organization confirmed the investment, neither party disclosed the specific amount. Raman said that he and a team of eight full-time employees have started operations in New York this month. They are promoting Ethereum to financial companies and developing products to make it easier for banks to use the Ethereum network.
SOON raises $22 million through NFT sales, led by Hack VC
According to The Block, Ethereum Layer 2 project SOON (Solana Optimistic Network) raised $22 million through an NFT sale called "COMMing SOON" before the mainnet launch. SOON uses the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) as the core execution layer, and uses a parallel processing model to improve transaction settlement efficiency, forming a differentiated competitive advantage with the traditional Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) sequential processing mode. The financing was led by Hack VC, and many institutions including ABCDE, Hypersphere, SNZ Capital participated in the support, and it was also endorsed by well-known figures in the Solana ecosystem. SOON also plans to expand to other blockchains beyond Ethereum through its "decoupled SVM architecture" and allocate 51% of the network tokens to the community to promote ecological development. So far, its test bridge has locked more than 11,000 ETH (about 36 million US dollars).
Trump family DeFi project WLFI uses 9.84 million USDC to purchase another 94.9 WBTC
According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin, in the past 25 minutes, World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a DeFi project supported by the Trump family, used 9.84 million USDC to purchase 94.9 WBTC. So far, WLFI has spent a total of 232 million to purchase 7 tokens, and now has a floating loss of 8.9 million US dollars, with only TRX making a floating profit.
Base Chain’s daily DEX transaction volume hits a record high of $2.9 billion
Dan Smith, an analyst at Blockworks Research, tweeted that Base Chain’s decentralized exchange (DEX) trading volume hit a record high of $2.9 billion yesterday, of which ETH-USD trading volume reached $1.3 billion, also a record high. At the same time, ETH-cbBTC and BTC-USD trading volumes were also close to historical highs.
A whale used 43.12 million USDT to purchase another 414.7 WBTC
According to PANews on January 23, according to monitoring by on-chain analyst Yu Jin, the whale who made $19.62 million through 5 purchases and sales of WBTC re-bought WBTC 8 hours ago: 414.7 WBTC were purchased using 43.12 million USDT at an average price of $104,000.
Bitcoin ETF has a net inflow of 6,719 BTC today, and Ethereum ETF has a net inflow of 18,108 ETH
According to Lookonchain statistics, on January 22, Bitcoin ETFs had a net inflow of 6,719 BTC (about $701 million), of which BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin ETF had an inflow of 6,208 BTC (about $648 million), and currently holds 569,343 BTC (about $59.4 billion). Ethereum ETFs had a net inflow of 18,108 ETH (about $59.59 million), of which BlackRock's iShares Ethereum ETF had an inflow of 16,959 ETH (about $55.81 million), and the total value of current holdings is about $3.87 billion.
Coinbase Director Discovers 430 Bitcoin Wallets Linked to Ross Ulbricht, Now Worth $47 Million
Conor Grogan, director of product strategy and business operations at Coinbase, tweeted that he found about 430 bitcoins distributed in multiple wallets related to Ross Ulbricht, which had not been confiscated by the US government and had not been moved for more than 13 years. These wallets may have been just "dust wallets" at the time, but now their total value has reached about 47 million US dollars. He also joked that he was not sure whether Ross still had the private keys to these wallets, and reminded him not to forget to check the (BCH) airdrop rewards.
