WuBlockchain Weekly: Key Developments in Bitcoin ETF, CZ Prohibited from Leaving the U.S., Intensive Discussions on Bitcoin Ordinals and Top10 News

Dec 08, 2023

1. Negotiations Between U.S. Bitcoin ETF Issuers and the SEC May Have Reached Crucial Progress link

Discussions between regulatory authorities and asset management companies seeking to list Bitcoin ETFs have progressed to crucial technical details, indicating that approval for these products may be imminent. The SEC has been engaging with issuers on substantive details, some of which are typically discussed as ETF application processes near completion, according to statements from six industry executives and SEC public memoranda. The SEC must make a final decision on ARK’s application by January 10th, marking the earliest decision. Insiders suggest that the advanced nature of the discussions indicates that the SEC may approve ARK’s application early in the new year and potentially approve some of the other 12 applications

2. BlackRock and Bitwise Submit Updated Bitcoin Spot ETF Applications to the SEC link

Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart tweeted that BlackRock has once again submitted a revised S-1 document for its Bitcoin spot ETF to the U.S. SEC. SEC has evidently issued similar or very similar instructions to multiple issuers. Previously, Bitwise also submitted a second revised S-1 document. This suggests that the SEC and these issuers are actively addressing issues, and these documents are likely the result of numerous discussions and extensive work between the parties.

3. Bitcoin Developer Luke Dashjr’s Proposal to Disable Ordinals Sparks Community Controversy link

December 6th, Bitcoin core developer Luke Dashjr posted that “Ordinals” is exploiting a vulnerability in Bitcoin Core to conduct spam attacks on the blockchain. Since 2013, Bitcoin Core has allowed users to set an additional data size limit when relaying or mining transactions. By obfuscating its data as program code, Ordinals bypasses this limit. The vulnerability was recently fixed in Bitcoin Knots v25.1 but still exists in the upcoming v26 release, with hopes for a final fix before the v27 release next year. Dashjr states that Ordinals has been an ongoing attack on Bitcoin.

In response, Luke Dashjr mentioned that after fixing this vulnerability, it implies that Ordinals and BRC-20 will cease to exist. F2Pool co-founder Shenyu commented, “Bitcoin is not Ethereum; what developers say doesn’t count.”

When asked if “as long as one miner chooses not to opt-out, that miner can still process Ordinals transactions on the blockchain,” Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr replied, “We don’t have to eliminate all Ordinals to benefit Bitcoin.”

4. U.S. Space Force Member Suggests Defense Secretary Investigate the ‘National Strategic Importance’ of PoW Systems like Bitcoin link

In a four-page letter to the U.S. Defense Innovation Board on December 2nd, Jason Lowery, a member of the U.S. Space Force, suggested that the Secretary of Defense investigate the “national strategic importance” of Proof-of-Work (PoW) systems like Bitcoin. He argued that PoW systems, such as Bitcoin, can deter cyberattacks and represent the beginning of a cybersecurity revolution. According to Lowery, these systems transform the global power grid into a large, physically costly computer or macrochip, leveraging it to physically constrain malicious actors and protect various data and messages transmitted over the internet.

5. Swiss City Lugano Accepts Bitcoin and USDT for Municipal Taxes link

On December 5th, the Swiss city of Lugano officially announced that the local government now accepts cryptocurrency payments, specifically in Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT), for taxes and all other community fees. Residents of Lugano can pay taxes or services by scanning the Swiss QR code on the invoice and using their preferred mobile wallet and chosen cryptocurrency. This initiative is part of Lugano’s “Bitcoin Plan” in collaboration with Tether.

6. El Salvador Launches a New Visa-Free Program link

El Salvador introduces a new visa program, limiting it to 1,000 participants annually. Successful applicants, upon investing $1 million in BTC or USDT, will be granted a visa and citizenship. If all slots are filled, this initiative is expected to raise $1 billion for El Salvador.

7. Binance’s Weekly Summary

a. Binance Releases its Thirteenth Reserve Proof link

On December 8th, Binance released its thirteenth reserve report (snapshot date: 12–1). User BTC holdings decreased by 4.05% compared to the previous month (11–1), settling at 561,000 BTC, a reduction of 23,656 BTC. User ETH holdings decreased by 0.67%, settling at 3.88 million ETH, a reduction of 26,323 ETH. User BNB holdings decreased by 0.74%, settling at 30.98 million BNB, a reduction of 230,000 BNB. User USDT holdings increased by 5.67%, settling at 16.1 billion USDT, an addition of 866 million USDT. According to defillama, Binance’s reserve assets have seen a net inflow of $311 million over the past month.

b. Seattle Federal Judge Accepts CZ’s Guilty Plea link

According to a court document from the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, Judge Richard Jones on Wednesday accepted the guilty plea from CZ, the former CEO of Binance. Last month, CZ admitted to violating anti-money laundering and sanctions regulations. Binance agreed to pay $4.3 billion, marking one of the largest corporate settlements in history.

c. U.S. Judge Rules CZ Must Stay in the United States Until Sentencing link

U.S. District Judge Richard Jones in the Seattle area on Thursday approved the U.S. government’s motion to keep CZ, the former CEO of Binance, in the United States until he is sentenced for violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws. In a court filing submitted on Thursday, the judge agreed with the Department of Justice’s argument that CZ poses a flight risk.

CZ’s lawyers objected to this claim, stating that he paid a substantial bail and voluntarily came to the U.S. to take responsibility for his actions. The judge in the Seattle District Court agreed with the Department of Justice’s stance, stating that CZ had not convinced the court “that he is unlikely to flee if allowed to return to the UAE.” The judge noted in the documents submitted to the court on Thursday, “While the bond is massive, indeed unprecedented, it appears to be primarily composed of assets beyond the government’s control.” Under the bail conditions, Zhao can remain free and travel within the United States. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 23, 2024.

d. Binance’s New CEO, Richard Teng, Refuses to Disclose the Global Headquarters Location link

Binance’s newly appointed CEO, Richard Teng, refused to disclose the global headquarters location of Binance in an interview with the Financial Times, stating that it is under consideration. This comes after CZ insisted that Binance has no global headquarters. Teng mentioned that Binance has undergone audits in the jurisdictions where it is regulated but declined to reveal the names of the auditing firms. He added that the company has provided necessary information to regulatory authorities. “Is it necessary for us to publicly share all of this information? No,” Teng said.

8. Gate Faces Allegations of Falsifying Token Data Trading After Listing BRC-20 RATS link

Following community feedback, there have been reports of false token trading data on Gate after the listing of BRC-20 token RATS. During the two hours on December 4th from 21:00 to 23:00, the trading volume of RATS on Gate exceeded 880 billion, while the total RATS supply is 10 trillion. Considering Gate’s holding balance, this appears to be abnormal. RATS experienced a temporary drop of over 10% during these two hours. Currently, the CoinCarp address marked as Gate (16G1xY…Vp9Wxh) holds about 4.7% of the total RATS supply, making it the largest holder. Gate has not yet responded to these reports. Gate responded, stating that the significant increase in trading volume on the night of December 4, 2023, was due to substantial market fluctuations and issues with the trading strategies of some quant institutions’ users. They assert that it is unrelated to the platform’s operations.

9. Cryptocurrency Mining Firm Phoenix Group Completes $371 Million IPO on Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) link

Crypto mining firm Phoenix Group completed a $371 million IPO on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and saw a 50% increase on the first day of trading, with an oversubscription of 33 times. This IPO marks the first listing related to a crypto company in the Middle East. The largest business group in Abu Dhabi, International Holding Co., controlled by a key member of the royal family, purchased 10% of Phoenix’s shares in early October.

10. Sotheby’s Announces Inaugural Bitcoin Ordinals Art Auction link

Sotheby’s digital art department announced that it will auction works from the Bitcoin Ordinals project BitcoinShrooms designed by the anonymous artist Shroomtoshi. The auction will take place from December 6th to 13th, and currently, three pieces are available for bidding. The series includes two mushroom individuals and a pixelated avocado seed named BIP39, which is a common standard for the mnemonic codes required to create seed phrases. These three pieces are expected to sell for approximately $20,000 to $30,000, but the auction house also accepts cryptocurrency bids. This art auction will mark Sotheby’s first sale of Ordinals artwork.

Fundraising

Mocaverse announces the completion of a $11.88 million new funding round. link
Web3 streaming protocol Sona completes a $6.9 million seed funding round. link
Ethereum scalability startup Versatus secures $2.3 million in seed funding. link
Pyth Data Association raises new funding with participation from Castle Island Ventures and others. link
DeFi platform Curvance announces the completion of a $3.6 million seed funding round. link
Cryptocurrency data startup Shadow secures $9 million in seed funding with Paradigm leading the investment. link
Ethereum L2 Rollup project Ten announces the completion of a $7.5 million funding round. link
NFT game company Endless Clouds announces the completion of a $2.5 million new funding round. link

Learn more, check out crypto-fundraising.info.

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