Important information last night and this morning (February 18-February 19)
Reprinted from panewslab
02/19/2025·2M
Howard Lutnick, who supports cryptocurrency, has been approved by the Senate as U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Cointelegraph reported. He has hundreds of millions of dollars in the Bitcoin space.
US SEC confirms receipt of Bitwise's spot XRP ETF application
According to The Block, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirmed on Tuesday that Cboe BZX Exchange, a subsidiary of the Chicago Options Exchange Group, submitted an application for listing and trading of Bitwise's spot ETFs. In a document confirming the proposal, the SEC requested that the document be submitted within 21 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register. After that, the agency may decide to approve, disapprove, or “initiate the process.” The 19b-4 file is the second step in the two-step process of proposing to the SEC to encrypt ETFs. Once confirmed, the document will be published in the Federal Gazette, thereby starting the SEC approval process. The SEC has previously confirmed the XRP spot ETF application submitted by 21Shares and Grayscale, but has not confirmed the applications of Canary Capital and WisdomTree. According to Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas, the probability of XRP-based ETFs is 65%.
US SEC solicits public feedback on approval of Grayscale and Bitwise Ethereum ETF options trading
According to The Block, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking public comments to decide whether options trading should be approved on three spot Ethereum ETFs. According to a regulatory filing released Tuesday, the SEC solicited options for whether to allow the Chicago Exchange (Cboe Exchange, Inc. to list and trade Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF, Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust ETF and Bitwise Ethereum ETF Opinion. The public can submit comments within 21 days of the publication of the Federal Register. After that, the SEC may decide to approve, disapprove or “initiate relevant procedures.” The agency has not approved options trading on spot Ethereum ETFs. In May 2024, the SEC approved several spot Ethereum ETFs, and since then, companies have been seeking permission to trade options. The SEC also approved spot Bitcoin ETFs more than a year ago and allowed options trading for these products by the end of 2024.
John Reed Stark, a former U.S. SEC official, posted on X platform that the SEC's lawsuit against Coinbase may be over as the regulator's newly formed cryptocurrency task force is seeking to resolve previous enforcement actions against the exchange. Stark explained why the SEC requested an extension of 28 days to respond to Coinbase's petition requesting permission to appeal. It said: "Under the 3-page joint motion, the SEC's review of cryptocurrency-related issues is 'in progress' and the extension will give the SEC time to conduct 'proper review' as it is preparing for the Coinbase petition. Reply. In other words, the SEC's lawsuit against Coinbase may have ended. "Stark estimates that the SEC's lawsuit against Binance will also have the same result. He cited a joint motion filed on February 11, where both sides believed that the SEC's cryptocurrency task force "could affect and facilitate a potential settlement of the case." The same is true for Ripple, which has been deeply involved in the SEC lawsuit since 2020, “All cryptocurrency-related appeals, including those in Ripple’s case, are expected to be suspended and even more likely to be withdrawn altogether.”
Fed Daly: Cryptocurrency is an emerging industry and doesn't want to curb innovation due to fear
Fed Daly: Cryptocurrency is an emerging industry and does not want to curb innovation due to fear.
According to The Daily Hodl's signing of Barron's magazine, the company is setting up a new executive position as financial services giant Charles Schwab expands its business tentacles into crypto asset investment. This new position is Digital Assets Director, who will be responsible for Schwab's overall crypto asset strategy. Joe Vietri, who once served as the network head of the financial services giant's branch, will serve as the first digital asset director. Schwab Management's total customer assets reach approximately US$10.33 trillion, and has provided customers with access to cryptocurrencies through regulated products such as Bitcoin spot ETFs, which were approved in the United States in January 2024. Under Vietri, the financial services giant is planning to expand its cryptocurrency product range. During last month's fourth-quarter earnings call, Worst said Schwab's clients are increasingly interested in crypto assets.
Google is exploring the use of the Google Login feature to log in to a Bitcoin wallet
According to Crypto Briefing, Google Cloud Asia Pacific Web3 expert Kyle Song's speech at the Hong Kong Bitcoin Technology Carnival revealed that Google is committed to making Bitcoin wallets as user-friendly as Web2 applications, and Google's vision is to enable users to use existing ones The purpose of logging into the Bitcoin wallet with Google account is to make Bitcoin closer to mainstream users. Song said that the launch of the spot Bitcoin ETF in 2024 has opened up a more convenient path for large Web2 companies such as Google to enter the Bitcoin industry. The tech giant has been working with companies and developers in the Bitcoin space since last year. "We are exploring ways to lower the barriers to entry so that Web2 users can easily use Bitcoin," Song said. Speaking about bridging the technological gap between traditional finance and blockchain-based finance, Song noted that Google is focusing on Improved security. "We are also working on solutions to solve the trust problem between on-chain and off-chain systems. Google is particularly considering how advanced encryption technologies such as Zero Knowledge Proof-of-Knowledge (ZKP) can be used to improve reliability," Song said.
Strategy Announces Issuance of $2 billion convertible bonds to Support Future Bitcoin Purchase
According to The Block, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) said Tuesday it plans to issue $2 billion in zero-interest convertible premium bonds hours after issuing earnings warnings. Strategy intends to use the proceeds from the issuance for general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of Bitcoin. Unless they are repurchased, redeemed or converted in advance, these bonds will expire on March 1, 2030. According to the announcement, Strategy will settle the conversion in cash, Class A common stock or a combination of both. Strategy also plans to grant initial buyers the option to purchase up to $300 million in additional bonds within five business days of issuance. Earlier on Tuesday, Strategy issued a profit warning in a 10-K filing file with the U.S. SEC, due to the potential tax burden that could increase. Strategy reviewed the net loss for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, mainly due to the impairment loss of digital assets of US$1.79 billion. The company warned that “profitability may not be restored in the future”, especially if there is a significant fair value loss in its Bitcoin holdings. It added that a sharp drop in the value of the Bitcoin market could have an adverse impact on the company's debt repayment ability. Strategy said its enterprise analytics software business did not generate positive cash flow in 2024 and the company may need to rely on equity or debt financing to meet its financial obligations. The success of such financing depends largely on the market value of its Bitcoin holdings, and a sharp decline in Bitcoin’s value could trigger liquidity risks that could force companies to sell Bitcoin at unfavorable prices. The company explained that this could have a significant impact on its financial performance and future financing prospects. Strategy acquired approximately 258,320 BTC in 2024. The company currently holds 478,740 BTC worth over $46 billion after its latest acquisition between February 3 and 9, 2025.
Previously, yesterday's news, Strategy did not conduct any stock sale or Bitcoin purchase operations last week .
DigitFT to launch a tokenized version of the $6.3 billion Invesco fund
According to Bloomberg, Singapore's blockchain platform DigitFT will provide a tokenized version of the $6.3 billion Invesco private credit fund. Institutional investors can use the US dollar or stablecoins USDC and USDT to buy tokenized shares of the Invesco fund’s underlying assets, a statement from DigitFT said on Wednesday. DigitFT CEO Henry Zhang said the Invesco fund invested in the company's senior guaranteed loans and has an annualized net yield of 4.5% since its inception in 2006. Henry Zhang said in an interview: "This is the first and only tokenized private equity credit fund that provides daily liquidity. Currently, the redemption cycle of most tokenized private equity credit funds is quarterly, and even Longer, which makes them less attractive to investors seeking higher flexibility. "Henry Zhang said that DigitFT aims to end up as the tokens for Invesco funds, compared to the settlement time required for the underlying funds up to 5 days. The version provides instant settlement.
Crypto custody company BitGo adds OTC business and is considering IPO
According to Bloomberg, crypto custody company BitGo Inc. has launched a global digital asset over-the-counter trading platform as it plans to go public. BitGo has expanded this business as cryptocurrency prices rise and institutional investors such as hedge funds increase their demand for cryptocurrencies. Earlier this month, people familiar with the matter revealed that the company was considering an initial public offering. BitGo said in a statement Tuesday that the OTC help desk will provide spot and options trading services to institutional investors as well as loan services to facilitate margin trading. Since the beginning of last year, the company has started serving some of its selected customers, with transaction volumes reaching billions of dollars and loan books exceeding $100 million. In addition to the United States, the transaction desk can be used in other jurisdictions including Hong Kong and the Middle East countries.
Bullish obtains Hong Kong virtual asset trading platform license
According to the Xinbao report, the Hong Kong Securities Regulatory Commission has approved a virtual asset trading platform license. The latest virtual asset trading platform Bullish has been approved, increasing the number of licensed virtual asset trading platforms in Hong Kong to 10. Bullish senior vice president and global sales leader Andy Lau said in an interview with our newspaper earlier that Hong Kong is an important business point and currently has more than 100 employees in Hong Kong, hoping to focus on institutional business after getting the license. It is worth noting that Bullish has acquired comprehensive media, events and index platform CoinDesk earlier. Currently, there are 8 platforms on the list of applicants for virtual asset trading platforms. Ye Zhiheng, executive director of the Intermediary Institutions Department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said a few days ago that the market's standards for issuing licensing in the China Securities Regulatory Commission are becoming clearer and new licenses will be approved, but whether all applicants will be accepted. All licenses are obtained, depending on whether they meet the requirements.
Tether added 1 billion USDTs to Tron Network 2 hours ago
According to Onchain Lens monitoring, 2 hours ago, Tether cast another 1 billion USDTs on the Tron Network. So far, Tether has cast 3 billion USDTs in 2025.
According to Bloomberg, one of Tether’s original founders, Reeve Collins, is launching its own stablecoin. Collins' Pi Protocol will provide holders with the benefits they may earn from tokenized real-world assets. This is different from early stablecoins such as USDT and USDC pegged to fiat, as well as algorithm-backed DAI, which simply track the value of the US dollar. The stablecoin protocol will be launched on Ethereum and Solana blockchains in the second half of 2025. It is not clear how the stablecoin will generate returns, however, some existing tokens are distributed through revenue generated from tokenized “real-world assets” such as U.S. Treasury bonds. It is reported that Collins served as Tether CEO from 2013 to 2015 after co-founding Tether with Brock Pierce and Craig Sellars.
Curve founder's new project Yield Basis raises $5 million in funding at $50 million token valuation
Michael Egorov, founder of decentralized exchange Curve Finance, is working on a new project called Yield Basis and has raised funds for it, The Block reported. Yield Basis aims to help tokenized Bitcoin and Ethereum holders earn profits through market making by mitigating impermanent losses, according to a presentation on January 11, 2025. Yield Basis raised $5 million in a token round at a fully diluted $50 million valuation, the presentation reads. The project will sell 10% of its "YB" token supply to investors, or 100 million of the total of 1 billion tokens. Investors’ token unlocking schedule includes a six-month lock-up period followed by a linear unlock of two years. Yield Basis started the fundraising process last month and raised funds within two weeks; investors' interest was "huge" and this round of financing was "oversubscribed 15 times." When contacted for comment, Egorov confirmed that he was working on the Yield Basis project and had raised funds at the valuation mentioned above. He also verified the details in the presentation. The token YB of the project will be assigned to different categories. According to the presentation, 30% of the total supply is allocated to community incentives and will be allocated through liquidity mining. Other allocations include 25% for the team, 15% for development reserves, 10% for Curve technology authorization and 10% for cooperation. "Curve technology licensing is likely to be used to vote for the crvUSD stable pool. This seems to fit the Curve ecosystem best and also help YB." Egorov also revealed that Yield Basis is currently in the "production testing" stage and is being launched in full swing The liquidity pool is under test and audit before, but the entire system, including tokens, will take longer to roll out.
LIBRA token Hayden Davis claims he has bribed the Argentine president's sister
According to CoinDesk, a key figure behind Libra tokens boasted that he had already spent money to open up the way to enter the core circle of Argentine President Javier Milei, months before the meme coin was plagued by scandals and failed to issue. According to the text messages reviewed, Kelsier Ventures CEO Hayden Davis claimed that he could "control" Milei because he had been paying money to Karina Milei, a heavyweight in the Javier Milei administration, and the president's sister. Davis claimed in a text message in mid-December that “I controlled that guy,” adding, “I send money to his sister and he will sign whatever I say and act as I want.” It is unclear whether there was a money deal between Davis and Milei's core circle before the release of Libra. In a text message last December, Davis claimed that he could allow Milei to promote related projects on social media. Two months later, Milei's tweet about Libra fueled its price surge. But after discovering on-chain evidence that there was a suspicious transaction, Milei deleted it just five hours after the tweet was posted, and Libra's price had plummeted. In response, Libra token co-founder Hayden Davis denied bribing the Argentine president in a statement, saying media reports were "politically motivated." Asked if he denied making such allegations via text messages, his PR representative said there was no memory or record on Hayden's phone. ,
FTX's next round of repayment allocation will begin on May 30
According to FTX creditor Sunil, the registration date for FTX's next round of allocation is set to April 11, 2025, and the allocation starts on May 30, 2025. The payments for this allocation are: claims with an amount of more than $50,000, and those with less than $50,000 that have been approved but have not received the payment in the first allocation.
FTX starts paying small claims, with the first payment amount reaching US$800 million
According to FTX creditor Sunil, FTX started reimbursement of accounts with claims worth less than $50,000 today. The total repayment amount of this round is US$1.2 billion, and approximately US$800 million has been paid, covering 162,000 accounts, accounting for 35% of the estimated 460,000 qualified claim accounts. Of these, 50% is paid to the original holder, and the other 50% is paid to the creditor's acquirer. According to Arkham, FTX has begun distributing funds to creditors through two distribution providers, Kraken and BitGo.
Later, Kraken completed the first fund allocation of FTX estate and paid more than 46,000 creditors .
Coinbase International Station will launch EURC perpetual contract
According to Coinbase International Exchange announcement, its platform and Coinbase Advanced will add EURC perpetual contract (EURC-PERP) transaction support. The market is expected to open trading at or after 9:30 UTC on February 19, 2025.
Grayscale announces Grayscale $PYTH Trust
According to Solid Intel, Grayscale announced the launch of Grayscale $PYTH Trust, its new investment product designed to provide investors with the opportunity to obtain decentralized price data through the Python network.
According to The Block, Abstract Chain is investigating theft of wallet funds reported by some users, with preliminary suspicions related to connecting to the blockchain fantasy game Cardex. The Abstract team said on social platform X that the problem seems to be limited to Cardex applications and is not a network-wide Abstract Global Wallet (AGW) problem. At present, the team is conducting further investigations to remind users not to interact with Cardex for the time being. Cardex is a blockchain-based fantasy game that went live on February 11. Several users reported on Abstract's official Discord channel that their funds ranged from several hundred dollars to more than $100,000 and had been stolen.
Robinhood plans to launch crypto products in Singapore in 2025
Robinhood plans to launch crypto products in Singapore in 2025 through its acquired European digital asset exchange Bitstamp, Bloomberg reported. The company plans to launch these services by the end of 2025 under the guidance of local regulators. Robinhood acquired Bitstamp for $200 million in June 2024, partly due to Bitstamp's license in Singapore, which will help Robinhood expand its business in Singapore. Bitstamp received principled approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore last year. In addition, Robinhood plans to expand its operations in the Asia-Pacific region in 2025 and further expand its footprint in the Asian market with Singapore as its base.
OKX officially became the first global crypto exchange to obtain MiCA license and operate in Europe
According to official news, OKX announced that it was officially the first global cryptocurrency exchange to obtain a MiCA license and conduct business in Europe. This is an important milestone for OKX and the entire European Economic Area (EEA). Currently, OKX has now provided compliant, localized cryptocurrency services to more than 400 million users in 28 countries of the European Economic Area (EEA) through its European headquarters in Malta. Whether users are in France, Germany, Spain, or other member countries, they can easily use OKX cutting-edge encryption products, supporting local payment methods and a variety of fiat currency options. Star posted on X platform, saying, "OKX has been officially launched in 28 European Economic Area (EEA) countries and comply with MiCA regulations. Compliance and regulation are crucial, and we are committed to providing users with safety, transparency and complete compatibility. Standardized transaction experience. By supporting euro trading pairs, free bank transfers and localized services, we make cryptocurrency transactions more convenient. In the future, we will continue to optimize products and services to improve user experience, so that every user can enjoy it easily Web3 World.”
Blockaid completes a $50 million Series B financing round, led by Ribbit Capital
According to Bloomberg, crypto security platform Blockaid recently completed a $50 million Series B financing led by Ribbit Capital, with GV (formerly Google Ventures) and existing investors Variant and Cyberstarts. The financing will help Blockaid deal with the growing risk of cybercrime in the digital asset space. In 2024, Blockaid successfully intercepted 71 million potential attacks, avoiding $5.3 billion in losses. The company expects cyber attacks to surge to “hundreds of millions” in 2025 as users grow and token prices rise. Blockaid plans to use the funds to expand operations and increase R&D investment, and is expected to double its staff this year. Ido Ben-Natan, CEO of the company, said the company is currently facing the challenge of understaffing due to a surge in demand due to changes in the U.S. regulatory environment.
Altius Labs completes $11 million Pre-Seed Series, led by Founders Fund and Pantera
According to Bloomberg, crypto startup Altius Labs completed a $11 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by Founders Fund and Pantera, with Archetype, Reforge, DCG, No Limit Holdings, Amber Group and others participating. In addition, angel investors in Berachain, Movement, Ethena Labs, Ritual, dao5, Solana Foundation, Hudson River Trading and other projects also participated in this round of financing. Founded by Anit Chakraborty, former software engineer at Hudson River Trading, and Annabelle Huang, former managing partner at Amber Group, Altius Labs is committed to developing a modular execution stack that is independent of virtual machines (VMs) that can be independent of a single binary implementation and network. Designed to achieve seamless integration with any L1, L2 and application chains to improve performance and enhance interoperability. The project's goal is to help other crypto projects replicate Solana's success.
Bankless Ventures announces launch of second phase of fund, targeting $50 million
According to official news, Bankless Ventures announced the launch of the second phase of the fund (Fund II), with a target of raising $50 million. Over the past 21 months, Bankless Ventures has entered several early-stage investment projects, with Fund I completing 90% of its funding deployment at a scale of $40 million. It is also planned to add an investment partner to Fund II to further enhance strategic execution. The company emphasized that in the future, the crypto industry will usher in emerging fields such as AI agents, stablecoins and zero-knowledge technology, and Bankless Ventures will continue to deploy capital in these cutting-edge fields.
According to Solid Intel, Tether is planning to acquire a 51% controlling stake in South American energy company Adecoagro, with a transaction value of approximately $1.24 billion.
MARA Holdings completes acquisition of Texas wind farms to expand energy infrastructure
According to CoinDesk, MARA Holdings (MARA) has completed the acquisition of a Texas-based wind farm, adding 114 MW of wind capacity and 240 MW of connecting capacity to further expand its energy infrastructure. The company plans to use wind farms to provide energy for Bitcoin mining, using the latest generation of ASIC miners to reduce the cost of Bitcoin production. By recycling old equipment and utilizing renewable energy, mining costs are expected to be significantly reduced. MARA is currently the second largest Bitcoin holding company in public trading, with 45,659 bitcoins on its books.
JPMorgan report: US listed Bitcoin miners account for 29% of global computing power
According to CoinDesk, a report released by JPMorgan shows that US listed Bitcoin miners accounted for 29% of the global Bitcoin network computing power in February 2025, almost twice the same period last year. The report noted that the computing power of the Bitcoin network rose 6% this month, but miners' average daily profit fell by 13% due to the decline in Bitcoin prices. JPMorgan analysis pointed out that the combined computing power of the 14 Bitcoin mining companies tracked increased by about 95% compared with last year to 244 EH/s, while the global network computing power increased by 45% year-on-year. Additionally, the mining economy faces pressure due to a slight decline in Bitcoin prices, causing miners' daily profits to drop to about $53,600, down 6% from January. The report also mentioned that some mining companies such as IREN performed well, with their stock prices rising 27% in the first two weeks of February; while Greenidge Generation fell 20%.
K33 Research: Bitcoin market is in a "sluggish state" since the US election
According to The Block, Bitcoin is still in a low volatility range as risk aversion traders lower yields, volatility and trading volumes to months lows, according to The Block. This week, it fell slightly by 2%. Lunde wrote that while the Trump administration, which supports cryptocurrencies, is a long-term positive for Bitcoin and the crypto industry as a whole, short-term uncertainty has led to a sluggish market activity. Bitcoin’s indicators are weakening throughout the market. Trading volume, yield, option premium and ETF inflows have all fallen to pre-US dollar election levels. Along with these downturns, volatility has also fallen to months of lows. Lunde stressed that 37% of the top 100 U.S. companies currently ranked higher than Bitcoin’s 30-day volatility, a situation that has not been seen since October 2023. But he also warned that such low volatility periods rarely last for a long time and traders should be prepared for sudden changes. "Overall risk aversion shows that traders are ready for downside volatility, while the current moderate leverage level suggests that the suspension risk of the liquidation wave is less," Lunde said. Analysis shows that the premium has fallen below 5% recently, which he pointed out rarely happens. When looking at the 2021-2025 data, Lund found that low premiums usually match weaker market performance, a situation that could be affected by the long-term bear market in 2022. Lunde stressed that Bitcoin tends to perform best under a strong basis system and calls for caution amid current market uncertainty.
Bubblemaps: A trader turns $1.09 million into $109 million by trading Meme currency TRUMP
According to The Block, blockchain analytics platform Bubblemaps claimed in a social media post on Tuesday that, according to its analysis, anonymous cryptocurrency trader Naseem was an account that made a profit of $109 million by trading Meme currency TRUMP. According to research conducted with YouTube blogger Coffeezilla, Naseem successfully "sniped" the token shortly after the launch of the TRUMP token. On-chain data shows that $1.09 million worth of tokens were purchased for the first time using an address starting with 6QSc2, and the tokens were then dispersed into at least 9 wallets. While the study cannot conclusively prove that Naseem is ultimately behind these trading activities, the Bubblemaps team wrote in the report that indirect evidence suggests that “there are too many links that cannot be ignored”. Bubblemaps allows Naseem to respond to potential insider trading issues, which Naseem denies. While he was able to buy more than $1 million worth of TRUMP tokens within the first second of the transaction, partly due to paying a priority transaction fee of $84,000, Naseem said he was not directly informed of the token’s issuance time. .
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