Binance Converts All SAFU Fund Assets to USDC: Does This Signal a Market Peak?

Established by Binance in 2018 as an emergency insurance reserve for its users, the Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) is designed to reimburse traders in the event of the exchange losing investor assets, such as in cases of hacking.  The fund aims to maintain a value of over $1 billion under normal circumstances. Prior to this conversion, SAFU held both Bitcoin BTC and BNB. According to CoinGecko data, both assets declined by 12.6% and 9.1% respectively over the past seven days. Therefore, to avoid further price volatility, the cryptocurrency exchange has decided to convert all of the funds assets to USDC to enhance “reliability and stability.”  “SAFU is an emergency insurance fund established in 2018 to protect Binance users in extreme cases,” Binance wrote in a blog post. “Over the years, we have been monitoring the size of SAFU to ensure that the balance is sufficient to safeguard our users.”  In this conversion, approximately $1 billion worth of Bitcoin was transferred out of SAFUs Bitcoin wallet address, and slightly over $740 million worth of BNB was transferred out of its BSC wallet address. Using a blockchain explorer to track, both amounts eventually entered Binances hot wallet address. Now, SAFU only holds 1

2024-04-25Deep Dive

WikiBit & 4METAS Partnership Celebration Giveaway

To celebrate the partnership with 4METAS, you are invited to participate in our community giveaway! Good Luck to everyone!  Rewards: 15,840,430 $4MW  Date: 12 am UTC, 24th April - 12 am UTC, 30th April  How to Enter  1)RT s more than just a platform; its a Web3-native ecosystem that integrates GameFi, social features, metaverse, and AR/VR into one dynamic space.

2024-04-25Deep Dive

ZKasino Accused of Soft Rug Pull: Over 10,000 ETH Forced as "Donations"

Shortly after completing a high-valuation financing round, Web3 entertainment platform ZKasino is accused of conducting a “rug pull” by unilaterally modifying information such as “returning ETH,” forcing coin swaps, and transferring over 10,000 ETH staked assets to an interest-bearing platform. In response, the involved investment parties have distanced themselves from the issue post-facto, while ZKasinos official statement dismisses the communitys rights protection incident as FUD rumors and does not address the refund issue.Forced “Donations” and Coin Swaps of Staked Assets, Official Response Still Pending  On the evening of April 20th, many community users reported that ZKasino had removed the statement “Ethereum will be returned and can be bridged back” from its official websites Bridge funds interface, preventing users from making withdrawals. At the same time, the projects whitepaper not only secretly changed the user-staked assets to a donation mode but also forcibly initiated an “ID0,” converting all the ETH staked by users into its own platform token, $ZKAS.  According to on-chain analyst @EmberCN, ZKasino transferred over 10,515 ETH (worth approximately $33 million) from more than 10,000 users bridged into ZKasino to a multi-signature address on April 21st, and then deposited it into Lido.  ZKasinos actions have sparked anger within the community, with many

2024-04-24Deep Dive

BTC's Fourth Halving: What Do Institutions Predict for the Future Market?

Bitcoin welcomes its fourth halving in history, reducing block rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. Based on a price of $65,000, it is estimated that the halving will reduce selling pressure by $10 billion annually, thereby boosting the price of BTC.  However, multiple factors, such as continuous outflows from BTC spot ETFs and international situations, are influencing the price of BTC, adding uncertainty to its future trends.  This article reviews the viewpoints of various institutions and founders to understand how they view the subsequent market and what criteria they use for judgment.Bullish Viewpoints  CZ: BTC to Hit Multiple Historical Highs in the Year Following the Halving  CZ stated that Bitcoin halving is different from stock splits. The fact that people are still asking this question shows that we are still in the early stages. He then shared a chart outlining his views on what could happen before and after the Bitcoin halving, which he had published in 2023, and mentioned being excited about the halving. Based on the experiences from the previous three halvings, CZ predicts:  Diverse opinions in the months leading up to the halving;  The price wont double overnight after the halving;  BTC will hit multiple historical highs in the year following the halving.  Su

2024-04-23Deep Dive

This Week Noteworthy Events (April 22, 2024—— April 28, 2024)

Eigenpie to Open LST Withdrawals on April 22nd  Eigenpie announces the launch of its LST withdrawal today. Depositors of LST on the Eigenpie platform will be able to un-stake their assets while retaining their accumulated points.TreasureDAO Plans to Launch Treasure Ruby Testnet on April 22nd  TreasureDAO plans to launch the Treasure Ruby testnet on April 22nd, which includes the new Treasure Portal for cross-chain access and exploration of the testnet environment, as well as a new Treasure browser. Officials stated that new testnet versions with additional features will be released following the Ruby version. Additionally, staking functionality will be added to the Treasure Chain.MerlinSwap Launches esMP Token and Plans to Start Staking Activities on April 22nd  Merlins ecosystem DEX, MerlinSwap, announced the launch of the esMP token on the X platform. Initially, esMP aims to stabilize the value of the MP token. An esMP staking party event will be held starting at 14:00 on April 22nd, and the event will end at 14:00 on May 21st. Users can stake their esMP tokens to qualify as lucky winners for the next round of MerlinSwap airdrops. The longer users hold their stakes with selected partners, the more rewarding the incentives will be.Safe: SAFE Token Will

2024-04-22Deep Dive

Differences in the Fourth BTC Halving

This years halving — the quadrennial slashing of the amount of new bitcoin (BTC) entering into circulation — may be the most important since the first one around 12 years ago. And yet, despite intense interest in the event, its price impact may be more muted this year than previous halvings. Recently launched protocols, like Ordinals, and an increasingly robust mining sector, mean the effect could be relatively soft.  The Bitcoin halving, expected to take place late Friday night or early Saturday (April 20), comes with heightened expectations. In each previous case so far, the halving preceded massive sector-wide rallies. There is an ongoing debate whether the halving is “priced in,” or whether the reduced amount of bitcoin entering into circulation (this time dropping from around 900 BTC per day to 450 BTC) will create a kind of supply shock that will drive prices up (assuming demand for bitcoin remains constant or increases).  There are two economic theories that explain this debate. On one side are those who believe the halving is priced in believe the efficient market theory. They say because the event is known in advance, and everyone shares the same information, it is impossible that bitcoin is currently undervalued.

2024-04-19Deep Dive

Crypto trader convicted in $110M Mango Markets fraud trial

Crypto trader Avraham Eisenberg was convicted on Thursday in relation to trades he made in October 2022 to extract more than $100 million from Mango Markets, according to a report from Bloomberg.  28-year-old Eisenberg was charged with commodities fraud, wire fraud and commodities manipulation. The jury found him guilty of all three counts.  After closing arguments from the government and defense, the jury deliberated Wednesday afternoon and into Thursday before returning with their verdict. The trial lasted one week and took place just a few floors below where FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced last month.  Eisenberg was arrested in Puerto Rico in December 2022. Prosecutors say he illegally made off with $110 million after manipulating Mango Market futures contracts and pumping the price of swaps by 1,000%. He then borrowed against the contracts and boarded a flight from Puerto Rico to Israel.  The government says he was fleeing because he committed a crime, but Eisenbergs defense team claims he was running after receiving numerous threats following his trades.  “The more he pumped, the more he could steal,” government attorneys said Wednesday during their closing arguments. “It is clear as day the defendant knew” he was committing crimes, the prosecution added.  The defense‘s case focused on

2024-04-19Deep Dive

"Disable iMessages" ASAP to avoid crypto zero-day exploit: Trust Wallet

Crypto wallet provider Trust Wallet is urging Apple users to disable iMessage, citing “credible intel” of a zero-day exploit that could allow hackers to take control of users phones.  “Alert for iOS users: We have credible intel regarding a high-risk zero-day exploit targeting iMessage on the Dark Web,” the firm posted to X at 7:53 pm UTC on April 16.  The firm stressed the zero-day exploit can infiltrate and take control of iPhone users without clicking a link and that high-value account holders are most at threat.  A zero-day exploit is a cyberattack vector that takes advantage of an unknown or unaddressed security flaw in computer software, hardware or firmware.  Trust Wallet stressed that all crypto wallets held on an iPhone with iMessage switched on are at risk.  The firms CEO, Eowyn Chen, shared a screenshot of which she claims to be a potential zero-day exploit, showing an asking price of $2 million for the exploit.  However, the so-called threat was met with skepticism from several industry pundits.  “If this is your ‘credible intel’ it‘s embarrassing. You don’t have evidence of a iOS exploit you have a screenshot of a guy claiming to have an exploit,” pseudonymous blockchain researcher Beau said in response to Chens screenshot.  Asked whether

2024-04-17Deep Dive

Korean won surpasses US dollar as most-traded currency for crypto in Q1

The South Korean won took the position of most-used currency, topping the U.S. dollar, for trading crypto during the first quarter of 2024, according to research firm Kaiko.  The cumulative won trade volume on centralized crypto exchanges during the period recorded $456 billion, while the U.S. dollar reported $445 billion, the data showed.  “In Q1 2024, the South Korean won surpassed the U.S. dollar in terms of cumulative trade volume,” Kaiko said in the data report.  South Korea hosts one of the world‘s most active cryptocurrency markets. During the crypto bull run in March, the local crypto trade volume briefly topped that of the country’s stock market.  Five fully licensed exchanges — Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax — dominate the local market, where front-runner Upbit takes up over 80% of the market share on most days, according to Kaiko. Runner-up Bithumb sought new users by hosting zero-trading fee campaigns in late 2023.  Major global exchanges Crypto.com and Binance have also set out to enter the booming South Korean market. Earlier this month, Crypto.com announced that it is launching its retail trading platform in the country on April 29. Binance, on the other hand, had already acquired a major stake in Gopax in 2023. However,

2024-04-17Deep Dive

Cryptocurrency Game Investment Review: Cautious Optimism in the Primary Market

In the just-concluded first quarter, as cryptocurrency prices rose, the first-tier market gradually warmed up. According to PitchBook statistics, the cryptocurrency and blockchain sectors raised a total of $2.52 billion in the first quarter of 2024, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 25%. Investments mainly involved L1/L2, DeFi, AI, DePIN, and Web3 games. However, a report jointly released by DappRadar and BGA for the first quarter of 2024 shows that investment in the Web3 game vertical is actually trending downwards. This trend is a correction following the investment frenzy in the metaverse and gaming during the pandemic, affecting not only Web3 games but also the traditional gaming industry.Early Bull Market in the First-tier Market: Cautious Optimism  The first-quarter blockchain gaming report indicates that the investment outlook in the Web3 and blockchain gaming sectors is cautiously optimistic. The blockchain gaming industry raised $288 million in financing this quarter, showing a significant decline from previous quarters. The analysis attributes this cautious attitude to a challenging past year, with many companies awaiting the results of early investments. Furthermore, the focus of these investments is mainly on Web3 games and infrastructure, indicating that the industry is in a foundational phase aimed at enriching the Web3 gaming ecosystem.  Considering

2024-04-17Deep Dive
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