Top Headlines
Elon Musk Faces Shareholder Lawsuit for Twitter Acquisition Damaging Tesla’s Interests
A new shareholder derivative lawsuit alleges that Elon Musk, during the acquisition of the social media platform known as Twitter at the time (now renamed “X”), sold Tesla’s stock, misappropriated Tesla’s resources, and violated his obligations to Tesla shareholders. On Monday, the Rhode Island Employees’ Retirement System sued Musk, Tesla, and Tesla board members, claiming that Musk’s extensive involvement in the Twitter acquisition diverted his responsibilities at Tesla, leading to conflicts of interest and harming Tesla’s interests.
Biden’s Son Hunter’s Meme Coin, Hunter Boden, Surges After Guilty Verdict
The American political-themed Meme coin market experienced a significant downturn, with a decrease in market value of over 13% in the past 24 hours. In contrast, Bitcoin fell by about 4%, and Ethereum dropped by 5.4%. The FreeTrump token (TRUMP) led the decline, dropping by 45%, while the largest market cap MAGA (TRUMP) fell by 13%. Market fluctuations are significant, so risk management is advised.
Hunter Biden was found guilty by a federal grand jury on three federal felony gun charges, marking the first time the son of President Biden has been convicted. Following the announcement, the Hunter Boden token (HUNTERBODEN) on Solana surged by over 30% in the past 24 hours to $0.001514. Jeo Boden (BODEN), on the other hand, declined by 5.5% to $0.1855.
Stocks face selling pressure as they await the monthly Consumer Price Index report and the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement. Expectations for a Fed rate cut have diminished in recent weeks.
Market Data
As of the time of writing, according to Coingecko data:
BTC recent trading price is $67,326.16, with a 3.1% change in the past day;
ETH recent trading price is $3,498.66, with a 4.6% change in the past day;
BNB recent trading price is $601.98, with a 3.6% change in the past day;
SOL recent trading price is $149.38, with a 6.0% change in the past day;
DOGE recent trading price is $0.1381, with a 4.7% change in the past day;
XPR recent trading price is $0.4803, with a 3.3% change in the past day.
Policy
Biden Expected to Nominate Goldsmith Romero as Next FDIC Chairman
According to sources, the White House is preparing to select Christy Goldsmith Romero, a senior official at the U.S. derivatives regulatory agency, to lead the reform efforts at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The final decision has not been made, and the announcement could come as early as this week.
Opinion: Signs of Recovery in the U.S. Crypto Industry After Regulatory Storm
Alex Gluchowski, CEO of Matter Labs, stated that the U.S. crypto industry has become a “powerful electoral force.” Despite a downturn in the crypto market last year due to regulatory challenges, the situation has improved this year, with projects like Circle planning to go public in the U.S.
While facing regulatory challenges from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Jason Yanowitz, co-founder of Blockworks, noted an increase in conference speakers this year, indicating a recovery in industry confidence. Bill Hughes, Chief Legal Officer at Consensys, emphasized that regulatory uncertainty stifles innovation, giving big companies a competitive advantage. Joshua Riezeman, Deputy General Counsel at GCR, warned that the U.S. needs a clear regulatory framework, or else it risks losing more crypto companies.
Despite the challenges, Gluchowski highlighted the growing influence of the U.S. crypto community, citing bipartisan support for the FIT21 bill as evidence. Hughes believes that the U.S. has an advantage in capital and talent and can still lead in the crypto space.
EU Security Innovation Center: Encryption Mixers, Privacy Coins, and L2 Technologies Make Law Enforcement Tracking Complex
According to a report from the EU Internal Security Innovation Center, privacy coins, mixers, and L2 platforms may make it challenging for law enforcement agencies to track funds. Organizations such as Europol, Eurojust, and the EU Commission have warned law enforcement agencies to be prepared for encountering these tools in investigations. The report mentioned, “Mixer Tornado.cash has been using zero-knowledge proofs, allowing users to extract funds from the mixer without revealing the original deposit amount. This significantly increases the difficulty for law enforcement to trace the (illicit) source of crypto funds.”
Judge Approves $2.4 Million Settlement Agreement Between Sports Stars and Voyager
A Florida judge preliminarily approved a $2.4 million settlement agreement between Robert Gronkowski, Victor Oladipo, Landon Cassill, and the crypto company Voyager Digital. The three faced a class-action lawsuit for promoting the company, with Gronkowski paying $1.9 million. The settlement does not include former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Meanwhile, Voyager is still dealing with other legal issues, including fund claims with FTX and Three Arrows Capital.
Blockchain Applications
Nansen Provides Data on Specific Wallet Categories to Matter Labs
Nansen clarified on the X platform that it aims to dispel community confusion about the zkSync airdrop. Nansen provided data on specific wallet categories to Matter Labs, such as large users and known scammers. However, no anti-witch measures were taken, nor were any suggestions made regarding the airdrop distribution itself. If you see anyone spreading misinformation on social media, congratulations to all ZK holders, Nansen will support all other participants in the zkSync ecosystem.
LayerZero: Symbiotic to Be Integrated into LayerZero DVN Framework
LayerZero Labs announced on the X platform that Symbiotic will be onboarded to LayerZero through Ethena Labs. Symbiotic will be integrated into the LayerZero DVN framework, allowing users to stake ENA to ensure cross-chain transfers of Ethena assets.
ENS Ranks First in NFT Market with Daily Sales Exceeding $4.27 Million
According to data platform CryptoSlam, Ethereum Name Service (ENS) ranks first in the NFT market with sales exceeding $4.27 million. Other top-selling collections include PIZZA BRC-20 NFT (sales of $2.18 million) and Guild of Guardians Avatars (sales of $1.24 million). The total sales volume on the Ethereum blockchain on Monday was $8.45 million, while on the Bitcoin blockchain, it was $4.11 million. Solana and Polygon blockchains had sales volumes of $2.68 million and $2.44 million, respectively.
Aave Community Proposes Launching Aave Liquidity Committee Financing Phase Three
The Aave community has proposed launching the Aave Liquidity Committee (ALC) financing phase three. The proposal suggests providing 600,000 GHO in funding to the Aave Liquidity Committee to continue supporting GHO liquidity and DeFi integration on Ethereum over the next three months.
Biconomy Launches Delegated Authorization Network Biconomy DAN
Web3 developers and transaction infrastructure platform Biconomy announced the launch of the Delegated Authorization Network Biconomy DAN on the X platform. The network supports securely delegating AI agents to authorize transactions on behalf of users within defined permission scopes.
Cryptocurrency
DACFP Founder: U.S. Financial Advisors Beginning to Embrace Bitcoin
Ric Edelman, founder of the Digital Assets Financial Professional Committee (DACFP), stated that U.S. financial advisors are becoming more willing to include Bitcoin in investment portfolios as they see data showing improved risk-adjusted returns. In the past three months, there has been an 80% increase in financial advisors willing to incorporate BTC into portfolios in the next year, attributed to the listing of a spot Bitcoin ETF in January and the participation of asset management giant BlackRock.
Spain’s Second Largest Bank BBVA Subsidiary Launches Cryptocurrency Custody Services in Turkey
With assets totaling $700 billion, Spain’s second-largest bank BBVA’s Turkish subsidiary Garanti BBVA has begun offering cryptocurrency custody services. The bank stated in a release, “Garanti BBVA Digital Assets now allows customers to transfer and store BTC, ETH, and USDC assets on its mobile platform Garanti BBVA Crypto.” Garanti BBVA Executive Vice President Çağrı Süzer stated that the pilot study of this new service was successful. He said, “The test version of the Garanti BBVA Crypto app had previously offered this service to some customers, and now all customers can use it. While we initially offer services for BTC, ETH, and USDC, we will continue to grow in the future by adding asset and service infrastructure diversity.”
Bloomberg ETF Analyst: Everyone Agrees Tokenization is Important
Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg ETF analyst, stated on the X platform, “Had an inspiring discussion today at the Proof of Talk inside the Louvre with 21Shares co-founder Ophelia Snyder, digital asset analyst Matthew Sigel, and Jason Xavier. Everyone agrees that tokenization is important but may not be a substitute for ETFs. Sigel predicts that a Bitcoin ETF will scale over $500 billion in the U.S. within 5 years, Snyder says it could be surpassed globally. They both think I may be underestimating the demand for an Ethereum ETF, positioning it as ‘productive tech stocks,’ ‘the ultimate app store,’ in stark contrast to the promotion of Bitcoin.”
Marathon Digital Sells 1,200 BTC Yesterday
Ki Young Ju, CEO of CryptoQuant, stated that Bitcoin mining company Marathon Digital sold 1,200 BTC yesterday, possibly to cover expenses, marking its highest off-exchange trading volume since the end of March.
Core: Launching BTCfi Summer Hackathon
Core, a Layer-1 blockchain project compatible with Ethereum, with security based on Bitcoin, announced, “Launching the BTCfi Summer Hackathon, a 12-week event aimed at inspiring innovation in the Bitcoin economy. The hackathon started on June 6, with winners to be announced on August 19.”
Key Economic Developments
Nasdaq and S&P 500 Indices Reach All-Time High Closes
The three major U.S. stock indices closed with mixed results, with the Nasdaq rising by 0.88% and the S&P 500 increasing by 0.27%, while the Dow fell by 0.31%. Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices reached all-time high closes. Apple surged over 7%, hitting another record high, marking its largest single-day gain since November 2022, with a total market value of $3.18 trillion. Microsoft rose over 1%, while Meta, Netflix, Google, and Amazon saw slight gains; Tesla fell by over 1%, and Nvidia saw a slight decline. Stocks related to the WSB concept surged significantly, with GameStop rising by over 22% and AMC Theatres climbing over 10%.
Federal Reserve’s Probability of Maintaining Interest Rates Unchanged This Week at 99.4%
According to CME’s “FedWatch,” the probability of the Federal Reserve maintaining interest rates unchanged in June is 99.4%, with a 0.6% probability of a 25 basis point rate cut. The probability of the Fed keeping rates unchanged until August is 91.1%, with an 8.8% probability of a cumulative 25 basis point rate cut and a 0.1% probability of a cumulative 50 basis point rate cut.
Golden Encyclopedia
What are Validiums?
Validiums are a Layer 2 scaling solution designed to optimize Ethereum’s performance by processing transactions off-chain. Validiums are primarily responsible for off-chain processing of most transactions and only sending succinct proofs for verification on the mainnet to reduce the load on the Ethereum blockchain. The off-chain transaction processing method can significantly increase throughput and reduce mainnet congestion, leading to a more efficient and cost-effective Ethereum experience.
