Mini Program: Daily Digital Currency Dynamic Summary

1. Bloomberg terminals have added some Ethereum ETFs to prepare for next week's trade

Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said on the X platform: “We added some Ethereum ETFs to Bloomberg (terminals) today. These include ETHW from Bitwise, cETH from 21shares, and fETH from Fidelity. Other funds will most likely be added tomorrow and Monday. Trading is still scheduled to begin next week.”

2. Standard Chartered Bank, Animoca Brands and HKT join forces to create a Hong Kong stablecoin sandbox

Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited (SCBHK), Animoca Brands and Hong Kong Telecom (HKT) have joined forces in the stablecoin issuer sandbox announced by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in March. The partnership leverages Zodia Custody's digital asset capabilities and aims to promote the sustainable and transparent growth of the digital asset market. Zodia is Standard Chartered Bank's digital asset escrow provider. The plan supports Hong Kong's transformation into a global digital asset hub by exploring the role of stablecoins in financial and payment markets. SCBHK aims to understand the opportunities and risks of the stablecoin market while supporting the digital asset ecosystem. Animoca Brands focuses on large-scale digital asset adoption and blockchain technology applications, while HKT explores stablecoin innovations for domestic and cross-border payments.

3. HashKey Jeffery: Hong Kong stablecoins will “blossom on many fronts”, and may become the first region in the world to support banks in issuing stablecoins.

Recently, the Hong Kong Treasury Bureau and the HKMA published an advisory summary on the stablecoin issuer supervision system. HashKey Group chief analyst Jeffrey believes that Hong Kong currently has a strict regulatory system for fiat stablecoin issuers, requiring issuers to ensure that fiat stablecoins receive full support from high-quality and highly liquid reserve assets. Currently, only licensed fiat stablecoin issuers, authorized institutions, licensed corporations, and licensed virtual asset trading platforms can provide stablecoins. Companies such as Hashkey Exchange, Yuancoin Technology, and Allinpay International, are planning to issue Hong Kong dollar stablecoins. However, as for USDT and USDC, which currently have the highest adoption rates, the question of whether they can be traded in Hong Kong in the future depends on whether they can successfully transition. The first problem is that the issuer must have a physical company in Hong Kong before applying. Second, if we look at the European MiCA stablecoin regulatory policy, it is possible that only issuers that support the placement of reserves in banks can obtain regulatory approval in the midst of changes, which will hinder some issuers. On the other hand, there may also be a scenario where stablecoins “blossom on many sides” in Hong Kong. For example, banks have their own stablecoins and trade all of their own stablecoins. If banks successfully launch their own stablecoins, Hong Kong will be the first place for banks to launch stablecoins, which will serve as a model for global stablecoin regulation policies. Although the cryptocurrency ecosystem in Hong Kong is still developing, citizens cannot directly use bank money to buy stablecoins, and there are not enough payment systems and storage methods to cover stablecoins. Also, in terms of accounting, there are no perfect regulations to determine whether crypto assets can be part of a company's assets. In terms of licensing, it is also necessary to have a physical company in Hong Kong to apply, and there is no cooperation with other jurisdictions yet, so these issues are worth considering later. However, the introduction of stablecoins allows Hong Kong people to enter the cryptocurrency market more safely, which is beneficial to the development of the entire cryptocurrency industry, and ultimately to the entire industry.

4. Putin warns of uncontrolled cryptocurrency mining growth or triggering Russia's energy crisis and emphasizes the utility of the digital ruble

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that uncontrolled growth in Bitcoin mining in Russia could cause energy problems, particularly in regions with frequent power shortages such as Irkutsk, Buryatia, and Transbaikalsky Krai. Putin pointed out that these mining activities consume about 1.5% of the country's total electricity consumption, or as much as 16 billion kilowatt-hours per year. He stressed that unrestricted mining expansion may push regional power systems to the limit and affect the development of enterprises, housing and public service systems. In the context of the chaotic Bitcoin mining situation, Putin also seized the opportunity to promote the Russian digital ruble, the central bank digital currency (CBDC), saying that it has completed 7,000 payments for goods and services and more than 27,000 transfers during the testing phase, emphasizing its performance and utility. The digital ruble is part of Russia's economic modernization plan to reduce dependence on Western financial institutions.

5. Crypto exchange Bitzlato founder sentenced to 18 months in prison

According to Bloomberg, Anatoly Legkodymov, founder of the crypto exchange Bitzlato, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for operating a remittance business without a license and laundering more than 0.7 billion dollars of illegal gambling and drug trade proceeds. Given that Legkodymov has been in custody since his arrest in January 2023, his sentence has expired and he will not need to serve another sentence in the future. Last December, Legkodymov pleaded guilty, admitting that he had known for years that Bitzlato was being used as a channel for dark web transactions, including the notorious drug market Hydra Market, which was shut down by the authorities in 2022. Prosecutors in the Brooklyn federal attorney Breon Peace's office believe Legkodymov should be jailed for at least four years because he “set up a clearing house for black money.” However, at the sentencing hearing, Judge Eric Vitaliano called the Metropolitan Detention Center where Legkodymov is being held “a terrible place” and that this was a factor in the decision not to allow him to continue serving his sentence. In the past five weeks, there have been two murders of inmates in this prison. The judge also said Legkodymov was “aware of the illegal nature of what he did” and said he was “an entrepreneur and a visionary” and “lived an admirable life” before his arrest. Legkodymov, who has lived in Russia and Shenzhen, moved to Pennsylvania in the US when he was arrested. As part of the plea agreement, he also agreed to drop his claim for $23 million in cryptocurrency seized by French authorities.

6. Analysis: Bitcoin ETFs have about 4-8 times more influence on price than miners

Research analysis shows that during the market sell-off, miners had less and less influence on BTC price movements. According to data disclosed by Glassnode, centralized exchanges and US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have the greatest influence on the BTC price trend. As of July 2024, centralized exchanges still hold more than 3 millionBTC, while the assets managed by spot Bitcoin ETFs are 887,000 BTC. In comparison, miner-related wallets hold about 705,000 BTC. Glassnode said this indicates that Bitcoin ETF entity capital flows may have about 4 to 8 times more impact on the market than miners.

7. South Korea's first cryptocurrency law comes into full effect, focusing on investor protection

South Korea's first cryptocurrency regulatory framework is now fully in effect, with a focus on investor protection, according to The Block. The new law “Virtual Asset User Protection Law” was officially approved on July 18, 2024, and a one-year grace period was granted to improve regulatory details. The bill imposes stricter requirements on digital asset exchanges, and Korean crypto exchanges are now required to store at least 80% of user deposits in cold wallets, thereby isolating user deposits from the exchange's own funds. Exchanges must also entrust users' cash deposits to local licensed banks and hold cryptocurrency reserves of the same amount and type as customer deposits. Additionally, South Korea's crypto services are now required to buy sufficient insurance or set up reserve funds to deal with hacking or liquidity crises. In addition to measures to protect users' funds, the bill also requires exchanges to establish real-time monitoring systems to report unusual trading activities that may be illegal. Companies that do not comply with the new regulations may face penalties or service suspension from the Korea Financial Services Commission (FSC).

8. Industry insiders: Trump may announce Bitcoin as America's strategic reserve asset at the Bitcoin conference

According to Cryptoslate, industry insiders revealed that former US President Donald Trump will make a landmark statement at the upcoming Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, possibly planning to use Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset for the US. Satoshi Action Fund co-founder Dennis Porter and BnkToTheFuture founder Simon Dixon both shared these rumors on social media and said the sources are reliable. However, Trump, his team, or any outside public source have yet to confirm these claims. Pending official confirmation, these assertions should be treated as speculations.

9. Grayscale reduces the rate of the Ethereum Mini Trust to 0.15% in the revised S-1 file

Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said on the X platform that Grayscale has just submitted a revised S-1 document to reduce its Ethereum Mini Trust (code ETH) rate from 0.25% to 0.15%. Grayscale has also changed the details of the fee reduction: initially similar to BlackRock, the fee was reduced to 0.12% for 12 months, but now the fee has been reduced by 0% for a period of 6 months.

10. Bloomberg: The number of new tokens listed on major crypto exchanges in the first half of this year has surpassed last year's total

According to Bloomberg, CCData analysis shows that the number of new tokens listed on major crypto exchanges in the first half of 2024 has already exceeded the total for the whole of 2023. The number of tokens listed on high-volume exchanges, including Binance and Bybit, increased by 11.6% to 2,066, while less-traded exchanges, including CoinJar and BTC Markets, increased the number of tokens listed by nearly 32% to 488. Pantera Capital portfolio manager Cosmo Jiang is optimistic about this, believing that changes in the political and regulatory environment surrounding cryptocurrencies will drive positive changes. He hopes that increased regulatory transparency will highlight tokens with strong fundamentals while leaving Meme coins and those that lack real value behind.

11. CryptoQuant founder: Bitcoin retail investor demand is at its lowest point in 3 years

CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju posted data on social media saying that Bitcoin retail investor demand is currently at its lowest point in 3 years. This indicator is measured by a 30-day change curve below the total transaction transfer volume of 0.01 million US dollars.

12. Bitcoin miners are looking to host activities such as AI computers to bridge revenue gaps

Bitcoin miners are seeking activities other than bitcoin mining to fill the income gap before and after the halving, such as hosting artificial intelligence computers. In recent days, with the rebound in Bitcoin prices, the shares of the top 5 crypto mining companies have all risen. The only stock that is lagging behind is Iris Energy Ltd (IREN). After Culper Research released a report last week disclosing its short position in IREN, the company's stock price fell 15%. The reason Culper is bearish is that researchers believe Iris's plant in Childrees, Texas is unsuitable for artificial intelligence (AI) or high performance computing (HPC).

13. Greek government to start levying crypto taxes in 2025

The Greek government is planning to introduce a tax framework for cryptocurrencies and digital assets, but currently the Greek government does not recognize these taxes. A special committee will submit findings on cryptocurrencies and digital assets to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, and it is expected that by January 2025, cryptocurrencies will be included in the scope of taxation. Profits from cryptocurrency and digital asset transactions will be taxed at a 15% rate of capital gains sold as securities, according to the document. The Commission's findings will fall into three categories: defining and documenting all cryptocurrencies, taxation methods, and monitoring processes.