Blockchain game investment in April reached nearly $1 billion, and Bitcoin transaction fees fell

Headlines

▌Blockchain game investment reached nearly $1 billion in April

A total of $988 million was invested in blockchain games in April, the highest level since January 2021. The number of daily independent active wallets also reached a record high of 2.9 million for blockchain games. DappRadar, in collaboration with the Blockchain Game Alliance, released its April blockchain game report on May 17. The industry's banner month was accompanied by a similar trend in the overall decentralized application (Dapp) market. According to the report, the recent boom can be attributed to several factors, including consumers' renewed interest in digital assets in the context of games, and the trend of playing airdrops continues to stimulate interest in blockchain games. In addition, the current hot topic in the Web3 industry focuses on the surge in new game tokens.

▌Bitcoin network transaction fees fell back, and high priority was temporarily reported at 17 Sat/byte

According to mempool.space data, Bitcoin network transaction fees fell back, and high priority was temporarily reported at 17 Sat/byte.

Market

As of press time, according to Coingecko data:

BTC's latest transaction price is $66888.72, with a daily increase or decrease of +2.32%;

ETH's latest transaction price is $3098.33, with a daily increase or decrease of +5.16%;

BNB's latest transaction price is $579.24, with a daily increase or decrease of +1.49%；

SOL's latest transaction price is 170.54 US dollars, with a daily increase or decrease of +5.36%；

DOGE's latest transaction price is 0.1547 US dollars, with a daily increase or decrease of +2.65%；

XPR's latest transaction price is 0.5225 US dollars, with a daily increase or decrease of +1.58%。

Policy

▌Coinbase analyst: The probability of the SEC approving a spot Ethereum ETF by the end of this month is between 30% and 40%

Coinbase institutional research analyst David Han said in a report on May 15 that the main factor leading to the SEC's approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF said that the correlation between CME futures products and spot exchange rates may also lead to its approval of a spot Ethereum ETF. The probability of the SEC approving a spot Ethereum ETF by the end of this month is between 30% and 40%.

▌Genesis approved to repay billions of dollars to creditors

Bankrupt cryptocurrency lending company Genesis Global Capital won court approval for its plan to distribute billions of dollars in digital assets and cash to creditors, defeating its parent company and dismissing a legal challenge filed by its parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG). Judge Sean Lane said late Friday that he would confirm Genesis's Chapter 11 repayment plan, which includes a unique structure for returning Bitcoin and other tokens to creditors. The decision clears the way for Genesis to return customer assets that have been frozen on the platform since the company suspended withdrawals in November 2022 after other major cryptocurrency companies collapsed.

▌Securities Times: DDO digital options have risen to $80 overseas and are still being sold rampantly

According to the Securities Times, Dingyifeng's office building has been completely vacated, and the floors are covered with risk notices about digital options DDO, with the purpose of warning investors that Dingyifeng's digital options are suspected of being illegal. The reporter saw in the "Dingdao Digital Options Subscription Agreement" obtained on the spot that each DDO is worth $1. The contract amount that investors have not paid before will be rescheduled to sign a new agreement, that is, the "original shares" equity previously held will be transferred to Dingdao Digital Options, and the same amount of DDO digital tokens can be held. Currently, DDO digital options are listed and traded in Singapore. Gu Ming (pseudonym), an investment manager of Dingyifeng's first department, said that the price has risen from the initial $1 to $80, and all investors who signed the transfer before have made money, and it has risen many times. There are still many investors who want to invest in DDO, and the number of customers has reached a new high. Previously, the Shenzhen Local Financial Administration issued a risk warning announcement, pointing out that the DDO digital options business activities carried out in the name of Dingyifeng are essentially the issuance and trading of virtual currencies, which are illegal financial activities and suspected of illegal fundraising.

Blockchain Applications

▌zkSync announced that it will release the last v24 version protocol upgrade before the network governance is handed over to the community

zkSync said on the X platform that it firmly adheres to its commitment to decentralization. Since supporting EIP4844 in March, it has been the only focus. The upcoming v24 version is the last planned protocol upgrade that needs to be carried out before the network governance is handed over to the community. It is expected that the remaining missing parts will be completed by the end of June. Decentralization is an important and irreversible step that requires the greatest attention at the intersection of complex technical and legal frameworks. In an industry often characterized by hype and short-term sacrifice, zkSync continues to strive to stand out and build foundational technology that will stand the test of time.

▌Web3 platform Radix has proposed a Bottlenose protocol update to its community of node runners

DeFi and Web3 platform Radix has proposed a Bottlenose protocol update to its community of node runners, with an expected enactment around June 3. One of the standout features of the update is the introduction of AccountLockers, “lockers” through which token deliveries pass, which can be accepted or rejected. AccountLockers are designed to block unwanted deposits and simplify dApp bookkeeping. Other Bottlenose features include API and Radix engine enhancements, as well as the addition of a recovery fee vault.

Cryptocurrency

▌LayerZero Labs: The witch self-reporting phase has ended, and 803,093 addresses have been preliminarily identified as potential witches

LayerZero Labs posted on social media that the witch self-reporting phase has now ended. Each address that meets the requirements will receive 15% of its expected token allocation, and the remaining 85% will be returned to eligible users. In the end, 803,093 addresses were identified as potential witch addresses. The team initially marked more than 2 million addresses as potential witches, but later adopted stricter criteria to reduce false positives. The team will continue to refine and improve the method during the next two weeks of bounty hunting. The initial list will not be updated during this period and will not affect bounty hunters. The final witch list will be announced after the bounty hunt ends on May 31.

▌DeFi market turbulent since Uniswap received the U.S. SEC Wells notice

It's been more than a month since Uniswap Labs received the Wells notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), marking the beginning of the "war against DeFi". This is the first case against a major decentralized finance (DeFi) platform. The SEC's previous targets are usually centralized entities, but it has recently issued Wells notices to Consensys and Robinhood's crypto divisions. After the news came out, the price of Uniswap's governance token UNI fell from $11.60 to $6.43, and is currently just over $7, with no significant rebound. The market capitalization share of DeFi tokens fell to 3.63% on April 14, the lowest point since the Terra/Luna crash in June 2022. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that anything serious will happen in the short term. For example, Coinbase received a Wells notice in March 2023, but was not sued until June. The lawsuit is still ongoing and Coinbase continues to operate normally. DeFi dominance is currently hovering below 3.75%, the first time in history that it has been at a low level for so many consecutive days. The Wells notice has a significant impact on the DeFi space, but it is unclear what else can boost this sub-industry besides the positive news that the lawsuit may bring.

▌USDT total market value exceeds $110 billion

Tether vault minted $1 billion worth of USDT in the past 24 hours, bringing its annual minting total to $31 billion and its total market value to over $110 billion.

▌Alex Labs: The attacker seems to refuse to negotiate, and compensation measures will be announced soon

Alex Labs officially released an update on the theft on social media, saying that based on its investigation results and discussions with security partners, the attacker seems unlikely to negotiate. Therefore, AlexLabs will continue to work with law enforcement to seek support for recovering and tracking the attacker. Officials said that the current priority is to recover a total of 13.7 million STX and develop a financial grant plan to support affected users. Details of the plan will be announced soon.

Important Economic Dynamics

▌Fed Board Member Bowman: Inflation will remain high for some time

Fed Board Member Bowman said that inflation will remain high for some time, and if inflation stagnates or rebounds, the Fed is willing to restart interest rate hikes.

▌The three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed

The three major U.S. stock indexes closed mixed, with the Dow up 0.35%, the Nasdaq down 0.07%, and the S&P 500 up 0.12%. Hot technology stocks rose and fell, with Nvidia down nearly 2%, and Tesla and Google up more than 1%.

Golden Encyclopedia

▌What is Ethereum Futures ETF?

Ethereum futures ETFs are investment funds that track Ethereum futures contracts rather than Ethereum itself. Without actually holding the cryptocurrency, investors can use Ethereum futures ETFs to speculate on the future price of Ethereum. Instead of holding tangible assets, Ethereum futures ETFs invest in futures contracts. These contracts are promises to buy or sell Ethereum at a predetermined price on a predetermined date in the future. Without having to deal with wallets or cryptocurrency exchanges, investors can buy these contracts through ETFs, thereby being exposed to Ethereum price fluctuations, and ETFs simply raise investors' funds to buy them.

Disclaimer: As a blockchain information platform, Golden Finance publishes articles for information reference only and is not intended as actual investment advice. Please establish a correct investment concept and be sure to increase risk awareness.