BTC and ETH are not competitors. Many politicians gave speeches at the BTC conference.

Golden Weekly is a weekly blockchain industry summary column launched by Golden Finance, covering the week's key news, market and contract data, mining information, project dynamics, technological progress and other industry dynamics. This article is Project Weekly, which takes you to a glance at the progress of mainstream projects and star projects this week.

Bitcoin

BlackRock executives: Bitcoin and Ethereum are not competitors, but complementary

July 26 news, according to The Block, Robert Mitchnick, head of digital assets at BlackRock, said at the Bitcoin 2024 conference that although the spot Ethereum ETF was launched this week, it is unlikely that funds tracking other crypto assets will appear. He believes that Bitcoin and Ethereum are not competitors, but complementary. Bitcoin is a global currency alternative, while Ethereum is a technology platform. Mitchnick pointed out that although there is no completely clear regulatory guidance, the SEC has made it clear that it will not approve a spot Ethereum ETF with a pledge component. Mitchnick believes that crypto assets as a category will not disappear and will have more opportunities to enter the market. For example, competitor VanEck was the first company to apply to launch the Solana ETF, but experts believe that the ETF has little chance of being approved.

Robert Kennedy Jr.'s summary of four Bitcoin policies, including BTC-USD transactions do not need to be reported or taxed to the IRS

At the Bitcoin 2024 conference, US presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. praised Bitcoin's potential role in improving the US economy and proposed a comprehensive reform of US monetary policy, adding that BTC can restore the US economy to its pre-Nixon state. He promised to issue four Bitcoin-related executive orders if elected: 1. The 204,000 Bitcoins held by the United States will be regarded as "strategic assets" and 550 Bitcoins will be purchased every day; 2. Establish a reserve of at least 4 million Bitcoins, claiming that this will give the United States an economic dominance; 3. Make BTC-USD transactions unnecessary to be reported or taxed to the IRS; 4. Allow BTC to be exchanged for real estate as an asset that meets 1031 conditions.

Bitcoin Conference to Have Many Politicians Speak Today

The 2024 Bitcoin Conference will have many politicians speak today, including Senator Cynthia Lummis and independent US presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. In addition, MicroStrategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood, cybersecurity expert Edward Snowden and other heavyweight guests will also speak.

US State Department Recognizes Bitcoin's Positive Impact on El Salvador's Tourism

The US State Department has recognized that El Salvador's adoption of Bitcoin has had a positive impact on the tourism boom the country is experiencing. In its 2024 Investment Climate Statement report on El Salvador, the department recognized that the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021 helped the country gain international attention. As part of the report, the department said that Bitcoin has brought important publicity to El Salvador and contributed to the popularity of El Salvador as a tourist destination, but otherwise it has had a "minimal impact" on El Salvador's economy.

Jersey City Pension Fund in New Jersey, USA, will invest in Bitcoin ETF

Steven Fulop, the mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, announced on Thursday that the city's pension fund will invest a certain percentage of its investment in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Fulop wrote on the social media platform X that the pension fund in Jersey City is updating documents with the US SEC, similar to the pension fund in Wisconsin. The mayor estimates that this process will be completed by the end of the summer. Fulop said: "The question of whether cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin will continue to exist is basically over. Cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin have won. I have always believed in cryptocurrencies (experienced ups and downs), but in a broad sense, in addition to cryptocurrencies, I do believe that blockchain is one of the most important new technological innovations since the Internet."

Bitcoin becomes the first cryptocurrency to debut at the Las Vegas Sphere

On July 24, Bitcoin became the first cryptocurrency to debut at the Las Vegas Sphere. The Las Vegas Sphere is a cutting-edge multi-functional venue in Las Vegas, known for its huge spherical appearance and advanced audio and video technology. Built by MSG Entertainment, Sphere is designed to host a variety of entertainment events, including concerts, sporting events, and immersive experiences. It is equipped with high-resolution internal and external displays, as well as cutting-edge sound and light systems, designed to provide audiences with an unprecedented audio-visual experience. Sphere has become a new landmark in Las Vegas. It is reported that yesterday, Crypto.com paid tribute to the protocol that started it all (Bitcoin, etc.) on the occasion of its eighth anniversary celebration.

Nine US Bitcoin ETFs increased their holdings by a total of 5,518 Bitcoins

Lookonchain monitored the US spot Bitcoin ETF data on July 22 and showed that: 1. Fidelity increased its holdings by 2,099 Bitcoins, worth about $140.23 million, and currently holds 180,689 Bitcoins, worth about $12.07 billion; 2. Grayscale reduced its holdings by 366 Bitcoins, worth about $24.46 million, and currently holds 271,794 Bitcoins, worth about $18.16 billion; 3. Nine Bitcoin ETFs increased their holdings by a total of 5,518 Bitcoins, worth about $368.67 million.

Bloomberg: Bitcoin Rewards Company Fold Plans to Go Public Through SPAC

According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, Bitcoin Rewards Company Fold Inc. is in in-depth negotiations to go public through a blank check company founded by SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) veteran Betsy Cohen. Sources said the deal with FTAC Emerald Acquisition Corp. would value Fold at nearly $500 million. The deal could be announced on Wednesday. Representatives for Fold and the SPAC declined to comment on the matter. The startup is one of several crypto companies preparing to go public in the United States as crypto assets are recovering after a series of crashes in the past two years. Bitcoin mining company Genesis Digital Assets plans an initial public offering (IPO). Another crypto miner, Northern Data AG, which has now transformed into an artificial intelligence computing service provider, is also considering going public.

Ethereum

Ethereum team leader: PeerDAS upgrade violates the spirit of Ethereum decentralization

Péter Szilágyi, head of the Ethereum core development team, recently warned on social media that the upcoming PeerDAS upgrade could seriously threaten Ethereum's decentralization. Szilágyi pointed out that PeerDAS plans to increase the blob size to 32MB, which will result in extremely high network bandwidth requirements for block production, possibly reaching 2.5Gbit/s. He said: "This is actually killing home stakers, which is not what I expected when I joined Ethereum." Szilágyi questioned the motivations of the Ethereum research team, believing that they "fully accepted the idea that everything can be centralized as long as it can be verified." He called on the community to ask researchers about the specific vision of Ethereum in the next 5 years, including who will create blocks, store state, and what ordinary users can do without third-party operators. Szilágyi emphasized that if the final system cannot become a "global settlement layer" trusted by countries, then Ethereum has failed.

Bloomberg ETF Analyst: All Spot Ethereum ETFs Have First-Day Trading Volumes of Over $1 Million

Bloomberg ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas published data on the X platform, showing that 90 minutes after the listing of the Spot Ethereum ETF, the total trading volume reached $361 million, ranking 15th in the ETF trading volume ranking. Generally speaking, it is rare to see a first-day trading volume of over $1 million when an ordinary ETF is released, but the first-day trading volume of all Ethereum ETFs exceeded $1 million.

Vitalik refutes Péter Szilágyi's statement that "the Ethereum research team accepts the idea of ​​centralizing everything"

On July 27, Vitalik Buterin refuted the statement made by Péter Szilágyi, head of the Ethereum team, that "the research team fully accepts the idea of ​​centralizing everything as long as it can be verified": "I just attended the EF research seminar last week, and I can confirm that this is wrong. We had various discussions on minimizing centralization. This includes: * In-depth analysis of multiple proposers to see if the builder role can be completely eliminated; * Maximizing the power of inclusion lists (FOCIL); * Ideas about fork selection depending on the inclusiveness of transactions; * Analysis of Orbit SSF and ideas about accelerating the deployment of the Orbit mechanism, which may reduce the minimum deposit size by more than 10 times before we conduct SSF; * Distributed block construction for PeerDAS; * PeerDAS and fullDAS network analysis and bandwidth optimization; * Methods to make recovery from 51% attacks more partially automated and less dependent on the ‘social layer’; * Ensure that the inclusion list is fully applicable to (i) blobs and (ii) native account abstraction (such as EIP-7560) transactions. ” Earlier today, Ethereum team leader (Team Lead) Péter Szilágyi expressed concerns about the direction of Ethereum development on social media. His views involved the Ethereum PeerDAS proposal, which proposed to increase the size of Ethereum blobs to 32 MB. Szilágyi believes that the PeerDAS upgrade will hinder home stakers (usually those with simpler computing power settings) from participating in the Ethereum network, which goes against the spirit of decentralization. Szilágyi wrote on X: "Ethereum researchers are 'murdering' home stakers in front of everyone. This is not what I expected when I joined Ethereum. Now I'd love to prove that this is not the case, but I feel that Ethereum is losing its thread. The research team seems to have fully accepted the idea of ​​centralizing everything as long as it can be verified. It's a joke: decentralized verification but centralized control."

BlackRock Ethereum ETF Wallet Receives 76,669 ETH from Coinbase Prime

According to lookonchain monitoring, 10 hours ago, the BlackRock (iShares) Ethereum ETF wallet received 76,669 ETH (US$262.4 million) from Coinbase Prime. According to BlackRock's official website, it currently holds 79,699 ETH (US$277 million).

Opinion: Thousands of L2 blockchains may appear in the next year to promote the development of the Ethereum ecosystem

Lugui Tillier, chief business officer of Lumx Studios, wrote that the future of Ethereum is relying on the rise of thousands of second-layer (L2) blockchains. In 2024, major NFT series such as Pudgy Penguins, Bored Ape Yacht Club and Azuki, as well as traditional companies such as Fox Corporations and Flipkart, announced the launch of their own L2. Although this trend is regarded by some as hype, thousands of L2s may appear in the next year, which will greatly promote the development of the Ethereum ecosystem. L2 solves the scalability and cost problems of Ethereum by batching transactions and sending them back to the Ethereum mainnet. Polygon, Optimism and ZkSync are solving the fragmentation problem through the liquidity aggregation layer to promote the development of the Ethereum ecosystem.

Other projects

Franklin Templeton: Solana is an "exciting major development" in addition to Bitcoin and Ethereum

Franklin Templeton Digital Assets posted on its social platform that in addition to Bitcoin and Ethereum, we believe there are other exciting major developments that will drive the development of the encryption field. Solana has shown a wide range of applications and is constantly maturing, overcoming the pains of technical growth and highlighting the potential of high-throughput monolithic architecture. Franklin Templeton has become the issuer of Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs in the United States.

AI project Morpheus will be launched on the Arbitrum test network on Friday

Lumerin, a protocol on the Arbitrum blockchain, announced that its new Morpheus project for decentralized AI computing will be launched on the public test network on Friday. The technology is designed to avoid the shortcomings of centralized artificial intelligence models, which may be vulnerable to censorship or monopoly control.

3EX CryptoGPT recently included more than 30 kinds of encrypted project information again

According to the official news of 3EX CryptoGPT, 3EXCryptoGPT is continuing to collect encrypted project information. Recently, more than 30 kinds of encrypted project information including ZK, XTZ, AKT, GT, SAND, USDD, NEXO, CHZ, WLD, W, SNX, ROSE, MINA, EOS, MANA, XEC, DEXE, etc. have been included again. At present, CryptoGPT has successfully collected nearly 200 kinds of encrypted project information. Users can visit the 3EXCryptoGPT website and easily obtain the collected encrypted project information by talking to AI. It is reported that 3EXCryptoGPT has introduced GPT's powerful AI programming capabilities into the field of digital asset trading by integrating ChatGPT-4o, providing intelligent and personalized trading services to global users. Users only need to have a simple conversation to obtain information about the crypto industry, create personalized quantitative trading strategies, simulate profits and losses in real time, configure real-time trading, and automatically run AI information services.

Pixelverse co-founder: Although many chain games have raised huge amounts of funds, they cannot attract real players

Pixelverse co-founder Kori Leon said that although many chain games have raised huge amounts of funds, they cannot attract real players. Some projects have failed to deliver on their promises and can only attract speculative players. Leon emphasized that the key to success lies in community, culture, and distribution. CryptoSlam founder Randy Wasinger said that games are an important mechanism for Web3 to attract new users. Although the development cycle is long, he is optimistic that killer applications that change the rules of the game will appear in the future.

Eclipse: The mainnet has not yet been launched and there is no pre-registration. Please do not click on suspicious links

Eclipse posted on X that the Eclipse mainnet has not yet been launched and there is no pre-registration. Please do not click on any suspicious links. Earlier in March, Eclipse Labs announced the completion of a $50 million Series A financing, led by Placeholder and Hack VC, with a total financing amount of $65 million. This round of financing also attracted the participation of investors such as RockTree Capital, Polychain Capital, Delphi Digital, Maven 11, DBA, Apollo-managed funds, Fenbushi Capital, ParaFi Capital, and strategic investments from Flow Traders, GSR, Auros, and OKX Ventures.

OKX launches GLMR on-chain coin earning product

On July 26, OKX has officially launched the GLMR on-chain coin earning product, which simplifies the on-chain operation process while also enjoying real on-chain annualized returns. In the financial section of the OKX web page or App, select the on-chain coin earning in the coin earning section to search for GLMR and apply for subscription. It is reported that the OKX on-chain coin earning product has many highlights such as no subscription limit, simplified on-chain operation process, improved user experience and benefiting from real on-chain annualized income. However, according to OKX, OKX only provides project display and income distribution and other related services. The platform does not bear any asset losses caused by potential risks such as contract loopholes, hacker incidents, and project parties running away.