US regulators reach settlement with GSB, Trump leads Harris

Headlines

▌U.S. regulators reach $1 billion settlement with GSB Group to return investor funds

U.S. regulators have reached a settlement with GSB Group over an alleged $1 billion cryptocurrency scam, aiming to recover funds for affected investors. The settlement shows regulators' growing concern about illegal activities in the crypto space. GSB Group CEO Josip Hite said the agreement is intended to address the financial losses of thousands of investors in North America. The settlement involved cooperation from regulators in multiple states, including Texas, Alabama and Georgia. The case highlights the importance of investor vigilance and the need for greater transparency and accountability in the crypto market.

▌Poll: Trump leads Harris 49% to 46%

In a Quinnipiac University Georgia poll, Trump leads Harris 49% to 46%.

Market

As of press time, according to Coingecko data:

BTC's latest transaction price is $56,974.99, with a daily increase or decrease of +3.6%;

ETH's latest transaction price is $2,357.23, with a daily increase or decrease of +2.4%;

BNB's latest transaction price is $517.85, with a daily increase or decrease of +2.7%;

SOL's latest transaction price is $134.76, with a daily increase or decrease of +3.3%；

DOGE's latest transaction price is $0.1034, with a daily increase or decrease of +7.5%；

XPR's latest transaction price is $0.5386, with a daily increase or decrease of +1.7%。

Policy

▌US judge rules that Coinbase must face a class action lawsuit filed by shareholders over regulatory risk concerns

Last week, a US judge partially rejected Coinbase's request to dismiss shareholders' class action lawsuit, which means that Coinbase must face a class action lawsuit filed by shareholders over regulatory risk concerns. It is reported that Brian Martinotti, a judge in the New Jersey District Court, ruled last Thursday that although the plaintiffs made a persuasive case against Coinbase's behavior in terms of regulatory actions (in fact, the SEC did sue Coinbase), they did not make a persuasive case for most of the allegations. "The court believes that the plaintiffs fully accuse the defendants of misleadingly portraying the possibility that the SEC will not take enforcement actions by repeatedly emphasizing that the crypto assets they listed are not securities," the court document reads.

Blockchain Application

▌Infineo tokenizes $125 million life insurance policy and plans to establish a secondary market

Blockchain startup Infineo successfully tokenized $125 million worth of life insurance policies on the Provenance blockchain, just three months after its launch. The move is designed to ensure that beneficiaries receive timely notifications after the policyholder dies. In the future, Infineo plans to launch a secondary market and allow loans to be made using life insurance policies as collateral.  

Currently, policyholders can upload their policies to the Infineo platform and add the beneficiary's contact information. The policy information will be saved in an encrypted manner and recorded on the public blockchain. Infineo founder and CEO Cole Snell said that this tokenization marks the huge application potential of life insurance as a real asset tokenization, which has promoted the innovation and development of the industry.  

Although the death notification service is currently free, Infineo's future profit model will rely on secondary market transactions and loan services.

Cryptocurrency

▌Metaplanet announces the latest Bitcoin holding expansion plan

Japanese venture capital firm Metaplanet announced its 11th series of stock acquisition rights, planning to significantly increase its Bitcoin holdings. The company will raise 299.7 million yen by exercising 540,000 warrants, and is expected to start delivering shares on September 18. Metaplanet currently holds 203.734 bitcoins, with 42.47 added in the past few months. The company said the move is part of its long-term investment strategy to strengthen its position in the cryptocurrency market.

▌Bitwise Chief Investment Officer: Bitcoin ETF adoption rate hits record high

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan recently said that investment advisors have adopted spot Bitcoin ETFs at a much faster rate than any other ETF in history. Hougan pointed out that although the inflow of $1.5 billion is not huge compared to the total of $4.6 billion, it is still a significant achievement.

▌Walmart heiress to co-host fundraiser for Harris

Walmart heiress Christy Walton will co-host a fundraiser for U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, indicating that the Democratic candidate is gaining more and more support among wealthy donors and business leaders. Tickets for the lunch reception on Sept. 15 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, will range from $1,250 to $100,000, according to the invitation, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and former Montana Gov. Steve Bullock will attend. Walton, who is listed as a co-host of the event and was previously one of the top Democratic donors who urged President Joe Biden to drop out of the race, is worth $15.4 billion, according to the Billionaires Index.

▌The number of crypto venture capital funds has grown rapidly in the past six years, but the total amount of financing is still in its early stages compared to traditional industries

The Block said in a post that in 2018 there were only about 50 funds that focused primarily on cryptocurrency investments. Today, there are more than 1,150 worldwide. In comparison, there are about 4,000 registered hedge funds in the United States alone and about 30,000 worldwide.  

On the venture capital side, cryptocurrencies raised more than $72 billion between 2018 and 2023, while general U.S. venture capital raised more than $600 billion during the same period. The balance still tilts heavily toward traditional venture capital, but also early in tech and other industries.  

While expectations are high for 2024 (particularly with the Bitcoin spot ETF and its early performance), the year seems more like a transition period. It’s important not to compare this cycle to previous ones, as the landscape has changed dramatically.

▌Americans lost more than $5.6 billion to cryptocurrency fraud in 2023, up 45% from 2022

Americans were defrauded of more than $5.6 billion through fraud schemes involving cryptocurrencies last year, the FBI said in a report released Monday, according to Fortune magazine, which showed a 45% increase in losses from 2022.

Important Economic Dynamics

▌Citi CFO: US economy is expected to have a soft landing and interest rates are expected to fall

Citi's chief financial officer said that the US economy is expected to have a soft landing and interest rates are expected to fall; corporate mergers and acquisitions have seen a good recovery; default rates are rising, but are beginning to peak.

▌Morgan Stanley is bearish on some emerging market bonds, and the Fed's rate cut is unlikely to stimulate capital inflows

Morgan Stanley's view on some emerging market sovereign bonds has turned cautious, and the bank believes that the Fed's rate cut is unlikely to stimulate a large influx of funds into bond funds. Strategist Simon Waever and others recommend that investors be bearish on this asset class in the short term, increase the level of cash in their portfolios, focus on investment-grade bonds rather than riskier bonds, or sell emerging market credit default swap indices. The bank removed Nigerian, Argentinian and Moroccan bonds from its preferred basket and added Mexican and Romanian bonds, which have become "cheaper," according to a report published on Monday. Its forecast was partly influenced by the fact that the U.S. interest rate market is already pricing in expectations of a soft landing for the economy. "A further decline in U.S. Treasury yields could be detrimental to risk appetite," they said. "It will take up to 12 months for funds to shift from money market funds to risk assets after the first rate cut."

▌The probability of a 25 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September is 70%

According to CME's "Fed Watch", the probability of a 25 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve in September is 70%, and the probability of a 50 basis point rate cut is 30%. The probability of a cumulative 50 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve by November is 28.5%, the probability of a cumulative 75 basis point rate cut is 53.7%, and the probability of a cumulative 100 basis point rate cut is 17.8%.

▌U.S. stocks opened higher and closed higher, with all three major indexes closing up more than 1%

U.S. stocks opened higher and closed higher, with all three major indexes closing up more than 1%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.2%, the S&P 500 up 1.16%, and the Nasdaq up 1.16%. Most large technology stocks rose, with Nvidia up more than 3%, Amazon and Tesla up more than 2%, Netflix and Microsoft up more than 1%, Apple, Intel, and Meta up slightly; Google fell more than 1%. PALANTIR rose more than 14%, the largest single-day increase since February.

Golden Encyclopedia

▌What is the Ethereum Prague-Electra (Pectra) upgrade?

Ethereum's Pectra upgrade combines two separate upgrades: the Prague upgrade and the Electra upgrade. The Prague upgrade focuses on changes to the network's execution layer, while the Electra upgrade affects the consensus layer. These upgrades are collectively referred to as "Pectra" upgrades when combined. The Pectra upgrade will follow "Dencun," a merger of the Deneb and Cancun upgrades in March 2024. Technically, Dencun is an Ethereum hard fork that aims to reduce transaction fees for Layer 2 solutions. Pectra is a new milestone on the Ethereum development roadmap and is scheduled to go live in the first quarter of 2025. This schedule allows for the inclusion of additional features to improve the Ethereum user experience (UX).

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