Morning News | Infrared will conduct TGE on December 17; YO Labs completes $10 million Series A financing; U.S. SEC releases guidelines for cryptocurrency asset custody
Overview of Important Market Events on December 14整理：ChainCatcher
Important News:
- Wu Jiezhuang: The development of stablecoins in Hong Kong will move forward steadily, and different industries can boldly attempt to combine RWA with Web3
- The Justice Network suggests exploring three disposal measures for criminal-related virtual currencies: "monetization, destruction, return"
- Analysis: Due to investors de-risking, exchange leverage has dropped to the lowest level in 5 months
- The U.S. SEC releases guidelines for crypto asset custody, systematically sorting out wallet types and major risks
- Berachain's liquid staking protocol Infrared will conduct TGE on December 17
- Crypto yield optimization protocol YO Labs completes $10 million Series A financing, led by Foundation Capital
What important events have occurred in the past 24 hours?
According to ChainCatcher, Hong Kong Legislative Council member Wu Jiezhuang stated on the X platform that he will continue to promote the development of Web3 in Hong Kong, sharing views on the future direction of stablecoins and the development of RWA as follows:
He believes that the development of stablecoins in Hong Kong will not undergo significant changes and will continue to move forward steadily. The stablecoin regulatory bill was passed in the seventh Legislative Council after a long period of brewing and discussion. The overall development will align with the international and local financial environment, moving forward steadily, initially focusing on the local market with the goal of developing the international market, leveraging Hong Kong's position as a financial and innovation center.
RWA is a topic that is currently being discussed extensively in both traditional and Web3 industries. Hong Kong has already promoted a regulatory sandbox, and it is believed that the importance of compliant development and future regulatory directions will be explored within the sandbox. He believes that different industries can boldly attempt to combine Web3 technology, which he believes can drive the development of a large number of real-world applications.
The demand for developers is rapidly increasing. More and more companies are establishing themselves in Hong Kong, including Web3 public chains, compliant trading platforms, and underlying infrastructure. The success of developers is closely linked to innovative technology companies, and in the future, they will assist the industry in building a talent ecosystem to attract more developers and practitioners to settle in Hong Kong.
Coinbase CEO: Cryptocurrency helps create property rights and a sound monetary system, but regulatory reforms are still needed
According to ChainCatcher, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated on social media that "cryptocurrency helps create property rights for everyone, a sound monetary system, and free trade. But it is not a panacea; it still requires advancing deregulation and eliminating corruption at the institutional level."
Michael Saylor releases Bitcoin Tracker information again, possibly hinting at another BTC purchase
According to ChainCatcher, Strategy founder Michael Saylor has released information related to Bitcoin Tracker again.
According to previous patterns, Strategy always discloses information about increasing Bitcoin holdings the day after relevant news is released.
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by Cointelegraph, 10x Research's research director Markus Thielen stated that the four-year cycle of Bitcoin still exists, but its main driving factors are no longer halving, but rather political factors, liquidity environment, and election cycles.
The Bitcoin market reached historical peaks in 2013, 2017, and 2021. This year, under the backdrop of the Federal Reserve's recent interest rate cuts, Bitcoin has not regained strong upward momentum. The reason is that institutional investors have become the dominant force in the crypto market but are making more cautious decisions. With the Federal Reserve's policy signals still wavering and overall liquidity tightening, the pace of capital entering the market has significantly slowed, weakening the momentum needed for sustained price breakthroughs. Before liquidity improves significantly, Bitcoin is more likely to maintain range-bound fluctuations and horizontal consolidation rather than quickly entering a new parabolic rise.
According to ChainCatcher, as reported by CoinDesk, the development team behind the crypto yield optimization protocol YO Protocol, YO Labs, announced that it has completed a $10 million Series A financing, led by Foundation Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Scribble Ventures, and Launchpad Capital. To date, its total financing has reached $24 million.
The company plans to use this funding to promote the protocol to more blockchains and improve its infrastructure.
According to ChainCatcher, the Justice Network published an article titled "Establishing Multiple Judicial Disposal Paths for Criminal-Related Virtual Currencies." The article proposes to improve the judicial disposal paths for criminal-related virtual currencies:
First, clarify the legal status and role of third-party institutions. Future legislation could include third-party institutions in the category of judicial auction assistants, granting them exclusive qualifications for "one-time, targeted, non-public bidding."
Second, establish a dual system of technical standards and procedural norms. The Supreme Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, in conjunction with financial regulatory authorities, should jointly issue dual standards, using the average price of the 20 days prior to the transaction or the victim's acquisition cost as the benchmark for price assessment, standardizing the on-chain evidence format, and directly transferring the proceeds of monetization to a special fiscal account to eliminate channels for fund return to speculative trading.
Third, strengthen the entire process connection of prosecutorial supervision and rights protection. The prosecutorial authorities should participate throughout the disposal process, requiring third-party institutions to submit regular progress reports on disposal and establishing a rights notification and objection mechanism.
Fourth, explore differentiated disposal models. Different disposal measures such as monetization, destruction, and return should be applied. For cases involving the return of victims' property, a targeted bidding monetization model should be prioritized to ensure that the proceeds of monetization are fully compensated. For stablecoins that have not yet been exchanged after being scammed, if the victim is willing to return the original coins, they can be directly returned under compliant conditions to avoid exchange rate losses. For cases involving the confiscation of illegal items, destruction or technical sealing methods can be used to prevent them from re-entering the market. For tokens specifically used for pyramid schemes or gambling, if they have poor liquidity and insufficient market depth, forced monetization may lead to depreciation, and they can be legally destroyed with a record of destruction noted in the judgment document. For high-value coins that have been mixed with legal investments, monetization should be prioritized to maximize loss recovery. Additionally, for cases involving smaller amounts or those with significant technical tracking difficulties, simplified disposal procedures can be explored, such as a comprehensive identification model, which determines the value and ownership of the virtual currency involved based on relevant evidence when the circulation path cannot be fully clarified.
It is reported that the Justice Network is an internet comprehensive service platform sponsored by the Procuratorial Daily of the Supreme People's Procuratorate. The authors of this article include members of the Party Committee of the Third Branch of the Beijing People's Procuratorate, first-level researchers, professors, and doctoral supervisors from the Law School of Capital University of Economics and Business, and research assistants from the Center for Research on Integrity and Rule of Law at Capital University of Economics and Business.
According to ChainCatcher, Yuzhi Financial, disguised as "virtual asset copy trading," has been reported to be suspected of attracting investors with high returns. Recently, many investors reported that the virtual asset trading app "HSEX" under its umbrella was unable to process withdrawals normally. The platform subsequently required users to pay a "self-certification deposit" of 20% of their total account balance and raised the withdrawal fee from 10% to 30%.
Previously, the joint office for preventing and combating illegal financial activities in Xinyi City, Guangdong Province, the leadership office for preventing and combating illegal financial activities in Yulin City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and the Financial Affairs Center of Shigu District, Hengyang City, Hunan Province, have all issued related risk warnings. The Hong Kong Stock Exchange has also disclosed that Yuzhi Financial and its related HSEX and HKEX have been repeatedly listed as suspicious websites and have no connection with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Industry insiders pointed out that such projects lack real operational support, with high return promises and referral bonuses as core features, warning investors to be cautious of high-return temptations in the virtual asset field and to prevent illegal financial risks.
Cryptocurrency exchange store in Mong Kok, Hong Kong suspected of robbery
According to ChainCatcher, Ming Pao reported that a cryptocurrency exchange store in Mong Kok, Hong Kong, was suspected of an attempted robbery. The police received a report from a security guard around 8 PM, stating that a robbery was suspected to have occurred in the stairwell of a shopping mall at 608 Nathan Road.
Preliminary police investigations revealed that the 46-year-old male victim was the owner of the cryptocurrency exchange store at the location. He was preparing to close the store when he was suddenly approached by two men demanding he open the door, suspected of attempting to rob him. Subsequently, a third person, suspected to be an accomplice, appeared.
The victim and his wife became entangled with the three men, during which the male victim sustained a finger injury and was sent to Kwong Wah Hospital for treatment, remaining conscious upon arrival. After the police arrived to investigate, they initially believed that the victim did not suffer any property loss and are currently reviewing surveillance footage from the scene while tracking down the suspects involved. The store
Risk warning
Risk warning
