Evening News | Alameda Research accused of manipulating token prices during Solend IDO; Apple App Store updates NFT-related review guidelines

整理：饼干，ChainCatcher

"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"

1. Solend Founder: Alameda Research Manipulated Token Prices During Solend IDO

Rooter, the founder of the Solana lending project Solend, stated on Twitter that Alameda Research manipulated token prices during the Solend IDO. In the Solend IDO at the beginning of November last year, two addresses associated with Alameda Research purchased $40 million worth of tokens on the first day, pushing Solend's FDV (Fully Diluted Valuation) to $2.5 billion and raising the total funding to over $100 million, thereby "scaring off" retail investors. On the last moment of the second day of the IDO, they withdrew $80 million, and Solend ultimately raised $26 million.

Rooter also stated, "Alameda's actions reflect SBF's ideology—interests can absolve all sins. As long as the purpose is just, any means can be justified." (Source link)

2. Apple App Store Updates Review Guidelines to Prohibit Bypassing Apple In-App Purchases for NFTs

The Apple App Store updated its review guidelines yesterday, covering the review of cryptocurrency transactions, crypto wallets, and NFT-related services. Regarding NFTs, the review stipulates that applications may allow users to view their own NFTs, provided that NFT ownership does not unlock features or functions within the app. Applications may allow users to browse NFT collections owned by others, as long as the app does not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that guide customers to purchase mechanisms outside of in-app purchases.

Previous news reported that Apple charges up to 30% commission on all NFT transactions through iOS applications. (Source link)

3. Cathie Wood's Fund Increases Holdings in Coinbase Stock for the First Time Since June

ARK Fintech Innovation ETF, managed by Cathie Wood, increased its holdings by 10,880 shares of Coinbase stock, with a total value of approximately $60.5 million, accounting for about 8% of the fund's weight. This is the first purchase of Coinbase stock by ARK since June.

It is reported that in July, the ARK fund sold Coinbase stock for the first time this year, with a sale value of about $75 million at that time; subsequently, from August 5 to 15, the ARK fund sold a total of 208,086 shares of Coinbase stock and bought 26,048 shares, resulting in a net reduction of 182,038 shares of Coinbase stock, worth over $16 million at that time. (CoinDesk)

4. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Approves Celsius Bidding Plan, Assets May Be Sold by Year-End

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Martin Glenn approved Celsius's proposed bidding process and set a timeline allowing the company to sell its assets by the end of the year. The final bidding is set for December 12. If necessary, the auction will be held on December 15. Once a winner is selected, the court will hold an auction hearing on December 22.

Additionally, the judge appointed a consumer privacy monitor to ensure that Celsius can protect customer information throughout the sale process. (The Block)

5. SBF Donates $39.2 Million in U.S. Midterm Elections, Ranking Fifth

According to an analysis by The Washington Post of data from the U.S. Federal Election Commission, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has donated $39.2 million in the U.S. midterm elections, primarily to Democratic groups. Of the donations, $27 million went to political action committees (PACs), $6 million supported Democratic House candidates, and $2 million supported candidates friendly to cryptocurrency.

So far, 50 major donors have contributed $1.1 billion to political committees and other groups participating in the midterm elections, with George Soros ranking first with $128.5 million, and SBF ranking fifth. (Source link)

6. New UK Prime Minister: I Prefer BAYC Over Crypto Punks

New UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated during a press conference a few months ago that he prefers BAYC over Crypto Punks. Instead of choosing one or two cryptocurrencies, he prefers a diversified portfolio of various cryptocurrencies for investment.

It is reported that Rishi Sunak proposed turning the UK into a crypto-friendly technology hub in April this year. At the end of last year, Sunak visited California, meeting with representatives from Sequoia and a16z, and participated in a roundtable with companies including Bitwise, Celo, Solana, and Iqoniq. (Source link)

7. Meta, Microsoft, and Others Join Forces to Build Communication Network Infrastructure for the Metaverse

The Telecom Infra Project (TIP) announced the establishment of a Metaverse-Ready Networks project group, aimed at changing the way people interact by providing immersive experiences for fixed and mobile networks. Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Sparkle, T-Mobile, and Telefónica will serve as the initial joint chairs of the project group.

It is reported that the Telecom Infra Project is an open-source organization initiated by Facebook in 2016, bringing together operators, infrastructure providers, system integrators, and other tech companies to collaboratively develop new technologies and reimagine traditional methods of building and deploying telecom network infrastructure. (Source link)

8. South Korean Prosecutors Request Court to Sentenced Bithumb's Actual Owner Lee Jung-hoon to 8 Years in Prison

According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean prosecutors have requested the court to sentence Lee Jung-hoon, the actual owner of the cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, to 8 years in prison, accusing him of defrauding 100 billion won (approximately $70 million). The prosecution stated, "The amount of loss is very large, especially for ordinary token investors." A specific sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 20 afternoon.

It is reported that in October 2018, during negotiations to sell Bithumb shares, Lee Jung-hoon and BK Group Chairman Kim Byung-kyun, believing Lee's claim that BXA (Bithumb Token) would be listed on Bithumb, used part of the pre-sale proceeds from BXA to purchase Bithumb shares. However, BXA was never listed on Bithumb, and the BK Group's acquisition of Bithumb also fell through. (Source link)

9. Compound Suspends ZRX, BAT, MKR, YFI as Lending Assets

The DeFi lending protocol Compound unanimously passed Proposal 131 in a community vote, meaning users will no longer be able to use 0x (ZRX), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Maker (MKR), and Yearn Finance (YFI) as lending assets on Compound.

It is reported that the proposal aims to eliminate non-liquid assets to protect Compound from market manipulation, such as the previous $100 million manipulated Mango Markets incident. Compound Finance founder Robert Leshner also voted in favor of the proposal. Nearly 99.9% of voters supported the proposal, with 554,126 COMP used in the voting process. (Decrypt)

"What Interesting Articles Are Worth Reading in the Last 24 Hours"

1. "Ethereum Account Abstraction and ERC-4337"

There are actually two types of accounts in the Ethereum system: one is an external account controlled by a private key, and the other is a contract account controlled by code deployed on the blockchain. Account abstraction is an improvement on these two types of accounts, attempting to blur the lines between them into a universal account that contains complex logic, allowing the account to have the functionalities of both contract accounts and external accounts. Achieving account abstraction is the vision of the Ethereum developer community, which has proposed various solutions, such as EIP-86, EIP-2938, and ERC-4337.

2. "Exploring DeFi Token Economics: Staking Rewards, Burn and Deflation, and Long-Termism"

DeFi has always faced issues of token value accumulation and retention, and now is the best time to address these issues. Yearn.finance stirred waves after announcing updates to its token economics and buyback plan last December, but the strong desire for better token models is evident. This article will explain why DeFi token economics need adjustments and what new models might look like.

3. "What Insights Do the Popular Reddit NFTs Bring Us?"

Reddit is a popular online site that allows users to discuss, vote, and share content (similar to forums). It has over 1.5 billion registered users, 430 million monthly active users, and 52 million daily active users. People who purchase NFTs can use them as personal photos on Reddit and other platforms or sell them on secondary markets like OpenSea. According to RedditFloor, the most expensive NFT is currently around $14,000. This article will analyze the data and insights from Reddit's NFT experiment.