Evening News | Hong Kong's Financial Secretary will allocate 50 million HKD to accelerate the promotion of the Web3 ecosystem; Blur's Season 2 incentives will distribute 300 million BLUR tokens

Organizer: Xiangxiang Xi, ChainCatcher

"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"

1. Hong Kong Financial Secretary: Will allocate 50 million HKD to accelerate the development of the Web3 ecosystem and establish a dedicated task force for virtual asset development

The Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong SAR Government, Paul Chan, stated in his speech on the 2023-2024 budget:

"The Cyberport has established a Web3 base earlier this year. I will allocate 50 million HKD to accelerate the development of the Web3 ecosystem, including hosting international large-scale seminars to help the industry and enterprises better grasp cutting-edge developments, promote cross-sector business cooperation, and hold more youth workshops.

Virtual assets are an important part of the Web3 ecosystem. The virtual asset policy declaration published last October clarifies the government's policy stance and guidelines for the relevant industry. The market has responded enthusiastically, and in recent months, many potential new enterprises have considered settling in Hong Kong. Next, I will establish and lead a dedicated task force for virtual asset development, with members including relevant decision-making bureaus, financial regulatory agencies, and market participants, to submit recommendations to the government on the sustainable and responsible development of the industry." (Source link)

2. Blur: 300 million BLUR tokens to be distributed in Q2, targeting users who list NFTs only on Blur

The NFT trading platform Blur announced that it will distribute 300 million BLUR tokens in its Q2 incentive program, maximizing rewards for users with 100% loyalty. However, there is only one way to maintain 100% loyalty in Q2, which is for users to list NFTs on Blur and not list those NFTs on any other NFT marketplace.

Blur stated that users can use its new "Maximize Loyalty" button to delist NFTs listed on third-party trading platforms and increase their loyalty to 100% in a single transaction. (Source link)

3. Bloomberg: Wall Street expected to benefit from the restructuring of cryptocurrency regulation in the U.S.

According to Bloomberg, traditional financial companies and their supported cryptocurrency custody institutions are most likely to profit from the proposed changes to U.S. digital asset regulation, thanks to their existing license portfolios and trusted reputations in handling client funds.

Interviews with six executives from traditional financial companies indicate that interest in digital asset custody services among traditional financial clients is rising. Meanwhile, spokespeople from large institutions like BNY Mellon and Nasdaq stated that they are continuing to develop their own digital asset custody products and assessing the potential impacts of the proposed regulatory changes on their plans. (Source link)

4. Hong Kong Financial Secretary: Continuing to promote the "Digital Hong Kong Dollar" and projects using "Digital Renminbi" for cross-border payments

The Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong SAR Government, Paul Chan, stated in his speech on the 2023-2024 budget: "We will continue to promote the application testing and preparation of various fintech infrastructure projects, including the 'Digital Hong Kong Dollar' and projects using 'Digital Renminbi' for cross-border payment purposes.

In addition, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is working with the Bank of Thailand to explore allowing travelers from both places to make payments locally using Hong Kong's "Faster Payment System" and Thailand's "PromptPay," providing travelers with an additional safe, fast, and effective payment option." (Source link)

5. Blur founder reveals identity and shares personal learning and entrepreneurial experiences

Blur founder @PacmanBlur tweeted to share his personal experiences.

He stated that before creating Blur, he dropped out of high school at the age of 17 to join Y Combinator, later studying in the computer science department at MIT, where he received the Thiel Fellowship. After leaving MIT, he created Namebase and sold it to Namecheap. (Source link)

6. Canary Labs founder sells a large number of blue-chip NFTs, including 71 BAYC, 11 MAYC, 7 Azuki, etc.

An NFT whale sold a large number of NFTs on Blur in the past hour, including 71 BAYC sold at an average price of about 78 ETH (worth over 9 million USD), 11 MAYC sold at an average price of 16.3 ETH, 7 Azuki sold at an average price of 15.14 ETH, as well as dozens of Otherside and Beanz. The wallet address currently has 9 MAYC remaining. Among them, Huang Licheng (MachiBigBrother) purchased a large number of BAYC from him.

In response, Mando, the founder of Canary Labs, posted on social media that he decided to sell BAYC and MAYC to profit from the current NFT liquidity after careful consideration, and he still holds a large number of Yuga Labs assets, and will continue to be optimistic about what Yuga Labs is building, having paid all royalties at the time of sale. (Source link)

7. LayerZero launches Testnet Bridge as the first tool for the Ethereum developer community

LayerZero launched Testnet Bridge as the first tool for the Ethereum developer community. Developers can quickly and easily obtain Goerli-ETH and start testing. The initial price of Goerli-ETH is set at 0.10 USD, with 12,500 Goerli-ETH currently in the pool.

LayerZero stated that the new feature can help Ethereum developers more easily test and access ETH on Goerli. This is the first version of a series of public products launched, focusing on supporting the Ethereum developer community. (Source link)

8. Ethereum Shapella network upgrade to be activated on the Sepolia network on February 28

The Ethereum Foundation released a blog stating that the Shapella network upgrade will be activated at block height 56832 on the Sepolia network, approximately at 12:04:48 on February 28, 2023, Beijing time.

This upgrade follows The Merge and allows validators to withdraw staked Ethereum from the beacon chain to the execution layer, while also introducing new features for the execution layer and consensus layer, combining changes to the execution layer (Shanghai), consensus layer (Capella), and engine API. The Zhejiang testnet can be used to test Shapella features before the Sepolia upgrade. (Source link)

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

1. "What Crypto Founders Can Learn from Blur's Token Airdrop"

Since its public launch five months ago, Blur has become the top NFT marketplace and trading platform in the industry, perfectly demonstrating how to defeat existing giants through complex incentives in a competitive environment. This article provides an in-depth analysis of Blur's token distribution design and how to guide user growth by offering phased rewards, providing valuable advice for founders looking to leverage tokens to develop their networks.

2. "In-Depth Understanding of Decentralized Social Product DeSo and Its Possible Future"

DeSo is a decentralized social network that not only allows users to access most features of Web 2.0 social media platforms but also improves it by giving users control over their content and monetization options. This article discusses its beginnings, goals, features, roadmap, token economics, and raises the question of how decentralized social products will impact the future of social media.

3. "A Quick Overview of the EigenLayer White Paper: Scaling the Consensus Layer"

Recently regarded by many leading investment research institutions as the most important innovation for Ethereum in 2023, Eigenlayer, which has the potential to open up new narrative directions for Ethereum, has finally disclosed its V1 white paper. Bixin Ventures provided an immediate interpretation of this long-awaited white paper, focusing on the core content of Eigenlayer's basic principles, operating mechanisms, security guarantees, governance framework, application scenarios, and commercialization prospects.