Evening News | Hotbit announces it will cease operations; Vitalik says not to overload Ethereum consensus

整理：flowie，ChainCatcher

"What Important Events Happened in the Last 24 Hours"

1. Hotbit Announces It Will Cease Operations, Users Must Withdraw Remaining Assets by June 21

Cryptocurrency exchange Hotbit announced that it will stop all CEX operations starting from May 22 at 04:00 UTC and requires all users to withdraw their remaining assets by June 21 at 04:00 UTC.

Hotbit stated that this decision is based on three reasons: first, the deterioration of operational conditions, with user funds continuously flowing out of CEX including Hotbit; second, changes in the trends of the cryptocurrency industry, where the Hotbit team believes that centralized exchanges (CEX) are becoming increasingly cumbersome, with highly complex and interrelated operations, making compliance difficult whether centralized or decentralized, and unlikely to align with long-term trends; third, Hotbit has also faced multiple network attacks and issues where project flaws were exploited by malicious users, resulting in significant losses. (Source link)

2. Vitalik: Don't Overload Ethereum Consensus, We Should Preserve the Chain's Minimalism

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin reminded developers in a recent article not to overload Ethereum consensus. He stated that over the years, many developers and projects have attempted to use Ethereum consensus for other purposes, such as ultimate oracles, re-staking, and L1-driven L2 project recovery.

However, Vitalik warned that these technologies could pose high systemic risks to the Ethereum ecosystem and pointed out that the social consensus within the blockchain community is very fragile. Therefore, we should preserve the chain's minimalism to help developers find alternative strategies to achieve their security goals, rather than expanding core functionalities, which would make the core itself more vulnerable. (Source link)

3. Data: Yesterday, the Number of New Litecoin Addresses Exceeded 300,000, Up 24% Month-on-Month

According to Tokenview data, the number of new Litecoin addresses yesterday was 323,700, an increase of 23.64% compared to the previous day; the number of active Litecoin addresses yesterday was 425,700, up 11.5% from the previous day. (Source link)

4. Tornado Cash Attackers Release a New Proposal for Governance Restoration

Tornado Cash community member Tornadosaurus-Hex stated in the forum that the Tornado Cash attackers have released a new proposal for governance restoration and that "it is very likely to be executed." He gave himself TORN as "lockedBalance-s" in the malicious proposal and reset it to 0. The true motives remain unclear. If the proposal passes, the malicious code integrated by the attackers into the protocol will be removed, and token holders will regain control of Tornado Cash's DAO governance.

Tornadosaurus-Hex mentioned that he or others need to propose an update to the governance contract. He is ready to fix the logic but needs to verify the storage layout to ensure that the proxy upgrade does not break the contract. Tornadosaurus-Hex also stated, "We are well aware that there are no options for this proposal, but it is still very important." (Source link)

5. ConsenSys Clarifies: MetaMask Will Not Tax Cryptocurrency Transactions

ConsenSys tweeted, "We are aware that there is inaccurate information circulating about ConsenSys' terms of service. It needs to be clarified that: MetaMask will not tax cryptocurrency transactions, and we have not made any changes to our terms for this purpose. At ConsenSys, our goal is to make Web3 universally easy to use, access, and build through our product suite. It is worth noting that the terms mentioned are not new. They apply to products for which we need to collect sales tax. The tax section in our terms of service falls under the 'Fees and Payments' section and only pertains to products and paid plans provided by ConsenSys. For example, Infura's credit card developer plan includes sales tax. Legal terminology can be complex, but the key point is to emphasize that this section does not apply to MetaMask or any other products not involving sales tax. We believe in transparency and accuracy when sharing information with our users. Our commitment to combating misinformation about our products and services remains steadfast. We encourage everyone to visit our website for more information about our products, and if you have any questions or concerns, please contact us."

It is reported that on May 18, 1inch co-founder Anton Bukov tweeted that the blockchain software technology company ConsenSys updated its terms of service in April, where "4.3 Taxes" states that its products "will be responsible for determining and paying all taxes and other government fees and charges as required by applicable law… We reserve the right to withhold taxes when necessary." (Source link)

6. Federal Reserve Kashkari: I Might Support a Pause in Rate Hikes in June

According to a report by Federal Reserve correspondent Nick Timiraos, Federal Reserve's Kashkari recently stated that he might support keeping interest rates unchanged at the next meeting, allowing officials more time to assess the impact of past rate hikes and the inflation outlook. In an interview, he said, "I am open to the idea that we can slow down (the pace of rate hikes) a bit from now on." Federal Reserve officials have hinted that their decision on whether to raise rates at the policy meeting on June 13-14 could be a close call.

Currently, within the Federal Reserve, a few individuals say that the degree of slowdown in inflation and economic activity is not sufficient to justify keeping rates unchanged. However, others, including Federal Reserve Chair Powell, have suggested that they might pause to better study the potential lagging effects of rapid rate hikes. He also stated that he opposes announcing in any form that we have ended rate hikes, as we still need more information to assess. He concluded that if high inflation persists and requires the Federal Reserve to maintain high rates for a longer period or continue raising rates, the pressure on the banking sector "could become more severe." (Source link)

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

"Vitalik: Maintain the Minimalism of Blockchain, Don't Overload Ethereum's Consensus"

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin reminded developers in a recent article not to overload Ethereum consensus. He stated that over the years, many developers and projects have attempted to use Ethereum consensus for other purposes, such as ultimate oracles, re-staking, and L1-driven L2 project recovery.

This article will explain in detail why Vitalik Buterin believes that some of these technologies could pose high systemic risks to the ecosystem and should be stopped and resisted.

"Exclusive Interview with Arbitrum Founder: 3 People, 9 Years, $2 Billion Valuation"

As a dark horse in the Ethereum scaling race, where does the team behind Arbitrum come from? How do they view the competition between Optimistic and ZK scaling? What is the story behind the "DAO funding door," and what new narrative does Stylus have? This article features an exclusive interview with Arbitrum founder Ed Felten on these questions.

"Conversation with MetaMask Founder: MetaMask Will Become the Web3 Google"

Dan Finlay is the co-founder of MetaMask, which is one of the main wallets for interacting with Web3. In the conversation between Dan and Camila Russo, we will delve into Dan's background before becoming a co-founder of MetaMask, his views on the development direction of MetaMask in the coming years, their privacy policy, the potential MASK token, and Dan's expectations for the next bull market, among other topics. First, Dan will share the origin story of MetaMask.