This Week's News Preview | Binance Alpha Launches Sign (SIGN); Binance Delists ALPACA, PDA, VIB, WING
Highlights of the week from April 28 to May 4.整理：Jerry，ChainCatcher
Key News:
- Binance Alpha will launch Sign (SIGN) on April 28
- Binance Alpha will launch Haedal Protocol (HAEDAL) on April 29
- NFT trading platform X2Y2 will cease operations on April 30
- Terraform Labs: Crypto asset loss claim portal is open, deadline is April 30
- Ethereum Foundation opens applications for the 6th batch of Ethereum Protocol Fellowship, deadline is April 30
- Donald Trump's second son will be invited to attend TOKEN2049 Dubai conference on April 30
- Binance will delist ALPACA, PDA, VIB, WING on May 2
April 28 (Monday)
According to Bitcoin Laws, Arizona's two Bitcoin reserve bills are set for a third reading on Monday local time, with a potential final vote. If passed, Arizona is expected to become the first U.S. state to complete state-level Bitcoin reserve legislation.
CBOE plans to launch a new CME FTSE Bitcoin Index futures on April 28
According to Coindesk, Cboe Digital, the cryptocurrency division of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe), announced on Monday that it plans to launch a new Bitcoin futures product on April 28, pending regulatory approval.
The product will be in collaboration with FTSE Russell, based on the XBTF index (representing 1/10 of the FTSE Bitcoin Index value), and will be cash-settled, with settlement occurring on the last business day of each month. Catherine Clay, head of Cboe Global Derivatives, stated that this launch comes at a time of increasing demand for cryptocurrency exposure, with investors seeking more capital-efficient and versatile ways to acquire and manage their cryptocurrency exposure. Notably, Cboe became the first U.S. regulated exchange approved by the CFTC to offer both spot and leveraged derivatives trading in November 2023.
Binance Alpha will launch Sign (SIGN) on April 28
According to the official announcement, Binance Alpha will launch Sign (SIGN), with trading opening on April 28, with specific timing to be announced later.
Users who meet the Alpha Points threshold will receive an airdrop within 10 minutes after trading begins. The threshold will be announced on April 28.
Hesperides University in Spain launches Bitcoin Master's degree, starting on April 28
According to Bitcoin Magazine, Hesperides University in Spain has announced the launch of the first Spanish-language Bitcoin Master's program, which will commence on April 28, 2025, aimed at training professionals in the Bitcoin field with comprehensive skills in technology, economics, law, and philosophy.
The program will be fully online, covering the philosophy, history, economics, technology, regulation, and business applications of Bitcoin, emphasizing its value as a transformative monetary network. Partner institutions include BTC Inc, Jan3, BTC Consulting 360, etc., ensuring the curriculum is closely aligned with industry needs. The program is open to students worldwide and has already begun enrollment.
April 29 (Tuesday)
Binance Alpha will launch Haedal Protocol (HAEDAL) on April 29
According to the official announcement, Binance Alpha will launch Haedal Protocol (HAEDAL), with trading starting on April 29, with specific timing to be announced.
Users who meet the Alpha Points threshold will receive an airdrop within 10 minutes after trading begins. The threshold will be announced on April 29.
OKX will delist KISHU, MAX, and three other spot trading pairs on April 29
According to the official announcement, OKX will officially delist the trading pairs KISHU/USDT, MAX/USDT, MILO/USDT, MXC/USDT, and SSWP/USDT on April 29, 2025, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM (UTC+8). Related coin deposits have been suspended since April 22, and withdrawals will be suspended on July 29.
April 30 (Wednesday)
Nigerian court postpones hearing on Binance tax evasion case to April 30
The Nigerian court has postponed the hearing on Binance's tax evasion case to April 30 to allow tax authorities to respond to Binance's legal motions. The Nigerian Federal Inland Revenue Service accuses Binance of failing to pay corporate income tax and penalties for 2022 and 2023, totaling over $79 billion. Binance questions the legality of the court's delivery of legal documents via email, claiming its headquarters is in the Cayman Islands and it has no physical presence in Nigeria.
NFT trading platform X2Y2 will cease operations on April 30
NFT trading platform X2Y2 announced on social media that after three years of success and $5.6 billion in trading volume, X2Y2 will officially close as an NFT marketplace on April 30, 2025.
The X2Y2 contract will remain active, but the platform itself will cease operations. The CEO of X2Y2 stated, "NFT trading volume has decreased by 90% since its peak. The life and death of a market platform depend on network effects, and after three years of striving for the top, it is time to let go and create something with more lasting value. But this is not a farewell—it's a transformation. Over the past year, we have deeply explored the field of AI, studying how it can intersect with crypto technology in new and powerful ways.
We are building something new: providing yield in a decentralized manner, driven by AI. It is decentralized, innovative, and aims to create value in a cyclical manner—not just chasing trends. The X2Y2 token is closely related to our NFT vision, and I will not sugarcoat the reality—this change may affect its price. But I believe our next chapter will create something more valuable in the long run."
Terraform Labs: Crypto asset loss claim portal is open, deadline is April 30
According to official news, Terraform Labs has opened its crypto creditor claim portal. Previously, the company filed for bankruptcy restructuring in January 2024, stemming from the collapse of its $40 billion ecosystem in 2022.
Eligible creditors must register on the "Crypto Loss Claim Portal" by April 30, 2025; otherwise, claims will not be accepted.
Hyperliquid plans to adjust fee structure and introduce staking tiers after April 30
Hyperliquid announced that it will adjust its fee structure and introduce Staking Tiers on or after April 30, 2025. The new rules are as follows:
Users staking HYPE tokens can enjoy lower trading fees, with discounts of up to 40%. Additionally, the spot and contract markets will adopt separate fee structures, and the weight of spot trading volume will be doubled to enhance fairness in fee calculations. After the adjustment, the default fee rate will increase, with the contract taker fee rising from 0.035% to 0.045%, and the spot taker fee doubling from 0.035% to 0.07%. Hyperliquid stated that this move aims to increase protocol revenue and enhance the utility of HYPE.
According to official news, the Ethereum Foundation announced that applications for the 6th batch of the Ethereum Protocol Fellowship (EPF6) are open, with the application deadline set for April 30. The sixth batch will take place from June to November 2025, and participants will have the opportunity to engage with mentors from the core development community.
The project team will hold an informational session on April 21 at 4 PM UTC to answer related questions.
Donald Trump's second son will be invited to attend TOKEN2049 Dubai conference on April 30
According to official news, TOKEN2049 announced that Eric Trump, Donald Trump's second son, will be invited to attend the TOKEN2049 Dubai conference, which will take place from April 30 to May 1.
U.S. SEC has approved ProShares Trust XRP ETF for public listing on April 30
According to Cointelegraph, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved ProShares Trust's XRP ETF for public listing on April 30.
May 1 (Thursday)
Coinbase International plans to launch ZORA perpetual contract trading on May 1
According to the official announcement, Coinbase International will launch ZORA perpetual contracts.
The ZORA-PERP market is expected to open on May 1 at 5:30 PM Beijing time or later.
Bitget will launch an upgraded liquidity incentive program on May 1
Bitget will officially launch a newly upgraded "Liquidity Incentive Program" on May 1. This program aims to enhance liquidity and trading efficiency for spot and contract markets by optimizing the fee structure and incentive mechanisms.
The new plan introduces a new tiered system, providing a more competitive fee incentive structure: the highest maker rebate in the spot market can reach -0.012%, while the highest rebate in the contract market is -0.005%; the minimum taker fees are 0.020% (spot) and 0.025% (contract). Additionally, mainstream perpetual contract trading pairs such as BTCUSDT and ETHUSDT will be included in the maker negative fee range for the first time, with approximately 130 contract tokens currently applicable to this policy, and future expansions based on liquidity performance. Newly onboarded teams can submit historical trading data to apply for initial tier upgrades, enjoying premium rates and higher API limit support.
According to previous news, Bitget's official data shows that it currently has over 1,000 institutional clients and market-making institutions on the platform, and this year will focus on expanding institutional business, with Q2 having upgraded institutional lending services and launched unified account real-time testing.
According to Cointelegraph, cryptocurrency exchange eXch announced it will cease operations on May 1. Previously, reports indicated that the exchange was used for money laundering, involving some of the stolen funds from the $1.4 billion hack of Bybit.
eXch stated in an announcement on April 17 that the majority of its management team voted to adopt a "stop and retreat" strategy in response to allegations that the North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group laundered approximately $35 million through the platform—funds originating from the $1.4 billion hack suffered by Bybit.
The exchange claimed it had become a target of a "transatlantic joint law enforcement operation" aimed at shutting down its business and possibly filing criminal charges. eXch stated in a statement, "Although we have resisted multiple attempts to shut down our infrastructure and maintain operations, we believe it is meaningless to continue operating in an environment where we have become a target of signal intelligence surveillance, simply due to some people misinterpreting our purpose." The exchange initially denied blockchain detective claims that it helped the Lazarus Group launder money but acknowledged handling a "very small portion of funds" from the February hack incident.
PsyFi will shut down all services on May 1, users must withdraw funds before then
According to official news from PsyFi, a financial tool provider in the Solana ecosystem, PsyFi (including PsyLend and Vaults) will shut down all front-end and back-end services on May 1, 2025, and stop platform support. The platform has now entered a mode that only supports withdrawals, and the official reminds users to complete fund withdrawals before this date to ensure asset safety.
Additionally, PsyFi stated that it may share contract addresses and IDL in the future for users who need to interact directly with smart contracts.
Nethermind head: plans to remove pre-merge Ethereum history in version 1.3.1 on May 1
According to Marek Moraczyński, head of the Ethereum client Nethermind, posted on X platform that over 80% of Ethereum full node disk space is occupied by historical records, thus data is not needed to verify new blocks. In the new version 1.3.1, Nethermind is ready to delete pre-merge historical records through ERA files, and all teams have agreed to execute this operation on May 1. If all blocks and receipts are deleted while retaining only the data necessary to validate the latest block, the full node capacity will be less than 200 GB.
Crypto investment product Bake announces it will cease operations in Singapore starting May 1
Crypto investment product Bake announced it will cease operations in Singapore starting May 1.
It is reported that Bake was previously a crypto investment product under Cake Group, which sold Bake to GSTechnologies Ltd. last month.
May 2 (Friday)
Binance will delist ALPACA, PDA, VIB, WING on May 2
According to the official announcement, Binance will delist ALPACA, PDA, VIB, WING on May 2, 2025.
