Weekly Recommendations | Zhao Changpeng Responds to BUSD Related Issues; Detailed Explanation of Blur Airdrop and Token Economic Model

Organizer: Biscuit, ChainCatcher

1. “Zhao Changpeng's Latest Response on BUSD, Circle, U.S. Regulation, and Other Issues”

This article is a summary of the questions answered by Zhao Changpeng during the Twitter AMA on February 14, covering topics such as BUSD, BUSD alternatives, and Circle. Zhao explained that BUSD is not issued by Binance; it carries the Binance brand but is not created or operated by Binance. Although the minting of new BUSD tokens has stopped, the existing circulating supply of BUSD is safe. If you look at the notice from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), you will see that they specifically instructed Paxos to ensure that BUSD maintains a 1:1 peg and that customers have the ability to redeem in an orderly manner.

2. “A Detailed History of BUSD's Four-Year Ups and Downs: The Ambitions and Regrets of a $15 Billion Stablecoin Empire”

On February 14, the New York State Department of Financial Services ordered the crypto financial institution Paxos Trust Co. to stop issuing more BUSD Tokens, marking the end of the reign of a stablecoin giant that once ranked among the top three by market capitalization. This "heir to Libra," backed by the world's largest exchange, went from zero to billions in just four years, and then rushed onto the competitive stablecoin stage amid rumors. Let’s take a moment to review the ups and downs of this "prosperous crypto world."

3. “Interview with Blur Founder: Blur is About to Launch a Token, Which NFTFi Sectors are Worth Watching?”

Packman is the Founder of Blur, who worked as a software engineer in Silicon Valley eight years ago and started his first venture in 2016. He shared the advantages of Blur and recent NFT projects of interest during an event themed "Blur's Token Launch and Which NFTFi Sectors are Worth Watching?"

4. “A Comprehensive Explanation of Blur's Airdrop and Token Economic Model”

The highly anticipated Blur airdrop has finally concluded, with 360 million Blur tokens distributed to the NFT community and users. According to feedback from the community and social media, many have received hundreds of thousands of Blur tokens in the airdrop, resulting in an unprecedented wealth effect. This airdrop is just the first round issued by Blur to the community, and users who missed the first round can now participate in the second round. This article will detail the launch of Blur's first round of airdrops, as well as its economic model, governance, market cap, and more.

5. “Analysis of VC Wallet Addresses: What Tokens are Held by Top VCs like Jump, A16z, Wintermute?”

Discovering profit opportunities from VC wallets, the top 20 cryptocurrency funds collectively have over 1,200 wallets. Throughout January and February, I have been closely monitoring them. This article will introduce eight of the largest venture capital firms, their biggest holdings, and recent investments.

6. “FVM Launching Soon! Understand the Latest Filecoin Foundation Status Report”

Filecoin's storage market continued to grow in the fourth quarter of 2022, with active storage transaction proposals increasing by 117% compared to the previous quarter and by 1,798% year-on-year. If the Filecoin virtual machine is successfully launched, it could drive the next generation of applications beyond storage use cases. Some key examples include perpetual storage (similar to Arweave), low collateral loans for storage providers, and decentralized computing.

7. “FTX Investors Sue Sequoia, Paradigm; Should VCs Bear Legal Responsibility for Investment Failures?”

Recently, cryptocurrency FTX investors filed a lawsuit against venture capital and private equity firms including Sequoia Capital, Thoma Bravo, and Paradigm. The lawsuit claims that the substantial investments by these institutions portrayed FTX as a trustworthy and legitimate cryptocurrency exchange. Investors accuse the firms of violating state and federal laws, including false statements, false advertising, and civil conspiracy. Should venture capital firms be held more accountable for investment failures?

8. “Is Web3 Venture Capital Dead?”

Venture capital activity is often closely related to major stock indices, and we are currently in a bear market. Therefore, this should be a bad time for founders to raise funds. This article explores how the blockchain fundraising environment in 2023 compares to the bear market of 2018 and lays out a framework for what founders need to know about survival this year.

9. “Will the SEC's Settlement with Kraken Reshape the Ethereum Staking Landscape?”

The settlement between Kraken and the SEC may be bad news for many staking products that allow users to stake with lower upfront costs or technical knowledge than usually required. Currently, there is approximately $25 billion worth of Ether staked on Ethereum, with 18% of the stake held by Coinbase and Kraken—two of the largest platforms offering staking services.

10. “What Do the Newly Passed Custody Rules Mean for Crypto Institutions as U.S. Regulation Tightens Again?”

On February 15, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted 4 to 1 to approve a proposal regarding "Proposed Rules Regarding Investment Adviser Custody," which will expand the types of assets that investment advisers, such as hedge funds and pension funds, must hold with qualified custodians. This aims to raise the bar against the improper use and abuse of user assets by investment advisers. It is reported that after this SEC vote, the SEC will also solicit public comments before conducting another vote a few months later. What potential impacts will this proposal have on crypto custody institutions?

11. “FTX Investors Sue Sequoia, Paradigm; Should VCs Bear Legal Responsibility for Investment Failures?”

Recently, cryptocurrency FTX investors filed a lawsuit against venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital and Paradigm, claiming that the substantial investments by these institutions portrayed FTX as a trustworthy and legitimate cryptocurrency exchange. Investors accuse the firms of violating state and federal laws, including false statements, false advertising, and civil conspiracy. The collapse of FTX has not only dealt a heavy blow to the cryptocurrency industry but also brought more adverse effects to the already battered venture capital sector. In the face of legal accusations, should venture capital firms be held more accountable for investment failures?

12. “Amber Group: Why Modular Blockchains are the Future?”

In the mobile ecosystem, modularity has not succeeded, and this concept has almost been forgotten in the history of technology. However, the concept of modularity has resurfaced in the blockchain field, and this time its fate may be different?

Amber Group analyzes that decentralized, modular blockchains will still undergo a long development process in the future. During this period, monolithic blockchains will continue to play a role and innovate. When we finally reach a point where modular blockchains are widely adopted, the development scenarios of monolithic blockchains may also be completely different. In summary, we need scaling solutions to provide liquidity and user services for existing blockchains. In the long run, modular blockchain architecture may be the best approach.

13. “Pantera Partner: An Overview of Current ZK Solutions and Use Cases”

For cryptocurrencies, zero-knowledge is a game-changing key technology that offers significant privacy and compression advantages. To ensure privacy, ZKP (Zero-Knowledge Proof) uses mathematical techniques that allow information to be verified without revealing actual data. Additionally, ZKP provides compression benefits by storing a large amount of information in a compact proof. This article will list some examples of ZK encryption solutions.

14. “Using GNS as an Example to Understand the DEX PERP Track: Mechanisms, Development History, and Competitive Advantages”

The new versions of GMX and SNX Perp have both drawn inspiration from a project called GNS, which has increased more than tenfold since the Luna crisis last year, with trading volume and fee revenue hitting new highs, thanks to continuous innovation in its mechanisms. This article will provide a detailed introduction to GNS's mechanisms, development history, and competitive advantages. Understanding GNS can give you insight into many DEX PERP projects.

15. “Foresight Ventures: A Comprehensive Interpretation of L1 Public Chain Linera”

The public chain track is highly competitive, with new funds and teams continuously entering the field. Linera aims to provide a secure, highly scalable, low-latency blockchain to give Web3 applications faster response times and bridge the gap between centralized and decentralized applications. The founding team comes from Meta (Facebook) and previously participated in the development of the Diem blockchain. Compared to competitors, Linera is often discussed alongside Aptos and Sui, but its technical team size, background, and funding scale are far less than those of Aptos and Sui.