Techub News Evening Report: SEC plans to establish universal listing standards for Token ETFs, Celsius granted permission to pursue Tether for $4 billion.

Organizer: Nona

Regulation/Macro

U.S. bankruptcy judge rules that Celsius can continue its $4 billion Bitcoin lawsuit against Tether.

A U.S. bankruptcy judge ruled that Celsius Network's $4 billion lawsuit against Tether can proceed, with Celsius accusing Tether of improperly liquidating approximately 39,500 bitcoins pledged as collateral in June 2022, violating the procedures outlined in their lending agreement, resulting in losses exceeding $4 billion for Celsius. Although Tether argued that U.S. courts lacked jurisdiction, the judge found that Celsius's claims of breach of contract, fraudulent transfer, and priority could continue to be heard.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee commented on the stablecoin licensing system: Enhancing financial competitiveness.

The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, John Lee, stated in his speech at the 28th anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region that Hong Kong is strengthening connectivity, establishing a licensing system for stablecoins, optimizing the listing process, and enhancing financial competitiveness. Hong Kong's status as a financial center has risen to third place in the world, and it has attracted 84 key enterprises engaged in cutting-edge technology, bringing about approximately HKD 50 billion in investments.

Bloomberg: Deutsche Bank plans to launch digital asset custody services next year.

Deutsche Bank plans to launch its digital asset custody service next year and has hired the technology department of cryptocurrency exchange Bitpanda to assist in building the product. Deutsche Bank's corporate banking division first announced its custody plans in 2022, and the bank will continue to collaborate with Swiss technology provider Taurus SA to offer this service. Earlier this month, the German bank stated that it is exploring stablecoins and different forms of tokenized deposits.

Eleanor Terrett: The US SEC is developing universal listing standards for token ETFs.

Crypto America's journalist Eleanor Terrett tweeted that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is coordinating with exchanges to create a universal listing standard for token-based ETFs, which is currently in its early stages. Eleanor Terrett revealed that if a token meets these standards, the issuer may skip the 19b-4 process and directly submit an S-1 application, waiting for 75 days for direct listing by the exchange. This streamlined process is expected to save a significant amount of paperwork and repeated communication costs for issuers and the SEC. The details of these listing standards are not yet clear, but the market speculates that factors such as market capitalization, trading volume, and liquidity may be under consideration. An SEC spokesperson declined to comment on this.

The SEC has released new guidelines for the issuance of cryptocurrency ETPs.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Corporation Finance released a notice outlining the information that issuers of exchange-traded products (ETPs) for crypto assets must include in their filings. The guidance covers everything from how to calculate net asset value and how to select service providers to detailed descriptions of custody practices and potential conflicts of interest. The SEC stated that issuers must provide targeted disclosures based on their specific structure, emphasizing the review of asset selection, custody, conflicts of interest, and ETP creation/redemption mechanisms.

Arizona Governor vetoes "Bitcoin Reserve" bill HB 2324

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed the "Bitcoin Reserve" bill HB 2324. The bill was originally intended to establish a digital asset reserve for storing digital assets obtained through criminal asset forfeiture.

The SEC has approved the amendment to convert Grayscale's Digital Large Cap Fund into an ETF.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the rule change proposal submitted by the New York Stock Exchange Arca, allowing the shares of Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund LLC to be listed for trading. The SEC stated that, pursuant to Section 19 of the Securities Exchange Act, it now orders the expedited approval of the proposed rule change (SR-NYSEARCA-2024-87). The fund is currently trading over-the-counter for qualified investors, primarily consisting of Bitcoin, which accounts for nearly 80%, with ETH making up about 11%, and Solana, Cardano, and XRP also included, each accounting for single-digit percentages.

Project/Company Updates

Norwegian mining company Green Minerals signs a financing agreement of approximately $24.75 million to increase its Bitcoin holdings.

Norwegian mining company Green Minerals announced that it has signed a structural financing agreement worth 250 million Norwegian kroner (approximately 24.75 million USD) to purchase more Bitcoin.

UniCredit Bank in Italy will provide BlackRock Bitcoin ETF-linked products for its professional clients.

UniCredit SpA will offer a structured product linked to the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF for its professional clients, featuring comprehensive loss protection. The bank plans to issue a five-year USD-denominated investment certificate linked to the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, which will provide 100% capital protection at maturity, as confirmed by the bank. The UniCredit certificate will be available to professional clients from July 1 to July 28.

Bit Digital underwriters fully exercised the over-allotment option, raising $162.9 million for the purchase of Ethereum.

Bit Digital (Nasdaq: BTBT) announced that the underwriters of its recent public offering have fully exercised their over-allotment option, purchasing an additional 11.25 million shares of common stock. After deducting estimated offering expenses, the company will receive approximately $21.4 million in net proceeds. This public offering totaled 86.25 million shares of common stock, with total net proceeds reaching $162.9 million. The company plans to use the net proceeds from this offering to purchase Ethereum.

Derlin Holdings and Asseto are expanding their RWA tokenization program and plan to apply for a stablecoin license.

Hong Kong listed company Derlin Holdings (01709) announced that it has signed a strategic cooperation memorandum of understanding with fintech company Asseto Fintech Limited, which focuses on the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA). The two parties plan to jointly develop RWA tokenization solutions in the Asian market and promote the adoption of compliant digital asset products and services, including stablecoin applications and DeFi integration, with plans to apply for a stablecoin license.

Important data

Yesterday, the total net outflow of Bitcoin spot ETF in the United States was approximately 342 million USD.

Yesterday (Eastern Time, July 1), the total net outflow from U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs was approximately $342 million. Fidelity ETF FBTC had a net outflow of about $173 million in a single day; Grayscale ETF GBTC had a net outflow of about $120 million in a single day; Ark & 21 Shares ETF ARKB had a net outflow of about $27.03 million in a single day; Bitwise ETF BITB had a net outflow of about $22.98 million in a single day; BlackRock ETF IBIT, Grayscale Micro ETF BTC, VanEck ETF HODL, Valkyrie ETF BRRR, Franklin ETF EZBC, Invesco Galaxy ETF BTCO, WisdomTree ETF BTCW, and Hashdex ETF DEFI had no net inflows or outflows.

Yesterday, the total net inflow of Ethereum spot ETFs in the US was approximately 40.68 million USD.

Yesterday (Eastern Time July 1), the total net inflow of Ethereum spot ETFs in the United States was approximately $40.68 million. BlackRock ETF ETHA had a net inflow of approximately $54.84 million in a single day; Grayscale ETF ETHE had a net inflow of approximately $9.96 million in a single day; Fidelity ETF FETH had a net outflow of approximately $24.11 million in a single day; Grayscale Micro ETF ETH, Bitwise ETF ETHW, VanEck ETF ETHV, Franklin ETF EZET, 21 Shares ETF CETH, and Invesco ETF QETH had no net inflow or outflow.

Data: The spot trading volume of centralized exchanges has dropped to $1.07 trillion, hitting a new low in 9 months.

In June of this year, the spot trading volume of centralized exchanges fell to $1.07 trillion, hitting a new low in 9 months. Meanwhile, the trading volume on decentralized trading platforms continued to rise, with the monthly trading volume in June growing to $390 billion.

NaviPharma Biotechnology surged nearly 240%, planning to acquire Conflux assets.

Hong Kong-listed company Navigating Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology (00399) experienced a significant surge this morning, soaring nearly 240% at one point, before gradually narrowing its gains. As of the time of writing, it is up 62.62%, trading at HKD 0.335, with a transaction volume of HKD 24.64 million. Previously, Navigating Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology announced plans to acquire Conflux assets.