Blockchain Weekly | Tiger Securities plans to enter the virtual currency market, and many mining pools in the southwest are rapidly divesting domestic related businesses

Author | Liu Xia Editor | Jiang Zhaosheng Layout | Wen Xin

This report is intended for information purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice.

summary

Domestic News

1. The National Development and Reform Commission and other four departments: layout of national hub nodes of the national computing network

2. Vice Premier Liu He: Strengthen the construction of computing power infrastructure

3. Yunnan Province will provide a maximum subsidy of 10 million yuan for a single blockchain project

4. Many mining pool-related companies quickly divested their domestic related businesses

5. Vonechain Technology's 10 billion-level data center project settled in Guizhou

6. Wang Fenghai, General Manager of Shanghai Futures Exchange: Actively explore and try the application of blockchain in cross-border margin scenarios

International News

1. Swedish central bank tests central bank digital currency

2. Nebraska, USA, passed the Financial Innovation Act to allow the establishment of state-level crypto banks

3. The Australian Taxation Office will require crypto taxpayers to submit tax returns

4. Convenience store giant Sheetz will begin accepting payment methods such as Dogecoin, Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.

5. BurgerSwap updates flash loan details, a total of 4,400 WBNB, 1.4 million USDT and other tokens were stolen

6. Apple is looking for talents in fields such as encryption to lead its "alternative payment" project

Latest crypto projects/technical developments

1. Celer, the Ethereum Layer 2 expansion project, proposed CIP-3 to achieve optimal returns through a combination of protocol strategies

2. Ethereum Layer2 expansion solution Hermez releases product development roadmap

3. DeFi Alliance has supported the first Solana-based project, Mercurial Finance

4. Privacy DeFi protocol Manta Network reaches cooperation with Polkadot privacy infrastructure Phala

5. Multi-chain revenue aggregator Roseon Finance mobile app will support Ethereum scaling solution Polygon

Investment and Financing Overview

According to incomplete statistics from 01 Blockchain and Zero One Think Tank, there were 39 financing events related to blockchain and encrypted digital currencies last week (May 24-May 30, 2021), of which 31 disclosed the specific financing scale, with a total financing amount of approximately US$776 million. The number of financings increased compared with the previous week, while the total financing amount decreased to a certain extent.

In terms of regional distribution, blockchain-related investment and financing last week were mainly distributed in the United States (11 cases) and China (4 cases), with 1 case each in Singapore, Switzerland, France, and India.

In terms of rounds, strategic investments and angel/seed rounds accounted for the majority last week, with 13 and 11 respectively, and there were 7 A rounds of financing, 1 IDO, ICO and M&A each; in terms of scenarios, Bitcoin cross-border transfer service providers gained the most last week, and projects in tracks such as NFT and digital asset trading platforms were also favored by capital.

In terms of investment institutions, mainstream institutions such as a16z and blockchain institutions such as Coinbase and DCG all made investments last week; in terms of domestic industries, Hangzhou Yunxiang Technology, Nanjing Pure White Matrix, etc. announced last week that they had received nearly 100 million yuan in financing.

The following is the specific situation of blockchain project/company financing last week:

Source: 01 Blockchain, Zero One Think Tank

Overview of domestic and international news

Domestic policy orientation

[National Development and Reform Commission and other four departments: layout of national hub nodes of the national computing network]

Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the National Energy Administration jointly issued the "Implementation Plan for the Computing Hub of the National Integrated Big Data Center Collaborative Innovation System" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), which clearly proposed to layout the national hub nodes of the national computing network, launch the "East Data West Computing" project, and build a national computing network system. The "Plan" layouts the construction of national hub nodes of the national computing network (hereinafter referred to as "national hub nodes") in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Chengdu-Chongqing, as well as Guizhou, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, and Ningxia, focusing on promoting the overall planning of data center layout, network, electricity, energy consumption, computing power, data, etc. The national hub node of the national integrated computing network is the backbone connection point of my country's computing network. Through the national hub node, the layout of data center construction is planned in a coordinated manner, guiding the moderate aggregation of large-scale data centers to form data center clusters. Between clusters, a high-speed data center direct connection network is established to implement the "East Data West Computing" project to support large-scale computing power scheduling and build a new computing network pattern oriented by data flow.

[Vice Premier Liu He: Strengthen the construction of computing infrastructure]

The opening ceremony of the 2021 China International Big Data Industry Expo was held in Guiyang, Guizhou on the 26th. Liu He, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, attended and spoke via video. Liu He pointed out that General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the development of the big data industry and pointed out that it is necessary to promote the implementation of the national big data strategy and accelerate the construction of a digital China. Human society is entering a new historical stage of the rapid rise of digital productivity. Big data is profoundly affecting global scientific and technological innovation, industrial structure adjustment and economic and social development. He stressed that it is necessary to expand the application scenarios of big data from the two dimensions of breadth and depth, actively promote the all-round and in-depth integration of digital technology with all fields of economic and social development, and fully tap the multiple values ​​of data. It is necessary to consolidate the computing power and talent foundation, strengthen the construction of computing power infrastructure, make up for the shortcomings of key technologies and industries, attach importance to the construction of basic disciplines such as mathematics and physics, and cultivate talents related to the big data industry.

[Yunnan Province will provide a maximum subsidy of 10 million yuan for a single blockchain project]

On May 29, the official website of the Yunnan Provincial Development and Reform Commission released the "Yunnan Province's Implementation Rules for Several Measures to Support the Development of the Blockchain Industry (Trial)". The province will vigorously support the development of blockchain new infrastructure, select three blockchain platforms with active applications and outstanding driving forces each year, and provide a one-time ex post subsidy of 30% of the project research and development, purchase or rental of equipment, and testing and certification costs to the project construction entity. The maximum subsidy for a single project shall not exceed 10 million yuan.

[People's Daily: The problematic "cryptocurrency circle" urgently needs to be "circled" in terms of supervision]

The People's Daily published a commentary saying that since last year, virtual currencies represented by Bitcoin have continued to be hyped, with prices soaring and plummeting, causing investors to lament and onlookers to sigh. Recently, some media conducted a follow-up investigation on the virtual currency market and found that some Bitcoin "mines" were selling dog meat under the guise of "data centers", which caused an explosive increase in power consumption. Not only that, driven by interests, some people took risks and tried every means to bypass the risk control of financial institutions to engage in speculative transactions, accumulating huge investment risks. From upstream "mining" to downstream transactions, the problematic "currency circle" urgently needs to be "circled" in supervision.

Domestic Industry Trends

[Many mining pool-related companies quickly divested domestic related businesses]

Some areas in Xinjiang and Sichuan have suspended power supply to mining farms, and many mining pool-related companies have quickly divested domestic related businesses. Last Friday, the Financial Committee of the State Council proposed "cracking down on Bitcoin mining and trading" in a meeting. Relevant people said, "The heavy voice of the Financial Committee has a great impact on the mining industry. Due to this incident, a large number of domestic miners are now "going overseas" to find suitable sites to build new mines, mainly concentrated in the United States, Kazakhstan, Russia, Canada and other places, which has also caused the local sites to become in short supply. In addition, many miners are also selling Bitcoin mining machines in China.

[Tiger Securities plans to develop overseas virtual currency licenses, CEO says it will provide digital currency related transactions in due course]

In a conference call, Tiger Securities CEO Wu Tianhua revealed that the company plans to invest in digital currency. Wu Tianhua said that in the past one or two years, digital currency such as Bitcoin has gradually been accepted by some mainstream institutions and has become part of their asset allocation. In order to make investment better through technology, the company will also provide investors with digital currency and other related transactions at an appropriate time to meet everyone's diverse trading needs. He added that the premise of providing this transaction must be legal and compliant, and all platform entities must meet local regulatory requirements for digital currency transactions. The company is making relevant arrangements in this regard, and will not open digital currency services to Chinese users, but only to non-Chinese users abroad.

[Vonchain Technology's 10 billion-level data center project settled in Guizhou]

On May 26, the 2021 Big Data Expo opened in Guiyang. At the Big Data Expo, Vonechain Technology CEO Liu Tao was invited to attend the signing ceremony and formally signed a strategic investment agreement for the Gui'an Puhui Cloud Computing Data Center Project with the Gui'an New District Management Committee, with a total investment of 10 billion yuan. Based on the good location advantages and resource conditions of Gui'an New District, the two parties will jointly explore the "new infrastructure" path suitable for the development of the data industry and digital economy, promote the construction of high-quality data centers, jointly promote a new model of government-enterprise cooperation, and further empower the development of the digital economy with technology.

International News

[Swedish central bank tests central bank digital currency]

On May 28, the Swedish central bank said that the Swedish central bank will work with commercial bank Handelsbanken to test how the country's proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC) e-krona can handle payments in the real world. So far, most central banks have only conducted research on CBDC, with Sweden and China being the only countries to start testing, except for the Bahamas, which has already issued one.

[Nebraska, USA, passed the Financial Innovation Act to allow the establishment of state-level crypto banks]

The bill that would allow for the establishment of a state-level crypto bank in Nebraska has been signed into law. The bill, called LB649 or the Nebraska Financial Innovation Act, was introduced in January by New York State Senator Mike Flood. The bill was drafted by a Japanese crypto company called Telcoin, which pledged to relocate to Nebraska if the bill became law. Wyoming passed similar legislation last year, paving the way for Kraken to become the first official state-level crypto bank in the United States.

[Australian Taxation Office will require crypto taxpayers to submit tax returns]

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has notified approximately 100,000 taxpayers who hold cryptocurrencies that it will review their previously submitted returns and ensure that they are correct. The tax department will also ask approximately 300,000 people to submit their 2021 tax returns.

[Convenience store giant Sheetz will begin accepting payment methods such as Dogecoin, Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.]

According to U.today, American convenience store giant Sheetz announced a statement accepting digital currencies after partnering with crypto payment startup Flexa. It will support Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies in specific cafe stores this summer. By the end of the year, it will also be possible to use cryptocurrencies to pay for gas at Sheetz locations. Note: Sheetz was founded in 1952 and currently has 634 stores with annual revenue of $6.2 billion.

[BurgerSwap updates flash loan details, a total of 4,400 WBNB, 1.4 million USDT and other tokens were stolen]

BurgerSwap, the first automated market maker on the BSC chain, updated the details of the flash loan. At around 03:00 on May 28, BurgerSwap suffered a flash loan attack on the BSC chain, and $7.2 million was stolen through 14 transactions. The attacker created fake coins (non-standard BEP-20 tokens) and created a BURGER trading pair. By adjusting the route, the attacker created a BURGER to fake coin and then to WBNB route. Through the BURGER/fake coin trading pair, the attacker re-entered BurgerSwap with fake coins and manipulated the amount of reserve0 and reserve1 in the trading pair contract, causing the price to change. Then re-enter the transaction again and trade back to WBNB to obtain the additional input amount of WBNB. The attacker stole a total of 4,400 WBNB (US$1.6 million), 22,000 BUSD (US$22,000), 2.5 ETH (US$6,800), 1.4 million USDT (US$1.4 million), 432,000 BURGER (US$3.2 million), 142,000 xBURGER (US$1 million), and 95,000 ROCKS through flash loans.

[Apple is looking for talents in fields such as encryption to lead its "alternative payment" project]

Apple is looking for a business development manager with experience in the cryptocurrency industry to lead its "alternative payments" partnership program. In a job posting published on Wednesday, Apple said that applicants should have five or more years of "experience working with or with other payment providers, such as digital wallets, Fast Payments, cryptocurrencies, etc." Apple said the manager will be Apple's lead negotiator in the alternative payments space. But Apple has not made a public statement about its plans in the crypto space.

Latest crypto projects/technical developments

[Celer, the Ethereum Layer 2 expansion project, proposes CIP-3 to achieve optimal returns through a combination of protocol strategies]

Official news, Ethereum Layer 2 expansion project Celer Network community initiated proposal CIP-3, aiming to achieve optimal returns through combined protocol strategies. The proposal stated that Celer currently only has a single protocol strategy, and users need to manually reallocate their balance to another higher-yield strategy, so a strategy is proposed to achieve optimal returns by combining multiple protocols.

[Ethereum Layer2 expansion solution Hermez releases product development roadmap]

Ethereum Layer2 expansion solution Hermez released a product development roadmap, which is divided into five phases related to specific functional goals. In the first phase, Hermez multi-coordinator network and full support for atomic transactions will be supported by the second quarter of 2021. In the second phase, promotional airdrops and user rewards will be launched by the fourth quarter of 2021, token exchange in the Hermez wallet will be realized, and new transaction types and formats will be introduced. In the third phase, third-party wallet integration, native applications and mobile SDKs, and large-scale migration enhancements will be completed by the fourth quarter of 2021. In the fourth phase, instant certainty of payments in decentralized models, native integration of Iden3 identities, enhanced user onboarding, and support for NFT assets will be completed by 2022. In the fifth phase, private transaction support and composability will be completed by 2022 to make it as close to the current Ethereum EVM as possible.

[DeFi Alliance has supported the first Solana-based project Mercurial Finance]

The DeFi Alliance has backed its first Solana-based project, Mercurial Finance. Mercurial is building a stablecoin trading protocol on the Solana blockchain. Mercurial co-head Ning Ng said the DeFi Alliance has invested $100,000 in Mercurial and will help bootstrap liquidity for the protocol. Other backers of Mercurial include Alameda Research, Solana Ecosystem Fund, Huobi, OKEx, CoinGecko founder, Blockfolio, Nansen, and others. To date, the project has raised a total of $10.3 million through the sale of SAFTs. The Mercurial protocol is expected to launch next month.

[Privacy DeFi protocol Manta Network reaches cooperation with Polkadot privacy infrastructure Phala]

The privacy DeFi protocol Manta Network announced a partnership with Polkadot’s privacy infrastructure Phala to build a comprehensive Polkadot privacy ecosystem. This partnership will provide privacy and computability for both Polkadot’s computing and transaction layers. Manta will provide DeFi functions such as privacy minting, privacy transfers, and privacy transactions, while Phala will provide exchange, lending, and other functions in a privacy environment.