Heecheol Yang

The multi-virtual machine (Virtual Machine) full-chain network Mango Network has announced the Mango Network (MGO) tokenomics ahead of its Token Generation Event (TGE). According to Mango Network X on the 23rd (local time), the total supply of MGO tokens is 10 billion. The token allocation consists of 20% for the Proof-of-Stake (POS) staking pool, 20% for the foundation, 17% for the ecosystem innovation fund, 15% for the team and early contributors, 15% for investors, 5% for the testnet airdrop, 5% for the mainnet airdrop, and 3% for consultants. In particular, 5% of the total is allocated to the testnet airdrop. Mango Network stated, "Out of the total 10 billion MGO tokens, 1 billion have been allocated as rewards for early contributors," and "these tokens are distributed to various stakeholders who have played a key role in the ecosystem's growth so far." A full-chain network refers to an architecture that allows data, assets, and applications to be fully processed on-chain within the network. Mango Network is notable for being designed to integrate and operate various blockchain virtual machines such as Ethereum, Solana, and Bitcoin within a single network.

Goldman Sachs has warned that heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East may lead to further increases in international oil and natural gas prices. According to Bloomberg on the 23rd (local time), Goldman Sachs stated in a recent report, "The volume of crude oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz has been halved," and projected, "If supply remains more than 10% below the current level for the next 11 months, Brent Crude could surge to USD 110 per barrel." Additionally, Daan Struyven, head of oil research at Goldman Sachs, said, "If Iran's daily crude oil production drops to 1.75 million barrels, Brent Crude could jump to USD 90." The natural gas market is also at risk. The benchmark price for the European natural gas market, TTF, Title Transfer Facility, is said to have the potential to rise to €74 per MWh or USD 25 per million British thermal units (MMBtu). This is comparable to the level that impacted demand during the 2022 European energy crisis. The report stated, "The Strait of Hormuz is a key energy pathway," and warned, "If this pathway faces continued disruptions, natural gas prices could soar to €100 per MWh."

The Russian government has warned US President Donald Trump that a military strike against Iran could result in opening a 'Pandora’s box.' According to the Daily Mail on the 23rd (local time), the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently stated, “If President Trump considers military action against Iran, it will provoke unpredictable chaos throughout the Middle East.” It further emphasized that “any military adventurism against Iran could pose a severe threat to regional security and world peace.” Recently, tensions have been rising in the Middle East among Iran, Israel, and the United States. There are expectations in the market that if a military conflict between the United States and Iran becomes a reality, it could lead to a surge in international oil prices and worsen global financial market instability.

BoA has advised global investors to pay attention to Australian government bonds. According to Cryptopolitan on the 23rd (local time), a BoA bond market report forecasts a large inflow of funds into the Australian bond market and a rise in prices. The report notes, "The Australian bond market is small in scale and may see high price volatility if global capital flows in," and predicts, "If the move away from dollar assets accelerates, Australian government bonds will be the biggest beneficiaries." This trend stems from weakened investor confidence in the dollar, due to President Donald Trump’s fiscal management style and policies of economic nationalism. This year, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) has fallen about 9%, marking the sharpest decline in a decade. In addition, a recent international fund manager survey by BoA found that 86% believe the dollar will depreciate within the next year. As expectations of a weaker dollar spread, currencies and bonds of non-dollar economies with abundant natural resources and strong fundamentals, such as Australia, are emerging as alternatives. The yield on Australian 10-year government bonds is currently 4.24%, not much different from that of the United States (4.43%), but BoA predicts the interest rate gap will widen to 0.75% points by 2026. The report also stated, "Demand from Australian pension funds and central banks, as well as easing banking regulations, will support Australian government bonds," adding that "the share of the Australian dollar in global foreign exchange reserves has doubled over the past decade," highlighting the strength of Australian bonds.

A Bitcoin (BTC) whale investor, who had not made any transactions for 12 years, recently transferred 61 BTC (worth $6.08 million) to an external address. According to data from the on-chain data platform Arkham Intelligence on the 23rd (local time), the whale investor held a total of 300 BTC (worth $30.2 million). This address, which had remained inactive for 12 years, transferred 61 BTC to an external address around 5 a.m. that day. When a large amount of Bitcoin is moved from such an old wallet, it often leads to a period of increased short-term volatility, especially as the price drops and trading volume surges. Meanwhile, at 09:05 a.m., BTC is trading at $107,770.89 on the Binance Tether (USDT) market, down 2.08% compared to the previous day.

Animoca Brands is working with Standard Chartered Bank and Hong Kong Telecom (HKT) to establish a joint venture to issue a stablecoin pegged to the Hong Kong dollar. On the 20th (local time), Evan Auyang, CEO of Animoca Brands, explained in an interview with NBD.com the background of the three-way partnership, saying, "The core of a stablecoin is to secure diverse real-world use cases and customer bases," and added, "For this, cooperation with leading companies across various industries is essential." Previously, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government set August 1 as the implementation date for the 'Stablecoin Ordinance' on the 6th. Last July, Animoca Brands, together with Standard Chartered and HKT, was selected to participate in the stablecoin project led by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. CEO Auyang noted, "Stablecoins will be used in sectors such as gaming, virtual assets, trade, and financial settlements," and evaluated that "they will become an important link for international trading of mainland Chinese assets."

The Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a public consultation to strengthen regulations for the listing of virtual assets (cryptocurrencies). According to CoinCU on the 20th (local time), the Thai SEC will conduct a public consultation on new virtual asset listing regulations from today until July 21. This measure aims to enhance market transparency and investor protection and is expected to affect both exchanges and token issuers. The SEC stated, "Through this public consultation, we are emphasizing transparency and requiring exchanges to flag tokens issued by affiliates," and added, "Potentially, this will lead to stronger investor protection and enhanced market oversight."

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has unveiled the offline-based password management tool 'PearPass.' This measure aims to respond to what is considered the largest information leak ever, with more than 1.6 billion passwords leaked recently. According to CoinDesk on the 20th (local time), the recent breach included a massive amount of login information from major platforms such as Apple, Meta, and Google. Cybersecurity experts described this as an "unprecedented major leak," warning that the risk of fraud and identity theft has greatly increased. CEO Paolo stated, "Clouds have failed again. 1.6 billion passwords were leaked at once" and added, "It's time to abandon the cloud." PearPass, newly unveiled by Tether, stores all passwords and authentication information not on the cloud, but only on the user's offline device.

On the 18th (local time), following the Fed's decision to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged, a divergence between the price of Bitcoin and open interest (OI) emerged on Binance. This is interpreted as a sign that the Bitcoin sell-off is subsiding. On the 19th (local time), CryptoQuant analyst Amr Taha analyzed, "On Binance, while the BTC price has repeatedly formed the same low point above the $104,000 level, confirming strong support, Bitcoin OI has continuously set even lower lows, indicating that a gradual deleveraging process is underway across the derivatives market." Liquidation data also concentrated on long positions. On the Binance liquidation delta chart, a massive liquidation of long positions occurred near $104,000, resulting in late investors exiting the market. Short liquidations were minimal, with a long squeeze leading the market trend. Taha noted, "This round of liquidations coincides with the Fed's decision to hold interest rates steady," and added, "In the past as well, when the Fed kept rates unchanged, Bitcoin often showed strength as open interest decreased."

The cryptocurrency betting platform Polymarket has forecast that the stablecoin regulation bill (GENIUS Act) is highly likely to be enacted by the end of this year. According to Cointelegraph on the 20th (local time), Polymarket announced that the probability of the GENIUS Act passing both the U.S. Senate and House and receiving the President’s signature is calculated at 89%. It is still uncertain whether the bill will pass the House in its original form. Some lawmakers may propose additional amendments, reflecting concerns over former President Donald Trump’s ties to the cryptocurrency industry—especially World Liberty Financial’s stablecoin USD1. In fact, in the Senate, the bill eventually passed after a similar amendment was rejected. Since the Republican Party holds a slim majority in the House, a vote in the plenary session is likely to occur soon. Former President Donald Trump has stated that if the House passes the bill swiftly, he will “sign it immediately without any additional provisions.” Meanwhile, this betting market opened about 18 hours after the bill passed the Senate on the 11th by a vote of 68 in favor and 30 against. The media noted that "cryptocurrency investors are paying close attention to the outcome."

Virtual asset (cryptocurrency) venture capital firm a16z has announced that it has restored its official X (formerly Twitter) account, which had suffered a hacking incident. According to CryptoNews, a media outlet specializing in virtual assets, on the 18th (local time), a16z's official X account was hacked and used to promote fake Solana (SOL)-based tokens and related content. (Unauthorized access was allowed.) Earlier that day, after seizing control of the account, the hacker posted malicious links and fake promotional materials claiming to launch their own tokens to over 850,000 followers. According to the outlet, the price of the scam token temporarily surged after the post, but then dropped by 90%, following a typical pump and dump pattern. After recovering the account, a16z stated on X, "Our X account was briefly compromised," and added, "Any token promotion or other content posted during the hacking period is unrelated to a16z. We apologize for any confusion caused by those who temporarily took over the account."

Atomic swaps between BlackRock's tokenized fund 'BUIDL' and Ethena Labs' synthetic stablecoin 'USDtb' have become possible. An atomic swap is a method of swapping tokens directly and simultaneously on-chain without a centralized exchange. On the 19th (local time), the digital asset (cryptocurrency) tokenization and distribution platform Securitize announced on X, "We have partnered with Ethena Labs to develop a 24/7 swap feature" and stated, "Qualified participants can now freely swap USDtb and BUIDL daily through the USDtb liquidity fund." The cryptocurrency options exchange Deribit is also supporting this feature. Luuk Strijers, the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Deribit, said, "This collaboration marks a significant advancement in the digital asset derivatives market," and added, "We aim to provide users with more diverse collateral options through this."

The total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocols has approached $6 billion. According to CoinDesk on the 18th (local time), based on a joint report from Artemis and Vaults.fyi, the TVL of leading DeFi lending protocols such as Aave, Euler, Spark, and Morpho is nearing $6 billion. This figure represents an increase of about 60% year-on-year. The report stated, “These platforms are rapidly institutionalizing as modular financial networks, moving beyond simple yield seeking.” DeFi protocols are also actively engaged in the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs), such as U.S. Treasury bonds and credit funds. These assets are being used as collateral or combined into complex strategy products to generate returns. Some protocols, including Pendle, are posting TVL of over $4 billion centered on tokenized stablecoin yield products. The report stated, “On-chain asset managers like Gauntlet, Re7, and Stakehouse Financial are playing increasingly significant roles in DeFi governance and capital allocation,” adding, “these asset managers’ current assets under management have risen more than fourfold compared to January this year ($1 billion).”

Sol Strategies, which is listed on the Canadian stock exchange, has submitted an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for listing on NASDAQ. According to Wu Blockchain X on the 19th (local time), Sol Strategies has been steadily accumulating Solana as company assets and is also participating in the operation of Solana validator nodes. The company currently holds over 420,000 Solana.

While Bitcoin (BTC) is hovering around the $104,000 level, the altcoin market still cannot break free from its slump. According to CryptoQuant on the 19th (local time), the cumulative one-year buy-sell order gap for altcoins, excluding Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH), recorded -$36 billion (USD). This indicator, which turned positive in December last year—signaling a short-term high for altcoins—has been declining ever since. On-chain data analysts said, "Altcoin investors have disappeared from the market," and forecasted, "Unless this indicator reverses upward again, it will be difficult to expect a full-fledged altcoin season."

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has seized $225.3 million (USD) worth of cryptocurrency linked to an investment scam known as 'pig butchering.' According to Cointelegraph on the 19th (local time), the DOJ stated, "We have seized $225.3 million in cryptocurrency tied to an investment scam," and "a civil forfeiture complaint has been filed regarding these assets." This large-scale scam involved over 400 victims, who were deceived by a fake virtual asset investment platform and suffered millions of dollars in losses. Tether, the stablecoin issuer, explained, "This seizure is related to the 'pig butchering' scam," and clarified, "'Pig butchering' is a novel scam technique in which criminals lure victims to invest increasing amounts of money before eventually stealing their funds."