Morning News | VanEck and Grayscale submitted BNB ETF amendments on the same day; BlackRock discusses investing billions of dollars in SpaceX's IPO; Michael Saylor releases Bitcoin Tracker information again

整理：ChainCatcher

Important News:

• VanEck and Grayscale submitted BNB ETF amendments on the same day
• Michael Saylor releases Bitcoin Tracker information again, may disclose increased holdings next week
• BlackRock discusses investing billions in SpaceX's IPO
• Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala increases IBIT to nearly $660 million
• Grafana reveals it faced a GitHub environment security incident, hackers stole code repositories and implemented ransomware
• Circle CEO willing to invest in a team exploring "AI Agents signing legal contracts" on Arc

What important events happened in the past 24 hours?

Circle CEO willing to invest in a team exploring "AI Agents signing legal contracts" on Arc

According to ChainCatcher, Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire retweeted an article on "how to build AI Agents that can sign legal contracts" on X.

Allaire stated that he is willing to invest in a team utilizing the Circle Agent Stack to build this business on Arc.

Grafana reveals it faced a GitHub environment security incident, hackers stole code repositories and implemented ransomware

According to ChainCatcher, the open-source data visualization tool Grafana announced on X that it recently discovered an unauthorized attacker obtained a token that accessed the Grafana Labs GitHub environment and used it to download code repositories.

Investigations confirmed that this incident did not involve customer data or personal information leakage, and no impact on customer systems or business operations was found. Forensic analysis was immediately initiated after the incident, and the source of the credential leak has been identified, with additional security measures deployed to enhance environmental protection.

Additionally, Grafana disclosed that the attacker attempted to demand ransom to prevent the code repositories from being made public, but the company ultimately decided to refuse the ransom payment and will release more information about the incident after the investigation concludes.

BlackRock discusses investing billions in SpaceX's IPO

According to ChainCatcher, The Information reported that insiders revealed BlackRock is discussing investing $5 billion to $10 billion in SpaceX's IPO next month. This massive investment targets an IPO project that could raise up to $75 billion, representing a vote of confidence from the world's largest asset management company in Musk's enterprise.

This investment also reflects that despite SpaceX pursuing a high valuation and planning to give investors almost no power to challenge management decisions, the market is still willing to participate in this historically largest IPO.

Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala increases IBIT to nearly $660 million
According to ChainCatcher, Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala has increased its IBIT holdings to nearly $660 million worth of Bitcoin ETF shares.
Russian stablecoin project aims to break away from the USDT system, promoting cross-border crypto settlements in rubles
According to ChainCatcher, CoinDesk reported that the stablecoin project based on the Russian ruble, A7A5, stated that even if the situation between Russia and Ukraine eases in the future and some sanctions are lifted, this stablecoin still has long-term survival space, with its core value lying in cross-border settlement efficiency, yield capability, and regional crypto payment infrastructure development.

The project's previous market value was about $500 million, initially aimed at helping Russia bypass banking restrictions, but it hopes to further develop into a "direct settlement channel between stablecoins," allowing direct exchanges with other stablecoins without relying on USDT, USDC, or the dollar system.

Chinese, US, and UAE police jointly crack down on Dubai telecom fraud gang, suspected of luring victims with high-return cryptocurrency projects

According to ChainCatcher, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security reported that recently, police from China, the United States, and the UAE conducted international law enforcement cooperation for the first time to jointly combat telecom network fraud crimes in the Dubai area, successfully dismantling 9 fraud dens and arresting 276 criminal suspects.

Investigations revealed that the related fraud gang established "romantic" relationships with victims through social platforms to gain emotional trust, then induced victims to invest in so-called high-return cryptocurrency projects, resulting in their deception. A relevant official from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security stated that this joint crackdown is an important achievement of international law enforcement cooperation by the Chinese police, who will deepen practical cooperation with more countries, conduct joint crackdown actions, resolutely eliminate fraud dens, and fully capture suspects involved in fraud crimes to effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of people in various countries.

Shandong police dismantle telecom fraud gang targeting minors: Seizing 20,000 virtual currencies, over 200 victims

According to ChainCatcher, Red Star News reported that Shandong Linyi police recently dismantled a telecom fraud gang targeting minors, seizing about 140,000 yuan in illegal gains and 20,000 virtual currencies on-site. Preliminary investigations confirmed that the gang had committed over 200 fraud cases nationwide, involving a significant amount of money.

The police disclosed that the criminal gang used "free game skins and equipment" as bait to induce minors to use their parents' phones and remotely control victims' devices through screen sharing to carry out transfer fraud, with the proceeds subsequently laundered in batches through methods such as phone bill recharges, electricity fees, and property fees. The upstream fraud platform used virtual currencies for fund settlement, and the suspects took about 20% of the fraud amount as their share. It is reported that the gang leader had previously gone to Myanmar's fraud park and has strong anti-investigation experience. The case is still under further investigation.

Michael Saylor releases Bitcoin Tracker information again, may disclose increased holdings next week

According to ChainCatcher, Michael Saylor, founder and executive chairman of Bitcoin treasury company Strategy, released Bitcoin Tracker-related information again, stating, "₿ig Dot Energy."

Based on previous patterns, Strategy always discloses information about increased Bitcoin holdings the day after relevant news is released.

Chinese Zhejiang customs crack down on smuggling of crypto mining machines, seizing over 400 mining machines

According to ChainCatcher, Zhejiang Ningbo customs anti-smuggling bureau recently cracked multiple cases of smuggling virtual currency mining machines, dismantling several criminal gangs and seizing over 400 mining machines of models such as Ant L9 and Ice River KS3.

Reports indicate that the involved gang misrepresented the mining machines as "industrial block devices" by disassembling them and smuggling them into the country through international express channels from ports in Ningbo, Guangzhou, etc., then reassembling and selling them domestically or sending them to mining farms in Xinjiang, Hunan, and other places for hosting and mining.

Investigators stated that the related gang also used USDT for cross-border payment settlements to evade fund supervision.
VanEck and Grayscale submitted BNB ETF amendments on the same day

According to ChainCatcher, The Block reported that VanEck submitted its fifth amendment to the BNB ETF registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday (May 15), while Grayscale also submitted its second amendment to the Grayscale BNB ETF prospectus on the same day.

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart stated that the simultaneous actions of both parties indicate that the two issuers are responding to feedback from the U.S. SEC and may plan to launch soon. James Seyffart speculated that BNB might be the next crypto asset to pass SEC review and be listed in the U.S.

Meanwhile, Canary Capital submitted a separate amendment to its staking TRX ETF proposal, which will package Tron’s staking yields into a regulated framework.

KB Financial Group completes technology validation for Korean won stablecoin payments and cross-border remittances

According to ChainCatcher, KB Financial Group announced that it has completed the technology concept validation for Korean won stablecoin in payment, settlement, and international remittance scenarios. This validation was jointly completed by KB Financial Group, electronic payment company KG Inicis, public chain Kaia, and digital asset solution company OpenAsset, covering the entire financial service process including Korean won stablecoin issuance, offline payments, merchant settlements, and cross-border remittances.

Reports indicate that the solution migrates the internal settlement system to a blockchain architecture while maintaining users' original financial service usage habits. Among them, actual payment scenarios have been tested through the offline self-service terminals of the chain coffee brand Hollys, allowing users to pay via QR codes without installing a digital wallet, with the system automatically executing on-chain smart contracts during the settlement phase. Additionally, in cross-border remittance tests, the system first converts the Korean won stablecoin into a U.S. dollar stablecoin through Kaia's on-chain liquidity, and then local partners in Vietnam complete the fiat currency entry. The entire remittance process takes about 3 minutes, with fees reduced by approximately 87% compared to traditional SWIFT remittance models.

Meme Popularity Rankings

According to the meme token tracking and analysis platform GMGN market data, as of May 18, 09:00,

The top five popular ETH tokens in the past 24 hours are: HEX, SHIB, LINK, PEPE, mUSD

The top five popular Solana tokens in the past 24 hours are: TROLL, WCOR, BULLISH, HANTA, neet

The top five popular Base tokens in the past 24 hours are: B3, BASED, SKYA, IMGA, TOSHI

What are some interesting articles worth reading in the past 24 hours?

Vitalik: What we need to do is not to fight AI, but to create sanctuary

Just finished listening to Vitalik's podcast episode at a16z, the amount of information is overwhelming.

He founded Ethereum at 19, and now in his early 30s, he has transformed from "autopilot" to "active pilot."

The core topic of this episode is the most anxious question we face today: AI is becoming stronger, what should humanity do?

Vitalik's answer is not to "fight AI," but to create sanctuary technologies. These technologies protect us without depriving our privacy and agency.

Today, I will break down the most counterintuitive viewpoints, practical suggestions, and the new positioning of Ethereum from this episode.

Dialogue with Lead Bank founder Jackie: American banks re-embrace Crypto

• Why Lead Bank chooses to provide banking services to crypto companies while others are withdrawing
• How the GENIUS Act and recent regulatory changes are reshaping banking strategies
• What new opportunities stablecoins will bring to traditional banks in a world after the GENIUS Act is implemented
• How to build trust between traditional banking regulators and crypto innovators

Whether you want to understand the role of the crypto industry in the future banking system or are exploring paths within the banking system as a Crypto Native, this dialogue will provide valuable insights from someone who has successfully connected traditional finance and the crypto world.