The Daily: Justin Sun pleads innocence after WLFI blacklisting, dormant Ethereum ICO whale moves $646M in ETH, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Friday! U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by just 22,000 in August, unemployment hit 4.3%, and June’s revision marked the first negative month since 2020 — with traders now fully pricing a September rate cut.

In today’s newsletter, Justin Sun calls on World Liberty Financial to reverse his WLFI token blacklisting, an Ethereum ICO participant moves $646 million in ETH, South Korea bans leveraged crypto lending, and more.

Let’s get started.

P.S. Don’t forget to check out The Funding, a biweekly rundown of crypto VC trends. It’s a great read — and just like The Daily, it’s free to subscribe!

‘I am innocent’: Justin Sun calls for World Liberty Financial to unfreeze his WLFI tokens

Tron founder, HTX advisor, and early World Liberty Financial investor Justin Sun protested his innocence to the Trump family-backed DeFi project early Friday, requesting that it release his WLFI tokens following a blacklisting of his address on Thursday.

• Sun argued his WLFI were “unreasonably frozen,” insisting he purchased them like any other investor and deserves the same rights to what he called the “sacred and inviolable” tokens, part of what makes blockchain “stronger and more fair than traditional finance.”
• “I call on the team to respect these principles, unlock my tokens, and let’s move forward together toward the success of World Liberty Financial,” Sun said, warning unilateral freezes risk undermining trust in the project’s fairness and transparency.
• Responding to Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik’s post on the situation, Sun declared, “I am innocent.”
• World Liberty Financial has yet to publicly comment on the blacklisting. However, it came within hours of the Justin Sun-labeled wallet sending 50 million WLFI, worth around $9 million, to an address linked to an HTX hot wallet.
• Onchain data showed HTX had also transferred millions of WLFI tokens to a Binance deposit address over the last couple of days amid accusations of selling.
• This came during a period of substantial exchange deposit flow more generally, with the volume spike creating extreme selling pressure.
• World Liberty Financial’s native token started trading on crypto exchanges earlier this week, plunging by around 24% at one point on Thursday, though the majority of that move was ahead of Sun’s transfer.
• Sun has been one of the biggest supporters of both WLFI and Trump’s memecoin, while World Liberty Financial has also bought millions of dollars’ worth of Tron’s TRX token.

Ethereum ICO whale moves $646 million in ETH to staking address after three-year dormancy

A whale who participated in Ethereum’s initial coin offering moved 150,000 ETH worth $646 million to a staking address late Thursday after more than three years of dormancy, according to onchain analysts.

• The funds came from three ICO-era addresses that were last active in February 2022 with transactions unrelated to ether.
• The move follows a wave of old Ethereum ICO wallets resurfacing in recent months amid bullish momentum and a brief new all-time high for the second-largest cryptocurrency, with large amounts of ether deposited to crypto exchanges.
• Ethereum’s 2014 ICO raised $18.3 million by selling over 60 million ETH at an average price of just $0.31 at the time.

South Korea caps crypto lending at 20% interest, bans leveraged loans

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission issued new guidance on crypto lending services, capping interest rates at 20% and prohibiting leveraged loans beyond the collateral value.

• The new rules also limit lending to the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap or those listed on at least three licensed local exchanges.
• Platforms offering these services must use their own capital, set lending limits based on user history, and notify borrowers in advance if they are at risk of potential liquidation.
• The FSC said the guidelines will be applied immediately, with oversight from the Digital Asset Exchange Alliance, and plans to legislate the new rules after review.

Sora Ventures launches $1 billion fund to support bitcoin treasury firms in Asia

Taiwan-based crypto venture capital firm Sora Ventures unveiled plans on Friday to raise a new $1 billion fund to back bitcoin treasury companies, with $200 million already committed.

• Sora aims to complete fundraising within six months, targeting Asia-based firms that hold bitcoin on their balance sheets, a strategy that has recently gained traction among listed firms in the region.
• Sora previously invested in Japanese bitcoin treasury company Metaplanet, acquired Hong Kong’s Moon Inc., and led takeovers of Thailand’s DV8 and South Korea’s BitPlanet.
• Founder Jason Fang said the fund marks the first coordinated push to unify fragmented bitcoin treasury efforts in Asia onto a global stage.

Wildcat Labs raises $3.5 million to grow its undercollateralized lending protocol

Wildcat Labs has raised $3.5 million in a seed extension round led by Robot Ventures, valuing the undercollateralized lending protocol developer at $35 million.

• The fresh capital will be used to expand its team and deepen integration with Ethereum DeFi, opening up access to private credit markets onchain, Wildcat Labs CEO Laurence Day said.
• Wildcat generates revenue by adding a protocol fee of 5% of the APR offered by borrowers in their markets, currently handling $150 million in outstanding credit with $368 million originated since launch.

Looking ahead to next week

• U.S. PPI figures are out on Wednesday. The ECB’s latest interest rate decision, U.S. CPI data, and jobless claims follow on Thursday. UK GDP numbers are due on Friday.
• Sonic, Movement, Axie Infinity, Aptos, and Moca Network are set for token unlocks.
• Taipei Blockchain Week and ETHWarsaw conclude. Viena Blockchain Week and ETHBoston get underway.

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