Crypto Morning Brief: SpaceX Plans to File IPO Application as Early as This Week; Tether Launches Its First Full Audit

Author: TechFlow

Yesterday’s Market Updates

U.S. Media: Iranian Sources Confirm Contact with U.S., But No Full-Scale Negotiations Yet

According to CNN, an Iranian source stated that “contact” has indeed taken place between the U.S. and Iran, and that Iran is open to hearing “sustainable” proposals aimed at ending the war. The source said: “Contact between the U.S. and Iran initiated by Washington has occurred in recent days, but it has not yet reached the stage of full-scale negotiations. Both sides have received messages through various intermediaries to explore whether an agreement ending the war can be reached.” They added: “The proposals currently under review aim not only at achieving a ceasefire but also at concluding a concrete agreement to end the U.S.-Iran conflict.”

The source declined to provide further details. They refused to comment on Trump’s public statements regarding negotiations and emphasized that Iran’s position remains consistent: Tehran is prepared to consider any viable proposal. The source stated: “Iran has not requested meetings or direct dialogue with the U.S., but it is willing to listen if a sustainable agreement emerges that safeguards Iran’s national interests.” The source also insisted that any proposal must include the lifting of all sanctions against Iran.

U.S. Media: U.S. Department of Justice Admits Lack of Evidence in Powell Investigation

According to The Washington Post, court records show that a senior deputy to U.S. Department of Justice official Jeanine Pirro acknowledged during a closed-door hearing this month that the DOJ lacks evidence of misconduct by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in its criminal investigation into renovation costs for the Federal Reserve building.

CPC Central Committee Issues “Regulations on Clean Professional Conduct for State-Owned Enterprise Leaders”: Prohibits Acceptance of “Virtual Currencies” and Other Assets

According to People’s Daily, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council recently issued the “Regulations on Clean Professional Conduct for State-Owned Enterprise Leaders.” Article 7 explicitly prohibits SOE leaders from seeking personal gain through their authority or position, specifically including: accepting gifts, cash, virtual currencies, and other assets from affiliated enterprises; buying or selling real estate or vehicles at unfair prices as a disguised form of accepting assets; delegating securities or futures investments to others without contributing capital yet receiving profits; engaging in quid pro quo via anonymous equity holdings or nominee shareholding arrangements; obtaining substantial returns through informal lending or other financial activities; exploiting insider information or trade secrets for personal benefit; embezzling, illegally appropriating, or misappropriating enterprise assets; and pocketing discount fees, brokerage commissions, and reward rebates. Violators will be dealt with in accordance with regulations, discipline, and law.

Backpack Responds to Witch Hunt Controversy: Introduces Appeal Channel, Will Refund Points and Launch Token Buyback Compensation

According to Claire, a Backpack team member, in response to recent user controversy over witch account determinations, Backpack has established appeal rules and plans to launch a token buyback compensation program.

Backpack co-founder Armani and core team members announced the immediate opening of an appeal channel and introduced “Rule No. 3”: Users operating no more than three accounts per device who were flagged as witches will, upon successful manual verification through appeal, receive refunds of over 50% of their points. Additionally, the Backpack team will launch a dedicated initiative within the coming days to conduct token buybacks on secondary markets; the purchased tokens will be allocated exclusively to users meeting the above criteria.

Claire noted that the witch determinations disproportionately affected Chinese-speaking users, as the Western team treats “one person, one account” as the compliance baseline—whereas usage habits among Chinese-speaking users diverge from this standard. Reportedly, team members from the Chinese-language region engaged in in-depth discussions with their Western counterparts to drive implementation of the above appeal and compensation mechanisms.

Resolv Proposes Settlement to Attacker at Dawn: Return 90% of Funds to Retain ~$2.5M Incentive

According to Resolv Labs’ announcement early today, in response to the prior vulnerability exploit that enabled ~80 million USR tokens to be minted without collateral, the Resolv team has sent an on-chain message to the attacker’s address formally proposing a settlement.

Specific terms are as follows: The attacker must return 90% (approximately $25 million worth of ETH) of the converted funds to a designated recovery address and may retain the remaining 10% as a settlement incentive; they must also cease all subsequent activity involving the stolen funds and transfer all USR tokens under their control to the same address. These requirements must be fulfilled within 72 hours of this announcement.

The Resolv team stated that if the attacker fails to comply within the stipulated timeframe, escalated measures will be taken—including coordinating with centralized exchanges, cross-chain bridges, and infrastructure providers to freeze related assets; publicly disclosing the attacker’s address and transaction tracking information; collaborating with blockchain analytics firms and law enforcement agencies; and pursuing legal remedies to recover losses. The investigation remains ongoing.

Ethereum Foundation: Re-defines L2s’ Role from “Scaling Tools” to “Customized Service Layers”

According to a post on the Ethereum Foundation’s official website, the article systematically outlines the collaborative development framework between L1 and L2. It states that L2s’ core role has evolved from their earlier designation as “scaling tools” to becoming “layers delivering differentiated functionality and customized services,” while L1 should focus on serving as a permissionless, highly resilient global settlement layer, shared state layer, liquidity hub, and DeFi center.

Regarding recommendations for L2s, the article requires them to meet at least Stage 1 security standards and pass the “exit test”; L2s aiming for the tightest possible integration with L1 should advance to Stage 2, achieving synchronous composability and native rollup mechanisms.

The Ethereum Foundation stated it will continue advancing L1 scaling and blob expansion to increase throughput without compromising decentralization; simultaneously invest in R&D to support deployment of native rollup technology; and collaborate with L2Beat to enhance transparency and verifiability of L2 security attributes. The article emphasizes that the mutually beneficial relationship between L1 and L2 is the fundamental prerequisite for the sustained development of the Ethereum ecosystem.

Bitlayer ($BTR) Plummets 80% in One Day, Suspected Concentrated Sell-Off on Bithumb

According to on-chain analyst Embers (@EmberCN), Bitlayer ($BTR) plunged 80% starting yesterday afternoon, dropping from $0.20 to $0.04. On-chain data shows that 41% of circulating supply (~140 million $BTR tokens) flowed into Bithumb exchange within one day—suggesting Bithumb was likely the primary spot dumping ground—or price manipulation venue—for this event.

ZachXBT: Circle Freezes USDC Balances Across 16 Business Hot Wallets Amid Unnamed U.S. Civil Lawsuit

According to “on-chain detective” ZachXBT, Circle recently froze USDC balances across 16 hot wallets belonging to multiple businesses. This freeze reportedly stems from an unnamed U.S. civil lawsuit; details were confirmed directly to ZachXBT by one of the affected enterprises.

ZachXBT noted that these wallets—used by exchanges, casinos, and forex businesses—show no apparent interconnection, questioning whether Circle conducted sufficient due diligence before honoring the freeze request. He added that the wallets serve as operational hot wallets for processing large volumes of user transactions, and the freeze has already disrupted normal business operations.

Tether Engages One of the Big Four Accounting Firms to Conduct Its First Full Audit

According to Tether’s official announcement, Tether has officially signed an agreement with one of the Big Four accounting firms to initiate its first-ever comprehensive independent financial statement audit. This audit is considered the largest inaugural audit ever conducted in financial markets, covering complex asset structures including digital assets, traditional reserves, and tokenized liabilities. USD₮’s market capitalization now exceeds $184 billion, with over 550 million users globally.

Tether stated that this audit aims to go beyond the industry-standard “attestation” and move toward full auditing, demonstrating that USD₮ is fully backed, highly liquid, and managed with world-class risk controls. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said, “Trust is built through action—not promises—and this audit represents the culmination of years of systemic strengthening.”

Robinhood Approves $1.5 Billion Share Repurchase Program, Expected to Be Executed Over ~Three Years

According to Bloomberg, Robinhood Markets announced approval of a new share repurchase program authorizing the company to buy back up to $1.5 billion of its own shares, expected to be executed over approximately three years. Robinhood’s stock price has fallen 39% since the beginning of 2026, prompting the company to view this as an opportune time for repurchase.

The Information: SpaceX Plans to File IPO Application as Early as This Week

According to The Information, SpaceX plans to file its IPO application as early as this week.

Market Data

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