Today in Crypto: HashKey to Start Offering Crypto Trading to Retail Clients in Hong Kong, ARK Invest & 21Shares Apply for Futures ETFs, Prime Trust Lost $8 million of Client & Treasury Funds in a TerraUSD Investment

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Exchange news

• Asian crypto exchange HashKey Exchange is set to start offering crypto trading services to retail clients in Hong Kong on August 28, according to a local report. There are certain notable restrictions: the exchange will begin its retail trading services just for bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), while investors will only be allowed to invest up to 30% of their net worth into crypto when using the platform. 

Investment news

• Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest and 21Shares jointly applied for futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) products involving bitcoin and ether. The application filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by the investment advisor Empowered Funds shows two ETFs: the ARK 21Shares Active Ethereum Futures ETF (ARKZ) and the ARK 21Shares Active Bitcoin Ethereum Strategy ETF (ARKY). The ETFs will not directly invest in digital assets or spot products but will focus on cash-settled futures contracts traded on commodity exchanges registered with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Court news

• Crypto custodian Prime Trust lost $8 million of client funds and treasury funds in an investment in the terraUSD algorithmic stablecoin, according to a court filing by CEO Jor Law. “[T]he Company under prior management invested funds in TerraUSD (UST) using both customer funds and funds in the Company’s corporate treasury, which resulted in a loss of approximately $6,000,000 in client funds and $2,000,000 in treasury funds,” Law said.  

Regulation news

• Spain’s Council of Ministers approved a Royal Decree to establish the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence (AESIA), which will regulate artificial intelligence (AI) and ensure that its development will be “inclusive, sustainable, and citizen-centered.” The agency is a part of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy and will be formed by the Ministry of Finance and Civil Service and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation.

Social media news

• Twitter-linked app Friend.tech, which tokenizes accounts into “keys” (formerly “shares”), said today that it enabled sending photos. Meanwhile, commenters noticed that the update had attracted creators from the popular OnlyFans subscription-based social media platform, which enables its creators to earn money in exchange for (commonly explicit) photos or videos. 

Security news

• Magnate Finance, a lending project on the Layer 2 network Base, seems to have executed an exit scam, disappearing with user-deposited funds and erasing its online presence. According to security firm PeckShield, the project performed a rugpul by directly manipulating the price oracle, causing $6.5 million in losses.