# Trust Related Articles

HTX News Center provides the latest articles and in-depth analysis on "Trust", covering market trends, project updates, tech developments, and regulatory policies in the crypto industry.

Coinbase wins conditional OCC approval as crypto moves deeper into U.S. banking system

Coinbase has received conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust company, advancing the integration of crypto custody and infrastructure into the U.S. federal regulatory system. Announced on April 2, this approval marks a shift from state-level oversight toward a unified federal framework. The trust charter does not grant banking privileges—such as deposit-taking or lending—but focuses on custody and market infrastructure services. This move enables Coinbase to expand its institutional offerings while operating under consistent federal supervision. The approval remains conditional, requiring Coinbase to meet ongoing regulatory standards before full operation. This development reflects a broader trend of aligning digital asset services with traditional financial oversight.

ambcrypto04/02 21:02

Coinbase wins conditional OCC approval as crypto moves deeper into U.S. banking system

ambcrypto04/02 21:02

In the AI Era of Spending $2 to Earn $1, Founders Who Don't Build an IP Are Being Phased Out

In the AI era, founders who neglect building a personal IP are being left behind. Top VC firm a16z now runs an 8-week fellowship program to train storytellers and content creators for its portfolio companies, signaling a strategic shift. Key drivers: - Customer acquisition costs (CAC) have surged 222% over 10 years, with SaaS companies spending $2 to earn $1 in annual revenue. - AI has accelerated product homogenization, shrinking competitive advantages from years to just 3-12 months. - Consumers increasingly trust authentic human voices: 71% distrust AI-heavy brand communication, while 67% pay more for founder-aligned values. Case studies demonstrate the power of founder IP: - Sam Altman’s personal Twitter (4.5M followers) often outperforms OpenAI’s official account, amplifying the company’s narrative and valuation growth. - Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, with zero marketing budget, grew valuation 133x to $21.2B through transparent, direct user engagement. - Midjourney, with just 10-15 employees, achieved $500M revenue by leveraging founder David Holz’s Discord community interactions. - Even non-founder IP like Duolingo’s brand personality (a “crazy” owl) drove user growth from 37M to 117M MAU. However, founder IP is a double-edged sword—Elon Musk’s influence boosted Grok’s market share but also contributed to a 53% drop in Tesla’s brand value due to controversial statements. The conclusion: Product strength is the foundation (the “1”), but founder IP is the multiplier (the “0”). In an era of rising CAC and AI-driven sameness, a founder’s authentic voice is becoming the most efficient growth lever and durable moat.

marsbit04/02 07:05

In the AI Era of Spending $2 to Earn $1, Founders Who Don't Build an IP Are Being Phased Out

marsbit04/02 07:05

Airdrops Won't Make You Rich, edgeX Doesn't Need a Community

The decentralized perpetual contract protocol edgeX, incubated by Amber Group and backed by Circle Ventures, faced massive community backlash following its token airdrop distribution. Despite earlier promises not to screen out Sybil accounts and to distribute tokens based on points earned through trading, users discovered significant inconsistencies in token allocation. Many users reported receiving vastly different token amounts for the same number of points—some obtained 11 tokens per point, while others received as few as 0.5. Further allegations emerged, including insider trading, with reports that low-point affiliated addresses received a quarter of the total airdrop. The project worsened the situation by disabling comments on its social media channels to suppress criticism. Influential figures like Bingwa accused edgeX of being a "setup" rather than a legitimate project, designed to manipulate and exploit users. The incident has eroded trust in airdrop mechanisms, highlighting the risks of "rule changes after the fact" and the lack of transparency. As a result, user activity on edgeX plummeted, with daily new deposits dropping from over 2,000 to under 50 shortly after the airdrop snapshot. The event raises broader concerns about the sustainability of airdrop-driven engagement in DeFi, suggesting that the era of "airdrop致富" (getting rich from airdrops) may be over.

marsbit03/31 10:43

Airdrops Won't Make You Rich, edgeX Doesn't Need a Community

marsbit03/31 10:43

P2P team admits to betting on its own raise days after Polymarket tightened insider trading rules

P2P, a crypto project, has admitted that its team placed bets on Polymarket regarding the outcome of its own $6 million fundraising campaign. The bets were made approximately 10 days before the raise concluded, using funds from the project's treasury. This activity, which generated around $23,000 in profit and loss, occurred just days after Polymarket updated its rules to explicitly prohibit insider trading, including by individuals who can influence an event's outcome. While P2P stated the bets were not based on guaranteed information and plans to return all proceeds, the case highlights the enforcement challenges decentralized prediction markets face in preventing manipulation and maintaining trust, especially from involved actors. The incident is a real-world test of how newly tightened market integrity rules are applied in practice.

ambcrypto03/27 21:01

P2P team admits to betting on its own raise days after Polymarket tightened insider trading rules

ambcrypto03/27 21:01

BIT Makes First Appearance After Brand Upgrade, Hosts 'Trust in Digital Finance' Industry Event in Singapore

BIT (formerly Matrixport) held its first industry event, "Trust in Digital Finance," in Singapore on March 27, 2026, following its recent rebranding. The event brought together global financial institutions and digital asset industry representatives to discuss governance standards, compliance frameworks, and operational infrastructure as the sector becomes increasingly institutionalized. Cynthia Wu, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer, highlighted the approval of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs in early 2024 as a key turning point, attracting more mainstream institutional capital. This has elevated requirements for platforms and infrastructure, making custody architecture, compliance, and operational transparency essential rather than optional. Chief Brand Officer Wendy Sun explained that the rebrand to BIT—which stands for "Bridge Into Tomorrow," "Build on Integrity and Trust," and "Build It Together"—reflects the group’s vision to advance digital finance infrastructure collaboratively and trustworthily. Discussions also centered on BIT’s recently published Trust Whitepaper, which outlines a trust framework covering risk governance, multi-jurisdictional compliance, custody security, and independent auditing. Cactus Custody CEO Daniel Lee and Chief Compliance Officer Christopher Liu elaborated on its practical implementation, including SOC audits and ISO certifications. BIT, headquartered in Singapore, is a global digital asset financial services group with over $6 billion in assets under management and a valuation exceeding $1 billion. It holds regulatory licenses in multiple jurisdictions, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the UK, the U.S., and Bhutan.

marsbit03/27 08:12

Finance Needs Speed and Brakes

Financial systems require both speed and safeguards. Just as a car's persistent seatbelt alarm saves lives, or a banking payment confirmation step prevents costly errors, strategic "brakes" are essential in finance. While the industry often prioritizes frictionless transactions, history shows that unchecked speed leads to catastrophic failures—like the 1987 Black Monday crash or Knight Capital's $440 million loss in 45 minutes. The recent Aave-CoW incident in crypto, where a user lost millions due to a poorly executed trade, underscores this need. Decentralized finance must integrate intelligent safeguards—pre-trade simulations, liquidity checks, and transaction splitting—to prevent irreversible errors. Trust in financial systems isn’t built through seamless speed alone but through well-timed interventions that protect users. As emerging infrastructures like blockchain evolve, embedding these brakes will be crucial to achieving both safety and scalability.

marsbit03/26 05:47

marsbit03/26 05:47

Resolv exploit triggers USR depeg after $80M uncollateralized mint

Resolv protocol was exploited due to a private key compromise, leading to an unauthorized mint of approximately $80M in unbacked USR stablecoins. This inflated the total supply by 71M tokens, causing a severe depeg—USR fell 56% to around $0.19. The team paused contracts, burned 9M of the attacker’s tokens, and confirmed that underlying collateral remains intact with only $0.5M in losses from redemptions. Recovery efforts include allowlisted redemptions and tracing illicit tokens. The incident highlights risks from over-reliance on off-chain controls in DeFi minting mechanisms.

ambcrypto03/23 17:47

Resolv exploit triggers USR depeg after $80M uncollateralized mint

ambcrypto03/23 17:47

Matrixport Officially Rebrands as BIT, Clarifying New Strategic Positioning

Digital financial services group Matrixport has officially rebranded to BIT, marking a new phase in its strategic positioning. The company will now operate globally under the unified BIT brand. Alongside the rebranding, BIT released its "2026 Trust Whitepaper," which systematically details the group's established governance and risk control frameworks to provide a verifiable foundation of trust for clients and partners. As the digital asset industry undergoes increasing institutionalization and regulatory maturation, market demands for robust governance and compliance capabilities are growing. The new BIT brand better reflects the company's current business focus and strategic direction for future development. CEO John Ge stated that the industry is entering a stage where governance and compliance are increasingly critical. The name BIT represents the evolution of the company's business and its long-term commitment to building trusted digital asset financial infrastructure. The brand's tagline, "Bridge into Tomorrow," signifies its vision to connect traditional finance with digital asset markets and build lasting trust with clients. The rebrand does not affect existing customer accounts, products, or services, and all legal entities and contractual arrangements remain unchanged. As part of its next strategic phase, BIT is also exploring opportunities in U.S. capital markets, including a potential public listing. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Singapore, BIT operates in seven countries and holds multiple regulatory licenses. It offers trading, custody, asset management, liquidity, and financing solutions to institutional and professional investors, with over $6 billion in assets under management and a monthly trading volume exceeding $7 billion.

marsbit03/20 09:18

Matrixport Officially Rebrands as BIT, Clarifying New Strategic Positioning

marsbit03/20 09:18

Annual Revenue of Hundreds of Millions, Aggressive Buybacks: Why is Pump.fun Still Being 'Shorted' by the Market?

Despite circulating rumors, on-chain evidence and multiple independent data sources (DeFiLlama, Dune, and verifiable wallet transactions) confirm that Pump.fun's revenue and aggressive buyback program are legitimate. Over eight months, 99.5% of daily protocol revenue—totaling $328 million—was used to repurchase and burn 105.1 billion PUMP tokens, offsetting 29.52% of the circulating supply. Statistical analyses of the 747-day revenue data further validate its authenticity, showing expected patterns like weekend effects, autocorrelation, and structural breaks aligned with product updates. However, PUMP's valuation remains suppressed due to three key factors: its classification as a "sin stock" (98.6% of tokens launched on the platform are alleged scam "rug pulls"), trust issues (anonymous founders, discretionary buyback policy, and historical controversies), and insider selling pressure (notable wallets dumping tokens at market prices despite the buyback). While community token emissions will stop in July 2026—reducing monthly inflation from 10 billion to 9.2 billion tokens—current buybacks already absorb twice the new supply. The trust discount, rather than fundamentals, explains the undervaluation of a protocol generating $1.25 million in daily verifiable revenue.

marsbit03/19 10:12

Annual Revenue of Hundreds of Millions, Aggressive Buybacks: Why is Pump.fun Still Being 'Shorted' by the Market?