U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Sen. Sherrod Brown that the Treasury Department could use more authority to combat the alleged use of crypto by terrorist groups during a congressional hearing.
The Ohio Democrat, who is viewed as holding the purse strings for any future crypto legislation, asked Yellen about what updates the Treasury needs to address the matter during Thursday's Senate Banking Committee hearing. Though most of the hearing centered around discussions of the economy as a whole, some Democrats asked Yellen about the use of crypto by bad actors.
"We know that terrorist groups like Hamas, Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah have used digital assets to raise and transfer funds. We have important tools to counter illicit finance, but most of them date back to the post-9/11 era," Brown said." As terrorists continue to innovate, do we need to update our counter terrorism tools, Madam Secretary, to respond to the risks created by digital assets?"
Yellen said Treasury could use additional authority.
"We do have many authorities that enable us to act, but we've identified a number of holes in our authorities and have composed a list of suggestions for ways in which Treasury's authorities could and should be strengthened," Yellen said.
Brown, who chairs the Senate Banking Committee, has called for a crackdown on the use of crypto to fund terrorism before and is in talks about a bill that would target the use of digital assets for money laundering, according to Politico.
Push for a bill to prevent terrorism financing
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Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., asked Yellen during Thursday's hearing whether she thought his recent legislation, which would crack down on the ability of terrorist groups to use crypto, was needed.
Sens. Warner, D-Va., Mike Rounds, R-S.D, Jack Reed, D-R.I, and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, introduced the Terrorism Financing Prevention Act in December which expands the Treasury Department's authority beyond a 2015 law that focused primarily on Hezbollah.
The new bill would allow the agency to identify foreign financial institutions and foreign digital asset companies that knowingly facilitate transactions for Hamas and other groups, and then sanction them.
"I would agree that there are limitations that Treasury faces and we certainly support the aims of the bill," Yellen said. "It would help give us authorities that would enable us to better deal with a very significant threat."
"I'm going to count that as an endorsement," Warner said in response.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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According to DeBank data, the total value of assets held by the Blast contract address is currently $1,760,952,351, of which $1.6 billion worth of ETH is deposited into the Lido protocol and over $147 million worth of DAI is deposited into the Maker protocol.
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🕎🕯️ONE CANDLESTICK PATTERN🕯️🕎Enhance your trading skills & maximize profitability with our exclusive 30-day educational series on Candlestick Chart Patterns. Designed for traders of all levels, this comprehensive course offers a step-by-step journey from beginner to expert. Day 01👇🏻Candlestick chart patterns 📈 are widely used in technical analysis to predict future price movements in the cryptocurrency, including financial markets. There are numerous candlestick patterns that traders use to identify potential BULLISH OR BEARISH trends. In this response, I will describe one bullish & one bearish candlestick pattern along with an example for each.1. Bullish Candlestick Pattern: HAMMER ⚒️The hammer is a bullish reversal pattern that forms at the bottom of a downtrend. It consists of a small body near the top of the candlestick and a long lower shadow, which is at least two times the length of the body. The hammer pattern suggests that selling pressure has exhausted, and buyers are stepping in.🐂🐂🐂🐂🐂🐂🐂🐂🐂🐂For Example: Let's say $BTC BITCOIN has been experiencing a downtrend for a while, and a hammer pattern forms on a daily chart. The candlestick has a small body near the top and a long lower shadow. This indicates that sellers pushed the price lower, but buyers stepped in and pushed the price back up, closing near the top. Traders may interpret this as a sign of a potential trend reversal, with a higher probability of an upward move.2. Bearish Candlestick Pattern:SHOOTING STAR ✨The shooting star is a bearish reversal pattern that appears at the top of an uptrend. It has a small body near the bottom of the candlestick and a long upper shadow, which is at least two times the length of the body. The shooting star suggests that the buying pressure has weakened, and sellers may regain control. 🧸🧸🧸🧸🧸🧸🧸🧸🧸🧸For Example: Suppose $ETH ETHEREUM has been in an uptrend, and a shooting star pattern forms on a daily chart. The candlestick has a small body near the bottom and a long upper shadow. This indicates that buyers pushed the price higher initially, but sellers stepped in and pushed the price back down, closing near the bottom. Traders may interpret this as a potential reversal signal, suggesting a higher probability of a downward move.🧠 Remember, candlestick patterns aren't foolproof & should be used in conjunction with other technical analysis tools and indicators for more accurate predictions. Additionally, it is essential to consider the overall market conditions & other relevant factors before making trading decisions.💵💵💰🚨💰💵💵🔥🔥🔥 Don't miss this opportunity to revolutionize your trading journey. Join us for the 30-day Candlestick Chart Patterns course and unlock the potential for consistent profitability. Enroll now and embark on a path towards trading excellence with CK007.⚠️Thank you for your support and kind words. If you have any further questions or need assistance, please let me know in the comments. I'm here to help in a professional manner.#Write2Earn #TradeNTell #TradeWithCK007 #BinanceSqaure #BinanceDragonYear

According to official sources, L2 network Linea has announced the official launch of Alpha v2 upgrade, with the aim of reducing the cost of publishing data and zero-knowledge proof verification on the Ethereum chain by about 90%. It is reported that Alpha V2 has now completed the deployment of Linea's mainnet and introduced two new features, proof aggregation and data compression. Now, each Linea transaction will be summarized into one batch and published to the first layer (L1). Through proof aggregation, Linea can recursively prove many consecutive batches of transactions as one final proof, thereby making the verification cost of N batches cheaper by N times; data compression can effectively encode duplicate bytes, which meets the requirement of maintaining low computational cost.
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The largest cluster of ether call options for June's expiry date is concentrated at a strike price of $4,000, according to Deribit data.
Deribit Chief Commercial Officer Luuk Strijers shared charts with The Block that showed a notable grouping of ether call options at this strike price.
“As you can be see from Deribit data, the $4,000 strike is the largest of both June and September expiries. We don’t have the May expiry tradable yet so can only look at June versus April for ether," Strijers said.
Deribit data shows ether call options concentrated at $4,000 for the end of June expiry date. Image: The Block.
The concentration at the $4,000 strike price suggests that market participants have a particular interest or expectation that the price of ether will rise above $4,000 by the expiration dates of the options. This concentration may reflect a consensus or speculation about the potential future movement of ether's price in the market.
Deribit data shows ether call options concentrated at $4,000 for the end of September expiry date. Image: The Block.
Traders anticipating spot ether ETF approval
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According to an analyst, it is notable that the concentration of ether call options at a strike price of $4,000 comes after the potential approval of a spot Ethereum ETF by the end of May. The final approval decision deadline for spot ether ETF applications submitted by asset managers VanEck and Ark/21Shares to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is May 23.
"Traders seem to be adjusting their ether options contracts with the May 23 date in mind," Bitfinex Head of Derivatives Jag Kooner told The Block.
However, Strijers said that it is too early to draw a conclusion regarding whether derivatives traders are anticipating a price appreciation following a potential approval of a spot Ether ETF. "June skew is higher than April indicating calls to be relatively more expensive however it’s difficult to link specifically to ether ETF news or expected correlation to BTC halving," he added.
Options are derivative contracts that give a trader the right but not the obligation to buy or sell the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date. A call option gives the right to buy, and a put offers the right to sell. It is assumed that a trader who buys put options is implicitly bearish on the market, while a call buyer is bullish.
Ether's price increased by over 2% on Friday, changing hands for $2,470 at 5:30 a.m. ET, according to The Block's Price Page.
The price of ether has increased by over 2% in the past 24 hours. Image: The Block.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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On February 8th, the ApeCoin community voted to approve the proposal to continue with "Choosing a Builder to Establish a Dedicated ApeChain Blockchain", with a final approval rate of 95.47%. The purpose of this proposal is to select a builder to construct ApeChain (a dedicated ApeCoin blockchain) in order to expand APE and support the development of the ApeCoin ecosystem.
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According to WhalePanda data, the net inflow of the US Bitcoin spot ETF was $477 million on February 15.
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San Francisco-based economic data field company, Truflation, has secured $6 million in funding from a group of investors including Laser Digital, Red Beard Ventures, and Abra. The company plans to use the funds to expand its operations and development efforts. Truflation offers a comprehensive selection of independent indexes and data feeds compiled using millions of data points aggregated in real-time, providing an accurate alternative to data collection methods employed by official data agencies. The company also offers a DRPp protocol that tracks real-time data across networks, markets, and feeds, providing the necessary data infrastructure to bring about systemic advancements in the economy.
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According to the on-chain data tracking service WhaleAlert, at around 19:09 on February 8th Beijing time, 4,069 BTC (worth about $182,263,039) was transferred from an unknown wallet to Coinbase Institutional.
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The FTX Debtors estate, led by CEO John Ray III, has filed to sell another one of its assets: Digital Custody Inc. (DCI). FTX had purchased the subsidiary in two $5 million transactions in Dec. 2021 and Aug. 2022; however, the company will be sold to CoinList for just $500,000, with the financing provided by DCI's original CEO and seller, Terence J. Culver.
In their filing, FTX's lawyers explain that DCI was purchased to provide custodial services for FTX.US and LedgerX, though the company was never formally integrated into the FTX ecosystem before former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, three months after the DCI purchase was finalized.
The lawyers also explain that their failure to restart FTX.US means DCI is essentially worthless to the estate, writing "DCI is also no longer useful to the Debtors’ business given the Debtors’ sale of LedgerX and that it is unlikely for the Debtors to sell or restart FTX US."
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However, DCI retains a license from the South Dakota Division of Banking that allows it to provide custodial services. After receiving offers from three interested parties, including Culver, the Debtors chose the purchaser "...based on its superior offer, ability to execute the Sale Transaction within a short time frame and relationship with Mr. Culver, which the Debtors believe will be advantageous in aiding Purchaser in obtaining regulatory approval for the Sale Transaction in an expeditious manner."
FTX's lawyers note that the Committee and the Ad Hoc Committee of Non-US Customers of FTX.com both approved the transaction, though as part of the deal, FTX has until three days before the closing to find a better offer for DCI. A reverse-termination fee of $50,000 will apply if the purchaser is unable to close the deal.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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According to official sources, Aperture Finance has now launched the token terminal platform, where users can view project-related on-chain data through the token terminal website.Aperture Finance aims to build an intent-based infrastructure and a decentralized solver network. Its intent-based flagship products include ApertureSwap, liquidity management tools, and various innovative solvers for temporal and subscription-based intents.
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On February 17th, Celsius announced that its qualified creditors have claimed over $2 billion worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum through channels such as PayPal, Venmo, and Coinbase. The official statement mentioned that the team is exploring solutions to restrict mailing USD checks and will allow some creditors to choose to receive fund allocations through wire transfer.
Previously, Celsius announced on Twitter that the USD-denominated Celsius claim distribution will issue and mail checks to some Celsius creditors.
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According to data monitored by Farside Investors, all Bitcoin spot ETF flow data for February 7th has been released, with a net positive flow of $145 million.
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On February 17th, Spot On Chain monitoring showed that the associated address 0xa31 of Hermez Network (which has been acquired by Polygon) deposited 3 million MATIC (worth 2.85 million USD) into Kraken in the past 2 hours.23 days ago, this address received 19.8 million MATIC from Hermez Network and now has 16.8 million MATIC remaining (worth 16.1 million USD).
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