🔔 MARKET MOVING NEWS! (25/12/24)
1️⃣ Russia Imposes 6-Year Ban on Crypto Mining in 10 Regions, Citing Energy Use ⛏
According to local media reports, the Russian government has imposed a six-year ban on crypto mining in 10 regions due to the industry's high power consumption. The ban takes effect on Jan. 1 2025 and ends on March 15, 2031. It includes seasonal restrictions in key cryptocurrency mining regions to prevent energy blackouts. The restrictions align with Russia’s cryptocurrency mining laws signed by the president in August and October 2024.
2️⃣ Hacker Breaches 15 X Accounts, Nets $500K Boosting Bogus Memecoins: ZachXBT ❓
According to the onchain sleuth ZachXBT, over $500,000 in funds stolen via memecoin phishing scams were connected to one threat actor. He reported that the perpetrator tricked X users into handing them control over their accounts by impersonating the X team and issuing fake copyright infringement notices. ZachXBT claims that over 15 X accounts were compromised this way, including those belonging to Kick, Cursor, The Arena, Brett and Alex Blania. Many of these X accounts have large audiences, with well over 200,000 followers who are mainly memecoin enthusiasts looking to catch the next hot tip.
3️⃣ Montenegro Court Rejects Do Kwon’s Extradition Appeal ▶️
Montenegro’s Constitutional Court has reportedly dismissed Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon’s extradition appeal. The court cited legal inconsistencies in Kwon’s appeal, effectively upholding an earlier ruling favouring his extradition. This decision is significant as the international extradition case will potentially set a precedent for cross-border accountability in crypto.
4️⃣ Over 30% Of South Koreans Invest In Crypto Assets 🔍
According to the South Korean media outlet Yonhap News, the number of crypto users in the country increased by 610,000 in November after Donald Trump won the United States presidential election. Representative Lim Kwang-Hyun of the Democratic Party of Korea shared data showing that digital asset investors in the country at the end of November totalled 15.6 million. Notably, with a population of 51.7 million, this means that over 30% of its citizens are crypto holders. Yonhap said the data was collected and released following the country’s new regulations on crypto exchanges. This is also the first time statistical data related to crypto has been released in the country.
5️⃣ Little-Known Canadian Crypto Firm Matador Adds Bitcoin To Its Books 💸
Canadian real-world asset tokenisation firm Matador Technologies has reportedly become the latest company to incorporate BTC in its treasury. The firm's board of directors unanimously approved adding Bitcoin and “USD-denominated assets” to its balance sheet as part of its “long-term capital preservation strategy.” The firm is also planning to convert the majority of its cash balance sheet from Canadian dollars to US dollars.
Sunny Ray, president of Matador, stated,
Matador’s Board and management believe in using Bitcoin to future-proof our treasury. This step also supports our mission to explore using Bitcoin as a platform for our gold-based products.