Today's news tips:
Grayscale announces that it has opened private subscription for 22 cryptocurrency trust products
Robinhood CEO: The company currently has no plans to hold Bitcoin for investment purposes
aiPool founder Skely’s account was frozen
MicroStrategy's stock price has fallen 38.81% from its high on November 21
The full-chain interoperability protocol Analog mainnet is officially launched, and core functions will be introduced before TGE
Binance supports Fantom’s rebranding to Sonic and token swap
Virtual Protocol ecosystem tokens generally rose, GAME rose by more than 30% in 24 hours
Phala Network (PHA) briefly broke through $0.2 and then fell back, up 54.4% in 24 hours
Regulatory News
South Korean regulator denies reports it will allow businesses to buy cryptocurrencies
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) has denied reports that it is about to allow businesses to buy cryptocurrencies using their balance sheets, Cryptonews reported. Earlier this month, it was reported that the Financial Services Commission was ready to allow universities and schools to convert donations made in cryptocurrencies into fiat currency. The report said that this represents the first step of a roadmap. They added that the same roadmap will eventually allow South Korean companies to buy currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The report also claimed that the Financial Supervisory Commission will allow "ordinary" companies to buy cryptocurrencies before the banking industry. South Korean law does not explicitly prohibit companies from holding cryptocurrencies. However, to trade BTC, ETH and altcoins, individuals need to open accounts linked to cryptocurrency exchanges. The regulator’s guidelines require financial institutions to reject all such applications from corporate clients.
Philippines releases comprehensive rules for crypto asset regulation
According to Crowdfund Insider, the Philippines Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced extensive crypto asset management rules covering disclosure, public offerings, trading and marketing activities. These regulations are designed to strengthen investor protection and promote transparency in the booming digital asset market. Under the new guidelines, crypto asset issuance must submit a disclosure document to the SEC at least 30 days before any marketing activities or public sales. The document must detail the provider, issuer, main features, risks and underlying technology of the crypto assets, as well as clearly state potential risks, including loss of value and limited transferability. Crypto assets classified as securities require a registration statement approved by the SEC before they can be publicly issued. Entities that issue or trade crypto assets must comply with anti-money laundering (AML) laws and the SEC's reporting requirements. It emphasizes that non-compliance may result in fines, suspension or revocation of licenses.
MicroStrategy to hold special shareholder meeting to vote on key proposals including accelerating 21/21 plan
According to Bitcoin News, MicroStrategy announced that it will hold a special shareholders meeting to vote on key proposals aimed at accelerating the 21/21 plan, streamlining the financing process, and aligning director compensation with the company's Bitcoin-centric strategy. The main proposals include: Increasing the authorized Class A shares from 330 million to 10.33 billion shares to support future financing; Increasing the authorized preferred shares from 5 million to 1.005 billion shares to expand financing options; Amending the 2023 equity incentive plan to provide automatic equity rewards to new directors joining the board of directors. Earlier news, MicroStrategy proposed the "21/21 Plan", which plans to conduct $21 billion in equity financing and $21 billion in bond issuances in the next three years, using additional capital to purchase more BTC as a financial reserve asset in order to achieve higher BTC returns.
South Korea's acting president will issue a tax amendment today that will postpone the taxation of crypto assets for two years
South Korea’s acting President Han Duck-soo plans to promulgate a tax amendment at a cabinet meeting on Dec. 24 that would include postponing the taxation of virtual assets by two years, according to Yonhap News Agency Infomax.
Japanese police determined that the DMM Bitcoin theft was the work of the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group
According to CoinDesk Japan, in response to the theft of 4,502.9 BTC from the crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin in May, the Japanese National Police Agency reported on December 24 that the incident was committed by Trader Traitor, a subsidiary of the North Korean-based hacker group Lazarus Group. The Japanese National Police Agency said it will continue to work with the FBI, other U.S. government agencies and international partners to investigate illegal activities by North Korean hackers, including cybercrime and theft of crypto assets. At the same time, the Japanese National Police Agency, the Cabinet Cybersecurity Center, and the Financial Services Agency issued documents on the means and countermeasures of the attacking groups, calling on crypto-related companies to be cautious. In response to the attack, DMM Bitcoin decided to close its exchange. Assets and customer accounts will be transferred to SBIVC Trade, and the transition is expected to be completed in March 2025.
IRS again insists in lawsuit that crypto staking is taxable
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has again insisted that cryptocurrency staking is taxable, saying that staking rewards incur a tax liability once they are received, according to Bloomberg. The news comes amid a legal battle between Tennessee couple Joshua and Jessica Jarrett and the IRS over the taxation of staking. The couple, who stake on the Tezos network, argue that staking rewards should not be taxed until they are sold. In a court filing on Dec. 20, the IRS rejected the Jarretts’ claim that staking creates “new property” and is taxable only when it is sold. The government said that “once the staking of cryptocurrency is completed, the tax liability should immediately arise.” The case is currently being closely watched by the cryptocurrency industry and could have a significant impact on how staking rewards on all proof-of-stake blockchains in the United States are taxed. According to guidance released by the IRS in 2023, block rewards earned from staking or mining are considered taxable income when they are generated, and the tax liability is based on their market value at the time of generation.
Robinhood CEO: The company currently has no plans to hold Bitcoin for investment purposes
According to The Block, in an interview published on Monday, Vladimir Tenev, CEO of stock and cryptocurrency trading platform Robinhood, said that despite the growing importance of cryptocurrencies to the company, Robinhood currently has no plans to hold Bitcoin for investment. Tenev pointed out that due to Robinhood's growing interest in cryptocurrencies, the idea of holding Bitcoin "has been mentioned from time to time." But he added that in addition to holding some cryptocurrencies to meet customer trading needs, Robinhood has no plans to hold Bitcoin as an investment. He said: "We have not ruled out this possibility, but we haven't done it yet. After all, we are not in the business of investment management." Tenev went on to say that although Robinhood has not included Bitcoin in its balance sheet like companies such as MicroStrategy and Tesla, its stock price "is already highly correlated with Bitcoin, and we don't even hold it financially yet"; if Robinhood holds Bitcoin for investment, it may "complicate" investors' views on the company, making them likely to view it as a "company similar to Bitcoin holders."
Financing
MoonPay in talks to acquire crypto payment platform Helio for $150 million
According to Fox Business News reporter Eleanor Terrett, crypto payment service provider MoonPay is in talks to acquire Helio for approximately $150 million, which would be MoonPay's largest acquisition to date. It is reported that Helio is an alternative to Coinbase Commerce, providing a self-service crypto payment platform that enables content creators and e-commerce merchants to receive payments in the form of cryptocurrencies. It currently offers a "white label solution" that includes the trading infrastructure of Solana Pay and DEX Screener.
Project News
Sahara AI releases 2024-2025 roadmap: Sahara Chain mainnet will be launched in Q3 2025
AI infrastructure Sahara AI announced the 2024-2025 annual roadmap, which includes several key nodes: Q4 2024: The data service platform and test network have been launched, and users can get rewards through data collection and annotation. The first batch of users have begun to participate, and it is expected that the second phase will start in Q1 2025 and expand the scope of participation. Q1 2025: AI Marketplace is launched, providing development tools and data service extension functions, supporting model development, training and deployment, and introducing early access plans. Q2 2025: Launch of Sahara Studio tool suite, covering model training, deployment and workflow management, further optimizing the developer experience. Q3 2025: Sahara Chain mainnet is released, providing a secure and transparent on-chain infrastructure for large-scale decentralized AI, while supporting the assetization and trading of data and models. Sahara AI said that the early access plans for users and developers at all stages are now open for application. Earlier news, SaharaAI announced that the first phase of the data platform Beta version test network was officially launched, with more than 780,000 users registered.
KiloEx promises that TGE will be completed by June 30, 2025, and the 2025 roadmap will be released soon
The perpetual contract DEX KiloEx team released a Discord announcement in response to the community's concern about the Token Generation Event (TGE). KiloEx plans to release a 2025 roadmap soon, promising to complete the TGE by June 30, 2025 at the latest. If the preparatory work is completed ahead of schedule, the team will accelerate the process. KiloEx said that due to the signing of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), it is currently unable to disclose more details, but emphasized that TGE is a key milestone in the development of the community and trading ecosystem and has become the team's top priority. Recent progress includes deployment on the Base chain, the launch of the Telegram Minibot, and the launch of the innovative Hybrid Vault. Earlier news, Binance Labs announced that it would invest in the four best-performing projects in the 6th season of BNB Chain MVB, including AltLayer, KiloEx, Kinza and Sleepless AI.
aiPool founder Skely’s account was frozen
According to the X platform page, the account of aiPool founder Skely (@123skely) has been frozen, and the specific reason has not yet been disclosed.
The full-chain interoperability protocol Analog mainnet is officially launched, and core functions will be introduced before TGE
Analog, a full-chain interoperability protocol, announced the launch of its mainnet. The mainnet will initially adopt the PoA (proof of authority) consensus mechanism. In the future, core functions such as NPoS (nomination proof of stake) consensus, cross-chain messaging, and data query will be introduced through runtime upgrades, which are expected to be completed before the token generation event (TGE). After the mainnet is launched, developers can build powerful multi-chain applications based on Analog to achieve decentralization and interoperability solutions. Analog's technology stack supports cross-chain smart contract execution, allowing developers to create complex applications that can respond to multi-chain ecological events. Currently, more than 50 projects are being developed in the Analog ecosystem, including StationX, Parami Protocol, Frax Finance, XYO, and Vemo Network, covering a variety of industry scenarios. Earlier news, the full-chain interoperability protocol Analog completed a $16 million financing, led by Tribe Capital.
Binance supports Fantom’s rebranding to Sonic and token swap
Binance will support the Fantom (FTM) token swap and rename to Sonic (S). At 11:00 on January 13, 2025 (GMT+8), Binance will delist all existing FTM spot trading pairs and cancel all outstanding FTM spot trading orders. At 16:00 on January 16, 2025 (GMT+8), Binance will open trading for S/BTC, S/BNB, S/ETH, S/EUR, S/FDUSD, S/TRY, S/USDC, and S/USDT trading pairs.
Bithumb to List PENGU in Korean Won Market
According to an official announcement, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb will list PENGU on the Korean won market, and trading is expected to start at 17:00 local time today.
IOTA will introduce a sustainable token economic model with an annual inflation rate of 6%
IOTA announced on the X platform that IOTA Rebased will introduce a sustainable token economic model: ① 6% annual inflation rate (767,000 IOTAs per epoch), staking rewards for validators/delegators, low transaction fees (about 0.005 IOTAs) and deflationary pressure brought by fee destruction; ② Sponsored transactions increase user flexibility.
Sonic Labs plans to upgrade S token economics and has released 4 related governance proposals
Sonic Labs posted on X that it is improving Sonic through upgraded token economics, which is determined by 4 governance proposals on Fantom, including approximately 200 million S airdrops. At launch, the circulating supply of S is approximately 2.88 billion, with an initial total supply of 3.175 billion, allowing migration at a 1:1 ratio; six months after launch, the network will utilize a unique 9-month linear burn mechanism, Mint 6% of the initial total supply to be used to extend the airdrop campaign to reward users/developers; additionally, six months after launch, the network will begin minting 1.5% of the initial total supply annually for 6 years to fund growth, to be burned annually Unspent S to ensure efficient use; starting four years after launch, the network will mint 1.75% annually to reward validators in perpetuity. All unused ecological growth tokens will be accounted for and destroyed annually. S's maximum expansion is capped at 15% by 2031 (excluding block rate rewards), and multiple burning mechanisms are expected to significantly reduce expansion during this period.
Grayscale announces that it has opened private subscription for 22 cryptocurrency trust products
According to official news, Grayscale announced that it will open private subscriptions for 22 cryptocurrency trust products to qualified investors, including mainstream tokens such as AAVE, AVAX, LINK, SOL, XRP, and fund products in subdivided tracks such as DeFi and AI. Investors can subscribe according to net asset value (NAV). The products opened this time include theme funds such as Grayscale Decentralized AI Fund and Grayscale Decentralized Finance Fund, as well as single asset trusts of emerging protocols such as Bittensor, Lido DAO, and Optimism.
Hyperliquid: No North Korean hacking, user funds are properly handled
According to Bloomberg, crypto derivatives trading platform Hyperliquid has experienced its largest single-day outflow of funds in history as traders rushed to withdraw funds due to concerns that North Korean hackers were trading on the exchange. Taylor Monahan, a security expert at digital wallet provider MetaMask, said that digital wallets associated with these hackers began trading on Hyperliquid as early as October. On Monday, she shared the addresses of these suspicious wallets and their activities on the social media platform X. Monahan pointed out that transactions are often a way for North Korean hackers to test potential security vulnerabilities on platforms such as Hyperliquid. The Hyperliquid core development team said in a statement: "Hyperliquid Labs has noticed reports of alleged North Korean address activity. Hyperliquid has not been exploited by North Korea or any other party. All user funds have been properly handled. Monahan’s post sparked widespread discussion on social media, with some Hyperliquid supporters criticizing her for creating unnecessary panic. More than 112 million USDC left the exchange on Monday, according to data collated by venture capital fund Hashed on Dune Analytics. The exchange’s token, HYPE, fell 20%, according to tracking platform Coingecko.
Viewpoint
Sun Yuchen denies rumors of liquidating ETH: This is just an ETH transfer operation between different wallets of the team
Sun Yuchen clarified the rumors about the liquidation of ETH through social media, saying that these rumors were not true. He explained that this was just an ETH transfer operation between different wallets of the team, and reiterated his long-term optimistic attitude towards the Ethereum ecosystem.
Matrixport: Bitcoin's pullback may accumulate power for a rebound in 2025, and $90,000 to $95,000 may be an excellent pullback range
Matrixport data shows that after Bitcoin surges by more than 40% in 30 days, it usually enters a consolidation period, and the current price is about 5% lower than a month ago. Historical data shows that Bitcoin often experiences a pullback after completing a similar increase, which is consistent with the laws of previous cycles. In a bull market, a 10% to 20% pullback in prices from recent highs usually forms an ideal re-entry range. For example, if Bitcoin pulls back from a high of $108,000 to a range of $90,000 to $95,000, this may become an excellent pullback area. As long as the price remains within the -20% pullback range and continues the current cycle trend, it is expected to lay the foundation for a new round of increases in 2025.
QCP Capital: Nearly $20 billion in notional value of Bitcoin and Ethereum options will expire this Friday
QCP Capital, a Singapore-based crypto investment firm, said today that after a wash last week, spot prices continue to fluctuate sideways as the holiday season approaches. Although the market appears calm on the surface this week, all eyes are on the upcoming massive options expiration event this Friday, when nearly $20 billion in notional value of Bitcoin and Ethereum options will expire. This figure accounts for nearly half of Deribit's total options holdings. After the options expire, it is likely that we will see a reappearance of the typical end-of-quarter volatility sell-off, especially if the spot price continues to fluctuate in this range and option sellers continue to roll their short positions. Unlike option sellers who have to wait for the release of collateral after the options expire, call option buyers may have rolled most of their positions in advance. However, if BTC can successfully break through the $100,000 mark, volatility may remain stable. At the same time, as BTC continues to hover below $100,000, we may also see altcoins start to catch up again. A month ago, when BTC was trading at these prices, ETH/BTC rebounded from the 0.032 support level, and a similar trend was observed at that time. Currently, BTC’s market share remains at 58%, and we are closely watching for a significant drop in this ratio to confirm whether funds are flowing from BTC to altcoins.
Forbes predicts seven major trends in the crypto industry in 2025: G7 or BRICS countries will establish strategic Bitcoin reserves
Forbes published an article predicting seven major trends in the crypto industry in 2025: 1. The G7 or BRICS countries will establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve; 2. The market value of stablecoins will double to US$400 billion; 3. The Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem will achieve rapid growth with the help of L2 networks (such as Stacks, BOB, Babylon), and the locked volume is expected to exceed the current US$24 billion of cross-chain packaged Bitcoin; 4. Crypto ETF products will expand to tracks such as Ethereum staking and Solana; 5. Technology giants such as Apple and Microsoft may follow Tesla's example and increase their holdings of Bitcoin; 6. The total market value of the crypto market will exceed US$8 trillion; 7. The improvement of the US regulatory environment will drive the revival of crypto entrepreneurship.
Important data
Phala Network (PHA) briefly broke through $0.2 and then fell back, up 54.4% in 24 hours
According to OKX market data, Phala Network (PHA) briefly broke through $0.2 and then fell back, rising 54.4% in 24 hours and currently priced at $0.1839.
Mt.Gox has transferred more than 3,631 BTC to B2C2 Group since December 5
According to Lookonchain, Mt.Gox has transferred 200 to 300 BTC to B2C2 Group every working day since Bitcoin broke through $100,000 for the first time on December 5. So far, Mt.Gox has transferred a total of 3,631.87 BTC to B2C2 Group, with a total value of approximately $364 million.
Virtual Protocol ecosystem tokens generally rose, GAME rose by more than 30% in 24 hours
GMGN market data shows that Virtual Protocol ecosystem tokens generally rose today, among which: VIRTUAL's market value is now US$3.16 billion, a 24-hour increase of 30.2%; GAME by Virtuals (GAME)'s market value is now US$40 million, a 24-hour increase of 31.8%; Luna by Virtuals (LUNA)'s market value is now US$138 million, a 24-hour increase of 53.6%; VaderAI by Virtuals (VADER)'s market value is US$68.92 million, a 24-hour increase of 43.9%; sekoia by Virtuals (SEKOIA)'s market value is US$35.56 million, a 24-hour increase of 20.7%.
The total net outflow of the US Bitcoin spot ETF yesterday was US$227 million, and the ETF net asset ratio reached 5.7%
According to SoSoValue data, yesterday (December 23, Eastern Time), the total net outflow of Bitcoin spot ETFs was US$227 million. Yesterday, the Grayscale ETF GBTC had a single-day net outflow of US$38.3853 million, and the current historical net outflow of GBTC is US$21.332 billion. The Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF BTC had a single-day net outflow of US$6.1850 million, and the current historical total net inflow of Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust BTC is US$854 million. The Bitcoin spot ETF with the largest single-day net inflow yesterday was BlackRock ETF IBIT, with a single-day net inflow of US$31.6575 million, and the current historical total net inflow of IBIT is US$37.361 billion. As of press time, the total net asset value of the Bitcoin spot ETF was US$105.084 billion, the ETF net asset ratio (market value as a percentage of the total market value of Bitcoin) reached 5.7%, and the historical cumulative net inflow has reached US$35.825 billion.
Cosmos developers transferred 295.3 BTC after nearly 2 years, equivalent to about 27.7 million US dollars
According to on-chain analyst Ember, after nearly two years, the developers of Cosmos Network transferred out 295.3 BTC (about 27.7 million USD) that they raised through IC0 in 2017. They transferred out/sold a total of 21,600 ETH and 295.3 BTC this year, worth 78.67 million USD. They still have 96.4 BTC and 17,188 ETH of the BTC and ETH they raised through IC0 in 2017, worth 67 million USD.
A new address accumulated 520 million PENGUs six hours ago, worth $14.87 million
According to the on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa, the new address CqwjT...EiCj8 accumulated 520 million PENGUs worth $14.87 million six hours ago. The average price of PENGU withdrawn from Binance by this address is $0.2996, and the current floating loss is $710,000.
A certain whale has currently claimed 26.38 million BIO airdrops, accounting for 2.03% of the total initial circulation
According to the monitoring of on-chain analyst @i_9684xtpa, a giant whale OG who is all in DeSci was found. mol.eth has currently claimed 26.38 million BIO airdrops, accounting for 2.03% of the total initial circulation, which is equivalent to a quarter of the airdrop volume of Binance Launchpool. In addition, this address participated in VITA three years ago, and subsequently participated in GROW/ATH/PSY/HAIR, etc., all of which are popular projects in the DeSci track and belong to the BIO ecosystem. Most of the funds of this address have been transferred to the multi-signature address 0x270f...21A45, with a total asset of US$1,819, including US$2.53 million of GROW, US$2.14 million of VITA and other DeSci tokens.
A whale deposited 18.3 million USDC into Hyperliquid in the past 24 hours to buy HYPE
According to Lookonchain, in the past 24 hours, a whale deposited 18.3 million USDC to Hyperliquid to buy HYPE. So far, the whale has spent 5.81 million USDC to buy 210,420 HYPE at a unit price of $27.6.
A long position in the ETH/BTC exchange rate sold 6,500 ETH for 235.6 WBTC 2 hours ago to repay the position
According to on-chain analyst Ember, ETH/BTC exchange rate bull James Fickel continued to reduce his ETH/BTC exchange rate long position 2 hours ago: he sold 6,500 ETH (about 22.24 million US dollars) in exchange for 235.6 WBTC to repay and reduce his position. James Fickel's ETH/BTC exchange rate long position peaked at the end of May, when he borrowed 2,987 WBTC (204.7 million US dollars) on Aave, and the borrowed WBTC was bought with ETH at an average exchange rate of 0.054. Later, as the ETH/BTC exchange rate fell all the way, James Fickel began to reduce his position in August: redeeming ETH in batches and selling it in exchange for WBTC repayment. So far, in the past four and a half months, he has sold 59,500 ETH in exchange for 2,398.2 WBTC to repay and reduce his position, with an average selling rate of 0.04. His ETH/BTC exchange rate long position currently has 575.3 WBTC borrowed.
Meme coins will account for 31% of crypto narratives in 2024, a nearly 4-fold increase from last year
According to Cryptoslate, according to a report released by CoinGecko, Meme coins have become an important narrative in the cryptocurrency field in 2024, accounting for 31% of the share, nearly four times the previous year. Last year, Meme coins accounted for only 8.32% of investors' attention in 25 narrative themes. The rise of Meme coins was initially driven by dog-themed cryptocurrencies, but has now expanded to areas such as animal and personality-themed tokens. This reflects investors' strong interest in speculative opportunities, who value the viral spread of culture more than traditional fundamentals. Pump.fun, as a Meme coin Launchpool platform, has deployed nearly 5 million new coins on the Solana blockchain this year, with platform revenue exceeding US$335 million. In the cryptocurrency narrative, the Meme coin narrative occupies a leading position, attracting 14.36% of investors' attention. In addition, Solana Meme Coin (7.65%), Base Meme Coin (2.13%), AI Meme Coin (1.49%) and Cat Theme Meme Coin (1.19%) are also among the top 20 narratives. In addition, according to Artemis data, Meme Coin is the third most profitable narrative in 2024, with an average annual return rate of 201%, far exceeding the market average return rate of 128%.
MicroStrategy's stock price has fallen 38.81% from its high on November 21
Market data shows that MicroStrategy Inc. (stock code: MSTR) closed at $332.23 on December 23, down 38.81% from its high of $543 on November 21.
