Today's news highlights:
1. The IRS requires DeFi brokers to report digital asset sales revenues and collect user transaction information starting in 2027.
2. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange released management measures for high-risk transactions such as illegal cross-border financial activities involving virtual currencies.
3. The Montenegrin Minister of Justice signed an extradition order, and Do Kwon will be extradited to the U.S.
4. Galaxy Research's annual forecast: BTC will break through $150,000 in the first half of the year, and ETH will exceed $5,500.
5. ETH/BTC bullish James Fickel paid off WBTC loans about four hours ago, losing $6.884 million over the past year.
6. Michael Saylor: 60 companies hold over 590,000 BTC.
7. The president of The ETF Store: In the past two days, five institutions have applied for crypto ETFs.
8. Smart money that profited $4.92 million from swing trading PEPE in the past six months increased its position by $2.79 million in PEPE again in the early hours.
Regulatory news
The State Administration of Foreign Exchange released management measures for high-risk transactions such as illegal cross-border financial activities involving virtual currencies.
According to the announcement from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the (Management Measures for Bank Foreign Exchange Risk Trading Reports (Trial)) has been released and will take effect immediately. The measures are supporting documents for the (Management Measures for Bank Foreign Exchange Business (Trial)), aimed at strengthening bank foreign exchange risk management and early identification, early warning, and early disposal of high-risk transactions such as suspected false trades, underground banks, and illegal cross-border financial activities involving virtual currencies.
Main content includes: clarifying banks' responsibilities for foreign exchange risk trading reports, requiring the establishment of monitoring systems and report submissions; specifying the scope of information reporting, including activities involving illegal cross-border capital flows; clarifying report contents, such as basic situations and proposed measures; strengthening internal management measures, including internal control systems and data confidentiality management, etc.
The Central Bank of Cambodia approves compliant stablecoin services but continues to ban Bitcoin.
According to the Phnom Penh Post, the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) released new regulations allowing commercial banks and payment institutions to provide services related to stablecoins and asset-backed cryptocurrencies for the first time, but unsupported assets like Bitcoin remain prohibited. The new regulations require relevant institutions to obtain prior approval to engage in crypto asset exchange, transfer, and custody services, while prohibiting the use of customer assets.
Previously, Cambodia blocked 16 unlicensed crypto trading websites to strengthen regulation of the digital asset market.
The Montenegrin Minister of Justice signed an extradition order, and Do Kwon will be extradited to the U.S.
According to the Montenegrin Ministry of Justice statement, Minister of Justice Bojan Božović has signed a decision to extradite Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon to the U.S. Previously, the Montenegrin Supreme Court ruled that the legal conditions for extradition to the U.S. were met. The Ministry of Justice prioritized the U.S. extradition request after considering the seriousness of the case, the location of the crime, and the order of extradition requests, while rejecting South Korea's request.
Do Kwon is under investigation by U.S. and South Korean authorities for financial scandals related to the collapse of TerraUSD and Luna. This incident caused the cryptocurrency market to evaporate around $40 billion in May 2022, leading to bankruptcy for several crypto firms. Do Kwon is accused of deceiving investors and concealing assets. He was arrested in Montenegro in March 2023 for using a forged passport and sentenced to four months in prison; after serving his sentence, both the U.S. and South Korea requested extradition. After review, the Montenegrin Ministry of Justice decided to prioritize the U.S. extradition request.
The IRS requires DeFi brokers to report digital asset sales revenues and collect user transaction information starting in 2027.
The IRS has finalized rules requiring DeFi brokers to report total revenues from digital asset sales and provide clients with 1099 forms to collect user transaction information, including names and addresses. The Treasury noted that the final rules apply to 'front-end service providers' that interact directly with customers, meaning entities that operate primary websites to access decentralized protocols rather than the protocols themselves. According to the document, these rules are expected to take effect on or after January 1, 2027. The idea of strengthening tax enforcement against digital asset service providers first appeared in the (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) passed in 2021 to help pay for the expenditures authorized by the act.
The crypto lobbying group Blockchain Association has filed a lawsuit against the IRS regarding the 'DeFi broker' regulations.
The U.S. crypto lobbying group (Blockchain Association) tweeted that a lawsuit has been filed against the IRS and Treasury regarding the new 'broker' regulations. The IRS and Treasury have exceeded their statutory authority by expanding the definition of 'broker' to include providers at the front end of DeFi transactions, even though they do not execute trades. This not only infringes on the privacy rights of individuals using decentralized technology but also pushes the entire thriving technology overseas.
AI
OpenAI plans to restructure to create a more powerful nonprofit organization.
OpenAI announced that its board is evaluating the company's structure, transitioning the existing for-profit department into a Delaware public benefit corporation (PBC) to balance the needs of shareholders, stakeholders, and the public interest, while providing stronger resource support for the nonprofit sector. This move aims to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity and to advance the mission through raising more capital. In the future, the PBC will focus on business operations and technology development, while the nonprofit organization will emphasize the development of public welfare areas such as education, healthcare, and science.
OpenAI announced that ChatGPT's weekly active users have exceeded 300 million.
OpenAI revealed in its announcement article that currently, more than 300 million people use OpenAI's products each week for productivity enhancement, learning, and other activities, most of whom are free users.
Project updates
Bitget will burn BGB worth over $5 billion, accounting for 40% of the total supply.
The Bitget team released a new version of the BGB white paper, announcing the introduction of a buyback and burn mechanism. In the first burn, 800 million BGB held by the core team will be burned in one go, accounting for 40% of the total supply. Based on the current price of BGB, the value of the burned portion exceeds $5 billion. After the burn, the total supply of BGB will be reduced to 1.2 billion, and it will be 100% in circulation.
At the same time, BGB will initiate quarterly buyback and burn starting in 2025, with Bitget using 20% of the quarterly profits from its exchange and wallet operations to buy back and burn BGB. Profits come from Bitget's spot, contract, leverage trading fees, and revenues from Bitget Wallet's Swap, contract, NFT trading fees, etc.
The white paper also introduces BGB's future equity plan, which will revolve around three parts: on-chain application scenarios, PayFi payment scenarios, and internal equity scenarios, allowing BGB to integrate deeply into popular public chains and leading DeFi ecosystems as a mainstream asset.
Binance Wallet added support for 9 new dApps, covering cross-chain trading and decentralized liquidity, among others.
According to Binance Wallet's official news, nine new decentralized applications (dApps) have been launched, including UniSat, ALPHA-X, WOOFi, oooo protocol, DeSyn Protocol, Prosper, Eddy Finance, Matrixdock, and Jasper Vault. These applications cover various fields including cross-chain trading, AI insights, and decentralized liquidity.
Galaxy Research's annual forecast: BTC will break through $150,000 in the first half of the year, and ETH will exceed $5,500.
Galaxy Research released a 2025 forecast report covering Bitcoin and Ethereum prices, DOGE, stablecoins, DeFi, L2s, policies, VC, etc. The specifics are as follows:
Bitcoin will break through $150,000 in the first half of the year and test or reach $185,000 in the fourth quarter of 2025.
By 2025, the asset management scale of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETP will exceed $250 billion.
In 2025, Bitcoin will once again be one of the best-performing assets globally on a risk-adjusted basis.
At least one top wealth management platform will announce a recommendation for a Bitcoin allocation of 2% or higher.
Five NASDAQ 100 index companies and five national states will announce that they will add Bitcoin to their balance sheets or sovereign wealth funds.
Bitcoin developers will reach consensus on the next protocol upgrade in 2025.
Among the top 20 publicly traded Bitcoin miners by market capitalization, more than half will announce a transformation or establish partnerships with hyperscale providers, artificial intelligence, or high-performance computing companies.
Bitcoin DeFi (defined as the total amount of BTC locked in DeFi smart contracts and deposited in staking protocols) will nearly double by 2025.
The trading price of Ethereum will exceed $5,500 in 2025.
The Ethereum staking rate will exceed 50%.
The ETH/BTC ratio will be below 0.03 in 2025 but will be above 0.06 by the end of the year.
In 2025, L2 collectively will generate more economic activity than Alt L1.
As on-chain applications allocate at least $1 billion in nominal value from vaults and revenue sharing to users and token holders, DeFi will enter the 'dividend era.'
On-chain governance will see a revival, and applications will attempt future governance models.
In 2025, the four major global custodians will custody digital assets.
At least ten types of stablecoins supported by TradFi partners will be launched.
By 2025, the total supply of stablecoins will double, exceeding $400 billion.
Tether's long-standing market dominance will fall below 50%, challenged by alternatives such as Blackrock's BUIDL, Ethena's USDe, and even Coinbase/Circle's USDC rewards.
The total amount of crypto venture capital will exceed $150 billion, growing by more than 50%.
Stablecoin legislation will pass both houses of Congress and be signed into law by President Trump in 2025, but market structure legislation will not.
The U.S. government will not buy Bitcoin in 2025 but will use existing Bitcoin holdings to establish reserves, and various departments and agencies will take action to study expanding Bitcoin reserve policies.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will investigate the first so-called 'special purpose broker-dealer' Prometheum.
Dogecoin will eventually reach $1, with the market capitalization of the world's largest and oldest memecoin reaching $100 billion.
VolatilityShares applied to launch a leveraged ETF based on Solana futures.
The president of The ETF Store, Nate Geraci, tweeted that Volatility Shares submitted an application for a Solana futures-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) to the U.S. SEC, covering 1x, 2x, and -1x leverage exposures. Volatility Shares has actively pushed the SEC to launch an Ethereum futures ETF.
Solana co-founder Stephen Akridge is being sued by his ex-wife, accused of stealing SOL staking rewards.
According to Bloomberg, Solana co-founder Stephen Akridge is being sued by his ex-wife Elisa Rossi, accusing him of stealing 'millions of dollars' in rewards generated from SOL staking and seeking claims including breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and fraud. According to the lawsuit, Stephen Akridge 'exploited the vast disparity in his expertise in cryptocurrency and blockchain' to secretly obtain Elisa Rossi's staking rewards. Although Elisa Rossi mentioned 'huge amounts' in her request for parts of the lawsuit to be kept confidential, the value of the tokens involved in the lawsuit has not been disclosed. Elisa Rossi stated that these accounts were 'operated and controlled by Stephen Akridge from early March to mid-May.'
Akridge, who served as the chief engineer of Solana, played a key role in developing the blockchain platform with co-founders Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal. Before joining Solana, Akridge worked at Qualcomm and is now the CEO of Cyber Grant, a cybersecurity company based in California.
ProShares applied to launch Bitcoin hedge ETFs based on the S&P 500, NASDAQ 100, and gold.
The president of The ETF Store, Nate Geraci, tweeted that ProShares has applied to launch Bitcoin hedge ETFs based on the S&P 500 index, NASDAQ 100 index, and gold.
The president of The ETF Store: In the past two days, five institutions have applied for crypto ETFs.
The president of The ETF Store, Nate Geraci, tweeted that in the past 48 hours, five institutions have applied for crypto ETFs, which are:
Strive Bitcoin Bond ETF;
Bitwise Bitcoin Standard Company ETF;
REX BTC Corporate Treasury Convertible Bond ETF;
VolatilityShares Solana futures-based exchange-traded fund (ETF), covering 1x, 2x, and -1x leverage exposures.;
ProShares applied to launch Bitcoin hedge ETFs based on the S&P 500 index, NASDAQ 100 index, and gold.
ai16z initiated a proposal to upgrade the token economics model, suggesting the launch of a Launchpad.
ai16z initiated a proposal to update the token economics model, focusing on: creating an official ai16z Launchpad platform for Eliza-based projects; implementing community management processes; implementing ai16z staking for early access and fee-sharing benefits; using issuance fees and LP profits to buy back and reinvest in Eliza development instead of destroying them; positioning ai16z as an artificial intelligence L1 blockchain, etc.
Important data
Bitcoin spot ETF saw a net outflow of $298 million yesterday, with FBTC recording the largest single-day net outflow of $208 million.
Ethereum spot ETF had a net inflow of $47.77 million yesterday, continuing four days of net inflow.
ETH/BTC bullish James Fickel paid off WBTC loans about four hours ago, losing $6.884 million over the past year.
According to on-chain analyst Yu Jin's monitoring, ETH/BTC bullish James Fickel sold 6,429 ETH ($21.45 million) for 227 WBTC four hours ago to pay off all WBTC loans. James Fickel had a long position in the ETH/BTC ratio for an entire year, losing $6.884 million (20,632 ETH):
In the first half of the year, borrowed 2,987 WBTC at an exchange rate of 0.054 and sold it for 55,315 ETH to go long on the ETH/BTC ratio;
Starting in August, gradually sold ETH to buy back WBTC for repayment, spending a total of 75,947 ETH to buy back 2,987 WBTC at an exchange rate of 0.0393 for repayment;
Ultimately, he lost 20,632 ETH ($6.884 million) in going long on the ETH/BTC ratio.
The 60.03 million MIRA purchased by a whale in the past two days is currently facing a loss of $1.38 million.
According to Onchain Lens monitoring, in the past two days, a whale spent $1.87 million to purchase 60.03 million MIRA at an average price of $0.031. Currently, these MIRA are valued at $486,000, with the whale facing a loss of about $1.38 million.
Michael Saylor: 60 companies hold over 590,000 BTC.
MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor tweeted a list of 60 companies holding BTC and their positions, which as of December 23, collectively held 591,368 Bitcoins worth approximately $55.88 billion.
An address suspected of being from the $VIRTUAL project party/early participants transferred 2 million VIRTUAL to Bybit two hours ago.
According to on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa's monitoring, a 'suspected $VIRTUAL project party / early participant' recharged 2 million VIRTUAL to Bybit two hours ago, valued at $6.96 million. In the past week, a total of 8.75 million tokens, about $27.08 million, have been transferred to exchanges, with a recharge price of $3.09; currently, three associated addresses still hold $181 million worth of tokens, accounting for 10.9% of the total Base network token supply.
A whale deposited 250,000 LINK into CEX three hours ago, currently facing a combined loss of about $4.5 million on LINK.
According to Lookonchain monitoring, three hours ago, a whale deposited 250,000 LINK ($5.37 million) into Binance and OKX. From December 14 to December 18, this whale withdrew 595,000 LINK ($17.31 million) from Binance at an average price of $29.1, currently facing a loss of about $4.5 million on LINK.
Smart money that profited $4.92 million from swing trading PEPE in the past six months increased its position by $2.79 million in PEPE again in the early hours.
According to on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa's monitoring, 'smart money that profited $4.92 million from swing trading PEPE in the past six months' increased its position by $2.79 million in PEPE again in the early hours. This round of swing positions has increased to 817.9 billion PEPE. In the past week, he withdrew $14.25 million worth of PEPE from Kraken at an average price of $0.00001742, which is now the top asset in that address, with an unrealized profit of $695,000.
A whale that bought 13.16 million ai16z two weeks ago is currently up $5.66 million.
According to Lookonchain monitoring, two weeks ago, a whale spent $10 million USDC to purchase 13.16 million ai16z, which is now worth $15.66 million, with an unrealized profit of $5.66 million.
