December 30
Policy Regulation:
The EU's new regulations require cryptocurrency exchanges to comply with travel rule guidelines and strengthen anti-money laundering measures from December 30.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has taken significant steps to strengthen anti-money laundering (AML) measures, announcing that travel rule guidelines will be extended to cryptocurrency service providers and intermediaries. From December 30, cryptocurrency exchanges operating in the EU will be subject to regulation (EU) 2023/1113 (travel rule guidelines), which require reporting information on fund and crypto asset transfers.
Therefore, as defined by MiCAR, cryptocurrency asset service providers (CASP) will be subject to the EU anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime. Once the regulations are effective, payment service providers (PSP), intermediary PSPs, CASPs, and intermediary CASPs will have a two-month grace period to declare compliance with the new requirements. Some general provisions include collecting user information to transfer funds or cryptocurrency assets, determining whether transactions relate to the purchase of services, and detecting seemingly related transfers. Additionally, cryptocurrency service providers and intermediaries need to declare their policies for multiple intermediaries and cross-border transfers.
EBA acknowledges that compliance with the EU Travel Rule guidelines will impose financial burdens on cryptocurrency exchanges and service providers. However, the regulator expects that overall benefits will be gained in the long run.
The EBA has developed guidelines for restricting measures for cryptocurrency providers, with the related guidelines taking effect from December 30, 2025.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) released new guidelines on November 14 for payment service providers (PSPs) and cryptocurrency asset service providers (CASPs), clarifying that these institutions must comply with the EU and member states' restrictive measures when transferring funds. The EBA noted that these guidelines will help financial institutions effectively implement restrictive measures within their governance and risk management frameworks to avoid operational and legal risks.
The EBA emphasizes that gaps in control, internal policies, and procedures of financial institutions may lead to legal and reputational risks, undermining the effectiveness of EU restrictive measures and even impacting the stability of the EU financial system. The new guidelines require PSPs and CASPs to utilize reliable screening systems to prevent users or entities from circumventing restrictive measures. These guidelines will take effect from December 30, 2025.
The Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation will take effect on December 30.
The EU's specialized regulations for the cryptocurrency industry, namely the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), aim to take effect on December 30 in the 27 member states. However, some countries have yet to develop legislation to implement MiCA. The Bank of Portugal stated on Monday that due to the legislation not being passed, it is currently unclear which national authority will be responsible for these rules. Industry associations indicated that part of the delay by national authorities is due to the short interval between the final technical standards published by ESMA in October and the implementation date.
Exchange:
Bloomberg: The EU requires crypto trading to delist USDT by December 30.
According to Bloomberg, the EU's crypto asset law is set to come into full effect at the end of the year. To comply with the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), several cryptocurrency exchanges within the EU have delisted the mainstream stablecoin USDT from Tether. This move is affecting the market for such tokens, with new issuers trying to fill the gap, while investors default to using the euro for cryptocurrency trading. Tether's main competitor, Circle, obtained such permission in July. However, Tether has not yet obtained such permission but has not ruled out the possibility of attempting to obtain it in the future. In the absence of Tether's approval, regulated exchanges must delist the token by December 30. Tether declined to comment on its own electronic money licensing plans.
Previously, news indicated that Coinbase plans to delist USDT and other non-compliant stablecoins in Europe.
Tether's CEO reposted several tweets in response: USDT will not be deemed illegal in Europe on December 30.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino reposted a tweet from the co-founder of weRate and the CEO of JAN3, which mentioned that there is a lot of 'FUD' information about USDT in the current market, but the reality is that USDT will not be deemed illegal in Europe on December 30, 2024. The MiCA rules need to be adhered to, but stablecoin service providers have a 6-18 month transition period, and some exchanges are waiting for clear information.
Binance contracts will delist OMGUSDT perpetual contracts on December 30.
Binance contracts will postpone the automatic liquidation and delisting of the OMGUSDT perpetual contract until December 30, 2024, at 5:00 PM (UTC+8). Users are advised to close positions before trading stops to avoid automatic liquidation.
Token Unlocking:
Beldex (BDX) will unlock approximately 330 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on December 30, 2024, which is 4.78% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $26.1 million.
Tribal Token (TRIBL) will unlock approximately 22.07 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on December 30, 2024, which is 15.38% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $6.3 million.
Slash Vision Labs (SVL) will unlock approximately 605 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on December 30, 2024, which is 12.25% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $3.9 million.
December 31
Exchange:
Kraken plans to delist Monero in the European Economic Area due to regulatory requirements, and users must withdraw their assets by December 31.
Affected by Kraken's announcement to cease support for Monero (XMR) in the European Economic Area (EEA) at the end of October, the price of Monero has fallen more than 5% in the past 24 hours to $144. Kraken stated that this move is due to regional regulatory changes and will stop all XMR market trading and deposits on October 31. Users must withdraw their assets by December 31, 2024; any unwithdrawn Monero will be automatically converted to Bitcoin and distributed to users on January 6, 2025.
Policy Regulation:
Israel will launch six Bitcoin mutual funds on December 31.
The Israel Securities Authority (ISA) has approved six mutual funds tracking the price of Bitcoin, which will launch simultaneously on December 31, 2024, by institutions such as Migdal Capital Markets, More, Ayalon, Phoenix Investment, Meitav, and IBI. The management fees for the funds range from 0.25% to 1.5%, with one fund being actively managed, aiming to outperform Bitcoin's performance. Initially, these funds will only trade once a day, but future continuous trading may be possible.
Token Unlocking:
Optimism (OP) will unlock approximately 31.34 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on December 31, 2024, which is 2.32% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $58.6 million.
Delysium (AGI) will unlock approximately 34.38 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on December 31, 2024, which is 2.57% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $5 million.
January 1
Policy Regulation:
Russia will fully ban cryptocurrency mining in 10 regions starting January 1, 2025.
According to local Russian media TASS, the Russian government has approved a complete ban on cryptocurrency mining in 10 regions starting January 1, 2025, with the ban lasting until March 15, 2031. These regions include Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia, Chechnya, and the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson. The ban applies to both pool activities and individual mining. Additionally, Russia will implement seasonal mining restrictions in three Siberian regions—Irkutsk, Buryatia, and Transbaikal—during the winter energy peak. In 2025, these restrictions will last from January 1 to March 15, and then extend from November 15, 2025, to March 15 of the following year.
Project Dynamics:
ai16z will announce a new token economics proposal around January 1.
Members of the Eliza team revealed at a community exchange meeting that the project intends to release two important announcements. First, the project will officially announce the list of all partners to enhance project transparency and help the community better understand the cooperation relationships and their specific scopes. Second, regarding token economics, ai16z will announce a new token economics proposal around January 1. This proposal is designed by professionals from multiple teams and will include LP pairing mechanisms and integration of DeFi functions. Additionally, the project has revealed that they have acquired a launchpad company, which will be used for official releases in the future.
Kelp DAO releases KERNEL token economics, with the second round of airdrops starting on January 1, 2025.
The Ethereum liquidity restaking platform Kelp DAO announced the KERNEL token economics details, with 55% allocated to community rewards and airdrops (20% for airdrops, 35% for future community rewards), 5% allocated to ecosystem and partners, 20% for private sales, and 20% allocated to the team and advisors (with a 6-month lock-up period for team and private sale tokens, unlocking within 24 months).
Additionally, 20% of the KERNEL tokens will be distributed through three rounds of airdrops:
First Airdrop: 10% of the total supply is allocated, with a snapshot date of December 31, 2024;
Second Airdrop: 5% of the total supply is allocated, from January 1 to April 30, 2025; an additional 15% loyalty reward can be obtained for restaking before January 15, 2025;
Subsequent Airdrop: allocation of the remaining 5%, schedule to be determined.
The KERNEL token will be used for governance, restaking for economic security, liquidity mining, and ecosystem revenue buybacks. The token generation event (TGE) is expected to be completed in early Q1 2025.
MANTRA updates OM token economics, reducing its on-chain inflation rate to 3% starting January 1, 2025.
The Layer 1 blockchain MANTRA focused on RWA assets passed the vote to update the OM token economics proposal last week.
Although the proposal suggests adjusting the token issuance schedule, individual allocations obtained through various activities will remain unchanged. The specifics of the proposal include:
Adjust the vesting schedule for OM upgrade rewards, with the cliff ending on March 18, 2025, followed by a linear vesting period that continues until October 16, 2028.
10% of the initial airdrop allocation will be unlocked starting March 18, 2025, followed by a 6-month cliff period until September 18, 2025. From that date, the remaining rewards will begin to vest linearly and continue until March 18, 2027. Additionally, a proposal for a second phase of anti-witch checks for all wallets is suggested. After that, the vesting period for airdrop rewards will no longer be extended.
The cliff and vesting periods for team and core contributor incentives are extended, with the cliff ending on April 23, 2027, and the vesting period ending on October 22, 2029.
The token cliff for Pre-Seed round investors will end on October 23, 2025, with vesting ending on October 23, 2027; the token cliff for Seed round investors will end on April 23, 2025, with vesting ending on April 23, 2026.
The ecosystem allocation will remain unchanged, and the on-chain inflation rate will be reduced from 8% to 3% starting January 1, 2025.
The Meme trading tool ABOT is gradually shutting down its business, with its Meme functionality being delisted on January 1, 2025.
The Meme trading tool ABOT announced a gradual shutdown of its business, with the following arrangements: service fees reduced to 0; Meme functions will be delisted on January 1, 2025; non-meme functions will be delisted and the website closed on January 7, 2025; new feature development will continue until December 31, with real-time issue response maintained until the website closure.
Governance Voting:
Frax Finance community has initiated a vote on the proposal to use BlackRock BUIDL as a support asset for frxUSD, ending on January 1.
The snapshot page shows that the Frax Finance community has initiated a vote on adopting BlackRock BUIDL as a proposed reserve asset for the stablecoin Frax USD (frxUSD), with voting ending on January 1. Currently, the proposal support rate is 100%.
Additionally, the Frax community has initiated a vote on the proposal to use USTB as collateral and custody assets for frxUSD, aimed at introducing USTB to provide stability, liquidity, and treasury yields as reserves for stablecoins. The initial cap for USTB as collateral is $100 million. Currently, USTB is being evaluated as a yield source for Polygon's PoS Bridge Assets and Sky's USDS reserves. Voting will end on January 1, 2025.
Token Unlocking:
Sui (SUI) will unlock approximately 64.19 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 1, 2025, which is 2.19% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $270 million.
ZetaChain (ZETA) will unlock approximately 53.89 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 1, 2025, which is 9.35% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $32 million.
Sleepless AI (AI) will unlock approximately 23.21 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 1, 2025, which is 17.85% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $14.6 million.
dydx (DYDX) will unlock approximately 8.33 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 1, 2025, which is 1.17% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $12.8 million.
Ethena (ENA) will unlock approximately 12.86 million tokens at 3:00 PM Beijing time on January 1, 2025, which is 0.44% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $12.1 million.
Maverick Protocol (MAV) will unlock approximately 36.20 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 1, 2025, which is 7.86% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $7.8 million.
Eigenlayer (EIGEN) will unlock approximately 1.29 million tokens at 3:00 AM Beijing time on January 1, 2025, which is 0.61% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $4.4 million.
Sidus (SIDUS) will unlock approximately 448 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 1, 2025, which is 4.05% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $2.1 million.
DODO (DODO) will unlock approximately 10 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 1, 2025, which is 1.38% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $1.6 million.
Manta Network (MANTA) will unlock approximately 1.87 million tokens at 7:59 AM Beijing time on January 1, 2025, which is 0.49% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $1.6 million.
January 2
N/A
January 3
Exchange:
FTX announcement: The court-approved Chapter 11 reorganization plan will take effect on January 3, 2025.
According to an FTX announcement, its court-approved Chapter 11 reorganization plan will take effect on January 3, 2025, and be set as the record date for the first distribution. The first distribution is expected to be completed within 60 days after the effective date and is applicable to approved claims in the convenience category. FTX has partnered with BitGo and Kraken to assist in distributing recovery funds to customers and creditors. Distribution requirements include completing KYC verification, submitting tax forms, and connecting with designated service providers. FTX reminds users to be vigilant against phishing emails and scam websites and will announce distribution dates for other categories of claims in the future.
Additionally, HODL15Capital tweeted that FTX will repay $16 billion in cash, with claims processing starting on January 3 next year.
Binance plans to list BIO on January 3, 2025, at 6:00 PM.
Bio Protocol (BIO) has become the 63rd Launchpool project on Binance. Binance plans to list BIO on January 3, 2025, at 6:00 PM (Beijing time) and open trading pairs BIO/USDT, BIO/BNB, BIO/FDUSD, and BIO/TRY. Seed tags will be applied to BIO.
Token Unlocking:
Staika (STIK) will unlock approximately 1.57 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 3, 2025, valued at approximately $2.2 million.
January 4
Token Unlocking:
Alephium (ALPH) will unlock approximately 1.88 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 4, 2025, which is 1.95% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $2.5 million.
January 5
Token Unlocking:
Cetus Protocol (CETUS) will unlock approximately 8.33 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 5, 2025, which is 1.32% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $2.7 million.
Everclear (NEXT) will unlock approximately 20.11 million tokens at 8:00 AM Beijing time on January 5, 2025, which is 18.82% of the current circulating supply, valued at approximately $2 million.
Specific timing to be determined.
Project Dynamics:
Bounce Brand: The perpetual contract exchange BounceX will launch next week.
Bounce Brand tweeted that BounceX will launch next week, supporting the platform's native token AUCTION as collateral. Previously, Bounce Brand announced that the perpetual contract exchange BounceX will launch in Q4 2024.
This week's macro outlook: The market is likely to remain calm during the New Year's holiday, but economic data may contradict the Federal Reserve.
U.S. stocks fell this Friday, disappointing investor expectations for the so-called 'Santa Claus rally.' With the New Year's holiday approaching, global financial markets may also tend to remain calm over the next week. The U.S. ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) may be the only focus among next week's economic data; however, any headlines related to Trump's policies may also stimulate market volatility. If economic data contradicts the Federal Reserve, the dollar's upward momentum may diminish, and next week's initial jobless claims could also become a major driver of the dollar's movement. Any data indicating that the Federal Reserve is too cautious about inflation while being overly optimistic about the labor market could lead to the recent dollar rise unraveling.
