Regulatory news

Crypto.com has renewed its partnership with F1 until 2030

According to the official news of Formula 1, Crypto.com's cooperation agreement with F1 has been extended until 2030. The partnership began in 2021, during which F1's cumulative TV audience reached 1.5 billion, with 750 million fans worldwide, and Crypto.com's user base grew to more than 100 million. In the New Deal, Crypto.com will focus on creating unique experiences for fans across multiple Grands Prix, while continuing as the official title partner of F1 Crypto.com's Miami Grand Prix. Formula 1, which began in 1950, is the world's most prestigious motor race and the most popular annual sporting event in the world.

The US SEC approved Hashdex to launch the Nasdaq Bitcoin and Ethereum crypto Index ETF

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the listing of the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF and the Franklin Crypto Index ETF, according to a filing released by the SEC. The funds will be listed on the Nasdaq and Cboe BZX exchanges, respectively, allowing investors to invest indirectly in Bitcoin and Ethereum through traditional financial markets. The approval includes comprehensive market monitoring protocols to prevent fraud and manipulation.

Animoca Brands announces Financial and Business highlights for 2024 Q2 and Q3

Animoca Brands announces financial and business highlights (unaudited, non-IFRS metrics) for the years ended June 30 and September 30, 2024. The company's Q2 and Q3 projected revenue amounted to $48 million and $69 million, respectively, with cash and stablecoin balances of $248 million, liquid digital assets worth $330 million, and off-balance sheet token asset reserves of $1.6 billion. MOCA tokens went live on Upbit and Bithumb in December, with more than $2 billion in transactions in 24 hours and 1.8 million users of Mocaverse. The number of active wallets on Open Campus reached 1.8 million, and the transaction volume exceeded 67 million. The Sandbox Alpha Season 4 pushed SAND tokens up 350%; GAMEE has 16 million monthly active users. In 2024, the company achieved $28 million in revenue from token investments and continues to invest in more than 530 projects.

Metaplanet issues ¥5 billion ordinary bonds to accelerate Bitcoin purchases

Metaplanet Inc., a publicly traded Japanese company, announced that it will issue 5 billion yen in a private placement of Series 5 general bonds, the proceeds of which will be used to purchase Bitcoin. The repayment of these funds is expected to be accomplished through the execution proceeds of the Series 12 stock acquisition rights. The Notes will pay no interest and are scheduled to mature on June 16, 2025, with holders able to redeem some or all of the Notes early. The company said the offering will have a limited impact on its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Blockaid reports: More than half of new crypto tokens in 2024 are malicious, with fraud losses reaching $1.4 billion

Blockchain security firm Blockaid reported that about 59% of crypto tokens launched in 2024 were identified as "malicious tokens." Of those, 27 percent involved "Rug-pull" scams. The growth of these malicious tokens is related to the highly sought after Meme token trend in the market, with 10 Meme tokens now worth more than $1 billion, attracting a large number of imitators to release similar tokens on chains such as Ethereum, Base, and Solana. Still, losses due to crypto scams and hacks have dropped significantly from $5.6 billion last year to $1.4 billion in 2024. The data is based on Blockaid's on-chain detection and response platform, which analyzed 2.41 billion transactions, 780 million dApp connections, and 220 million tokens.

financing

DuckChain completes $5 million funding round with participation from DWF Ventures

TON Eco-consumer DuckChain announces successful $5 million funding round Investors include DAO5, Offchain Labs, Kenetic Capital, DWF Ventures, Oak Grove VC, Skyland VC, Geek Cartel, Gate.io, Presto Labs, and others. In addition, angel investors from well-known projects such as CamelotDEX and Quantstamp also participated in the round.

DuckChain plans to use the funding to unlock the on-chain potential of over 30 million Telegram Star users through its TON based EVM solution. DuckChain also launched the "Yellow Duck Mission" hackathon with a total prize pool of $1 million, with partners including Wallet, Arbitrum and OnePiece Labs.

Project dynamics

AltLayer was awarded 1 million EIGEN tokens, all of which will be given back to the community

According to AltLayer's official announcement, the Eigen Foundation awarded it a grant of 1 million EIGEN tokens in recognition of its contribution to the EigenLayer ecology. AltLayer announced that the first 500,000 EIGEN tokens will be distributed to reALT holders and pledgers starting this week, for a snapshot period from May 9 to December 12, 2024. • The remaining 500,000 EIGEN tokens: will be distributed in 2025 when Eigen Layer's V2 reward system goes live on the mainnet. Users can collect through the only official website, stake.altlayer.io, from 11:00 on December 20, 2024 to 11:00 on February 20, 2025, Beijing time.

Coinbase has suspended trading in wBTC and the WBTC team has issued a response

According to Coinbase's announcement, it will suspend trading of wBTC (Wrapped Bitcoin), including Coinbase.com, Coinbase Exchange and Coinbase Prime platforms, at around noon Eastern time on December 19, 2024. Users' wBTC funds can still be withdrawn at any time. In response, the WBTC team expressed regret and surprise, saying that it has always been committed to providing a compliant, transparent and decentralized Bitcoin tokenized product. The team emphasized that WBTC has a leading position in transparency and decentralization, and deep integration with multiple DeFi protocols, making important contributions to ecosystem development. At the same time, the team called on Coinbase to reconsider the decision and promised to provide more information to address any concerns.

Robinhood sells BONK

According to Robinhood's official announcement, the cryptocurrency $BONK has officially launched its trading platform. Users can now trade through Robinhood Crypto.

CZ says Revolut has launched BNB

Binance founder CZ said on social media that fintech giant Revolut has launched BNB. He revealed that he had just learned the news and said the community was growing.

Binance delays OMG/USDT perpetual contract removal time

Binance announced that it will further delay the removal of the USD Universal-M OMGUSDT perpetual Contract until 17:00 (Beijing time) on January 31, 2025. At that time, the platform will automatically settle the contract and then remove it.

USUAL partnered with DOGE on false news, and USUAL briefly broke above $1.60 before falling back

According to James Fishback, the account of Vivek Ramaswamy, co-leader of the US government efficiency unit DOGE, has been compromised by hackers and a false statement has been posted claiming that the DOGE unit has partnered with stablecoin issuer USUAL to reduce the federal fiscal deficit and promote cryptocurrency initiatives. Fishback confirmed that the statement was false and that Vivek has now been locked out of its account. Binance prices showed that the USUAL brief break above $1.6, now trading at about $1.51.

Aoyi OKX will launch FARTCOINUSDT and AI16ZUSDT perpetual contracts

OKX announced that it will launch FARTCOINUSDT and AI16ZUSDT perpetual contracts from 17:00 to 17:15 (UTC+8) on December 20, 2024, allowing users to trade through the web, App and API. FARTCOIN is a token mentioned by Truth Terminal, an autonomous chatbot created by AI researcher Andy Ayrey; AI16Z is the world's first venture capital firm led by AI agents, committed to connecting AI entrepreneurs and investors, and driving rapid development of the ecosystem.

viewpoint

Murad: Keep an eye out for resilient memes that could do well in 2025

According to the KOL Murad data of Meme ecology, the price of various Meme coins has generally fallen sharply in the past 30 days. LUCE, GINNAN and SKBDI are down 76 percent, 65 percent and 56 percent, respectively, while the SPX6900 is one of the few exceptions, up 33 percent in the last 30 days. Additionally, GIGA and MOG recorded 30-day gains of 25% and 1%, respectively.

For Memecoin, which has seen its price fall over the past week, investors should pay special attention to those tokens that have performed the most strongly, he said. He noted that the community of these tokens may have more "Diamondhands" holders (long-term stalwarts), which means it has more potential for the future and could perform well in 2025.

Spartan Group: The 12 months following the U.S. election are typically a strong performance period for crypto assets, especially for small and mid-sized tokens

In the 2024 US presidential election, Trump not only won the election by a landslide, but the Republican Party also controlled the Senate and the House of Representatives. This victory provides great leverage to push for policy changes, and the next 12 months are expected to be very positive for the crypto industry.

What's different about this election is the importance of the crypto agenda. Trump and his core advisers are crypto-friendly, and crypto companies provided significant support in the election. In addition, Trump has said he wants the United States to become a global crypto hub. Currently, the United States is already the leader in crypto infrastructure, mining, and trading, but the new administration's policies could further solidify that position.

Historical data shows that the 12 months following the US election are typically a period of strong performance for crypto assets. The additive effect of the policy clarity brought about by the election results and the BTC halving cycle could drive market sentiment toward risk appetite, especially for small and mid-sized tokens. Spartan Group believes that as the "cottage season" approaches, the crypto market will usher in more upside space in the coming year.

Greeks.live: The BTC correction may lead to the "cottage season", and the price performance ratio of options at the end of the year will be improved

According to the analysis of Greeks.live analyst Adam, the recent BTC in the impact of $110,000 failed to call back, clearing some of the leverage bulls, while the altcoins adjustment has lasted for nearly a month. According to the experience of previous bull markets, a sharp correction in bitcoin may lead to a "cottage season", but the strength of the current correction is not clear.

With the approach of Christmas and annual delivery, ETF funds have been significantly outflows, and market makers have continued to adjust their positions, with the proportion of recent bulk call options trading exceeding 30% per day. After the expiration of more than 40% of options at the end of the year, the release of a large amount of margin is expected to drive implied volatility down, and the cost performance of buying options in the next week may be significantly improved. Deribit: BTC options and ETH options with a total notional value of approximately $2.7 billion will expire tomorrow.

CryptoQuant founder: Bitcoin dominance has fallen 6% recently, and only a few altcoins have attracted new liquidity

Ki Young Ju, founder of CryptoQuant, pointed out that bitcoin's dominance rate fell 6% recently, of which XRP accounted for 3% of the contribution, and the dominance rate is now recovering.

He said that only a few altcoins have attracted new liquidity, and the rotation of BTC to altcoins is limited, which is not a "cottage season" in the traditional sense, but more like an individual outstanding altcoin season.

Important data

Of the top 500 tokens in crypto market value, 10 tokens fell by more than 50% in 30 days, and 8 are Meme coins

According to coinmarketcap data, 10 of the top 500 cryptocurrencies by marketcap have fallen by more than 50% in the past 30 days, eight of which are Meme coins, as follows: Magic Eden (ME) fell 72.88% and is currently quoted at $3.07; Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) is down 59.75% at $0.6628; Goatseus Maximus (GOAT) was down 58.30% to $0.4799. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) down 56.60% to $0.1015; Popcat (SOL) (POPCAT) down 55.57% to $0.7724; Just a chill guy (CHILLGUY) down 53.90% to $0.1811; XION (XION) down 52.93% to $3.30; Ponke (PONKE) down 52.76% to $0.3369; Neiro (Neiro On Ethereum) (NEIRO) down 52.11% at $0.0009805; Sudeng (HIPPO) is down 51.50% at $0.009632.

The Mt.Gox address just transferred nearly 720 BTC worth about $69.87 million

Arkm data shows that at 9:07 Beijing time, Mt. Gox transferred 719.568 pieces of $BTC, worth about $69.87 million, to two new wallet addresses.

Data: The number of active cryptocurrency users in Hong Kong is currently estimated to be only about 100,000

According to Sing Tao Daily, people in the virtual asset industry in Hong Kong said that the development of virtual assets in Hong Kong is at an early stage, and they do not worry about market competition, but believe that more participants will join. According to HashKey estimates, Hong Kong currently has only about 100,000 active cryptocurrency users, the market size is relatively small, and most of the market has been occupied by existing licensed platforms, new entrants need to face high operating costs, as well as facing or difficult to seize the market, it is expected that the future of Hong Kong virtual asset industry competition is low likelihood.

The Salvadoran wallet address added 11 bitcoins worth $1.07 million

On-chain data shows that at 8:07 Beijing time, the Salvadoran wallet address purchased 11 bitcoins worth $1.07 million for its strategic Bitcoin reserve. It was reported yesterday that officials in El Salvador will accelerate the purchase of bitcoin for strategic reserves, the official bitcoin wallet Chivo will be sold or discontinued, and bitcoin payments will be made voluntary as a result of a $1.4 billion loan agreement with the IMF.

World Liberty bought 722.2 ETH for $2.5 million an hour ago

An hour ago, Trump's World Liberty (@worldlibertyfi) used $2.5 million USDC to buy 722.2 ETH at an average price of $3,461 in a single transaction, as monitored by Onchain Lens.

The Ethereum Foundation sold ETH 32 times in the past year, 15 times near the high

According to Lookonchain monitoring, since the Ethereum Foundation sold 100 ETH on December 17, the price of ETH has fallen by about 17%. Over the past year, the Ethereum Foundation has conducted 32 ETH sales totaling 4,466 ETH ($12.6 million), 15 of which were near market highs.

Hyperliquid's 24-hour trading volume topped $13 billion, an all-time high

According to the official news, the 24-hour trading volume of the Hyperliquid platform has exceeded $13 billion for the first time, setting a record high.

The Bitcoin spot ETF saw a net outflow of $680 million in a single day, a record high

According to SoSoValue data, on December 19, Eastern time, the Bitcoin spot ETF had a net outflow of $680 million in a single day, a record high. Among them, the Grayscale ETF GBTC had a daily net outflow of $87.862,500, and a cumulative historical net outflow of $21.236 billion; The Grayscale Bitcoin Mini-Trust ETF BTC had a net outflow of $189 million in a single day, but the cumulative historical net inflow is still $853 million. By comparison, the WisdomTree ETF BTCW saw net inflows of $2.0474 million yesterday, bringing its cumulative cumulative inflows to $229 million. As of now, the total net asset value of the Bitcoin spot ETF is $109.655 billion, accounting for 5.74% of the total market value of bitcoin, and the cumulative historical net inflow is $36.329 billion.