Following the sale of its remaining Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) holdings, ARK Invest purchased 4.3 million shares of ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) yesterday. According to closing prices, the ProShares stake is worth $9.2 million. As per an emailed transaction notice, Cathie Wood’s investment vehicle also purchased 20,000 shares of the Ark 21Shares Active Bitcoin

On-chain company Arkham Intelligence stated in a post on Thursday that a wallet connected to former US President Donald Trump transferred over $2.4 million worth of ether (ETH) to cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in the previous few weeks, where they presumably sold those holdings. He began sending ETH to Coinbase three weeks ago after collecting Trump

According to one analyst, the establishment of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US could lead to fundamental issues with Satoshi Nakamoto’s original goal for the anonymous cryptocurrency.According to Josef Tetek, a Bitcoin analyst at the hardware cryptocurrency wallet company Trezor, the idea of a spot Bitcoin ETF—an investment product that monitors the price of BTC by holding Bitcoin—confers with the concept of self-custody. “In principle, spot Bitcoin ETFs take people further from self-custody and potentially introduce a systemic risk, as ETFs will be safer on the surface than exchanges,” Tetek said in an interview with Cointelegraph. Referring to the situation of gold seizure in the US in the 1930s, the analyst speculated that one potential outcome of spot Bitcoin ETF certification would be that significant amounts of BTC would be kept in central locations where the government might grab them. Tetek went on “And while a spot Bitcoin ETF would make exposure to Bitcoin price movements more accessible to individuals and institutions

Financial regulators in Hong Kong have released plans for monitoring stablecoin issuers via a licencing system and a regulatory sandbox in order to provide potential issuers with “supervisory expectations and guidance on compliance”. By February 29th, the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), and the central bank of

Under new legislation intended to increase transparency, South Korea is opening up the public’s access to the cryptocurrency and other asset holdings of about 5,800 public officials. The South Korean Ethics Policy Division announced in a post on Wednesday that public officials will receive an integrated asset disclosure service beginning in the following year. Although

According to reports, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, increased his net worth by almost $25 billion since December 2022. As of December 25, CZ had a total net worth of $37.2 billion, up $24.6 billion from the previous year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Following Uniqlo CEO Tadashi Yanai and Citadel

Following a perceived error in the installation of a Polygon wallet that resulted in a decrease in user balances on the Telcoin mobile application, the price of the Telcoin (TEL) token dropped by 40% in less than a day. Peckshield, a blockchain security firm, identified the slide as exploitable. Messages on the Discord online forum,

Mark Shifke will succeed Barry Silbert as chairman of Grayscale Investments, whose application to the Securities and Exchange Commission to convert its Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a U.S. spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) is now under review.Commencing on January 1, Grayscale announced in an SEC filing that Shikfe, DCG’s chief financial officer, will take Silbert’s post. No explanation was provided for the move.Also quitting from the board was Mark Murphy, the president of DCG. A number of ETF applications have been delayed by the SEC, including those of Hashdex, Vaneck, BlackRock, Grayscale, and Ark 21shares. As year-end draws near, many of these companies have met with the regulator and submitted updated documents.The first date to approach is January 10th, by which the agency must either accept or reject Ark 21Shares. Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, filed a lawsuit against Silbert’s Digital Currency Group (DCG), the owner of Grayscale, in October. The lawsuit claimed that DCG had defrauded over 230,000 investors, including at least 29,000 New Yorkers, of over $1 billion.James further accused Silbert of attempting to conceal significant losses in order to deceive the public.The accusations were denied by Silbert and DCG.

As one trader projected a new BTC price breakout, Bitcoin remained within a strict trading range until the weekly close on December 24. Over the weekend, BTC/USD only made sideways moves, according to data from TradingView and Cointelegraph Markets Pro.As Bitcoin rejected volatility off the year’s final US macro data, these had started into the final Wall Street trading week before the Christmas holiday season. However, well-known trader and analyst Credible Crypto claims that the largest cryptocurrency, now trading at over $43,500, is “absolutely primed” to rise.Credible Crypto has stated in recent tweets on X (previously Twitter) that flat trading is an indication of accumulation. “It really does not get much better than this,” one of the posts summarized. “Some final accumulation going on here before the push to 50k+ imo.” Market indicators resetting, he added, is also a key component needed to fuel upside continuation. “We have price trapped in a tight accumulation range, aggregate OI

 The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) declared that it had withdrawn its prohibitions on Nigerian banks processing cryptocurrency transactions in a circular that was distributed to banks on December 22.Peer-to-peer (P2P) merchants and crypto-fiat exchangers, however, are expected to face increased competition from one another.P2P merchant dominance began when the CBN forbade Nigerian banks from supporting cryptocurrency transactions.It was intended for the ban to eradicate Bitcoin and cryptocurrency usage in Nigeria. Peer-to-peer transactions and direct payment transfers become the new norm in the cryptocurrency world.  Reaching out to players in the local cryptocurrency ecosystem to find out how the new development is being received by the community and industry.Nathaniel Luz, co-founder and CMO of Flincap, told Cointelegraph that the industry will benefit greatly from the ban’s repeal.In his opinion, this indicates that Nigeria is prepared for cryptocurrency companies to establish their headquarters and conduct operations there.Luz stressed that institutional exchanges should be preparing for the Nigerian market as soon as the ban is lifted, since their absence during the prohibition allowed P2P to soar at the expense of other cryptocurrency companies. “So right now, it’s going to be the survival of the fittest as crypto-fiat exchanges and P2P merchants battle for the largest crypto P2P market in the world.” Answering the question of whether SEC registration requirements would discourage exchanges from conducting business in Nigeria, Luz said that although obtaining an SEC license is a hurdle for startups, he thinks the crypto industry will gain from it. He provided an explanation of some of the 2010 recapitalization policy-related developments to the Nigerian banking industry.As a result, some banks had to merge and be acquired by investors, improving the banking industry.The Central Bank of Nigeria forbade all registered financial institutions from providing services to cryptocurrency exchanges, according to a February 2021 Cointelegraph story.Nonetheless, the circular states that the CBN acknowledged that the harsh regulations placed on financial institutions in 2021 are no longer justified given the rising demand and usage of cryptocurrencies worldwide.

The Base Network initiative, which Coinbase has supported, is growing steadily, though more slowly now than it was in the beginning.Base’s total value locked (TVL) is currently close to $735 million, up 4% over the previous week according to the most recent L2Beat data.The TVL of Base Network, which represents the total amount of money within the network, climbed from $592 million at the end of November to above $600 million, based on data that shows the network’s official launch in August 2023.According to DUNE data, user interaction on Base has been steadily increasing, with over 2.5 million total users by Nov. 1 and over 3 million by Dec. 22. The community is expanding, as evidenced by the daily active users, who increased significantly from debut to over 70,000 people for the most of November and December.From 1 ETH to 36,942 ETH in November and nearly double that amount to 79,354 ETH by December, the daily trading volume of Ethereum on the network has increased significantly.Base Network provides support for several decentralized apps by utilizing the optimistic rollup architecture.The network can currently perform approximately 6.97 million transactions in the previous 30 days at a daily transaction speed (TPS) of 3.45. During this time, Base Network has also encountered several noteworthy obstacles.From scam tokens to a significant outage, it varied.Almost a month after opening, on September 5, Base had its first outage lasting 43 minutes.Base’s growth is noteworthy when compared to its peers.It faces competition from market leaders such OP mainnet, with a TVL of $5.73 billion, and Arbitrum One, with a TVL of $8.70 billion.The network is growing steadily, but its overall value locked swings may be caused by its recent inception, a limited range of DeFi protocols that are available, and early problems with fake tokens and rug pulls.Nonetheless, the site’s quick user growth, transaction volume, and daily volume suggest a con

Scammers still use wallet drainers to target naive cryptocurrency users with phishing websites. As they continue to use Google Ads to promote malicious fake websites that use wallet draining software, scammers have stolen $3 million worth of cryptocurrencies in a single day. According to a report on December 21, in 2023, scammers stole $59 million

As 2023 comes to an end, cryptocurrency traders are turning more and more towards alternative cryptocurrencies. Currently, 38% of the $30.45 billion market-wide notional futures open interest is locked in as a dollar value in the quantity of active futures contracts linked to bitcoin. That’s the lowest that Coinalyze has tracked in at least two

Almost ten years after the Mt. Gox cryptocurrency exchange was compromised, it seems that consumers who lost 850,000 bitcoin (BTC), which is currently worth about $36 billion, are beginning to receive their money back. A few users in the mtgoxinsolvency subreddit claimed to have gotten payouts via Paypal in yen. Others who had opted to

A proposal to stop taxing unrealized cryptocurrency gains was approved by the Japanese cabinet by the ruling Liberal Democratic party. This will probably help the nation’s Web3 industry grow. The plan would eliminate corporate taxation on the difference between the market and book values of cryptocurrency assets issued by other businesses. It must be discussed

Fatma Ozkul has been a lecturer at Marmara University in Istanbul since 2012, with an academic focus on accounting, finance, auditing, blockchain and digital assets. According to reports, professor Fatma Ozkul, an authority on blockchain technology and cryptocurrency assets, has been added to the monetary body of the central bank of Turkey by President Recep

Wallet Guard executive Michael Khekoian stated that since ZachXBT deleted his account, a number of fraudulent accounts have come to light. Following the deletion of his official account, rumours are making the rounds on social media about several accounts purporting to be well-known blockchain investigator ZachXBT, who is renowned for outing dishonest cryptocurrency projects in

In the bankruptcy action pertaining to the acquisition of stock-clearing platform Embed, the debtors of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX have requested independent litigation. The FTX debtors announced in a filing on December 22 that they had negotiated a proposed settlement with former CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, “solely with respect to the claims asserted against

According to Faryar Shirzad, Chief Policy Officer of Coinbase, the claims are merely untrue and distort the exchange’s commitment to advancing advancements in cryptocurrency regulations. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts claimed that the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase hired former government employees to obstruct the development of laws governing digital assets. Coinbase has refuted her claims. Sen.

Stuart Alderoty, the legal chief at Ripple, stated in a post that the SEC asked the company to publicly recognise XRP as a security asset in 2020 and provided a short window for cryptocurrency compliance. Stuart Alderoty, the head of Ripple’s legal department, revealed the details of the Securities Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed settlement before

The cryptocurrency exchange MEXC was compelled to put an end to rumours over a recently deleted X (formerly Twitter) account with the username “MEXC_CEO,” which some had speculated would be a clue that things were not going well at the company. In response to recent “confusion” around the abrupt deletion of the MEXC_CEO account from

The guidelines are intended to establish minimum requirements and standards for banking relationships and account openings for Nigerian virtual asset service providers. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has loosened restrictions on Nigerian banks facilitating cryptocurrency transactions, almost two years after enforcing a broad ban on banks dealing with digital currencies. The CBN acknowledged in

The cNGN is supervised by a group of Nigerian banks and functions as an addition to the eNaira, not as a replacement for it. Nigerian banks are working together to design and manage the cNGN, a new stablecoin that is intended to benefit token holders as well as the Nigerian economy. The project’s anonymous insiders

In their most recent financial stability report, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) discussed challenges pertaining to cryptocurrency regulation and decentralized financing (DeFi), calling for an international initiative to create crypto regulations.In its most recent financial stability report, the Chinese central bank included a special section on cryptocurrency assets, emphasizing the necessity of international cooperation in the industry’s regulation.The research, which was released on December 22, claims that the cryptocurrency market makes up 1% of the whole financial system and has little to no relationship with traditional finance. Colin Wu, a local industry journalist, claims that the PBoC’s most recent financial stability report includes a section specifically devoted to cryptocurrency assets for the first time.The central bank urged governments everywhere to follow the “same business, same risks, same supervision” strategy in the report in order to prevent regulatory arbitrage.The study mentioned a variety of possible hazards associated with regulatory arbitrage in the cryptocurrency space, including market manipulation, hacker attack vulnerabilities, and issues with DeFi government systems.The PBoC emphasized the need to control regulatory fragmentation and do away with supervision arbitrage, citing in particular the collapse of the Terra ecosystem and the demise of the FTX exchange in 2022. China has moved to call on the international community to cooperatively regulate the cryptocurrency business, following the government of the Chinese mainland’s significant restriction on cryptocurrencies a few years ago. In an effort to suppress the growth of cryptocurrency in mainland China, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) formally outlined steps in 2021 and pushed for more interdepartmental coordination.Mainland China is still a major center for bitcoin mining despite the prohibition that applies to almost all cryptocurrency transactions and mining.Industry leaders like as Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca, believe that mainland China’s cryptocurrency laws may change significantly as a result of Hong Kong’s explosive growth in the space.Some local executives, however, think Hong Kong’s crypto-friendly initiatives have little to do with China’s crypto policies.

The goal of the General Administration of Press and Publication of China (GAPP) is to limit the range of activities associated with in-game tokens.The GAPP released a draft of its rules for the online gaming business on December 22. It recommended that the exchange of game tokens for legal cash and the purchase of tangible items be outlawed.The 62 Articles in the guidelines address a wide range of topics pertaining to the control of online gaming.It suggests more stringent rules, such as requiring the companies to get a license in China, storing client data for up to two years, making sure their material fits with a list of socialist and national values, and eliminating the option for users to register anonymously. The usage of game tokens is governed by Article 23.By substituting them for “products and services of other units” or “legal tender,” it seeks to outlaw the use of game tokens to purchase tangible commodities.The latter aspect raises questions because there is no explicit reference to “crypto” in the rules and cryptocurrencies are not accepted as legal money in China.Nonetheless, it seems the GAPP is attempting to shield virtual game economies from closer interaction with the actual economy.Additionally, the standards forbid game developers from providing inducements to play, including daily login bonuses or signup bonuses.It is mandatory for providers to establish user recharge limitations and pop-up window alerts to alert consumers about their “irrational consumption behavior.” The rules do not yet have legal force, they were released for public consultation.January 22, 2024, is the deadline for consultation.About a million distinct active wallets played Web3 games every day for the previous three months, according to DappRadar data. Yat Siu, co-founder of the gaming and venture firm Animoca Brands, told the press on December 17 that he believes this figure might rise by as much as $100 million the following year.

After US Securities and Exchange (SEC) head Gary Gensler made a recent criticism of the cryptocurrency space’s compliance, the community quickly responded with applause.Gensler says there is a lot of noncompliance in the cryptocurrency industry in a post he shared on X (Twitter) on December 22.Insinuating that victims are left defenseless, the SEC official stated that this “undermines confidence” in the industry.The recent crypto bankruptcies have left those impacted to only “stand in line” in the legal system, Gensler emphasized. The SEC chair’s remarks were immediately met with support from the community, which brought attention to the fact that the SEC has frequently been asked to define compliance.The community reported that the SEC has not taken a clear position by using the social platform’s Community Notes function, which enables users to fact-check posts on X.The email also mentioned how, in recent years, businesses like Coinbase have attempted to obtain regulatory clarification from the SEC. In response to Gensler’s statement, Billy Markus, the founder of Dogecoin, stated that the SEC chair has not actually imposed any rules.Markus went on to describe Gensler as “useless in every single way.”Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, also addressed Gensler’s remarks.The Ripple executive labeled Gensler a “political liability” whose actions undermined the SEC’s credibility and referred to the post as “stunning hypocrisy”. The SEC expressed its “deep regret” for some of the mistakes it made during an enforcement action in a new filing that same day.According to Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, the SEC may “regret” its mistakes, but its chair is “browbeating an entire American industry.”Why should a judge or taxpayer believe their regrets, the attorney questioned.

Regulators in Hong Kong announced that they are prepared to review applications for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that will trade cryptocurrencies on the spot market. The virtual asset environment has evolved since the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) developed a “professional-investors only” regulatory approach in 2018, according to a joint statement from the SFC and the

Switzerland and Japan were two of the six nations with stablecoin laws in place in 2023 out of the 35 countries PwC examined. Stablecoin, or cryptocurrency, market value reached new all-time highs in 2023. Stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies like Tether and USDC, have seen impressive growth over the last year. A recent report claims that despite