Following the resolution of its legal dispute with the US Department of Justice and the payment of a $4.3 billion settlement fine, cryptocurrency exchange Binance has begun to regain its market share in terms of trading volume.Two months after the exchange resolved its legal dispute with US regulators, Binance’s trading volume market share increased to 49%, according to statistics from the crypto research firm Kaiko.The increase comes after multi-year lows while the exchange worked out its legal problems. Despite having a great start to 2023, Binance’s spot market share was negatively impacted over the year.According to cryptocurrency data provider CCData, the exchange’s spot market share decreased from 55.2% in January 2023 to as low as 34.3% in September of last year. Data aggregator DefiLlama recorded a higher amount of $3.35 billion in money leaving Binance, while analytics company Nansen reported a net outflow of $2.36 billion in June 2023.Changpeng Zhao, the former CEO of Binance, asserted that the data might not be accurate because outflows are measured as changes in assets under management (AUM) by third-party analytics companies.According to Binance, despite the hits to its market share, it added 40 million new users in 2023.The exchange stated that they had seen growth in their “key services” and that this represented an almost 30% rise over 2022. In a statement sent to Cointelegraph, a Binance spokesperson said that the exchange is focusing on its users and is moving into a new chapter. They wrote. “At Binance, our focus has always been on putting users at the center of every decision we make. As a result, users can continue to

Global payment giant Visa is stepping up its efforts to encourage the use of cryptocurrencies by opening up yet another way to convert cryptocurrency to fiat money without utilizing a centralized exchange.The companies announced on January 30 that Visa, in collaboration with Web3 infrastructure provider Transak, will launch cryptocurrency withdrawals and payments via the Visa Direct service.With the help of this new integration, users may now withdraw cryptocurrency like Bitcoin straight to a Visa debit card from a wallet like MetaMask.The integration is instantaneously available and allows users to convert cryptocurrency to fiat and make payments at 130 million merchant locations that accept Visa. “By enabling real-time card withdrawals through Visa Direct, Transak is delivering a faster, simpler and more connected experience for its users — making it easier to convert crypto balances into fiat,” Visa Direct’s North America Head Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore said. According to Harshit Gangwar, the main investor relations representative at Transak and head of marketing, the partnership greatly increases the number of ways to exchange cryptocurrency for fiat money and marks a key milestone in linking the crypto and traditional banking worlds. Through the arrangement, users can immediately convert at least 40 cryptocurrencies to fiat without using centralized exchanges, and they can do so from 145 different countries.Transak’s global coverage page lists the United Arab Emirates, Cyprus, Malta, Singapore, Turkey, Portugal, and other countries as among the supported nations. “This is a major step towards mainstream acceptance and utilization of cryptocurrencies,” Gangwar

According to a Financial Times story published on Tuesday, larger dealers are now permitted by cryptocurrency exchange Binance to retain their assets in independent banks. They were previously required to keep their assets with Ceffu, the exchange’s custodial partner, or on the exchange itself. They can now utilise cryptocurrency-friendly establishments like FlowBank and Sygnum, two

Ten months remain until the US presidential election, and traders on Polymarket, a decentralised prediction platform, appear optimistic that former President Donald Trump will win back the White House. In the Trump prediction market linked to the “Presidential Election Winner 2024” contract, the Yes side shares were trading at 55 cents as of this writing,

After adding the token staking programme to its list of dubious investment products, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong expressed concerns, the team behind the meme-based cryptocurrency project Floki stated it is taking action to allay those concerns. “We’ve taken steps to mitigate concerns in jurisdictions where the regulatory framework does not

The Ordinals protocol is viewed as a hindrance to Bitcoin by some, but others are more confident in its position regarding nonfungible tokens (NFTs) within the Bitcoin ecosystem.With traders growing increasingly interested in NFTs based on Bitcoin, OKX’s NFT marketplace overtook its rivals on December 18 in terms of daily trading volume.The company said on January 29 that it will be adding Atomicals and Runes to its marketplace, further intensifying its efforts to accommodate Bitcoin NFTs.To further explore supporting Ordinals in other chains, it will also incorporate Dogecoin’s Doginals.Aside from its marketplace, OKX also declared that its Web3 Wallet would handle Atomicals, Stamps, Runes, and Doginals’ token standards. Although OKX publicly backs both Bitcoin protocols and Ordinals, other participants in the Bitcoin ecosystem have made it clear that they don’t like Bitcoin Ordinals—some have even gone so far as to call them digital spam.Chief innovation officer Jason Lau of cryptocurrency exchange OKX, on the other hand, isn’t convinced. on an interview with Cointelegraph, Lau claimed that on open, permissionless networks like Bitcoin, “spam” does not exist.As long as the fees are paid and the transactions follow the established guidelines, the executive thinks that all transactions are legitimate. He continued.“Historically, OKX has been a strong supporter of the Bitcoin ecosystem, being one of the earliest to support upgrades like SegWit, Taproot and Lightning, and Ordinals are no different.” The executive also argued that Ordinals and inscriptions can open up new use cases for users and provide a new design space for

According to different reports by Tencent News and Bloomberg, Harvest Global Investments, a significant asset management firm in China, has applied for a spot-bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) with Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and is in talks with regulators regarding the city’s stablecoin sandbox. Regulators in Hong Kong said in December 2023 that they were prepared to take applications for spot cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs), less than two weeks after almost a dozen applicants were approved for such products in the United States.According to a Bloomberg story earlier this month, Hong Kong-based Venture Smart Financial Holdings has also stated that it will submit an application for a spot bitcoin ETF and anticipates opening for business in the first quarter. According to Bloomberg, which cited persons familiar with the situation, Venture Smart Financial, Harvest, and RD Technologies are some of the organizations reportedly in talks with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) regarding the proposed stablecoin sandbox. “The sandbox arrangement is intended for fiat-reference stablecoin (FRS) issuers who have a genuine interest in and a reasonable plan on issuing FRS in Hong Kong,” an HKMA spokesperson said in an email. “The HKMA is preparing for the launch of the sandbox and will announce relevant details in due course.” When CoinDesk asked the HKMA, the central bank involved in the region’s stablecoin initiatives, for comment, they did not answer right away.By the end of February, the Hong Kong regulators would like to hear comments on their published ideas for a licensing scheme that would oversee stablecoin issuers.

  PeckShield, a blockchain security company, has released statistics that summarizes the losses incurred in 2023 from scams and breaches.Excluding multichain losses, the corporation reports that it lost $2.61 billion in the fiscal year.PeckShield said on January 29 that the sum is down 27.78% from 2022, when worldwide cyber thefts were estimated to be about $3.6 billion. The security company also stated that, out of the more than 600 large-scale attacks they investigated, roughly $674 million, or 25% of the cryptocurrency that was taken, was returned.The PeckShield team noted in a statement to Cointelegraph that the sum recovered had increased dramatically from 2022, when it had only anticipated that roughly $133 million had been recovered from hacks.The security team stated that increased activity in discussions with hackers and the growth of bug bounty programs were the reasons behind the monies being recovered. “Engaging in active negotiations with hackers can lead to the return of stolen funds. […] Implementing bug bounty programs or on-chain sleuthing to identify hackers and vulnerabilities in the system can enhance security.” According to PeckShield, fund recovery can also result from working with Tether, centralized exchanges, and law enforcement to freeze funds as soon as they are discovered. PeckShield emphasized a number of data elements in addition to the amount recovered from hackers, such as flash loans, decentralized finance (DeFi), and the volume difference between scams and hacks.According to the report, 40% of breaches that occurred in 2023 involved flash loan attacks.Furthermore, PeckShield emphasized that DeFi remained a top target for hacks and scams, despite some claims that security upgrades to the platform resulted in a decrease in the quantity of cryptocurrency taken in 2023.2023 will mark a “positive development” in blockchain security, according to Ronghui Gu, co-founder of CertiK, who spoke with Cointelegraph on January 4.The executive cited the expansion of reward systems and proactive security protocols as positive indicators for the upcoming year. In spite of this, PeckShield pointed out that 33% of losses in 2023 occurred in centralized finance, while 67% of losses occurred in DeFi.It further emphasized that 42% of the losses came from frauds, and 58% came from cyberattacks. Additionally, malicious actors have been expanding the range of cryptocurrencies they target with their operations.The amount of trade for unlawful transactions was dominated by Bitcoin between 2018 and 2021.But as stablecoins started to absorb a bigger share of the volume of unlawful transactions, things started to change in 2022 and 2023.

Following the plans to establish a marketplace soon, OKX said that it is expanding support for Atomicals (ARC-20), Stamps (SRC-20), Runes, and Dogecoin’s Doginals (DRC-20) on its platform. OKX has announced that on February 5, it will integrate the bitcoin token standard SRC-20 for reading and transmitting inscription standards. Later in February, it plans to

Prior to its scheduled token launch on Wednesday, Solana-based trading aggregator Jupiter resolved over $500 million in trades in the previous 24 hours, surpassing Uniswap v3 to become the largest trading platform by that measure. CoinGecko statistics indicates that Jupiter has 550 tokens and over 5,550 trade pairs listed. With a volume of $166 million,

According to statistics compiled by onchain analytics company IntoTheBlock, crypto whales, or big investors, have amassed $3 billion in bitcoin (BTC) this month. The quantity of bitcoin stored in wallets with more than 1,000 bitcoin has grown to around 7.8 million bitcoin. This rise is approximately 76,000 bitcoin. With the introduction of U.S.-based spot exchange-traded

The widely awaited Stellar blockchain update, which was supposed to include Ethereum-style smart contracts, may be delayed as a result of a glitch that caused the project’s developers and validators to reevaluate their original goal of January 30. According to a draft blog post on Saturday, the Stellar Development Foundation, which oversees the blockchain’s ecosystem,

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of the United States is interested in finding out more about the potential applications of artificial intelligence (AI) for regulated entities’ compliance efforts. In an effort to better inform employees about the risks and potential uses of artificial intelligence in the derivatives markets, the government has released a request

The group promised its backers that it would use all available avenues to comply with the regulations set forth by the Hong Kong authorities. The “Floki Staking Programme” and the “TokenFi Staking Programme,” two potentially hazardous investment products, have drawn the attention of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC). Both products are associated

With Google processing 100,000 queries every second, the cryptocurrency world is considering the possible effects on spot Bitcoin ETFs. Google is scheduled to revise its regulations on Monday, permitting the promotion of certain cryptocurrency products on the popular search engine. Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) backed by bitcoin seem likely to satisfy the requirements, which has the

Optimistic cryptocurrency investors were cautioned by the US authorities not to put money and trust in AI trading bots since many of them will lose all of it. AI trading bots are not a reliable source of information for investors searching for their next big cryptocurrency gain. The United States Commodities and Futures Trading Commission

The cryptocurrency markets are showing signs of life, with Bitcoin and Ethereum indicating a possible upswing.Bitcoin experienced a significant surge on Saturday, rising to $41,833, or more than 4%.The CFTC chair’s recent proposal for more regulation, which explicitly addresses worries about spot BTC ETFs, has raised doubts about the future of cryptocurrencies.The current surge in Bitcoin is taking place against a complex backdrop that includes regulatory monitoring and a growing dissatisfaction among ECB workers over Christine Lagarde’s leadership. The price of Bitcoin has decreased by 15% since the SEC approved it on January 10.Spot Bitcoin ETFs were announced, which was greeted as a very positive move.This fall is attributed to the significant withdrawals from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which changed from a closed-ended trust to an exchange-traded fund (ETF).Not every one of the over $3 billion redeemed from GBTC has been invested in other Bitcoin ETFs.VCChris Burniske is a bearish investor who thinks Bitcoin might fall to $20,000. Despite concerns, long-term barriers to Bitcoin seem to be few, since regulatory clarity is expected to increase and GBTC outflows are expected to stop. The long-term sustainability of the asset class is demonstrated by the launch of the ETF, which has attracted retail investors in record-breaking quantities.

Due to Tesla’s reluctance to “hodl” Bitcoin, over $300 million in potential revenues were lost. With a historic $1.5 billion investment, Tesla made its first step into the Bitcoin market in February 2021.The cost of Bitcoin was approximately $36,000 at the time.Compared to Bitcoin, Tesla’s stock price has decreased by over 40% since the initial BTC amount was disclosed on February 8, 2021. But in an unexpected move, Tesla sold almost 10% of its shares in March 2021.Then, in 2022’s second quarter, the business sold about 75% of its reserves of Bitcoin.These sales, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk pointed out, were meant to support Tesla’s balance sheet in tumultuous financial times and to show the liquidity of Bitcoin.With the current value of Bitcoin at over $41,500, Tesla might have made a profit of almost $300 million if it had kept its full investment in the cryptocurrency. However, the company’s remaining Bitcoin holdings, which are believed to be worth 9,720 BTC, have not changed over the past several quarters, indicating a more cautious attitude in what market observers believe will be a positive year for Bitcoin. It’s interesting to note that Tesla’s earlier Bitcoin sales coincided with periods with lower free cash flows.It is the money left over after a corporation pays for the expenses necessary to keep up or expand its operations.For instance, Tesla’s $272 million Bitcoin transaction in the first quarter of 2021 accounted for a startling 93% of the company’s free cash flows at that time. Similarly, in Q2 2022, Tesla’s 73% reduction in free cash flows coincided with its Bitcoin sales. To put it plainly, Musk relied on Bitcoin to support his finances when Tesla was experiencing cash flow issues.He might not need to use the same approach right now, though, considering Tesla’s projected growth in free cash flows through 2023.For instance, Tesla’s free cash flow in Q4 2023 was robust at $2.1 billion, helping the company earn $4.4 billion for the year. A number of analysts predict that the value of Bitcoin will increase in 2024. They attribute their confidence to the US government’s approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds as well as the expected effects of the impending Bitcoin halving event.

The introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs has led CFTC head Rostin Behnam to say that oversight of the digital asset cash market has “never been more critical.” The recent approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) raises the possibility that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) chair, Rostin Behnam, may mistakenly believe that strict controls

The value of Bitcoin, the resolution of the SEC action, and the general state of the cryptocurrency market are all important variables that affect Coinbase’s stock price, according to Oppenheimer analyst Owen Lau. The company’s continuing legal battle with the US securities commission and the expected drop in Bitcoin prices could cause short-term volatility in

Removing the photographs and taking appropriate action against the accounts that disseminated them is what X said in a statement. After numerous sexual photos of Taylor Swift appeared online, US politicians are pushing for legislation that would make creating deepfake images illegal. Some social media sites, such Telegram and X, hosted the images. Congressman Joe

Craig Wright’s attorney told CoinDesk on Thursday that the U.K. Supreme Court has refused to grant him permission to appeal a decision in his lawsuit against Peter McCormack.The decision was eventually confirmed by a Supreme Court post.“Permission to appeal is refused on the ground that the appeal does not raise an arguable question of law,” the denial stated. Regarding Wright’s allegation that he is the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, a panel of judges decided in July that Wright was only entitled to 1 GBP in compensation for his libel suit against bitcoin podcaster Peter McCormack. “We actually only just found out about it but it was at the end of end of last year, [the] Supreme Court refused permission for Craig Wright’s appeal,” said Rupert Cowper-Coles, a partner at law firm RPC who represents McCormack. “So they’re very pleased that judgment stands – [the] one pound nominal damages

The Algorand Foundation requested that its users abstain from clicking links and replying to direct messages after revealing on X (previously Twitter) that its CEO Staci Warden’s account had been hijacked. Someone else appears to be in possession of Warden’s X account, as evidenced by a message made on January 26 that called the Algorand community impoverished and used a well-known racial epithet.After then, the hacker advised everyone to purchase Ether instead of Algorand. The attacker then posted a spoof tale about how Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, will take Algorand to new heights.All they needed to do, the hacker claimed, was grant Sun “total control” over Algorand so that he could mint any token back to True USD (TUSD).In writing, the hacker said. “Of course, I accepted this offer immediately. Soon, Algorand will be pegged to VERY REAL USD and a new era of digital commerce will commence.” Additionally, the hacker said in jest that Sun’s projects will be the cause of the upcoming “major financial collapse in crypto.” Aside from this, the hacker altered Warden’s bio on his profile and uploaded music, claiming that the CEO had taken six figures from the community and tricked people into believing it was a hack.Additionally, the hacker altered Warden’s bio to falsely state that the former Algorand Foundation employee is currently a “semi-professional pole dancer.” Several community members replied to the Sun post, ostensibly amused by the hacker’s antics.In response to the message, one X user suggested that Algorand hire the exploiter, while another suggested that Algorand allow him to “keep the account.”Others in the community, meanwhile, used this as an occasion to criticize Warden.ZachXBT, a crypto investigator, stated in a post that the hacker would make an excellent CEO for the Algorand Foundation.Warden is eligible for the internship at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, whose X account was compromised on January 9, according to another X user.