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Crypto News Updates: The U.S. SEC is reportedly set to reveal its decision on Bitcoin spot ETFs by Wednesday. Critics have piled up against Ethereum leaders, including Vitalik Buterin, for manipulating Web3’s vision. Max Keiser claims Bitcoin ETFs are susceptible to market manipulation by the Wall Street and more such stories made headlines today. The broader market stabilized on Saturday by recording minor gains. Bitcoin is trading under $43,000 in the closing hours, with the cumulative market cap hinged at $1.74 trillion.
The global cryptocurrency market cap stands at $1.74 trillion, witnessing a slight increase and signs of stability in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin and Ethereum showed positive market movement, with Bitcoin around $42,450 and Ethereum just above $2,300 at closing hours.
Solana founder Anatoly Yakovenko has intensified the ongoing rivalry between Ethereum and Solana, directly responding to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s plans to revive the Cypherpunk initiative. Yakovenko emphasized Solana’s commitment to further speed enhancements, positioning it as a high-performance alternative to Ethereum.
Pro XRP Lawyer John Deaton raised concerns about Senator Elizabeth Warren’s silence on several issues related to the FTX scandal. Despite her critical stance on cryptocurrencies and her role in the Senate Banking Committee, Deaton questioned why Warren has not addressed the alleged misuse of FTX customer funds by Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, nor the potential campaign finance violations involving Sam Bankman-Fried.
Reuters sources indicate that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may notify issuers of Bitcoin spot ETFs about its decision on the Bitcoin ETF by Wednesday. This anticipated decision, awaited by 14 asset managers, paves the way for a potential launch in the following week.
Steven Nerayoff has publicly accused Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin and his associates, including Joseph Lubin, of manipulating the original vision of Web 3 for personal gain, labeling them as deceptive influencers in the crypto industry and criticizing their actions as a form of global fraud. Nerayoff’s allegations also include claims of crypto media being influenced by these individuals, further questioning the integrity of their actions within the blockchain community.
Influencer Max Keiser alleges on X that the 13 Bitcoin ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds), which enable trading of Bitcoin on traditional financial markets, are vulnerable to manipulation by Wall Street figures like Jamie Dimon. He suggests that the control over the price of these Bitcoin ETFs, and consequently the price of Bitcoin itself, is heavily influenced by market manipulators until prominent investors like Michael Saylor intervene by purchasing actual Bitcoin, countering this sway.
In 2023, the cryptocurrency sector faced 453 cyberattacks, leading to over $1.7 billion in losses, as reported by cybersecurity firm Salus. Though less devastating than 2022, the year saw major incidents like the $200 million Mixin Network hack, contributing to 70% of the losses coming from the ten largest attacks. Access control issues and exit scams were the most prevalent attack vectors, accounting for over half of the losses.
Gao Juan, CEO of Victory Securities and Chairman of the Hong Kong Securities Association, advocates for adopting Bitcoin as a strategy to revive the struggling Hong Kong stock market, amidst increasing regulatory costs and competition. She proposes reducing stock stamp duties and integrating Bitcoin into the market, seeing virtual assets as key to attracting investors. Victory Securities is leading by example, having already introduced trading of Bitcoin and Ethereum and planning to merge stock and virtual asset platforms.
In 2023, Ethereum’s Layer 2 transactions surged by over 330%, reaching 583.53 million, largely contributed by Arbitrum and Optimism, alongside the emerging Coinbase’s Base L2. This growth marks a significant increase from the 135.05 million transactions in 2022 and a monumental rise from 6.24 million in 2021. Despite this, Arbitrum and Optimism’s prices recently fell due to the market’s bearish trend, with Arbitrum dropping by 5.56% and Optimism by 2.41%. However, they had previously seen substantial gains over the past week and month.
The Terra Luna Classic community has approved Genuine Labs’ proposal to collaborate with L1 teams in developing the Terra Classic chain, receiving 84.98% ‘Yes’ votes. Genuine Labs, comprising experienced developers Nguyen, Minh, and Dong, who have previously contributed to projects like Osmosis and Quicksilver, plan to focus on integrating and improving IBC Hooks and Packet Forward Middleware (PFM), as well as enhancing testing for the fee tax charging mechanism. The team seeks $16,000 for a six-week timeline.
Cryptocurrency analysts are signaling a bullish trend for Ethereum and Bitcoin. Noting wiped out open interest and high funding rates, @kamikaz_ETH and @CredibleCrypto suggest these indicators show a cautious but optimistic market sentiment, mainly due to traders’ reluctance to short amid positive news. This scenario, reminiscent of Bitcoin’s past performance around $20,000, points to potential market upswings, driving a positive outlook among traders.
Xiao Feng, chairman of the Hashkey Group, has expressed confidence in Ethereum’s continued dominance in blockchain innovation through 2024. Emphasizing the vital role of developers in driving blockchain success, Feng suggests that platforms garnering substantial developer support are poised for success. In contrast, he views Bitcoin’s future success as contingent on adhering to fundamental characteristics, subtly critiquing the recent trend of inscriptions on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Rajagopal Menon, Vice President at Indian crypto exchange WazirX, predicts a bullish year for the crypto market, influenced by US interest rate cuts, the upcoming Bitcoin halving, and evolving regulations. Major players in the Bitcoin ETF market, like BlackRock and Fidelity, are preparing for potential regulatory approvals. The strength of gold and political events, such as elections in India and the US, are expected to impact the market.
Bitcoin has recently become the center of attention in the crypto world due to substantial whale transfers involving Coinbase, a major Centralized Exchange (CEX) based in San Francisco. Data revealed a staggering 14.5K BTC being moved between unknown wallets and Coinbase. This activity, which took place amid a price dip of the token, has sparked widespread interest and speculation in the crypto market.
Michaël van de Poppe, a cryptocurrency analyst, shared his insights on X regarding the future trajectory of Bitcoin’s price. According to van de Poppe, approving a Bitcoin Spot ETF could limit the cryptocurrency’s immediate upside potential. He anticipates that Bitcoin may peak between $48,000 to $52,000, followed by a stable, range-bound trading period. This consolidation phase is expected to set the stage for a new all-time high towards the end of 2024, suggesting a significant bullish turn in the longer-term market trend.
Samson Mow, a prominent figure in the Bitcoin community and CEO of Jan3, has forecasted a significant upswing in Bitcoin’s value for 2024. Mow anticipates Bitcoin reaching $50,000 soon, but not without a caveat. Echoing the analysis of crypto analyst Ali Martinez, he warns of a possible 40% market correction after this surge, a pattern observed in past cycles post-major recoveries. This forecast aligns with historical trends in 2016 and 2019, when Bitcoin faced similar corrections after significant gains.
Arthur Hayes, the founder of crypto trading platform BitMEX, appears to be putting his money where his mouth his. A post on X (formerly Twitter) revealed Hayes sold some of his ENS, FXS and LOOKs holdings to buy Ethereum (ETH), just like he said he would last week.
BitMEX 创始人 Arthur Hayes 12/22 表示要卖掉 SOL 买入 ETH。
他在最近几天里，也确实是这么做的：他通过 Wintermute 割肉卖出 ENS、FXS、LOOKS，然后买入了 ETH、GMX、PENDLE。卖出：
239,628 $ENS($2.14M)，亏损 $2.18M(-50%)；
105,814 $FXS($0.95M)，亏损 $1.05M(-52%)；
1810 万… https://t.co/Ujmue4YRlQ pic.twitter.com/UJlGQBg1E3— 余烬 (@EmberCN) December 30, 2023
Cathie Wood’s asset management firm ARK Invest got rid of another 2,368 shares in Coinbase (COIN) on Dec 29, worth roughly $425,000. Three of Wood’s exchange-traded funds executed a shake-up in their COIN-related holdings, with the bulk coming from ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK).
Hackers took control of the X (formerly Twitter) account of decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Compound Finance on Dec 29, in an apparent phishing scam. The attack lasted for at least four hours, with the company claiming to have resolved the issue now.
The Compound Labs X account was compromised yesterday for ~4 hours until we regained control of the account and removed the spam messages.
We have full control of the account again and appreciate the community for spreading the word yesterday until we regained access.
— Compound Labs (@compoundfinance) December 30, 2023
Hong Kong regulators recently proposed regulations for stablecoins, in line with the city’s goal of becoming a cornerstone of the global crypto market. However, a Chainalysis expert warned that the proposed rules are “more stringent” than Singapore’s, and could pose a threat to major players in the market, including Tether and USDC.
JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon faced backlash from the crypto community after his bank was named as an Authorized Participant (AP) in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF application. Critics questioned Dimon’s credibility, given his critical views of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
A string of would-be spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers filed amended S-1 forms with the US securities regulator, ahead of the Dec 29 deadline. Grayscale Investments CEO Michael Sonnenshein took to X, claiming they’ve been preparing for this moment since 2017.
In a letter to US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, prosecutors said there was no need for a second trial of disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, arguing it could lead to an unnecessary delay in his sentencing. Bankman-Fried faces decades-long prison term for defrauding customers and investors of nearly $10 billion, with the sentencing scheduled for March 2024.
Bitcoin (BTC) is having a bumper year, with the OG cryptocurrency having appreciated more than 150% year-to-date to $42,074. Analyst Ali Martinez expects the BTC price rally to continue. He even foresees BTC to hit the $50,000 mark before facing a steep 40% correction, potentially dropping to $30,000.
While Bitcoin proponent Nic Carter foresees the OG cryptocurrency hitting the $80,000-mark in 2024, he warned against expectations that the much-awaited regulatory approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the US would propel the Bitcoin prices even further in the near-term.
With a spot Bitcoin ETF approval just around the corner, major financial institutions are looking to cash in on the massive opportunity, given the sheer size of the US capital markets. ETF hopefuls, including BlackRock, Invesco, WisdomTree, Valkyrie, Fidelity and Bitwise made last-minute changes to their applications ahead of the SEC’s Dec 29 deadline. Bitwise reportedly has a leg-up on BlackRock, having earmarked $200 million in seed funds for its ETF.
In a bombshell ruling earlier this week, a US court said that Terraform Labs, and its erstwhile CEO, Do Kwon, indeed ran afoul of the securities law when they offered and sold unregistered securities — LUNA and MIR. The court’s decision to side with the US securities regulator could have broader ramifications for the crypto industry, given the SEC’s relentless attempts to police the industry through litigation, according to Ripple CLO Stuart Alderoty.
Amid growing optimism that the US securities regulator is planning to approve a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, the first of its kind in the US, the industry is keen on its potential impact on the crypto market. Goldman Sachs’ head of digital assets, Mathew McDermott, opined spot Bitcoin and Ether products would drive institutional interest in virtual assets.
Former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci said the fresh amendments to ETF filings from the big financial companies shows that the spot Bitcoin ETF approval is coming. Earlier, CoinGape reported Scaramucci’s prediction that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would approve the ETF filings by January 10, 2024.
U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones had on Friday denied former Binance chief executive officer Changpeng Zhao’s (CZ) request for international travel, as part of the ruling in the US v. Zhao lawsuit. In November 2023, CZ entered a guilty plea over violation of US laws.
Blackrock, Invesco Galaxy, WisdomTree, Fidelity, Valkyrie and Bitwise submitted revised form S-1 filings on Friday, December 29, which was the last day for making amendments. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is widely expected to approve the first ever spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States before January 10, 2024.
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