Important information last night and this morning (December 25th - December 26th)
Reprinted from panewslab
12/26/2024·4M
According to Blockworks, starting next year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will temporarily reduce the size of its team of commissioners, waiting for the Senate to approve the nomination of presidential candidate Donald Trump. During this period, only Republican commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda will continue to serve after taking office. According to Peirce, with the departure of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, the agency’s stance on the encryption industry will change significantly. At the Blockchain Association Policy Summit earlier this month, Peirce said: “We have powerful tools and have been leaning towards enforcement. I think when you see new committee membership changes and composition changes, , the type of case may also change accordingly.” Uyeda pointed out that due to the special nature of federal agencies, most policy discussions occur behind closed doors, explaining: “The Administrative Procedure Act allows the public to express opinions on regulations. , thereby ensuring transparency.” However, when SEC staff issues guidance that is inconsistent with SEC rules (as in the SAB 121 case), the public does not have an opportunity to comment. In the case of SAB 121, both houses of Congress attempted to overturn policies requiring digital asset custodians to report liabilities and “corresponding assets,” but President Biden ultimately vetoed the resolution. Uyeda hopes the SEC will increase opportunities for the public to express their opinions. Peirce emphasized that the SEC has gone a long way on this road and it is not easy to change. Addressing the crypto industry directly, she said: “It’s going to take a lot of hard work on our part and yours to get back on track, but I believe we can do it.”
Russian Finance Minister: Russia is using Bitcoin in foreign trade
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said today that Russian companies have begun using Bitcoin and other digital currencies for international payments. This year, Russia allowed the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade and took steps to legalize the mining of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. In addition, Siluanov said that after legislative changes allowed the use of Bitcoin and other digital currencies in response to Western sanctions, Russian companies have begun to use these currencies in international payments. This year, Russia allowed the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade and has taken steps to legalize cryptocurrency mining, including Bitcoin. Russia is one of the leading countries in the world for Bitcoin mining. "Such transactions are already taking place. We believe that such transactions should be further expanded and developed. I believe this will be the case next year," Siluanov said, adding that the use of digital currencies for international payments represents a future trend.
According to Cointelegraph, Türkiye today released new cryptocurrency anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, which will officially take effect on February 25, 2025. According to Turkey’s official gazette, users with a single transaction amount exceeding 15,000 Turkish Liras (approximately US$425) are required to provide identity information to encryption service providers to prevent illegal money laundering and terrorist financing. Regulations require crypto service providers to collect identity information from customers who do not have registered wallet addresses. If sufficient information cannot be obtained, transactions can be considered "high risk" and may be stopped. At the same time, no user information is required to be collected for transactions under $425.
Israel to Launch Six Bitcoin Mutual Funds on December 31
According to Calcalist, the Israel Securities Authority (ISA) approved six mutual funds tracking Bitcoin prices, which will be launched simultaneously on December 31, 2024, by Migdal Capital Markets, More, Ayalon, Phoenix Investment, Meitav and IBI and other agencies to launch. Fund management fees range from 0.25% to 1.5%, and one of the funds is actively managed and aims to outperform Bitcoin. Initially, these funds will only trade once a day, but may be able to trade continuously in the future.
Pump Science: Token economics design has been completed and BIO airdrop activity will be conducted
Pump Science announced on the X platform that the token economics design has been completed and will conduct a BIO airdrop event. Regarding the token economics design: 5% of the supply of tokens issued in the future will be distributed to holders of previous tokens (at the time of migration) who now hold more PS tokens (RIF, URO), New tokens will be acquired in the future; this mechanism will continue as long as there are new issuances (forever). Regarding the BIO airdrop event, BIO Protocol will airdrop BIO to holders of URO and RIF, pending governance approval to connect BIO to Solana, and more airdrops are under consideration.
According to The Block, Runes’ share of transactions on the Bitcoin network has fallen to a new low, accounting for only 1.67% of daily transaction volume, in sharp contrast to its dominance between April and November, when Runes’ trading volume typically accounts for more than 50% of Bitcoin’s daily trading volume. Meanwhile, Runes’ daily transaction fees remain below $250,000, showing a significant reduction in network activity. The change coincides with broader market dynamics and shifts in investor interest. As the price of Bitcoin fluctuates, attention begins to shift away from high-risk experimental Bitcoin-based protocols such as Runes and Ordinals. At the same time, other cryptocurrency areas such as artificial intelligence agents, meme coins, and Ethereum NFTs are gradually taking market share, which may lead to waning investor interest in Bitcoin-based token protocols. Data suggests that the Runes ecosystem may be experiencing a cooling down. Its network share dropped sharply from more than 50% to less than 10%, marking a significant change in Bitcoin network usage patterns. This trend may reflect a shift in speculative interest in the market, with investors looking to other cryptocurrencies.
According to The Block, multiple crypto trading companies recently reported that over-the-counter (OTC) trading volume has grown rapidly in recent months, with the election results becoming an important driving force. Tim Ogilvie, head of institutional business at Kraken exchange, said: “OTC trading is currently extremely active, and trading volume has surged with price increases.” He revealed that Kraken’s OTC trading volume has increased significantly by 220% year-on-year, and other trading companies have also reported Similar growth. Jake Ostrovskis, an OTC trader at market maker Wintermute, pointed out that the market was relatively calm in the middle of the year, but as the election approached, prices rose and market participants began to actively prepare for the election results. He said that Wintermute has been negotiating cooperation with some customers for many years, and the election results became an opportunity for them to initiate transactions. Likewise, trader Embert Lin of market maker GSR said the company’s trading volume has increased significantly since the election. As Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoin prices rise, projects and investors are significantly more motivated to manage capital and risk at these price points, while also looking for new opportunities to gain exposure to other cryptoassets beyond BTC and ETH. Traders at an over-the-counter trading firm revealed privately that recent trading volumes have easily reached levels seen at the peak of the cryptocurrency market’s popularity in 2021. In addition, Brett Reeves, head of Go Network at cryptocurrency custody company BitGo, noted that the election results were the main driver of the recent surge in transaction volume, with two-thirds of the transaction volume occurring within three months of the election results.
As reported by Cryptoslate, according to data from CryptoQuant, the demand for Bitcoin accumulation addresses increased significantly during December. As of December 23, these investors had a net increase of 225,280 BTC, a monthly increase of 82.6%. At the same time, total sell-side liquidity (i.e. the amount of Bitcoin available for sale) on exchanges and ETFs fell by approximately 590,000 BTC. It is worth noting that this relief of selling pressure is closely related to the sharp decrease of 520,000 Bitcoins in the number of Bitcoins ready for sale between December 22 and 23. The report also pointed out that the supply of Bitcoins at OTC counters that handle large transactions has dropped from 421,000 to 403,000, showing that investor demand is effectively digesting selling pressure. Additionally, the liquid-to-stock ratio fell to 5.5 months from 12 months in December, further evidence that current supply is meeting investor demand at an accelerated rate. CryptoQuant data also revealed that as of December 23, “whale” addresses holding more than 1,000 BTC had sold nearly 8,600 BTC this month. However, this supply pressure was absorbed by new investors, with the number of short-term holders increasing by 3% in the past week. Over the past year, short-term holders have held a cumulative 641,789 BTC, with total holdings reaching 3.81 million BTC, only 70,000 BTC below the all-time high on December 15. Although Bitcoin has corrected 14.2% since reaching a record high of $108,000 on December 17, it is still in line with analysts’ predictions that it will continue to rise after regaining calm. However, CryptoQuant community analyst Onatt reminded investors to remain cautious as USDT supply on exchanges is decreasing while Bitcoin supply has increased slightly. This trend may not signal a long-term bearish phase, but it does indicate the possibility of further downside risk in the coming days.
Switzerland-based Hashgraph Group has obtained a fund management license from the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) in the United Arab Emirates, Bitcoin.com reported. Hashgraph Ventures Manager, a unit of Hashgraph Group, has obtained a license allowing it to launch a $100 million Web3 venture capital fund from the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Hashgraph Group will contribute $20 million, or 20% of the fund, as seed capital. The fund will focus on investing in startups and established companies within the Hedera ecosystem. Stefan Deiss, co-founder and CEO of Hashgraph Group, said the fund has received widespread support and attention from co-investors, including government agencies, sovereign wealth funds, venture capital funds, family offices and other qualified investors; the group will focus on Invest in companies leveraging the Hedera network and promote collaboration among Web3 companies. The fund will prioritize strategic investments in companies in the Web3 and deep technology fields (developing artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, robotics and quantum computing solutions). Qualifying projects will have the opportunity to participate in the Hashgraph Association’s Entrepreneurship Studio program.
Sonic Labs launches Sonic Gateway to support multi-asset cross-chain bridging
Sonic Labs (formerly known as Fantom) announced the official launch of its cross-chain bridging tool Sonic Gateway, which supports secure bridging of USDC, EURC, WETH and FTM from Ethereum to the Sonic chain. The tool has been audited by top security companies such as OpenZeppelin, Quantstamp and Certora, and has partnered with the global developer community to launch a $2 million bug bounty program through the ImmuneFi platform to further strengthen security. FTM held by users can also be upgraded to Sonic chain through Gateway.
According to CoinDesk, Floki plans to launch an exchange-traded product (ETP) based on the FLOKI token on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SIX) in the first quarter of 2025. The development team proposes to allocate some tokens (worth $2.8 million) from the treasury wallet to provide early liquidity for ETP. Voting will end at 19:00 (Beijing time) on December 27. If the proposal is passed, FLOKI will become the second Meme token to launch institutional-grade products in Europe after Dogecoin (DOGE).
Former Coinbase chief technology officer Balaji tweeted that smart cars, smart watches and smart homes will be widely used in the future. Each object can not only communicate with people, but also communicate with each other, record conversations and hold private keys for its owners. Coordinate tasks. He calls this trend the “artificial intelligence Internet of Things.” In response, Vitalik Buterin emphasized that ensuring that device ownership belongs to the private key holder is not the default result and requires human efforts to promote implementation.
Token Terminal data shows that monthly trading volumes for BTC and SOL have both reached record highs, while ETH is still down about 50% from its peak in 2021. In November 2024, the transaction volume of BTC, ETH and SOL was US$2.2 trillion, US$1.1 trillion and US$243 billion respectively.
According to Spot On Chain monitoring, an Ethereum ICO whale deposited 4,160 ETH (approximately $14.5 million) into Kraken 3 hours ago. It is worth noting that the whale obtained 20,000 ETH ($62,000 at the time) in the genesis block in July 2015, staked it to receive rewards, and often sold during peak periods. The whale still has approximately 7,043 ETH (approximately $24.6 million) staked.
Nexo-related whales recharged 4,946 ETH to Binance again, bringing the total deposit to 114,000 ETH
According to Lookonchain monitoring, a Nexo-related whale once again deposited 4,946 ETH (approximately $17.2 million) to Binance in the past hour. Since December 2, Nexo has deposited a total of 114,262 ETH (approximately US$423.3 million) to Binance, with an average price of US$3,705.
According to Lookonchain monitoring data, 10 Bitcoin ETFs had a net outflow of 2,258 BTC (approximately US$222 million) today, of which the iShares (Blackrock) Bitcoin ETF had an outflow of 1,933 BTC (approximately US$191 million), with current holdings of 551,122 BTC (approximately 543.1 billion U.S. dollars). At the same time, 9 Ethereum ETFs had a net inflow of 12,445 ETH (approximately US$43.27 million) today, and the iShares (Blackrock) Ethereum ETF had an inflow of 12,721 ETH (approximately US$44.23 million), with current positions of 1,056,877 ETH (approximately US$3.67 billion).
According to Onchain Len monitoring, two hours ago, a giant whale once again withdrew 18.49 million $PENGU from Binance, worth $655,000. The wallet currently holds 538.49 million $PENGU, with a total value of $19.06 million, and has realized profits of $4.39 million.
20,000 ETH were transferred from the BTCTurk exchange, worth approximately US$69.87 million
Whale Alert monitoring shows that at 22:48 Beijing time, BTCTurk exchange transferred 20,000 Ethereum (ETH) to an unknown wallet, with a total value of approximately US$69.87 million.
jinse