Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr resigns
According to Beincrypto, Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr announced today that he will resign from this position. Barr will no longer serve as the third-highest ranking official at the Federal Reserve, but he plans to remain at the Federal Reserve until further notice. The industry generally believes that Barr was one of the key factors in the failure of U.S. banks to venture into cryptocurrencies and related services. According to a recent press release, his resignation will take effect on February 28 or upon the confirmation of a successor. However, even if a new Vice Chair for Supervision is found quickly, Barr will continue to serve on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors. His term was originally scheduled to end naturally in 2032. However, this may be an important turning point for cryptocurrency regulation. He stated: "It has been an honor to serve as the Federal Reserve's Vice Chair for Supervision. The controversy surrounding the position may distract from our mission. In the current environment, I believe I can better serve the American people by serving from the Board position." In 2023, Barr led the crackdown on stablecoins and expressed a desire to "exclude cryptocurrencies from the banking system".
MicroStrategy spends about $101 million to buy another 1,070 Bitcoins
According to MicroStrategy's announcement, the company purchased 1,070 Bitcoins at a total cost of approximately $101 million, with an average purchase price of $94,004 per Bitcoin. As of January 5, 2025, the company's total Bitcoin holdings reached 447,470 Bitcoins, with a total purchase cost of approximately $27.97 billion and an average purchase price of $62,503 per Bitcoin. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the company's Bitcoin yield (BTC Yield) reached 48%, and the annual yield was 74.3%.
Gemini agrees to pay $5 million to settle CFTC lawsuit
According to Bloomberg, Gemini Trust Co., founded by the Winklevoss twins, has agreed to pay $5 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The lawsuit alleged that Gemini misled the derivatives regulator when it tried to launch the first U.S. regulated Bitcoin futures contract. On Monday, the filed documents disclosed this settlement agreement, avoiding a trial originally scheduled for January 21 (the day after former President Trump's second inauguration). Gemini neither admitted nor denied liability in this case.
In 2022, the CFTC filed a lawsuit against Gemini in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, accusing the exchange of "making false and misleading statements about how it would prevent manipulation of Bitcoin prices." On Monday, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein approved the settlement agreement. Last November, Judge Hellerstein denied Gemini's request, ruling that a jury must determine whether 32 statements made by Gemini executives to the regulator were misleading.
Gemini still faces a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which alleges that the exchange and the cryptocurrency lending company Genesis Global Capital illegally raised billions of dollars in crypto assets from investors through the so-called Gemini Earn program. In February this year, Gemini agreed to return at least $1.1 billion to customers as part of a settlement with New York regulators.
Dutch regulator issues EU MiCA crypto asset licenses to 4 companies
According to CoinDesk, MoonPay, BitStaete, FinTech ZBD, and Hidden Road have received "Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) licenses" from the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), allowing them to operate across the 27 EU member states. MiCA requires companies to obtain a CASP license from any member state to operate across the entire EU. Additionally, Socios.com has announced that it has obtained a Class 3 Virtual Financial Assets (VFAA) license from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). Meanwhile, the UK has also added GSR Markets to its crypto registration list by the end of 2024.
Guangzhou releases action plan to promote digital RMB, aiming to be a national leader
The Guangzhou Municipal Finance Committee Office has released the "Action Plan for Further Promoting the Digital RMB Work in Guangzhou", proposing to deepen the results of the digital RMB pilot, comprehensively expand the application areas, optimize the payment ecosystem environment, and help the high-quality development of Guangzhou's economy. The plan clearly states that by June 2025, the application of digital RMB in areas such as livelihood, sports, and consumption will be expanded; by the end of 2025, breakthroughs will be made in key innovative scenarios such as cross-border payments and port and trade; by the end of 2026, full coverage in specific areas will be basically achieved, forming a complete digital RMB ecosystem. The action plan includes:
1. Promotion in livelihood areas: Optimize the application convenience in scenarios such as public transportation, medical care, and cultural tourism.
2. Cross-border payment innovation: Promote digital RMB settlement in cross-border trade in Nansha, and participate in the multi-central bank digital currency bridge pilot test.
3. Demonstration area construction: Build model applications of digital RMB in business districts and industrial parks.
4. Technical R&D support: Promote pilot projects and talent cultivation related to digital RMB technology.
Guangzhou will steadily promote the digital RMB pilot work through coordinated leadership, improved emergency measures, and strengthened publicity and guidance, providing a model for the national digital finance development.
U.S. court documents show the number of victims in the Do Kwon case may exceed one million
According to Cointelegraph, the U.S. government prosecutor overseeing the criminal case against Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon estimates that the collapse of the Terra ecosystem may have caused over one million victims globally. On January 6, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Daniel Gitner, filed documents with the U.S. District Court notifying the procedures for informing Kwon's victims of their rights in the criminal case. According to the U.S. prosecutor, the government will establish a public website about the Kwon case procedures, as other methods to provide victim rights "are not practical".
Gitner stated: "Given the massive volume of Terraform cryptocurrency transactions and the manner in which many of these transactions were conducted (often through digital asset wallets or cryptocurrency exchange accounts without personal identifying information at foreign exchanges), while it is difficult to precisely quantify the number of Kwon's victims, the government estimates the victim count in this case exceeds tens of thousands of individuals and entities, and may total over one million." Previously, it was reported that Kwon is expected to appear in court again on January 8.
Arthur Hayes: Crypto market may peak in mid-March and then see a severe correction
In his latest blog post, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes explained why he believes the crypto market will peak in mid-March and then see a severe correction. The article states that in the third quarter of 2022, when the Federal Reserve's reverse repo tool reached its peak, Bitcoin hit a bottom; as Yellen adjusted the bond strategy and withdrew over $2 trillion from RRP, injecting liquidity into the market, this drove a surge in cryptocurrencies and stocks. In the first quarter of 2025, the market will focus on whether dollar liquidity can offset the slow implementation of Trump's policies. If liquidity is sufficient, increasing risk exposure will be a safe choice.
The Federal Reserve factor is secondary in the analysis, with the focus on how the Treasury Department will address the debt ceiling. If politicians hesitate, the Treasury Department may inject liquidity from the General Account (TGA) to create a positive atmosphere for cryptocurrencies. The Federal Reserve's quantitative tightening policy continues, but the RRP size is close to zero, and the RRP rate has been lowered to reduce its attractiveness. This is aimed at boosting demand for US Treasuries and paving the way for policies such as stopping QT. Yellen revealed that the Treasury Department plans to take "extraordinary measures" to raise funds in mid-January. When the debt ceiling will be raised with the consent of politicians is a test of Trump's support. It is expected that by May to June, the balance of the Treasury Department's General Account (TGA) will be depleted, and the market may react in advance. By the end of the first quarter, the total US dollar liquidity of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department is expected to be $612 billion. As the default and shutdown crisis approaches, an agreement will be reached to raise the debt ceiling, the Treasury Department will resume borrowing and replenish the TGA, leading to a reduction in liquidity. After the April 15 tax deadline, the government's financial situation will improve, and liquidity will also decline. If the TGA balance dominates cryptocurrency prices, the market may reach a high point at the end of the first quarter and then decline.
Yellen lowered the rate to issue short-term Treasury bills, causing Powell's strategy of tightening financial conditions to fight inflation to fail. Although the Trump team may perform poorly in cryptocurrency and corporate legislation, the positive US dollar liquidity environment may offset this impact. Hayes said: "I suggest that investors sell in the late first quarter and wait for liquidity conditions to improve in the third quarter. As the Chief Investment Officer of Maelstrom, I recommend that risk takers switch to an aggressive mode and venture into the field of decentralized science (DeSci) Altcoins, Maelstrom has already purchased BIO, VITA, ATH, GROW, PSY, CRYO, NEURON. If things go well, I will reduce the baseline position in March."
Calamos to launch Bitcoin ETF with downside protection on January 22
According to Crypto.news, Calamos Investments is launching a Bitcoin ETF with 100% downside protection. According to the company's announcement, this ETF named CBOJ will debut on the Chicago Board Options Exchange on January 22, aiming to address the volatility of Bitcoin while providing growth potential. It is reported that the combination of US Treasuries and options linked to the CBOE Bitcoin US ETF Index is used to achieve this protection. This structure provides a regulated and transparent way to gain exposure to Bitcoin while minimizing risk.
Solana Foundation proposes adding a new hash type to improve account state efficiency and security
The Solana Foundation has initiated the SIMD-0215 proposal, aiming to expand Solana's infrastructure to billions of user accounts. This proposal adds a new hash, the "Accounts Lattice Hash". It is reported that the "Accounts Lattice Hash" uses homomorphic hashing to maintain the hash of the entire account state, which can be updated quickly and securely, allowing each block to contain the hash of all accounts, not just the accounts changed in that block, as well as the removal of the Epoch Accounts Hash.
Babylon to launch the second phase testnet on January 8
According to the official announcement, the Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon will launch the second phase testnet on January 8. Block production in the second phase will start at 9:00 UTC (17:00 Beijing time on January 8), and the staking network application will go live at 10:00 UTC (18:00 Beijing time on January 8). This phase will focus on testing the migration and registration of Signet Bitcoin staking from the first phase, as well as interactions with various protocol participants, including Bitcoin stakers, finality providers, validators, and the Liquid staking protocol. The testnet supports permissionless smart contract deployment, with a single staking limit of 0.0005-350 Signet BTC and an unbonding period of 16-17 hours (100 Bitcoin blocks). The project is open to global testing, but restricts participation from users in the United States, Canada, Australia and mainland China.
Dolomite to launch DOLO token on Berachain, with 20% of total supply airdropped to community members
The lending protocol Dolomite has announced that the generation event of its native token DOLO will take place shortly after the launch of the Berachain mainnet. Dolomite plans to distribute 20% of the DOLO tokens to the community through an airdrop to encourage user participation and drive protocol development. The specific allocation is as follows: 1. Platform users (9%): Rewarding long-term users of Dolomite for lending, with a 50% DOLO and 50% two-year locked veDOLO distribution. 2. Community contributors (1%): Allocated to security researchers, integration developers, dashboard creators and other contributors. 3. Minerals holders (10%): Providing DOLO options airdrop, allowing holders to purchase DOLO at $0.045 to build initial liquidity for the protocol. DOLO token will form a complementary mechanism with veDOLO and oDOLO, supporting protocol governance, liquidity incentives and revenue sharing, further promoting innovation and ecosystem development of Dolomite in DeFi.
Seraph officially announced that the $SERAPH token has been officially launched, marking an important stage in the development of its game ecosystem. Seraph Foundation sees $SERAPH as the key to the integration of blockchain, AI and games, and is committed to creating an innovative Web3 gaming experience. Meanwhile, the Seraph game client is now available for download, allowing players to embark on the gold-earning journey in the Genesis Season (Season 1). In addition, $SERAPH trading pairs have been listed on the following centralized exchanges: Bybit, KuCoin, HashKey, MEXC and LBank. The official recommends using the Bybit exchange to participate in the exclusive Launchpool mining activity. Users can stake $SERAPH, $MNT and $USDT to earn more $SERAPH rewards.
Michael Saylor says he is willing to serve as a crypto advisor in the Trump administration
According to Bitcoin.com, MicroStrategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor stated that he is willing to serve as a cryptocurrency advisor in the upcoming Trump administration. In an interview with Bloomberg, Saylor revealed that he has been in contact with multiple new government members, but did not confirm whether he has met with Trump. Saylor said that if invited to join a digital asset advisory committee, he would be happy to provide advice and promote constructive digital asset policies. He recently met with Eric Trump at Mar-A-Lago, and mentioned Bitcoin as a key topic of discussion on social media.
According to The Block, the crypto trading and liquidity service company GSR has received approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), allowing its subsidiary GSR Markets UK Limited to operate as a registered crypto asset business and provide crypto asset trading services to UK clients. Previously, in April 2024, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) also granted GSR's Singapore entity the "Major Payment Institution" license, allowing it to provide over-the-counter trading and market making services. Additionally, in mid-2024, GSR underwent a restructuring of its executive team, with several senior executives including co-founder and co-CEO Rich Rosenblum and CTO John MacDonald departing the company.
Riot reports December production and operations data: mined 516 Bitcoins
According to the announcement by Riot Platforms, the company mined 516 Bitcoins in December 2024, an increase of 4% from the previous month. Riot CEO Jason Les stated that the first 400MW development phase of the Corsicana facility has completed the installation and deployment of all systems. Although the systems have been fully installed, the company is adopting a gradual debugging approach to ensure the quality of grid power supply.
CoinShares: Global digital asset investment products saw net inflows of $44.2 billion in 2024
According to the latest report from CoinShares, global digital asset investment product inflows hit a record high of $44.2 billion in 2024, nearly four times the level recorded in 2021. Bitcoin attracted $38 billion in inflows, accounting for 29% of total assets under management (AuM); Ethereum saw $4.8 billion in inflows for the full year, accounting for 26% of AuM. Other Altcoins (excluding Ethereum) saw $813 million in inflows, accounting for 18% of AuM. The start of 2025 was strong, with $585 million in inflows in the first three days. However, the first week as a whole, including the last two trading days of 2024, saw a net outflow of $75 million. US products dominated, with spot ETFs accounting for 100% of the full-year inflows, reaching $44.4 billion. The Swiss market saw $630 million in inflows, while Canada and Sweden saw outflows of $707 million and $682 million, respectively.
24-hour DEX trading volume on the Solana chain exceeds the total of Ethereum and Base
According to DefiLlama data, the 24-hour DEX trading volume on the Solana chain has exceeded the total of Ethereum and Base. Over the past 24 hours, the daily trading volume of DEXs based on Solana reached $3.982 billion, while the daily trading volume of DEXs based on Ethereum was $1.706 billion, and the daily trading volume of DEXs on the Ethereum Layer2 network Base was $1.207 billion.
Nvidia stock rises over 5%, surpassing Apple in market cap to rank first
The US stock market shows that Nvidia's stock has risen more than 5%, surpassing Apple in market cap and ranking first.
Sui TVL exceeds $2 billion, reaching a new high
The public chain Sui stated on the X platform that its total locked value (TVL) has exceeded $2 billion, reaching a new high, and it took only three months to reach the $1 billion mark for the first time. Sui said that the recently announced and launched stablecoins, wallets, and lending protocols have driven Sui's growth. Industry giants like Grayscale, VanEck, and Franklin Templeton have also provided momentum for Sui.
According to Decrypt, the meme coin issuance platform Pump.fun has accounted for more than 70% of token issuance on the Solana network over the past two days, and contributed more than 56% of decentralized exchange trading activity. In the past 24 hours alone, Pump.fun has issued more than 45,000 tokens, and its annual cumulative issuance has exceeded 5.5 million. Although only 0.0085% of its issued tokens have a market value exceeding $1 million, the platform has stood out with its significant revenue performance, reaching $79.94 million in December, surpassing mainnet projects like TRON and BTC.
According to the "2024 DePIN State of the Union" report co-authored by Messari DePIN research analyst Dylan Bane and Escape Velocity Ventures co-founder Salvador Gala, the distributed physical infrastructure network (DePIN) sector has seen significant growth in 2024: 1. Market performance: The DePIN market has a total market cap of $50 billion, covering 350 tokens, with a price-to-earnings ratio of around 100. 2. Device contribution: Over 13 million devices globally participate in DePIN operations per day. 3. Network competition: Solana leads in infrastructure, while Base dominates in consumer and market areas. 4. Capital inflow: In 2024, DePIN projects raised over $350 million in seed and early-stage financing. 5. Application expansion: Local governments are starting to use DePIN to solve infrastructure problems, such as cross-border payments and logistics network optimization. Looking ahead to 2025, the DePIN sector is expected to see 100-1000x growth in emerging markets and breakthrough in a wider range of application scenarios.
