Hodler’s Digest, December 15 – 21 – Cointelegraph Magazine

The main news of the week

The Hawk Tuah influencer spoke out after the memecoin carpet allegations were dropped.

Haley Welch, the influencer behind the viral “Hawk Tuah” video clip, released a statement after the memecoin she was holding was quickly dumped after her December job.

In a December 20 X post, Welch said she is “fully cooperating” with lawyers representing investors in the HAWK token.

The crypto users filed a lawsuit against the project's creators and partners — Welch herself is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit — alleging they engaged in promoting and selling unregistered securities offerings.

Kathy Wood Foresaw M&A Surge, $1M Bitcoin Launch Under Trump

Kathy Wood, founder of ARK Invest, predicts an influx of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) following the election of Donald Trump and expects this flow to “support creative strategies.”

In a Bloomberg interview, Wood said changes to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission could ease regulatory hurdles that have previously held back M&As.

Wood has confirmed her position on Bitcoin, predicting it will be worth more than $1 million by 2030.

With high hopes for the incoming Trump administration, Wood predicts a dual effect of a boom in M&As among tech startups and a parabolic price movement driven by reduced regulatory friction.

Bankrupt Cryptopia exchange distributes $225M to hack victims

Cryptopia, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, has begun distributing millions to users affected by a hack six years ago.

Cryptopia liquidation firm Grant Thornton has announced that on December 20th, 2019, it has started a distribution to more than 10,000 verified accounts affected by the Cryptopia hack.

Over the past two days, verified Bitcoin and Dogecoin account holders have received at least 400 million New Zealand dollars ($225 million) in crypto distributions, the leaker said.

Since Grant Thornton launched the Cryptopia Claims Portal in 2020, payments have been a major milestone in Cryptopia's liquidation process.

Following this initial distribution, Liquidators will continue to follow the approved process, including notification of cutoff dates before distributing remaining BTC, DOGE and other coins to account holders, Grant Thornton said.

Craig Wright was sentenced to one year in prison for contempt of court

Controversial Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, who for years falsely claimed to be Bitcoin's creator Satoshi Nakamoto, has been handed a one-year ban by a UK court for defamation.

In a Dec. 19 hearing, Judge James Mellor sentenced Wright for violating a court order by suing Bitcoin developers. Wright was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years, after five counts of contempt of court and a fine of 145,000 British pounds – approximately $180,000 at the time of publication.

The contempt ruling was part of a case by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance, which filed a complaint against Wright for violating a July court order to stop suing companies it claims are Satoshi.

Bitfinex hacker speaks after the verdict

Ilya Lichtenstein released a statement on social media after the hacker who stole bitcoins from crypto exchange Bitfinex and distributed them legally was sentenced to five years in prison.

In a December 19 X post, Lichtenstein reaffirmed many of the statements he made in court that led to his imprisonment. In the year He admitted to hacking Bitfinex in 2016 and defrauding him of “thousands of bitcoins”, but indicated that he wanted to take the full blame rather than his wife Heather Morgan.

“I knew what I was doing was wrong and I didn't care about what I did, I didn't care about anyone but myself,” Lichtenstein said in a video message from jail, often seeming to read a script. press release.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) at $97,321, Ether (ETH) at $3,464 and XRP at $2.28. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap is $3.63 trillion.

Among the largest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers for the week were Pudgy Penguin (PENGU) at 492.34%, HyperLiquid (HYPE) at 56.23% and MOVE (MOVE) at 38.42%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week were Aptos (APT) at 28.28%, dYdX (Native) (DYDX) at 28.05% and Curve DAO Token (CRV) at 28.18%. Be sure to read Cointelegraph's market analysis for more information on crypto prices.

The most memorable quotes

“I expect $MARA to be next.”

Michael Saylor, co-founder of MicroStrategy

“The market will immediately wake up to the fact that Trump has a year to make any policy changes on or around January 20th. This perception will lead to a catastrophic sell-off in crypto and other Trump 2.0 fair trades.

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX

“No to Digital Euro, Yes to Strategic Bitcoin Stock.”

French member of the European Parliament Sarah Knafo

“Welch's involvement and reputation as an honest public figure signaled to her followers and investors that the project was set up for success.”

Lawyers for Hawk Tuah memecoin investors

“We had such a horror narrative last month that the market was completely unprepared for bad news. We are now seeing an undifferentiated sell-off.”

Pav Hundal, lead market analyst at Swyftx

“Today I step away from Aptos Labs to begin a new chapter.”

Mohammed Sheikh, Founder and CEO of Aptos Labs

Forecast of the week

Bitcoin Correction ‘Almost Over' As Perceived Losses Increase Above Weekly Average

On December 20, Bitcoin's daily chart produced three consecutive red candles for the first time since the first week of November, which coincidentally was the lead-up to Donald Trump's US election victory.

Another similarity between the last time three or more red candles appeared on the daily chart is that Bitcoin retested the 50-day EMA level.

With BTC's price down more than 15% since its all-time high, one analyst said most of the price drop could be attributed to the largest cryptocurrency.

When the price of Bitcoin fell below $93,000 on December 20, Shambel Fibic, an anonymous independent crypto trader, said that BTC's correction was nearing its conclusion.

In X's post, the trader highlighted that BTC's recent decline is due to the large bearish divergence between its price and relative strength index over the past month. Such deviations are usually followed by an 8 to 10% failure, which is considered a “healthy reset”.

FUD of the week

The suspected SEC hacker was allowed to go on vacation

Eric Council Jr., the man who allegedly hacked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's X account in January and posted messages purporting to accept Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), will be allowed to go on vacation.

In a Dec. 13 filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Amy Berman Jackson counsel may travel to North Carolina between Dec. 23 and 29 with a third-party guardian. Pre-Trial Services Information about the actual itinerary and location of stay at least two business days prior to travel.

The council filed a not guilty plea to the SEC's X-mark on Jan. 9 and posted a message suggesting the commission had green-lighted bitcoin ETFs at a time when many in the industry expected a decision. The false message, complete with a quote from SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, rocked markets 24 hours before the commission formally approved the investment vehicles.

Trump's inauguration could trigger a crypto sell-off, says Arthur Hayes

Cryptocurrency market analysts and observers have predicted positive market trends associated with the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump in January 2025, but BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes has a different view.

Hayes cautioned against the rapid crypto policy changes promised by Trump, highlighting the gap between market predictions and the realities of policy implementation.

In a Dec. 17 “Trump Truth” blog post, Hayes said his investment fund, Maelstrom, plans to pre-cut some positions to buy at lower prices in the first half of 2025.

Contrary to many predictions, Hayes doubts the US and other countries will start creating national bitcoin reserves anytime soon.

Bybit to stop crypto services in France in January 2025

Due to increased regulatory scrutiny by the French financial authorities, Baybit said it will cease withdrawal and retention services for French users from January 8, 2025 at 8:00 a.m. UTC.

The company advised affected users to withdraw their funds before the expiry date to avoid any problems related to account access or fund transfers.

Bybit plans to transfer unclaimed assets of more than 10 USD coins to Coinhouse, a licensed cryptocurrency custodian in France. Users must complete an authentication process with Coinhouse to gain access to their holdings. For accounts below 10 USDC, Bibit will charge a termination fee equal to 10 USDC, minus any assets.

The move reflects growing regulatory pressures on global crypto exchanges, as legislation in many jurisdictions appears to tighten controls on crypto.

The best magazine stories of the week

5 real use cases of useless memecoins

Memecoins aren't useless: they comply with securities laws, they don't enrich VCs, and they're a lot of fun.

Rise of micro strategy clones, Asia dominates crypto adoption: Asia Express 2024 review

Saylor's Bitcoin Strategy Spawns Clones in Asia, Raid on Mass Pork Fraud Centers, Lazarus' Old and New Tactics, and more. Asia Express Year in Review.

1 real sign of the NFT bull market is on: Wale, the NFT collector

Pudgy's Walmart and Doodles are available at McDonald's, but Weil says more significant growth will confirm the return of the NFT bull market.

Editorial staff

Cointelegraph magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.