Hodler’s Digest, December 31 – January 6 – Cointelegraph Magazine

This week's main news

SEC ‘backed into corner' on BTC ETF approval – Bloomberg analyst

According to Bloomberg analyst James Seifert, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has “backed itself into a corner” by approving the position of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The analyst said the investment vehicle has a 90% chance of receiving the green light between January 8 and 10. A move in the coming days could bring $10 billion in revenue to Bitcoin ETFs in the first year. However, widespread adoption could take weeks or even months as institutional investors do their due diligence before adding cryptocurrencies to their portfolios, Seifert said.

IRS rules require reporting of $10k crypto transactions by 2024

Crypto brokers are now required to report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) personal information on transactions of digital assets worth more than $10,000. The requirement It is part of the infrastructure bill signed by President Joe Biden in 2021 and seeks to reduce the size of the tax gap in the United States. Brokers must provide the tax agency with the sender's name, address and social security number within 15 days of the transaction. Following the law's passage, many lawmakers suggested additional legislation to “fix” the reporting requirement, saying it was difficult or impossible to collect the required information from brokers.

Early Mickey Mouse version will be top NFT on OpenSea after copyright expires.

The Walt Disney Company's first incarnation of the Mickey Mouse mascot recently entered the public domain and has quickly become the most trending virtual token (NFT) on OpenSea. Three NFT clusters dominated OpenSea's trending list on Jan. 2, with Steamboat Willie Public Domain 2024 stock hitting a record high, achieving a trading volume of nearly $1.2 million. This early version of Mickey, known as “Steamboat Willie” from the 1928 Walt Disney Animation short, is now in the public domain, but modern iterations are copyrighted, Disney explained.

Bitcoin birthday: Satoshi Nakamoto mining genesis block 15 years after

The Genesis Block, also known as the first Bitcoin block, was created on January 3, 2009 by its mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. What followed was a years-long battle involving critics, mainstream media, politicians and governments. In the year As of January 2024, cryptocurrency is the 9th most valuable asset in the world based on market capitalization alone. In honor of Bitcoin's 15th birthday, we take a bird's eye view of the Bitcoin ecosystem.

The SEC has asked the court to consider the Terraform Labs ruling in the case of Binance

The US Securities and Exchange Commission recently filed a petition in federal court asking for a judge to hear the Terraform Labs case against crypto exchange Binance. The SEC said it has “a number of issues” similar to the enforcement action it took against Terraform Labs and co-founder Do Quon at Binance, Binance.US and former CEO Changpeng Zhao. The SEC argued that the Terraform Labs judgment provided “additional reasons”, asking the judge to reject the request for expulsion from Binance. The crypto exchange and Zhao filed a motion to dismiss in September, arguing that the SEC overreached its authority and imposed the standards “retroactively” on the securities.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) at $43,756, Ether (ETH) at $2,241 and XRP at $0.57. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap is $1.66 trillion.

Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers for the week were Internet Computer (ICP) at 40.50%, Arbitrum (ARB) at 30.17%, and Celestia (TIA) at 25.56%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week were Bonk (BONK) with -26.94%, MultiversX (EGLD) -21.99% and Uniswap (UNI) -17.41%.

Be sure to read Cointelegraph's market analysis for more information on crypto prices.

The most memorable quotes

“ETFs do not compete with Bitcoin. […]; But they are useful as a bridging solution as estate finance adapts to the new Bitcoin reality.

Samson Mow, CEO of January 3

“The current unilateral market agreement is pending SEC approval of Bitcoin Spot ETFs next week. But we saw an opportunity to trade outside of the deal.

Markus Thielen, crypto analyst at Matrixport

“The approval paves the way for pension funds and RIA-based funds to invest in real estate through Bitcoin ETFs.”

Cboe Digital President John Palmer

“I think it's important to make sure the lessons are learned and that these are the failures of individuals and centralized companies, not crypto or blockchain technology.”

Coin office host Guy Turner

“The SEC is backed into a corner here. I think they should approve [a spot Bitcoin ETF]He said.

Bloomberg analyst James Seifert.

“Phishing is nothing new on the Solana network, but with the resurgence of Solana's value, cybercriminals are beginning to focus on targeting individuals within the ecosystem.”

Joe Green, analyst at CertiK

Forecast of the week

BTC price centers at 43k

Bitcoin remains stuck in uncertainty over approval of ETFs in the United States, but the price of BTC is higher than it was earlier in the week. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed that the price of BTC was trading above $43,000 on January 5.

Analysts expected volatility on the day as rumors swirled about the approval of Wall Street's first-ever Bitcoin ETF. Markets also refused to price in the recent decision, with bitcoin broadly closed after recovering from the liquidation cascade earlier in the week.

As Cointelegraph reports, versions of how the price might react to the decision differ significantly, with both upside and downside predictions on the table.

“For now, the topside is locked in the 46 – 48.5k range against the support in the 40.5 – 42k range,” trading company QCP Capital wrote in the latest market update sent to Telegram channel subscribers on January 5. “Although. BTC has risen to the 44,000 level from the wash we used. While we are wary of a knee-jerk ‘sell the news' reaction, this unyielding price action gives us more confidence in the medium-term crash outlook for BTC to halve in March/April this year.”

FUD of the week

dYdX identifies attacker, faces over $9 million in legal action

Decentralized exchange dYdX claimed to have identified the attacker responsible for the v3 platform attack on November 17, which resulted in a loss of $9 million from its insurance fund. In the posthumous “targeted attack” on the exchange, dYdX has confirmed that it is now seeking legal action against the person responsible. The DYdX insurance fund targeted long positions in the YFI token on November 17 to cover users' trading losses, resulting in a “profitable trade” that resulted in the destruction of approximately $38 million in positions.

China's state daily called crypto a ‘corruption channel'

A call to crack down on bribery using cryptocurrency and other electronic payments has appeared on the China Legal Daily website. The Jan. 1 edition of Law Daily, published by the Central Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the Communist Party of China, quoted Zhao Shuyun, an associate professor at Hebei University Law School, as saying that virtual currency and electronic gift cards have become a “hidden channel” for bribery. Such as cards and digital currencies can be taken abroad for redemption in “cold storage” devices.

Crypto VC Polychain Capital confirms founder X's account has been hacked

Olaf Carlson Wie, founder and CEO of crypto venture capitalist Polychain Capital, confirmed that the X (formerly Twitter) account was compromised. Polychain urges X users not to interact with the Carlson-Wi handle. The hacker promoted a fake “$PCHAIN” token airdrop, encouraging Carlson-Wee's followers to click on a link to participate. According to a recent report by security platform Scam Sniffer, cryptocurrency phishing scams will take 324,000 victims out of nearly $300 million by 2023.

The best magazine sections of the week

Which gaming association positioned itself best for the bull market?

Blockchain gaming associations have amassed billions of treasures in the past cycle. But how do they begin to prepare themselves for the 2024 bull run?

Cory Clipston's warning to ‘shitcoin traders' in bull market: X Hall of Flame

Bitcoin maxi Cory Klippsten, founder of Swan Bitcoin, advises crypto traders to be cautious, urging them to avoid the hype of the altcoin season.

Fake news crypto panic, will Binance gain users as market share falls? Asia Express

Singaporean investment firm Matrixport responsible for Bitcoin price correction, performance of Asian exchanges in 2023 and more!

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Cointelegraph magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.