- Qredo’s Ankex Crypto Exchange Shutters, CEO Michael Moro Leaves
Ankex, a cryptocurrency exchange launched last year by custody firm Qredo and headed up by former Genesis Trading CEO Michael Moro, has closed its doors amid bear market conditions.
Moro took the helm at Ankex, a trading platform that sought to combine a non-custodial decentralized finance (DeFi) approach with elements familiar to professional traders such as a central limit order book, earlier this year. He now appears to have left, with his profile on X saying “Formerly @GenesisTrading and @Ankexcom.”
- Solana Devs Got a BONK Airdrop Worth $300 Last Christmas—It’s Now Worth $500,000
Pragmatic investors may scoff at volatile meme coins, but when they take off, they make fools of us all—at least until they crash. But lately, Solana meme coin BONK has been pretty much up only, blasting off to new heights as SOL itself rebounds after a rough year. And anyone who was airdropped a stack of free BONK last year might be sitting pretty right about now.
BONK has jumped 821% over the last 30 days, per data from CoinGecko, consistently setting new all-time high prices and blasting above a $1 billion market cap. Each token isn’t worth a whole lot at the current price of $0.00002006, but when you have millions or billions of them stashed in a wallet, it can really add up.
https://decrypt.co/209906/solana-devs-bonk-airdrop-worth-300-last-christmas-now-worth-500000
- Brazil signs its overseas crypto tax bill into law
The President of Brazil, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, has signed a law introducing taxes on crypto assets held abroad by Brazilian citizens.
Lula signed the law on Dec. 12, which was then published the following day in the Diário Oficial da União, or the Official Diary of the Union. The law will come into force from Jan. 1, 2024.
The new taxes will not apply exclusively to crypto but also to profits and dividends gained by Brazilian taxpayers from investment funds, platforms, real estate or trusts abroad. The Brazilian government intends to collect around 20 billion reals ($4 billion) of new taxes in 2024.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/brazil-signs-its-overseas-crypto-tax-bill-into-law
- Amber Group Extracts and Holds Millions of ARB and WLD Tokens
According to Foresight News, The Data Nerd has reported that in the past 24 hours, Amber Group has extracted 3 million ARB tokens (approximately $3.52 million) and 2.44 million WLD tokens (approximately $6.3 million). The company currently holds 14.864 million ARB tokens (approximately $17.09 million) and 6.69 million WLD tokens (approximately $17.6 million).
- Analysts Predict ‘Higher Crypto Prices in 2024,’ Regardless of Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval
In a mid-October analysis, Matrixport’s crypto financial services experts projected that bitcoin’s value could range between $42,000 and $56,000 per unit, should the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission endorse a spot bitcoin ETF. However, a more recent report, led by Matrixport’s Head of Research Markus Thielen, suggests that bitcoin (BTC), along with the broader crypto market, is poised for growth even without ETF approval.
The report states, “Even if the SEC still disapproves of bitcoin spot ETFs in January 2024, we will likely see higher crypto prices in 2024. Crypto investors should monitor the bitcoin dominance chart daily as a declining indicator could signal that an altcoin rally is imminent.”
- Financial Regulators Reiterate Call for Legislation to Address Crypto Risks
Congress still needs to pass legislation to address concerns the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) has about crypto, a new report by the intragovernmental group said Thursday.
FSOC, a financial stability watchdog composed of the heads of most major U.S. financial regulators, published its annual report after one of the group’s meetings, taking a look at the past year in climate, banking, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and other issues. As it has in years past, crypto received a section.
The council is recommending that Congress pass legislation defining and addressing crypto spot markets, as well as stablecoins. These are the same recommendations FSOC had at the end of 2022, the report noted.
- SafeMoon Files for Bankruptcy, SFM Token Crashes 50% to All-Time Low
DeFi meme coin SafeMoon’s SFM token has crashed by 50% after the firm behind the project filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
SFM is currently trading at $0.00003270, down 49.6% in the last 24 hours and marking an all-time low for the cryptocurrency, per data from CoinGecko.
SafeMoon US, LLC applied for Chapter 7 bankruptcy a in December 14 filing to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Utah, made by attorney Mark Rose. The filing shows that the firm has an estimated 50-99 creditors, with estimated assets of between $10,000,001 and $50 million and estimated liabilities in the range of $100,001 to $500,000.
https://decrypt.co/209951/safemoon-files-for-bankruptcy-sfm-token-crashes-50-to-all-time-low
- U.S. corporate interest in crypto strong despite implementation hurdles
Paxos surveyed 400 executives from United States-based financial services companies with at least five million users and $50 billion in assets under management or $50 billion annual payments volume.
The “2023 Enterprise Digital Asset Adoption Report” shows that despite this overwhelming interest in adopting the technology, the companies are facing various barriers and challenges. 56% of those surveyed said implementation complexity is the largest impediment to launching a crypto solution. Paxos said:
“The resilience of digital assets and blockchain technology in the face of market events, economic challenges, and a need for more regulatory clarity reflects that companies have internalized the value of the technology in the long term.”
https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-under-greater-focus-99-of-companies-paxos-survey
- ChatGPT Says Cardano Will Rise Over 130% After 2024 Halving and Bitcoin Minetrix Might Also Surge
Since November 14, ADA has risen from $0.341 to its current value of $0.628, breaching key resistance levels in the process.
ADA is actually up a whopping 162% since the bullish momentum began in October, putting an end to the months of sideways trading that had occurred beforehand.
Various factors, including a spike in trading volumes, have driven this price surge.
According to CoinMarketCap data, over $1 billion worth of ADA exchanged hands in the past 24 hours, making it the 11th most-traded cryptocurrency in the world.
Broader market sentiment has also drastically improved, with positive fundamentals boosting investor confidence.
Much of this confidence stems from the possibility of a spot Bitcoin ETF being launched in the US.
Although not directly related to Cardano, such developments often have a ripple effect throughout the entire market.
With Cardano now firing on all cylinders, many traders expect the bull run to continue into 2024 and beyond.
- Crypto Exchange Bitget Reveals Mandatory KYC Policy With Incentives for Early Compliance
Bitget is updating its compliance with relevant financial regulations by introducing new KYC guidelines. The initial announcement of the KYC rollout occurred in August, outlining a multi-tiered system. The first level permits users to engage in Bitget’s derivatives and copy trading, as well as to withdraw up to $3 million daily.
In addition to the KYC implementation, Bitget is incentivizing the first 5,000 users who meet the KYC criteria before Dec. 15. These early adopters will receive 100 tether (USDT). For VIP users of Bitget, rewards range from 200 to 500 USDT for adhering to the KYC deadline. Additionally, participants who complete a KYC questionnaire will be entered into a draw for an iPhone 15 Pro and 100 USDT.
