- EU Banking Watchdog to Deepen Probe of Links Between Banks, Crypto Entities: FT
The European Banking Authority (EBA), the regulator that conducts stress tests on European Union banks, will take additional steps to predict how strains in non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), including cryptocurrency-related entities, will affect the lenders, according to the Financial Times.
Concern over contagion has triggered the need to “dig deeper into the links between banks and other financial firms,” José Manuel Campa, EBA chair, said in an interview with the FT. “We should be doing more and we are going to be doing more. We need to have an understanding of the whole underlying chain in NBFIs.”
According to the FT report, NBFIs hold around $219 trillion, almost half of the world’s financial assets.
- Michael Saylor to Sell $216 Million in MicroStrategy Stock Options, Buy More Bitcoin
Michael Saylor, the co-founder of software firm MicroStrategy, is to sell $216 million worth of stock options in the company, with some of the proceeds going towards buying more Bitcoin for his personal stash.
The sale of his stock options was revealed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in which Saylor proposed to sell 310,000 stock option awards granted in 2014.
https://decrypt.co/211436/over-80-million-stolen-in-orbit-chain-exploit-assets-remain-unmoved
- OKX to enforce new FCA rules for UK users
Crypto exchange OKX is introducing rules for its United Kingdom-based users as part of new regulatory requirements by the country’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
According to the Jan. 2 announcement, starting next week, U.K. users will be required to complete an investor questionnaire to prove they understand the risks involved in buying and trading digital assets. In addition, users must complete a second questionnaire evaluating whether investing in crypto is appropriate for them. “Those unable to complete the questionnaires or demonstrate a grasp of the risks will become ineligible to hold an OKX account,” OKX wrote.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/okx-enforce-new-fca-rules-united-kingdom-users
- Russia to Adopt Digital Ruble for Tax Collection by 2025
According to Foresight News, Russian tax authorities will begin using the digital ruble for tax collection starting in 2025, and banks will have the authority to block suspicious CBDC transactions. Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that includes the digital ruble in the tax regulation and control system, as reported by Russian media outlet Telesputnik. The tax authorities now have the power to suspend digital ruble account transactions and require platform operators to provide documentation confirming the deduction of funds from taxpayer accounts and their transfer to the Russian Federation’s budget system.
- Study: Only 6% of Crypto Exchanges Integrated the Lightning Network
According to the findings of new market research conducted by Kaminari, the use of bitcoin “as a transactional layer” has grown steadily in the past few years. The research points to the 40 million transactions settled in Q3 of 2023 as evidence.
Kaminari’s findings report that the introduction and growing adoption of the Lightning Network (LN) by crypto exchanges and other platforms is one of the reasons behind the crypto asset’s record increase in quarterly transactions. The market research data indicates that the number of companies in the LN ecosystem has grown from 94 in October 2021 to 179 companies spread across 28 categories.
https://news.bitcoin.com/study-only-6-of-crypto-exchanges-integrated-the-lightning-network/
- Coinbase Buckles 10% as Crypto Stocks Falter Despite Bitcoin Topping $45K
Crypto exchange giant Coinbase (COIN) Tuesday endured its worst daily decline since mid-2023 even as bitcoin (BTC) rallied to a 21-month high.
Closing the session at just under $157, shares of Coinbase fell 9.8% on the first trading session of the year, TradingView data shows. The move extended Friday’s losses amid year-end profit-taking following a near-quintupling in the stock price in 2023.
The bitcoin miners also failed to see any bump from the bitcoin rally, reversing big early moves higher to close modestly in the red. Marathon Digital (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) were down 1%-2% from Friday’s close and nearly 10% lower than their opening price.
- Solana NFT Sales Skyrocket, Topping Ethereum in Monthly Volume for First Time
Solana’s surging fortunes of late have produced a surprising result in the NFT market: monthly sales volume of NFTs on the network beat that of NFTs on Ethereum in December 2023, for the first time ever.
According to data from analytics platform CryptoSlam, Solana NFT sales tallied about $366.5 million worth in December compared to $353.2 million on Ethereum. CryptoSlam’s “organic” sales figures exclude suspicious trades marked as “wash trading,” with about $381 million worth of Ethereum sales excluded and just $10.1 million worth of Solana sales pulled out.
https://decrypt.co/211547/solana-nft-sales-skyrocket-ethereum-monthly-volume
- Orbit Bridge hack pushes December crypto theft to nearly $100M
The recent attack on Orbit Chain’s cross-chain bridge has pushed up the amount of crypto stolen in December 2023 to almost $100 million, according to blockchain security firms.
On Jan. 1, blockchain security firm PeckShield said the $81.5 million cross-chain bridge exploit on Orbit Bridge meant that December was the fifth-highest month for hacks in 2023.
The exploit was also ninth-largest hack targeting a cross-chain bridge over the past three years, it said.
Orbit Bridge is the bridging service of the cross-chain protocol Orbit Chain, launched in South Korea in 2018, which later confirmed it was hacked due to an unauthorized breach of access to its ecosystem on Dec. 31 at 8:52 pm UTC.
The recent attack on Orbit Chain’s cross-chain bridge has pushed up the amount of crypto stolen in December 2023 to almost $100 million, according to blockchain security firms.
On Jan. 1, blockchain security firm PeckShield said the $81.5 million cross-chain bridge exploit on Orbit Bridge meant that December was the fifth-highest month for hacks in 2023.
The exploit was also ninth-largest hack targeting a cross-chain bridge over the past three years, it said.
Orbit Bridge is the bridging service of the cross-chain protocol Orbit Chain, launched in South Korea in 2018, which later confirmed it was hacked due to an unauthorized breach of access to its ecosystem on Dec. 31 at 8:52 pm UTC.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/orbit-bridge-hack-pushes-december-crypto-losses-100m
- Shiba Inu Burns Over 76 Billion Tokens in 2023, Shibarium Records High Transactions
According to CryptoPotato, Shiba Inu burned over 76 billion tokens in 2023, a decrease of 8.33% compared to the previous year, with December seeing the highest burn rate. The burn mechanism aims to reduce the circulating supply of nearly 590 trillion SHIB tokens, making them more scarce and potentially valuable over time. The asset’s price has been on an uptrend, with a 5% increase in the past 24 hours and around 30% on a monthly basis.
Shiba Inu’s layer-2 blockchain solution, Shibarium, has also shown significant progress, recording a high number of transactions and blocks. The network, which officially went live in the summer of 2023, has surpassed multiple milestones, with total transactions exceeding 200 million around Christmas and currently standing at almost 250 million. The total number of blocks is just shy of 2.5 million. Shibarium aims to enhance the efficiency and scalability of the base layer by handling transactions off the main blockchain, allowing users to enjoy reduced transaction fees and faster processing times.
- Study: Only 6% of Crypto Exchanges Integrated the Lightning Network
According to the findings of new market research conducted by Kaminari, the use of bitcoin “as a transactional layer” has grown steadily in the past few years. The research points to the 40 million transactions settled in Q3 of 2023 as evidence.
Kaminari’s findings report that the introduction and growing adoption of the Lightning Network (LN) by crypto exchanges and other platforms is one of the reasons behind the crypto asset’s record increase in quarterly transactions. The market research data indicates that the number of companies in the LN ecosystem has grown from 94 in October 2021 to 179 companies spread across 28 categories.
https://news.bitcoin.com/study-only-6-of-crypto-exchanges-integrated-the-lightning-network/
