Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | December 13, 2023

Bitcoin Gains Amidst Federal Reserve Decisions

Bitcoin rebounded above $41,000 amidst U.S. Federal Reserve decisions. Short-term holders sold over $4 billion in BTC, an 18-month peak. Interestingly, Bitcoin whales (investors with over 1,000 BTC) have been increasing their holdings, suggesting confidence among larger investors. Meanwhile, USDT inflows to exchanges have risen, indicating potential new buying power and a bullish sign for the market.

Ethereum's Bearish Trend and Technical Analysis

Ethereum faces a bearish trend, with a recent drop from $2,350 to $2,250. It's trading below the 100-hourly SMA and key $2,250 resistance. Technical indicators predict further decline, with major support at $2,120. Additionally, concerns about network manipulation by "Disguised Whales" exploiting gas fees highlight risks of decision-making capture and potential 51% attack-like scenarios.

Spot Bitcoin ETF: BlackRock's SEC Meeting Impact

BlackRock's third SEC meeting raises hopes for Spot Bitcoin ETF approval in January. Bloomberg predicts a 90% approval chance but cautions against expecting $100 billion inflows. Caroline Mauron foresees low holiday liquidity, while VanEck anticipates over $40 billion in ETF inflows within two years, potentially boosting market liquidity.

Aptos Defies Market Trend, Releases New Tokens

Aptos released 24.8 million APT tokens, constituting 8.9% of the circulating supply. Despite this, the APT token defied the bearish trend, gaining nearly 14% in value before retracing to post an over 5% drop. Aptos, a Layer 1 blockchain ecosystem, garnered significant funding from venture capitalists and secured partnerships with Microsoft and SK Telecom. In October, Aptos faced a service interruption.  

OKX DEX Compromised: $2.7 Million Crypto Heist

OKX DEX appears to have suffered a $2.7 million exploit due to a compromised smart contract, following a private key leak. The deprecated smart contract was hijacked, allowing the hacker to steal crypto assets. OKX confirmed the compromise and pledged to reimburse affected users. Security firms are offering bounties for information to recover the funds.  

FASB Sets New Crypto Asset Accounting Standards

The U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has released new standards to enhance the disclosure of certain crypto assets, allowing firms to use fair-value accounting. Effective from fiscal years beginning after Dec. 15, 2024, the updated rules aim to offer more relevant information to investors and reduce the complexity and costs associated with current accounting practices.

Binance Challenges SEC's 'Howey Test' Lawsuit

Binance and its founder, CZ, argue that the SEC failed to meet the "Howey Test" requirements in its lawsuit. They maintain that there were no binding obligations to users in the purchase of certain cryptocurrencies, challenging the SEC's allegations of unregistered securities trading. Additionally, Binance's recent settlements with other regulatory bodies are cited in its defense.  

IRS's Top Cryptocurrency Crime Cases of 2023

The IRS Criminal Investigation division published its top ten cases of 2023, with four involving cryptocurrency. Notable cases include the Silk Road hacker sentenced after seizing $3.4 billion in crypto, a OneCoin co-founder receiving a 20-year prison sentence, and a cryptocurrency founder sentenced to four years for failure to file tax returns and extravagant spending.  

Rainbow Wallet's Incentive Program for Ethereum Users

Rainbow, a crypto wallet, launched a points program incentivizing Ethereum users. It granted a minimum of 100 points to each user and offered bonus points to MetaMask users who used the platform's swap service. Rainbow emphasized that the program is not a competitor attack but a proactive strategy and hinted at future token exchange or airdrops for point holders.  

Matcha Introduces Cross-Chain Swap Capability

Matcha, a DEX aggregator by 0x, introduced cross-chain swap capability, facilitating one-step asset exchanges across 7 chains: Ethereum, Optimism, Polygon, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, and BNB Chain. This innovation, spearheaded by Co-Founder Will Warren, streamlines multi-chain asset transactions and enhances interoperability within the decentralized finance space.  

Coti's Transition to Ethereum Layer 2 Network

Coti plans to transition its DAG-based infrastructure to an Ethereum Layer 2 network, expected for release in 2024. The transition will emphasize user privacy for decentralized applications (dapps) while maintaining security through Ethereum's mainnet. Coti's Cardano projects, including Djed and Ada Pay, will persist alongside its Ethereum expansion.  

Coinbase Expands Internationally with New Spot Trading

Coinbase's international expansion includes spot trading for non-U.S. institutions with BTC-USDC and ETH-USDC pairs via API access starting Dec. 14. The platform plans to include additional digital assets and expand retail customer service. Coinbase has onboarded 100+ institutions with $10 billion in perpetual futures trading volume. Their strategy focuses on 24 countries to expand internationally.  

Solana Whale Sells: Impact on mSOL Price

On December 12, 2023, a Solana whale sold over $5 million worth of mSOL, causing an 18% drop in its price. The derivative quickly rebounded, surpassing $77. Marinade Finance recently launched the "Open Doors" incentive program, aiming to reward users depositing SOL for mSOL with up to 160 million marinade tokens, targeting a 40 million SOL lock increase.   

Worldcoin's Eye-Scanning World ID 2.0 Upgrade

Worldcoin upgraded its eye-scanning World ID 2.0, integrating with tech firms like Reddit and Microsoft. The orb authentication system allows users to verify themselves without disclosing their identity. Nearly 5 million people have scanned their eyes for World IDs, including over 1% of the population in Chile, Argentina, and more than 2% in Portugal.  

LINE NEXT Secures $140 Million for Web3 Expansion

LINE NEXT, a subsidiary of Asian messaging giant LINE, secured $140 million in investment led by Crescendo Equity Partners. The funding aims to expand the Web3 ecosystem and launch the global NFT platform DOSI. The platform plans to offer a mobile app, promote brand ownership of digital products, and introduce web3 games featuring LINE's characters.  

3AC Co-Founder Su Zhu's Legal Developments

Su Zhu, co-founder of Three Arrows Capital (3AC), is set to be released this month after arrest. Facing a two-day Singapore court hearing seeking to reclaim $3.5 billion for 3AC’s creditors. Zhu's account posted for the first time in December, and sentencing resulted in four months in prison. Co-founder Kyle Davies remains at large.  

Top Altcoin Gainers and Losers

Gainers:

Beam BEAMX (+18.54%)

Aelf ELF (+9.15%)

FTX Token FTT (+8.36%)

Losers:

Rocket Pool RPL (-16.59%)

Bonk BONK (-9.87%)

Aptos APT (-6.07%)