Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | December 14, 2023

Bitcoin and Ethereum Surge Following Fed Rate Decision

Bitcoin's value surged to over $43,300 following the Federal Reserve's decision to maintain stable interest rates. Ethereum also saw a 4% increase. The Fed's rate remains between 5.25% and 5.5%, its highest in 22 years. Meanwhile, the Fed trimmed its 2024 rate outlook to 4.6% from 5.1%, indicating potential dovishness. 

Concurrently, a Ledger vulnerability led to a $60M liquidation in minutes, though most losses were recovered after a fix was implemented. This incident briefly dropped Bitcoin's 24h high from $43,300 to $41,500, before rebounding to $42,500.

Ledger Hack Causes Significant Losses Across Platforms

Hackers exploited Ledger's Connect Kit, stealing $484,000 and affecting platforms like Sushi and Coinbase. Ledger removed the malicious code after a phishing attack on an employee. Sushi's price dropped 4% following its second yearly exploit. Tether froze a wallet with $44,000 USDT, part of $483,000 stolen funds.

Ethereum ETF Decision Postponed, Whale Activity Increases

The SEC has postponed its decision on the Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF to February 2024, allowing for a more comprehensive review and public feedback. Meanwhile, a dormant Ethereum whale has reactivated, transferring 5,000 ETH to Coinbase, sparking concerns of a potential sell-off. 

JPMorgan analysts predict Ethereum will outperform Bitcoin in 2024, largely due to the anticipated EIP-4844 upgrade, which promises improved sharding methods and efficiency. 

2024 Forecasts: Bitcoin ETFs and Crypto Market Predictions

In 2024, the potential approval of the Bitcoin ETFs promises a wild ride. Analysts predict a slow climb, below $100 billion, akin to gold ETFs. Liquidity concerns raise volatility, but VanEck envisions Trump's re-election fueling a potential $100K Bitcoin surge. Bitwise sees an $80K ATH and stablecoin dominance, while JPMorgan cautiously eyes Ether's outperformance.  

CFTC Proposes Customer Fund Segregation in Derivatives Market

The CFTC is considering a proposal to require derivatives clearing organizations to segregate customer funds from their own. This follows FTX's collapse, which resulted in billions of dollars of customer money being stolen. The proposal aims to protect customer funds during liquidity crunches and prevent commingling of proprietary and customer funds.  

Russia Prepares to Legalize Crypto Mining Exports

Russia's Ministry of Finance plans to allow miners to export cryptocurrency similar to natural gas exports. Legislation is being drafted, and recognition of cryptocurrency mining as a profession is underway. Binance ceased accepting Russian ruble deposits, prompting users to withdraw funds before January 2024 when RUB withdrawals will be discontinued.  

Gemini Earn Offers Partial Crypto Recovery Post-Bankruptcy

Gemini Earn users may receive 61% of their crypto value following the platform's bankruptcy filing. A reorganization plan includes potential fund recovery from Genesis and litigation by Gemini. Users must vote on the plan by January 10, 2024. Gemini faced U.S. SEC charges for unregistered securities offerings. The platform previously launched Earn for retail investors to earn interest on crypto assets.  

ARK Invest Sells Coinbase Shares Amidst Rally

ARK Invest has sold over $150 million of Coinbase shares since December 5th, as COIN's rally drove shares to a 20-month high. Despite recent sales, Coinbase still accounts for over 10% of ARK's portfolio. Coinbase's shares rose over 7.7% to surpass $150, marking a 325% increase in value this year, outperforming NVIDIA.  

DEX Trading Volumes Rise, Yet Below Peak Levels

In November, DEX trading volumes hit $29 billion, marking a recovery from a multi-year low. However, this is significantly lower than the $124 billion peak in May 2021. DEX market share dropped from 10% to 3% from 2020 to 2023. Binance's spot market share declined to 30.1%, possibly due to regulatory challenges and legal issues.  

AI Tokens Rally in Crypto Market, Led by FET and RNDR

AI-related tokens, including FET, RNDR, and GRT, are rallying amid optimism in the broader crypto market after the Federal Reserve rate decision. FET, the token for Fetch.ai, has surged 15% in 24 hours and experienced a decline in centralized exchange reserves. Other notable performers include RNDR and GRT, both listed on Binance Japan.  

LayerZero Launches V2 Upgrade, Boosting Decentralization

LayerZero has launched its v2 upgrade, focusing on decentralization, security, and throughput. The upgrade includes unified semantics for dApp developers, customizable security stack, and multiple third-party Decentralized Verifier Networks (DVNs). LayerZero raised $120M in Series B, plans a token launch next year, and its applications have shown significant growth in transaction volume.  

Yearn Finance Faces Major Loss Due to Multisig Error

Yearn Finance experienced a significant loss due to a faulty multisig script, wiping out 63% of a position in its treasury, amounting to $1.4 million. This incident occurred during a routine fee token conversion, where 3,794,894 lp-yCRVv2 tokens were mistakenly swapped for 779,958 yvDAI tokens. 

The error led to a large portion of the Curve pool being affected, causing significant price slippage. Yearn has requested users who profited from this incident to return a reasonable amount to their multisig.

BONK Coin Skyrockets, Boosting Solana's Meme Coin Status

Solana's memecoin, BONK, surged over 627% in 30 days, reaching an all-time high after its Coinbase listing. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision also contributed to BONK's rise. Solana's 600% rally in 2023 bolstered BONK's performance. It's now seen as a significant player among meme coins, challenging the dominance of established counterparts.  

Buterin Proposes ZK-EVM for Ethereum's Layer-2 Improvement

Vitalik Buterin introduces the concept of a "Zero-Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine" (ZK-EVM) to enhance Ethereum's Layer-2 protocols. The proposal aims to improve scalability and security by integrating ZK-EVM within Ethereum. It emphasizes flexibility, data availability, auditability, and speed while supporting innovations in Layer-2 solutions.  

Cardano DeFi Ecosystem Hits New Total Value Locked Peak

The total value locked in Cardano's DeFi ecosystem reached over $440 million, a significant surge from the previous peak of $330 million. This growth was driven by increases in various protocols, such as Indigo, Minswap, and Djed stablecoin. The rise in TVL also led to a 17% increase in the value of Cardano's ADA token.  

Cronos Labs Unveils Cronos zkEVM Chain Testnet

Cronos Labs, in collaboration with Crypto.com and Matter Labs, has launched the "Cronos zkEVM chain" testnet, a layer-2 network on Ethereum's Sepolia testnet. This initiative, aiming for a Q2 2024 mainnet launch, seeks to boost mainstream adoption and enhance the Cronos ecosystem, currently holding a $354 million TVL.

Top Altcoin Gainers and Losers

Gainers:

Bonk BONK (+78.14%)

WOO Network WOO (+35.63%)

Helium HNT (+35.11%)

Losers:

KuCoin Token KCS (-20.96%)

FTX Token FTT (-5.29%)

BitTorrent New BTT (-4.04%)