Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | January 30, 2024

Bitcoin's Resilient Surge Amid Rate Decisions

Bitcoin hits a two-week high of $43,784, facing resistance at $43,800, with a focus on the $43,500 level. Despite thinning liquidity and caution around the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, Bitcoin shows resilience. 

Whale holdings increase by 4.50%, with 67 new entities holding 1,000 BTC or more, indicating diverging sentiment between institutional and retail investors. On-chain trends suggest a potentially bullish mid-term outlook, supported by decreased Bitcoin and Ethereum supplies on exchanges, and increased Tether deposits for potential re-entry into more volatile cryptocurrencies.  

Ethereum's Staking Market Cap Soars

ETH surpassed $2300 today while the Ethereum staking market cap has surged to $65.45 billion, with 29.39 million ETH staked, representing a quarter of its circulating supply. Staking yields have dropped to 3.54% due to increased participation. The SEC is expected to approve spot Ethereum ETFs by May 23, according to Standard Chartered Bank, considering Ether's non-securities status and its regulated futures contract listing.

dYdX Foundation's Ambitious Budget Plan

The dYdX Foundation seeks a $30 million budget from its DAO over three years, aiming to support legal, R&D, marketing, and technical aspects. It plans to grow dYdX as the "exchange layer of the internet," with budget allocation for various purposes. Additionally, dYdX Chain introduces liquid staking for DYDX tokens, enhancing liquidity and enabling trading while earning staking rewards.    

Google Opens Doors for Crypto Ads

Google revised its policy to allow promotion of crypto services. BlackRock and VanEck debuted Bitcoin ETF ads on the platform. The SEC's approval of Bitcoin ETFs led to increased interest from traditional financial entities. The move is expected to drive more traffic to the crypto industry and foster mainstream adoption.  

Floki Inu Responds to SFC's Staking Concerns

Following SFC concerns on high-yield staking, Floki Inu barred Hong Kong users from its staking programs, paused marketing, and clarified its high APY is due to unique rewards and decentralized strategy. This responds to global regulatory uncertainties on crypto staking yields. Floki Inu aims for compliance and won't involve Hong Kong users until issues are resolved.  

Abracadabra Finance Recovers from Exploit

Abracadabra Finance suffered a $6.4 million breach due to a smart contract vulnerability, causing MIM stablecoin to briefly depeg. The exploit involved a rounding issue, allowing the attacker to borrow MIM with minimal collateral. To recover, the protocol is repurchasing and burning MIM tokens. The team is actively investigating the incident and its impact on certain cauldrons on Ethereum.  

Visa's Global Crypto Withdrawal Initiative

Visa teams up with Transak for cryptocurrency withdrawals to Visa debit cards in 145 countries, enabling users to convert at least 40 cryptocurrencies into fiat. The collaboration spans 130 million merchant locations globally and targets mainstream crypto adoption, offering MetaMask users a convenient off-ramp for their digital assets. Binance's trading volume share rose to 49% after a $4.3 billion settlement.  

Starknet and Celestia's Layer 3 Collaboration

Starknet and Celestia collaborate to enhance data availability for Layer 3 chains. Starknet plans to utilize Celestia's Blobstream for data storage, aimed at reducing gas costs. Celestia's data availability sampling increases efficiency on scaling networks. This collaboration signifies a significant milestone for both parties in the blockchain ecosystem's ongoing evolution.

Bitpanda Exits Netherlands Following EU Regulation

Bitpanda, a crypto exchange, is removing Dutch residents from its platform to comply with Netherlands' regulations. The move aligns with the EU's Markets in Crypto Asset legislation, enabling companies to obtain a single license to operate across the EU. Bitpanda's decision reflects its commitment to adhering to evolving regulatory frameworks.  

Binance's New Institutional Trading Solution

Binance now offers institutional investors a "banking triparty" arrangement for securing trading collateral through a third-party banking partner. This addresses counterparty risk, optimizing capital efficiency. Following regulatory challenges, Binance's market share is rebounding, with trading volume increasing to 49.44%. CEO Richard Teng expressed optimism towards the recovery on social media.  

Coinbase's New Fees for High-Volume USDC Conversions

Coinbase will impose fees on USDC to USD conversions above $75 million: 0.1% for $75-150 million, 0.15% for $150-500 million, and 0.2% beyond $500 million. Clients with over $500 million or an average $100 million in USD/USDC are exempt. Circle plans to launch USDC on Celo, shaping Celo's ecosystem and broadening USDC access.  

Portal Secures Funding for Bitcoin DEX Development

Portal, a San Francisco-based fintech provider, raised $34M to develop a bitcoin-based decentralized exchange (DEX) for peer-to-peer swapping of BTC across blockchains. Investors include Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, OKX Ventures, and Gate.io. The funding will also support the creation of a non-custodial wallet, reflecting growing interest in Bitcoin within the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.  

UK Drug Kingpin's Crypto-Based Operations Uncovered

Banmeet Singh, a British drug kingpin, pleaded guilty to running dark web marketplaces, distributing drugs worth $150 million in crypto, leading to the DEA's largest-ever crypto seizure of 8,100 bitcoin. His illegal activities involved LSD, ecstasy, fentanyl, and more, extending internationally. US authorities expect him to receive an eight-year prison sentence.  

Germany Seizes Massive Bitcoin Cache

German police seized 50,000 bitcoin valued at $2.1 billion related to an alleged piracy site violation in 2013. Two men are linked to money laundering. The assets' future remains uncertain. Germany's crypto-friendly stance is evident with Commerzbank receiving a custody license. Deutsche Bank expressed interest in offering custody for cryptocurrencies and applied for a similar license.  

Hong Kong's Revised Digital Asset Insurance Policy

Hong Kong's SFC scales down digital asset insurance requirement to 50%. OSL maintains high coverage despite regulations, partnering with Canopius for a 2-year digital asset custody policy covering 20 major cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. This responds to market volatility and recent crypto firm collapses, emphasizing the need for robust insurance in the crypto space.  

DOJ's Crackdown on $1.89 Billion Crypto Fraud

The U.S. DOJ charged three individuals in a $1.89 billion crypto fraud scheme, targeting investors with false promises of substantial returns from non-existent mining operations. Recent cases signal the DOJ's increased vigilance in combating crypto fraud, bringing swift outcomes and shaping regulatory frameworks to deter potential fraudsters and provide stability to investors.  

Immutable and Polygon Launch zkEVM Mainnet

Immutable, in collaboration with Polygon, has launched Immutable zkEVM mainnet for select game studios. The zkEVM uses zero-knowledge proofs for Ethereum transaction efficiency. Over 200 games plan to launch on it, with gas-free functionality for players using Immutable Passport. The mainnet will open to the public soon. Other projects like Astar Network and IDEX also use zkEVM powered by Polygon.  

Whale Dominance in Stablecoin Market Increases

Crypto analytics firm Santiment reports whales holding over $5 million of digital assets now control more than half the combined stablecoin supply, with a $9.42 billion market cap increase in four months. USDT holders are moving assets to exchanges, suggesting impending market rallies amid bullish implications for cryptocurrencies' future performance.  

SOMESING's $11 Million Hack Incident

On January 27, decentralized music platform SOMESING experienced a $11 million hack, resulting in the withdrawal of 730 million SSX tokens. The foundation took emergency measures, involving law enforcement and cyber security partners, in an effort to track the stolen tokens and potentially identify the hacker's wallet. Exchanges were urged to suspend SSX token deposits and withdrawals.  

Top Altcoin Gainers and Losers

Gainers:

Bittensor TAO (+27.49%) 

Pendle PENDLE (+19.40%) 

Sei SEI (+11.25%) 

Losers:

Conflux CFX (-5.93%) 

Injective INJ (-5.31%) 

Internet Computer ICP (-3.64%)