Headlines
The U.S. CFTC received a record $17.1 billion in fines and investor relief, largely due to the agency’s crackdown on FTX.
The majority of fines and relief in fiscal year 2024 were related to FTX and its sister hedge fund Alameda Research, which resulted in more than $8.7 billion in restitution and $4 billion in disgorgement, the largest in CFTC history.
The regulator also ordered $2.85 billion in fines and relief against Binance and its founder CZ to resolve allegations that the company operated an illegal digital asset derivatives exchange.
In October, the agency took its first action against the voluntary carbon credit market, accusing the former chief executive of CQC Impact Investors of falsifying data to obtain carbon credits.
“This year has seen large, complex cases and settlements both in our traditional markets and in increasingly important areas like the voluntary carbon market,” CFTC Enforcement Director Ian McGinley said in a statement. “We are committed to prioritizing strong, effective, and targeted enforcement to deter future misconduct.”
Trump confirms Paul Atkins as SEC chairman
According to market news, Trump confirmed that Paul Atkins was nominated as chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
MicroStrategy raises $13.5 billion in November, netting shareholders 97,500 BTC
MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor announced on the X platform that MicroStrategy raised $13.5 billion in November and acquired 149,880 BTC at a price of approximately $90,231. The BTC yield rate was 38.7%, bringing shareholders a net income of 97,500 BTC (or 3,250 BTC per day). If calculated at a price of $96,000, it is equivalent to $9.4 billion, or $312 million per day.
Industry News
In November, cryptocurrency trading volumes climbed to an all-time high, with digital asset trading volumes on centralized spot and derivatives exchanges exceeding $10 trillion for the first time.
Total trading volume doubled last month, according to data compiled by CCData. “This sentiment is reflected in the increased interest in assets such as XRP, which has historically faced greater regulatory scrutiny,” said Jacob Joseph, senior research analyst at CCData. “There is also optimism on the institutional side, with CME volumes up sharply over the past month and significant inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs.”
Monthly spot trading volume on centralized exchanges rose 128% to $3.43 trillion, the second-highest level since May 2021. Derivatives trading volume climbed 89% to $6.99 trillion, surpassing the all-time high in March, according to CCData. The data does not include trading volume on DeFi platforms.
As traders flocked to altcoins, many South Korean spot cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Upbit, saw a surge in trading volumes. In addition, CME’s total trading volume increased 83% to $245 billion, a record high.
Eli Pars, co-chief investment officer at Calamos Advisors LLC, was one of the buyers of more than $6 billion in convertible notes MicroStrategy sold this year to fund its growing bitcoin reserves. Like many other managers, Pars used the notes for market-neutral arbitrage bets, taking advantage of wild swings in the underlying asset.
“Convertible bonds are a way for issuers to monetize equity volatility, and MicroStrategy is an extreme example,” said Pars, whose firm holds more than $130 million in MicroStrategy notes in both long and carry strategies.
Since Oct. 31 alone, MicroStrategy has purchased about $13.5 billion in Bitcoin and issued $3 billion in zero-interest convertible notes, its fifth bond offering this year.
CryptoQuant: BTC retail investor 30-day demand reaches highest level since 2020
CryptoQuant analysts say demand from retail Bitcoin investors is surging, with 30-day demand for BTC from retail investors reaching its highest level since 2020.
Analysts said the surge in retail interest could partly explain continued strong demand, even as long-term holders begin to take profits. Historically, increased retail participation has often signaled a potential local top. However, this also highlights that increased market participation, when combined with institutional interest, can create sustained positive momentum.
Meitu sells about 31,000 Ethereum and 940 Bitcoin
Meitu sold about 31,000 Ethereum and 940 Bitcoin, raising a total of about $180 million, of which about 80% will be used to pay special dividends.
US listed company KULR announces its Bitcoin financial strategy
KULR Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE American: KULR), a US-listed company, announced yesterday that its board of directors has agreed to use Bitcoin as the primary asset for its financial plan. KULR currently has more than $12 million in cash on its balance sheet and any future cash surplus, so KULR has pledged to allocate 90% of its surplus cash to BTC. KULRs purchase of Bitcoin will be guided by market dynamics and expected cash flow needs. The company said it remains adaptable and can adjust its approach based on changing circumstances and strategic considerations. According to reports, KULR is an energy management platform that provides cutting-edge energy storage solutions for space, aerospace and defense.
Project News
Ripple: In sync with NYDFS on final approval of RLUSD, original launch date postponed
Ripple officially stated: Despite some speculation, RLUSD was not launched as scheduled today. We are keeping pace with NYDFS on final approval and will share the latest news as soon as possible. We are fully committed to conducting business under the supervision of NYDFS and adhering to the highest regulatory standards. Stay tuned for updates.
SlowMist Cosine: DEXX attackers are collecting funds and transferring them to Ethereum via Wormhole
SlowMist Yuxian published a post on X to confirm that the DEXX attackers are collecting the scattered stolen funds on Solana and splitting them out from the collection address. Some of them have begun to use Wormhole cross-chain services to transfer assets to the Ethereum address starting with 0x ffe 224 e.
Circle announces it is the first stablecoin issuer to meet Canada’s new listing rules
Circle announced that its regulated subsidiary has become the first stablecoin issuer to commit to comply with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) Value Reference Crypto Assets (VRCAs) requirements. This helps Circles US dollar-denominated stablecoin USDC be available on registered crypto asset trading platforms in the Canadian market. Registered crypto asset trading platforms operating in Canada and complying with VRCA requirements can continue to offer USDC after the CSAs deadline for delisting non-compliant stablecoins on December 31, 2024.
The decentralized AI underlying protocol KIP Protocol announced that it will conduct the KIP token TGE on December 10 to further promote the development of DeAI.
Its whitelist node sales (node.kip.pro) are in full swing and will end at 12:00 noon (UTC+ 8) on December 7. It is reported that all KIP node buyers (including early whitelist supporters) will receive KIP airdrop rewards and can be operated within 7 days after TGE.
pump.fun deposited another 100,000 SOL to Kraken, worth $23.68 million
According to Onchain Lens, pump.fun deposited another 100,000 SOL worth $23.68 million into Kraken yesterday. They deposited a total of 1,098,869 SOL worth $260 million into Kraken. Pump.Fun earned a total of 1,598,832 SOL worth $379 million.
Investment and Financing
Interlace, a global card issuance and digital asset management platform headquartered in Singapore, announced the completion of a US$10 million Series B1 financing round led by Bitrock Capital, with participation from early employees and senior executives from companies such as Klarna and Robinhood. The new funds will be used to expand the leadership team to accelerate global growth.
Decentralized technology company Binary Holdings completes $5 million strategic financing
Decentralized technology company Binary Holdings announced that it has received a strategic investment of US$5 million from ABO Digital. According to reports, decentralized technology company Binary Holdings is headquartered in Dubai, UAE, with a global user base of 169 million, and is committed to creating an open, interoperable network for digital commerce. The company plans to launch digital bank Millenia in the second quarter of 2025.
Bitcoin ecological protocol BLIFE Protocol announced the completion of US$7 million in financing. Investors include UTXO Management, Bitcoin Frontier Fund, NewTribe Capital, Cypher Capital Group, Digital Consensus Fund, PG, OIG Capital, Animoca Brands, LondonReal Ventures, Citizen Capital, B2C 2, Aspen Digital, GSR Ventures, Delta Blockchain Fund, and G20 Group.
According to reports, BLIFE is a decentralized ecological protocol based on the Bitcoin chain, designed to integrate Web3 applications and cultural experiences. It provides BLIFE.ID, a digital identity system that connects Bitcoin wallets and protects exclusive .BLIFE domain names, allowing access to decentralized applications, social networks and markets. The ecosystem is powered by BLIFE tokens, facilitating transactions and interactions between various digital platforms.
Crypto wallet Safnect Wallet receives strategic investment from UniSat
Crypto wallet Safnect Wallet announced that it has successfully completed its seed round of financing and received strategic investment from Bitcoin ecosystem UniSat.
According to official news, the decentralized AI agent project Scrypted announced the completion of a $1.5 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by Palm Tree Crew Crypto and participated by a16z crypto CSX. The new funds will be used to promote its potential in games, social platforms and finance, and build tools to support decentralized vertical industries of autonomous AI agents.
At the heart of Scrypted is the Inori Network, which aims to enable AI agents to become fully autonomous virtual beings (AVBs). Thanks to funding from the AWS Startup Program, Inori has begun developing a centralized service and resource coordination layer for AI agents, built on Amazon Web Services.
ZK-driven interoperability protocol Union announced the completion of a $12 million Series A financing round on X, led by Gumi Cryptos Capital and Longhash Ventures, with participation from Borderless Capital, Blockchange, ATOM Accelerator, Eterna Capital, Veris Ventures, LBank Labs, Gate Ventures, TRGC, etc. Its total financing has reached $16 million.
The new funds will be used for core team expansion, partner integration and ecosystem development. According to reports, Union is a cross-chain protocol designed for messaging, intent and chain abstraction, and a settlement layer for all execution environments. Union supports EVM, SVM, BitVM, MoveVM and altVM, and is an interoperability solution that can be extended to thousands of chains.
Crypto AI startup GAIB completes $5 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by Hack VC and others
GAIB, a crypto AI startup focusing on tokenized GPUs, has completed a $5 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by Hack VC, Faction VC and Hashed, with participation from Spartan, Animoca Brands, MH Ventures, Aethir, Near Foundation, Chris Yin of Plume Network and Lucas Kozinski of Renzo Protocol.
El Salvador platform NextBridge raises $30 million by issuing tokenized U.S. Treasuries
El Salvador-based platform NextBridge has completed a $30 million token sale backed by U.S. Treasuries. The offering was completed in November, with the first subscription of USTBL tokens being made through Bitfinex Securities, a sister company of stablecoin issuer Tether. According to NextBridge, each token will correspond to a proportional share of assets under management, with a target total issuance of $200 million worth of U.S. Treasuries.
The USTBL token is built on the Bitcoin blockchain and runs on the Layer 2 protocol Liquid Network. According to NexBridge founder Michele Crivelli, the token can be traded on the secondary market, but it cannot be redeemed until March 2025. The USTBL token is governed by the securities laws of El Salvador and is regulated by the countrys digital asset agency, the National Digital Asset Commission.
According to official news, Nasdaq-listed Bitcoin mining company Hut 8 announced the launch of a $500 million ATM (at-the-market) plan and a $250 million stock repurchase plan. The company intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of common stock under the ATM plan for growth plans, including the acquisition or development of power and digital infrastructure assets such as data centers, and the purchase of Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset. Net proceeds may also be allocated to other capital expenditures and investments, working capital, repurchase of issued securities, debt repayment, and other general corporate purposes.
TRON’s single-day total protocol revenue reached $21.66 million, a record high
TRONSCAN data shows that on December 3, the total daily protocol revenue of the TRON network reached 21.66 million US dollars, a record high. It is reported that the total revenue of the TRON protocol consists of four parts: burning energy revenue, burning bandwidth revenue, staking energy revenue, and staking bandwidth revenue.
In addition, TRONs total protocol revenue in the third quarter exceeded $577 million, a month-on-month increase of 44.8%. TRON founder Justin Sun previously stated that according to the current growth trend, it will not be a problem to achieve the $2 billion protocol revenue target this year, and will strive for a higher target of $3 billion and continue to top the global blockchain protocol revenue list.
Regulatory trends
Powell: Bitcoins competitor is gold, not the dollar
Federal Reserve Chairman Powell said that Bitcoins competitor is gold, not the US dollar.
The Republican Party finally won 220 seats in the House of Representatives, gaining a majority
John Duarte, a Republican congressman from Californias 13th district, conceded defeat in the election for the last seat in the House of Representatives. The US House of Representatives election is now complete, with the Republicans finally winning 220 seats in the House of Representatives and the Democrats winning 215 seats.
Putin: No one can ban Bitcoin, everyone is working to reduce costs and increase reliability
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the Russia Calling investment forum, Who can ban Bitcoin? No one. Who can ban the use of other electronic payment methods? No one. Because these are new technologies. Whatever the future of the dollar, these tools will develop in one way or another, because everyone is working to reduce costs and increase reliability.
Character Voice
FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terrett wrote on X: CFTC Commissioner Caroline D. Pham, one of the candidates for the new chairman, pointed out that suspending Biden-era enforcement actions is an issue on the table under the new leadership.
Pham recently said that the outlook for next year is positive because under new leadership in Washington, the CFTC chairman can use this power to set the agenda, determine new rules, and suspend enforcement actions.
Matthew Sigel, head of digital asset research at VanEck, said in a post on X that when asked “what causes you to increase your Bitcoin allocation”:
49% of respondents are waiting for prices to fall before buying at the bottom;
46% of respondents would like to see unknown “regulatory developments;
24% of respondents would like to see a U.S. strategic Bitcoin reserve;
9% of respondents cannot imagine purchasing. (Note: Respondents can select multiple options)
Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan responded: If you are waiting for the dip, write down the exact amount you will buy Bitcoin for, and stick to it. Over the past six years, Ive seen a lot of people say they will buy when the price drops to a certain level, and then when the price drops, they get out. Your best bet is to buy now, but if you insist that the price is going down - and you are lucky enough to encounter a dip - dont get out.
Coinbase CEO: I agree that Paul Atkins is an excellent candidate for the new SEC chairman
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong agreed with U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and believed that Paul Atkins is an excellent candidate for the new SEC chairman.
Earlier today, Hester Peirce, the crypto mom and Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), posted on the X platform: At the SEC, we still have a lot of work to do to advance free markets, capital formation, investor choice, and innovation. I am very pleased that Paul Atkins will be back to lead this work. I worked with him during his last tenure at the agency, and I cant think of anyone better suited for this job than him.
Michael Saylor: Bitcoin will rise to $180,000 and then fall to $140,000
After MicroStrategy purchased another 15,400 BTC, its founder Michael Saylor talked about the volatility of Bitcoin in an interview with CNBC. He said jokingly: Bitcoin will rise to $180,000, then fall to $140,000, and then people will panic again.
