Headlines
XRP's market cap surpasses TotalEnergies, ranking 144th among global assets
According to Infinite Market Cap data, XRP's market cap has surpassed TotalEnergies, rising 39 places in the global asset rankings to currently rank 144th. The data shows that XRP's market cap is currently $131.46 billion, with a 24-hour increase of 19.12% and a weekly increase of 62.37%; TotalEnergies has a market cap of $131.29 billion.
Ripple re-locks 1 billion XRP in custody wallet early this morning
According to WhaleAlert monitoring, at 2:21 AM today, Ripple re-locked 1 billion XRP in a custody wallet, valued at approximately $1.546 billion.
Previously, Ripple stated that it uses a custody account system to provide transparency and certainty to the XRP market. The company locks up most of its XRP holdings to ensure it does not flood the market and manipulate prices. However, the company also uses XRP in the custody account to invest in and support projects within the Ripple ecosystem. Releasing 1 billion XRP tokens from the custody account each month does not mean all will enter the market. Ripple may choose to sell some to institutions or retail investors, use some for its own purposes, or return some to new trusts.
Industry News
MARA Pool produced 820 BTC in November, a new high since January
Leading Bitcoin mining company MARA's MARA Pool mined 820 BTC in November, marking a new high since January.
Network data shows that MARA Pool mined 254 Bitcoin blocks in November (UTC time), earning 793.7 BTC from block subsidies and 26.7 BTC from transaction fees. This is the highest monthly output for MARA Pool since January, partly due to less operational uptime earlier this year.
The average Bitcoin network hash rate in November was 731 EH/s, while the block production from MARA Pool indicates an actual hash rate of 42.7 EH/s. This suggests that the company installed additional mining machines in November, as it reported an operational capacity of 40.2 EH/s at the end of October.
Ethereum price rebound drives NFT market recovery, November NFT sales exceed $562 million
With the rebound in Ethereum prices, November NFT sales exceeded $562 million, a significant increase of 57.8% compared to October's $356 million, with Ethereum network sales exceeding $216 million, up 12% from October. However, the monthly trading volume of NFTs is still far from the peak in 2024. In March of this year, NFT sales reached a yearly high of $1.6 billion. However, it has remained sluggish and hit a low of $303 million in September, the lowest since 2021.
CryptoSlam data also shows that CryptoPunks led the NFT market in November, with 30-day sales exceeding $49 million, a month-on-month increase of 392%. It recorded 388 sales transactions, an increase of 213 from October. Besides CryptoPunks, the Pudgy Penguins series also had an impressive November, with monthly sales soaring 262%, totaling $16 million.
Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake stated that four years ago today, the Ethereum Beacon Chain was born, with only 500,000 ETH staked in the initial phase. Although it did not bring direct benefits to users at first, it has gradually grown to become one of the most powerful foundations in blockchain history.
Looking ahead, Drake believes Ethereum has the opportunity to become the settlement layer of the value internet. Although the Beacon Chain is still not perfect, the upgrade path in the coming years will remain challenging, including improvements in censorship mechanisms and MEV handling, reducing staking deposits, increasing finality speed, smart issuance, achieving smart watch-level full-chain verification, and post-quantum security. Additionally, outside the consensus layer, there is hope to achieve full sharding at the data layer and native Rollup at the execution layer.
Drake mentioned that many L1 improvements will be gradually released in the coming years, and improvements like post-quantum security may require a complete redesign. L2 solutions will provide significant performance improvements in a few months, including fast user experiences, low fees, unlimited throughput, and synchronous composability.
BlackRock's IBIT holdings exceed $48 billion
Official data from BlackRock shows that as of November 27, the market value of IBIT holdings reached $48,035,615,461.69, with a holding of 495,443.6524 BTC.
US Bitcoin spot ETF on-chain total holdings exceed 1.12 million BTC, valued at $108.9 billion
Dune data shows that as of December 1, the total on-chain holdings of US Bitcoin spot ETFs surpassed 1.12 million BTC (approximately 1.128 million BTC), accounting for 5.7% of the current BTC supply; the on-chain holdings are valued at $108.9 billion.
According to statistics from Pionex, in November 2024, there were over 30 hacking incidents in the cryptocurrency space, resulting in losses of approximately $85.53 million, of which about $25.2 million was recovered.
The top 5 hacking incidents are as follows:
- Thala: $25.5 million (recovered $25.2 million + $300,000 bug bounty);
- DEXX: $21 million;
- Gifto: $12 million;
- PolterFinance: $8.7 million;
- DeltaPrime: $4.75 million.
Former CFTC Chairman: SEC may drop the lawsuit against Ripple
Former CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo discussed the high-profile lawsuit by the US SEC against Ripple regarding XRP in an interview this week.
The SEC accuses Ripple of issuing XRP in violation of securities laws, with a federal court ruling that some of the issuance meets the criteria for securities while others do not. Giancarlo believes the SEC should reconsider its approach, especially in light of recent legal outcomes and the potentially changing regulatory environment.
When asked if the SEC would drop the lawsuit against Ripple, Giancarlo said, "I think they should… I bet they will."
Project News
Nansen CEO: Currently ranked 9th in STRK staking validators
Nansen CEO Alex Svanevik stated that Nansen is currently ranked 9th among STRK staking validators. According to relevant data, the current total staking amount of STRK has reached 76,123,003.743, accounting for 3.37% of the total circulating supply, with Nansen's staking amount reaching 804,994.064 STRK, accounting for 1.05% among all staking validators.
Public company Hyperscale Data: Bitcoin mining output of 640 BTC so far this year
NYSE-listed company Hyperscale Data announced that as of November 26, 2024, the company's Bitcoin mining operations have produced a total of 640 BTC, of which approximately 380 BTC were mined at its facility in Michigan, and the remaining approximately 260 BTC came from previously hosted mining machines by Core Scientific, Inc.
Additionally, the company revealed it is currently attempting to transition into a pure AI data center.
ENS domain registrations in November increased by 8,664, hitting a new low since April 2021
Dune data shows that in November, the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) saw an increase of 8,664 new domain registrations, marking a new low since April 2021.
Furthermore, the total number of active domains currently stands at 1,811,983, with the number of unique ENS participating user addresses reaching 875,047, and the number of name sets reaching 899,849.
Base protocol head praises Hyperliquid and reiterates no token issuance plan for Base
Base protocol head Jesse Pollak stated, "Hyperliquid shows that it's a good thing to build a product that people love before injecting price complexity.
We see the same thing on Base—starting without a token allows us to focus on solving real problems, which means we have to genuinely work for it every day."
It should be clear that Hyperliquid is not the only data point in this regard. In fact, the entire history of startups has shown this. Undoubtedly, the most important thing is to build a world-class product that people love. That's it.
To reiterate: We have no plans to launch a Base network token. We are focused on building. We want to solve real problems and help people build better. I hope to get your feedback on where we can improve.
Buffalu, founder of the crypto infrastructure company Jito, stated: "The Jito Labs Block Engine team has been advancing development work, focusing on reliability and performance:
- Reducing trust in centralized databases;
- Better and faster network retries;
- Improved load balancer performance;
- Enhanced auction logic leading to lower latency and more transactions.
Investment and Financing
Amber Group subsidiary Amber DWM reaches final merger agreement with Nasdaq-listed iClick
Nasdaq-listed iClick Interactive Asia Group Limited announced that it has signed a final agreement and merger plan with Overlord Merger Sub Ltd. (Merger Sub). Merger Sub is a Cayman Islands exempt company and a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of iClick and Amber DWM Holding Limited (Amber DWM).
Amber DWM is a digital wealth management subsidiary of Amber Group, branded as "Amber Premium," serving institutions and high-net-worth clients.
According to the merger agreement, Merger Sub will merge with Amber DWM, which will continue as the surviving entity and become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company. Amber DWM's shareholders will exchange all issued and outstanding equity of Amber DWM for newly issued Class A and Class B common stock of the company, and the transaction is not subject to the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933.
Synthetic stablecoin issuance protocol usdx.money announced last Friday that it has successfully completed its latest round of financing, bringing the project's valuation to $275 million. The financing amount is approximately $45 million, with major investors including NGC, BAI Capital, Generative Ventures, UOB Venture Management, among others, some of whom invested through warrants. Existing supporters of the project include Dragonfly Capital and Jeneration Capital.
usdx.money aims to build next-generation stablecoin infrastructure, with USDX as its first stablecoin product. Following the completion of financing, usdx.money will further accelerate its ecological layout, promoting the application of stablecoins USDX and sUSDX in various fields.
Regulatory Trends
Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) recently presented some ideas regarding cryptocurrencies and stablecoins to the Financial System Council's Payment Services Working Group, mentioning its reluctance to allow banks other than trust banks to issue stablecoins. For stablecoins issued by trust banks, the FSA hopes to relax the current requirement that all assets must be held in the form of bank demand deposits. However, the FSA also wishes to implement travel rules requiring KYC for transfers of stablecoins issued by trust banks.
Japan passed stablecoin legislation in 2022, allowing banks, licensed remittance companies, and trust companies to issue stablecoins. As part of its working group presentation, the FSA distinguished between stablecoins issued on permissioned blockchains and those on public blockchains. It expressed satisfaction with the existence of these three types of stablecoins on permissioned chains but took a cautious stance on allowing licensed deposit institutions to issue stablecoins on non-permissioned chains.
FSA proposes lightweight legislation for non-exchange crypto intermediaries
Japan is considering new lightweight legislation for cryptocurrency intermediaries that are not cryptocurrency exchanges. Recently, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) presented its ideas to the Financial System Council's Payment Services Working Group.
In 2017, Japan introduced legislation for Crypto Asset Exchange Service Providers (CAESP), covering the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies, acting as brokers, managing funds related to these services, or providing custody. However, many so-called introducers who do not operate cryptocurrency exchanges do not consider themselves CAESP.
Therefore, the FSA is considering a proposal to require them to register as intermediaries. Introducers would be obligated to provide information to users, would face advertising restrictions, and could be liable for damages if issues arise.
The FSA is also considering how to handle damages. Current regulations for other financial service intermediaries not belonging to larger groups require them to provide collateral to cover potential damages. If the intermediary is affiliated with a cryptocurrency exchange, the exchange may bear the damages.
The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade has requested to extend the timeline for launching the digital ruble by two years, similar to the timeline provided for small retailers. In October, the Central Bank of Russia announced the timeline for the digital ruble's launch as part of a bill submitted to the State Duma. The large-scale launch date is set for July 1, 2025. By that time, the largest banks and retailers must support the central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The July 1 deadline applies to retailers with a turnover exceeding 30 million rubles ($274,000). Retailers with revenues between 20 million and 30 million rubles can receive an additional year, while small companies can receive an additional two years.
The ministry pointed out that there are still no rules for the operation and functioning of the digital ruble, so retailers do not have enough time to prepare and adjust their point-of-sale software.
Trade organizations agree with this view. The Retail Companies Association (ACORT) stated in a letter: "We believe it is necessary to avoid setting specific deadlines for the legislative launch of the system at the trade level and to establish at least a two-year transition period during which companies will carry out the necessary work."
Arthur Hayes: South Korea postpones virtual asset taxation for two years, bull market can continue
Arthur Hayes cited South Korean media reports stating: "The bull market can continue, as South Korea's capital gains tax is postponed for another two years."
Reports indicate that Park Chan-dae, a representative of the Democratic Party in South Korea, announced today, "We have decided to agree to postpone virtual asset taxation for two years." During a press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Park stated, "After in-depth discussions on the issue of postponing virtual asset taxation, I believe it is time for further reform of virtual asset taxes." Regarding the budget-related bills designated by National Assembly Speaker Yoo Won-sik, Park stated, "There are 13 bills proposed by the government, of which 8 bills that have no issues between the ruling and opposition parties will be passed. He added, "The plenary session tomorrow will handle this, and five bills will be passed. We will further discuss and decide on the handling direction today." He emphasized, "Some bills need to be rejected, and I plan to reject the inheritance tax and gift tax bills."
Voices
Solana co-founder: We need a national XRP reserve
Solana co-founder Toly posted on X: "We need a national XRP reserve."
Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley stated: "It is time to cultivate an abundance mindset in the cryptocurrency space. The bear market breeds zero-sum thinking, where one party profits by taking shares from others as the pie shrinks. However, as of November this year, the total market cap of cryptocurrencies has surpassed the previous high of $3 trillion in November 2021.
The market is entering a period where the pie is getting bigger, and now is the time to shift our mindset. The winning mentality in this phase is to encourage maximizing the pie, increasing participation, treating on-site participants well, and supporting teams to maximize their potential and strengths. If all this happens, you will do well. I am excited about the restoration of growth and abundance."
Cathie Wood, founder and CEO of Ark Investment Management LLC, stated that she welcomes the era of regulatory relaxation after Trump takes office, especially regarding technology, cryptocurrencies, and digital assets.
"The U.S. has almost lost its foothold in the cryptocurrency space," Wood said, citing "overregulation" and the concerns of outgoing SEC Chairman Gary Gensler about the industry.
Wood mentioned in a program last Sunday that crypto and AI are among the technology platforms that the U.S. must "seize and harness" to "lead the way, just as we did in the internet space. A change in the regulatory framework, focusing on crypto and AI, would be very significant."
Michael Saylor: It's a good suggestion for the younger generation to invest their savings in Bitcoin
Bitcoin supporter and Stanford University math PhD Fred Krueger stated: "The advice for the younger generation is to focus all their energy on artificial intelligence and invest their savings in Bitcoin." In response, MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor said, "That's a good suggestion."
CZ shares management insights: small decisions, big meetings; big decisions, small meetings
CZ posted on the X platform: "Small decisions, big meetings; big decisions, small meetings."
US Senator Lummis: It is very important to protect Bitcoin and those holding BTC in personal wallets
US Senator Cynthia Lummis stated: "It is very important to protect Bitcoin and those holding BTC in personal wallets… We do not want to see this asset controlled by the government, as it is a great virtue."
Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss posted on X: "The SEC's war on cryptocurrency is evil, but at least it is largely public. In contrast, the coordinated efforts of the Fed, OCC, and FDIC to eliminate cryptocurrency banking are evil acts conducted covertly under the cover of the Patriot Act and other federal privileges. So you can expect their actions to be ten times worse than the SEC. It is time to lift the veil on allowing federal banking regulators to do this and persecute their political enemies."
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