1. Citigroup predicts that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 25 basis points at each meeting before July next year, due to a loose labor market and global weakness.
2. The U.S. Department of Justice has filed its first criminal charges against cryptocurrency tax evaders, with a Texas man sentenced to two years in prison for concealing Bitcoin gains.
The U.S. Department of Justice stated that a man from Austin, Texas, was sentenced to two years in prison for falsely reporting capital gains from the sale of $3.7 million in Bitcoin on his tax return. According to court documents and statements, Frank Richard Ahlgren III submitted false tax returns between 2017 and 2019, underreporting or failing to report $4 million in Bitcoin sales transactions from which he made substantial profits. Regulatory sections require all taxpayers to report any sales gains as well as gains or losses from the sale of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin on their tax returns. Lucy Tan, acting special agent in charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Houston office, stated, "This case marks the first criminal tax evasion prosecution solely focused on cryptocurrency." In addition to imprisonment, the man must also pay $1,095,031 in restitution to the U.S. -Original
3. Trump announces meetings with Amazon founder Bezos and Google CEO, which may impact the tech and crypto industries.
According to market news, Trump announced that he will meet with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and the CEO of Google next week. -Original
4. Sheila Warren, CEO of the Crypto Innovation Council, will step down in January, with Chief Legal and Policy Officer Ji Hun Kim taking over.
Sheila Warren has led the CCI for the past three years. The CCI board has appointed the current Chief Legal and Policy Officer Ji Hun Kim as the interim CEO. -Original
5. The rise of DeFi in the crypto market, while CeFi stagnates, becomes the current focus in the lending sector.
At The Block's Emergence conference, CEOs from Abra and Arch, active in the crypto lending space, shared insights on the current situation. This column is adapted from The Scoop newsletter. -Original
6. Riot Platforms announces the acquisition of 5,117 BTC, showing continued confidence in Bitcoin.
According to market news, Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms announced the acquisition of 5,117 BTC. -Original
7. Tether-affiliated Cantor Fitzgerald reaches a $6.75 million settlement with the SEC over misleading statements prior to its IPO.
Broker Cantor Fitzgerald, affiliated with Tether, has reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), paying a $6.75 million fine. The SEC accused its two special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) of making misleading statements to investors prior to their IPO, raising $750 million. Cantor Fitzgerald did not admit or deny the allegations. Additionally, the connection between Cantor Fitzgerald and Tether has raised concerns. It holds a 5% stake in Tether, valued at up to $600 million, and manages most of Tether's $134 billion in assets, earning tens of millions in fees. CEO Howard Lutnick will lead the Trump administration's Department of Commerce and has served as co-chair of Trump's transition team. -Original
8. Bybit adjusts its operations in the European Economic Area in response to regulatory changes, actively seeking a crypto asset regulatory market license in Austria.
Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit announced that in response to changing regulations, it has made a difficult but necessary decision to temporarily adjust the availability of its products and services within the European Economic Area (EEA) and is actively seeking a license under Austria's crypto asset regulatory market (MiCAR), which is a cornerstone of its compliance-first approach. -Original
9. VanEck predicts that crypto ETFs will be approved in 2025, including staking for SOL and Ethereum ETFs.
VanEck made three predictions regarding crypto ETFs for 2025 on its social platform: 1) Multiple new spot cryptocurrency ETFs will be approved (including ETFs for Solana); 2) Spot Ethereum ETFs will include staking; 3) Both spot BTC and ETH ETFs will allow for physical creation/redemption. -Original
10. Michael Novogratz's Galaxy Digital appoints former Point72 executive as CFO, indicating continued focus on the crypto finance sector.
Michael Novogratz's Galaxy Digital (GLXY) has hired former Point72 CFO Anthony Paquette for the same position at the crypto financial services company. The company stated in a release on Friday that he will succeed Alex Ioffe, who will transition to a senior advisor role. Paquette previously served as CFO at Steve Cohen's hedge fund Point72 for four years, leading the company's global finance, financial, and broker relations. Prior to that, he worked at SoFi, JPMorgan, and Bank of America. Paquette stated in a press release, "I am excited to join Galaxy, a company known for its world-class operations and investments in digital assets, digital infrastructure, and other emerging technology sectors." "I look forward to expanding Galaxy's top-tier finance team and further solidifying the company's position as an industry leader." Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz thanked Ioffe for building a strong finance team and preparing the company for its public listing in the U.S. The Toronto-listed company has been trying to go public in the U.S. through a listing on Nasdaq. However, the company is still waiting for approval from the SEC to move its headquarters from the Cayman Islands to Delaware, for which it submitted an application in February 2023. -Original
11. Cryptocurrency miners adopt Bitcoin accumulation strategies similar to MicroStrategy due to increasing profit pressures.
JPMorgan (JPM) stated in a report on Wednesday that Michael Saylor's software company MicroStrategy (MSTR) is not the only company making large-scale Bitcoin (BTC) purchases. Cryptocurrency miners are also adopting accumulation strategies. The report noted that the shift towards accumulating Bitcoin is due to increasing profit pressures stemming from the April halving and rising network hash rates. Hash rate represents the total computational power used for mining and processing transactions on proof-of-work blockchains, reflecting industry competition and mining difficulty. Analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote, "This may prompt miners to accumulate Bitcoin or seek further investments in Bitcoin or venture into AI/HPC businesses." JPMorgan stated that to address these challenges, miners like MARA Holdings (MARA) are adopting Bitcoin purchasing strategies similar to MicroStrategy, referred to as BTC yield. MARA currently holds 35,000 tokens (worth $3.5 billion), making it the second-largest publicly traded company by Bitcoin holdings. Miners are not alone. Medical device manufacturer Semler Scientific has also been actively purchasing the world's largest cryptocurrency, currently holding $144 million worth of crypto. The bank noted that the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) launched in the U.S. in January provides institutional investors with a more direct way to gain Bitcoin exposure. As a result, miner stocks, seen as alternatives to Bitcoin, have underperformed. The bank pointed out that in addition to buying more Bitcoin, miners are increasingly financing their operations through debt and equity issuance rather than selling their crypto reserves to cover operating costs. The report added that miners have raised over $10 billion in equity so far this year, surpassing the previous high of $9.5 billion in 2021. JPMorgan upgraded the ratings of Bitcoin miners Cipher, CleanSpark, and MARA. -Original
12. The new chair of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee plans to focus on crypto market structure and bank regulation.
The new chair of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, Hill, stated that he will focus on alleviating bank regulation, promoting capital formation to encourage more companies to go public, and addressing issues related to crypto market structure. -Original
13. Trump's team plans significant adjustments to the U.S. banking regulatory system, including the consolidation or elimination of existing agencies.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump's team is seeking to make significant adjustments to the U.S. banking regulatory system, including the consolidation or elimination of existing banking regulatory agencies. -Original
14. The upcoming interest rate decision by the Federal Reserve has sparked market uncertainty, with analysts stating that the outcome is less clear than market pricing suggests.
LBBW analyst Elmar Voelker stated in a report that the interest rate decision at the Federal Reserve's meeting next week is not as clear-cut as the forward rates suggest. "In our view, the recently released U.S. macroeconomic data does not provide a clear template for the upcoming rate decision," said the senior fixed-income analyst. Voelker noted that from the perspective of bond market participants, "a rate cut in December with a pause in January" is not much different from "a pause in December with a rate cut in January." LSEG data shows that the money market assigns a 94% probability to a 25 basis point rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week, while the probability of maintaining the current rate is 6%. -Original
15. Eleanor Terrett reveals that the chair position of the House Digital Assets Subcommittee is vacant, with several candidates emerging.
Forbes reporter Eleanor Terrett tweeted that with French Hill becoming the chair of the House Financial Services Committee, he will vacate the chair position of the Digital Assets, Fintech, and Inclusion Subcommittee. Currently, potential candidates for the position include the current subcommittee vice chair Warren Davidson, as well as Representatives Frank Lucas and Mike Flood. -Original
16. Japanese lawmakers inquire about global Bitcoin reserve dynamics, indicating international interest in cryptocurrency reserves.
According to Bitcoin Magazine, Japanese lawmaker Satoshi Hamada submitted an inquiry to the government on December 11, 2024, requesting updates on the progress of Bitcoin reserve dynamics being promoted by the U.S. and other countries. -Original
The above is a selection of hot topics from the past 24 hours. For faster news, please download AICoin (aicoin.com).
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