Today's news tips:
1. Trump-backed Mike Johnson is re-elected as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
2. MicroStrategy plans to issue up to $2 billion in preferred shares to increase its holdings of Bitcoin
3. In 2024, various projects distributed tokens worth $14.91 billion to crypto users through airdrop activities
4. Tether and Circle have a total on-chain revenue of $664 million in December 2024, dominating the stablecoin market
5. Coinbase CEO sold $636 million of COIN stock last year, and Michael Saylor sold $410.8 million of MicroStrategy stock
6. Solv Lianchuang issued a statement denying the allegations of Solv asset security issues
7. Ethena releases 2025 roadmap: "iUSDe" will be launched in February to enter the TradFi field
8.Shiba Inu will launch its ecosystem token TREAT in January 2025
9. 15 wallets suspected of being insiders traded Focai and made a total profit of more than $20 million
Regulatory/Macro
The U.S. FDIC does not encourage member banks to use public blockchains such as Ethereum
US banks have attempted to offer services based on public blockchain networks to their customers, but appear to have been dissuaded by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, according to unredacted documents obtained by Coinbase. The disclosure stems from a large collection of unredacted crypto-related communications between the FDIC and member banks. San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase obtained the documents via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Last month, Coinbase obtained heavily redacted versions of 23 such letters. The contents of those letters (along with two new ones) were revealed today in (almost) their entirety, thanks to a court order.
One of the letters, sent from the FDIC’s New York office to a member bank in March 2022, details how the federal agency learned of the bank’s plans to launch a “bank digital deposit” program that would run on a public blockchain. The name of the public blockchain remains undisclosed. In the letter, the FDIC appeared to express displeasure with the bank’s choice to use a public blockchain instead of a private permissioned network. Blockchains like Ethereum and Solana are decentralized and permissionless, meaning activity on them is completely public and cannot be overwritten by third-party human administrators. In contrast, private blockchain networks, like those used by nation-states to issue central bank digital currencies, place restrictions on who can use them and for what purposes.
The FDIC is clearly not in favor of member banks launching products on a universal, fully transparent network. In a March 2022 letter, the regulator instructed New York banks to undergo a new detailed review process before launching any products on a public blockchain. Other letters disclosed show that the FDIC ordered member banks to stop implementing services related to the buying and selling of Bitcoin. Part of the same letter that was not redacted last month shows that the FDIC instructed member banks to "suspend all activities related to crypto assets."
Trump-backed Mike Johnson re-elected as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Mike Johnson, a Republican congressman publicly supported by Trump, was re-elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives by a narrow margin. Mike Johnson previously voted in favor of the Financial Innovation and Technology Act of the 21st Century (commonly known as FIT21) and the Anti-Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Act. Mike Johnson's reelection (and the reelection of members such as Tom Emmer) means that cryptocurrency-friendly members of Congress are likely to promote cryptocurrency legislation in 2025.
Project News
DeSci Protocol BIO Protocol announced on the X platform that the transfer function of BIO tokens has been enabled. The Ethereum mainnet contract address is 0xcb1592591996765Ec0eFc1f92599A19767ee5ffA. It is currently only available on the Ethereum mainnet. Any token on other blockchains is a scam. More blockchains will be launched in the coming days and weeks.
Binance Alpha adds FLOCK, ELIZA, and METAV
Binance Alpha announced a new list of projects, including: FLOCK, ELIZA, and METAV.
Koma: 5% of the total KOMA supply will be destroyed within 24 hours
Koma, the dog-themed meme project on BNB Chain, announced on the X platform that it will destroy 5% of the total supply of KOMA within 24 hours, worth $5.9 million.
Coinbase has acquired BUX's Cyprus subsidiary and is suspected of entering the CFD field
Coinbase, a US-listed crypto exchange, has acquired the Cyprus subsidiary of BUX (formerly Stryk) and renamed the entity Coinbase Financial Services Europe. BUX CEO Yorick Naeff also confirmed the deal, saying: “We are pleased to sell our MiFID-authorized entity BUX Europe Limited (BEU) to Coinbase.”
With this acquisition, Coinbase now has a Cyprus Investment Firm (CIF) license, which authorizes it to offer contracts for difference (CFD) products. In addition, Coinbase can use this Cyprus license to offer financial products to other European Economic Area (EEA) member countries. The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) registrar confirmed that the domain name "coinbase.com/international-exchange/europe" has been approved by the regulator but has not yet been put into use. Although Coinbase has not officially confirmed it, Coinbase seems to be targeting professional and institutional clients with the services it provides under the Cyprus license.
The transaction is suspected to have been completed in October last year, as registration records with the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) show that the entity’s name was changed from Bux Europe Ltd to Coinbase Financial Services Europe Ltd on October 11, 2024.
Ethena releases 2025 roadmap: "iUSDe" will be launched in February to enter the TradFi field
DeFi protocol Ethena released its 2025 roadmap "Convergence", and Ethena's next growth will be driven mainly by exporting products to traditional finance. Ethena will launch a new product "iUSDe" next month, which aims to be able to export sUSDe to the TradFi field in a regulated form. The same as sUSDe, but with the addition of a simple wrapper contract, some transfer restrictions are added at the token level so that traditional financial entities can hold and use it. This will include working with partners to provide independent SPVs managed by regulated investment managers who allow subscriptions to shares of the instrument, allowing traditional finance to efficiently enter the product without having to touch the cryptocurrency track. Ethena will announce iUSDe's initial TradFi distribution partners this month.
In addition, Ethena plans to address payment and savings tool use cases by building dedicated applications in the Telegram and TON ecosystems, that is, to release a dedicated use case for sUSDe in the Telegram application, where users can send, spend and save in a mobile new bank-like experience. Payments will be directly connected to Apple Pay, and users can convert between savings assets in sUSDe and direct mobile payments on their phones.
In addition to these core products, Ethena will continue to transform from a single asset issuer to a platform for the best builders to leverage and realize on-chain financial innovation. Two applications have been announced: spot exchange Ethereal and on-chain options and structured product protocol Derive, Ethereal will open its testnet next month, and Derive will launch its token in the next two weeks. These are just the first examples of the entire DeFi ecosystem built on sUSDe, and more examples will be launched in the first quarter of 2025.
0xScope official X account has been stolen, please do not click on suspicious links
lmk.fun (formerly Scopescan) has issued a reminder on the X platform that the X account of the Web3 knowledge graph protocol 0xScope (@ScopeProtocol) has been stolen. Please do not click on any links or trust the content it publishes. We are investigating and restoring it.
Solana on-chain AI concept coin ZAILGO announced an airdrop to 8,185 holder wallets
Solana's on-chain AI concept coin ZAILGO announced an airdrop to 8,185 holder wallets, with each wallet receiving 10,177.2 ZAILGO tokens, which is worth approximately $915.9 based on the current price of $0.09.
According to GMGN data, ZAILGO's market value briefly hit a record high of $96 million, but has now fallen back to $8,900. The price of ZAILGO tokens rose by more than 101% in 24 hours.
Shiba Inu to launch its ecosystem token TREAT in January 2025
Shiba Inu Inc. has officially announced that it will launch its ecosystem token TREAT in January 2025. The announcement was first released on January 2 through the Treat official X account, and Shiba Inu's lead developer Shytoshi Kusama further confirmed the news. Details about TREAT are now available on the Shiba Inu official website, which outlines the key role of the token in the Shiba Inu ecosystem. TREAT is designed to unlock advanced features of the network state operating system as an access token that integrates rewards, governance, security, and spending into a cohesive framework designed to cultivate a vibrant and engaged community.
Earlier in April last year , the Shiba Inu team raised $12 million by selling unissued TREAT tokens to non-US venture capital investors to develop its new privacy-focused Layer3 blockchain. According to Shiba Inu, the TREAT token is the "utility and governance token" of its new privacy-focused Layer3 blockchain, which is built on the Ethereum Layer2 blockchain Shibarium.
MicroStrategy plans to issue up to $2 billion in preferred stock to increase its Bitcoin holdings
MicroStrategy plans to raise up to $2 billion through the sale of preferred stock to advance its previously announced plan to raise $42 billion over three years to finance Bitcoin purchases. MicroStrategy's latest offering is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2025, but the company reserves the right to decide whether to proceed, depending on market conditions. The preferred stock sold may be convertible into MSTR Class A shares and pay dividends. MicroStrategy has not yet set a target price for the offering.
Base is considering launching tokenized COIN shares, but is currently in the exploratory stage
Base developer Jesse Pollak tweeted that Coinbase is considering offering tokenized COIN shares to U.S. users of its Base network. Pollak said that non-U.S. users can already obtain tokenized COIN shares through protocols such as Backed, a tokenized RWA platform. Pollak said that implementing COIN on Base is "something to look into in the new year," adding that eventually "every asset in the world will be implemented on Base." Coinbase "has no specific plans at this time" and is currently in the "exploratory phase" as the exchange works to understand how to comply with U.S. regulations. "We need regulatory clarity and improvements to unlock this functionality for everyone as an open platform on the chain."
FTX restructuring plan has taken effect
The FTX restructuring plan took effect on January 3 and will allow users to start receiving repayments. Customers need to file a claim through the official website to be eligible for a refund, and FTX said the first group of customers should receive a refund within 60 days. According to the FTX plan, the first batch of "Convenience Classes" users will be reimbursed first, including users with claims of $50,000 and below. Registration and payment dates for other categories of claims will be announced later. The plan was approved in October, which stipulates that 98% of FTX users are expected to receive a repayment of 119% of the declared value of their funds. FTX Debtors reminds that users requesting claims should be wary of phishing emails that look like they were sent from the exchange.
Solv Lianchuang denies allegations of asset security issues
Solv co-founder Ryan Chow tweeted a positive response to the community’s heated discussion on asset security issues. The full text is as follows:
After a whole day of unwarranted public opinion attacks on "1,800 RUG" and "private agreement" yesterday, Solv suffered even more absurd accusations today. These accusations are all aimed at the core asset security issues, but their basis is wrong and self-contradictory, trying to mislead the public by confusing the public. In response, Solv decided to respond positively.
First, Nubit co-founder Hans publicly accused Solv of misappropriating the underlying BTC of SolvBTC.BBN, and tried to prove it by citing the mempool link (address xxxm5I2). In fact, the mempool link he intercepted was that of Solv’s other revenue asset SolvBTC.CORE. There is direct proof of this in the screenshots he provided.
In addition, Hans also accused Solv of submitting an update request to DeFillama urgently after "feeling guilty after being exposed". In fact, the BTC participating in SolvBTC.CORE must be re-pledged to a new script address every half a month. The last 12.19 was pledged, and 1.2 was withdrawn and re-pledged. After each completion, the address needs to be re-submitted to defillama. This is completely Solv's routine action when managing SolvBTC.CORE assets. The on-chain information can fully prove the daily operation of Solv's income assets.
In addition, Hans also accused SolvBTC.BBN of a decline in TVL during Babylon Cap3, again implying that Solv was suspected of misappropriating user assets. In fact, Solv officially started the redemption of SolvBTC.BBN on the same day. It is completely normal for TVL to change, which further highlights the liquidity and flexibility that SolvBTC.BBN provides to users.
The content even led the market to speculate that Solv had "triple spent BTC", implying that each of Solv's BTC was counted three times in TVL.
Solv has been in construction for four years. At this sensitive time when TGE is approaching, it has suffered a series of well-planned and unprovoked attacks. In response, Solv has provided all the facts and evidence and will leave the truth to the market and the public to judge for themselves.
Important data
Data from DeFiLlama shows that the cryptocurrency industry's on-chain revenue in December 2024 was considerable, with stablecoin issuers accounting for the largest share. These issuers earned a total of more than $664 million, accounting for more than 40% of the total revenue of $1.5 billion generated by crypto protocols.
As the issuer of the USDT stablecoin, Tether became the largest contributor, with revenue of $532.1 million. It was followed by USDC issuer Circle, with revenue of $132.77 million. Together, these two issuers dominate the stablecoin space, accounting for nearly 90% of the market share, which is valued at more than $200 billion.
Based on insider stock sales through 2024 for the top 60 companies in the S&P 500, including Apple, Nvidia, and Walmart, about 500 insiders, executives, investors, and other major shareholders reported selling a combined $36.9 billion worth of company stock. Amazon Executive Chairman Jeff Bezos accounted for more than a third of that total ($13.4 billion).
Four crypto executives made the top 25: Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong ranked 8th with $636 million; MicroStrategy's Michael Saylor ranked 13th with $410.8 million; Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam ranked 22nd with a total of $203.8 million, a figure that includes COIN shares sold by his trust and his fund Paradigm; Following Ehrsam is Coinbase COO Emilie Choi, who joined the company from LinkedIn in 2018, with $186.4 million. All these sales put Coinbase at 7th on the list of internal transaction sales last year:
- Amazon: $13.5 billion
- Walmart: $4.84 billion
- Palantir: $4.14 billion
- Meta: $2.72 billion
- Nvidia: $2 billion
- Salesforce: $1.27 billion
- Coinbase: $1.25 billion
- Oracle: $842 million
- Apollo: $630.6 million
- Intuit: $593.9 million
- MicroStrategy: $567.8 million
- Netflix: $528.3 million
An ENS-associated address transferred 50,000 ENS to Binance, worth about $1.91 million
According to on-chain analyst Ember, an address that received 339,000 ENS from ENS Cold Wallet between 2022 and 2023 transferred 50,000 ENS (US$1.91 million) to Binance 5 hours ago. After receiving ENS, this address transferred 250,000 ENS to Binance in the past year, with an average transfer price of US$22.8, worth US$5.69 million.
According to crypto aggregator Dropstab's on-chain analysis, in 2024, various projects distributed $14.91 billion to crypto users through a series of airdrop activities. Topping the list of airdrop distributions is Hyperliquid, whose more than 90,000 users received an airdrop of $1.34 billion. It was followed by Starknet, where 1.3 million addresses received an airdrop of 700 million tokens worth $1.33 billion. Pengu's $1.15 billion airdrop, Wormhole's $896 million airdrop, and Jupiter's $891 million airdrop became the top five airdrop projects with the highest returns in 2024.
Of the $14.91 billion distributed through airdrops, $4.22 billion (28.3%) was distributed in the L2 sector, $3.31 billion (22.2%) was distributed in the DeFi sector, and $2.63 billion (17.6%) was distributed in the L1 sector. Games and memes, liquid staking, and artificial intelligence (AI) projects distributed tokens worth $2.28 billion, $1.27 billion, and $373 million, respectively.
WIntermute and Amber Group may be market makers for VIRTUAL
According to on-chain analyst @ai_9684xtpa, WIntermute and Amber Group may be market makers for AI proxy token VIRTUAL. Both market makers started high-frequency interactions a month ago, and their current positions are as follows:
WIntermute: Address 0xDBF...dC080 holds 0.31% of the total tokens, about 1.53 million USD, and is the TOP47 address in terms of holdings
Amber: Deposited 500,000 VIRTUAL to Gate two hours ago, worth $2.13 million
In addition, the market maker of PORTAL, a new coin mining project of Binance, also seems to be making a market for VIRTUAL. The specific institution has not yet been located. The institution withdrew tokens worth 6.07 million US dollars from Bybit in the past hour and currently holds a total of 2.04 million VIRTUAL (8.05 million US dollars), making it one of the top 38 holding addresses.
15 wallets suspected of being insiders traded Focai and made a total profit of more than $20 million
According to Lookonchain monitoring, 15 suspected insider wallets spent 67.16 SOL ($146,000) to purchase 605 million Focai (60.5% of the total supply) on Pump.fun. They then sold all Focai for 94,175 SOL ($20.5 million), netting 94,108 SOL ($20.48 million).
