The first week of December has been a rollercoaster ride for the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin’s value soared, altcoins captured the spotlight, and the stage welcomed some intriguing new projects.
Let’s take a look at the events that shaped the cryptoverse this week.
The SEC intensified its investigation into Binance US, after the DOJ charged Changpeng Zhao with guilt. This sparked speculation on the future of Binance and its likeness to the FTX case.
In response to regulatory pressures from the SEC and NYDFS, Binance announced it would no longer support BUSD stablecoin. This demonstrates the difficulty of operating in the current regulatory framework.
Terraform Labs’ founder Do Kwon is facing a lawsuit from 375 people seeking compensation for a total loss of $57 million.
The court has approved a sale of assets totaling $873 million, including stakes in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, from FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings. Crypto assets worth $10.8 million were transferred to exchanges such as Wintermute, Binance, and Coinbase.
Grayscale is making strategic changes to the Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to facilitate the transition to a Bitcoin ETF. These include daily fees collection and asset consolidation.
MicroStrategy, under the direction of Michael Saylor, purchased 16,130 BTC worth approximately $593.33 million, bringing the company’s total Bitcoin Holdings to 174,500 BTC purchased for $3.85 billion.
The UK introduced new guidelines for cryptocurrency users to report any unpaid taxes on crypto-assets.
Genesis reached a settlement of a lawsuit worth $620 million with Digital Currency Group.
Changpeng Zhao stepped down from the Binance US board following the US-China trade dispute.
Circle denied allegations of illicit funding and discontinued its relationship with Justin Sun.
Velodrome and Aerodrome, two decentralized exchanges, were affected by security breaches, highlighting the risk of DeFi.
The US Federal Reserve is exploring XRP’s potential role in Central Bank Digital Currencies, illustrating the increasing interest in blockchain technology.
This week has clearly shown how dynamic the cryptocurrency market can be. With these developments, the future of crypto is certainly worth keeping an eye on.
