The week of 08/01 in brief. The news concerning Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies is constantly in flux. It can happen that vital information gets lost in the daily flow of information and that you miss important points. This format is here to remedy that. We look back at last week’s news in Hebdo Crypto in order to keep you informed on the current situation of cryptocurrencies.
The unmissable local
After months of waiting and fierce struggles, this is THE news of the week: Financial Titans Finally Got Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Approval for Bitcoin Spot ETFs.
This decision, announced on January 10, 2024, marks a major milestone in the history of cryptocurrency. Since the approval of the first Bitcoin futures ETFs in October 2021, the crypto community has been anxiously waiting for the SEC to give the green light for Bitcoin spot ETFs. That wait ended when Gary Gensler, the chairman of the SEC, finally relented, paving the way for the creation of the crypto king’s first spot ETFs.
However, it was not easy on our nerves. Indeed, on January 9, the day before the official announcement, a major incident sowed confusion in the crypto community.
THE official SEC account on X was hacked and posted a fake announcement of approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs. This announcement, although completely false, was taken at face value by many investors, creating a wave of panic and excitement.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler had to personally intervene to clarify the situation, shamefully admitting that the SEC account had been compromised. This incident sparked much mockery and criticism, notably from billionaire Elon Musk, who took the opportunity to tease the SEC for its lack of security.
Crypto news in brief
▶ Starknet votes to use STRK token to pay fees on the network. A major development which leaves many Internet users to believe that a community airdrop could be around the corner.
▶ Following the Bitcoin ETF announcement fiasco, the US Senate demands accountability from the SEC. Thus, it has until Monday to submit an incident report to American senators.
▶ PayPal and its stablecoin PYUSD set sail for DeFi. Thus, after its deployment on the Curve Finance protocol, the PYUSD could also be added to the Aave v3 protocol on Ethereum.
▶ After the SEC, it’s Coingecko’s turn to have his X account hacked. The hacker subsequently published a phishing link to a fake airdrop from Coingecko.
▶ Circle, the issuer of the stablecoin USDC takes its first step towards an IPO. Thus, the company has reviewed its plans since its first attempt in 2021. This will be able to count on the support of Coinbase which recently acquired part of the entity.
▶ After Bitcoin ETF Approval, Traders Prepare for Ethereum ETF. Thus, this could explain the recent rise in the price of Ether.
▶ Prepare well for 2024 with our analysis of 6 projects with high potential for the coming year.
The 5 metrics of the week
➤ 69,640it’s about number of BTC held by the United States. This makes the USA the country that holds the most BTC in the world. These bitcoins come from numerous legal seizures carried out by the USA.
➤ 1.5 BTCit’s the amount spent by an anonymous Internet user to enter data on the blockchain. Thus, he carried out 332 transactions to register 9MB of encrypted data on Bitcoin. The encryption of this data has obviously aroused the curiosity of Internet users about the nature of the data.
➤ 1 million dollarsit’s about amount of BTC that was recently moved by the North Korean hacker group Lazarus Group. Some observers speculate that the group could be preparing to carry out a new attack.
➤ $2,600it’s here bar that ETH briefly exceeded this week. After previously regaining $2,400, the previously timid ETH seems to be coming back from the dead.
➤ 33%it is the increase in the gas limit proposed by Vitalik Buterin. However, this proposal is far from unanimous and has generated significant debate within the community.
Have a good week on the Journal du Coin! 🙂