MicroStrategy buys BTC, Trump transfers ETH to Coinbase, spot ETF drama continues, Zhao remains grounded
This week, business intelligence firm MicroStrategy added $615 million to its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings. The spot BTC ETF drama continued as a US court confirmed that Binance founder Changpeng Zhao will remain in the country until his sentencing.
MicroStrategy accumulates, Trump distributes
- According to Chairman Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy continued its Bitcoin buying spree on December 27 when the company purchased an additional 14,620 Bitcoin at an average price of $42,110 per token.
- The company currently holds 189,150 Bitcoin, currently worth $7.99 billion. MicroStrategy procured these tokens at an average price of $31,168 per coin, or about $5.9 billion.
- Meanwhile, reports this week suggested that former US President Donald Trump may distribute his Ethereum (ETH) holdings. An Ethereum wallet that amassed royalties from Trump's NFT collection transferred millions worth of ETH to Coinbase, data shows.
The ETF drama concerns BlackRock, VanEck, Coinbase and Bitwise
- Meanwhile, the drama surrounding the race for a BTC ETF spot spilled over into this week. VanEck is the latest asset manager to update its application for a spot BTC ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As part of the update, the company has switched its redemption method to cash only.
- Recall that BlackRock and others had chosen Coinbase for custody services in their spot BTC ETF filings. This week, the US-based exchange replaced the CEO of its custody unit with Rick Schonberg, in what appears to be preparation for the approval of a spot ETF.
- BlackRock also made statements indicating imminent approval of its product. The asset manager announced on December 29 that JPMorgan Chase and Jane Street are authorized participants in the upcoming spot BTC ETF.
- Amid the ongoing ETF competition, prominent asset management firm Bitwise announced this week that it would be launching its spot BTC ETF with $200 million in seed funding from an undisclosed investor. Recall that BlackRock's seed funding was $10 million.
Mt. Gox's creditors are finally receiving payments
- This week also saw developments surrounding ongoing litigation and insolvency proceedings. Notably, some creditors of the defunct Mt. Gox exchange began receiving their compensation this week, almost a decade after the exchange collapsed with customers' BTC tokens.
Judge tells LUNA security, Zhao is under house arrest
- In the case between the US SEC and Terraform Labs, Judge Jed Rakoff ruled that Terra (LUNA) and the MIR token were unregistered securities, as argued by the SEC. Recall that the agency sued Terraform Labs in February, claiming that they offered the tokens as securities without registering them.
- Binance founder Changpeng Zhao filed a second application to leave the country following an earlier ruling that barred him from leaving the United States before his sentencing in February. However, this week a district court in Seattle also rejected that request.
- Despite the problems that Zhao and Binance have faced this year, the former saw a huge increase of $25 billion in its net worth this year due to the green market. Additionally, Binance surpassed a milestone of 170 million users worldwide this week.
Global regulatory efforts
- This week also saw increased regulatory efforts around the world. Japan has amended existing crypto legislation to ease year-end crypto tax obligations for companies.
- The change effectively eliminated the requirement that companies pay a market price tax on their cryptocurrency holdings.
- Hong Kong said this week that it would now allow retail investors to purchase stablecoins in the region as long as the token issuers are fully regulated by authorities.
- Shortly after Nigeria's central bank eased its ban on cryptocurrency transactions, reports this week suggest that a group of banks in the country are planning to launch cNGN, a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the Nigerian naira.
- In a press release on December 28, Indian authorities warned that certain crypto exchanges, including Binance, Huobi, Kraken, KuCoin, Gate.io and MEXC, were violating anti-money laundering regulations in the country.
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