Crypto and stock markets are usually forward-looking. Meaning, traders tend to ignore the near-term negatives and focus on the positives down the line. With Bitcoin’s (BTC) next halving in 2024, analysts are shifting their attention to this event. Independent market analyst Rekt Capital highlighted this unique market dynamic in 2015 and 2019, a year before halving, Bitcoin rallied 234% and 316% respectively. If history repeats itself, Bitcoin’s price action may spring a surprise in 2023. However, the near term remains uncertain and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data on Jan. 12 may lead to a sharp uptick in volatility. Some …

The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, one of the country’s financial regulatory agencies, has granted the local arm of crypto exchange Binance approval to manage and trade digital currencies. According to a Jan. 11 announcement, Binance said following “months of constructive engagement” with the financial regulator, the Swedish FSA granted Binance Nordics AB registration status on Jan. 10. This decision effectively allows Swedish residents to access Binance’s crypto services. "Sweden fully adopts EU laws and has further local requirements, so we have been careful to ensure that Binance Nordics AB has adopted risk and AML policies to match this exacting standard,” …

After the paranoia and turmoil in the crypto industry caused by the FTX liquidity and bankruptcy scandal, major digital-asset service providers in the space began publicizing their reserve funds. The latest to join the proof of reserve trend is the Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX. It announced its act of transparency on Jan. 11 stating that: "We are not only India's largest crypto exchange by volume but also India’s largest crypto exchange by reserves.” WazirX used CoinGabbar, a third-party crypto asset tracking platform, to display its proof of reserves. According to the data WazirX has roughly $285 million in total user …

Crypto exchange Coinbase will be closing down most of its operations in Japan as part of its efforts to survive in the bear market. The move is part of the company’s restructuring plan and follows the recent layoff announcement that it was reducing its employees by 20%. In an interview with BNN Bloomberg, Coinbase executive Nana Murugesan said that most of the operations in Japan will be closed. “We’ve decided to wind down the majority of our operations in Japan, which led to eliminating most of the roles in our Japan entity,” said Murugesan. While the executive did not dive …

The cryptocurrency exchange Zipmex is the focus of a new probe by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand for a breach of local rules. A Bloomberg report revealed that local authorities are looking into an activity that they believe may be in violation of business rules for digital asset service providers. This includes its offerings of certain digital asset products According to the Thai SEC, Zipmex has until Jan. 12 to clarify whether it has been functioning as a “digital-asset fund manager without permission” in Thailand. If true, the firm would have needed to obtain a permit prior …

The business model that cryptocurrency exchanges currently use relies on ignorance and fear. It relies on their customers not knowing much about decentralized finance (DeFi) and their fear of what could happen if they get things wrong with their crypto investments. Cryptocurrencies seem like an obscure and risky investment to most, and unsurprisingly, concerns about losing assets in market crashes, losing wallets or security keys through carelessness, or being scammed by unscrupulous operators are prevalent. These concerns are reasonable considering the volatility of the market and the prevalence of sharks, crooks, bluffers and shysters who operate in the industry. In …

The Flare (FLR) token airdrop started on Mon., Jan. 9, nearly two years after a snapshot of Ripple (XRP) holders took place on Dec. 12, 2020. The FLR airdrop was distributed at a ratio of 1.0073 FLR per 1 XRP and the initial distribution saw 15% of the total supply released to the community. A total of 28.5 billion FLR were distributed based on this methodology and according to Flare’s tokenomics, 58.3% of the total genesis FLR supply will be distributed over 36 months. What is Flare? Flare is a Layer-1 blockchain with an oracle system aiming to boost interoperability …

UK crypto app Tap Global has become the first 2023 listing on the Aquis Stock Exchange (AQSE), according to a press release from the company. The listing was accomplished through a reverse takeover by Quetzal Capital, according to a press release on Jan. 10. The first #AQSE listing this year. Thank you to @SimonPeterHunt of The Evening Standard (@standardnews) for covering the news of our stock market debut. #TAP #RTO #PLC Full article: https://t.co/NK5Wp2VqjG — Tap Global Group Plc (@TapGlobalPlc) January 10, 2023 Tap provides fiat banking services, a crypto swap service that sources crypto from partner exchanges, and access …

The brother of a former Coinbase product manager, Nikhil Wahi, has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for wire fraud conspiracy charges, in what is believed to be the first insider trading case involving cryptocurrency. As reported by Reuters, Nikhil Wahi pleaded guilty in September to initiating trades based on confidential information obtained from his brother, Ishan Wahi, who was a former Coinbase product manager. Ex-Coinbase manager's brother sentenced to 10 months in insider trading case https://t.co/Kyy6DqSb9D pic.twitter.com/ruQjwr5i4h — Reuters (@Reuters) January 10, 2023 Nikhil Wahi admitted to trading with the use of inside information obtained from Coinbase. According …

As the global economy continues to reel from the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is increasing data suggesting that more and more people are now favoring a remote work-based lifestyle. In this regard, a survey sample of working United States citizens shows that Millennial and Generation Z workers prefer joining a remote workforce and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) as opposed to going to an office. As part of the study, more than 1,100 U.S. citizens were asked to provide their preferences regarding remote work and the emergence of DAOs in recent years. Using research pertaining to DAOs published …

Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, has penned an open letter to the board of Digital Currency Group, or DCG, saying CEO Barry Silbert was “unfit” to run the company. In a Jan 10. letter, Winklevoss claimed Silbert and Genesis Global Capital — a subsidiary of DCG — had defrauded more than 340,000 users who were a part of Gemini’s Earn program. The letter followed a Jan. 2 appeal on Twitter to Silbert directly, in which the Gemini co-founder said Genesis owed Gemini $900 million, accusing the CEO of hiding “behind lawyers, investment bankers, and process.” According to …

The South Korea-based cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb is under a “special tax investigation” by the country’s National Tax Service (NTS), according to local reports. On Jan. 10 tax agents raided the exchange’s headquarters in the country’s capital city Seoul as a part of a compliance investigation. The investigation was carried out by the 4th Bureau of Investigation of the Seoul Regional Tax Service, which specifically investigates “special tax investigations”, as opposed to standard ones. Previously, Bithumb was under a special tax investigation in 2018 by the NTS, through which it won roughly $64 million in income tax. This story is developing …