JOON HYOUNG LEE

Global crypto market maker (MM) Wintermute has entered the crude oil derivatives market. According to CoinDesk on the 24th (local time), Wintermute Asia on the day launched an over-the-counter (OTC) product for contracts for difference (CFD) linked t

Shares of Circle, the issuer of the dollar-pegged stablecoin USDC, plunged, erasing $4.6 billion in market capitalization. Analysts say, however, that stablecoin adoption will continue to accelerate. A CryptoQuant contributor at XWIN Research Japan s

A cold wind of restructuring is sweeping through the global cryptocurrency industry. The downturn in the crypto market has coincided with job losses driven by the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), and the combination is seen as a key factor.

The token price of Hyperliquid (HYPE), a global decentralized exchange (DEX), has continued its steep climb since the US airstrikes on Iran. According to CoinMarketCap, a cryptocurrency market data site, Hyperliquid was trading in the $37 range on th

Asset manager Grayscale has published an analysis suggesting Zcash (ZEC) is "highly likely to gain a larger market share." Zach Pandl, head of research at Grayscale, said on the firm’s official website on the 18th (local time) that "Zcash is a rival

Sui (SUI) will pursue a bitcoin (BTC)-based finance business in the second half of this year. The Sui Foundation said on the 19th (local time) via its official website that it will launch Hash, a bitcoin-based finance solution, in the second half of

Opera, the internet browser developer, is pursuing a plan to secure as many as 160 million CELO tokens. According to CoinDesk on the 19th (local time), a proposal was recently submitted to the Celo governance forum to convert an existing cash-based a

The European Central Bank (ECB) kept all three key policy rates, including the deposit rate, unchanged. According to Bloomberg and other foreign media on the 19th (local time), the ECB held a monetary policy meeting and left the deposit rate unchange

Evernorth Holdings, a U.S. digital-asset treasury (DAT) company that stockpiles XRP, posted an unrealized loss of $230 million on its XRP investment last year. According to CoinDesk on the 19th (local time), Evernorth Holdings said in an S-4 filing r

Global blockchain company Animoca Brands is investing in Avalanche (AVAX). According to The Block on the 19th (local time), Animoca Brands announced that it will work with Ava Labs to expand the Avalanche ecosystem. Ava Labs is the developer of Avala

US initial jobless claims last week came in below market expectations. The US Department of Labor said on the 19th (local time) that initial jobless claims totaled 205,000 last week. That was 10,000 below the consensus forecast of 215,000. It was als

As Bitcoin fell more than 5% in a single day, trading volume on the decentralized exchange (DEX) Hyperliquid (HYPE) was seen surging. BlockBeats reported on the 19th (local time), citing data from DefiLlama, that Hyperliquid’s trading volume over the

XVS, the governance token of DeFi lending protocol Venus, slid sharply on the back of an exploit. The protocol has incurred $2.15 million in bad debt. According to CoinDesk on the 18th, the price of the BNB Chain-based money market Venus fell more th

Retail investors’ gold buying has tripled over the past six months, while institutional investors have steadily sold gold. According to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) on the 19th (local time), retail investor inflows into gold exchange-

Bithumb, a major South Korean virtual asset exchange, will hold a shareholders’ meeting at the end of this month and seek to reappoint incumbent CEO Lee Jae-won. The company also plans to pursue a significant increase in its limit for issuing corpora

The won-dollar exchange rate has surpassed the 1,500-won level for the first time in 17 years. The move reflects a confluence of headwinds, including oil-market jitters amid the Iran war and broad-based dollar strength. On the 19th in Seoul’s foreign

Global cryptocurrency exchange Bitget will list 56 tokenized assets backed by US stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Bitget said on the 19th (local time) via its official X account that it will "list 56 tokenized assets backed by US stocks and E

Early Bitcoin (BTC) investor whales were found to have unloaded Bitcoin worth $120 million following the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) rate decision. CoinDesk reported on the 19th (local time), citing data from on-chain analytics firm Lookonchain, that

Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $70,000. According to CoinMarketCap on the 19th, Bitcoin was trading at $69,552.79 as of 4:24 p.m., down 5.85% from the previous day. Compared with a week earlier, it was down 0.05%. The kimchi premium turned negative. Accord

XRP open interest (OI) trends appear to be mixed across cryptocurrency exchanges. An Arab Chain contributor to CryptoQuant said on the 19th (local time) via CryptoQuant that “(recently) the 30-day change indicator for XRP open interest shows that the

The United States will temporarily waive the Jones Act for 60 days, which restricts the transport of goods between US ports to US-flagged vessels. The move reflects the recent rise in global oil prices following the fallout from the conflict in the M

Ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) rate decision, President Donald Trump has stepped up pressure on Chair Jerome Powell. On the 18th (local time), Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social, “When will ‘Too Late’ Powell cut interest r

Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $72,000. According to CoinMarketCap on the 18th, as of 11:06 p.m. that day, Bitcoin was trading at $71,981.84, down 2.19% from the previous day. Compared with a week earlier, it is up 2.19%. The Korea premium turned negative.

A perpetual futures contract based on the US S&P 500 index is set to launch. S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) said on the 18th (local time) that it has granted TradeXYZ a license to launch a perpetual futures contract based on the S&P 500 index. Trade

Decentralized exchange (DEX) ASTER will support perpetual futures trading based on USD1, the dollar-denominated stablecoin of World Liberty Financial (WLFI). In a post on its official X account on the 18th (local time), ASTER said it “supports USD1-b

Global fintech company Stripe has launched the mainnet for its layer-1 blockchain, 'Tempo'. Tempo said via its official website on the 18th (local time) that it has launched the mainnet. Tempo is a stablecoin-only layer-1 blockchain co-developed by S