JOON HYOUNG LEE

Bitcoin Falls Below $71,000; Kimchi Premium at 0.63%

Bitcoin fell below $71,000. CoinMarketCap data showed Bitcoin trading at $70,964.27 as of 11:52 p.m. on June 8, up 4.23% from 24 hours earlier. It was down 3.53% from a week earlier. The kimchi premium remained in the 0% range. Cryprice data showed t

Fars Says Tanker Traffic Through Hormuz Has Halted as Israel's Lebanon Strikes Threaten Ceasefire

Tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has reportedly been suspended. Walter Bloomberg reported on July 8 that tanker movements through the strait had stopped that day. The move was seen as Iran's response after Israel continued airstrikes in Le

Iran Says It Will Scrap US Ceasefire Deal if Israel Keeps Striking Lebanon

Iran said it would scrap its ceasefire agreement with the US if Israel continues attacking Lebanon. Walter Bloomberg reported on June 8 that Iran's state-run Tasnim News Agency said the government would withdraw from the ceasefire deal if attacks on

Bitcoin Briefly Tops $72,000 on Report Iran Will Charge Strait of Hormuz Tolls in BTC

Bitcoin rebounded and briefly rose above $72,000 after reports said Iran would charge Strait of Hormuz transit fees in Bitcoin. CoinMarketCap data on June 8 showed Bitcoin climbing from the $71,000 range into the $72,000 range earlier in the day. As

Standard Chartered Weighs Partial Integration of Zodia Custody, Announcement May Come This Month

Standard Chartered is considering a partial integration of Zodia Custody, its cryptocurrency custody subsidiary, Bloomberg reported. Bloomberg reported on April 8 that the bank is weighing a plan to combine Zodia Custody’s crypto custody business wit

Morgan Stanley’s Spot Bitcoin ETF May Draw $30 Million on Debut, Bloomberg Analyst Says

Morgan Stanley’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund could attract $30 million on its first day of trading, according to a Bloomberg ETF analyst. Eric Balchunas wrote on X on Aug. 7 that projections for roughly $30 million in first-day trading volume f

Bernstein Says Quantum Computing Won’t Threaten Bitcoin’s Existence

Bernstein, the U.S. investment bank, said quantum computing is unlikely to pose an existential threat to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. DL News reported on April 8 that Bernstein wrote in a recent investor note that quantum-computing risk is neith

Iran Plans $1-Per-Barrel Toll on All Tankers in Strait of Hormuz, to Be Collected in Bitcoin

Iran plans to impose tolls on all tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz during a two-week ceasefire, the Financial Times reported. Hamid Hosseini, spokesperson for the Iranian Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters' Union, told the FT i

NYT Names Adam Back as Bitcoin Creator Satoshi, but Industry Is Skeptical

The New York Times has identified Adam Back, the Blockstream chief executive officer and creator of Hashcash, as the most likely person behind Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. Back flatly denied the claim. John Carreyrou, the Ne

CZ Says He Held $1.6 Billion of LUNA Before Terra Collapse

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, said he held $1.6 billion worth of LUNA just before the 2022 Terra-LUNA collapse. Wu Blockchain reported on April 8 that Zhao discussed the Terra-LUNA crisis in his recently published memoir, Freedom of Mo

Trump Says US to Discuss Tariffs, Sanctions Relief With Iran

President Donald Trump said June 8 that the U.S. would discuss tariffs and sanctions relief with Iran. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the U.S. would work closely with Iran, which he described as having undergone “a very productive regime chang

Vance Says US-Iran Two-Week Ceasefire Is Fragile, Trump Wants Quick Progress

US Vice President JD Vance said on Aug. 8 that a two-week ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran remains "fragile." Speaking during a visit to Budapest, Hungary, Vance said Iran had agreed to keep the Strait of Hormuz open while the US had agree

White House Economists Say Stablecoin Yield Would Have Limited Effect on Regional Banks

The White House Council of Economic Advisers said allowing stablecoins to pay yield would have a limited effect on regional banks. Bloomberg reported on Aug. 8 that the council, in a report released that day, said bank lending would increase just 0.0

Japan's Takaichi Urges Iranian President to Ensure Strait of Hormuz Safety

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and urged him to ensure safety in the Strait of Hormuz. Takaichi spoke with Pezeshkian for about 25 minutes on July 8, NHK and other local media reporte

WSJ Says Iran’s Navy Told Ships Permission Is Still Required to Transit Strait of Hormuz

Iran’s navy has told ships anchored near the Strait of Hormuz that they still need permission to transit the waterway, The Wall Street Journal reported on July 8. The newspaper said Iran’s navy sent the notice to vessels near the strait that day. It

South Korea’s FIU Gives Coinone Advance Notice of AML Sanctions, Penalty Level Due Mid-April

South Korea’s Financial Intelligence Unit has given cryptocurrency exchange Coinone advance notice of sanctions over violations of anti-money laundering obligations, according to industry officials. The FIU, which operates under the Financial Service

Coinbase Secures Australian License, Eyes Derivatives Offering

Coinbase, the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, has obtained a regulatory license in Australia. The company said on its website July 7 that it had secured an Australian Financial Services Licence, or AFSL. The license will allow Coinbase to offer Austral

Swift to Launch Blockchain Ledger Service in First Half With More Than 40 Banks

Swift plans to launch a blockchain-based ledger service in the first half of this year. CoinPaprika reported on March 7 that Swift recently began building the blockchain ledger, targeting a launch within the first half. More than 40 banks are partici

Ethereum Stablecoin Supply Tops $180 Billion to Hit Record High

Stablecoin supply on the Ethereum network has exceeded $180 billion, setting a record high. Cointelegraph, citing data from blockchain analytics firm Token Terminal, reported on July 7 that stablecoin supply on Ethereum totaled about $180 billion as

Bitcoin Sentiment Improves on US-Iran Two-Week Truce, but Further Gains May Be Limited

A two-week truce between the US and Iran has lifted sentiment in the cryptocurrency market, though further gains may be limited, analysts said. The Block reported on June 7 that geopolitical tensions eased after President Donald Trump announced a two

South Korea’s Digital Asset Bill Stalls as Industry Warns on Stablecoin ‘Golden Time’

Debate over South Korea’s Digital Asset Basic Act remains deadlocked in the National Assembly, as Min Byung-deok, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, called won-denominated stablecoins a national strategic priority and urged swift legislation. Indu

Min Byung-duk Says Stablecoins Are National Strategy, Urges Won Token to Become Everyday Payment Coin

Min Byung-duk, a lawmaker from South Korea’s Democratic Party, said April 7 that stablecoins have moved beyond financial policy and into the realm of national strategy. Speaking at a seminar at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building in Seoul

Terence Kwok: “Humanity, the internet’s ‘trust layer’…essential infrastructure in the AI era”

Interview with Terence Kwok, founder of Humanity Decentralized identity verification project Attending ‘CIS 2026’…“expanding partnerships” ‘Proof of Trust’ model...in the spotlight as AI fraud surges Signals intent to target Korea…“a large, active ma

Mounting stagflation fears put ‘digital gold’ Bitcoin to the test

Shockwaves from the Middle East conflict are weighing on investor sentiment toward cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC). Some observers warn that if a surge in global oil prices turns stagflation—an economic downturn amid high inflation—into realit

Iraq bypasses the Strait of Hormuz… exports crude by land

Iraq is bypassing the Strait of Hormuz and exporting crude oil by land. According to foreign media outlets including The Cradle on the 2nd (local time), Iraq’s Oil Ministry said in a statement that day that it had "begun exporting crude oil using Eur

"U.S. banking and crypto industries to conduct closed-door review of draft 'Clarity Act'"

Some officials in the U.S. banking and cryptocurrency industries are set to begin a closed-door review of provisions in the draft “Crypto Market Structure Act (Clarity Act)” related to stablecoin yields. Politico, a U.S. political news outlet, report

Grayscale: “Oil shock has investors on the sidelines… rebound possible if uncertainty eases”

An analysis suggests that geopolitical tensions surrounding Iran and a sharp rise in oil prices are dampening investor sentiment in the crypto market. Still, with major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) showing more resilience than expected, the

US digital bank Erebor adds 'Sui' to payments blockchain

US digital bank Erebor has added Sui (SUI) to its payments blockchain. Sui said via its official website on the 2nd (local time) that "Erebor supports Sui-based payments." Sui added that "Sui is one of the few blockchains supported by Erebor," and th

IMF: "Little room for the Fed to cut rates this year"

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) is expected to deliver only one interest-rate cut this year. According to Bloomberg on the 2nd (local time), the IMF said in its "Article IV consultation" report released the d

Yzi Labs Makes Follow-on Investment in Prediction-Market Platform Predict.fun

Yzi Labs, the venture capital arm of global cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has made a follow-on investment in prediction-market platform Predict.fun. On the 2nd (local time), Yzi Labs said via X that it had carried out a strategic follow-on investm