Uk Jin

The Ethereum (ETH) holding company Bitmain made an additional purchase of Ethereum. On the 13th (Korea time), according to on-chain analyst The Data Nerd, Bitmain bought 149,590 Ethereum through BitGo 19 hours earlier. As of 10:30 PM that day, Ethereum was trading at 3111 dollars, down 3.88% from the previous day. The scale of the Ethereum Bitmain purchased amounts to about 46 million dollars.

Virtual asset (cryptocurrency) exchange Bitfinex said the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market has entered a slump. On the 13th (Korean time), according to crypto news outlet Cointelegraph, Bitfinex said via X (formerly Twitter), "recent spot trading volume on crypto exchanges has decreased by 66%," adding, "the current drop in trading volume is similar to the slump seen before entering a new phase in previous cycles." According to CoinMarketCap data, the '30-day spot trading volume,' which topped $500 billion in early November, has plunged to $250 billion this week. However, there is also analysis that Bitcoin's price structure resembles that just before a bull market. Crypto analyst Michael van de Poppe said, "As Bitcoin holds key price levels, upcoming major macroeconomic events could greatly increase volatility," and added, "the main resistance levels are $89,000 and $92,000, and if those zones are breached, Bitcoin could reach $100,000." Major macroeconomic events scheduled for next week include ▲ U.S. Department of Labor October core retail sales, ▲ U.S. November nonfarm payrolls, ▲ Bank of Japan interest rate decision.

XRP could plunge if it fails to defend the $2 level. On the 13th (Korean time), virtual asset (cryptocurrency) analyst Ali Martinez said on X (formerly Twitter), "XRP must hold the $2 level to avoid falling to $1.20." As of 7:35 PM that day, XRP was trading at $2.03, up 0.12% from the previous day, according to CoinMarketCap.

ZeroG (0G) disclosed that it was hacked. On the 13th (Korean time), the ZeroG Foundation said on X (formerly Twitter) that "one of the reward contracts was compromised in a targeted attack on the 11th," and added, "the hacker exploited the emergency withdrawal function of ZeroG's reward contract to steal 520,010 tokens. The stolen tokens were subsequently distributed through Tornado Cash." The 0G Foundation pointed to a private key leaked from an AliCloud instance as the cause of the attack. The ZeroG Foundation said, "that instance manages non-fungible token (NFT) status and reward updates. The private key was stored locally, and it was attacked, causing a security issue." However, it was reported that no user funds were lost in this hack. The foundation explained, "although there was theft, it did not affect core chain infrastructure or user funds," and said, "we have immediately strengthened security solutions and will use this incident as a lesson to further strengthen security processes going forward."

Solv Foundation, the operator of Solv Protocol (SOLV), announced on the 5th that it has formed a partnership with Stellar (XLM) and will introduce yield-generating functionality to USDC assets on the Stellar network. Solv is a Bitcoin financial protocol that offers Bitcoin (BTC) lending, liquidity staking, interest-earning products, and more. It currently records approximately $1.217 billion in total value locked (TVL). Solv plans to apply decentralized finance (DeFi) to about $200 million worth of USDC circulating on the Stellar network. The goal is to generate yield from idle USDC that was previously used only for payments and remittances. Specifically, Solv will integrate its automated yield product 'BTC·Vault' with the Stellar blockchain and will support remittance operators, fintech companies, and individual users in earning yield by utilizing payment liquidity. Ryan Chow, Solv co-founder, said, "Stablecoins are evolving beyond cross-border remittances into capital-efficient DeFi assets," and added, "This collaboration is the next step in stablecoin utilization."

Global asset manager State Street has reportedly chosen Solana (SOL) for asset tokenization. On the 12th (Korean time), according to Block News, State Street plans to introduce a product called the 'State Street Galaxy On-Chain Liquidity Sweep Fund' that tokenizes the cash management instrument SWEEP through collaboration with Galaxy Digital. Investor inflows and redemptions will be processed with the stablecoin PayPal USD (PYUSD). The two firms will select Solana as the base network at launch and later expand to Stellar (XLM) and Ethereum (ETH). Chainlink (LINK) technology will be used for cross-chain asset transfers and data linking. Industry participants say State Street's move is an example showing that public blockchains have reached a level capable of handling institutional-grade assets. In particular, Solana is regarded as an infrastructure that can meet institutional demand in terms of processing speed and cost efficiency, raising the possibility that it could emerge as a major destination for tokenized capital inflows. Kim Hawkfeld, State Street's global head of cash and digital assets, said, "Through cooperation with Galaxy, we will advance the integration of traditional finance and on-chain one step further."

Merlin Chain (MERL) is experiencing a sharp intraday rally. As of 5:43 PM KST on the 13th, Merlin Chain is trading at $0.4357, up 14.98% from the previous day on CoinMarketCap. With the day's gains, Merlin Chain's market capitalization surged to $457.96 million, rising to 97th in the overall cryptocurrency market by market capitalization.

On the 13th (Korean time), cryptocurrency-focused media outlet Cointelegraph reported via X (formerly Twitter) that "(according to Bitcoin Treasuries) listed and unlisted companies worldwide increased their Bitcoin holdings from 197,000 to 1,080,000 since January 2023."nThe company currently holding the most Bitcoin is Strategy. Strategy's Bitcoin holdings amount to 660,624.

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX said there was price manipulation related to the Mantra (OM) token price crash. On the 13th (Korean time), OKX said on X (formerly Twitter) "(regarding the Mantra crash) claims distorting the facts continue," and "we confirmed indications that multiple accounts colluded to borrow Tether (USDT) using large amounts of Mantra tokens as collateral, artificially driving up the price." OKX added, "We deemed this abnormal trading and requested account holders to remedy it, but they refused to cooperate," and "we then took control of the accounts, and soon the Mantra token plunge began." The losses incurred during the process were reportedly fully covered by the OKX security fund. OKX also pointed out, "According to external analysts, the main cause of this price collapse appears to have been selling pressure from perpetual futures (perpetual) trading on external exchanges rather than on our exchange," and noted that there is still no explanation as to where the abnormally large amount of OM tokens flowed from or why a certain group was controlling a significant portion of the total supply. Meanwhile, OKX said it is currently pursuing multiple lawsuits and legal procedures related to the incident. OKX criticized, "The Mantra team is shifting the blame to OKX while ignoring the facts instead of answering these serious allegations," calling it "very unprofessional." It added, "OKX will continue to fully cooperate with regulators and uphold user protection principles." Earlier in April, Mantra experienced a crash from 6 dollars to 0.6 dollars. According to CoinMarketCap, as of 4:14 PM that day it was trading at 0.072 dollars, down 2.18% from the previous day.

Solana (SOL) is trading weak intraday. Investor sentiment has worsened due to a decline in assets deposited on the network and a slowdown in meme-coin trading. As of 3:40 PM on the 13th (KST), Solana is trading at 132.66 dollars, down 4.58% from the previous day, according to CoinMarketCap. Crypto outlet Cointelegraph analyzed that Solana has been trading below the 145 dollars level for 4 weeks due to a recent slowdown in demand for decentralized applications (dApp) on the network. Solana's total value locked (TVL) reached an all-time high in September (about 15 billion dollars) but recently plunged to 7 billion dollars. The decline in TVL can be seen as an increase in the supply of Solana available for sale on the market as assets locked in smart contracts decrease. Over the same period, weekly revenue of Solana-based dApps also fell by more than 30%, currently recording 26 million dollars. The contraction of the meme-coin market is also a burden. Since a large-scale leveraged liquidation occurred in the virtual asset market on October 10, liquidity has declined and investor sentiment toward high-risk assets such as meme coins has been greatly weakened. As trading volume at Solana-based decentralized exchanges (DEXs) that grew around meme coins has decreased, the overall profitability and activity of the Solana ecosystem have slowed. However, some in the market view this trend as a result intertwined with the broader adjustment phase of the virtual asset market rather than a problem unique to Solana. Over the past 30 days, Solana network fee revenue decreased by 21%, which is a more stable trend compared to BNB Chain (-67%) and Ethereum (-41%) over the same period.

Data oracle protocol Pyth Network is introducing a buyback program to boost the token's value. On the 12th (local time), The Block reported that Pyth Network plans to use 33% of DAO treasury assets each month through the 'PYTH Reserve' to purchase PYTH tokens on the market. The buyback will start this month and will be funded by network revenues. Michael James, head of institutional business development at Douro Labs, said, "The first month's buyback size will be in the range of 100,000~200,000 dollars," adding, "about 500,000 dollars are currently held in the DAO treasury." Pyth said it will expand the buyback size in the future as revenues increase. Pyth said its recently launched data product 'Pyth Pro' recorded annualized recurring revenue (ARR) of 1,000,000 dollars in its first month after launch. Pyth currently provides data to more than 100 blockchains and more than 600 applications.

Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of SkyBridge Capital, offered a positive outlook for the virtual assets (cryptocurrencies) market next year. On the 12th (KST), according to crypto-focused outlet Cointelegraph, Scaramucci said at the 'Longitude (LONGITUDE)' event, "Technological innovation will reconfigure the financial system and bring significant changes to the global economy," and "the growth of virtual assets will expand exponentially." He said that first, securing regulatory clarity for virtual assets worldwide would have a positive effect on the market. Scaramucci stated, "Policymakers around the world, including the United States, are working to keep cryptocurrencies competitive domestically," adding, "Moreover, the United States is now considering measures to maintain infrastructure related to virtual assets." Institutional investment is also expected to become more active. Scaramucci explained, "Traditional finance spends $4 trillion annually on transaction verification costs," and "using blockchain networks such as Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) can reduce that cost by up to 75%."

An individual Bitcoin (BTC) miner beat astronomical odds to successfully receive a block reward. On the 12th (Korean time), according to crypto media The Block, miner A used CKpool's personal Bitcoin mining software to mine 927,474 blocks, obtaining a total of 3.133 bitcoins. That is worth 289,380 dollars at current prices. CKpool developer Kon Klivas explained, "Such a case might occur only once every 82 years, if at all." Small-scale (individual) miners generally opt to join mining pools that provide steady rewards to earn profits, but some attempt solo mining aiming for the entire block reward.

Save the Children (Save the Children) has officially launched a 'Bitcoin Fund' that holds donations received in Bitcoin (BTC) for up to 4 years. Through this, it aims to maximize the value of donations and experiment with a new blockchain-based support model. On the 12th (Korean time), according to virtual asset (cryptocurrency) specialized media The Block, Save the Children will operate a fund that safely holds and manages Bitcoin donations in cooperation with digital asset specialist Fortris. The fund aims to maximize the value of donated Bitcoins by holding them for up to four years. In addition, Save the Children plans to use the fund to test cash and voucher support models using Bitcoin, stablecoins (virtual assets pegged to fiat currencies), and digital wallets, and to explore ways to deliver donations to beneficiaries more quickly, transparently, and at lower cost. Save the Children is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that first accepted Bitcoin donations in 2013, and has carried out child support activities through digital assets in places such as Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan. Janti Soeripto, president of Save the Children USA, said, "When traditional foreign aid faces difficulties, innovative solutions are needed," and added, "By integrating blockchain-based tools into our emergency response and global programs, we will be able to provide faster and more efficient assistance to children in crisis." Additionally, Save the Children plans to collaborate with Bitcoin application developers to support community-based tools and digital financial education for households that cannot access traditional financial services.

Tether (USDT), the world's largest stablecoin (a virtual asset whose value is pegged to fiat currency), is exploring additional liquidity options through tokenization ahead of planned share sales. On the 12th (Korean time), Bloomberg, citing a Tether representative, reported that Tether is considering tokenizing its shares and is seeking ways to secure liquidity for investors through that measure. The discussion reportedly followed Tether's direct intervention to stop existing shareholders from selling shares at prices below the company's valuation. In response, Tether said, "We have confirmed that certain shareholders attempted to sell shares," while adding, "Such sale attempts are not authorized, and the process must be conducted under Tether's management." Tether also said, "It does not intend to disclose the identities of those shareholders." Tether is currently in the process of raising funds through share sales. Prominent potential buyers include Japan's SoftBank Group and the U.S. asset manager ARK Invest. Tether is also exploring ways for early investors to recover funds without waiting for an initial public offering (IPO) through share buybacks. Recently, fintech companies such as Ripple have also resolved liquidity issues through share buybacks.

Blockchain-based global remittance service company Ripple said on the 12th that it has partnered with Swiss-based bank AMINA to introduce its payment solution for the first time in the European banking sector. AMINA is a virtual asset bank under the supervision of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). Through this partnership, the two companies will provide cross-border payment services between neighboring countries. Ripple's payment solution 'Ripple Payments' will be used for payments. Ripple emphasized that this cooperation will act as a gateway linking digital asset companies and the traditional financial system. Kaesi Keuraedok, Ripple's Managing Director for the UK & Europe, said, "Amina bank customers will be able to use stablecoin payments including Ripple USD (RLUSD) and fast payout services based on multiple currencies."

XRP is expected to be used on the Solana (SOL) blockchain. On the 12th (Korean time), Hex Trust said on its website, "It will launch Wrapped XRP, an external-chain version of XRP, so that decentralized finance (DeFi) activities using the XRP token can become possible." Wrapped XRP is a token that allows XRP to be used on other mainnets rather than the XRP Ledger, and it is linked 1:1 with XRP. Wrapped XRP will be launched first on Solana (SOL), and is planned to expand to blockchain mainnets such as Ethereum (ETH) and Optimism (OP).

The blockchain-based lending platform Figure Technology Solutions (Figure) plans to proceed with a second initial public offering (IPO). On the 12th (Korean time), according to Solana (SOL) X (formerly Twitter), Mike Cagney, Figure's founder, attended Solana's Breakingpoint 25 and said, "Last week we filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a second IPO." Specifically, the paperwork reportedly sought approval to allow the company to directly issue its shares on the Solana blockchain.

On the 12th (Korean time), according to Bitcoin Magazine, Jack Mallers, CEO of Twenty One Capital, said in an interview with the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), "Bitcoin (BTC)'s market capitalization will someday rise to 200 trillion dollars." As of 6:30 p.m. that day, Bitcoin was trading at $92,203, up 1.99% from the previous day, and its market capitalization was $1.83 trillion.