Uk Jin

Coinone, a domestic virtual asset exchange, announced on the 17th that it is transitioning to a co-representative system and has designated Chief Operating Officer (COO) Sunghyun Lee as co-CEO. The co-CEO designate is an expert in fintech and financial strategy, having gained experience at global financial institutions and strategic consulting firms. He majored in Business Administration at Seoul National University and completed his MBA at New York University's Stern School of Business. He has worked at various companies including Citibank, Stern Value Management, Deloitte Consulting, Bain & Company, Dunamu, Zum Internet, and Yanolja. After joining Coinone as COO in January this year, his capabilities were recognized, leading to his designation as co-CEO. Coinone's transition to a co-CEO system is intended to respond to changes in the virtual asset market and strengthen corporate competitiveness. Coinone plans to maximize the expertise of each co-CEO and establish a systematic decision-making system. The co-CEO designate will oversee the entire organization including operations, development, products, human resources, business, finance, and risk management based on his management expertise. CEO Myunghun Cha will lead the company's continuous growth while being responsible for PR, government relations, and product and service advancement. A Coinone representative said, "We are currently waiting for results after submitting a change notification to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) regarding the appointment of co-CEOs," adding, "Once the notification is accepted, we will complete the formal appointment process and begin operating under the co-CEO system."

Com2uS Platform, a subsidiary of Com2uS Holdings, announced on the 17th that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with NEXUS for joint business promotion and resource sharing. NEXUS is a company that provides global gaming and blockchain gaming platforms by combining blockchain technology with innovative development capabilities. Through this agreement, collaboration between Com2uS Platform's game backend service 'HIVE' and mainnet XPLA, and NEXUS's Web3 protocol 'CROSS' is expected to accelerate. This is anticipated to expand collaboration opportunities and strengthen marketing and partnerships between HIVE's clients and developers within the CROSS ecosystem. HIVE is a Game Backend as a Service (GBaaS) that provides essential gaming operation functions including authentication, payment, service metrics analysis, and Web3 integration, helping developers focus on content development. CROSS is a Web3 protocol that implements a secure and transparent gaming ecosystem, supporting blockchain-based game service expansion.

Argentina's President Javier Milei is facing serious consequences after promoting a meme coin. Multiple lawyers have filed fraud charges against President Milei. According to AP News on the 16th (local time), Argentine lawyers, including Jonathan Valdivieso, filed fraud charges against President Milei for promoting the meme coin LIBRA, which caused significant damages. Jonathan Valdivieso, a lawyer and one of the plaintiffs, told AP, "We suspect there was an illegal association in this fraud scheme, and the president is part of it." Previously, President Milei promoted LIBRA by stating, "Liberal Argentina is growing!!! This private project will be dedicated to encouraging Argentina's economic growth and funding Argentine SMEs and startups. The whole world wants to invest in Argentina." LIBRA is a coin launched by the KIP protocol and an individual named Hayden Davis. After President Milei's promotion, LIBRA saw a massive influx of funds and quickly surged to $5. However, insider trading soon occurred, causing the coin to crash by approximately 95%, resulting in devastating losses.

<Today's Major Economic Events> ▶Monday, Feb 17: △US Markets Closed for President's Day △Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker Speech △Fed Governor Michelle Bowman Speech △Fed Governor Christopher Waller Speech <Today's Major Cryptocurrency Events> ▶Monday, Feb 17: △CoinTelegraph AMA

Amid ongoing controversy surrounding the memecoin LIBRA, it was reported that Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool Sports, had received a promotional offer for the LIBRA token. According to cryptocurrency media Cointelegraph on the 16th (local time), Dave Portnoy revealed through X (Twitter) Spaces last night, "It's true that I received 6 million tokens as compensation for promoting the LIBRA project before its launch. However, I returned all of them when the token founders said I needed to disclose that I received compensation for promotion." LIBRA, introduced as an Argentine memecoin, surged to nearly $5 shortly after launch but subsequently crashed by 95%, raising rugpull suspicions. Insiders reportedly made over $40 million in profits by selling LIBRA.

According to Cryptopolitan on the 17th, law firms around the world, including Burwick, are preparing lawsuits against President Milei regarding the LIBRA token rugpull incident. Burwick announced via X (Twitter), "Contact us if you lost money due to LIBRA." Criticism against President Milei is also emerging within Argentina. Opposition leader Leandro Santoro stated, "This incident is an international embarrassment. It has led us to initiate impeachment proceedings." LIBRA is a memecoin that was created on the Solana (SOL) network on the 15th. President Milei directly promoted LIBRA, stating, "Liberal Argentina is growing!!! This private project will be dedicated to promoting Argentina's economic growth and funding Argentina's SMEs and startups. The whole world wants to invest in Argentina." However, LIBRA's price subsequently crashed by 94%, raising rugpull suspicions. Experts analyzed LIBRA's initial fund flows and mass selling movements, noting that large sell-offs came from a small number of accounts, causing the crash when these were converted to cash and withdrawn.

Amidst expectations that many cryptocurrency companies will go public this year, venture investor Dan Tapiero is setting up a fund to invest in cryptocurrency companies. According to PitchBook on the 12th, Dan Tapiero's Roundtable Partners is establishing the 50T Fund to invest in cryptocurrency companies, starting with a $500 million fundraising. The 50T Fund is named after the belief that the cryptocurrency market will reach $50 trillion within 10 years. It is reported that the 50T Fund will make diversified investments in various products such as stock investments and token investments. Dan Tapiero introduced the 50T Fund by stating, "The Trump Administration is laying the foundation for the United States to become a global hub for cryptocurrency and blockchain. Investors deserve the ability to invest in private companies that are part of the current digital asset ecosystem." He added, "Coinbase cannot remain the only large publicly listed company in the cryptocurrency sector. Many companies and projects are moving beyond the venture stage and need growth capital."

The decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) blockchain platform Sahara AI announced on the 12th via its official X (Twitter) that it has launched early access to Sahara AI Studio. Sahara AI Studio is an AI research and development platform that integrates features for dataset management, model training, storage, and scalable computing power.

BitGo, the issuer of Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) and the world's largest cryptocurrency custody firm, is reportedly planning to go public within this year. On the 12th, Bloomberg reported that BitGo is considering an initial public offering (IPO) by the end of the year and is in talks with several advisory firms regarding this. Previously, in 2023, BitGo's market value was estimated at $1.75 billion. At that time, investors such as Goldman Sachs, DRW Holdings, Redpoint Ventures, and Valor Equity Partners participated. Bloomberg evaluated this by stating, "Since President Donald Trump took office, many cryptocurrency businesses have been pursuing public listings. Various companies, including the Winklevoss Twins' Gemini, Bullish Global, and Circle, the issuer of USDC, are reportedly pushing for IPOs within the year."

On the 14th (local time), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to respond to Coinbase's appeal, which is seen as an opportunity to examine the SEC's approach to cryptocurrencies. On the 11th (local time), Eleanor Terrett, a Fox Business reporter, stated on X (Twitter), "The SEC must respond to Coinbase's appeal regarding the securities trading issue by the 14th," adding, "This response from the SEC will be an opportunity to confirm the SEC's stance on cryptocurrencies." Specifically, the SEC has four options. First, they can oppose Coinbase's appeal request. This would mean that even after former Chairman Gary Gensler's resignation, the SEC still believes that securities laws apply to most cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, if they accept Coinbase's appeal, it would mean that the SEC under the new administration has a different perspective on the application of securities laws. Additionally, the SEC could request an extension for the appeal response deadline or choose to drop the lawsuit altogether.

One in four adults in Korea is reported to own cryptocurrency. Korea's cryptocurrency ownership rate of 25% is higher than that of the United States, which stands at 19%. On the 12th, Hashed's think tank, Hashed Open Research (HOR), released a survey report titled 'Who are the Korean Cryptocurrency Investors?' revealing these findings. The survey targeted 2,000 adult internet users aged 20 to 60, and included questions about the size of cryptocurrency holdings per person, reasons for investment, whether they plan to increase their investments, the domestic and international exchanges they use and the amount deposited, whether they use decentralized exchanges (DEX), and how they store their cryptocurrency. According to the survey, 25% (507 people) of all respondents are currently investing in cryptocurrency. This is higher than the 19% of adults in the United States who own cryptocurrency. The report shows that 54% of those in their 30s have experience investing in cryptocurrency. This figure is 43% for those in their 40s and 38.8% for those in their 20s. Even among those in their 50s, a relatively higher age group, 33.2% have invested in cryptocurrency, and 19% of those in their 60s reported having investment experience. The most common range for current cryptocurrency holdings was between 1 million KRW and 5 million KRW, with 25% of respondents falling into this category. Those holding less than 500,000 KRW accounted for 20.5%, while those with holdings between 5 million KRW and 10 million KRW, and between 10 million KRW and 50 million KRW, were 15.2% and 16.6%, respectively. Additionally, 3.6% of respondents reported holding more than 100 million KRW in cryptocurrency. Among those not currently investing in cryptocurrency, 11.4% indicated they plan to invest in the future. This was particularly common among those in their 40s to 60s, who generally have more stable socioeconomic status and more disposable income. HOR analyzed that cryptocurrency investment could become more mainstream across all age groups in the future. Of the 507 respondents who identified as cryptocurrency investors in Korea, 123 (24.5%) said they use overseas cryptocurrency exchanges or decentralized exchanges (DEX). Among respondents, 54% had deposited more than 20% of their cryptocurrency holdings in overseas exchanges or DEX. Notably, 5 out of 8 respondents holding more than 100 million KRW in cryptocurrency had deposited more than 50% of their assets in overseas exchanges or DEX. Hashed Open Research analyzed that the barriers to entry for cryptocurrency investment are lower than those for stocks or real estate, and the potential for high returns is driving rapid mainstream adoption. More than half (51%) of cryptocurrency investors cited the potential for higher short-term returns compared to other assets as their reason for investing. Other reasons included recommendations from acquaintances (47%), ease of deposits and withdrawals (39%), and the ability to trade 24/7 (23%), all contributing to a well-facilitated investment environment. The main sources of investment funds for cryptocurrency investors were disposable income (64%) and earned income (57%). A representative from Hashed Open Research stated, "The mainstreaming of cryptocurrency investment and the expansion of the investment base are clearly evident in this report, and it seems to be an irreversible trend of the times," emphasizing the need for Korea to quickly legislate cryptocurrency in line with the trend of institutionalization in various countries. This survey was conducted through a mobile application targeting an open survey panel. The age composition of the panel followed the 2024 Statistics Korea data, with a margin of error of ±2.19%p and a confidence level of 95%.

Tom Emmer, Vice Chair of the Digital Assets, Financial Technology, and AI Subcommittee, known as a leading pro-cryptocurrency figure in the U.S., has sharply criticized former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who had a hostile relationship with the cryptocurrency market. On the 11th (local time), Congressman Emmer participated in The Block Scoop and stated, "Gary Gensler's crackdown on the cryptocurrency industry was illegal." In the podcast, Congressman Emmer emphasized that a favorable environment for the cryptocurrency industry has been forming in the U.S. since Donald Trump took office. He explained, "The government is trying to establish consistent rules for cryptocurrency regulation, with cooperation from regulatory bodies like the White House and the SEC. President Trump has kept his promise to clarify cryptocurrency regulations and is moving towards eliminating excessive regulations that hinder industry development." Furthermore, Congressman Emmer explained that many voters in the U.S. want digital innovation, which is one of the reasons the Democrats lost. He stressed, "Today's 40-year-olds have spent a lot of time online, and they can do things our generation cannot. The Democrats thought they would continue to support them, but in fact, they were reasonable people who wanted to experience the opportunities digital assets provide." Additionally, Congressman Emmer conveyed that legislation related to stablecoins (cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat currency) and Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in the U.S. is expected to gain momentum. He stated, "I believe that under Chairman French Hill, the stablecoin bill can gain speed," adding, "Especially for stablecoins, it is planned that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) will manage them instead of the Federal Reserve. The Fed has already shown that it has too much on its plate." He further added, "The prohibition of CBDCs is also one of the priority bills for Congress."

<Today's Major Economic Schedule> ▶12th (Wed): △January US Consumer Price Index (CPI, 10:30 PM) △Powell's Testimony to the House (Semi-annual Monetary Policy Report) <Next Week's Major Cryptocurrency Schedule> ▶12th (Wed): △ Arabian Blockchain and Crypto Expo Dubai 2025 (12th, 13th) △Unlocking of 630 million Asher (ATH) tokens △Upbit ends support for Steam Dollar (SBD) trading △Bybit lists Avalon (AVL) on the spot market