Uk Jin

The stablecoin (a virtual asset whose value is pegged to fiat currency) giant Tether (USDT) has withdrawn a large amount of Bitcoin (BTC) from its reserves. According to AmberCN on the 3rd (Korea time), Tether withdrew 14,000 Bitcoins from its reserve address about 5 hours ago. This is worth approximately $1.49 billion at the current exchange rate. AmberCN stated, "It is unclear whether this is a transfer to a decentralized storage or some other operation."

According to Onchain Lens on the 2nd (local time), World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a virtual asset (cryptocurrency) business led by the family of President Donald Trump, deposited 10 million USDC to BitGo about 15 minutes ago.

SOL Strategies, a Canada-based firm designating Solana (SOL) as a reserve asset, recorded a net loss in Q2. According to cryptocurrency news outlet Cointelegraph on the 2nd (local time), SOL Strategies posted a net loss of 4.8 million Canadian dollars in Q2. However, during the same period, revenue surged by about 2.5 million dollars year-on-year. Most of SOL Strategies' revenue came from cryptocurrency staking and validation. By operating validation nodes, SOL Strategies generated revenue from fees on both its own and third-party delegations, receiving rewards in Solana and other tokens. Despite the increase in revenue, SOL Strategies recorded a net loss due to higher expenditures compared to revenue. In Q2, SOL Strategies recorded total expenses of 8.52 million Canadian dollars. Earlier in April, SOL Strategies announced the issuance of convertible bonds worth 500 million dollars to purchase additional cryptocurrencies. At that time, SOL Strategies accumulated Solana and Sui (SUI) and reduced its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings.

Tether (USDT), a giant in the stablecoin (virtual assets pegged to fiat currency) market, announced on the 2nd (local time) that it will launch a gold-backed stablecoin on the TON blockchain. According to Financial Fizz, Tether has partnered with the TON Foundation to launch XAUt0, the full-chain version of its gold-backed stablecoin XAUt, on the TON blockchain. This partnership is centered around expanding access to digital gold through a multi-chain interoperability strategy. XAUt0 is based on LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard, allowing free transfers between different chains. According to CoinGecko data, Tether’s gold-backed stablecoin XAUt currently has a circulating supply of $832 million and is currently only issued on the Ethereum platform.

Sharplink Gaming, which attracted market attention by including Ethereum (ETH) as a financial asset, saw its stock slump during trading. Previously, Sharplink Gaming had recorded a 2000% surge in share price last week. According to crypto-specialized media outlet CoinDesk on the 2nd (local time), Sharplink Gaming closed at $55.37 for the day—down 27.81% during trading. In OTC trading, the price fell an additional 5.08% and is now at $52.56. On the 27th, Sharplink Gaming announced it would sell 69 million shares to accumulate Ethereum and aimed to raise $450 million. The fundraising completed on that day, with Sharplink Gaming succeeding in securing a total of $425 million. This announcement by Sharplink Gaming had a significant effect on its stock price. The stock, which was previously trading under $3, soared around 2000% after the announcement, reaching up to $124.12. Meanwhile, Sharplink Gaming plans to appoint Joseph Lubin, CEO of ConsenSys (an Ethereum infrastructure company), to its board to execute this strategy.

According to Alternative, a cryptocurrency data provider, on the 3rd (KST), the Crypto Fear & Greed Index recorded 64 points, the same as the previous day. As of 9:04 AM today, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $105,837 on CoinMarketCap, up 0.13% from the previous day. Altcoins are also strong. At the same time, Ethereum (ETH) and XRP rose by 2.70% and 0.84%, respectively, compared to the previous day. In addition, Binance Coin (+0.81%), Dogecoin (+0.75%), and Cardano (+0.62%) also increased. On the other hand, Tron (TRX) and Solana (SOL) recorded drops of 0.84% and 0.55%, respectively. The Fear & Greed Index is an indicator that reflects market sentiment: the closer to 0, the more extreme the fear; the closer to 100, the more extreme the greed. This index is calculated based on volatility (25%), trading volume (25%), social media (15%), surveys (15%), Bitcoin market cap dominance (10%), and Google search data (10%).

Paradigm, a crypto asset (cryptocurrency) investment firm, has unveiled a new automated market maker (AMM) designed to manage stablecoin (virtual assets pegged to fiat currency values) pools more efficiently. According to The Block, a cryptocurrency-focused media outlet, on the 2nd (local time), Paradigm researchers announced their new AMM protocol, Orbitals, via a blog post, explaining, "Orbitals can address the shortcomings of Uniswap V3 and Curve, elevate concentrated liquidity to the next level, and further enhance capital efficiency." According to Paradigm, Orbitals is an AMM mechanism developed to more efficiently operate liquidity pools containing up to over 10,000 different stablecoins. Paradigm researchers stated, "While Orbitals is still in its early design stages, we are anticipating whether it can transform the future landscape of stablecoin liquidity." The Block commented, "As interest in stablecoins is surging internationally, various companies are considering the adoption of stablecoins. However, despite the launch of many stablecoins recently, Tether (USDT) and USDC still capture the vast majority of the market share."

BlackRock, an issuer of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs), appears to have started selling Bitcoin. On the 3rd (KST), the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) media outlet Cryptopolitan reported, citing data from Arkham Intelligence, that BlackRock deposited 4,113 Bitcoin (approximately $430 million) into Coinbase Prime. It was confirmed that these assets were withdrawn from BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT. Cryptopolitan stated, “BlackRock's streak of Bitcoin purchases has ended,” and added, “This could act as selling pressure in the market.”

Ethereum (ETH) has recently initiated restructuring of its R&D (Research and Development) division to address recent crises. In the process, it has reportedly laid off some staff. According to crypto-specialized media outlet CoinDesk on the 2nd (local time), the Ethereum Foundation announced via its blog, "To focus on critical design issues, we have carried out restructuring and let go of part of the research and development team." It is analyzed that this decision was made at the Foundation level after continued criticism directed at the Ethereum Foundation. In fact, within the community, there has been criticism that if the Foundation fails to solve Ethereum's technical problems, its position within the industry could be at risk. Currently, the Ethereum Foundation is rebranding its protocol research and development department as “Protocol,” prioritizing three tasks: enhancing Ethereum layer 1 scalability, expanding blob space for rollups, and improving user experience. Key developers such as Tim Beiko and Alex Stokes have been assigned to each strategic objective, while some team members have departed. Regarding this, the Ethereum Foundation explained, "Today's changes deviate from previous working methods," but added, "With these changes, we aim to become more responsive and effective."

Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) is seeking to raise funds to accumulate more Bitcoin (BTC). According to Bloomberg on the 2nd (local time), Strategy announced that it will issue 2.5 million perpetual preferred shares with a 10% yield and proceed with a public offering. In this offering, Strategy will set the price at $100 per share to raise a total of $250 million. The ticker has been set as STRD. Preferred shareholders will receive non-cumulative cash dividends at an annual rate of 10%, at the company's discretion. Meanwhile, earlier in the day, Strategy purchased an additional 705 Bitcoins. Strategy now holds a total of 580,955 Bitcoins (about $41 billion).

The Czech Justice Minister has resigned, taking responsibility for receiving Bitcoin (BTC) worth approximately €40 million from a drug trafficker. According to Cointelegraph on the 2nd (Korea Standard Time), Pavel Blažek, the Czech Justice Minister, stepped down after it became known that the Ministry of Justice received a donation of 468.468 Bitcoins from a drug trafficker. On the 28th, the Czech Ministry of Justice announced on X (formerly Twitter), "About 500 Bitcoins were auctioned and €40 million was raised," adding, "These funds will be used for digitizing the judicial system, eradicating drug use in prisons, and improving prison staff housing conditions." However, after the post was published, local Czech media reported a revelation. The donor was identified as Tomáš Zídek, a drug dealer who had operated the darknet platform 'Sheep Marketplace.' The public strongly protested, leading Minister Blažek to decide to resign. Minister Blažek explained, "I have decided to step down as Justice Minister according to an agreement with the Prime Minister," and emphasized, "I was not aware of any illegal activities."

The virtual asset (cryptocurrency) exchange Upbit announced on the 2nd (Korea Standard Time) that it has applied changes to the AhaToken (AHT) circulation plan at the request of AhaToken.

According to Odaily on the 2nd (KST), the decentralized social network Mask Network (Mask) announced that it has successfully completed the strategic acquisition of Orb.club, a social application on the Lens Chain. Orb.club is a mobile social app on Lens Chain with approximately 50,000 monthly active users. The platform offers features such as viral emoji-based airdrops, a collectible activity feed, and native tipping functionality. Through this acquisition, Orb.club will be integrated into the social ecosystem matrix managed by MaskDAO. By joining the ecosystem, Orb.club is expected to contribute to Mask Network's existing components such as Next.ID, Web3.bio, and Firefly.social. Suji Yan, the founder of Mask Network (Mask), stated, "Orb.club will revive the essence of social media," adding, "We hope to drive exponential growth through strengthened infrastructure."

Some experts are expressing skepticism about XChat, the new messaging platform unveiled by X (formerly Twitter). In particular, the phrase 'Bitcoin-style' emphasized by Elon Musk, CEO of X, has drawn criticism. On the 2nd (Korean time), CoinDesk, a media outlet specializing in virtual assets (cryptocurrencies), reported that both Bitcoin market and tech industry experts are responding negatively to Musk's XChat. Previously, Musk introduced XChat via his own X account. Musk explained, "XChat features encryption, message disappearance, and the ability to transfer all types of files," and said, "Among them, especially, audio and video calls are built on Rust with Bitcoin-style encryption." However, experts questioned the 'Bitcoin-style encryption' Musk mentioned. Ian Myers, professor of computer engineering at the University of Maryland, pointed out, "Bitcoin primarily uses signatures, not encryption," and said, "(Musk's statement) is like describing NASA launching a rocket using water just because they use hydrogen and oxygen." He added, "It goes without saying," and remarked, "Bitcoin-style is neither a term that describes Rust nor a strong indicator of security for a messaging app." The reaction from the virtual assets community is also cold. As of 2:02 p.m. that day, Bitcoin was recorded at $104,825, up 0.15% from the previous day, according to CoinMarketCap.

WEMIX, which has been delisted from domestic virtual asset (cryptocurrency) exchanges, is exhibiting a weak trend during the trading session. As the delisting approaches, investor sentiment appears to have rapidly cooled. At 1:47 PM (Korean time) on the 2nd, WEMIX is trading at 302 KRW on the domestic exchange Bithumb, down 7.65% from the previous day. WEMIX fell to 269 KRW around 6 AM earlier in the day but has since recovered some of its losses. From 3 PM today, trading support for WEMIX on domestic exchanges will end. Previously, on November 30th, the court dismissed WEMIX’s request for an injunction to continue trading support at four virtual asset exchanges (Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, GOPAX), resulting in a second delisting decision. Meanwhile, the WEMIX team announced that it will hold an emergency online briefing session on YouTube at 6:30 PM on the 2nd. Kim Seok-hwan, the head of the WEMIX Foundation, will attend the session, and questions from holders will be collected in advance. The WEMIX side stated, "We sincerely apologize for the decision to terminate trading support for WEMIX coins on domestic KRW exchanges as a result of the court's injunction ruling," adding, "In order to communicate directly with all WEMIX holders regarding recent major matters surrounding WEMIX, we will hold an emergency briefing at 6:30 PM on the 2nd."

According to the Token Mindshare top gainer from the AI-based Web3 search platform Kaito, as of the 2nd, the five most popular digital assets are Kaito (KAITO), Virtual Protocol (VIRTUAL), Bitcoin (BTC), InfineX (INFINEX), and AIXBT. Kaito ranked first. This was due to investors raising concerns about Audius, which had its Token Generation Event (TGE) in progress, on the Kaito Yapper leaderboard. Audius is a project that measures the amount of attention paid to Twitter posts and distributes rewards accordingly. During its TGE, Audius always remained at the very top of the Kaito Yapper leaderboard, drawing lots of investor anticipation. Some users even predicted Audius’s token market capitalization could rise to $100 million. However, after being listed on a cryptocurrency exchange, Audius faced heavy selling pressure and fell far short of expectations. As of 1:21 PM that day, Audius was trading at $0.01144, down 9.32% from the previous day. Its market cap is currently recorded at $11.8 million. Virtual Protocol took second place. On this day, Vader Research introduced noteworthy projects on Genesis Launchpad, Virtual Protocol’s token launchpad. Vader highlighted projects such as ▲Siya (SIYA) and ▲Bounty (BOUNTY) as notable. Bitcoin was third. Investor attention surged after Metaplanet, often called Japan’s MicroStrategy, purchased an additional 1,088 Bitcoins. Meanwhile, Michael Saylor, CEO of Saylor Strategy, posted the 'Saylor Tracker Chart' the previous night, indicating further Bitcoin accumulation. InfineX ranked fourth. Its registration on the Kaito Yapper leaderboard appears to have led to a surge in Twitter mentions. AIXBT rounded out the top five. At the same time, according to CoinMarketCap, AIXBT was trading at $0.1903, up 3.65% from the previous day. Besides these, investors also showed interest in Aptos (APT), DeFiApp (DEFIAPP), Meteora (MET), Uniswap (UNI), and Monad (MONAD).

Debate is spreading within the cryptocurrency community over the auction of Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht. On the 1st (local time), JackXBT, an on-chain investigator, stated on X (formerly Twitter), "Ross Ulbricht received a total of 300 Bitcoin (BTC) through donations, and the source of these funds is suspected to be Jambler," adding, "I am suspicious about where this money is coming from." He continued, "Jambler is an unstable centralized mixing service, and typically, if privacy is a concern, decentralized mixers like Wasabi or Samourai are used," and added, "It doesn't appear to be a direct donation from them, but it is true that the source is questionable." Following his post, the cryptocurrency community had mixed reactions, such as "Just enjoy what was donated to Ross," "It needs to be watched closely," and "It’s possible people who used to work with Ross might have been the donors."

A positive analysis has emerged regarding the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) Solana (SOL). On the 1st (local time), cryptocurrency analyst Ali Martinez announced on his X (formerly Twitter), "A TD Sequential signal was detected on Solana's 12-hour chart," adding, "This is a rebound signal." TD Sequential is a technical analysis tool, also known as the TD sequential model. When there is a series of rises (or declines) over a certain period, the TD Sequential chart displays a signal of '9' or '13', which indicates that the asset may soon reverse.

There is an opinion that the upward momentum of the leading virtual asset (cryptocurrency), Bitcoin (BTC), has temporarily weakened. In this process, it is argued that the $103,000 level could be an important turning point for Bitcoin. According to the specialized virtual asset media outlet The Block on the 1st (local time), Rachel Lucas, an analyst at BTC Market, said, "Indicators such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) are signaling that the current upward momentum has started to weaken." However, she also stated, "In the long term, the outlook is optimistic. Both analysts and market participants are increasingly convinced that we may be entering an early stage of a new supercycle." Lucas especially emphasized the need to pay attention to the $103,000 level during this phase. She forecasted, "If Bitcoin can remain in the $103,000~$105,000 range, it could rise again to $115,000. Conversely, if it falls below $103,000, Bitcoin could drop as low as $93,000." She added, "However, even if Bitcoin declines, the long-term outlook remains optimistic," and explained, "This is why we’re being cautious, wondering whether this is the start of a short-term rally or just a brief pause before the next upward move."

Metaplanet, often called the strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) of Japan, has purchased additional Bitcoin (BTC). On the 2nd (local time), Metaplanet announced via its official X (formerly Twitter) that "an additional 1,088 Bitcoins have been purchased," and added, "Metaplanet now holds a total of 8,888 Bitcoins."