Uk Jin

Ethereum (ETH) appears to be experiencing intensifying downward pressure. As of 7:14 AM on the 25th, Ethereum is trading at $2,561.72, showing a sharp decline of 8.52% compared to the previous day.

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX has decided to settle with the US Department of Justice (DOJ). On the 25th, OKX announced through its official website that its subsidiary OKX Seychelles has agreed to pay a fine of $84 million to the US Department of Justice, pleading guilty to charges of unauthorized money transmission in the United States. OKX acknowledged that it operated without a money transmitter license and agreed to forfeit fee revenues ($420 million) generated from US customers during the relevant period.

The US tariffs that were postponed for a month on the 4th are expected to be implemented next month. President Donald Trump has once again confirmed his determination to impose tariffs. According to Bloomberg on the 24th (local time), during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House on Monday, President Trump responded to a question about whether the tariffs postponed until March 4 would take effect by saying, "The tariffs will be implemented as scheduled, within the set timeframe." President Trump added, "It will be very good for the United States. It will make America fluid and wealthy." Previously, President Trump signed an executive order to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting on the 4th of this month. However, they later agreed to postpone this for 30 days through mutual agreement.

Cryptocurrency appears to be gaining attention as a new asset class in South America. A survey shows that the majority of South American investors plan to increase their cryptocurrency holdings in 2025. On the 24th, CoinDesk reported, citing a Binance Research survey, that 95% of cryptocurrency investors in South American countries including Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia plan to increase their cryptocurrency holdings this year. 40.1% of investors indicated plans to purchase cryptocurrencies within the next 3 months, while 15.3% said within 6 months, and 39.7% within 12 months. This pro-cryptocurrency sentiment among South American investors is believed to be influenced by the accelerating adoption of cryptocurrencies in South America. In fact, South America has increased its cryptocurrency adoption rate by 116% in 2024. Currently, South American cryptocurrency users number approximately 55 million, accounting for 10% of global users. Regarding this, Guilherme Nazar, Binance's Vice President for Latin America, explained, "Latin America is a rapidly growing region in the cryptocurrency sector, and these survey results reinforce what we have observed in our operations."

The second phase of virtual asset (cryptocurrency) legislation is expected to be submitted to the National Assembly in the second half of this year. According to industry sources on the 24th, when asked if there was a precise timeline for the working group-level meetings regarding the second phase of virtual asset legislation, Financial Services Commission Chairman Kim Byung-hwan stated that while "we don't have an exact timeline," he added that "we have a general schedule to submit the second phase legislation to the National Assembly in the second half of the year." Chairman Kim further stated that "we will expedite the second phase legislation as much as possible in line with rapidly changing international trends."

Amid former President Donald Trump's plan to investigate Fort Knox, the U.S. gold depository, concerns have been raised about the possibility of global economic collapse if there is no gold in Fort Knox. Robert Kiyosaki, known as the author of 'Rich Dad Poor Dad,' claimed on X (Twitter) on the 24th, "If President Trump discovers there is no gold in Fort Knox, the U.S. economy will collapse" and "the dollar will simultaneously become worthless." He added, "I currently hold assets such as gold, silver, and Bitcoin (BTC), and (if Fort Knox has no gold) silver will become king." Previously, on the 19th, President Trump stated aboard his private jet, "We're going to Fort Knox. We need to make sure the gold is there."

A large-scale Ethereum (ETH) hacking incident occurred at cryptocurrency exchange Bybit last week. Mixing platform eXch, which was suspected of helping North Korea's hacker group Lazarus with money laundering, has denied the allegations. According to crypto media The Block on the 23rd (local time), eXch stated in a forum post that "Those who are attacking eXch now are those who want decentralization and on-chain privacy to disappear" and "We are not laundering money for Lazarus and North Korea." The Bybit hacking incident that occurred last week involved the theft of approximately $1.5 billion (about 2.16 trillion won) worth of Ethereum (ETH). This is the largest cryptocurrency hacking incident in the industry's history, and North Korea's hacker group Lazarus has been identified as the perpetrator. Amid this situation, there are suspicions in the community that mixing platform eXch is helping to launder the stolen funds. This is due to eXch's transaction volume notably increasing after the hacking incident. Analysts explained, "After the Bybit hack, the average daily Ethereum transaction volume increased significantly from 800 to 20,000" and "It appears that some of the hacked volume has entered eXch."

 ## <Today's Key Economic Schedule> ▶24th(Mon): △EU January Consumer Price Index (19:00 KST, 05:00 EST) ## <Today's Key Cryptocurrency Schedule> ▶24th(Mon): △Ethereum(ETH) Holesky Testnet Integration

Crypto exchange Bybit has reportedly frozen a portion of the funds stolen in last week's hacking incident. On the 24th, Bybit announced via X (Twitter) that they have "frozen $42.89 million of the hacker's stolen funds with help from platforms including Tether (USDT), Thorchain, Bitget, and Circle."

Interview with Sean Ren, CEO of Sahara AI 'One-Stop Platform' for AI Developers Helps Protect AI Model Ownership and Generate Revenue Collaborating with 30+ Global Companies Including Microsoft "In the future, individuals will own artificial intelligence (AI) and be able to generate revenue from it. Sahara AI's goal is to make it easier and more efficient for individuals to develop AI." Sean Ren, Co-founder and CEO of Sahara AI (pictured), revealed this vision for Sahara AI in an interview with BloomingBit on the 20th. As economic activities using AI increase, the importance of AI model ownership is growing. Sahara AI is a blockchain platform that protects asset ownership rights for AI. Previously, Sahara AI raised $43 million (approximately 62 billion won) from major global investors including Binance Labs, Pantera Capital, and Polychain Capital. Notably, Samsung Next, Samsung's investment subsidiary, is known to have invested in Korea. We discussed various topics with Sean, including Sahara AI's establishment process, the combination of AI and blockchain, and matters related to Sahara AI's token. "Sahara AI Dreams of Being a 'One-Stop Platform' for AI Ownership and Development" Sean completed his Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and currently serves as an associate professor of Computer Science at the University of Southern California (USC). He revealed that his 12 years of AI research during his education greatly influenced the establishment of Sahara AI. Regarding Sahara AI's founding background, Sean explained, "While researching the GPT-3 model in 2022, I thought that in the future, AI could generate revenue on behalf of humans," adding, "We wanted to create a platform where users could claim ownership of their data and AI models using blockchain technology." In other words, they decided to build a 'one-stop platform' for AI developers. To this end, Sahara AI has built a copyright system for AI data and models within the platform. It consists of the 'AI Asset Registry' for tracking assets, 'AI Licensing' for controlling access, 'AI Ownership' for protecting non-transferable ownership records, and 'AI Attribution' for tracking revenue contribution and distribution. Additionally, on the 12th, Sahara AI launched early access to 'AI Studio,' where AI development processes can be performed in one place. Sahara AI's AI Studio is a development tool that assists in the series of processes from data purchase to AI model building and execution, and application implementation. In particular, developers can customize various AIs, including large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and DeepSeek, to their liking. Sean noted, "While ChatGPT currently being commercialized was developed by OpenAI, it's actually a model created with data contributed by people worldwide," adding, "Similarly, Sahara AI means forming a vast environment by gathering countless grains of sand, which is data." "Combining AI and Blockchain Will Help Developers Generate Revenue" Sean explained that the most crucial point in combining AI and blockchain is "accurate value assessment of AI models and data." He emphasized, "AI development requires significant cost and effort. For sustainable development, commercialization and practical productization of AI models must be possible." Sean was particularly confident that this aspect differentiates Sahara AI from other AI projects. In fact, Sahara AI has proven its commercialization potential by providing AI model solutions to Hollywood creator agencies and India's auto parts manufacturer Motherson Group. Sean said, "Sahara AI is currently collaborating with more than 30 global companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Character AI, and Snapchat for AI model provision. Through this, we are in the learning process to become a feasible AI project," adding, "I think this strength allowed Sahara AI to attract significant investment." Furthermore, Sean predicted that the combination of AI and blockchain could prevent centralization in the AI industry. He explained, "Currently, the biggest obstacle in AI development is GPU costs. Except for big tech companies, it's difficult for AI developers to secure necessary resources," adding, "To solve this problem, Sahara AI adopted an operational method where computing power is provided free initially, and revenue is generated later from the developed AI models." He added, "This decentralized AI model development environment will encourage AI developers' participation and create competition, forming a virtuous cycle where AI technology can develop further." "Token Launch Planned for Q2 This Year... Expecting Korean Developer Participation" Meanwhile, Sahara AI is preparing major events this year, including mainnet launch and airdrop (free token distribution to network participants proportional to their contribution). Sean said, "Sahara AI's official token launch is scheduled for Q2 this year," and asked to "please check the official Sahara AI Twitter or website for token launch-related information." Various events are also being prepared to target the Korean market. Sean said, "Korea is a country with a culture that actively embraces new ideas while also having localized culture," adding, "To target the Korean market, we plan to actively hold local community events, meetups, and networking events." He added, "We will listen directly to the Korean developer community's opinions and prepare step by step to target the Korean market," concluding, "I hope many Korean developers can understand the value and opportunities that Sahara AI offers."

As discussions continue about the integration of crypto assets (cryptocurrency) with traditional finance, experts advise that crypto assets need to establish 24/7 risk management measures to successfully enter traditional finance. According to CoinDesk on the 19th, Gautam Sharma, CEO of Brevan Howard, participated in the 'Wall Street's Perspective on Crypto Assets' session and stated that "while there are companies in traditional finance that have entered the crypto asset sector," he emphasized that "24/7 risk management, including market and credit risks, is necessary." Counterparty risk was also identified as a challenge that the crypto asset market needs to address. Counterparty risk refers to the potential loss that can occur when a trading counterparty fails to fulfill their settlement obligations. Fabio Frontini, founder of Abraxas Capital, explained that "counterparty risk is the most important factor when conducting arbitrage," adding that "especially in the perpetual futures market unique to crypto assets, users can lose their margin due to stop-loss orders." Market liquidity was also highlighted as an area for improvement. Mike Kunel, CEO of Flow Traders, emphasized that "to gain investor trust, transparency is needed to move liquidity without dispersion along with data availability."

Wintermute, a leading market maker in the virtual asset (cryptocurrency) market, is attempting to expand its business in the US. A market maker is an entity that provides liquidity by presenting both sell and buy prices in the market. On the 18th (local time), Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy revealed plans for US business expansion, including opening a New York office, during an interview with Bloomberg at Consensus Hong Kong. Currently, Wintermute has headquarters in London and Singapore. CEO Gaevoy stated, "As part of the company's US business expansion, we plan to launch over-the-counter products for US customers and will add 5-10 people to our current team of 130." Gaevoy further added, "Wintermute is optimistic about potential changes in US virtual asset regulations."

The Korea Customs Service plans to conduct crackdowns to respond to trade and foreign exchange crimes exploiting virtual assets (cryptocurrency). According to industry sources on the 18th, the Customs Service held the '2025 National Customs Foreign Exchange Investigation Officials Meeting' at the Government Complex in Daejeon, attended by about 20 foreign exchange investigation directors and chiefs from customs offices nationwide. According to the Customs Service, they detected 300 cases of trade and foreign exchange crimes last year, amounting to approximately 2.6 trillion won. Compared to 2023, the number of detected cases increased by 52% (198 → 300 cases), and the amount increased by 34% (1.9 trillion won → 2.6 trillion won). This appears to be due to the simultaneous detection of major cases such as export-import price manipulation. In particular, the Customs Service will conduct planned crackdowns on various foreign exchange crimes related to virtual assets in preparation for the spread of trade and foreign exchange crimes exploiting virtual assets. To enhance investigation capabilities, they plan to expand the introduction of virtual asset tracking programs and increase training for virtual asset tracking experts.

Former President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a key contributor to his election victory, are scheduled to have a joint interview on Fox News at 11 AM (Korean time) on the 19th. Meanwhile, according to the decentralized prediction market PolyMarket at 11:20 AM, the probability of Trump and Musk mentioning cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin (BTC) is currently set at 22%. In the current betting market, Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leads with 87%, followed by Tariffs/Taxes (75%), Artificial Intelligence (66%), NATO (62%), and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (57%).