YM Lee

Global cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is launching a Bitcoin (BTC) loan service for US users. According to a report by DL News on the 16th (local time), Coinbase plans to start a Bitcoin loan service in collaboration with decentralized finance (DeFi) lending institution Morpho. This service will be available to US customers, excluding those in New York State, and is expected to expand to other jurisdictions in the future. The loan product will be brokered through Coinbase, but the actual service will be operated by Morpho. Coinbase had previously halted offering loan products following the bankruptcy of several cryptocurrency lending platforms such as Celsius, Genesis, and BlockFi in 2022.

Centralized cryptocurrency exchanges (CEX) in the United States will share information with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the first time this year, as they are subject to third-party reporting requirements for tax filing. On the 16th (local time), CNN reported, "2025 will be the first tax year where third-party reporting requirements apply to cryptocurrency traders." When transactions occur in custody accounts on centralized crypto trading platforms like Coinbase and Gemini, the information about these transactions will be shared with the IRS. Exchanges will report the purchase and sale information of cryptocurrencies within investor accounts through a new form, 1099-DA, and once the reporting is complete, this form will be transmitted to the IRS tax data in 2026. For investors trading on P2P decentralized exchanges like Uniswap and SushiSwap, the third-party reporting requirements will not apply until 2027.

The cryptocurrency market, which found bullish momentum ahead of President Trump's inauguration, may face headwinds due to a Japanese interest rate hike. On the 16th (local time), cryptocurrency-focused media CoinDesk reported, "Bitcoin faced a massive sell-off last August due to the unwinding of yen carry trades. Traders will be bracing for sell-offs due to the Japanese interest rate hike." The Bank of Japan has maintained negative interest rates since 2016, but raised rates twice in 2024 from -0.1% to 0.25%. According to Bloomberg data, Wall Street analysts see a 90% chance of a Japanese interest rate hike on January 24.

The global cryptocurrency exchange HTX announced that it achieved a remarkable 100% growth in trading volume last year. According to The Block's report on the 16th (local time), HTX stated in its 2024 recap report, "We recorded tremendous growth momentum in 2024. The trading volume increased by 100% year-over-year, reaching $2.4 trillion, and the number of new users increased by a staggering 3 million, bringing the total to 49 million global users." HTX emphasized, "We have made remarkable progress in various key areas such as user acquisition, trading volume, product innovation, compliance, and ecosystem development. We will continue to accelerate our expansion with excellent service and a strong global strategy."

Global virtual asset (cryptocurrency) exchange Binance is strengthening the deposit and withdrawal procedures for users in Poland and Belgium. On the 16th (local time), Binance announced through its official channels that "in accordance with EU regulatory requirements and local guidelines, Binance users in Poland and Belgium must share the sender's information when depositing virtual assets over 1,000 euros and the recipient's information when withdrawing."

Senator Cynthia Lummis has requested additional information from the US Marshals Service regarding their plans to sell seized Bitcoin (BTC). According to a report by Politico on the 16th (local time), Cynthia Lummis stated, "The US Marshals Service's Bitcoin sale plans announced to the presidential transition team directly contradict the public policy goals concerning the establishment of a Bitcoin reserve by the incoming administration. This could result in an unrealized value loss of over $18.5 billion for US taxpayers."

The number of new unemployment claims in the United States slightly exceeded expectations. According to the data released by the United States Department of Labor on the 16th (local time), the number of new unemployment claims for this week was 217,000, slightly above the expected 210,000. However, the number of continuous unemployment claims, which refers to claims filed for two consecutive weeks, was 1,859,000, slightly below the expected 1,870,000. Retail sales for December, announced at the same time, rose by 0.4% compared to the previous month, falling short of the expected 0.6% increase.

Social trading platform eToro has applied for an initial public offering (IPO) on the U.S. stock market. According to a report by the Financial Times (FT) on the 16th (local time), eToro has submitted documents to U.S. regulatory authorities for a new stock offering aiming for a company valuation of $5 billion. It is expected to enter the New York Stock Exchange as early as the second quarter of this year. eToro was founded in 2007 and supports stock and virtual asset trading for 3 million accounts worldwide.

The Financial Services Commission has issued an official statement regarding reports that the domestic virtual asset (cryptocurrency) exchange Upbit has been subjected to a business suspension. On the 16th, the Financial Services Commission announced through a press release that "no decision has been made yet regarding sanctions on Upbit." Previously, Upbit also stated, "No sanctions have been finalized yet, and we will continue to provide explanations through future procedures."

Reown, the developer of the cryptocurrency wallet integration protocol WalletConnect, has raised $13 million through a Series B round. According to The Block's report on the 16th (local time), this round was led by Union Square Ventures and 1kx, with participation from numerous investors including Global Digital Asset Holdings, Kraken Ventures, Crypto.com Capital, BitGo Ventures, and Fenbushi. Reown plans to use the new capital to develop an SDK-based on-chain UX platform.

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced the addition of three projects to its Alpha selection. On the 16th (local time), Binance revealed through its official channels that it has selected the AI project LLM, based on language model technology, the immersive digital experience and ecosystem innovation project SEKOIA, and the blockchain-based oracle solution PYTHIA as Alpha projects.

Dunamu, the operator of South Korea's largest exchange Upbit, has officially responded to reports that it has received a business suspension sanction from financial authorities. On the 16th, Dunamu stated, "The business suspension sanction reported by a domestic media outlet regarding Upbit has not yet been finalized, and we will thoroughly clarify through future procedures such as the Sanctions Review Committee." Additionally, they conveyed that even if business sanctions are imposed, there will be no issues with existing customers' transactions. Dunamu explained, "It is understood that the core of the sanction is not the suspension of virtual asset transactions for existing or new users, but rather the restriction on new customers transferring virtual assets outside the exchange for a certain period."

The Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) announced on the 16th that it has laid the foundation for digital forecasting through organizational restructuring in the first half of the year. The KDIC has expanded and reorganized the 'Digital Innovation Department' to respond to the digitalization and increasing uncertainty of the financial market. With the revision of the Deposit Insurance Act, a basis for property investigation of virtual asset operators has been established, leading to the creation of a digital property investigation team, and a debtor protection team has also been formed to protect debtor rights. Woo Hyun-chul, whose expertise has been verified through internal announcements, has been appointed as the head of the Digital Innovation Department.

Lambda256, a subsidiary of Dunamu and a blockchain specialist company, announced on the 16th that it has signed a business agreement with AhnLab Blockchain Company (ABC) for a virtual asset wallet tracking service business. Through this agreement, the two companies plan to jointly develop a virtual asset fund tracking service that can trace illegal activities such as money laundering and hacking within the blockchain ecosystem, and accelerate related technology research. They will collaborate across the board, from wallet services to tracking and security, solution defects, joint research and development, and promotion and sales. AhnLab Blockchain Company plans to provide essential expertise in strengthening security and tracking illegal activities within the blockchain ecosystem, based on AhnLab's leading cybersecurity analysis capabilities and years of accumulated experience and technology in responding to cyber threats. Lambda256 will be responsible for data analysis and monitoring necessary for tracking virtual asset funds. They plan to actively utilize Claire, announced for release last November, to visualize and analyze asset movement patterns between wallets based on a blockchain knowledge graph and quickly detect abnormal transactions for use in criminal investigations. Nam Ki-hoon, CTO of Lambda256, explained, "This agreement is the first private collaboration case between blockchain technology companies to jointly develop solutions to respond to virtual asset crimes. As the phased allowance of corporate accounts is being discussed domestically and the demand for protecting virtual asset users is increasing, we plan to design it to precisely analyze wallet and transaction flows and support crime investigations by investigative agencies."

Last year, the amount of damage inflow to illegal cryptocurrency addresses reached a staggering $40.9 billion. According to blockchain data analysis company Chainalysis on the 15th (local time), the amount of money flowing into illegal cryptocurrency addresses last year was $40.9 billion (approximately 54 trillion won), and it is expected to reach about $51 billion when including additional identified crime amounts. This is about 0.14% of the total on-chain transaction volume. Chainalysis explained, "So far, the damage from cryptocurrency crimes is negligible compared to the total on-chain transactions, but the proportion of illegal activities is expected to increase in the future." The asset most exploited in crimes was found to be stablecoins. Until 2021, Bitcoin, with its high liquidity, was most exploited in crimes, but since 2021, stablecoins have been used more, and by 2024, the figure rose to 63% of exploited assets. Baek Yong-gi, head of Chainalysis Korea, stated, "In 2024, with the increase in sophisticated cybercrimes such as sexual exploitation attacks using artificial intelligence (AI) and bypassing KYC procedures, there was a significant threat to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Chainalysis is actively responding by strengthening AI-based security capabilities through the acquisition of Exagate and Alteria to enhance the stability of cryptocurrency transactions."

The development of a digital asset framework has been included in the priority list of the 119th U.S. Congress. On the 15th (local time), Eleanor Terrett, a Fox Business reporter, reported on her X (Twitter) that "Senator Tim Scott has included the development of a framework for digital assets in the priority list of the 119th Congress."