- Following the Fed meeting, BTC spot ETFs saw their first net outflow on Dec 19 after 2 weeks of net inflows. The net outflows of over $670 million are the biggest net outflows on record.
- ETH spot ETFs also recorded a net outflow of over $60 million, breaking an 18-day inflow streak.
- According to Arkham Intelligence, a Bitcoin whale that last transacted 3 years ago in April 2021 has now moved over half a billion dollars ($530 million) worth of BTC to two new addresses for a total fee of $45.93. One address is holding $420M and the other holds exactly 1000 BTC.
- The SEC approves the Hashdex for the launch of a Nasdaq Bitcoin and Ethereum Crypto Index ETF.
- South Korea announced a delay in the implementation of a crypto tax while navigating the political turbulence following the impeachment of President Yoon Suk-yeol. On 18th December, a government representative asserted, “The government is not negative on cryptoassets,” highlighting the ongoing development of regulatory frameworks before any tax measures are enforced.
- According to a report by Chainalysis, $2.2bn were stolen from crypto platforms in 2024, but hacked volumes stagnate toward July.
- In 2024, funds stolen increased by approximately 21.07% year-over-year (YoY) to $2.2 billion, and the number of individual hacking incidents increased from 282 in 2023 to 303 in 2024.
- North Korea (DPRK)-affiliated hackers stole $1.34 billion stolen across 47 incidents — a 102.88% increase in value stolen compared to 2023. These figures represent 61% of the total amount stolen for the year 2024, and 20% of total incidents.
- According to Chainalysis, the stagnation in hacks related to the DPRK can possibly be explained by the mutual defense treaty signed with Russia on 18 June 2024. Amounts stolen by the DPRK dropped by approximately 53.73% after the summit, whereas non-DPRK amounts stolen rose by approximately 5%.
source: Chainalysis
- On Dec 19, the number of validators signaling a gas limit greater than 30 million increased to 10% of the network. Before December, the percentage of validators signaling an increase in gas limit was a little over 1%.
- Increasing the gas limit means more transactions can be processed per block, potentially reducing costs and waiting times. Ethereum core developer Eric Connor said increasing gas limits could result in a 15% to 33% reduction in transaction fees. However, this change also involves risks such as increased pressure on the network nodes.
