The Market in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation takes effect today, Dec 30, and to comply, several cryptocurrency exchanges in the EU have delisted the mainstream stablecoin Tether's USDT.
In the past 24 hours, the total contract liquidation in the cryptocurrency market was over $99 million. Among them, long positions were liquidated for $49.98 million and short positions were liquidated for $49.21 million.
Decentralized exchanges set a record high in December, with monthly trading volume soaring to $463 billion.
However, Bitcoin volume was $22 bn on Dec 29, down from $41 bn a day earlier and 88% lower than its highest during the month, which was over $190 bn recorded on Dec 6.
The price of Bitcoin pulled back to $92.6k, falling below the 50-day moving average after Christmas.
Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded almost $388 million in weekly outflows between December 23 and 27. On the other hand, Ethereum realized a $349 million net inflow over the same period.
FTX reorganization plan to repay debtors is set to take effect on Jan 3, 2025, repaying $16 bn in cash.
Malaysia’s Securities Commission has directed crypto exchange Bybit to cease all operations within the country due to its failure to secure the authorization to operate as a digital asset exchange (DAX) under local regulations.
MicroStrategy buys Bitcoin for the 8th consecutive week this week, increasing its total holdings to 446,400 Bitcoins.
The National Bank of Cambodia has authorized commercial banks and payment firms to provide services for Group 1 crypto assets, which includes tokenized traditional assets and stablecoins tied to real assets like USDC and USDT, while maintaining restrictions on unbacked cryptocurrencies.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stated that the Japanese government lacks sufficient information about Bitcoin reserve strategies being considered by the US and other nations, and clarified that crypto assets like Bitcoin do not fall under Japan’s foreign exchange framework.
While this year Russia has already legalized cryptocurrency usage in foreign trade and introduced measures to support Bitcoin mining, the Finance Minister expressed concerns about Bitcoin’s price volatility, suggesting that a Bitcoin Reserve would only be viable if Bitcoin’s price stabilizes over time. In addition, the energy-intensive nature of mining has proven a significant challenge and starting January 1 2025, a six-year ban on crypto mining in 10 regions in Russia will be enforced.