Regulatory Dynamics

1. The U.S. Treasury Department has proposed new regulations for cryptocurrency wallets.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the U.S. Department of the Treasury has recently proposed a new rule draft concerning certain transaction requirements related to convertible virtual currencies or digital assets. The draft requires users to provide personal information to exchanges when transferring cryptocurrencies from centralized exchanges to private wallets. Exchanges are also required to record and retain relevant transaction records. The public will have 15 days to provide feedback. This regulation aligns with the guidance issued by the Financial Action Task Force last year, which suggested designating individual crypto wallets as virtual asset service providers.

2. Hong Kong issues licenses to virtual asset trading platforms for the first time

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission has announced the issuance of the first virtual asset trading platform license to OSL Digital Securities Limited. The platform is a subsidiary of the Hong Kong listed company BC Technology Group. Under the strict regulation of the Securities and Futures Commission, the platform will only provide services to professional investors and must comply with regulations equivalent to those for securities brokers and automated trading venues.

3. Estonia Mass Revocation of Cryptocurrency Company Licenses

Estonia has tightened its regulation of the cryptocurrency industry this year. The Ministry of Finance revealed that the country's Financial Intelligence Unit has revoked the licenses of over 1,000 crypto companies this year. This is due to the increasing severity of money laundering issues. The Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance emphasized that the regulation of crypto service providers still requires high attention.

Industry News

1. Bitcoin's market value ranks 12th in the world.

The price of Bitcoin continues to rise after surpassing $20,000. Data shows that the market capitalization of Bitcoin has reached $445.442 billion, surpassing Walmart and ranking 12th globally. If the price exceeds $28,000, Bitcoin will enter the top ten by market capitalization; if it exceeds $42,500, it will enter the top five. CCTV analysis believes that the demand for safe-haven assets driven by the impact of the pandemic and global monetary policy easing is an important reason for the recent surge in Bitcoin.

2. Coinbase prepares for IPO, valuation may reach 28 billion USD.

A certain trading platform has submitted preliminary documents for an initial public offering to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Industry sources indicate that the platform has selected a certain investment bank to lead its IPO. Analysts have assessed that the platform could have a potential valuation of up to $28 billion. The analysis model considers multiple factors including trading fees, custody fees, and debit cards. The platform's trading volume mainly comes from institutional clients, but the average holding amount per client is $703.

3. Wall Street investment banks reduce gold allocation and increase Bitcoin investments

The global equity strategy head of a well-known investment bank stated that they plan to reduce the weight of physical gold in their managed global pension fund portfolio by 5 percentage points to invest in Bitcoin. If Bitcoin significantly pulls back from its high of $20,000, the team plans to further increase this position.

4. The Mt. Gox liquidation compensation plan has been submitted.

The Mt. Gox official website announced that the trustee has submitted a draft liquidation compensation plan to the Tokyo District Court. The court and the examiner will review the draft and decide whether to proceed with the relevant compensation procedures. The specific details of the plan will be communicated to the relevant parties at the appropriate time.

5. The Chicago Exchange will launch Ethereum futures.

CME Group announced plans to launch Ethereum futures starting February 8, 2021, with the new contracts being cash-settled and currently awaiting regulatory review. Ethereum is currently the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization and daily trading volume. So far this year, CME Bitcoin futures contracts have averaged 8,560 contracts traded daily, equivalent to about 42,800 Bitcoin.

6. A cryptocurrency trust completes share splitting

A certain cryptocurrency trust has completed the split of its Ethereum trust fund shares at a ratio of 9 to 1. Previously, the fund had issued 29.5021 million shares, with each share owning 0.09 Ethereum. After the split, the number of shares increased to 285 million, while the amount of Ethereum per share decreased to approximately 0.1. Over the past month, the company has purchased over $1 billion worth of various digital currencies from investors and currently manages $15.5 billion in digital assets.

7. Founder of DeFi insurance protocol attacked, resulting in losses exceeding $8 million

The personal address of Nexus Mutual, the founder of the DeFi insurance protocol, was attacked, resulting in a loss of 370,000 NXM, worth over 8 million USD. The official statement claims this was a targeted attack, affecting only the founder's address. The attacker gained remote access to the founder's computer and modified the wallet plugin to deceive him into signing transactions. Subsequently, the hacker demanded a ransom of 4,500 ETH and has already sold some of the stolen assets through a decentralized exchange.

8. Canadian financial management company completes $72 million Bitcoin fund IPO

A Canadian wealth management firm has completed a $72 million Bitcoin fund IPO. The company's CEO stated that this IPO attracted interest from various parties, including institutional investors, individual investors, high net worth individuals, and financial advisors. The shares of the Bitcoin fund will be traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange in both USD and CAD.

9. A certain adult website only accepts cryptocurrency payments.

The payment membership rules of the world's largest adult website have changed, now only accepting cryptocurrency payments. Previously, the site faced media criticism due to controversial content, leading mainstream payment companies to suspend their services. The site had a traffic volume of up to 42 billion visits in 2019, ranking 10th in global website traffic.

10. Internal Restructuring of a Mining Machine Manufacturer

A well-known mining machine manufacturer has reached an internal restructuring agreement. One of the founders borrowed $600 million to acquire the shares of another founder and officially returned. Part of the company's business was spun off with a valuation of $90 million, while other businesses were retained. The company promised to complete its listing on the US stock market by the end of 2022, with a minimum valuation of $5.5 billion and financing of no less than $500 million. Additionally, it was disclosed that the company lost nearly 400 million yuan in 2019, while it had a profit of 3 billion yuan in 2018.