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| Take a look at the hits from today's Inside Cryptocurrency newsletter: - The cybersecurity incident targeting the top U.S. securities regulator's X account to share fake news on spot Bitcoin ETF applications,
- App Store's removal of 10 foreign crypto exchanges in India,
- X's halt of support for the NFT profile picture feature, and more.
Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | The official account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on X, formerly known as Twitter, has recently been hacked to share a fake post claiming that the agency approved all the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications, the regulator said. Shortly after the incident, the SEC declared that the post was not shared by it or its staff, pointing out that the unauthorized access was terminated. More: - In an official statement, the agency added it would work with the law enforcement authorities to investigate the cybersecurity incident.
- In a separate post, the SEC Chair Gary Gensler also clarified that the regulator has yet to make any decision on the spot Bitcoin ETF applications.
- Social media giant X stated that the unidentified actor compromised the account by acquiring control of an associated phone number, and the SEC's account did not have two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled at the time.
- Some U.S. senators have sought an explanation about the incident from the SEC, requesting the agency to deliver a briefing to Congress by Jan. 23.
- Following the incident, Bitcoin (BTC) lost nearly $50B of its market cap, though the fake post had initially caused a brief surge in its price.
Zoom Out: - The breach in the SEC's X account came as the industry expects the agency to approve at least one of the qualified spot Bitcoin ETF applications by Jan. 10.
- The applicants recently filed their final amendments with the SEC and revealed the fees of the potential ETF products, marking the last stages in the process.
- At the time, the amendments were considered a sign of approval since they addressed feedback from the SEC and reflected an effort to go by the agency's book.
- The spot Bitcoin ETF applicants in the U.S. include many traditional financial services giants, such as VanEck, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Valkyrie, Grayscale Investments, BlackRock, WisdomTree, and Invesco Galaxy.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: Dogecoin (DOGE) has experienced strong volatility over the last 24 hours with sudden ups and downs. The token's price jumped nearly 6% and reached as much as $0.081 within the day, up from $0.07745 a few hours earlier. Then, the popular cryptocurrency retreated to the $0.077 level again and held on to it after seeing minor ups and downs several times. Relevance: The volatility in Dogecoin's price followed a rumor on social media about the alleged death of the token's mascot, Kabosu. A pseudonymous user on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared a screenshot of a Telegram conversation in Japanese. The conversation pointed out that the Shiba Inu-breed dog Kabosu, whose face appears on the Dogecoin icon, passed away. In 2022, Atsuko Sato, the owner of Kabosu, announced that the 17-year-old dog was diagnosed with leukemia and a type of liver disease. However, the user later deleted the post, stating that the screenshot turned out to be fake. Dogecoin's price reacted to the rumors with a sudden increase before retreating to its average levels when the crypto community found out the news was fake. Brands that should care: Dogecoin was the first meme coin, which refers to the cryptocurrencies originating from an internet meme and mostly having some humorous characteristics. The token was created as a parody in 2013, though it later became enormously famous in its own right. This fame was mainly triggered by Elon Musk's support for Dogecoin. The worldwide-known CEO previously caused the token's price to skyrocket many times through his posts on social media. Musk's companies, including Tesla, SpaceX, and The Boring Company, also supported Dogecoin by accepting it as a payment method for several commercial products and services. | | | |
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| 3 | | X, formerly known as Twitter, has recently ended its support for NFT profile pictures as part of its vision for 2024. The move will see the platform's paid subscribers becoming unable to use an NFT as their profile pictures. More: - X launched the feature in January 2022 under the leadership of its previous management.
- The feature allowed Twitter Blue members, who pay for the subscription, to set an Ethereum-based NFT as their profile picture in a hexagon shape.
- Users were able to view details about the NFT, including the original collection, the contract address, and the app where it was minted, by simply clicking on the profile picture.
- The platform required the profile owners to connect their crypto wallet to X temporarily, and it identified the relevant user as the owner of that NFT.
- Through the latest update, X also removed the details about the feature from its support page.
- However, the hexagon-shaped profile pictures of the users who previously set up the feature are still visible on the platform.
Zoom Out: - In March last year, Meta also ended its support for NFTs on Instagram and Facebook nearly 10 months after it launched the feature to a select group of creators.
- The feature, dubbed Digital Collectibles, allowed users to display their NFTs on their profiles and sell NFTs directly from Instagram and Facebook by minting them on the Polygon, Ethereum, or Flow blockchains.
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| 4 | | Tech giant Apple's App Store has removed 10 crypto exchanges in India, preventing new users from accessing the apps of the relevant platforms. The move came nearly two weeks after India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) issued a compliance notice against nine of the removed foreign crypto exchanges. More: - The removed platforms are Binance, OKX, KuCoin, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bitstamp, MEXC Global, and Bitfinex.
- OKX's app was lifted from the platform, even though it was not among the other offshore exchanges receiving a compliance notice.
- In the notice, the FIU, which runs under the Indian Finance Ministry, stated that these exchanges operate illegally in the country without complying with the local anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations.
- The notice pointed out that the relevant exchanges must register with regulators and file statements with the income tax authorities.
- At the time, the unit also requested the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block the exchanges' URLs, preventing access to their websites in India.
- However, the URLs of the relevant platforms are still functional in the country, and their apps are currently available on Google's Play Store.
Zoom Out: - Due to the growing adoption of crypto in India, the country's finance ministry started mandating digital asset firms to register with the FIU and comply with the provisions of the local anti-money laundering laws to protect investors as of March 2023.
- The country's government began imposing high taxes, including a 30% tax on crypto profits and a 1% tax on crypto transactions, in July 2022, causing Indian users to rush into foreign crypto exchanges to avoid the high taxes.
- The latest regulatory actions also partly aim to prevent this tax avoidance.
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| 5 | | The U.S.-based crypto custody firm BitGo has obtained in-principle approval in Singapore through its local unit, BitGo Singapore Pte. Ltd. The preliminary license will allow the firm to continue offering its digital asset wallet and custody services to Singaporean customers while awaiting the full major payment institution license. More: - The in-principle approval was granted to BitGo by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the city-state's financial market regulator.
- Once it receives a full license by demonstrating its commitment to featuring strong anti-money laundering measures, BitGo's local unit will be able to offer its digital asset services in the city-state in a regulated manner.
- The full approval will also see the firm expanding its offerings to allow clients to purchase and sell crypto through its cold storage custody solution, which lets users store their crypto assets without internet connectivity.
- In an official statement, BitGo said it sees Singapore as an important hub for crypto innovation, and operating in the region would position it as a leading digital asset service provider for institutional finance across Asia-Pacific (APAC).
- The Singaporean approval came more than two months after BitGo also obtained a regulatory license in Germany from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin), the country's financial market regulator, to offer its services to German customers in compliance with local regulations.
- BitGo CEO Mike Belshe said they look forward to expanding the firm's global footprint.
Zoom Out: - In August 2023, BitGo raised $100M in funding from entirely new investors at a $1.75B valuation, stating that it would use the financing for its strategic acquisitions and global expansion plans.
- On the other hand, the MAS is most famous for its strict stance on the crypto market and stingy attitude toward approving a license.
- Several other crypto-related firms have also managed to obtain full or in-principle approval in the city-state so far, including Revolut, Upbit, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Blockchain.com, Paxos, Ripple, and Circle.
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| 6 | | Mash, the blockchain-powered online platform for monetizing media content, has launched a new feature, Rewards Page, to allow publishers and content creators to distribute Bitcoin rewards to their audiences based on engagement through marketing initiatives. Some of the platform's media partners have also simultaneously introduced their giveaway campaigns following the launch. More: - Mash's Rewards Page lets publishers and creators distribute Bitcoin rewards as low as $0.01 to their audiences.
- Creating the giveaway page does not require expertise or knowledge in coding.
- The reward links sent to the audiences allow them to redeem their rewards whenever they wish, using a compatible digital wallet.
- Mash's infrastructure is powered by the Bitcoin blockchain's Layer-2 scaling solution, Lightning Network.
- The Lightning integration enables users to conduct cross-border payments through their rewards and to claim them using any Lightning-enabled platform, including Mash, CashApp, Strike, and Kraken.
- The feature mainly aims to help enhance the visibility of a post, attract followers, and incentivize audience engagement while tackling the challenges of traditional giveaway campaigns.
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- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's former chair, Jay Claton, has stated that nothing is left for the agency to decide, and the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application is inevitable.
- Germany-based crypto custody firm Finoa has raised $15M in funding in its latest financing round at a valuation of $100M.
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 | Staff Writer | | Doga is a tech and science editor who has been writing news for nearly 10 years. She worked for leading tech platforms and mainstrem media channels as an editor and presenter throughout his career. Then, she carried her know-how to more than one platform. She is a part-time cat lover and binge-watcher, and also fond of science, space, and emerging tech. She always has a story to tell. She is a bit addict to the laughter and -unfortunately- the '90s culture. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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