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| Here is a quick look at the hits from the week's first Inside Cryptocurrency newsletter: - The final amendments filed by the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applicants,
- Japanese e-commerce platform Mercari's plans to accept Bitcoin payments,
- The 35% growth in Bitget's headcount, and more.
Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | Spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) applicants have filed their final amendments in the U.S. with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as the earliest deadline of Jan. 10 for the agency to approve a qualified application approaches. The amendments have addressed feedback from the SEC upon last month's amended filings, marking the last stages in the process. More: - The applicants filing their final amendments include VanEck, Bitwise, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Valkyrie, Hashdex, ARK 21Shares, Grayscale Investments, BlackRock, WisdomTree, and Invesco Galaxy.
- The amendments were considered a positive sign toward potential approval since they reflect an effort to go by the book of the SEC.
- However, the updates in the filings still do not mean approvals were guaranteed.
- The positive expectations around the applications recently created enthusiasm in the crypto industry and even triggered a price jump in Bitcoin, causing the token's value to surpass the $45,000 mark for the first time since April 2022.
- Analysts believe that the approval of spot Bitcoin ETF applications could bring significant amounts of capital and millions more investors to the crypto market, causing a further price increase in Bitcoin.
- Besides, the potential approvals are expected to pave the way for the first time traditional finance adopts crypto on such a scale since the applicants include many traditional financial services giants.
Zoom Out: - On the other hand, despite optimism around the applications, a recent survey by Bitwise showed that only 39% of U.S.-based financial advisers believe the SEC will approve a spot Bitcoin ETF application this year.
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| 2 | | 
What the numbers say: The data compiled by Coin ATM Radar has shown that the number of Bitcoin ATMs worldwide decreased to 33,484 as of Jan. 1, 2024. The figure represents an 11% decline from 37,830 on the same day last year. It also refers to a nearly 15% fall from the all-time high of 39,376 in August 2022. The latest figure means that almost 4,000 Bitcoin ATMs were closed within the past year. The U.S. became the country with the highest drop in the ATM number, with 15.4%, though it still hosts 82% of all crypto ATMs globally. Relevance: In October, AltIndex's data also pointed to a similar downward trend in the number of Bitcoin ATMs, revealing that the figure retreated to the levels in 2021. The details in the report showed that the number declined by more than 5,000 since the beginning of the year, representing the biggest decrease in the crypto market's history. At the time, the drop was mainly attributed to the regulators' increased crackdown on the machines due to concerns about their potential criminal use, especially in the U.S. and the U.K. Brands that should care: On the other hand, crypto ATM manufacturer BitAccess has played a key role in the latest decrease as the company's installations declined by 26% to 6,774 on Jan. 1, down from 9,160 in the same period of 2023. However, several other major manufacturers, such as General Bytes and Genesis Coin, continued increasing the number of their Bitcoin ATMs throughout the year. | | | |
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| 3 | | Coinbase, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, has revealed its plans to acquire a Cyprus-based entity to expand its crypto derivatives offerings to the European Union (EU). The acquisition deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close later in 2024. More: - Coinbase has yet to disclose the name of the Cyprus-based company.
- However, the entity has a Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2014 (MiFID II) license, which covers the EU's updated rules governing financial instruments.
- The license will allow Coinbase to offer trading services for crypto derivatives products in Europe in compliance with local regulations.
- Currently, the exchange only offers spot crypto trading services in the region.
- On the other hand, Coinbase has recently accelerated its efforts to expand its derivatives business, mainly due to the decrease in its revenue from spot trading and the derivatives products' 75% share of the total trading volume in the crypto market.
- The platform currently offers crypto derivatives services through its main app, the dedicated Coinbase Derivatives Exchange, and its Bermuda-based international exchange.
Zoom Out: - In October last year, Coinbase also selected Ireland as its European hub to consolidate its presence in Europe as the EU prepares to put its region-wide crypto regulations, Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), into force.
- The upcoming legislation requires crypto-related companies to obtain a license in at least one of the 27 member states by June 2024, registering with a national financial regulator.
- The U.S. exchange also has licenses in several other European countries, such as Spain, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands.
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| 4 | | Próspera, a special economic zone in Honduras, has officially recognized Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, as a unit of account nearly two years after it accepted the token as legal tender. The move will see Bitcoin being used to measure the market value of goods and services in the area as a legitimate currency in various financial, tax-related, and commercial transactions. More: - The acting manager and tax commissioner of Próspera Zone for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDE), Jorge Colindres, said the move aims to offer more financial freedom to individuals and businesses in the region.
- Colindres also added that they believe people should be free to carry out transactions, do their accounting, and report their tax liabilities in the currency of their free choice.
- Entities interested in adopting Bitcoin as their unit of account will need to file a notice with the zone's tax commission within 30 days of the relevant tax period, referencing an approved crypto exchange like Coinbase and Kraken.
- However, tax liabilities of the Bitcoin-electing entities will be reported in U.S. dollars (USD) or the Honduras lempira until regulatory approvals are granted.
- Once the approvals are obtained and technological limitations are resolved, entities will also be able to report their tax liabilities and pay their taxes in Bitcoin to Próspera ZEDE.
Zoom Out: - Próspera ZEDE was launched in May 2020 on the northern island of Roatan.
- In April 2022, the region accepted Bitcoin as a legal tender.
- Honduras' neighbor, El Salvador, also became the first country to accept Bitcoin as a legal tender in September 2021 under the leadership of Nayib Bukele, the Central American country's crypto-advocate president at the time.
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| 5 | | Seychelles-based crypto exchange Bitget has announced that it expanded its headcount by more than 35% from 1,100 to 1,500 employees in 2023. The platform also pointed out that its user count experienced a similar growth throughout the year, increasing from 8 million to 20 million. More: - The annual summary was revealed by Bitget's managing director, Gracy Chen, in an open letter.
- According to the letter, the exchange saw a 94% surge in spot trading volume last year.
- The platform also listed 355 new coins during the same period, increasing its token offerings by 46%.
- Besides, the value of Bitget's native token, BGB, witnessed a 291% surge in 2023 and reached its all-time high of $0.704 in December, up from $0.18 at the beginning of the year.
- In addition, the firm purchased a controlling stake in the decentralized digital wallet BitKeep for $30M within the year and rebranded it to Bitget Wallet.
- A one-year partnership with the famous American actor Adam Devine and the $100M EmpowerX fund became other notable initiatives held by the exchange last year.
- Chen stated that Bitget will focus on three key areas — compliance, emerging markets, and Web3 — in 2024 as part of its new development strategy.
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| 6 | | Japan-based online second-hand goods marketplace Mercari has started working on Bitcoin (BTC) payments to allow its users to purchase products in Bitcoin by June 2024. The Bitcoin payments on Mercari will be settled by the platform's in-app Bitcoin exchange, Mercoin. More: - Mercari will continue displaying the products' prices in Japanese yen (JPY), though the users will be able to make their payments through Bitcoin.
- Mercoin will act as an intermediary between sellers and customers, converting Bitcoin funds users pay into yen in real time and transferring them to the seller.
- The exchange will charge transaction fees for the service.
- The platform launched its in-app Bitcoin exchange in March 2023 to allow users to buy Bitcoin within the app using the balance in their bank account, the proceeds from their sales, and the free points they earned from selling activities on Mercari.
Zoom Out: - Mercari, launched in 2013, currently has more than 22 million monthly active users.
- The platform reported $19.4M in profit and $306.6M in revenue in its earnings report for Q3 2023.
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- Investment firm VanEck has announced that it would donate 5% of the profits from its potential spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), which is pending approval, to Bitcoin's core developers for 10 years.
- Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, has released its 14th proof-of-reserves (PoR) report to confirm that it has sufficient reserves to cover all its depositors' funds and that all the customers' funds are safe.
- The Genesis wallet, the first-ever wallet on the Bitcoin blockchain set up by the network's pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, has received $1.17M of Bitcoin (BTC) in a surprise transaction.
- A recent report from TRM Labs has revealed that North Korean hackers stole $600M of crypto in 2023.
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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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