Live Feed

A group has been sentenced to prison for laundering approximately 23 billion won (about $17 million) in proceeds for a Chinese online fraud organization, Yonhap News reported. The individuals were convicted of receiving funds from the criminal enterprise, using the money to purchase cryptocurrency on exchanges, and then transferring the assets back to the organization.

Forced liquidations of cryptocurrency perpetual futures over the past 24 hours are as follows: ETH: $238 million, with short positions accounting for 50.28%. BTC: $217 million, with short positions accounting for 55.38%. HYPE: $16.6 million, with long positions accounting for 54.33%.

The Layer 1 protocol Saga (SAGA) was exploited for $7 million on its SagaEVM chain, The Block reported. The project has temporarily suspended network operations to investigate the damage and complete recovery efforts.

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Matt Hougan has suggested that the cryptocurrency market likely hit its bottom in the fourth quarter of 2023. According to Cointelegraph, Hougan noted in a report that the period saw several optimistic trends, including record-high Ethereum and Layer 2 transactions, revenue growth for crypto companies, an all-time high in stablecoin market capitalization, and expanding DeFi adoption. He argued that the current market situation is similar to the first quarter of 2023. At that time, following the collapse of FTX, market data was mixed, but the price of BTC surged over the subsequent two years. Hougan identified several potential catalysts that could drive the market this year, including progress on the U.S. crypto market structure bill (CLARITY Act), the announcement of a new Federal Reserve Chair, and a stablecoin supercycle.

LG CNS and the Bank of Korea have demonstrated an automated payment system for digital currencies powered by agentic AI, Yonhap News reported. The company tested a payment infrastructure on a digital currency platform that uses deposit tokens, in which an AI agent autonomously handled product searches, purchase decisions, and payments. The demonstration is part of the Bank of Korea's Project Hangang, which has been ongoing since last year.

Cryptocurrency custody firm BitGo has set its initial public offering (IPO) price at $18 per share, giving the company a fully diluted valuation of $2 billion, CoinDesk reported. The company is scheduled to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Jan. 21 under the ticker BTGO.

Bybit announced it will list SENT for spot trading at 12:00 p.m. UTC today.

U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs experienced total net outflows of $238.55 million (416.5 billion won) on Jan. 21, marking the second consecutive day of net outflows, according to TraderT. BlackRock's ETHA led the outflows with $283.46 million, followed by Fidelity's FETH with $30.89 million, Grayscale's ETHE with $11.38 million, and VanEck's ETHV with $4.42 million. Grayscale's Mini ETH was the only fund to see inflows, attracting $10.01 million.

U.S. Bitcoin spot ETFs experienced a net outflow of $707.3 million on Jan. 21, marking the largest single-day withdrawal in two months and the third consecutive day of outflows, according to data compiled by TraderT. The outflows were primarily driven by BlackRock's IBIT (-$355.23 million) and Fidelity's FBTC (-$287.67 million). Other funds also saw outflows, including Ark Invest's ARKB (-$29.83 million), Bitwise's BITB (-$25.87 million), Grayscale's GBTC (-$11.25 million), and Valkyrie's BRRR (-$3.80 million). VanEck's HODL was the only fund to record a net inflow, adding $6.35 million.

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb announced it will add a KRW trading pair for Seeker (SKR) at 8:00 a.m. UTC on Jan. 22.

Binance has announced that it will delist 20 spot trading pairs at 3:00 a.m. UTC on Jan. 23. The affected pairs are AI/BTC, ALLO/BNB, APE/BTC, AUCTION/BTC, BOME/FDUSD, DYDX/FDUSD, ENA/BNB, FIL/ETH, ID/BTC, KITE/BNB, LDO/BTC, LRC/ETH, NMR/BTC, PENGU/FDUSD, PNUT/BTC, PYR/BTC, STRK/FDUSD, XVG/ETH, YFI/BTC, and ZIL/ETH.

Solana (SOL) co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko has outlined three principles he believes can help early-stage crypto projects attract capital. In a post on X, Yakovenko stated that projects should ensure staking is available for long-term holders, unlock more than 20% of the token supply on launch day, and fully vest investor allocations after one year. He added that beyond these points, success depends on achieving product-market fit (PMF).

South Korean blockchain investment firm Hashed has launched Maroo, a new blockchain designed for a Korean won-backed stablecoin, The Block reported. The platform is engineered to combine the openness and scalability of a public chain with the regulatory compliance and privacy features required by traditional financial institutions. While its initial focus is the Korean won, Hashed plans to expand Maroo to support other fiat currencies in line with local regulations. A key feature of the network is that transaction fees are paid directly with the KRW stablecoin, allowing users to interact with the chain without needing to hold a separate native cryptocurrency. Hashed has also established a subsidiary, Hashed Open Finance, to advance projects in stablecoins, real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, and security token offerings (STOs) within the South Korean financial market.

The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee has released a revised draft of its crypto market structure legislation, the CLARITY Act, according to Eleanor Terrett, host of Crypto in America. While specific details of the draft have not yet been made public, Committee Chairman John Boozman said it was unfortunate that an agreement with the Democratic Party could not be reached. He added that he looks forward to a scheduled hearing on the bill at 8:00 p.m. UTC on Jan. 27.

U.S. asset manager Strive is pursuing an additional $150 million fundraising round, The Block reported. The proceeds are intended for purchasing Bitcoin, repaying convertible notes issued by its subsidiary Semler Scientific, and settling debt borrowed from Coinbase Credit. This move follows the company's previous effort last December to issue $500 million in Series A perpetual preferred stock.

Vietnam has started accepting license applications for a pilot program for cryptocurrency exchanges, The Block reported. To qualify, applicants must have a minimum of $400 million in equity capital and meet strict requirements regarding ownership structure, personnel, and infrastructure. Applications are limited to companies based in Vietnam, with foreign ownership capped at 49%.

Lookonchain reported, citing Arkham (ARKM) data, that Bitmine (BMNR) appears to have withdrawn 34,954 ETH, valued at $105.5 million, from Kraken and BitGo over the past two hours. The on-chain data firm noted that Bitmine currently holds approximately 4.2 million ETH.

CoinMarketCap's Altcoin Season Index has climbed four points from yesterday to 32. The index measures whether it is an altcoin season or a Bitcoin season by comparing the price performance of the top 100 cryptocurrencies, excluding stablecoins and wrapped coins, against Bitcoin. An altcoin season is declared when 75% of these top coins have outperformed Bitcoin over the past 90 days. A score closer to 100 indicates a stronger altcoin season.

An anonymous whale has accumulated an additional 20,000 ETH since Jan. 8, bringing the total holdings of an address starting with 0xfb7 to 60,098 ETH ($179.22 million), according to Onchain Lens. The investor recently purchased 10,000 ETH ($28.9 million) through crypto market maker Wintermute and deposited 58.13 million USDC into FalconX for further acquisitions.

South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index surpassed the 5,000 mark for the first time in its history during early trading. The index is currently trading at 5,012.20, up 2.08% from the previous session.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, compiled by data provider Alternative, has fallen four points to 20, continuing the market's state of extreme fear. The index measures market sentiment on a scale where 0 indicates extreme fear and 100 represents extreme optimism. The score is calculated based on volatility (25%), trading volume (25%), social media mentions (15%), surveys (15%), Bitcoin's market capitalization dominance (10%), and Google search volume (10%).

A U.S. Senate Banking Committee markup of its crypto market structure bill (CLARITY Act) will likely be postponed again until late February or March, Bloomberg reported. Citing an anonymous source, the report attributed the delay to the committee shifting its priorities to housing policy at the request of the Trump administration ahead of the November midterm elections. The committee had previously postponed the markup on Jan. 15.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau expressed conflicting views on whether stablecoins should pay interest during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Coindesk reported. Armstrong argued that users have a right to earn a return on their money and that allowing stablecoin interest is necessary for national competitiveness. He noted that China has already permitted interest payments on its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan, and stressed that a U.S. ban on such payments would only allow competitors to thrive. In contrast, Villeroy de Galhau contended that private tokens paying interest would pose a risk to the traditional banking system. He stated that he does not believe the digital euro should pay interest, adding that the primary public objective must be to preserve financial stability. The two also disagreed on Bitcoin. Armstrong described the cryptocurrency as more independent than central banks because it lacks an issuer and cannot be controlled by any single entity. Villeroy de Galhau countered that unregulated stablecoins and private currencies could become a political threat, potentially leading to a loss of national monetary sovereignty.

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb has launched an information security advisory committee composed of external experts, Yonhap News reported. The committee will be co-chaired by Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won and Korea University Professor Kim Seung-joo.

Category Labs, the developer of the EVM-compatible project Monad, announced that it may purchase up to $30 million worth of MON tokens from the open market during the first half of this year. The company clarified that this is not a firm commitment, explaining that it may start or stop the purchases depending on market conditions.