1. BlackRock’s Proposed Spot Bitcoin ETF Receives Ticker Symbol in Latest Submission to the SEC link

BlackRock’s proposed physically-backed Bitcoin ETF, with the ticker symbol IBIT, submitted a revised S-1 filing to the SEC on Monday. The amended document also includes details about the creation and redemption mechanism the fund plans to adopt, a topic discussed in recent meetings between BlackRock and SEC officials. Ark 21Shares and WisdomTree also submitted amended S-1 filings to the SEC on Monday for their proposed physically-backed Bitcoin ETFs.

According to FOX News, the guidance from SEC officials is that approval for physically-backed Bitcoin ETFs is likely to come before January 10, 2024. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company, has prioritized obtaining SEC approval for its proposed Bitcoin ETF as a key initiative for the company.

2. U.S. Judge Approves Settlement Agreement Between Binance and U.S. CFTC link

According to a ruling signed by Judge Manish Shah of the Northern District of Illinois on December 14, as per the earlier settlement agreement, CZ will have to pay $150 million, with one-third of it to be paid within the next 30 days. Additionally, Binance will have to pay a $1.35 billion fine to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and return $1.35 billion in “illegally obtained trading fees.”

The CFTC settlement agreement requires Binance and CZ to improve the company’s governance structure, including having a board of directors with independent members, a compliance committee, and an audit committee. Binance will no longer allow existing sub-accounts, including those opened by major brokers, to bypass the platform’s compliance controls. After applying all KYC policies and procedures to all existing sub-accounts, Binance will close all accounts that fail to meet compliance control requirements.

3. U.S. Appeals Court Officially Seizes 69,370 BTC Linked to Silk Road link

The U.S. Court of Appeals on Wednesday finalized an order for the formal forfeiture of 69,370 BTC and other cryptocurrencies associated with the now-defunct Silk Road dark web marketplace. The judgment was made in August, with Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht as the defendant, two claimants, and the U.S. government as the plaintiffs. Ulbricht agreed in 2022 to use the stolen $3 billion worth of Bitcoin to repay the U.S. government and relinquished rights to the 69,370 Bitcoins.

4. Tether Includes FBI and U.S. Secret Service in its Platform link

Tether has submitted letters to the U.S. Senate, the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and the House Committee on Financial Services, outlining its “commitment to security and close collaboration with law enforcement agencies.” In a recent letter, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino emphasized Tether’s recent decision to prohibit the use of USDT in all wallets on the Foreign Assets Control Office (OFAC) sanctions list. Ardoino also announced that Tether has “recently onboarded the U.S. Secret Service onto our platform and is doing the same for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

On December 20, Tether blacklisted six wallet addresses, including five on the Ethereum chain that hold almost no assets and one on the Tron chain holding only $7,000. These addresses may be related to the Finiko pyramid scheme.

5. PwC: Over 40 Countries Committed to Advancing Regulations and Legislation Focused on Cryptocurrency This Year link

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) released a report on Tuesday stating that over 40 countries this year have been committed to advancing regulations and legislation with a focus on cryptocurrencies. The efforts range from discussions to the passage of laws, indicating a potentially broader global adoption of cryptocurrencies. The regulatory and legislative initiatives are categorized into four key focus areas: stablecoin regulation, travel rule compliance, licensing and listing guidance, and the development of cryptocurrency frameworks.

(Sponsored by NEXO. Sponsorship does not represent the views of WuBlockchain and does not constitute financial advice from WuBlockchain. Readers are requested to strictly abide by local laws and regulations.)

6. Argentina Approves the Use of Bitcoin for Settlement Contracts link

Argentina’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Diana Mondino, tweeted that Argentina has approved contracts for settlement in Bitcoin. Additionally, approval has been granted for other cryptocurrencies and/or commodities, such as beef measured by kilograms or milk measured by liters.

7. SOL Surpasses BNB in Market Capitalization, Becoming the Fourth-Largest Cryptocurrency Globallylink

According to CMC data, SOL surged over 16% to a market capitalization of $41.8 billion on the 22nd, surpassing BNB ($41.1 billion) and securing its position as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Coinglass data indicates that in the last 24 hours on the 22nd, the overall trading volume of SOL contracts across the network increased by 32% to surpass $10 billion, with a total position value of $1.34 billion, ranking only below BTC and ETH.

8. OKX’s Weekly Summary

a. CertiK Issues High-Risk Warning, Urges Upgrade of OKX iOS App link

On December 19th, CertiK officially issued a high-risk security alert on Twitter, urging all OKX iOS users to immediately update their applications to the latest version. Earlier this month, the CertiK SkyFall team discovered and reported a critical remote code execution vulnerability in the OKX mobile app. Today, the OKX team has fixed this vulnerability in the newly released version. Users are strongly advised not to use the old version of the application, as there is a risk of being compromised by hackers and having all assets stolen.

OKX officials stated that they promptly completed the necessary upgrades upon receiving the CertiK alert. The issue was related to a third-party application service provider vulnerability and did not involve the official core program. It will not affect the security of user assets, and after verification, the platform found no loss of assets or information. Currently, the issue has been fixed in version IOS 6.45.0, and users are encouraged to update their apps as soon as possible. User asset security is not compromised.

b. OKX Releases 14th Asset Reserve Proof, Main Assets Amount to $14.9 Billion link

OKX has released its 14th asset reserve proof (snapshot date: 12–13), stating that its primary assets amount to $14.9 billion. User BTC assets total 143,000 BTC, showing a growth of 2.97% compared to the previous proof (11–23), an increase of 4,141 BTC. User ETH assets amount to 1.51 million ETH, indicating a growth of 2.88% compared to the last proof, an increase of 42,000 ETH. User USDT assets total 5.01 billion USDT, reflecting a decrease of 4.44% compared to the last proof, a reduction of 233 million USDT. User USDC assets amount to 280 million USDC, showing a decrease of 10.97% compared to the last proof, a reduction of 34 million USDC.

9. BVI Court Restrains 3AC Co-Founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, and Davies’s Wife from Transferring or Selling $1.14 Billion in Assets link

The liquidator Teneo for 3AC has stated that the British Virgin Islands (BVI) court has issued an order prohibiting 3AC co-founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies, along with Kyle Davies’s wife Kelly Chen, from transferring or selling assets valued up to $1.14 billion. The liquidator also added that creditors are estimated to be owed as much as $3.3 billion.

10. Hacker Shakeeb Ahmed Convicted for Stealing Assets from DEX Through Smart Contract Attack link

The Southern District Court of New York in the United States announced that the hacker Shakeeb Ahmed has admitted to assaulting Nirvana Finance and two other decentralized exchanges (DEX). He faces a maximum of 5 years of imprisonment and the confiscation of stolen encrypted currencies valued at 12.3 million US dollars. This marks the first-ever conviction for attacking smart contracts. It is alleged that Shakeeb attempted to obscure his traces by converting the pilfered cryptocurrency into Monero, utilizing cryptocurrency mixers, employing cross-chain techniques, and engaging in overseas cryptocurrency exchanges. During the two incidents of the attacks, Ahmed, a U.S. citizen, served as a senior security engineer for an international technology company. His resume reflects skills in reverse engineering smart contracts and blockchain auditing, showcasing expertise employed in some of Ahmed’s hacking endeavors.

Fundraising

• Web3 growth marketing services company Addressable has successfully raised $6 million in funding. link

• The music artist community platform Medallion has secured $13.7 million in Series A funding, with Dragonfly and Lightspeed Faction leading the investment. link

• Web3 tax services company Tres Finance has raised $11 million in Series A funding. link

• The development team of the decentralized web crawler project Grass, known as Wynd Network, has completed a $3.5 million seed funding round. link

• Banking-as-a-service Web3 platform Fiat Republic has concluded a $7 million seed funding round, with participation from Kraken Ventures. link

• Blockchain technology company Fyde Treasury has announced the completion of a $3.2 million seed funding round. link

• The development team of the liquidity re-staking network Rio Network has secured funding in the seed round, with leading investments from Polychain and others. link

• DID market aggregator GoDID has completed a new funding round at a valuation of $30 million, with NGC leading the investment. link

• Tap Protocol has raised $4.2 million in funding, with Sora Ventures leading the investment. link

• Aki Network has completed a Series A funding round at a valuation of $50 million, with MARBLEX leading the investment. link

• Bitcoin mining firm Unblock Global has secured $15 million in funding, with plans to utilize the funds for flash gas mining in Vaca Muerta, Argentina. link

Learn more, check out crypto-fundraising.info.