Monday Crypto Industry Update: Jan 13-19 📰

📊Market Highlights

- Bitcoin hit new all time high above $109,00 with 16% price increase over the last 7 days
- Ethereum is sitting at $3,300 with a 6% increase last week
- Last week’s top 3 gainers were TRUMP (+837%), MELANIA (+65%), and RAY (+47%), while top 3 losers were PENGU (-11%), MNT (-8%), and BRETT (-7%)
- Crypto market’s Fear & Greed Index is at 58 Neutral today
- Crypto market capitalization at $3.73 trillion, up 2.32% since yesterday
- Stablecoins market capitalization is up 1.8% in last 7 days, currently at $210 billion
- NFT sales volume has increased by 566% in the last 7 days while total sales decreased by 10% with 303,913 sales
- Monthly crypto trading volume on CEXs hit all-time high in December 2024
- EU stock exchange Boerse Stuttgart sees crypto generate 25% of company’s 2024 revenues with crypto trading volume tripled

🌐Blockchain Tech & Gaming

- Vitalik Buterin announced leadership changes for Ethereum Foundation, with some already in place and some still in progress
- Indian billionaire launches mystery reward-based token JioCoin on Polygon network, functioning as a reward for users browsing the internet via JioSphere
- Up Network and DreamSmart launch world’s first web3 AI glasses, which are based on Google’s Gemini and come with 8 hour battery life
- Yuga Labs faces criticism from the community over CryptoPunks IP sale rumour
- Sony’s Layer-2 blockchain Sonieum built on the OP stack went live
- World (formerly Worldcoin, iris scanning) rival Humanity (palm scans) is getting closer to token generation event with Humanity Foundation launch

📃Regulatory Updates

- FDIC accused of omitting crypto-related “pause letters” it sent to banks in the Coinbase-backed Freedom of Information Act lawsuit
- SEC sues Nova Labs, the company behind Helium Network, for selling unregistered securities
- Gary Gensler’s exit triggers an influx of crypto ETF submissions, including from ProShares, CoinShares, VanEck
- Swiss state-owned retail bank PostFinance launches $ETH staking to is 2.7 million customers
- Crypto developer Michael Lewellen sues head of US Justice Department, claiming his crypto software is legal and asks to block any possible future prosecution
- Wyoming proposes bill for a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
- eToro trading platform files for US IPO, targeting $5 billion valuation
- Upbit crypto exchange receives suspension notice in South Korea for KYC violations
- Italy’s largest bank Intesa Sanpaolo buys more than $1 million worth of Bitcoin
- Judge orders BitMEX to pay $100M fine due to violating US Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)

💰Investments & Partnerships

- 46% of all venture capital funding in Q4 of 2024 went to crypto startups headquartered in the U.S.
- Crypto wallet Phantom raised $150M in Series C at $3B valuation on its mission to become world’s biggest consumer finance platform
- Former BinanceUS chief Brian Shroder raises $20M for 1Money, Layer-1 stablecoin payments network
- Sigma Capital’s $100M fund to invest in 100 early-stage web3 projects, 25 tokens and 10 fund-of-fund allocations, across UAE and worldwide
- Barcelona-based RWA tokenization platform Brickken secures $2.5M seed funding round to expand their platform
- Crypto bank Sygnum hits unicorn status after $58 million growth round

🛡️Crypto Security

- Crypto scammers have shifted to Telegram malware, which has now passed traditional phishing in volume, which involves fake verification bots, fake trading groups, fare airdrop and alpha groups

🗞️Miscellaneous

- CryptoQuant survey finds that 60% of crypto investors are young (25-44 y old), educated and invest less than $10k
- According to research, more than 40% of the young generations have already invested in crypto, with 20% of GenZ and Alpha seeing crypto as retirement alternative
- Decentralized AI and AI agents to drive 2025 supercycle according to CEO of 0G Labs, Michael Heinrich
- Donald Trump launched memecoin TRUMP while his wife launches token MELANIA ahead of inauguration, both on Solana blockchain
- Google search volumes for “buy crypto” and “buy Solana” increased amid hype driven by TRUMP memecoin
- MicroStrategy’s Saylor hints at another Bitcoin purchase for 11th consecutive week now
- Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong urges countries to establish Bitcoin strategic reserves, saying “the next global arms race will be in the digital economy, not space”

Have a successful week ahead! 🤝
- Swapin Team