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CFTC Contacts Coinbase About Polymarket |
Coinbase Inc. (COIN) is warning customers that a U.S. regulator is demanding information about interactions with prediction market firm Polymarket, according to a person familiar with the situation, and Coinbase has sent messages to customers saying the exchange may have to share that data. Copies of the emails shared with some customers have circulated on social-media sites, and those warnings about the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) requests are accurate, the person said. The U.S. derivatives regulator has conducted a drawn-out legal battle with prediction markets firms, and this latest move comes just days before the leadership of the agency will flip from Democratic to Republican when President-elect Donald Trump takes office. "When we receive requests for information from a government, each request is carefully reviewed by a team of trained experts using established procedures to determine its legal sufficiency," a Coinbase spokesperson said in an emailed statement, though the company declined to confirm receipt of the specific subpoena. "Where necessary, we will seek to narrow requests that are overly broad or vague in order to provide a more appropriately tailored response, and in some cases we object to producing any information at all." The CFTC lost an initial case against prediction market firm Kalshi when a U.S. federal judge ruled late last year that the agency couldn't bar the company from listing election contracts. However, the regulator quickly filed an appeal with a higher court, and Polymarket argued in that new legal clash that only Congress can halt election betting. Neither the CFTC nor Polymarket immediately responded to a request for comment on the effort to gather customer information. |
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US Miners Were 25% of Bitcoin in December |
U.S.-listed bitcoin (BTC) miners accounted for 25.3% of the global network in December, Jefferies said in a research report on Thursday. The bank cut its price target for MARA Holdings (MARA) to $20 from $24, while maintaining its hold rating on the stock. The shares rose 0.5% to $18.43 during early trading Friday. Mining profitability improved in December as the average price of bitcoin gained 15%, outpacing the increase in the network hashrate, which was 6.5% higher, the report said. The hashrate refers to the total combined computational power used to mine and process transactions on a proof-of-work blockchain and is a proxy for competition in the industry and mining difficulty.
Average daily revenue was $59,585 per exahash, a 7.1% increase from November, Jefferies said. U.S.-listed mining companies mined 3,602 bitcoin in December versus 3,404 the month previous, the bank said. Jefferies noted that MARA mined the most bitcoin last month with 890 tokens, followed by CleanSpark (CLSK) with 668. MARA's installed hashrate remained the largest in the sector at 53.2 exahashes per second (EH/s). CleanSpark had the second-largest hashrate with 39.1 EH/s, the report added. |
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EU MiCA Rules to Boost Euro Stablecoins |
The EU's MiCA regulations, which came into effect on Dec. 30, will likely boost euro denominated stablecoins, JPMorgan (JPM) said in a research report on Wednesday.
"Under MiCA, only compliant stablecoins can be used as trading pairs in regulated markets, prompting EU exchanges to adjust their offerings," analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote. This has resulted in compliant stablecoins such as Circle's EURC gaining strength, whereas non-compliant stablecoins like Tether's EURT faced challenges, the Wall Street bank said. A stablecoin is a type of crypto designed to hold a steady value and is usually pegged to the U.S. dollar, though other currencies and commodities such as gold are also used. Under the new rules stablecoin issuers such as Tether are required to maintain significant reserves in banks based in Europe and must secure licenses for trading, the report noted. This has led Tether to discontinue its EURT stablecoin and has resulted in the delisting of USDT from a number of exchanges based in the EU, JPMorgan said. The stablecoin issuer said in November that it would phase out its euro stablecoin, with users able to redeem tokens for up to 12 months. Still, Tether remains a "dominant force" in the global stablecoin market in spite of these challenges, the bank said, adding that is widely used in Asian markets where there are less restrictions. Tether's investment in MiCA-compliant stablecoin issuers such as Quantoz Payments shows it commitment to maintaining a presence in the EU, the report added. The company said in December that it had also invested in European stablecoin issuer StablR. |
Razzlekhan Drops Video Ahead of Prison |
The crypto industry's most notorious rapper, Heather Morgan – more widely known as Razzlekhan – released a new music video as U.S. authorities stand ready to imprison her for criminally laundering portions of the crypto loot her husband was convicted of pilfering from Bitfinex.
In the song, 'Razzlekhan vs. The United States," Morgan's outlandish and proactively clad musical persona gyrates and scowls into the camera. Despite the legalese of the song's name, its lyrics don't make an overt attack on the investigation and court proceedings that landed her a federal sentence of 18 months in prison. "This ain't no free country; it running on money; capitalists chummy; old white men hella grumpy," raps Morgan, bound in red ropes. The aggressive image strikes a sharp contrast with the conservatively dressed defendant who wept in a Washington courtroom as she apologized for her role in concealing and cashing out parts of the stolen fortune of almost 120,000 bitcoin. Her husband, Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein, was sentenced to five years for orchestrating the hack and theft. And the couple's crypto crimes are the subject of a recent Netflix documentary, "Biggest Heist Ever." Morgan's Razzlekhan performances are meant as a tongue-in-cheek commentary, she contends, and in the latest "misfits anthem" released on Friday, "the lines of sex appeal and cringe memes are blurred."
"It symbolizes many of my thoughts and actual experiences throughout our federal case," she said in a statement about the work. "Many creatives and misfits have told me that Razzlekhan content has been really inspiring to them, and it makes them feel less alone." |
Takeaway: Decentralization Prevents Hacks |
By Jessie Dai Recent figures reveal that cybercrime has inflicted losses of $298 billion on German companies alone in 2024, with 90% of surveyed businesses expecting damages to rise further. The primary targets? Sensitive data like intellectual property, patents and user credentials. These alarming statistics underscore the urgent need for more secure and scalable data infrastructure to mitigate cyber risks.
While blockchain technology is often safe on the layer 1 protocol level, its application in enterprise-scale data management is still evolving. Traditional centralized systems often prioritize convenience over security, leaving vulnerabilities that cybercriminals exploit. Though blockchain’s promise of security and data sovereignty is clear, its enterprise adoption has been hindered by challenges in scalability, accessibility and speed. Large organizations such as Florida-based National Public Data (NPD), which experienced a colossal breach earlier in mid-2024, frequently dodge accountability and transparency. That highlights the mounting problem of centralized companies having this much control over sensitive data: Their primary concern is protecting themselves, and not users. Luckily, the subset of the blockchain sector focused on data sovereignty has made great strides. While much of industry conversation has surrounded Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF inflows, data security impacts the entire underpinning of our election and financial institutions —- we would be wise to start paying attention to the infrastructure under development. Governments such as the State of Rhode Island have started to adopt blockchain technology for use in business registration and land titling, however, politicians and decision-makers at the government level remain wary of blockchain infrastructure due to its affiliation with crypto schemes such as FTX. These solutions are in a unique position to continue expanding while acquiring even more legacy cloud computing solutions. What is currently missing is the ability for the user to own their data and control the physical location of the nodes on which they store their data. DePIN introduces a decentralized framework that reduces reliance on centralized cloud providers, mitigating the risks associated with single points of failure. Enterprises can benefit from decentralized systems that ensure data privacy, sovereignty, and scalability — essential in the face of growing cyber threats. For example, solutions like CESS offer decentralized storage and data retrieval networks while focusing on data sovereignty (using mechanisms like location-based storage selection), dynamic data access, AI enablement, and data monetization. As cyberattacks become more sophisticated, traditional centralized systems are proving insufficient to address modern data security needs. DePIN’s decentralized framework provides a robust alternative, ensuring that data remains accessible, secure, and verifiable — even under extreme circumstances like server failures or targeted attacks. Looking ahead, decentralized infrastructure is poised to redefine how businesses, governments, and developers manage sensitive data. By reducing reliance on vulnerable centralized systems, DePIN enables a more secure and sovereign digital ecosystem. As more enterprises adopt these solutions, the transition to decentralized systems will not only mitigate cyber risks but also unlock new opportunities for innovation and growth in the data-driven economy. |
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