ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Ripple President Monica Long expects its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin to be listed "soon" on major cryptocurrency exchanges to continue expanding the issuance and availability of XRP on other exchanges, with an announcement forthcoming.However, when asked about the listing status of RLUSD on major platforms like Coinbase, she declined to provide specific information.

ChainCatcher news, according to Finance Magnates, Kazakhstan's regulatory body AFM RK announced that authorities have blocked over 3,500 illegally operating cryptocurrency exchanges. This action is the result of a joint effort by the National Security Committee and the Ministry of Culture and Information. Earlier in 2023, authorities also blocked access to Coinbase on the grounds of alleged violations of digital asset laws.In 2024, regulators shut down 36 illegal cryptocurrency exchanges, with a total trading volume of 60 billion Kazakhstani tenge (approximately 11.3 million USD), and froze assets worth 4.8 million USDT. Additionally, authorities uncovered two cryptocurrency pyramid schemes, returning 545,000 USDT to victims and freezing 120,000 USDT held by the platforms.AFM stated that it is working with international partners to strengthen the regulation of cryptocurrency trading, combat its use for criminal activities, and develop legal amendments to hold digital asset providers accountable for money laundering, while financial institutions' inspections of cryptocurrency trading have also been enhanced.

According to ChainCatcher news, in an article by Zhong Yi from the China Financial Forty Forum, titled "Cryptocurrency is 'Not What It Used to Be'", it points out that the development of cryptocurrency has now given rise to at least three different types with distinct characteristics. Based on their design mechanisms and functions, private cryptocurrencies can be mainly divided into three categories: Store of Value Cryptocurrencies, Utility Tokens, and Stablecoins.As of December 28, 2024, the CoinGecko website has recorded 16,022 types of cryptocurrencies across 1,200 exchanges worldwide, with a total market capitalization of approximately $3.43 trillion and a trading volume of about $165.3 billion in the past 24 hours. In relative terms, this market capitalization is equivalent to 5% of the total market capitalization of the U.S. stock market and 35% of the Chinese stock market. In early 2014, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies was only $10.6 billion, and over the past ten years, the cryptocurrency market has achieved more than 300 times growth.

ChainCatcher news, according to a report by Wall Street Watch, Asian stock markets have shown mixed performance this year against the backdrop of a strong dollar. Some have achieved a bull market in local currency at the cost of currency depreciation, while others have sacrificed part of their stock market gains for relatively stable exchange rates, with South Korea being an exception.In terms of the Korean won, the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) has fallen by 10.0% this year. Considering the depreciation of the won, the KOSPI has dropped by 18.9% when measured in dollars, making it the weakest in Asia. From the perspective of capital flow, since the second half of this year, only institutional investors in South Korea have maintained a net buying scale in the stock market, while the resident sector has been continuously reducing purchases.Analysis suggests that a significant portion of the money that South Korean residents have withdrawn from the stock market has been used for "crypto trading." Data from the Bank of Korea (BOK) shows that as of November, the number of domestic cryptocurrency investors in South Korea has reached 15.59 million, an increase of 610,000 from the previous month. Currently, among the 51 million South Koreans, 30% are involved in crypto trading.The daily trading volume of South Korea's five major cryptocurrency exchanges—UPbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and GOPAX—has surged from 34 trillion won in October to 149 trillion won in November, more than quadrupling. South Koreans have always been keen on investing in cryptocurrencies. During the first wave of the cryptocurrency bull market in 2017, about 5% of the population participated; in the second bull market in 2021, 10% participated; and now this proportion has expanded to 30%. However, historically, the South Korean stock index has shown a positive correlation with Bitcoin prices, which was completely broken in October of this year.

ChainCatcher news, according to CrowdFund Insider, Latin America's leading cryptocurrency exchange Bitso has announced the launch of the stablecoin RLUSD issued by Ripple. This stablecoin is pegged to the US dollar at a 1:1 ratio and is fully backed by equivalent US dollars and cash equivalents, primarily aimed at cross-border payment scenarios.Bitso CEO Daniel Vogel stated that the company's long-term partnership with Ripple has facilitated multiple innovative application scenarios, including cross-border payments. RLUSD will be offered through the RLUSD/MXN trading pair on the Bitso Alpha platform, allowing users to deposit and withdraw in the form of Ethereum ERC-20 tokens.

ChainCatcher news, FTX co-founder and former CTO Gary Wang provided extensive cooperation to U.S. prosecutors, resulting in a sentence that has already been served, with no additional prison time.Wang faced a maximum of 50 years in prison but began cooperating with authorities shortly after the collapse of FTX in November 2022.Prosecutor Andrew Roos emphasized the uniqueness of Wang's cooperation, highlighting his technical expertise and willingness to assist from the very beginning. Roos stated, "He cracked half the case for us on the first day of cooperation." Wang's insights were crucial for understanding how FTX's code allowed the misappropriation of customer funds, which played a central role in the fraudulent activities associated with the exchange.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, the American cryptocurrency exchange Gemini has announced that it will operate in France. This move marks Gemini's latest expansion in the European Union, especially against the backdrop of the upcoming comprehensive regulation of the crypto asset market (MiCA) that will reshape the region's relationship with the crypto industry.Earlier this year, Gemini registered as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in France, stating that the country's positive support and engagement with the crypto industry is a key factor in its strategic layout.According to Gemini's 2024 Global Crypto Report, France is rated as one of the "most supportive countries for cryptocurrency," with the proportion of cryptocurrency holders in the country increasing by 2% since 2022, reaching 18%.

ChainCatcher news, according to CNA, Taiwan's "Legislators" today expressed concern over the taxation of cryptocurrency in Taiwan. The Minister of Finance, Chang Tsui-yun, stated that profits from related transactions will be subject to income tax, and further discussions will be held regarding the auditing process; the Director of the Taxation Administration, Song Hsiu-ling, mentioned that the tax department currently has auditing tools available to examine the trading situation of digital goods and promised to discuss the taxation methods related to cryptocurrency trading profits within three months.

ChainCatcher News, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has once again called for cryptocurrency exchanges to register and urged those selling securities to make appropriate disclosures, as his tenure leading the agency may be coming to an end.On Thursday, at the 56th Annual Securities Regulation Institute of the American Bar Association, Gensler stated in prepared remarks that many of the 10,000 digital assets in circulation are securities.Gensler said, "Overall, aside from Bitcoin, Ether, and stablecoins, the rest of this market is valued at about $600 billion, which is less than 20% of the entire cryptocurrency market and less than a quarter of the global capital markets."Gensler's remarks came after President-elect Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election last week. Trump has indicated he would fire Gensler. Sources say Gensler is likely to resign, like other chairmen in the past.

ChainCatcher message, according to Arkham monitoring, about five hours ago, 5,165 ETH flowed from the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken's hot wallet address into the Bitwise Ethereum trading fund Bitwise ETHW ETF, amounting to approximately 16.36 million dollars. In the past 23 hours, this address has flowed a total of 6,313 ETH into Bitwise.

ChainCatcher news, at the "DeInsight 2024" annual summit held during Devcon in Bangkok, the RootData List 2024 annual rankings have been officially announced. OKX has successfully been included in the RootData List 2024 annual rankings as one of the "Top 50 Projects (TGE Completed)." OKX is a cryptocurrency exchange building the next-generation financial ecosystem, offering spot, margin, futures, options, perpetual contract trading, DeFi, and lending services.It is reported that this ranking is the second annual selection launched by RootData following its first release in 2023, aimed at showcasing the influential and innovative key players in the Web3 space and assessing the critical forces that continue to drive industry progress. RootData is committed to demonstrating the core forces and trend characteristics of industry development through rigorous data analysis.The ranking statistics cover the period from October 31, 2023, to October 31, 2024, and five rankings have been released, specifically: Top 50 Projects (TGE Completed), Top 50 Projects (TGE Not Completed), Crypto VC Top 50 Investment Institutions, Top 10 Angel Investors, and Top 20 Best CEOs.

ChainCatcher news, according to Coinpedia, South Korean lawmakers have disclosed that due to the new regulations of the "Virtual Asset User Protection Act," 14 cryptocurrency exchanges have closed or suspended operations, resulting in over 33,000 investors being unable to retrieve approximately $13 million in assets.According to Kang Min-guk, the situation may further deteriorate, with about 30.7 billion won ($22 million) potentially trapped on the suspended platforms. Among them, Cashierest exchange holds the most assets, amounting to 13 billion won (approximately $9.4 million).As regulatory pressure increases, the industry expects that more exchanges may be forced to close, raising concerns about the safety of investors' funds.

ChainCatcher news, recently, South Africa's largest cryptocurrency exchange VALR announced the launch of its Chinese version application "威乐", and will continue to iterate to cover more communities.According to data from the RootData platform, VALR was established in 2018 and has completed approximately $55 million in funding to date, with investors including Pantera Capital, 100x Venture, Bittrex, Coinbase Venture, GSR, and others.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jin10, Grant Colthup, the former CEO of the Australian cryptocurrency exchange Mine Digital, is facing a fraud charge for allegedly stealing $1.47 million (2.2 million AUD) from a client who had attempted to convert funds into Bitcoin.The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) stated in a release on October 21 that a Mine Digital customer paid $1.5 million to ACCE Australia but never received the cryptocurrency.ASIC alleges that Colthup either used these funds to repay ACCE's debts, purchased cryptocurrency for others, or both.

ChainCatcher message: According to the latest data from CCData, Binance's cumulative spot and derivative trading volume has surpassed 1 trillion USD, leading other platforms by a wide margin and ranking first among global cryptocurrency exchanges. OKX ranks second with 200 billion USD, followed closely by Bybit and Bitget, which are in third and fourth place, respectively.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, online lending institution K Bank has withdrawn its initial public offering (IPO) of over $700 million in Seoul. The company had originally planned to price the offering on Friday and was set to go public on October 30. A successful listing would have made it the largest IPO in South Korea in more than two and a half years, with a valuation of up to 50 trillion won ($3.6 billion) for the bank. The bank plans to resume its IPO early next year.The withdrawal occurred amid concerns about its valuation and its reliance on deposits from cryptocurrency exchanges. K Bank rapidly expanded its customer base by partnering with Upbit, South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange, but the contract with the exchange is set to expire in October next year.As of the end of June, deposits from Upbit accounted for 16.8% of K Bank's total deposits. K Bank stated in its IPO prospectus that failing to extend its partnership with key strategic partners could weaken the competitiveness of its platform.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptonews, the short video application TikTok is under scrutiny for allegedly operating in the UK in a manner similar to cryptocurrency exchanges. It is reported that a compliance expert has warned the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), suggesting that TikTok undergo checks for money laundering and terrorist financing. The expert emphasized that the virtual tokens on TikTok could potentially be indirectly exchanged for real currency through its creator program, which is concerning.This scrutiny stems from TikTok's virtual currency system—TikTok tokens. Users can purchase tokens with real money and gift them on the platform or during live streams. They may also have the option to exchange these tokens back for cash. This process is similar to cryptocurrency trading. Given the strict regulations surrounding cryptocurrency businesses, this system has raised regulatory concerns. Critics argue that TikTok's handling of virtual currency may face the same scrutiny as cryptocurrency platforms. Additionally, such cryptocurrency-like transactions have raised concerns about the security of users' financial data, especially considering the geopolitical sensitivities.It is reported that the letter stated: "TikTok provides funding transfer services for money service businesses through its rewards program and facilitates the exchange of crypto assets for currency or currency for crypto assets, or makes arrangements for such exchanges." As of the time of publication, neither TikTok nor the FCA has responded to Cryptonews' request for comment.