ChainCatcher news, the Bank of Botswana stated that the local cryptocurrency market in the country is still underdeveloped, and the risks to financial stability are "extremely low." The bank indicated that regulatory measures should be established to prevent potential future risks associated with digital assets.The Bank of Botswana stated: "The risks posed by domestic crypto assets are minimal, but the ongoing misconduct in this area has raised regulatory concerns. Therefore, regulators need to establish an effective oversight framework for the industry."

ChainCatcher news, newly elected Ohio Republican Senator Bernie Moreno will serve on the Senate Banking Committee, which is responsible for overseeing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and plays a key role in shaping cryptocurrency legislation.In 2018, Moreno founded Ownum, a company that sells technology for placing vehicle ownership on the blockchain. Before entering politics, he was a member of the blockchain policy organization The Digital Chamber. Although Moreno did not list cryptocurrency among his 16 core "policy priorities" on his campaign website, he did post several statements supporting the industry on X and publicly opposed a harsh regulatory environment during his campaign in the months leading up to the election.

ChainCatcher news, according to Dailyhodl, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) stated in its quarterly bank profile report that the number of U.S. banks on its "problem bank list" rose to 68 in the third quarter. The total assets held by problem banks increased by $3.9 billion, reaching $87.3 billion. Problem banks account for 1.5% of the total number of banks, which is within the normal range of 1% to 2% for all banks during non-crisis periods.Meanwhile, the amount of unrealized losses on bank balance sheets has decreased. As of the third quarter of this year, banks reported book losses of $364 billion, primarily due to their involvement in the residential real estate and treasury markets. Unrealized losses represent the difference between the price banks paid for securities and the current market value of those assets. In the third quarter, bank book losses decreased by $148.9 billion from $512.9 billion in the second quarter.

ChainCatcher news, according to Ledger Insights, the Central Bank of Russia recently shared its business model for the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). By the end of 2025, all digital ruble transactions will be free, with the first banks and merchants expected to go live on July 1. The central bank plans to earn fees by operating the system.Meanwhile, at a hearing held last week in the State Duma of Russia, the Association of Russian Banks (ABR) expressed dissatisfaction among banks. They are concerned about the potential outflow of bank deposits and the high deployment costs.It is reported that the Central Bank of Russia does not intend to limit the holdings of the CBDC. According to Info24, ABR Chairman Anatoly Kozlachkov stated that the setup cost for each bank is about 100 million rubles (1 million USD), while some banks have a capital of only 3 million USD.

ChainCatcher news, according to Ledger Insights, Germany's DekaBank has obtained a cryptocurrency custody license from the country's regulatory authority BaFin and the European Central Bank (ECB). Commerzbank was the first German bank to receive a license last year, while other major banks, including DZ Bank, have yet to obtain one.BaFin has issued an additional 11 cryptocurrency custody licenses, primarily targeting cryptocurrency companies. One of these is the digital asset custody subsidiary of Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe Privatbank.The difference between DekaBank and Commerzbank in relation to cryptocurrency companies is that the former is licensed under the Banking Act (KWG). This is the second new license DekaBank has obtained this year. In July, the company received a license as a crypto securities registrar for issuing digital securities based on DLT in Germany. These crypto securities can be issued without the need for a central securities depository (CSD).

ChainCatcher news, citing The Wall Street Journal via Cryptoslate, a new survey shows that among 160 crypto hedge funds, about 120 funds reported issues with basic banking services over the past three years. These funds invest in digital currencies and blockchain technology companies.The other 20 alternative investors surveyed (in areas such as real estate and private credit) reported no similar issues. Banking problems include poor communication and direct termination of partnerships. Among the crypto hedge funds facing issues, more than half were explicitly informed by banks that they would terminate their partnerships.However, the reasons for these decisions are often vague or nonexistent. When banks provide explanations, they state a desire to limit their risk exposure to cryptocurrency clients or the industry.

ChainCatcher news, according to a post by WatcherGuru, an American YouTuber discovered that the Taliban frequently trades Meme coins and is subject to rug pulls.

ChainCatcher news, according to Walter Bloomberg, the Governor of the Central Bank of Russia, Nabiullina, stated that we do not intend to invest in cryptocurrencies.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptonews, the New Zealand cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia has begun to return millions of cryptocurrencies to account holders after years of closure.In a 2019 cyber attack, tokens worth millions of dollars were stolen from the Cryptopia platform, which subsequently filed for liquidation. At that time, the amount stolen from the platform was approximately $15.5 million. However, during the liquidation process, the platform was hacked again in 2021. A former employee stole $170,000 worth of cryptocurrency from a wallet linked to Cryptopia.The exchange has reimbursed 10,000 verified account holders with NZD 400 million (USD 224.9 million) in cryptocurrency. According to the liquidator's public consultation, Bitcoin and Dogecoin account holders have already received their first cryptocurrency distribution.Cryptopia liquidator Grant Thornton stated, "In the past 48 hours, over NZD 400 million (USD 224.9 million) of cryptocurrency has been returned on-chain."

ChainCatcher news, according to monitoring by ai_9684xtpa, a certain ETH whale with a winning rate has bottomed out 13,453 WETH at an average price of $3506 over the past 9 hours, worth $47.17 million, starting the 21st wave.Based on the current ETH price of $3447, there is currently an unrealized loss of $770,000.

ChainCatcher message, according to Ember monitoring, a whale engaged in swing trading bought the dip on ETH 7 hours ago, using 50.31 million USDT to purchase 14,369.9 ETH at an average price of 3501 USD.This whale took profit on a short BTC position yesterday morning and bought ETH with the entire position when the market continued to decline early this morning.

ChainCatcher message, according to recent court documents, the government believes that Sam Bankman-Fried's claims are baseless, asserting that the jury's verdict and trial outcome are reasonable.SBF had filed a request in September with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn his conviction. He argued that Judge Lewis Kaplan's judicial bias and procedural errors undermined his trial. Bankman-Fried stated that the judge's decisions limited key defense arguments and restricted evidence regarding his investments. He also suggested that FTX's financial issues were exaggerated, implying that customers could still recover their funds.The government dismissed these arguments, pointing out that SBF's appeal failed to demonstrate any errors or biases in the original trial. The government also supported the denial of SBF's request to compel third-party debtors to provide specific documents, stating that the court's actions were correct since those documents were not in the court's possession.

ChainCatcher news, Deutsche Bank released a report on this week's FOMC meeting, stating that the Federal Reserve meeting reinforced our fundamental view that the skip (rate cut) in January may turn into an extended pause (rate cut) in 2025. We continue to believe that the nominal neutral rate is around 3.75%, and the committee needs to maintain a restrictive stance relative to that level. Therefore, we reiterate our view that the federal funds rate may remain above 4% next year, with the baseline being no further rate cuts. The report also noted that some Federal Reserve participants have begun to incorporate the potential economic impact of President-elect Trump's policies into their forecasts, which could lead to higher inflation projections for 2025 and 2026. Regarding the labor market, Powell described it as solid but pointed out that the current level of job creation is below what is needed to maintain a stable unemployment rate. (Jin Shi)

ChainCatcher news, according to DL News, has reported that the phenomenon of cryptocurrency companies and their executives being shut out by banks has garnered significant attention from senior officials at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In comments made on Wednesday, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce expressed skepticism about a nearly $400 million budget request for 2025 proposed by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Peirce pointed out that the PCAOB has decided to focus on companies that hold large amounts of cryptocurrency or facilitate cryptocurrency trading. She stated, "In recent weeks, the efforts by regulators to prevent regulated entities from entering the cryptocurrency space have become public."In deciding not to approve PCAOB's budget request, Peirce further questioned how the board could choose its investigation targets while not discouraging auditors, issuers, and broker-dealers from engaging in the cryptocurrency space. However, Peirce's opinion was not adopted, as three other commissioners, including SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, voted against it.Previously, the cryptocurrency industry had accused that it is being collectively pushed out of the traditional banking system for several weeks. Against this backdrop, Peirce made the aforementioned comments. Cryptocurrency venture capitalist Nic Carter referred to this alleged exclusion as "Operation Choke Point 2.0."

ChainCatcher news, the Bank of England maintains the benchmark interest rate at 4.75%, in line with market expectations, with a cumulative rate cut of 50 basis points this year. (Jin Ten)

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, investment bank Jefferies' latest report shows that driven by Bitcoin's price reaching an all-time high, miners are expected to continue their profitable trend in December. Data indicates that the average Bitcoin price rose by 31% in November, while network hash rate only increased by 4%, with daily revenue per EH/s reaching $55,649, a month-over-month increase of 20.7%.Among them, MARA Holdings ranks first in the industry with a deployed hash rate of 46.1 EH/s, mining 907 Bitcoins in November; CleanSpark ranks second with 33.7 EH/s, producing 622 Bitcoins. U.S.-listed mining companies account for 24.7% of the total network output, and lower winter temperatures help improve equipment operating efficiency.

ChainCatcher news, UOB economist Alvin Liew stated that the Bank of Japan has not finished raising interest rates, but the timing of future hikes is now expected to be influenced by wage growth next year and the clarity of Trump’s policies. This means that while the possibility of a rate hike in January is not completely ruled out, it now appears to be a low-probability event.Although the policy statement and Governor Ueda's press conference did not provide forward guidance, Ueda emphasized that the wage increase situation in Japan in 2025 and considerations regarding Trump’s policies are key to the next decision. UOB expects the Bank of Japan to raise rates by 25 basis points to 0.5% in March, which the bank believes will be the terminal rate. However, there is a significant risk that the rate hike could be postponed to April or later.

ChainCatcher news, according to Morocco World News, the Governor of the Central Bank of Morocco (BAM), Abdellatif Jouahri, announced that the country is about to introduce a regulatory framework for crypto assets. This framework has been developed with technical support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, aiming to balance regulation and innovation.The new framework will align with the latest recommendations from the G20 and will focus on addressing financial risks associated with crypto assets. The bill is currently in the public consultation phase and will subsequently be submitted for government and parliamentary approval.According to a report by Chainanalysis, Morocco currently ranks 20th in the global cryptocurrency adoption index. Research by Insider Monkey in 2023 shows that Morocco ranks 13th among the countries with the highest Bitcoin usage.

ChainCatcher message, according to the SoSoValue macro sector display, on December 18th, at the interest rate meeting, the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by 25 basis points as expected, bringing the target range for the federal funds rate down to 4.25%-4.50%. For the rate cut pace next year, the Federal Reserve adjusted its expectations from "four rate cuts" to "two" through the latest dot plot. In addition, the Federal Reserve raised its expectations for future core PCE inflation and GDP growth, which is consistent with Powell's remarks, all conveying a more "hawkish" signal than the market expected. Data shows that the market risk sentiment VIX index rose to its highest point since early August (when the Bank of Japan raised interest rates).SoSoValue analysts stated that the FOMC proposed an unexpectedly aggressive rate cut plan, coupled with Powell's "hawkish" remarks, led to a shift in market sentiment towards panic, with U.S. Treasuries even overreacting. The U.S. stock market subsequently corrected, while the dollar strengthened. Overall, all risk assets reacted strongly to the FOMC's latest signals. Based on macro data, we believe that the fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain unchanged, the dollar remains strong, and consensus-driven assets such as cryptocurrencies continue to be a destination for capital inflows. Each market correction driven by sentiment in the game is a good entry point, and we recommend maintaining risk exposure at this time.