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 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.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, the Bank of Japan has kept the policy interest rate unchanged at 0.25%, marking the third consecutive pause in rate hikes.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, German financial giant Deutsche Bank is developing an Ethereum Layer 2 blockchain network based on ZKsync technology. The project aims to address the compliance challenges of public blockchains in regulated finance by improving transaction efficiency and enhancing regulatory compliance.This development is part of the Project Guardian initiative promoted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and Deutsche Bank's L2 network is named Project Dama 2. The project brings together 24 financial institutions to explore the possibilities of tokenizing blockchain assets.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Swiss cryptocurrency custodian Taurus has reached a strategic partnership with global core banking software provider Temenos. Temenos currently has 67 offices in 40 countries, serving over 3,000 banks and financial institutions. This collaboration will allow banks using the Temenos system to create cryptocurrency wallets with one click, achieving seamless integration with traditional accounts.Taurus co-founder Lamine Brahimi stated that partner banks will have access to various digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, tokenized securities, and stablecoins. The integrated features support automatic deposits and withdrawals, transfers, as well as real-time accounting and compliance reporting. Notably, Taurus has already provided crypto custody services for institutions such as Deutsche Bank and State Street, and this is the first digital asset custody platform to achieve full integration with Temenos.

ChainCatcher news, NEXA GLOBAL DIGITAL GROUP LIMITED announced recently that it has invested 12 million USD in TCASH Digital Bank.It is reported that TCASH Digital Bank is headquartered in New York, with a global operations center in Dubai, and is committed to building an open, decentralized crypto banking platform. This investment will accelerate TCASH's rapid development in the fields of DeFi, CeFi, digital payments, and crypto asset trading. It will provide global users with a more secure, transparent, and convenient digital financial ecosystem, promoting innovation and transformation in the crypto economy and digital economy.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, Deutsche Bank launched a test version of its asset servicing pilot project Dama 2 in November. The platform includes Layer 2 access to Ethereum and aims to address the regulatory challenges financial institutions face when attempting to use public blockchains, such as the risk of inadvertently transacting with criminals or sanctioned entities.Dama 2 is part of the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Project Guardian, which involves 24 major financial institutions testing methods for tokenizing assets using blockchain technology. The Dama 2 platform was developed in collaboration with crypto companies Memento Blockchain Pte. and Interop Labs, built using ZKsync technology. The bank hopes to launch it as a minimum viable product (MVP) next year after obtaining regulatory approval.

ChainCatcher news, Bankless co-founder Ryan Sean Adams stated on social media that if a DeFi system on an L1 public chain can be shut down by an email from the Treasury (because all liquidity pools, collateral, and trading pairs are backed by US government-supported stablecoins), then this is just fintech with additional steps.Adams emphasized that if we want a truly sovereign internet currency system (which is what the crypto industry once cared about), we need a large-scale economic asset that can compete with G7 countries as the base currency. He stated, "ETH needs to reach tens of trillions in scale, or the whole endeavor will be meaningless."In response, Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko remarked that traders have always been dealing with custody risks, and banks can also fail. If there is enough bandwidth to manage all markets, this is technically a feature.

ChainCatcher news, OpenAI has reached an agreement with Japan's SoftBank Group, where approximately 400 current and former employees will cash out millions of dollars by selling shares to SoftBank. According to sources, SoftBank will acquire OpenAI shares at a price of $210 per share, with a total amount potentially reaching $1.6 billion. Employees can cash out part of their equity through this transaction, provided they received restricted stock units over two years ago.OpenAI's current valuation is $157 billion, and eligible employees must decide whether to sell their shares by December 24. Current employees can cash out up to $10 million each, while former employees have a maximum limit of $2 million.The total expected amount for this transaction is $2 billion, of which SoftBank has agreed to purchase $1.6 billion in shares, with the remaining $400 million in shares potentially going unsold.

ChainCatcher news, the incoming Republican chairman of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, Tim Scott, stated at the Blockchain Association Policy Summit: "In my view, cryptocurrency is the next miracle of the world."Tim Scott promised that his committee will have a cryptocurrency branch and will serve as the first chairman of the newly created Digital Assets Subcommittee.Tim Scott indicated that both chambers of Congress and the incoming administration of President Donald Trump will work in the same direction to push for legislation, with two starting points being the "Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act" (FIT21), which aims to establish comprehensive crypto market safeguards and passed the House this year with significant bipartisan support, and a stablecoin bill that is close to a bipartisan agreement but has stalled due to some sticking points regarding the roles of federal and state governments.

ChainCatcher News, a recent survey of global fund managers by Bank of America shows that the US dollar is expected to be the best-performing currency by 2025. 40% of investors anticipate that the dollar will outperform the market in 2025, up from 31% in November. Long positions in the dollar are considered the second hottest trade after bullish bets on the "Big Seven" US stocks. In December, the proportion of investors who believe the dollar is overvalued rose to 59%, up from 51% in November, the highest level since January 2023. (Jin Ten)

ChainCatcher news, Bank of America CEO Moynihan stated that incoming Treasury Secretary Basant is very knowledgeable about the industry and is an "excellent" candidate. (Jin Shi)