ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptonews, former South Korean Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-guk is facing legal consequences for concealing a large amount of cryptocurrency assets, reflecting South Korea's strict stance on cryptocurrency regulation.According to local reports, prosecutors have proposed a six-month prison sentence for Kim Nam-guk, on the charge that he intentionally altered the asset declaration submitted to the National Assembly, concealing cryptocurrency assets worth $7.5 million.

ChainCatcher news, according to CME's "FedWatch" data, the current market believes there is a 98.8% probability that the Federal Reserve will announce a 25 basis point rate cut tonight (3 AM on the 19th), while the probability of maintaining the rate at 4.5%-4.75% is only 1.2%. The Federal Reserve will announce the rate decision and economic projections summary at 3 AM, followed by a monetary policy press conference with Fed Chair Powell at 3:30 AM.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, U.S. Treasury yields rose before the Federal Reserve's decision announcement. However, the economic data released that day showed that U.S. new housing starts declined both month-over-month and year-over-year, which led to a slight decrease in Treasury yields.The current market expects the Federal Reserve to cut rates by 25 basis points and suggests a pause in rate hikes in January, increasing the hawkish tone. Affected by this expectation, the settlement price of the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield may reach its highest level in over a month.

ChainCatcher news, according to Trader T's monitoring, U.S. crypto stocks are falling before the market opens: MicroStrategy down 1.4%, iShares Bitcoin Trust down 2.4%, Coinbase down 1.6%, Riot Platforms down 2.4%, CleanSpark down 1%, Marathon Digital down 1.9%.

ChainCatcher news, CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju posted that the KRW to USD exchange rate is about to hit a 15-year high. He reviewed the history of South Korea overcoming the crisis during the 1998 IMF bailout by mobilizing gold from the public and stated that South Korea may currently need to launch a "digital gold mobilization campaign." Ki Young Ju emphasized that South Korea is the country that most needs to establish a Bitcoin strategic reserve.

ChainCatcher news, former South Korean Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-guk attended the first public trial today at the Southern Seoul Court for allegedly concealing cryptocurrency holdings and falsely reporting assets in the 2021 and 2022 National Assembly property declarations. Former lawmaker Kim is accused of adjusting the total amount of assets by transferring part of his cryptocurrency deposits to a bank account and converting the remaining portion into cryptocurrency, thereby obstructing the National Assembly's Ethics Committee's review of asset changes. The court has decided to sentence him to 6 months in prison. The incident is still under further investigation.

According to ChainCatcher news, data from the official website shows that Hyperliquid's open interest reached $4.28 billion on December 16, setting a new historical high.

ChainCatcher news, on-chain detective ZachXBT updates that the assets stolen by the LastPass attacker have risen to $12.38 million, coming from over 100 victim addresses.Previous news, on-chain analyst ZachXBT disclosed that the LastPass attacker targeted over 40 victim addresses, stealing approximately $5.36 million in crypto assets. The attacker then exchanged the stolen funds for ETH and attempted to cover the flow of funds by transferring assets across chains from the Ethereum network to the Bitcoin network through multiple instant exchanges.

ChainCatcher News, the U.S. Treasury Department announced on Tuesday that it has taken action to shut down a North Korean cryptocurrency money laundering network that has laundered millions of dollars for North Korea, a major player in global crypto crime.According to a press release from the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a shell company based in the UAE named Green Alpine Trading, LLC was found to be exchanging cryptocurrency for cash, providing funding to North Korea. The U.S. government's sanctions office has blacklisted the company and sanctioned two Chinese nationals who have been involved in the network since 2022.The press release stated that the UAE cooperated with the U.S. in this operation. It is currently unclear what has happened to the two sanctioned Chinese nationals—Lu Huaying and Zhang Jian. According to the press release, they collaborated with North Korea's "agent" Sim Hyon Sop to engage in illegal activities.

ChainCatcher news, according to Chainwire, Omni Network announced the launch of the Omni Core mainnet and introduced a fast and secure cross-aggregate communication protocol as the foundation of the Omni order flow engine.It is reported that Omni Core includes a cross-chain messaging protocol and an EVM, protected by Ethereum through re-staking. Omni Core is built on the Octane framework, a new type of open-source protocol architecture that allows independent consensus and execution environments to run in parallel.

ChainCatcher news, according to Chainwire, Omni Network has announced the launch of the Omni Core mainnet and introduced a fast and secure cross-aggregate communication protocol as the foundation of the Omni order flow engine. Omni Core includes a cross-chain messaging protocol and an EVM, secured by Ethereum through re-staking.Omni Core is built on the Octane framework, a new type of open-source protocol architecture that allows independent consensus and execution environments to run in parallel. Omni Core immediately supports seamless interoperability between major Ethereum-compatible networks in the Ethereum ecosystem, including Ethereum Layer 1, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base, which collectively lock up over 90% of the total value in the Ethereum ecosystem.

ChainCatcher message, Pudgy Penguins Chief Creative Officer and Partner Chef posted on the X platform that the system has been restored, and you can try to claim again.Please note that if you can only claim a portion of the PENGU tokens, please refresh the website and execute the process again.

ChainCatcher news, Pudgy Penguins partner and Chief Creative Officer Chef posted on the X platform that the token claim API has been closed, and the team is working hard to restore it. Currently, over 50,000 people have claimed the PENGU token.

ChainCatcher news, CESS Network participated in the Policy Summit 2024 hosted by the U.S. Blockchain Association in Washington, D.C. on December 16, U.S. time. As a representative project of DePIN, CESS formed a DePIN working group with leading projects such as GEODNET, Helium, IoTeX, and Filecoin to engage in in-depth discussions on the future development of decentralized physical infrastructure networks.Former U.S. President Trump called the summit to congratulate all participants, affirming the important role of the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry in the future economy and national strategy, and expressing optimism about future cryptocurrency policies.At the summit, CESS was invited to participate in a special discussion on how blockchain technology can enhance national security and protect data privacy. In the future, CESS will work with industry partners to promote the improvement of blockchain industry policies, assist in the global implementation of DePIN technology, and continuously build decentralized data infrastructure to provide innovative solutions for data security and user privacy protection.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) in Jodhpur, India, ruled that profits from cryptocurrency sales prior to the introduction of the Virtual Digital Assets (VDA) regime in 2022 should be considered capital gains.The ruling classifies cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, as capital assets, addressing the previous ambiguity surrounding the taxation of cryptocurrencies.

ChainCatcher news, according to Decrypt, Singapore-based digital asset trading firm QCP Capital wrote in a report on Monday that the price ratio of Bitcoin to gold has reached a new high, further solidifying Bitcoin's status as "digital gold," gradually positioning it as "an increasingly favored store of value compared to traditional gold."Nevertheless, traders still tend to prefer gold over Bitcoin during uncertain times. Bitcoin has gradually become more correlated with traditional markets to some extent, partly due to the approval of the U.S. Bitcoin ETF in January this year.According to data from Coinglass, the total assets under management of global Bitcoin ETFs have reached $119 billion. According to the World Gold Council, as of November 2024, the total assets of gold ETFs amount to $290 billion, roughly double that of Bitcoin ETF assets.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Lido announced on Monday that it will stop Polygon staking services and informed users that they can withdraw funds before June 16, 2025. The announcement also stated that after June 16, 2025, users will withdraw through a browser tool.The announcement indicated that multiple factors prompted Lido to reassess and ultimately exit the staking service on the Polygon PoS chain, including limited user adoption, insufficient rewards, resource-intensive maintenance requirements, and changes in ecosystem dynamics.

ChainCatcher news, Mask Network founder Suji Yan posted that multiple Pudgy Penguins toy products in a New York store were opened and the QR codes were stolen. The token airdrop led some people to rush into Walmart to steal QR codes that might receive the airdrop. He stated that the crypto community should condemn such behavior.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cryptoslate, founder of the Satoshi Act Fund, Dennis Porter, stated that U.S. President-elect Trump plans to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (SBR) through an executive order, intending to use the Treasury's Exchange Stabilization Fund (ESF) to purchase Bitcoin. The ESF is typically used to address financial crises, with total assets exceeding $200 billion as of October 2024. If implemented, this plan would position the U.S. at the forefront of the global Bitcoin reserve race.At the same time, several U.S. states have begun to push for Bitcoin reserve legislation, including Pennsylvania and Texas. Additionally, countries such as Brazil, Poland, and Japan are also discussing proposals to establish national Bitcoin reserves.