ChainCatcher news, according to Yonhap News Agency: South Korean authorities have arrested President Yoon Suk-yeol. The South Korean Public Prosecutor's Office executed the arrest warrant for Yoon Suk-yeol at 10:33 AM (Beijing time 09:33 AM).

ChainCatcher message, Scam Sniffer has issued a warning on social platforms that the newly issued "NUDEAI" and "MAGA" tokens on the Base chain have been confirmed as fraudulent tokens. Attackers have transferred backdoor code from SafeMath.mod() to the MerkleProof.verifyCalldata() function in the smart contract, allowing them to transfer assets arbitrarily without user authorization.The involved token contract addresses are: NUDEAI (0xcb33289e...85d4cf95af3574) and MAGA (0xc20fd8...f703e8b522372901). Scam Sniffer reminds users to be cautious of such fraudulent tokens that implant backdoors through the transferFrom function and recommends conducting security verification before interacting with unknown tokens.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, Ian McGinley, the Enforcement Director of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), announced he will resign on January 17. He joined the agency in February 2023 and led enforcement actions against companies such as Binance, KuCoin, and Falcon Labs. In a statement announcing his resignation on January 17, Ian McGinley stated that "making the CFTC the primary enforcement agency for digital assets" was a top priority during his tenure.Reports indicate that Trump's transition team has set its sights on a long list of potential CFTC leaders, but has not acted as swiftly as it did during appointments at the Securities and Exchange Commission. However, if cryptocurrency legislation progresses in 2025, the CFTC may replace the SEC as the dominant regulator of the U.S. digital asset market.

ChainCatcher news, Bitcoin mining company MARA announced on platform X that after extensive discussions with advisors, the company's board of directors has decided to amend the company's articles to increase the authorized share count from 500 million to 800 million shares.This proposal is similar to what other companies in the industry have done, and if approved, it will provide MARA with greater flexibility to timely take advantage of market conditions and favorable financing and acquisition opportunities.

ChainCatcher message, regarding "The U.S. Department of Justice has been authorized to sell $6.5 billion in seized Silk Road Bitcoin," BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes posted on X that diamond hands are ready to buy the dip.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX stated that the acquisition of its European branch FTX EU by the cryptocurrency exchange Backpack has not yet been approved by the bankruptcy court, and Backpack has not been authorized to distribute funds to FTX creditors.Backpack announced on January 7 that it has acquired FTX EU and stated that it will assume the responsibility of repaying debts to EU customers as part of the court-approved bankruptcy process. Backpack founder Armani Ferrante stated that his exchange will not conduct any transactions in the EU until it can repay FTX creditors, adding that it may be ready as early as February.However, FTX stated in a statement on January 8 that Backpack's "claim" of acquiring FTX EU has not occurred and has not been approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, adding that all statements released by Backpack were made without FTX's knowledge. FTX debtors had previously agreed to sell FTX EU to some "former insiders" of FTX Europe under a settlement agreement supervised by the bankruptcy court, but only stated that they were informed that these former insiders had agreed to indirectly transfer FTX EU to Backpack. FTX also noted that Backpack has not been granted the authority to manage the repayment to creditors.

ChainCatcher news, according to Jinshi reports, the chairman of the financial regulatory authority in Taiwan, Peng Jinlong, stated that he adopts a cautious and friendly attitude towards the virtual asset market. The draft of the special law on virtual assets has been completed and will soon enter the public hearing process. The draft of the special law on virtual assets will be submitted to the administrative management agency of Taiwan before June 30 this year.

ChainCatcher news, an official confirmed to DB News today that the U.S. government has been authorized to liquidate 69,000 bitcoins (worth $6.5 billion) from Silk Road. Notably, this comes less than two weeks after the new administration took office, which has vowed not to sell.

ChainCatcher news, Binance officially stated in its 2024 year-end report that Binance achieved milestones in 2024 with over 250 million registered users, over $160 billion in managed user assets, and a cumulative trading volume reaching $100 trillion. With the surge in institutional participation, Binance's VIP user base has doubled, and the number of registered institutional users has nearly doubled as well.In addition, Binance has doubled its commitment to enhancing compliance and security in 2024, investing hundreds of millions of dollars in key projects. Currently, Binance's internal compliance team has grown to 650 members, enabling it to obtain regulatory authorization in 21 jurisdictions.

ChainCatcher news, Robert Kiyosaki, the author of "Rich Dad Poor Dad," stated in a post on X that the drop in Bitcoin's price is good news because it means Bitcoin is "on sale." He mentioned that he will continue to buy Bitcoin and reiterated his investment philosophy: "buy low and hold (HODL)." Kiyosaki also noted that there are currently less than 2 million Bitcoins left to be mined.

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.

ChainCatcher news, according to Protos, Telegram has significantly increased its compliance with data requests, providing detailed information on over 2,000 users to U.S. authorities in 2024.According to a report by 404 Media, between January 1 and September 30, 2024, Telegram complied with 14 requests from the U.S. related to "IP addresses and/or phone numbers." These requests affected a total of 108 users. However, in the remaining time of 2024, Telegram continued to comply with 900 requests from the U.S., involving a total of 2,253 users.Shortly after Telegram CEO Pavel Durov was arrested, Telegram updated its privacy policy, clearly stating that it would provide IP addresses and phone numbers to authorities in accordance with valid legal orders. Previously, Telegram had stated that it would only provide this information if the requests were related to potential terrorism offenses.

ChainCatcher news, market maker GSR has received approval from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This move allows GSR Markets UK Limited to operate as a registered crypto asset business and provide services such as crypto asset trading for UK clients.

ChainCatcher news, according to News.bitcoin, a law enforcement agency in South Africa recently arrested a 35-year-old man who is suspected of using cryptocurrency to fund terrorist activities. The investigation was initiated in May 2018 when the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) and the investigation team received information about suspicious transactions related to alleged terrorist financing.It is alleged that on November 30, 2017, the suspect purchased $614 worth of Bitcoin through the virtual asset service provider Luno, transferring funds from the suspect's bank account to Luno's custodial account. Subsequently, the Bitcoin was transferred to another wallet associated with an unnamed "independent" organization.South African law enforcement stated that preliminary investigations indicated that these funds were transferred to provide weapons, economic assistance, and other projects to "participants" in another country. After determining the use of the funds, South African law enforcement executed a search warrant at the suspect's residence on October 24, seizing multiple items, including firearms that were not securely locked as required by law. The man is expected to appear in the Lichtenburg Magistrate's Court on January 6.

ChainCatcher news, Indonesia has not yet finalized the transfer of cryptocurrency regulation, supervision, and oversight from the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (Bappebti) to the Financial Services Authority (OJK). Since 2018, Bappebti has been responsible for regulating crypto assets. The transition, originally scheduled to be completed by January 12, 2025, has been delayed due to a lack of supportive government regulations.The OJK is expected to create a more transparent regulatory environment that meets international standards. It plans to introduce clearer rules for trading, taxation, and the operation of cryptocurrency exchanges, areas that were previously managed by Bappebti with insufficient regulatory oversight.OJK Chairman Mahendra Siregar stated that discussions and preparations for the regulatory transition are actively underway.

ChainCatcher news, Robert Kiyosaki, the author of "Rich Dad Poor Dad," posted on social platform X, stating, "BlackRock CEO Larry Fink is selling Bitcoin, and I prefer to keep Bitcoin in my own wallet. I won't trust Bitcoin held in BlackRock's ETF.BlackRock is suppressing the price of Bitcoin so that large investors can buy Bitcoin below $100,000.I will continue to buy more Bitcoin because it will keep rising. I predict Bitcoin will reach $350,000 by 2025."

ChainCatcher message, Robert Kiyosaki, the author of "Rich Dad Poor Dad," posted on X: "The global economic collapse has begun. Europe and the United States are both in recession. Is the Great Depression coming?Use your money wisely. Protect your job and wealth. The biggest problem is our leaders and educators. As I often ask, 'What does school teach you about money?'Regardless of the direction of the economy, gold, silver, and Bitcoin retain their value. For many, an economic collapse is the best time to get rich. I plan to become richer. I also hope you become richer and smarter. Take care."

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, the Italian data protection authority has fined OpenAI $15.7 million (€15 million) after investigating data collection related to OpenAI's flagship artificial intelligence model, and has ordered the ChatGPT manufacturer to conduct a six-month public awareness campaign.The Italian Data Protection Authority (IDPA), also known as Garante, stated in a declaration on December 20 that its investigation found OpenAI did not report a data breach that occurred in March 2023 to the agency.The supervisory body stated that OpenAI also "processed users' personal data" to train the chatbot but did not first establish "sufficient legal grounds" for this action, violating the "principle of transparency and the obligation to provide relevant information to users."

ChainCatcher news, according to official sources, the decentralized liquidity protocol THORChain has released version V3. This update provides advanced interoperability and smart contract features, including an upgrade to Cosmos SDK v0.50, switching from Tendermint to CometBFT, introducing compatibility with the Cosmos ecosystem, and adding the Rujira application layer, among others.