Prizmabet

Pudgy Penguins PENGU Token Debuts at $312M Market Cap

$90 million worth of PENGU has traded in its first hour of release.

PENGU, the native token of non-fungible token (NFT) project Pudgy Penguins, has debuted at a $312 million market cap after the token was distributed to NFT holders via an airdrop.

The Solana-based token has a total supply of 88.88 billion and has racked up around $90 million in trading volume in the first hour since release, CoinMarketCap shows.

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23.5% of PENGU’s supply was allocated to the airdrop while a further 22% has been set aside from Solana and Ethereum communities. An additional 12.3% of supply will also be used as liquidity on decentralized exchanges.

The floor price of the Pudgy Penguin NFTs has risen alongside the release of PENGU, with the cheapest NFT now trading at 34.1 ETH ($136,000) to mark a 2.6% increase. It is now the second most expensive collection after CryptoPunks.

It has outperformed the wider NFT market which remains in a multi-year slump following the emergence of meme coins this cycle. NFTs were the plat du jour in 2022 amongst the more speculative crypto investors, but as hype and liquidity withered away so did asset prices. Trading volume on NFT exchange OpenSea topped $2.7 billion in a single day in 2022, whilst this month it has struggled to top $30 million.

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Nigeria Arrests Almost 800 Over Crypto Scams: Reuters

Nigeria has been clamping down on illegal activity regarding crypto in the country.

Nigeria arrested 792 people following a raid at a building where people allegedly committed crypto-related scams, Reuters reported on Monday.

The suspects would lure victims, typically from America and Europe, with romantic offers before asking them to hand over money for fake crypto investments, the report said.

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The people, who included Chinese and Filipino nationals, were detained last week at a seven-floor building in Lagos, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren told Reuters.

“Once the Nigerians are able to win the confidence of would-be victims, the foreigners would take over the actual task of defrauding the victims,” he said.

Nigeria has been clamping down on illegal activity related to crypto. At one point it was reported that the country had blocked several exchanges from operating within its borders. More recently the country has been in an almost year-long legal dispute with Binance and its executives over alleged money laundering and tax evasion charges.

CoinDesk reached out to Nigeria’s Economic Financial Crimes Commission for a comment.

Layer-2 Network Fuel to Airdrop 10% of New Token Supply to 200K Wallets

Fuel claims to be the fastest and cheapest Ethereum rollup.

Fuel, a layer-2 network built on Ethereum, has announced that airdrop claims for its native token will open on Dec. 19, with ten percent of the total supply being allocated to more than 200,000 eligible wallets.

The window for airdrop claims will run for one month. 28% of the airdrop allocation will go to phase-1 pre-depositors, 20% to those who used the Fuel bridge, and 12.5% to “NFT connoisseurs.”

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Fuel claims to be the fastest and least expensive rollup on Ethereum. It boasts a transaction processing speed of up to 600 TPS at around $0.0002 per transaction. Fuel achieves this via parallelization, state minimization and interoperability. For comparison, Arbitrum, the largest layer-2 by TVL, has averaged 27.6 TPS over the past 24 hours, while Base is averaging around 90 TPS, according to L2BEAT data.

The token will have a maximum supply of 10 billion and users on the network can still earn “points” for Fuel phase 2, which can eventually be converted to the FUEL token.

Fuel’s block explorer shows that it has processed 154,000 transactions over the past 24 hours and has 63 active decentralized applications (dapps).

Stablecoin Payments Platform BVNK Raises $50M to Fuel U.S. Expansion

The investment round was led by Haun Ventures and included contributions from Coinbase Ventures and Tiger Global.

Stablecoin infrastructure platform BVNK has raised $50 million in Series B funding as it seeks to expand its U.S. operations.

Formed in late 2021, BVNK raised $40 million in Series A funding the following May and won registration in Spain a few months later.

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For the past year, the London-based company has been expanding in the U.S., opening an office in San Francisco, building a team and applying for operational licenses.

BVNK has applied for licenses in all U.S. states, securing approval in several, including Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Michigan and New Hampshire, the company told CoinDesk in an e-mail.

The latest investment round was led by Haun Ventures and included contributions from Coinbase Ventures and Tiger Global, BVNK said on Tuesday.

The company aims to help businesses incorporate stablecoin payments into their processes, such as paying contractors worldwide, instant settlement with merchants and sending payouts without delays and exchange-rate risks.

U.S. Shuts Down North Korean Crypto Money Laundering Network

OFAC says a front company in the UAE had been converting crypto into cash for North Korea.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday said it had shut down a North Korean money laundering network that used crypto to clean millions of dollars for the hermit kingdom, a global leader in crypto crime.

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A front company in the UAE called Green Alpine Trading, LLC, had been converting crypto into cash for North Korea, according to a press release by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The U.S. government’s sanctions wing stuck that company on its blacklist as well as two Chinese nationals who had been participating in the network since 2022.

The United Arab Emirates partnered in the takedown, according to the press release. It is not clear what’s become of the two now-sanctioned Chinese nationals, Lu Huaying and Zhang Jian. They worked in cahoots with DPRK “agent” Sim Hyon Sop, the press release said.

North Korea is among the most aggressive state actors to target the crypto industry. Its agents have allegedly stolen billions of dollars worth of crypto to fund the country’s nuclear weapons program. But making digital cash useful, requires its conversion into fiat.

Green Alpine may have played a small part in that web. The Treasury press release didn’t say what money it laundered, beyond that it was from “illicit revenue generation schemes.”

Read more: How North Korea Infiltrated the Crypto Industry

Coinbase Says It Nixed wBTC Because Justin Sun Posed ‘Unacceptable Risk’

BiT Global, issuer of the “wrapped bitcoin” token, “refused” to answer Coinbase’s questions about Sun’s involvement, the exchange said in a court filing.

Coinbase delisted wBTC “due to the unacceptable risk” that the top bitcoin stand-in on Ethereum “would fall into the hands of Justin Sun,” the exchange said Tuesday in response to a lawsuit over its decision.

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Market observers had previously read between the lines of Coinbase’s November nixing of wBTC. At the time, the exchange cited its listing standards as the reason for the move without elaborating. Last week, wBTC’s issuer BiT Global filed a wide-ranging suit accusing Coinbase of improperly favoring its competing asset, cbBTC.

But in a 25-page response, Coinbase said the decision had everything to do with Justin Sun, the crypto billionaire and founder of the Tron blockchain, who is also accused of fraud and market manipulation in the United States. Sun became associated with wBTC via a partnership announced in August, according to Coinbase’s filing.

“Coinbase—like many others in the industry—had serious questions about whether BiT could be a reliable steward given Mr. Sun’s involvement,” the exchange said.

Coinbase initiated a review of wBTC after the partnership’s unveiling. It asked BiT questions about its ownership and Sun’s suspected involvement, but the firm “refused” to answer them, Coinbase’s filing said.

“At the conclusion of its diligence, Coinbase concluded that Mr. Sun’s affiliation with—and potential control over—wBTC presented an unacceptable risk to its customers and the integrity of its exchange,” the filing said.

Whether Sun has any involvement with BiT remains unclear. Lawyers for BiT Global did not immediately return a request for comment. Neither did representatives of Tron.

But the mere appearance of a connection was enough to spook Coinbase into cutting ties, it said.

“No law supports BiT’s claims—and certainly none compels Coinbase to host an asset on its exchange that is now connected to an individual with a long history of alleged fraud and market manipulation,” the filing said.

Bitcoin Takes a Breather After Doji Candle in a Cautious Pre-Fed De-Risking

BTC takes a breather after an indecisive Tuesday, as the Fed is expected to cut rates Wednesday while signaling slower easing next year.

Bitcoin (BTC) is taking a breather, experiencing selling pressure after Tuesday’s indecisive price action marked by a Doji candle. This seems to be a classic case of traders de-risking in anticipation of an expected hawkish Fed rate cut later Wednesday.

The leading cryptocurrency by market value traded around $103,750, marking a 2% drop for the day, according to TradingView and CoinDesk data. Prices had surged to a record high of over $108,000 on Tuesday but failed to maintain those gains, ending the UTC day flat. That formed a ‘doji,’ a candlestick pattern that signifies indecision and potential bullish exhaustion when seen at record highs.

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As expected, bitcoin’s decline has resulted in even larger losses for alternative cryptocurrencies, but some majors, such as XRP, SOL, and ETH, are experiencing losses comparable to BTC.

The Fed will announce the rate decision, the interest rate dot plot, projections, and economic forecasts at 14:00 ET. Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference will be held a half hour later.

The consensus is that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points to the 4.25% to 4.5% range, marking a total easing of 100 basis points since September. But, the dot plot is expected to show fewer rate cuts for next year.

“The risk of slightly stronger near-term growth with the threat of higher inflation – tariffs putting up prices of goods and immigration controls potentially lifting wages and costs in the likes of agriculture, construction and hospitality sectors – means that we expect them to signal only three rate cuts in 2025. Previously, they had suggested four,” analysts at ING said in a note to clients.

“We look for 25bp of cuts per quarter in 2025 with a terminal rate of around 3.75% in the third quarter,” analysts added, noting the possibility of the Fed revising their projections for economic growth and inflation.

These so-called hawkish expectations are likely fueling the de-risking in the crypto market that is looking for reasons to correct, having seen prices for BTC soar from $70,000 to over $100,000 in less than two months.

It’s important to note that fewer rate cuts do not necessarily mean tightening; easing is still on the table. This suggests that the path of least resistance for risk assets remains tilted toward the upside.

NFTs Are Making a Comeback as Trading Volumes Surge: Galaxy Research

Leading marketplaces such as OpenSea, Blur and Magic Eden have seen increased activity since November, the report said.

The non-fungible token (NFT) market is showing signs of recovery, Galaxy Research said in a report Monday.

NFTs are digital assets on a blockchain that represent ownership of virtual or physical items and can be sold or traded.

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NFT volumes had been declining for most of the year, but began to reverse in November following the U.S. elections and the ensuing crypto market rally.

Weekly NFT trading volumes exceeded $100 million in early November for the first time since May, reaching $172 million on Dec. 2, Galaxy said.

“This resurgence has been primarily driven by increased activity among the top 25 collections by market cap,” analyst Gabe Parker wrote, with increased participation across leading marketplaces such as OpenSea, Blur and Magic Eden.

Blur and OpenSea were responsible for 60% and 27% respectively of the total volume over the last 30 days, the report noted.

NFTs linked to the Pudgy Penguins ecosystem have outperformed. Pudgy Penguins and Lil Pudgys collections saw their floor prices rise 206% and 265% respectively, the report added.

Bitcoin Lightning Fintech ZBD Approved to Receive EU MiCA License by Dutch Regulator

Countries like the Netherlands are preparing for MiCA implementation.

ZBD, a payment platform powered by the Bitcoin Lightning network, said the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) approved its application for a European Union MiCA license.

When MiCA takes effect and the license is granted on Dec. 30, ZBD will be able to offer a wide range of crypto custody and crypto exchange services throughout the trading bloc, the company, formerly known as Zebedee, told CoinDesk on Wednesday.

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The company first submitted the application in April. The list of applicants receiving a license will be visible on the AFM’s website once MiCA kicks in, the regulator said.

Countries like the Netherlands are among the nations in the EU that have been getting companies ready for MiCA to take full force. Many others have yet to pass the required legislation for MiCA to take effect in their jurisdictions.

Binance Abruptly Deletes Alpha Watchlist Tokens, Spurring Unforeseen Pump and Dump

One trader lost $102,000 after getting swept up in the short-lived pump and dump.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance posted a list of “alpha watchlist tokens” to one of its Telegram channels on Wednesday, causing a spike in the mentioned tokens, however it then clarified that the information was “false” which led to the tokens giving up their newfound gains.

The post read: “Ready to explore early stage crypto projects?” before naming Wise Monkey (MONKY), Happy Cat (HAPPY), Rifampicin (RIF), Zircuit (ZRC) and ai16zeliza (ELIZA) as five projects with “strong fundamentals” and “active communities.”

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Several traders speculated over whether the Telegram group was fake and trying to lure people into a rug pull, but it turns out that it was posted by binance_web3_wallet_community, which is an official Binance channel.

MONKY rose by 38% after the post before dropping by 22% when it was deleted. One trader lost $102,000 in 12 minutes after buying 1.42M ELIZA at $0.1376 before panic selling at $0.09567 whilst the rest of the position was liquidated at $0.01157 when the false news was confirmed.

Binance did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.