LianGuai Morning News | Bitcoin’s rise in 2023 is divided into five stages, and the virtual asset industry faces many risks and has a high demand for insurance.

Exploring LianGuai Morning News | The 2023 Bitcoin Boom Insights and Risks in the Virtual Asset Sector Demanding High Insurance Coverage

Headlines

▌Matrixport: Bitcoin’s price surge in 2023 divided into five stages

Matrixport research director Markus Thielen stated in a new report that Bitcoin’s price surge in 2023 can be divided into five stages: first, a response to inflation trends; second, a response to the banking industry crisis; third, a major surge due to the declaration of BlackRock ETF; fourth, a push resulting from a change in Federal Reserve policies; and finally, the development of US SEC regulations on Bitcoin ETFs. Thielen believes that Bitcoin does not move randomly; the combination of crowd psychology and macroscopic factors is the key driving force, and considering factors such as liquidity and market structure helps in understanding short-term trends.

▌Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission: Virtual asset industry faces numerous risks requiring a large amount of insurance coverage

Cai Zhonghui, the temporary director of the Intermediaries Division of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, stated that virtual currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have become mainstream virtual assets that cannot be ignored, but problems such as illegal fundraising through initial coin offerings (ICOs) have previously occurred. Therefore, the Securities and Futures Commission will regulate virtual asset trading platforms and believe that the platforms have a responsibility to provide suitable virtual assets to investors. Cai Zhonghui emphasized during the Asian Insurance Forum that if virtual assets involve collective investment schemes, they will be regulated, but transactions conducted using tokenization technology, such as concert tickets, will not be subject to regulation. He believes that the virtual asset industry faces many risks, such as ensuring that the process of asset transfer does not result in the loss of investor information and facing digital security risks. Therefore, it creates a large demand for insurance and can be seen as an opportunity for the insurance industry.

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Market Updates

As of the time of writing, according to coinmarketcap data:

Current BTC price is $44,208.1, with a daily change of +1.88%;

Current ETH price is $2,364.4, with a daily change of +0.07%;

Current BNB price is $240.89, with a daily change of +3.02%;

Current XRP price is $0.6769, with a daily change of +5.05%;

Current DOGE price is $0.1024, with a daily change of +6.41%;

Current ADA price is $0.5473, with a daily change of +19.38%;

Current SOL price is $74.48, with a daily change of +8.40%.

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Policies

▌El Salvador launches “Investment Citizenship” program, offering citizenship for $1 million investment in BTC or USDT

El Salvador has launched a new “Investment Citizenship” program that provides a pathway to residency and citizenship for 1,000 individuals willing to invest $1 million in BTC or USDT in the country. The Salvadoran government and stablecoin issuer Tether announced the program on December 7, called the “Adopt El Salvador Freely and Significantly” visa program.

▌Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission: Virtual asset industry faces many risks and there is a huge demand for insurance

Cai Zhonghui, temporary head of the intermediary agency department of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, stated that virtual currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum have become mainstream virtual assets that cannot be ignored. However, there have been illegal fundraising issues such as initial coin offerings (ICOs) in the past. Therefore, the Securities and Futures Commission will include virtual asset trading platforms in regulation, considering that these platforms have a responsibility to provide suitable virtual assets to investors. Cai Zhonghui emphasized during the Asian Insurance Forum that if virtual assets involve collective investment schemes, they will be subject to regulation. However, transactions conducted through tokenization technologies, such as concert tickets, will not be regulated. He believes that the virtual asset industry faces many risks, such as ensuring that the process of transferring assets does not result in the loss of investor information, and also facing digital security risks. Therefore, this creates a significant demand for insurance and can be seen as an opportunity for the insurance industry.

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Blockchain Applications

▌ForbesWeb3: Created its own wallet specifically for long-term NFT collection

ForbesWeb3, the Web3 experience and community hub launched by Forbes, stated on social media that they are collecting NFTs for the following reasons: Forbes has always supported artists and innovative thinking. With their in-depth research on Web3, ForbesWeb3 has created its own wallet specifically for long-term NFT collection. This move signifies their commitment to recognizing artistic talent and embracing new possibilities brought by digital art forms.

▌Lido community initiates “Approval of Community Staking Module” proposal

On December 8th, according to the Snapshot governance page, the Lido community initiated a vote on the “Approval of Community Staking Module” proposal, which will end on December 15th. The proposal states that the Lido community staking team is seeking signal approval from LidoDAO for the design of the Community Staking Module (CSM). This module will allow permissionless access to the Lido validator set on Ethereum and will have certain deposit requirements. If approved, the community staking team will further research and develop the proposed module and propose its mainnet release and approval of all parameters to LidoDAO for a vote in late 2024.

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Cryptocurrency

▌Matrixport: Bitcoin’s bullish trend in 2023 divided into five stages

Markus Thielen, research director at Matrixport, stated in a new report that Bitcoin’s bullish trend in 2023 will be divided into five stages: first, a response to inflation trends; second, a response to the banking crisis; third, a surge brought by BlackRock’s ETF filing; fourth, a push from changes in the US Federal Reserve’s policy; and finally, the development of SEC regulation on Bitcoin ETFs. Thielen stated that Bitcoin does not move randomly and that a combination of crowd psychology and macro factors is a key driving force. Considering factors such as liquidity and market structure helps understand short-term trends.

▌SEC: Despite settlement reached by the Department of Justice, Binance case should continue

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) stated that the recent $4.3 billion settlement agreement reached by Binance Holdings Ltd. with the Department of Justice and other U.S. authorities supports its lawsuit against the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. Although the SEC did not participate in the agreement, on Friday it argued that the federal court in Washington handling its case should consider the statements made by Binance and the company’s former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, in the November 21 settlement agreement. The company and Changpeng Zhao have requested the court to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the U.S. SEC.

▌UK Financial Conduct Authority issues warning against cryptocurrency exchange “LYKKE”

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a warning against the cryptocurrency exchange “LYKKE,” stating that the exchange may be involved in unauthorized financial promotions and promoting financial services or products without the required authorization from regulatory authorities. The FCA also warned individuals and businesses against engaging with it.

▌SEC meets with Fidelity to discuss creation and redemption mechanisms for physical Bitcoin ETF

The SEC has met with Fidelity to discuss the creation and redemption mechanisms for a physically-backed Bitcoin ETF. Fidelity provided the regulatory agency with a presentation entitled “Bitcoin ETF Workflow,” which detailed the slides on the “physical” creation and redemption model. The presentation noted, “Physical creation and redemption allow for more efficient arbitrage and hedging, whereby self-clearing ETF market makers can act as the agent APs of non-self-clearing ETF market maker firms with crypto-commodity affiliates, facilitating efficient arbitrage. Allowing for physical creation and redemption is crucial for improving trading efficiency and secondary market pricing for all participants.”

▌Kazakhstan FMA has already blocked 980 unregistered cryptocurrency exchanges this year

The Kazakhstan Financial Monitoring Agency (FMA) has blocked access to 980 cryptocurrency exchanges that provided services to its citizens without proper registration in 2023 and has initiated nine investigations into illegal trading and money laundering.

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Important Economic Updates

▌U.S. stock market opens lower across major indices

LianGuai reports that the U.S. stock market opened lower across major indices, with the Dow Jones falling 0.08%, the Nasdaq dropping 0.41%, and the S&P 500 index declining 0.21%.

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LianGuai Encyclopedia

▌Three major LST architecture models

Rebase tokens: These tokens automatically adjust their balances based on deposits and rewards. Reward tokens: Tokens that increase in value and rewards over time as the exchange rate between the token and the staked asset changes. Wrapped tokens: Some LSTs have wrapped versions available. Once wrapped, these tokens no longer undergo automatic balance adjustments and become reward tokens.

Disclaimer: LianGuai, as a blockchain information platform, publishes articles for informational purposes only and does not constitute actual investment advice. Please establish proper investment concepts and increase risk awareness.

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