Bitcoin ETF race has a new entrant, Binance is ending support for the BUSD stablecoin, and ChatGPT’s first year in review.

Bitcoin ETF race has a new entrant, Binance is ending support for the BUSD stablecoin, and ChatGPT’s first year in review.
According to Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten, Bitcoin ETFs are set to replace the chaotic entry points tainted by flashy crypto marketing campaigns.
The Madeira Blockchain 2023 conference showcased the region's efforts to become an emerging technology hub in the Atlantic.
In the cryptocurrency space, market manipulation refers to the deliberate use of different deceptive strategies to artificially inflate or deflate the price of cryptocurrencies.
One of the signs of market manipulation includes sudden, unusual price increases or decreases that have nothing to do with important news or trends. Unusual high trade volumes concentrated in a brief period of time may indicate attempts at manipulation, particularly when coupled with a spike in social media excitement or well-coordinated online conversations.
Moreover, persistent anomalies in the market or opaque trading methods may indicate manipulative activity, raising doubts about the market’s integrity among investors and authorities. Also, pump-and-dump schemes are prevalent in the crypto sphere, where a group deliberately inflates the price of a cryptocurrency by disseminating false information to entice buyers, who subsequently sell their holdings at a profit.
Additionally, whale manipulation is a market manipulation technique used by large holders, or whales, to purposefully buy or sell huge sums of a cryptocurrency to manipulate its price. Moreover, spoofing — the practice of placing huge buy or sell orders and then canceling them before they are executed to simulate a false sense of market demand — aims to manipulate the crypto market.
Crypto markets are also impacted by insider trading, which is the practice of people making trades based on secret knowledge. These deceptive tactics exploit the market’s lack of transparency and regulation. Regulators work to stop these kinds of activities so that market participants can enjoy fair and open markets.
The grant is designed to ease the financial burden on affected individuals and will equal the USD equivalent of the assets lost in the security breach.
Initially, the SEC, led by attorney Michael Welsh, had convinced the court to freeze DEBT Box’s assets, arguing the company was moving to Dubai, beyond U.S. regulatory reach.
Initially, the SEC, led by attorney Michael Welsh, had convinced the court to freeze DEBT Box’s assets, arguing the company was moving to Dubai, beyond U.S. regulatory reach.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is suing Kraken for selling cryptocurrencies, but it looks like a recycled version of a losing lawsuit.
Acting President Claudia Rodríguez de Guevara, the first female head of state for El Salvador, took office on Dec. 1 and is expected to serve until June 2024.
Ether (ETH) is trading higher on Dec. 1, despite its inability to breach the $2,100 resistance. This level has prompted several rejections in the past three weeks, which is especially concerning given Ether’s 16.2% gains in November.
Ether 12-hour price index, USD. Source: TradingViewHowever, the current positive momentum is supported by several factors, including applications for spot ETFs and the expansion of Ethereum’s ecosystem, driven by layer-2 solutions.
A pivotal development occurred on Nov. 30, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) initiating the review process for Fidelity’s spot Ether ETF proposal, filed on Nov. 17. This move, along with similar applications from firms like BlackRock, awaits regulatory green light. If approved, these ETFs would bolster Ether's status as a digital commodity, reducing the likelihood of it being treated as a security.
Despite analysts predicting the SEC might delay its decision to early 2024, interim deadlines for applications by VanEck and ARK 21Shares on Dec. 25 and Dec. 26, respectively, have kept the market engaged. The mounting interest from large mutual funds in Ether products is creating a favorable impact on its price.
The Ethereum network's growth, especially in transaction activity and layer-2 development, is noteworthy. The Ethereum layer-2 ecosystem has become increasingly important as the average transaction fee held above $4 for the last couple of months. These layer-2 solutions offer more cost-effective and flexible options than the base layer.

Ethereum’s price rally toward $2,100 is driven by new developments in the layer-2 space and investors’ anticipation of a spot BTC ETF.
The former FTX CEO was found guilty of seven felony charges on Nov. 2, for which he could face up to 115 years in prison.
Law firm Cadena Legal said that the guidance released by the Australian Taxation Office is “non-binding” and must be treated as “toilet paper.”
Though many filings in the SEC case were made under seal, Judge Jed Rakoff reportedly suggested that nothing would remain confidential should the matter go to trial.
Bitcoin price hit a new 2023 high on Dec.1 and multiple altcoins are following suit. Is the crypto market preparing for a Santa Claus rally?
Bitcoin (BTC) rallied about 9% in November, with $38,000 proving to be a difficult obstacle to cross. Buyers have repeatedly tried to maintain the price above $38,000, but the bears have held their ground. Historically, December has been a mixed month. Coinglass data shows that in the past five years, Bitcoin rose only in 2020, but the extent of the rise at 46.92% was impressive. The bulls will try to replicate at least a part of that performance this year.
Entering into the new year, several analysts are bullish on Bitcoin. In a Nov. 28 research note, Standard Chartered said that the possibility of the earlier-than-expected approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds could boost the price of Bitcoin to $100,000 before end-2024.
Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz also sounded upbeat about Bitcoin while speaking to Bloomberg on Nov. 29. He said that the marketing team of asset managers whose ETFs are approved will try to convince people to invest in Bitcoin, which could boost adoption. Additionally, the Federal Reserve cutting rates may act as a further trigger that could send Bitcoin’s price near the all-time high by this time next year.
Could Bitcoin sustain above $38,000 and clear the path for a rally to $40,000, or will bears again play spoilsport?
Let’s analyze the charts of the top 10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

Bitcoin (BTC) hit $39,000 for the first time since mid-2022 on Dec. 1 as the United States Federal Reserve boosted hopes of policy easing.
BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingViewData from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirmed a new 19-month BTC price high of $39,000 on Bitstamp.
Bitcoin bulls, already in a strong position, beat out resistance as Fed Chair Jerome Powell took to the stage at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia for a scheduled appearance.
“The FOMC is strongly committed to bringing inflation down to 2% over time and to keeping policy restrictive until we’re confident that inflation is on a path to that objective,” he said in prepared remarks.
“It would be premature to conclude with confidence that we have achieved a sufficiently restrictive stance, or to speculate on when policy might ease.”

We’re rolling out genuine use cases for AI and crypto each day this week — including reasons why you shouldn’t necessarily believe the hype. Today get two for the price of one: Blockchain based AI marketplaces, and financial analysis.
It may not seem like the most exciting use case blending AI and crypto, but both Near co-founder Illia Polosukhin and Framework Ventures founder Vance Spencer cite blockchain-based marketplaces that source data and compute for AI as their top pick.
AI is an incredibly fast-growing industry requiring ever-increasing amounts of computing power. Microsoft alone is reportedly investing $50 billion into data center infrastructure in 2024 just to handle demand. AI also needs enormous amounts of raw data and training data, labeled into categories by humans.
Polosukhin believes decentralized blockchain-based marketplaces are the ideal solution to help crowdsource the required hardware and data.
“You can use [blockchain] to build more effective marketplaces that are more equal,” he tells Magazine, explaining that AI projects currently need to negotiate with one or two big cloud providers like Amazon Web Services. Still, it’s difficult to access the required capacity due to a shortage of Nvidia’s A100 graphical processing units.

We’re rolling out genuine use cases for AI and crypto each day this week — including reasons why you shouldn’t necessarily believe the hype. Today get two for the price of one: Blockchain based AI marketplaces, and financial analysis.
It may not seem like the most exciting use case blending AI and crypto, but both Near co-founder Illia Polosukhin and Framework Ventures founder Vance Spencer cite blockchain-based marketplaces that source data and compute for AI as their top pick.
AI is an incredibly fast-growing industry requiring ever-increasing amounts of computing power. Microsoft alone is reportedly investing $50 billion into data center infrastructure in 2024 just to handle demand. AI also needs enormous amounts of raw data and training data, labeled into categories by humans.
Polosukhin believes decentralized blockchain-based marketplaces are the ideal solution to help crowdsource the required hardware and data.
“You can use [blockchain] to build more effective marketplaces that are more equal,” he tells Magazine, explaining that AI projects currently need to negotiate with one or two big cloud providers like Amazon Web Services. Still, it’s difficult to access the required capacity due to a shortage of Nvidia’s A100 graphical processing units.

Increasing numbers of blockchain marketplaces offer crowdsourced data and compute for AI models — and can AI analysis improve fund returns?
