Catégorie : Crypto News

BiT Global has filed a lawsuit against Coinbase, the largest crypto trading platform in the United States, according to a Dec. 13 court filing.

The Justin Sun-linked crypto custodian alleged that the US exchange unfairly removed wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) from its platform to favor its in-house product, Coinbase Wrapped Bitcoin (cbBTC).

Antitrust violations

According to the court filing, Coinbase is leveraging its dominance in the crypto market to suppress competition. BiT Global accused the exchange of violating antitrust laws by replacing WBTC with cbBTC to establish control over the wrapped Bitcoin market.

The complaint noted that Coinbase’s actions are not only anti-competitive but strategically aimed at increasing its transaction revenues because transaction fees on its platform are expected to rise as cbBTC gains traction.

The filing furthered:

“On information and belief, Coinbase used this language—that it would not charge wrapping/unwrapping fees ‘today’—because it plans to do so once it has unfairly eliminated the competition.”

BiT Global disputed Coinbase’s claim that WBTC was removed due to “listing standards,” citing the exchange’s recent inclusion of meme coins like PEPE and MOG as evidence.

According to the filing, these actions reveal that the delisting was not about quality but rather an attempt to capture WBTC’s market position. It added:

“The decision to allow users to trade these memecoins makes clear that Coinbase did not delist WBTC because of any listing standard, but because Coinbase coveted WBTC’s market share and wanted it for itself.”

Through this lawsuit, BiT Global seeks to restore competition and prevent further centralization of power. The firm aims to halt the delisting of WBTC and protect decentralized innovation in the crypto space.

The wrapped Bitcoin market

Coinbase’s decision to delist wBTC comes after a turbulent year for the asset. BiT Global became a key custodian for WBTC this year, following BitGo’s move to distribute custody control to multiple entities, including the Hong Kong-based firm.

This shift sparked concerns within the DeFi community due to Justin Sun’s connection to the crypto custodian, prompting MakerDAO and Aave to reconsider WBTC as a collateral asset.

While these DeFi protocols ultimately retained WBTC, the developments raised questions about its long-term stability. In response to these challenges, several firms, including Coinbase, launched their own wrapped Bitcoin products.

However, Coinbase’s cbBTC has quickly gained momentum to become the second-largest wrapped Bitcoin product behind WBTC. The token was deployed on Ethereum and its Layer 2 network Base in September and currently has a market capitalization of around $2 billion.

On the other hand, WBTC, despite being among the top 20 cryptocurrencies with a $13.7 billion market cap, has seen its token supply shrink by over 20,000 BTC due to ongoing challenges.

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The new meme coin Flockerz has raised over $6 million in presale.

Unlike most meme coins, Flockerz (FLOCK) has real utility – letting holders earn rewards by voting on project decisions.

One popular crypto analyst has even claimed the coin might explode once it hits exchanges in 2025.

FLOCK Token Presale Passes $6M & Offers Huge Staking Rewards

The Flockerz presale has become a must-watch event, raising millions of dollars already.

Interested investors can currently get FLOCK tokens for just $0.0063754 each.

And those who decide to invest during the presale can also stake their purchased tokens right away – with APYs estimated at 435%.

These huge yields are drawing attention, though they will decrease as more people stake their FLOCK.

Flockerz’s team has also focused on security.

Coinsult and SolidProof audited the FLOCK token and found no issues with its code.

Getting audited this early is rare for a new meme coin.

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It’s a party exclusively for The Flock!

With 6M raised this flock ain’t slowing down… It’s speeding up!

Want to join in on the fun?! Click here: https://t.co/HKN509Un5J pic.twitter.com/bE1Pg0JUuH

— Flockerz (@FlockerzToken) December 12, 2024

Investors are taking note, and many Telegram channel members speculate that Flockerz could debut on a top-tier exchange once its presale ends.

Some even believe Binance or Coinbase could list FLOCK.

These exchanges have recently become more open to meme coins, so the timing could work in Flockerz’s favor.

However, as it stands, there’s no end date for the presale just yet.

Flocktopia DAO – The First Vote-to-Earn System for Meme Coin Investors

Flockerz is doing something different from the usual meme coin playbook with its Flocktopia DAO.

While Shiba Inu and Hamster Kombat have discussed launching DAOs, none have really pulled it off.

But the Flockerz team is actually doing it.

The big innovation here is that FLOCK holders can earn more tokens just by voting on key project decisions.

It works like this: when someone secures FLOCK, they automatically join Flocktopia.

They then get to vote on important stuff like marketing plans and token burns, and the smart contracts pay out extra tokens to everyone who participates.

This setup creates a loop where active community members can earn crypto income simply by helping decide what happens next.

It seems like there’s nothing else like it on the market right now.

And this “Vote-to-Earn” setup is beginning to attract attention, with Flockerz ranked fifth on ICOBench’s list of token launches to watch.

Top Crypto Analyst Highlights Flockerz as Next Meme Coin Star

Meme coins have become a serious part of crypto, with the sector now valued at over $130 billion.

These coins also tend to generate more than $18 billion in trading volume each day.

Top CEXs now list them regularly, and crypto Twitter can’t get enough.

Flockerz is trying to stand out from the competition in this fast-growing market by mixing degen vibes with actual utility.

Popular crypto analyst ClayBro – who identified hits like Pepe Unchained and Catslap early – has started talking about Flockerz to his 131,000+ subscribers.

He believes the FLOCK token could explode after launch and match their gains.

ClayBro pointed to Flockerz’s unique voting system and solid presale numbers as good signs.

Although he admits FLOCK is riskier than established altcoins, the token’s potential could make it worth a look.

Clearly, the buzz around this new meme coin is rising fast.

And when it comes to these coins, community backing can often be the difference between success and failure.

For Flockerz, things are looking positive – setting the stage for an exciting few months ahead.

Visit Flockerz Presale

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OpenAI has countered Elon Musk’s recent lawsuit, emphasizing that the billionaire had previously advocated for the company’s shift to a for-profit structure.

Musk, one of OpenAI’s co-founders, has accused the AI company of abandoning its nonprofit roots, filing a fresh lawsuit in August after withdrawing an earlier complaint.

Early discussions and governance disputes

In a Dec. 13 blog post and court filings, OpenAI highlighted Musk’s early involvement in shaping its structure and noted that he had raised concerns about operating as a nonprofit before the organization’s 2015 launch.

Musk had suggested in an email at the time that a “standard C corp with a parallel nonprofit” might be more effective. OpenAI argued that this demonstrates Musk’s initial support for flexibility in its organizational approach.

Documents reveal Musk revisited the issue in 2017, proposing a transition to a for-profit model following significant technological advancements at OpenAI.

In one exchange, co-founder Greg Brockman noted that Musk viewed a nonprofit as potentially unsuitable for OpenAI’s ambitions, a sentiment Brockman and other leaders reportedly shared.

However, tensions arose when Musk sought control over the proposed for-profit entity. OpenAI stated that Musk had instructed his financial team to create a public benefit corporation under his leadership, requesting majority ownership, board dominance, and the role of CEO.

These terms were rejected by OpenAI’s leadership, including CEO Sam Altman, leading to Musk’s departure from the board in 2018.

For-profit transition and funding concerns

In 2019, OpenAI announced a capped-profit structure governed by its nonprofit arm.

According to the organization, the decision was driven by the need to secure substantial funding to compete in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. Major investments, including significant backing from Microsoft, followed the change.

OpenAI’s legal team also disclosed that Musk was offered equity in the capped-profit entity on multiple occasions but declined. They noted Musk’s prior statement in 2019 asking OpenAI to explicitly confirm that he had no financial interest in its for-profit operations.

Musk, who launched xAI in 2023, has positioned his company as a competitor to OpenAI. xAI has reportedly raised billions in funding and introduced new models to challenge OpenAI’s generative AI tools like ChatGPT.

Musk’s August lawsuit argues that OpenAI’s transition betrayed its founding principles, but the organization maintains that Musk’s claims overlook his early role in advocating for structural changes.

The escalating legal battle reflects a deeper struggle over the future of AI development, with OpenAI and xAI vying for dominance in an increasingly competitive field.

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A recent endorsement by former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) of the blockchain-driven travel platform Travala has skyrocketed its AVA token by more than 300% in the last 24 hours.

The surge also follows a series of announcements, including new market listings and milestone achievements for the company.

CZ’s Influence

On December 11, Travala reported that its annual revenues had reached $100 million, up from $59.6 million in 2023. This achievement was made possible by the growing demand for flight and hotel bookings paid using crypto. It also coincided with the firm’s disclosure of a new strategy: It intends to hold a portion of its treasury reserve in AVA and Bitcoin in the manner popularized by Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy.

However, Zhao’s December 12 post on X highlighting his firm’s early investment in Travala, dating back to the pre-COVID era, tipped the scales, getting the market excited and fueling investor curiosity.

Hailed as one of the “OG of Crypto” by some X users, Zhao’s influence within the blockchain and crypto sector is well-documented. By drawing attention to Binance’s early involvement, he not only reinforced Travala’s credibility but also signaled its potential for long-term growth – at least that’s how the market took it based on the price’s performance.

According to the social metrics platform LunarCrush, CZ’s post, viewed more than 1.3 million times, caused a marked rise in AVA-related social activity. As a result, it experienced an explosive 350% price rally, jumping from $0.75 to a peak of $3.38 in just one day.

Performance and Outlook

At the time of this writing, the token was still almost 310% higher than its level from 24 hours ago. Its current price also represents a 286.6% improvement over seven days and an even more impressive 541% jump over 30 days.

Additionally, it registered a 24-hour trading volume exceeding $890 million per data from CoinGecko, a 28,436% increase across the period, highlighting the catalytic nature of CZ’s post.

With a circulating supply of 56.3 million units, each costing over $3.00, AVA now boasts a nearly $172 million valuation, placing it at #445 on the list of cryptocurrencies with the largest market caps.

The token has massively outperformed the broader crypto market, which is down 2.20% in the last seven days, and similar Ethereum ecosystem assets, which are up 12.7% on average.

On-chain data reveals growing selling activity among long-term Bitcoin holders, whose collective holdings have hit their lowest levels this year.

Prominent crypto analyst James Check, also known as Checkmate, emphasized the scale of this trend, noting that the selling pressure from these holders far outweighs the demand from ETFs and institutional players like MicroStrategy.

Data from CryptoQuant shows that long-term holders (LTHs) — investors who retain Bitcoin for over 155 days — have offloaded around 800,000 BTC over the past month.

Meanwhile, institutional entities such as MicroStrategy added 149,880 BTC, and Bitcoin ETFs acquired 84,193 BTC. This still left 487,000 BTC to be absorbed by short-term holders, primarily retail investors.

Interestingly, dolphins — wallets holding between 100 and 500 BTC — have emerged as significant buyers during this period, accumulating over 350,000 BTC. This shift highlights a notable change in supply trends and market sentiment.

While institutional and ETF-driven demand has not immediately translated into sharp price movements, it signals evolving participant profiles and their growing influence on Bitcoin’s market trends.

Electric Capital’s 2024 Developer Report has revealed that for the first time since 2016, Solana outpaced Ethereum as the leading blockchain ecosystem for attracting new developers.

The breakthrough highlights Solana’s rapid growth, with 7,625 new devs joining the network in the last 12 months, representing an 83% year-over-year increase.

Rise in Developer Activity

The report, released on December 12, looked at more than 902 million code commits across 1.7 million repositories, showing that Solana’s developer community is the fastest-growing among large blockchain networks.

This surge was fueled by strong participation from builders in Asia, where the network ranked as the number one platform for new programmers in India and number two in other major markets like the United States, the UK, Canada, and China.

Reacting to the news, Solana credited its community-driven ethos and focus on scalability for playing major roles in its expansion. In 2024, it captured more than 81% of all decentralized exchange (DEX) trades, as well as 64% of NFT mint transactions across all chains.

Additionally, its wallet activity reached 1.7 million users, a figure that is seven times higher than the next largest chain.

However, Solana’s new-found status notwithstanding, Ethereum still remains the dominant blockchain for total developer activity. While it onboarded 1,169 fewer coders than its rival, globally, Ethereum continues to lead in metrics such as monthly active developers and code commits.

Additionally, established builders with more than two years under their belts as contributors are at an all-time high on the Vitalik Buterin-fronted blockchain, with 70% of commits coming from them.

Solana Making Small Strides

Nonetheless, Solana’s growth reflects broader diversification trends within the crypto industry. Per Electric Capital’s study, one in three devs now work on several chains, up from less than 10% in 2015. The platform took advantage of this trend, positioning itself as an alternative for low-fee use cases, decentralized finance (DeFi), and NFTs.

To highlight the progress, the chain overturned Ethereum across several measures this year, albeit momentarily, including beating its total weekly transaction fees and maximum extractable value (MEV) tips in July.

Furthermore, in November, the platform’s DEXs hit a milestone with one-day trading numbers going past $5 billion for three consecutive days for the first time in its history. The activity peaked days later, leading to the network breaking another record when its monthly decentralized exchange volumes hit the $70 billion mark.

Riot Platforms, a leading Bitcoin mining company, has acquired 5,113 BTC for $510 million.

According to a Dec. 13 post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the company said the Bitcoin was bought at an average price of $99,669 per BTC, including fees and related expenses.

With this acquisition, Riot’s Bitcoin holdings have surged to 16,728 BTC. At the current market price of $100,303, these holdings are valued at approximately $1.68 billion.

This places it among the top three public holders of the flagship digital asset, ahead of electric car manufacturer Tesla and others.

Riot’s share price climbed 10% following the announcement to $13.39, as of press time.

Debt financing

Riot funded the purchase from the proceeds of its recent $525 million convertible bond issuance, which carried a 0.75% coupon.

This strategy mirrors the approach pioneered by MicroStrategy, which began acquiring Bitcoin in 2020 to maximize shareholder value.

Many companies are now using private offerings and debt financing to increase their Bitcoin reserves, offering investors a way to gain exposure to digital assets.

Notably, Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, highlighted that the top 14 Bitcoin miners have raised over $4 billion in recent months.

He noted that these funds are being used to bolster financial positions, acquire new mining equipment, and expand AI-driven data center hosting capabilities.

AI pivot?

The timing of Riot’s Bitcoin purchase coincides with reports that Starboard Value—an activist investor with a significant stake in the company—advised the miner to allocate part of its mining capacity to AI.

Riot’s CEO Jason Lens noted growing demand from organizations seeking large-scale power capacity for long-term agreements.

Observers noted that repurposing some of the company’s infrastructure to serve Bitcoin mining and AI computing could offer Riot a more stable revenue model. This dual-purpose approach could help offset the volatility of crypto markets while tapping into the booming demand for AI services.

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