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Top Stories of The Week
New Hampshire, North Dakota introduce bills for Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
New Hampshire and North Dakota have become the latest US states to introduce legislation for a strategic Bitcoin reserve, signaling a continued push among lawmakers to diversify state treasuries with the cryptocurrency.
According to Satoshi Action Fund CEO Dennis Porter, the New Hampshire bill was introduced by Representative Keith Ammon, a Republican who represents the 40th District.
The New Hampshire bill doesn’t explicitly mention Bitcoin but instead refers to “digital assets.” Porter said this is a way for state lawmakers to push through the legislation without causing political friction.
On the same day, legislation for a strategic Bitcoin reserve was also introduced in North Dakota, championed by Representative Nathan Toman, Representative Josh Christy and Senator Jeff Barta.
Bitcoin corporate treasury shareholder proposal submitted to Meta
A Meta shareholder proposal submitted by Ethan Peck requested that the social media company convert a portion of its $72 billion in cash and short-term cash equivalents to Bitcoin as a hedge against currency debasement.
Peck wrote that Meta is losing 28% of its cash assets over time due to inflation and cited Bitcoin outperforming bonds by 1,262% over the past five years as evidence for adopting the asset. Peck also wrote in the proposal:
“Mark Zuckerberg named his goats ‘Bitcoin’ and ‘Max.’ Meta director Marc Andreessen has praised Bitcoin and is also a director at Coinbase. Do Meta shareholders not deserve the same kind of responsible asset allocation for the Company that Meta directors and executives likely implement for themselves?”
Peck is an employee of The National Center for Public Policy Research — a Washington DC-based think-tank promoting free market policies — which submitted Bitcoin treasury shareholder proposals to Microsoft and Amazon in 2024. However, Peck submitted the Meta proposal on behalf of his family’s shares.
Bybit exchange suspends services in India due to regulatory pressure
Bybit, a global crypto exchange, announced a temporary suspension of its crypto trading services in India, citing regulatory developments.
Starting Jan. 12 at 8:00 am UTC, Bybit will restrict several services, including cryptocurrency trading, account openings and placing orders through other exchange products.
Bybit attributed the decision to its goal of operating in “full compliance with all applicable rules and regulations,” the exchange stated in a Jan. 10 announcement, adding:
“Due to recent developments from Indian regulators and in continuation of previously implemented restrictions, […] Indian users will temporarily be unable to open new trades or access any products on the Bybit platform.”
The announcement said that while trading services are halted, user fund withdrawals are unaffected.
56% of advisers more likely to invest in crypto after Trump win: Bitwise survey
More than half of US-based financial advisers responding to a survey by Bitwise said they’re more inclined to invest in crypto due to Donald Trump’s United States presidential election victory.
Bitwise’s latest survey — conducted from Nov. 14 to Dec. 20 — asked 430 financial advisers about their attitudes toward crypto, with 56% indicating they are more likely to invest in crypto this year following the US election results on Nov. 5.
The crypto industry is widely anticipating President-elect Donald Trump’s help in steering the US toward a crypto-friendly environment. Jack Mallers, founder and CEO of Strike, said it’s possible that Trump could issue an executive order on his first day in office, designating Bitcoin as a US reserve asset.
UK judge dismisses $770M Bitcoin landfill hard drive case
James Howells, an IT engineer from Newport, Wales, has lost his legal battle to recover a hard drive containing more than $770 million worth of Bitcoin.
The hard drive, which holds Bitcoin mined in 2009, was mistakenly thrown away and ended up in a landfill. The Newport City Council has denied access to the landfill due to environmental permit restrictions.
In the latest development, Judge Keyser KC, the circuit commercial judge for Wales, has thrown out Howells’ legal case seeking access to the Newport landfill to recover his hard drive, according to a Jan. 9 BBC report.
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Keyser said that the legal case had “no realistic prospect” of succeeding at a full trial.
Since 2013, Howells has repeatedly requested the council’s permission to access the site, offering a share of the missing Bitcoin if the hard drive were found.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $94,691, Ether (ETH) at $3,271 and XRP at $2.34. The total market cap is at $3.31 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are XDC Network (XDC) at 14.56%, Bitcoin SV (BSV) at 10.95% and Bitget Token (BGB) at 7.89%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are THORChain (RUNE) at 32.05%, ai16z (AI16Z) at 31.64% and dogwifhat (WIF) at 27.47%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotations
“The year is 2035. Bitcoin is at – and you can hold me to this – $1.5 million.”
Timothy Peterson, network economist
“I think AI may lead to an explosion of companies and tokenized companies.”
Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise
“The scams have many different variations, but one in particular directs a person to a cryptocurrency machine to insert and send money to the scammer. If you receive a phone call with someone demanding a payment in cryptocurrency or Bitcoin, please hang up.”
The Springfield, Massachusetts Police Department
“Unlike previously, it’s also quite unlikely we get any Trump-related catalysts till after his 20-Jan inauguration. Frontend vols have also remained soft with a relatively neutral skew which indicate a similar sentiment.”
“A letdown by team Trump on his proposed pro-crypto and pro-business legislation can be covered by an extremely positive dollar liquidity environment, an increase of up to $612 billion in the first quarter.”
Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX
“Bitcoin’s dip stems primarily from strong US economic data pointing toward potential interest rate hikes.”
Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research
Prediction of The Week
Crypto headed for ‘Banana Singularity’ where everything goes up: Analyst
Crypto markets are in the “Banana Zone” and heading into a “Banana Singularity,” or a period “when everything goes up,” according to Real Vision co-founder and CEO Raoul Pal.
The “Banana Zone” is a term coined by Pal to describe a period of significant upward price movement.
“Yes, we are still in the Banana Zone,” Pal said in an X post on Jan. 10, before adding that the first phase of this bull market was the breakout in November last year.
That has been followed by the current period of consolidation — similar to the 2016/2017 cycle — Pal said, before adding: “This won’t last long.”
Looking ahead, Pal said the next phase of the “Banana Zone” is a “Banana Singularity,” an altcoin season “when everything goes up, followed by a bigger consolidation.”
FUD of The Week
Blender and Sinbad operators face US money laundering charges
The US Justice Department has indicted three Russian nationals alleged to have committed money laundering due to their involvement in operating cryptocurrency mixers Blender.io and Sinbad.io.
In a Jan. 10 notice, US authorities said a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia returned an indictment for Roman Vitalyevich Ostapenko, Alexander Evgenievich Oleynik and Anton Vyachlavovich Tarasov.
The indictment alleged that the crypto-mixing services operated by the three men allowed criminals to launder funds “stolen from victims of ransomware, virtual currency thefts, and other crimes,” according to US Attorney Ryan Buchanan.
Russia seizes $10M in Bitcoin from ex-official in bribery case
The Russian government confiscated $10 million worth of Bitcoin from a former law enforcement official, according to local reports.
Russian court enforcement officers have begun confiscating Bitcoin from a former employee at the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) in a massive bribery case involving cryptocurrency.
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The officers began proceedings to seize 1 billion Russian rubles ($10 million) — or roughly 103 BTC — from former ICRF employee Marat Tambiev, who was convicted of crypto bribery in 2023, the news agency TASS reported on Jan. 8.
The confiscated Bitcoin will be added to Russia’s state revenue as part of the legal proceedings. Officers reportedly accessed Tambiev’s hardware cryptocurrency wallet, a Ledger Nano X, to seize the assets.
Thai police seize nearly 1,000 Bitcoin miners in raid: Report
Thai police and electricity officials have reportedly seized 996 Bitcoin mining rigs from a company they claim illegally diverted electricity to run the machines.
The Bitcoin mining rigs were confiscated from JIT Co’s facility in Phanat Nikhom, Chon Buri, on Jan. 8, Police Major General Montree Theskhan, commander of the Crime Suppression Division, told the Bangkok Post on Jan. 9.
An estimated “hundreds of millions of baht” worth of electricity was allegedly stolen by JIT, with the lower end of 100 million baht figure amounting to at least $2.88 million at current rates.
The operators were registered to carry out digital asset trading but allegedly used modified power meters to run the mining rigs at night. It used the power meter correctly during the day to “avoid raising suspicions,” Nation Thailand reported on Jan. 9.
Top Magazine Stories of The Week
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Trump’s Bitcoin policy lashed in China, deepfake scammers busted: Asia Express
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This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
