Issue #74

Market Overview

As of the time of writing (Monday 5pm), the total market cap of the crypto asset market is $US1.72T, down (-1.5%) from last week.

Below is the weekly performance of the top crypto assets. 

News Headline Highlights

 Crypto Asset Project Updates

• Vitalik Buterin shared an updated Ethereum Roadmap for 2024.
• Orbit Bridge, a cross-chain bridge protocol, was hacked for $81.5m. In five separate transactions, the Orbit Bridge sent $50m in stablecoins (30m USDT, 10m DAI, and 10 million USDC), 231 wBTC (~$10m), and 9,500 ETH (~$21.5m).

Regulation Station

• Hong Kong proposed a licence program for stablecoin issuers as part of its legislative proposal to oversee the industry. In a consultation paper jointly published by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, the authorities said an issuer requires a licence from the HKMA “if it issues a stablecoin that references the value of one or more fiat currencies in Hong Kong.”
• The Japanese government approved a 2024 tax regime revision that seeks to exclude corporations from paying tax on unrealized crypto gains if they hold the assets longer term.
• Judge Jed Rakoff in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted summary judgement siding with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its claim that Terraform Labs and its co-founder Do Kwon offered and sold unregistered securities.

The Weekly Deal Room

• CESS, a decentralised storage protocol, raised $8m in a private round from HTX Ventures, Infinity Ventures Crypto, DWF Labs and others.
• EclipseFi, a hub for interchain token launches, raised $1.9m in a private round from Big Brain Holdings, Rarestone Capital, Momentum 6 and others.
• BRC20.com, a bitcoin token standard infrastructure project, raised $1.5m in a private round led by UTXO Management.