Michael Saylor Clarifies Strategy's Plan to Sell Bitcoin for Dividends

JPMorgan Chase & Co. will enable institutional clients to utilize Bitcoin and Ether as collateral for loans by the year's end, expanding Wall Street's crypto involvement. The program, available worldwide, will involve a third-party custodian to protect the tokens pledged by clients.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao was pardoned by President Donald Trump, sparking backlash for rewarding criminal behavior amid a government shutdown. The pardon, defended by the White House, is seen as ending "the Biden Administration's war on crypto."

Despite macro headwinds, Bitcoin and the broader crypto market have shown an uptick, with large bag holders continuing to accumulate BTC. The recent Black Friday event liquidated $19 billion in leveraged positions, but the dolphin cohort's accumulation is keeping the long-term bull run intact.

A British Columbia court ruled that a crypto exchange was not liable for a customer's C$671,000 loss to an online scam, despite issuing multiple fraud warnings. The court found that the exchange had fulfilled its obligations by alerting the customer about potential fraud risks.

Two wallets associated with the Melania Trump meme coin received $1.2 million from the Meteora airdrop, sparking concerns as the former project lead faces a class action lawsuit. The wallets swiftly transferred the funds to different addresses, raising questions about the distribution process.

An Ethereum address known for shorting Bitcoin and Ethereum made a $30 million deposit to a decentralized exchange before closing a $200 million BTC short position for a $6.4 million profit. The address, linked to former BitForex CEO Garrett Jin, has earned nearly $100 million in total profits on Hyperliquid.

Benchmark raised Canaan's price target to $4 due to Nasdaq's compliance notification and increasing demand for its Bitcoin mining rigs, particularly the Avalon line. Canaan's stock traded 5.6% higher, with potential for a 118% jump to reach the target price.

Gold has surged to a new price record of $4,370, outperforming Bitcoin this year. Analysts believe gold's price action could indicate a positive future for Bitcoin, as central banks have been major purchasers of gold since 2022.

Canada's financial intelligence agency has fined cryptocurrency platform Cryptomus a record $126 million for failing to report suspicious transactions related to child exploitation, ransomware, and sanctions evasion. The firm, operating as Cryptomus, did not file over a thousand suspicious transaction reports and 1,500 large-value crypto transaction reports in July 2024.

At the Bitcoin Alpha “unconference” in Santa Monica, California, an art piece named “Bitcoinius Maximus” was unveiled, featuring a great white shark in a glass box. The sculpture, symbolizing Bitcoin's endurance, served as a backdrop for private discussions during the event.