CFA Report Pegs US Crypto Fraud Losses at $80.7B

Japan's financial regulator has approved a stablecoin pilot involving the country's three largest banks: MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., and Mizuho Bank. The banks plan to issue yen-pegged stablecoins for intracompany and intercompany payments, with a potential dollar-pegged stablecoin in the future.

Kazakhstan plans to build a national crypto reserve of between $500 million and $1 billion, funded using assets seized and repatriated from abroad. The Kazakh central bank's governor Timur Suleimenov said that the fund would also include ETFs and shares of digital asset firms.

Tether recently purchased 961 BTC worth $97.18 million during a market dip, following its policy of allocating 15% of net profits to Bitcoin. With a portfolio of 87,296 BTC valued at $8.84 billion, Tether remains bullish on Bitcoin's long-term fundamentals.

A joint operation involving authorities from the US, Germany, and Brazil utilized blockchain intelligence to arrest the alleged administrator of a major child sexual abuse material network in Brazil. The operation led to the seizure of dark web platforms serving over 350,000 users worldwide.

IREN reported a significant increase in net income and total revenue for the fiscal first quarter, driven by expansion into AI cloud computing and a surge in revenue from bitcoin mining. The company also secured a $9.7 billion AI cloud contract with Microsoft.

Citi analysts suggest that bitcoin's recent slump below its 55-day moving average could weaken the equity market's risk-adjusted returns due to tightening liquidity conditions. The U.S. Treasury's cash balance rebuilding and declining bank reserves have drained liquidity, impacting both bitcoin and stocks.

Following shareholder approval of a $1 trillion pay package for Elon Musk, new memecoins like "TRILLIONS" and "MUSK" flooded decentralized exchanges on various blockchains. Some tokens surged up to 190% in 24 hours, but many quickly lost value due to liquidity pulls, resembling past trends tied to Musk's influence in the crypto market.

Bitcoin is down 20% from its record high, facing macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties that have led to a 15% drop in November. Experts believe a 10% bounce is needed to reach breakeven and end the quarter positively, with potential Fed rate cuts and a weaker dollar as key drivers.

South Korea is contemplating a review of its sanctions on North Korea following new U.S. sanctions linking Pyongyang's crypto theft to weapons financing. The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on North Korean individuals and entities involved in laundering cryptocurrency for weapons development programs.

The Council of Tenerife plans to sell 97 Bitcoin acquired for €10,000 in 2012, now valued at $9.8 million. The sale, aimed to fund research projects, faces complications but is expected to proceed soon with a regulated organization's help.