Binance’s CZ must stay in US, Elon Musk seeks $1B for AI, and other news: Hodler’s Digest, Dec. 3-9

This week's featured stories

Binance founder CZ must remain in US until sentencing, judge orders

Binance Founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao You have been ordered to remain in the United States until his sentencing in February, when a federal judge determined there was too much of a flight risk if the cryptocurrency exchange's former CEO was allowed to return to the United Arab Emirates. On December 7, Seattle District Court Judge Richard Jones ordered Zhao to remain in the United States until his sentencing date of February 23, 2024. He faces up to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to money laundering on Nov. 21 and agreed not to appeal any potential sentence until that duration.

House committee passes bill to 'preserve US leadership' on blockchain

A committee of the United States Congress has unanimously approved a bill in favor of blockchain, which would task the US Secretary of Commerce with promoting the deployment of blockchain and thus potentially increasing the use of blockchain technology in the country. The law covers a number of actions the Secretary of Commerce must take if passed, including developing best practices, policies and recommendations for the public and private sector when using blockchain technology. The bill will now go to the House for a vote. If passed, it must also pass the Senate before returning for final approval by Congress and the President.

SEC Moves Up Deadline to Decide on Grayscale Spot Ether ETF

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed its decision on whether to approve or reject a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) offering from asset manager Grayscale. In a notice, the SEC said it would designate a longer period to consider a proposed rule change that would allow NYSE Arca to list and trade Grayscale Ethereum Trust shares. Grayscale first filed with the SEC to convert shares of its Grayscale Ethereum Trust into an Ether spot ETF in October, adding its name to the list of companies awaiting a decision from the regulator.

Elon Musk's XAI Files with SEC for Private Sale of $1 Billion in Unregistered Securities

Elon Musk's X-linked artificial intelligence modeler, xAI, has an agreement for private sale of $865.3 million in unregistered equity securities, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 5. The company is looking to raise $1 billion. XAI's product, a chatbot called Grok, recently launched for X Premium+ subscribers. Musk announced the launch of xAI in July, stating that its goal was to "understand the universe."

Bitcoin new high set for end of 2024, Binance to lose top spot – VanEck

bitcoin will reach a new all-time high at the end of 2024 due to the much-feared recession in the United States and regulatory changes after the upcoming presidential elections in that country, asset manager VanEck predicts. The company is confident that the first spot Bitcoin ETFs will be approved in the first quarter of 2024. However, it also made a gloomy prediction for the overall US economy. VanEck is among several companies, including BlackRock and Fidelity, competing for an approved spot Bitcoin ETF. VanEck also believes that the BTC halving, scheduled for April or May, “will cause minimal market disruption,” but there will be a price increase after the halving.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (btc) I sat down $44,402Ether (ETH) in $2,364 and XRP in $0.66. The total market capitalization is $1.65 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoins winners of the week are Bonk (BONK) at 203.10%, ORDI (ORDI) at 134.34% and BitTorrent (MTB) at 114.32%.

Top Three Altcoin Losers of the Week Are Maker (MKR) at -6.48%, ONE BUT I READ (LION) and -6.22% and Kaspa (THAT) at 4.98%.

To learn more about cryptocurrency prices, be sure to read Cointelegraph Market Analysis.

Most memorable quotes

“The long-awaited approval of the ETF will be positive news for the cryptocurrency market, and will likely lead to significant growth.”

Adam Berkersenior legal advisor of Mercuryo

“The only real use case for it [crypto] "They are criminals, drug traffickers, money laundering, tax evasion."

Jaime DimonCEO of JPMorgan Chase

“Jamie Dimon is in no position to criticize Bitcoin with this kind of track record.”

Gabor Gurbacsstrategy advisor at VanEck

“So for us, I think Bitcoin is our central bank. With that in mind, I consider Ethereum as our investment bank.”

robbie yungexecutive director of Animoca brands

"The ETF is certainly a key driver of confidence."

Jon de Wetchief investment officer at Zerocap

“It takes a community and the entire industry to figure out how to better educate people. That's the hard part. It is not a question of technology; “It is an operational problem.”

Eowyn ChenTrust Wallet CEO

Prediction of the week

'Early bull market': Bitcoin price prepares first weekly golden cross

Bitcoin is preparing for an "early bull market" while a unique chart feature is developed for the first time in history.

In a post on this type.

The 50-week and 200-week MAs are key trend lines for both Bitcoin traders and analysts. The latter is the maximum support level of the bear market and so far its value has never decreased.

BTC price strength is on track to take the 50-week MA trendline above the 200-week counterpart. Known as a “golden cross”, on lower time frames this is considered a classic bullish signal, and for Milne, the impetus is that there could be considerable upside should the phenomenon develop.

“The 50-week moving average will soon cross back above the 200-week moving average forming a 'golden cross' for the first time. QED: Early bull market,” she wrote.

FUD of the week

Are cryptocurrencies for criminals? JPMorgan has been fined $39 billion and has its own token

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase is being criticized by the crypto community after stating that the “only real use case” of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies is to facilitate crime. However, according to the Good Jobs First violation tracker, JPMorgan is the second largest sanctioned bank, having paid $39.3 billion in fines in 272 violations since 2000. About $38 billion of these fines were under the supervision of Dimon, who has been CEO since 2005.

British regulator adds Poloniex, linked to Justin Sun, to warning list after $100 million hack

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has added cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex to its warning list of unauthorized companies. The Seychelles-based exchange is one of three companies owned or affiliated with businessman Justin Sun that have suffered four attacks in the past two months. The warning to Poloniex was posted on the FCA website on December 6. It does not offer a reason, but says that "companies and individuals cannot promote financial services in the UK without the necessary authorization or approval."

US Senators Target Cryptocurrencies in Bill Imposing Sanctions on Terrorist Groups

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the United States Senate introduced legislation aimed at counteracting the role of cryptocurrency in terrorist financing, explicitly citing the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel. The bill would expand US sanctions to include parties that fund terrorist organizations with cryptocurrency or fiat money. According to Senator Mitt Romney, the legislation would allow the US Treasury Department to pursue "emerging threats involving digital assets."

Top magazine articles of the week

Lawmakers' fear and doubts drive proposed US crypto regulations

If the Law against money laundering of digital assets If it were to become law, many cryptocurrency providers would have to learn to comply with the same regulations as traditional financial institutions.

Expect 'records broken' by Bitcoin ETF: Brett Harrison (ex-FTX US), X Hall of Flame

Brett Harrison taught a promising young man Sam Bankman-Fried programmed for merchants on Jane Street, but was less impressed with the man SBF became.

Web3 Gamer: Do games need bots? Illuvium CEO admits 'it's tough', 42x profit

Games plagued by bots it just shows bot owners that they care, says Pixels founder. Plus, we review Galaxy Fight Club, chat with the CEO of Illuvium, and more.