The Block
Quick Take During a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Thursday titled “Crypto Crime in Context Part ll: Examining Approaches to Combat Illicit Activity,” a congressional panel delved into how to prevent bad actors from using cryptocurrency for illicit finance.
Quick Take A panel focused on digital assets within the House Financial Services Committee will convene this afternoon for a hearing titled “Crypto Crime in Context Part ll: Examining Approaches to Combat Illicit Activity.”
Quick Take In 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority issued 450 alerts as part of its enforcement efforts against illegal cryptocurrency advertisements. The regulator emphasized it will continue to take action against firms issuing illegal financial promotions in 2024.
The bitcoin market is entering a period with conditions indicative of a pre-halving rally, an analyst said.
Quick Take Moonbeam Network is making a push into blockchain gaming through a partnership with Animo Industries, the web3 game developer behind the third-person mech-shooter “Stars Arena.” The companies are bullish the web3 gaming market could grow by nearly 400% over the next decade.
Quick Take The Block confirmed key details for the token distribution plan of the crypto casino and sports betting platform Shuffle. SHFL’s token generation event and airdrop will occur on the same day in the first week of March, though no specific date has been set yet. The first airdrop will contain 10% of the total token supply, with two additional airdrops of 9% happening in the coming years.
Quick Take “U.S. regulators can exert some control on Tether’s offshore usage via OFAC,” according to JPMorgan analysts. Tether’s CEO said JPMorgan’s concerns seem “more related to the jealousy towards the evolution of financial and payment services.”
Quick Take Lava Network raised $15 million in a seed round co-led by Jump Capital, Hashkey Capital and Tribe Capital. Lava is offering reward points called Magma ahead of its mainnet launch scheduled for the first half of this year.
MicroStrategy’s 190,000 bitcoin is now worth more than $10 billion as the world’s most popular cryptocurrency by market capitalization nears $53,000.
Bitcoin call options for all expiries from April through to December show a notable concentration at strike prices above $60,000, according to a QCP Capital report.The price of bitcoin increased above the $53,000 mark over the past 24 hours, according to The Block’s Price Page.
