Good Morning,

As the great John Cena once said, "Your time is up, my time is now". This can soon be said by Ripple if the SEC does not file an appeal today to change the current fine of $125M to the originally proposed $2B settlement.

Here's a quick preview of today’s content: Today, January 15, is the deadline for the SEC to file an appeal for the Ripple case, Altcoin ETFs speculation continue, major Italian bank tries its hand at Bitcoin, a crypto lender reaches 'Unicorn' status, Rumors swirl that Yuga Labs might sell CryptoPunks IP, and much more.

Happy Wednesday, let’s dive in.

Market Snapshot

• Bitcoin is climbing back towards $100k just a few days after falling below $90k for the first time in 2 months

• XRP soars back up to $2.88, up 20% this week

  • The SEC must file an appeal today in it’s case against Ripple who is currently ordered to pay $125M settlement, much less than the proposed $2B fine

  • Ripple based memecoin $ARMY also saw massive momentum with the latest news, nearing $100M market cap

Market Predictions

• Traders on Kalshi are currently predicting Coinbase’s trading volume was above $440B in Q4 2024

  • Coinbase’s next earnings call is February 13

• You can trade this market by checking out Kalshi

• Get a $20 bonus when you deposit $100 or more with code “LIT” on signup

Headline Roundup
^{_{The major headlines driving crypto markets}}

• TikTok calls Elon Musk acquisition rumors 'pure fiction' (DC) 

• Solana and Ripple ETF’s could attract $13.6B in new investments (TB) 

• Representative Guy Reschenthaler is the first politician to disclose XRP purchase (CS)

• Options tied to BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF soar to $11B, half the size of Deribit's Bitcoin options market (CD) 

• CFTC is probing the legality of sports-related derivatives trading on Crypto.com (BBG)

• CFTC hits Mosaic Exchange with $1.1M fine for crypto fraud scandal (NB)

• USDC surpasses $20T in all-time transaction volume (CS) 

• ai16z developer Eliza Labs publishes whitepaper outlining vision on Web3 AI agents (CT)

• Ripple executives criticize SEC for its refusal to delay its appeal filing (CT) 

• AI agent tokens surge as Franklin Templeton highlights significant promise  (DC) 

• Crypto payment service BitPay processed over 600K transactions in 2024 (CT) 

• Major Italian bank Intesa SanPaolo buys ~$1M of Bitcoin (CD) 

• Tokyo-listed consulting firm RemixPoints acquires $3.2M of Bitcoin (TB)

• Cardano and soccer club FC Barcelona establish partnership (NB)

Launches

• BlackRock launches its first Canadian Bitcoin ETF (DC) 

• L1 Berachain’s pre-launch liquidity platform attracts $1.6B (BW) 

• Shadowy marketplace Huione launches USDH stablecoin (CS)

• Polygon launches Season 2 of its Community Grants Program with 35 million POL tokens for projects (TD) 

Venture Capital

• Middle East VC Sigma Capital launches a $100M Web3 fund (CD) 

• Crypto lender Sygnum Bank raises $58M at a $1B valuation in a strategic growth round led by Fulgur Ventures cementing its 'Unicorn' status (BBG)

• Litas secured $20M token investment from Rollman Management Digital to expand payment solution (CT)

• Crypto wallet service Dfns raises $16M in a Series A round led by Further Ventures (BW)

Cybersecurity

• Japan, South Korea, and the United States jointly blame North Korean hackers Lazarus Group for $235M WazirX hack (CS)

• New report indicates Lazarus Group was responsible for $659M stolen crypto in 2024 (TV)

• ScaleBit flags vulnerability that could compromise Uniswap’s web3 wallets (CT)

• With the incoming pro-crypto legislation, the focus will soon shift to cyber crime (CNBC)

Extra Reads

• North Korea’s Lazarus Group is the richest and most dangerous cyber gang of all time

  Check out this deep dive on their history and operations

• Simon Kim, co-founder of investment firm Hashed, thinks blockchain can fix AI’s ‘Black Box’ problem

  Here’s How

Chart of the Day

Blackrock joins the Canada Bitcoin ETF party months after other institutions see negative outflow

Meme Dump

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