Crypto insights weekly buzz

Embark on another week of blockchain brilliance with us. Here is what you will find out about such important events and news:

• Happy BDay, BTC!
• Storm in the crypto market pending the SEC’s decision;
• Biggest Layer2 protocols by number of dApps;
• Hackers stole about $100M in December 2023;
• Key market events for January 3-10: upcoming listings, giveaways, launches, and hackathons in the crypto space;

---

🎂 Bitcoin’s birthday!

15 years ago, on January 3, 2009, the first block and the first 50 bitcoins were generated. Its hash is partially composed of the text “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks.”

This is the headline of an article in the British edition of The Times.The article was about how UK Finance Minister Alistair Darling is being forced to consider new measures to bail out banks amid the economic crisis.

---

🛑 Holding our breath: Bitcoin at $20k or $50k?

Matrixport analyst Markus Thielen believes, that the SEC will likely reject all applications for a spot bitcoin ETF in January.

And SEC head Gary Gensler does not support cryptocurrency in the U.S. and is unlikely to vote to approve the applications

Notably, Matrixport said a day earlier that the SEC may approve the ETF applications on January 2-3. 

In anticipation of a possible SEC decision, cryptocurrencies are rocking. While Bitcoin was near $46k on January, 2, it fell to $40k on January, 3.

Also, the top altcoin values have crept down.

Skeptics believe that if the SEC rejects applications for a spot bitcoin-ETF in January, the digital gold will fall by half. Advocates believe, if approved, it will jump above $50k.

---

🧲 Biggest Layer2 protocols by number of dApps in each ecosystem

In the last couple of months, zkSync and Linea have almost caught up with Optimism, which has been around since January 2021. 

Scroll has entered the top 5 in terms of the number of apps in an ecosystem in just 2 months.

---

🦹‍♂️ Hackers stole nearly $100M in 36 attacks in December 2023

On the eve of 2024, Orbit Bridge suffered an $80 million hack. 30 million USDT, 10 million DAI, 10 million USDC, 231 wBTC, and 9,500 ETH were stolen.  

This is the 9th largest cross-chain bridge hack in the last 3 years.

---

🔑 Key crypto market highlights (January 3-10)

 

• Dogelon Mars to be launched on Solana (03.01).
• STEPN to release Gas Hero (03.01).
• Coinbase will delist Monavale (MONA), Drep (DREP),  Sylo (SYLO), Automata (ATA) (04.01).
• Sleepless AI (AI) and Satoxcoin (SATOX) will be listed on MEXC (04.01).
• Arkham (ARKM) and Fetch.ai (FET) are to be listed on Indodax (04.01).
• Aragon (ANT) is to be delisted from Coinbase (05.01).
• Galxe (GAL) token unlocks — 3M tokens, or 3.34% of the circulating supply (05.01).
• Hashflow (HFT) token unlocks — 14.32M of tokens, or 5.03% of the circulating supply (07.01).