Bitcoin headed higher despite the Bank of Japan's interest-rate hike while reactions saw bullish risk-asset signals and no further policy tightening. Bitcoin (BTC) aimed for $88,000 on Friday after Japan’s central bank raised interest rates to 30-year highs. Key points: Bitcoin joins US stocks futures heading higher in a curiously bullish reaction to Japan’s interest-rate hike. Read more
Mike Selig pledged to make crypto a priority when he was picked to lead the CFTC in October, while Travis Hill has spoken out against crypto debanking. The US Senate has confirmed crypto-friendly lawyer Mike Selig as the new chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and has elevated Travis Hill to chair the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The two confirmations were included in a package of nearly 100 other nominees that the Trump administration had selected for various roles across the government, which passed the Senate in a 53-43 vote on Thursday. Selig, who has previous experience at the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission, pledged to make crypto a priority when he was nominated in October after he was picked to take over from the previous nominee, Brian Quintenz. Read more
Cypherpunk Adam Back dismissed concerns that quantum computing poses a threat to Bitcoin, arguing the technology is still “ridiculously early.” The response from Bitcoin developers on the risk of quantum computing to the cryptocurrency is weighing down its price and affecting capital flow, crypto industry executives have argued. Adam Back, a cypherpunk the and co-founder of Bitcoin infrastructure company Blockstream argued in a series of X posts on Thursday that it is good for Bitcoin (BTC) to be “quantum ready,” but it won’t be a threat for the next few decades, as the technology is still “ridiculously early,” and has research and development issues. He predicts there will be no risks in the next ten years and even if some parts of Bitcoin’s encryption were broken, it does not rely on encryption for its core security model and “it’s not going to result in Bitcoin being stolen on the network.” Read more
XRP has a “number of reasons” that are attracting traditional investor dollars, which has helped to push XRP ETFs over $1 billion in assets, says CF Benchmarks CEO Sui Chung. XRP exchange-traded funds have surpassed $1 billion in assets due to the long-standing recognition of the token among mainstream market participants, combined with its strong price performance over the past few years, according to a crypto executive. It comes as spot Ether (ETH) ETFs continue to post outflows, while spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs have recorded choppy performance over the past week. “Many investors are taking a position in XRP because of the familiarity. It has a long track record,” Sui Chung, the CEO of crypto price index provider CF Benchmarks, told CNBC on Wednesday. Read more
Synthetix founder Kain Warwick expects other perpetual decentralized exchanges to follow Synthetix back to Ethereum, which is faster than ever. Perpetuals trading platform Synthetix is returning to Ethereum’s mainnet, with its founder arguing the network is now more than capable of supporting high-frequency financial applications after years of network congestion drove derivatives activity elsewhere. “By the time perp DEXs became a thing, the mainnet was too congested, but now we can run it back,” Synthetix founder Kain Warwick told Cointelegraph during an interview on Wednesday. “It’s kind of crazy that there really hasn’t been a Perp DEX on mainnet,” he added, explaining that reduced demand after the perp DEX exodus, combined with ongoing scaling improvements, has made Ethereum layer 1 more viable again. Read more
White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks said the CLARITY Act will reach the Senate next month for debate and amendment before a full vote. The long-awaited Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act, is moving closer to law, with a Senate markup expected in January, says White House artificial intelligence and crypto czar David Sacks. Sacks posted to X on Thursday that Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott and Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman had confirmed that the bipartisan crypto bill will be shaped up by the Senate next month. The CLARITY Act would define crypto securities and commodities and clarify the roles of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and other financial regulators. Read more
Osborne began advising Coinbase in 2024 and has been critical of the UK government's lack of robust digital asset regulations. Coinbase, the largest US-based crypto exchange, has appointed George Osborne, a former United Kingdom chancellor of the exchequer, to run the company’s internal advisory council. The decision to appoint Osborne, who began working as a Coinbase advisor in 2024 during its battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is part of Coinbase’s strategy of expanding its influence with foreign governments, according to Reuters. Osborne announced the new lead position on Thursday, framing it as a learning opportunity. He said: Read more