Bitfinity Weekly: New Year, New Heights
Welcome to Issue #139 of Bitfinity Weekly for our #BITFINIANS community. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, sign up here.
What's in Today's Email?
- Bitcoin Bytes
- Global Crypto News
- In the IC
- This Week in our Blog
- Tweet of the Week
- Meme Time
- A Matter of Opinion
Bitcoin Bytes
Constitutional Rights: Switzerland may be adding Bitcoin to its national framework, with an unprecedented initiative published in the Federal Gazette. If passed, the Swiss National Bank will include $BTC on its balance sheet. The initiative requires 100,000 signatures by June 30, 2026; the Swiss Federal Chancellery has already begun their preliminary examination in preparation.
Binged Up: BingX Labs, the innovation branch of BingX centralized exchange, announced a strategic partnership with Babylon. Babylon is a Bitcoin L2 with a focus on growing DeFi applications, especially pertaining $BTC staking. The partnership also includes a $5.3m investment by BingX Labs in Babylon's latest staking program, the Babylon Cap 3.
The Cat's Meow: aiXBT, an AI agent deployed via Virtuals Protocol, accepted a Quantum Cat Ordinal and wore it as its pfp (profile picture) on X for two days. While CT (Crypto Twitter) has been flush with AI agents tweeting autonomously in recent weeks, aiXBT was the first to change its pfp to an NFT of its choice. In response, the Quantum Cat team acquired $1.1m worth of the $AIXBT token and sent the agent an additional Quantum Cat.
Global Crypto News
Simple sim;paul: Binance became the first international crypto exchange to obtain a broker-dealer license in Brazil, marking its 21st global regulatory authorization. Brazil is the most populous country in South America with a healthy crypto market. The approval allows Binance to acquire sim;paul Corretora de Valores, a São Paulo-based investment platform. This acquisition gives Binance the authority to distribute securities and issue EMI (electronic money) in Brazil.
Beyond Reporting: The IRS has published new regulations to go into effect in 2027, which mandate all DeFi "front-end trading services", including apps and browser extensions like wallets, to identify users through KYC and report their total income generated. Users who do not comply will have services withheld. Industry groups (The Blockchain Association, DeFi Education, and the Texas Blockchain Council) are suing the IRS, arguing that the institution is going "beyond their statutory authority in expanding the definition of 'broker'".
Shaky Grounds: Disgraced Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon appeared before the U.S. court on Thursday to plead 'not guilty' for charges related to his role in the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. Kwon faces nine counts of financial crimes including securities/wire fraud and money laundering. Kwon was on the run for over a year following the Terra crash before being apprehended in Montenegro, where he was caught attempting to travel with a forged passport.
Guardians of the Galxe: Our new Galxe campaign is live! Complete quests, earn points, and climb the leaderboard for a chance to qualify for an exclusive BTF token airdrop! Check out the link below-
https://app.galxe.com/quest/Bitfinity/GCJh4tVhBu
In the IC
The Brunch Bunch: DFINITY and CV Labs are jointly hosting an inaugural World Computer Day event during Web3 Hub Davos 2025 on January 21st. The 'Policy & Regulatory Brunch' will offer participants the opportunity to learn and network, with panel speakers from institutions like the Swiss National Bank, the MIT Media Lab, and more. You can sign up to attend here.
Peak Talk: DFINITY Founder Dominic Williams will be speaking at CFC St. Moritz on January 16th, at a panel about the future of blockchain, AI and quantum computing. Williams will discuss how these three innovative fields of tech are aligned, and what future opportunities may lie in the intersection.
Video Rewind: The latest ICP Monthly Roundup is now live. Highlights include DeFi updates, enhanced AI capabilities, and more. You can catch the video here.
This Week in our Blog
Discover how Lendfinity skyrocketed to over $3 million in Total Value Locked (TVL) within a month! Learn the secrets behind their success and future plans in the DeFi space.
Bitfinity
Tweet of the Week
📣5 weeks since Bitfinity’s Mainnet launch, & we're stepping into 2025 with 5M+ blocks at 3.36s avg. block time!⚡️
— Bitfinity Network (@bitfinitynet) December 30, 2024
Dev pool growing and a stronger community on the Bitfinity Mainnet.🌐
🚀The journey into 2025 is only getting started.
Explore the stats… pic.twitter.com/0qV5khv0xR
Meme Time
A Matter of Opinion
While the crypto community eagerly awaits President Trump's return to the White House, expecting a more favorable environment under his pro-crypto stance, the reality is that the American courts are still wrestling with a legacy of legal challenges. Even with Paul Atkins, a known crypto advocate, stepping in as the new SEC chair, the shadow of Gary Gensler's regulatory approach still looms large. The legal groundwork laid by Gensler won't vanish overnight, and there's more at play than just SEC rulings.
Major crypto entities are still battling the SEC in court, accused of offering unregistered securities (among other charges). With no clear, finalized rules on compliance or what even constitutes a security in the world of web3, these cases could redefine the landscape for crypto exchanges.
Binance, for example, is dealing with fallout from a felony charge against its former CEO and a lawsuit claiming they operated without registration. Coinbase is similarly fighting an SEC accusation of offering unregistered securities, trying to push for explicit regulations. Kraken faces similar charges, with additional scrutiny on how they handled customer funds. Crypto.com's legal woes center around similar issues of unregistered securities offerings.
These cases are crucial because they'll influence not just how these platforms operate but also how future exchanges might be regulated. If the courts favor the crypto companies, we might see a more lenient regulatory environment. But if the government agencies win, expect tighter controls, potentially making it tougher for new platforms to emerge or for existing ones to innovate.
The international crypto world is watching America closely, as these decisions could either open up new opportunities or clamp down on the freedom we've come to associate with decentralized finance. Stay tuned, 2025 promises to be a defining year for crypto regulation worldwide.
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