Stuart Hoegner, the general counsel of Tether and Bitfinex, has stepped down from his role and will be succeeded by Michael Hilliard, who has worked closely with Hoegner for several years.
In a statement shared with Cointelegraph on Jan. 2, Tether announced Hoegner’s retirement and confirmed Hilliard as the new general counsel.
“Michael’s deep understanding of both companies’ operations, coupled with his strategic approach to legal and regulatory challenges, has been critical to advancing both Tether and Bitfinex’s mission,” the company stated.
Uncertainty Around USDT Compliance in Europe
The leadership change comes as Tether faces ambiguity regarding its compliance with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations, which took effect on Dec. 30.
The new rules have left stablecoin issuers, including Tether, in a gray area.
“No regulators have explicitly stated that USDT isn’t compliant, but this does not mean that it is,” Juan Ignacio Ibañez, a member of the Technical Committee of the MiCA Crypto Alliance, told Cointelegraph.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has not clarified whether USDT is considered a restricted stablecoin under MiCA.
While Coinbase delisted USDT in mid-December to comply with MiCA, the stablecoin continues to trade widely in the EU as exchanges await further guidance.
USDT Market Cap Declines
USDT’s market cap dropped from $138.8 billion on Dec. 30, 2024, to a weekly low of $136.9 billion on Jan. 1, marking its steepest decline since the FTX collapse in November 2022.
Despite this, USDT remains dominant in the stablecoin market, with a share exceeding 65% in the $210 billion sector.
Additionally, on Dec. 30, Tether transferred nearly $780 million worth of Bitcoin into its corporate reserves, aligning with its commitment to allocate up to 15% of net profits toward Bitcoin purchases.
Bitcoin continued its upward trajectory on Jan. 2, climbing to $95,880 ahead of the first Wall Street open of 2025.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD gaining 1.5% on the day, recovering from earlier dips to monthly lows.
“Christmas Range has swept both sides for liquidity now,” trader Daan Crypto Trades observed, adding that the $95.8K mid-range level had acted as resistance during recent tests.
Accompanying charts highlighted increased trading volume at the range lows, which some traders saw as a bullish signal.
Daan Crypto Trades advised keeping an eye on range breakouts to anticipate Bitcoin’s movement over the next couple of weeks.
Similarly, trader Jelle noted parallels between this year’s price action and last year’s, suggesting a potential upside resolution.
“The similarities are there, with or without another sweep of the lows,” Jelle commented, forecasting a breakout to $130,000–$150,000.
Entrepreneur Jason Williams shared a comparable outlook, describing the current price range as an accumulation zone.
“$BTC has re-entered the accumulation zone,” Williams posted on X, predicting, “$131.5K+ by Q1 2025 feels inevitable. See you there.”
His chart compared the current range to Bitcoin’s behavior after reaching all-time highs in March last year, which eventually led to a significant breakout after several months of consolidation.
Market sentiment has turned bullish amid optimism about the return of traditional finance traders.
Cole Kennelly, founder of crypto volatility index service Volmex, forecasted a renewed push for risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.
“My gut tells me the market goes full risk-on and a lot of money piles into crypto, now that end-of-year logistics/rebalancing/etc. is over,” Kennelly stated, anticipating a strong start to the year.
The broader crypto market appears poised for a liquidity boost as traders look to capitalize on Bitcoin’s growing momentum.
New Year New Shiba could turn early investors into multi-millionaires, like other memecoins, such as Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE), did.
New Year New Shiba (NEWSHIBA), a Solana memecoin launched today, is set to surge over 14,000% in price in the coming days.
This is because NEWSHIBA is set to soon be listed on numerous crypto exchanges, according to reports.
This will give the Solana memecoin exposure to millions of additional investors, who will pour funds into the coin and cause its price to rally, which will benefit investors who buy before these new exchange listings.
Currently, New Year New Shiba can only be purchased via Solana decentralized exchanges, like Jup.ag and Raydium.io, and early investors stand to make huge returns in the coming days.
Early investors in SHIB and DOGE made astronomical returns, and New Year New Shiba could become the next viral memecoin.
New Year New Shiba launched with over $8,000 of liquidity, giving it a unique advantage over the majority of other new memecoins, and early investors could make huge gains.
How to Buy
To buy New Year New Shiba on Raydium.io or Jup.ag ahead of the CEX listings, users need to connect their Solflare, MetaMask or Phantom wallet, and swap Solana for New Year New Shiba by entering its contract address – 7DjEUoHG7Yr3LpaqNPcyc5DgNEYSLrnPV8zsjQBbAYfh – in the receiving field.
If you don’t have one of these wallets already, you can create a new wallet in a few minutes and transfer some Solana to it (which will then be used to buy the memecoin), from an exchange like Coinbase, Binance and many others.
Early investors could make returns similar to those who invested in Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) before these memecoins went viral and exploded in price.
If this happens, a new wave of memecoin millionaires could be created in a matter of weeks – or potentially even sooner.
The Solana memecoin craze continues amid larger memecoins, like Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogecoin (DOGE) and DogWifHat (WIF) trading sideways in recent weeks and losing momentum.
This is why many SHIB, DOGE and WIF investors are instead investing in new Solana memecoins, like NEWSHIBA.
Such memecoins have no utility and no inherent value, but investors looking for high gains have been investing in them due to their potential to rapidly rise in price.
United States-based spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are approaching a major milestone after record-breaking growth in 2024 as Bitcoin crossed the $100,000 price level.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs are now just 2.2%, or $2.2 billion, away from surpassing $110 billion in cumulative holdings, representing over 5.7% of Bitcoin’s total supply, according to Dune data.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, leads the US Bitcoin ETF market.
Its iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF holds over 542,000 BTC, valued at $51.5 billion, which accounts for 47.9% of the market share among all US Bitcoin ETFs.
This positions BlackRock’s fund as the 34th largest ETF globally, spanning both cryptocurrency and traditional financial products, as per ETF Database.
The ETFs have been instrumental in Bitcoin’s rally toward $100,000.
US spot ETFs drove approximately 75% of new Bitcoin investments, propelling its price past the $50,000 mark by mid-February 2024.
Bitcoin to $200K in 2025?
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF is expected to further institutional adoption in 2025 by simplifying access for large investors, according to Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research.
“The new ETF milestone and BlackRock’s growing fund could propel Bitcoin to $200,000 during 2025,” Lee told Cointelegraph.
“Long-term projections suggest sustained growth, with some forecasts placing Bitcoin’s value at $200,000 by 2025. However, the trajectory will be influenced by regulatory developments, market dynamics, and broader economic conditions,” he added.
Currently, Bitcoin must gain another 4.1% to reclaim the $100,000 psychological mark.
Bitcoin faces key resistance levels at $97,600 and $99,000.
A rally above $99,000 could liquidate over $1 billion worth of leveraged short positions, according to CoinGlass data.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has obtained its 21st global regulatory authorization, this time from Banco Central do Brasil, marking a pivotal moment for crypto adoption in Latin America.
The approval grants Binance a broker-dealer license in Brazil, the region’s most populous country.
This milestone enables Binance to acquire Sim;paul, a São Paulo-based investment platform licensed to distribute securities and issue electronic money (EMI), as detailed in an announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
With this authorization, Binance becomes the first cryptocurrency exchange to secure a broker-dealer license in Brazil.
Top Crypto Exchange by Trading Volume
At the time of publication, Binance maintained its lead in the market with a 24-hour trading volume surpassing $18.2 billion, nearly tripling Bybit’s $6.3 billion daily volume, according to Messari data.
Brazil Leads in Crypto Regulation
Brazil is advancing rapidly in crypto regulation.
This latest regulatory approval follows Binance’s licensing achievements in Argentina, India, Kazakhstan, and Indonesia.
“Brazil is making significant strides in crypto industry regulation,” said Guilherme Nazar, Binance’s head of Latin America.
He added, “The [Brazilian] government has put forth a comprehensive proposal of rules for public consultation, and they invited both the industry and society to provide their suggestions. This collaborative approach should culminate in the publication of the final regulations by mid-year, according to central bank officials.”
Latin America’s Crypto Growth
Brazil ranks second in crypto adoption in Latin America, with over $90.3 billion worth of cryptocurrency value received in 2024, according to an Oct. 9 Chainalysis report.
The region boasts four of the top 20 countries globally in terms of crypto adoption: Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, and Argentina.
Notably, Brazil was the first country to approve a spot Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF) on Aug. 7, 2024, setting a global precedent.
New Year New Shiba could turn early investors into multi-millionaires, like other memecoins, such as Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE), did.
New Year New Shiba (NEWSHIBA), a Solana memecoin launched today, is set to surge over 14,000% in price in the coming days.
This is because NEWSHIBA is set to soon be listed on numerous crypto exchanges, according to reports.
This will give the Solana memecoin exposure to millions of additional investors, who will pour funds into the coin and cause its price to rally, which will benefit investors who buy before these new exchange listings.
Currently, New Year New Shiba can only be purchased via Solana decentralized exchanges, like Jup.ag and Raydium.io, and early investors stand to make huge returns in the coming days.
Early investors in SHIB and DOGE made astronomical returns, and New Year New Shiba could become the next viral memecoin.
New Year New Shiba launched with over $8,000 of liquidity, giving it a unique advantage over the majority of other new memecoins, and early investors could make huge gains.
How to Buy
To buy New Year New Shiba on Raydium.io or Jup.ag ahead of the CEX listings, users need to connect their Solflare, MetaMask or Phantom wallet, and swap Solana for New Year New Shiba by entering its contract address – 7DjEUoHG7Yr3LpaqNPcyc5DgNEYSLrnPV8zsjQBbAYfh – in the receiving field.
If you don’t have one of these wallets already, you can create a new wallet in a few minutes and transfer some Solana to it (which will then be used to buy the memecoin), from an exchange like Coinbase, Binance and many others.
Early investors could make returns similar to those who invested in Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) before these memecoins went viral and exploded in price.
If this happens, a new wave of memecoin millionaires could be created in a matter of weeks – or potentially even sooner.
The Solana memecoin craze continues amid larger memecoins, like Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogecoin (DOGE) and DogWifHat (WIF) trading sideways in recent weeks and losing momentum.
This is why many SHIB, DOGE and WIF investors are instead investing in new Solana memecoins, like NEWSHIBA.
Such memecoins have no utility and no inherent value, but investors looking for high gains have been investing in them due to their potential to rapidly rise in price.
New Year New Shiba could turn early investors into multi-millionaires, like other memecoins, such as Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE), did.
New Year New Shiba (NEWSHIBA), a Solana memecoin launched today, is set to surge over 14,000% in price in the coming days.
This is because NEWSHIBA is set to soon be listed on numerous crypto exchanges, according to reports.
This will give the Solana memecoin exposure to millions of additional investors, who will pour funds into the coin and cause its price to rally, which will benefit investors who buy before these new exchange listings.
Currently, New Year New Shiba can only be purchased via Solana decentralized exchanges, like Jup.ag and Raydium.io, and early investors stand to make huge returns in the coming days.
Early investors in SHIB and DOGE made astronomical returns, and New Year New Shiba could become the next viral memecoin.
New Year New Shiba launched with over $8,000 of liquidity, giving it a unique advantage over the majority of other new memecoins, and early investors could make huge gains.
How to Buy
To buy New Year New Shiba on Raydium.io or Jup.ag ahead of the CEX listings, users need to connect their Solflare, MetaMask or Phantom wallet, and swap Solana for New Year New Shiba by entering its contract address – 7DjEUoHG7Yr3LpaqNPcyc5DgNEYSLrnPV8zsjQBbAYfh – in the receiving field.
If you don’t have one of these wallets already, you can create a new wallet in a few minutes and transfer some Solana to it (which will then be used to buy the memecoin), from an exchange like Coinbase, Binance and many others.
Early investors could make returns similar to those who invested in Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) before these memecoins went viral and exploded in price.
If this happens, a new wave of memecoin millionaires could be created in a matter of weeks – or potentially even sooner.
The Solana memecoin craze continues amid larger memecoins, like Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogecoin (DOGE) and DogWifHat (WIF) trading sideways in recent weeks and losing momentum.
This is why many SHIB, DOGE and WIF investors are instead investing in new Solana memecoins, like NEWSHIBA.
Such memecoins have no utility and no inherent value, but investors looking for high gains have been investing in them due to their potential to rapidly rise in price.
Musk’s Tesla Fire could turn early investors into multi-millionaires, like Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) did.
Musk’s Tesla Fire (MUSKFIRE), a new Solana memecoin that was launched today, is set to explode over 19,000% in price in the coming days.
This is because MUSKFIRE is set to soon be listed on numerous crypto exchanges, according to reports.
This will give the Solana memecoin exposure to millions of additional investors, who will pour funds into the coin and drive its price up.
Currently, Musk’s Tesla Fire can only be purchased via Solana decentralized exchanges, like Jup.ag and Raydium.io, and early investors stand to make huge returns in the coming days.
Early investors in SHIB and DOGE made astronomical returns, and Musk’s Tesla Fire could become the next viral memecoin.
Musk’s Tesla Fire launched with over $9,000 of liquidity, giving it a unique advantage over the majority of other new memecoins, and early investors could make huge gains.
How to Buy
To buy Musk’s Tesla Fire on Raydium.io or Jup.ag ahead of the CEX listings, users need to connect their Solflare, MetaMask or Phantom wallet, and swap Solana for Musk’s Tesla Fire by entering its contract address – HuyxQUYCfoVCBpNoS1LxC1kbQuajYW9EqEcKoJqtdS1C – in the receiving field.
If you don’t have one of these wallets already, you can create a new wallet in a few minutes and transfer some Solana to it (which will then be used to buy the memecoin), from an exchange like Coinbase, Binance and many others.
In fact, early investors could make returns similar to those who invested in Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) before these memecoins went viral and exploded in price.
If this happens, a new wave of memecoin millionaires could be created in a matter of weeks – or potentially even sooner.
The Solana memecoin craze continues amid larger memecoins, like Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogecoin (DOGE) and DogWifHat (WIF) trading sideways in recent weeks and losing momentum.
This is why many SHIB, DOGE and WIF investors are instead investing in new Solana memecoins, like MUSKFIRE.
Such memecoins have no utility and no inherent value, but investors looking for high gains have been investing in them due to their potential to rapidly rise in price.
New Year New Shiba could turn early investors into multi-millionaires, like other memecoins, such as Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE), did.
New Year New Shiba (NEWSHIBA), a Solana memecoin launched today, is set to surge over 14,000% in price in the coming days.
This is because NEWSHIBA is set to soon be listed on numerous crypto exchanges, according to reports.
This will give the Solana memecoin exposure to millions of additional investors, who will pour funds into the coin and cause its price to rally, which will benefit investors who buy before these new exchange listings.
Currently, New Year New Shiba can only be purchased via Solana decentralized exchanges, like Jup.ag and Raydium.io, and early investors stand to make huge returns in the coming days.
Early investors in SHIB and DOGE made astronomical returns, and New Year New Shiba could become the next viral memecoin.
New Year New Shiba launched with over $8,000 of liquidity, giving it a unique advantage over the majority of other new memecoins, and early investors could make huge gains.
How to Buy
To buy New Year New Shiba on Raydium.io or Jup.ag ahead of the CEX listings, users need to connect their Solflare, MetaMask or Phantom wallet, and swap Solana for New Year New Shiba by entering its contract address – 7DjEUoHG7Yr3LpaqNPcyc5DgNEYSLrnPV8zsjQBbAYfh – in the receiving field.
If you don’t have one of these wallets already, you can create a new wallet in a few minutes and transfer some Solana to it (which will then be used to buy the memecoin), from an exchange like Coinbase, Binance and many others.
Early investors could make returns similar to those who invested in Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) before these memecoins went viral and exploded in price.
If this happens, a new wave of memecoin millionaires could be created in a matter of weeks – or potentially even sooner.
The Solana memecoin craze continues amid larger memecoins, like Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogecoin (DOGE) and DogWifHat (WIF) trading sideways in recent weeks and losing momentum.
This is why many SHIB, DOGE and WIF investors are instead investing in new Solana memecoins, like NEWSHIBA.
Such memecoins have no utility and no inherent value, but investors looking for high gains have been investing in them due to their potential to rapidly rise in price.
Musk’s Tesla Fire could turn early investors into multi-millionaires, like Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) did.
Musk’s Tesla Fire (MUSKFIRE), a new Solana memecoin that was launched today, is set to explode over 19,000% in price in the coming days.
This is because MUSKFIRE is set to soon be listed on numerous crypto exchanges, according to reports.
This will give the Solana memecoin exposure to millions of additional investors, who will pour funds into the coin and drive its price up.
Currently, Musk’s Tesla Fire can only be purchased via Solana decentralized exchanges, like Jup.ag and Raydium.io, and early investors stand to make huge returns in the coming days.
Early investors in SHIB and DOGE made astronomical returns, and Musk’s Tesla Fire could become the next viral memecoin.
Musk’s Tesla Fire launched with over $9,000 of liquidity, giving it a unique advantage over the majority of other new memecoins, and early investors could make huge gains.
How to Buy
To buy Musk’s Tesla Fire on Raydium.io or Jup.ag ahead of the CEX listings, users need to connect their Solflare, MetaMask or Phantom wallet, and swap Solana for Musk’s Tesla Fire by entering its contract address – HuyxQUYCfoVCBpNoS1LxC1kbQuajYW9EqEcKoJqtdS1C – in the receiving field.
If you don’t have one of these wallets already, you can create a new wallet in a few minutes and transfer some Solana to it (which will then be used to buy the memecoin), from an exchange like Coinbase, Binance and many others.
In fact, early investors could make returns similar to those who invested in Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) before these memecoins went viral and exploded in price.
If this happens, a new wave of memecoin millionaires could be created in a matter of weeks – or potentially even sooner.
The Solana memecoin craze continues amid larger memecoins, like Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogecoin (DOGE) and DogWifHat (WIF) trading sideways in recent weeks and losing momentum.
This is why many SHIB, DOGE and WIF investors are instead investing in new Solana memecoins, like MUSKFIRE.
Such memecoins have no utility and no inherent value, but investors looking for high gains have been investing in them due to their potential to rapidly rise in price.