Category: Bitcoin News

FSC Chair Defends Proposed Crypto Exchange Ownership Caps in South Korea

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South Korea’s top financial regulator said crypto exchanges should face ownership limits similar to those applied to securities markets, signaling a harder public stance on governance reforms under the country’s proposed Digital Asset Basic Act. According to a report by The Korea Times, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chair Lee Eog-weon said licensed crypto exchanges should no longer be treated as ordinary private companies but as entities with public-infrastructure characteristics.  Lee’s comments come as the FSC reviews a proposal to cap major shareholders’ stakes in crypto exchanges at around 15%…

Wallet Tied to Alleged US Crypto Theft Launches Memecoin

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A cryptocurrency wallet linked by blockchain investigators to an alleged theft of US government-controlled crypto holdings launched a Solana-based memecoin that later collapsed, renewing scrutiny of memecoin launch practices and onchain token distribution risks. The token, called John Daghita (LICK), was created on the Pump.fun launchpad and lost about 97% of its value within its first day of trading, according to onchain data. The token briefly reached a market capitalization of about $915,000 before falling below $25,000 by the time of writing. Leading up to the rally, the token deployer…

OKX Launches Crypto Card In Europe For Stablecoin Payments

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Cryptocurrency exchange OKX is rolling out a payment card in Europe, allowing users to spend stablecoins at merchants accepting Mastercard. The OKX Card is issued through the company’s Electronic Money Institution (EMI) partner, Monavate, OKX said Wednesday in an announcement shared with Cointelegraph. At launch, the card supports spending in stablecoins including Circle’s USDC (USDC) and the Paxos-issued Global Dollar (USDG). The move comes as crypto companies seek to expand the use of stablecoins for everyday payments under Europe’s evolving crypto regulatory framework. “With OKX Card, we’re making it simple…

UK Bans Coinbase Ads For Trivializing Crypto Risks: Report

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The UK’s advertising watchdog has reportedly banned a series of advertisements from Coinbase, claiming they presented the crypto exchange as a solution to cost-of-living concerns while making light of the risks of investing in crypto. The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the ads — which included a satirical musical-style video and three posters — were “irresponsible” and “trivialized the risks of cryptocurrency,” The Guardian reported on Wednesday. “We considered that using humour to reference serious financial concerns, alongside a cue to ‘change,’ risked presenting complex, high-risk financial products as…

Coinbase Inches Closer Toward Launching Custom Stablecoins

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Coinbase is testing Flipcash’s in-development stablecoin, USDF, on its backend as part of a new feature that will allow businesses to create their own branded, dollar-backed tokens. The “Coinbase Custom Stablecoins” feature, introduced in December, will let businesses earn rewards on activity and allow them to move funds seamlessly between Coinbase-supported chains, with the tokens to be collateralized by Circle’s USDC (USDC). “A new Coinbase Custom Stablecoin, USDF, has been enabled on Coinbase Exchange for operational testing,” Coinbase posted to X on Tuesday, adding:  “This is a backend test phase…

Steak ‘N Shake Adds $5M To Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

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US fast-food restaurant chain Steak ’n Shake has added $5 million worth of Bitcoin to its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve as part of a pledge to funnel all sales made in Bitcoin straight into the fund. The move takes the company’s total Bitcoin (BTC) holdings to $15 million, equivalent to roughly 167.7 BTC at the time of publication, following a $10 million increase announced on Jan. 18. However, it is not clear exactly how much Bitcoin it holds, nor whether the amount reflects price appreciation, customer payments, or additional treasury purchases.…

Ethereum AI Agent Standard ERC-8004 Launches This Week

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An Ethereum smart contract standard enabling trustless artificial intelligence agent communication on the network is “probably” going to be deployed on mainnet on Thursday, according to Marco De Rossi, head of AI at MetaMask. Further development of ERC-8004 has been “frozen […] and we will go to mainnet midweek, probably around Thursday, 9 AM ET,” said De Rossi on a Telegram channel for developers of the protocol on Monday.  On Tuesday, the official Ethereum X account said the protocol is going live on mainnet “soon.”  “By enabling discovery and portable…

4 in 10 US Merchants Now Accept Crypto: PayPal

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Almost four in ten US merchants now accept cryptocurrency at checkout as customers have shown increasing interest in crypto for payments, according to a recent survey report from PayPal. Nearly nine in ten US merchants stated that they’ve received customer inquiries about crypto payments, PayPal reported on Tuesday, citing data from a National Cryptocurrency Association survey. The survey was conducted in October, with 619 payment-strategy decision-makers across several industries taking part.  “What we’re seeing both in this data and in conversations with our customers is that crypto payments are moving…

Crypto Must Be Indispensable if Bill Fails to Pass: Bitwise

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The crypto industry will need to become ingrained in everyday life in the US should Congress fail to pass a crypto market structure bill, or risk being set back by a change in administration, says Bitwise investment chief Matt Hougan. Hougan said in a note on Monday that legislation making its way through the Senate to clarify how regulators police crypto “would cement the current pro-crypto regulatory environment into law.” If the bill fails, Hougan said a future administration “could reverse today’s pro-crypto push,” and the industry will have three…

AI Data Centers Face Local Pushback Seen in Bitcoin Mining

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For years, Bitcoin miners expanding across the United States learned that access to cheap power and industrial land did not guarantee community acceptance. Now, as AI hyperscalers and developers race to build power-dense data centers, they are encountering similar local resistance over electricity demand, infrastructure costs and long-term environmental impact, according to the latest Miner Mag newsletter. The parallels are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Bitcoin mining projects often promised job creation and a stronger local tax base, but those benefits did not always materialize, fueling opposition in several regions. …