In spite of the continuous efforts by the government of El Salvador to promote widespread cryptocurrency adoption within the nation, a recent CoinGecko report highlights the limited number of crypto owners in the country.

Published on December 7, the report reiterates that El Salvador stands alone as the only country in the world actively using crypto as legal tender. However, a relatively small percentage of its population currently hold Bitcoin (BTC): 

“Despite these progressive measures, Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador remains relatively low.”

According to data from Triple A, approximately 109,175 people own Bitcoin in El Salvador’s population which consists of 6.36 million. This…

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The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently met with Fidelity to seek additional clarity on its spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) application.

According to a filing published on December 7, two Cboe BZX Exchange representatives, along with six personnel from the SEC and nine individuals from Fidelity, discussed the workings of the Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust in the meeting.

“The discussion concerned Cboe BZX’s proposed rule change to list and trade shares of the Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust under Cboe BZX Rule 14.11(e)(4). Fidelity also provided the attached presentation.”

The filing incorporated PowerPoint slides used during the meeting to illustrate…

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Cryptos extended their rally Friday as stocks traded sideways. Analysts say the bull run for bitcoin is beginning. 

Bitcoin was back in the green Friday after a slight dip Thursday. The largest crypto was trading around $43,700 at time of publication after briefly surpassing $44,000 yet again. 

Ether was trading mostly flat Friday, but maintained its monthly gains of nearly 25% over the past 30 days. As 2023 comes to a close, ether is up around 95% year-to-date. 

Equities posted mild gains, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite indexes gaining around 0.2% each midway through the trading session Friday. 

With bitcoin’s next halving slated for April 2024, coinciding with a potential…

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Adam Moskowitz, who has been the lead attorney in a number of civil cases involving crypto firms, filed a motion to take a deposition from former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.

In a Dec. 8 filing in United States District Court for the Southern District of Flordia Miami Division, Moskowitz said Zhao’s testimony would be “crucial to the claims and defenses of all parties” involved. The law firm filed the motion as part of a $1 billion lawsuit against Zhao, Binance, and crypto influencers, which a court ordered stayed in August.

Moskowitz and his firm have represented several clients in cases against high-profile crypto firms and related entities. He was counsel for many victims…

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Made some money off of Jito’s airdrop Thursday? If you’re a US taxpayer, you’d better report it to the IRS, experts say.

Jito, a staking project built on Solana, released its JTO token via an airdrop at 11 am ET Thursday. The claim window for those eligible is 18 months. 

By 11:45 am ET Thursday, around 30% of the airdrop had been claimed. Of the top 15 wallets who had claimed the most JTO in the airdrop, only three had sold any as of Friday morning, according to a Flipside Crypto dashboard. 

While holders took to X, formerly Twitter, to discuss their profits, tax experts advise airdrop recipients, at least those in the US, to be aware of their obligations. 

Read more: What to…

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An ETF issuer is prepping a new way for investors to get exposure to the stock price of the largest publicly traded holder of bitcoin. 

MicroStrategy, founded by bitcoin proponent Michael Saylor, currently holds 174,530 bitcoins. The company most recently revealed buying 16,130 BTC between Nov. 1 and Nov. 29. 

Fund group YieldMax seeks to generate monthly income by selling and writing call options on single company stocks. The firm first proposed the YieldMax MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF (MSTY) earlier this year. It already has similar funds focused on Tesla, Coinbase, Amazon, Google and others.

“Because they are such volatile stocks, writing call options on TSLA and COIN…

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Web3 protocol Blast has reached $823 million in total value locked (TVL) just weeks after its controversial launch in mid-November, with a 26.5% gain over the past seven days, according to data from DefiLlama. 

Behind Blast’s speedy growth is its unique business model. The protocol is a scaling solution for the Ethereum network and offers native yields to users who stake their funds. Users staking are promised a 4% yield on Ether (ETH) and a 5% yield on stablecoins.

However, the protocol’s emergence has been marked by challenges and unpopular developments. On Nov. 30, Blast revealed that a user staking on the protocol saw $100,000 disappear after converting a deposit to DAI (DAI)….

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Raging crypto prices might have you gripped by fear of missing out. But no matter the frustration you’re feeling, Sam Bankman-Fried likely has it much worse.

The disgraced FTX founder has been holed up in the infamous Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center since he was found guilty of a mess of fraud charges last month — the same jail currently housing R. Kelly, Fetty Wap and the New York City subway attacker.

No doubt Bankman-Fried found trading crypto difficult since FTX went bust. Bail conditions meant he’d only have access to a flip phone that couldn’t connect to the internet and a laptop with limited functionality.

Before his $250 million bail was revoked in August due to…

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This week Bitcoin (BTC) price saw a shallow pullback, but the intra-day rally to the $44,000 level is an indication that the bulls are not hurrying to close their positions. Data from the popular HODL Waves metric shows that investors who purchased Bitcoin between December 2020 and December 2021 have been sitting on their coins.

Investors have not been selling into strength because they anticipate higher levels in the future. Asset manager VanEck said in its crypto predictions for 2024 that Bitcoin would make a new all-time high, buoyed by the “political events and regulatory shifts following a U.S. presidential election.”

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source:…

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The US Securities and Exchange Commission has not yet approved an ETF that would hold bitcoin directly, though some expect that to soon change. 

The regulator is set to rule on a proposal by Ark Invest and 21Shares — and potentially similar filings by a dozen others — by Jan. 10. 

Bloomberg Intelligence analysts have said they believe the chance of spot bitcoin ETF approval by that date is about 90% — an estimate former SEC executive John Reed Stark recently called “absolutely absurd.”

The issuers hoping to launch these products range from the largest asset manager in the world, to smaller, more specialized firms. A Switzerland-based fund group threw its hat in the ring last…

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