- In the United States, the seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index (CPI) for November exceeded expectations, showing a year-on-year increase of 3.1%, meeting the anticipated 3.10%.
- On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced that it would maintain the federal funds interest rate target range at 5.25%-5.50%.
- According to Wall Street reports, the pace of inflation decline this year is much faster than officials predicted, with most expecting three interest rate cuts in 2024.
As the Bitcoin and crypto world concludes a challenging week, it steps into the third week of December with developments to watch!
Summary of Last Week’s Events
In November, the seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the U.S. showed a year-on-year increase of 3.1%, meeting expectations of 3.10%. This represents a decrease from the previous value of 3.20% in October and is the lowest level since June of this year. The adjusted core CPI for November remained unchanged from the previous month, in line with expectations, at an annual rate of 4%.
In November, the adjusted CPI increased by 0.1% on a monthly basis, surpassing the expected 0.00% and showing a slight increase from the previous month’s 0.00%. Meanwhile, the monthly rate of core CPI was 0.3%, the highest since September of this year, exceeding the expected 0.30% and surpassing the previous value of 0.20%.
The U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that it would keep the federal funds interest rate target range between 5.25% and 5.50%. However, it revised down the interest rate expectations for the end of 2024 from the previous projection of 5.1% to 4.6%. The Fed noted that tightening financial and credit conditions could affect economic activity, employment, and inflation, but the size of these effects is uncertain. The Fed’s three-month economic projections foresee core inflation falling to 3.2% in 2023 and 2.4% in 2024. The estimated real GDP growth rate for 2024 was revised down from 1.5% to 1.4%.
According to Wall Street reports, the pace of inflation decline this year is much faster than officials predicted, with most expecting three interest rate cuts in 2024. Federal Reserve Board Member Christopher Waller stated that if inflation performs better than expected, the central bank could theoretically start cutting interest rates in the spring.
Bitcoin Ordinals Added to the U.S. National Vulnerability Database
On December 9, the U.S. National Vulnerability Database (NVD) marked Bitcoin Ordinals as a cybersecurity risk, urging people to be cautious of this vulnerability. Being added to the NVD indicates the detection and confirmation of a specific cybersecurity vulnerability. The database is managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which is under the U.S. Department of Commerce. Earlier, Bitcoin Core developer Luke Dashjr mentioned that the vulnerability exploited by Ordinals in the Bitcoin Core client was associated with a specific vulnerability identifier, CVE-2023–50428.
CFTC Chairman States That Most Cryptocurrencies Are Considered Commodities
CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam stated that, according to existing laws, most cryptocurrencies are considered commodities. He also highlighted an ongoing “turf war” regarding who has the authority to regulate the crypto industry, particularly the question of whether it falls within the jurisdiction of the SEC or CFTC.
According to COINOTAG, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler commented on the approval process for a physically-backed Bitcoin ETF and the approval window in early January, saying, “We have 8 to 12 applications; I won’t prejudge anything. We’ve denied many in the past, but the D.C. Circuit Court has opined on this. So, we will bring a fresh perspective based on those court decisions.”
Tether Freezes Numerous Crypto Wallets Related to Sanctions
Stablecoin provider Tether froze 41 wallets associated with individuals on the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) specially designated nationals (SDN) list on December 9. Tether described these measures as “preventive measures” in a blog post. On-chain data indicates that several wallets have used the Tornado Cash privacy mixing service in the last six months. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino stated that by voluntarily freezing newly added and previously added wallet addresses on the SDN list, it would strengthen the responsible use of stablecoin technology and create a safer stablecoin ecosystem for all users.
On December 11, Tether froze an additional 161 Ethereum wallets, with 150 of them currently holding no USDT. The remaining 11 wallets hold over 3.5 million USDT in total, with one address having approximately 3.4 million USDT. Two other wallets hold around 20,000 USDT each, one nearly 60,000 USDT, and one wallet holds only 0.16 USDT.
SEC: Despite Binance’s Agreement with the Justice Department, Our Lawsuit Against Binance Should Continue
The SEC filed a lawsuit supporting Binance Holdings Ltd.’s recent $4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice and other U.S. authorities. The SEC argued that the federal court in Washington, evaluating Binance and former CEO CZ’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed on November 21, should consider the statements made by Binance and CZ in the settlement reached on November 21. Binance and CZ had requested the dismissal of the SEC’s lawsuit. The agreement with the U.S. government concluded investigations by the Department of Justice, Treasury Department, and CFTC that spanned several years but does not include the SEC.
IRS Demands FTX to Pay $24 Billion Tax Debt
In a new filing presented to the Delaware bankruptcy court, FTX’s lawyers argue that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) should explain how it assessed the tax debt claimed against FTX and how FTX calculated this debt. Despite FTX claiming to have no debts, the tax agency is demanding an amount that could reach up to $24 billion for the period from 2018 to 2022 concerning refunds, employment taxes, and penalties. This is not the final figure, as the tax agency continues its review. Initially, in April, the IRS made an initial claim of about $44 billion, reducing it to $43 billion in September and further reducing it to $24 billion in November.
Ledgerconnect Suite Attacked, Causing Significant Damage to Many DApps
On the evening of December 14, the Ledgerconnect suite was attacked, causing significant damage to a series of decentralized applications (DApps) such as SushiSwap, Zapper, Revoke.cash, Kyber Network, Balancer, and others. Operators of these DApps issued a statement avoiding or disabling their front-end interfaces.
The founder of SlowMist warned that one of Ledger’s modules was compromised through a supply chain attack, emphasizing the risk with the full extent of the impact being unknown. Many DApps may rely on the toxic library ledgerhq/connect-kit. Users are advised to exercise caution when interacting with any DApp, checking whether wallet signing requests align with expected information.
Ledger reported that it detected the malicious version and is effectively working to replace the damaged files of the Ledger Connect Kit. Users are recommended not to interact with any DApps temporarily. Ledger assures that user devices and Ledger Live are not compromised.
What to Expect Next Week?
The week of December 18-22 will not see the release of economic data that could critically impact global markets, but some economic indicators in the U.S. may create volatility in the markets and Bitcoin. Two key data points include the U.S. 3rd-quarter growth data and Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE). PCE is a data report that the Federal Reserve closely monitors as a measure of inflation. PCE holds significant importance for the Fed. These data points should be monitored.
In addition, some cryptocurrency projects have noteworthy updates. On December 18, the ICON project will launch its mainnet. On December 19, BakerySwap will launch its first BRC-20 launchpad project. On December 20, Polygon will make a significant announcement, and the Beta Finance project will launch the Omni network on the BNB Chain.
Important developments of next week! 🔥#Bitcoin #BTC $BTC #US #Crypto pic.twitter.com/VtJxvY168o
— COINOTAG NEWS (@coinotagen) December 17, 2023
