North Korean hackers have stolen nearly $3 billion in cryptocurrency since 2017.

Cryptosecurity platform Recorded Future reported that over the past 6 years, North Korean hackers have stolen more cryptocurrency than the entire country earns from exports in a year.

According to them, the hackers are clearly repeating the actions of “advanced cybercriminals”, using government resources to expand their activities. Analysts say that about 44% of the cryptocurrency stolen in 2022 can be found in North Korea.

 

Bitcoin has overtaken Tesla and Berkshire Hathaway in terms of capitalization.

Since mid-October, the first cryptocurrency has been growing on expectations of potential approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF by the SEC.

On December 3, the capitalization of Bitcoin (BTC) grew by more than 11%, to $816.2 billion, which is more than that of Elon Musk’s Tesla and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway fund, according to the Companiesmarketcap service.

On the morning of December 4, the Bitcoin rate surpassed $41 thousand and immediately reached $41,700, updating the previously set annual maximum. The last time Bitcoin traded above $40,000 was in April 2022. According to Coinmarketcap, as of 12:30 Moscow time, the cost of the first cryptocurrency is approximately $41,700.

 

Blur accounted for almost 80% of the trading volume in the NFT market.

NFT marketplace Blur accounts for almost 80% of the trading volume in the NFT market, while OpenSea's share has dropped to about 17%. The Block reports this.

In November 2023, total NFT trading volume was $605.65 million, an almost 100% increase from October. The Blur platform accounted for $414.94 million, while Opensea accounted for $140.51 million.

 

BlackRock and Bitwise have updated their applications to launch a Bitcoin ETF.

BlackRock and Bitwise have updated their previously submitted filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF.

Bloomberg analyst James Seyffarth said the firms made the changes after hours of negotiations and instructions from the SEC.

In his opinion, the spot Bitcoin ETF will eventually be approved, and the update of the corresponding applications is a sign of this event.

 

The largest bank in Brazil has opened the possibility of trading Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The Brazilian bank Itau Unibanco has launched a cryptocurrency trading service for clients, reports Reuters.

Initially, the financial institution will allow transactions with Bitcoin and Ethereum. Over time, the company will expand the list of supported coins.

“It all starts with Bitcoin, but our overarching strategic plan is to expand it to other crypto assets in the future,” said bank spokesman Guto Antunes.

 

On December 6, the Dogecoin cryptocurrency turned ten years old.

In ten years, the coin has become the most popular memcoin in the cryptocurrency industry, and also entered the top ten largest digital assets by capitalization.

On December 6, the largest meme cryptocurrency (memcoin) by capitalization, Dogecoin (DOGE), celebrates its tenth anniversary. According to Coinmarketcap, the cryptocurrency has a capitalization of $14.2 billion and is in ninth place by this indicator.

 

The US court accepted CZ's admission of violating federal law.

US Federal Judge Richard Jones accepted a guilty plea for violating the Bank Secrecy Act by the founder of the Binance crypto exchange, Changpeng Zhao (CZ).

Additionally, on November 27, the court ruled that the former Binance CEO must remain in the United States until sentencing on February 23, 2024. The report said Zhao faces a maximum prison term of 18 months.

 

USDT capitalization reached $90 billion for the first time.

On December 7, 2023, the capitalization of the USDT stablecoin exceeded $90 billion for the first time, according to CoinGecko. The asset's market share reached 70%.

At its peak, the figure was $90.2 billion. Then it fell back to $90.07 billion.

If we look at the chart for 2023, we can easily see the rapid growth in the capitalization of the asset since mid-October 2023.

At the same time, over the same period, the capitalization of USDC, the closest competitor of USDT, decreased from $25.59 billion to $23.34 billion at the time of writing.