Strive, an asset management firm founded by Vivek Ramaswamy, is set to launch a groundbreaking Bitcoin Bond ETF, paving new avenues for retail investment. The ETF will focus on convertible
Microsoft is not asking for your permission to integrate its AI assistant Copilot into your life—it’s just doing it. The company recently forced Copilot onto Microsoft 365 users in Australia and parts of Southeast Asia. And as if the decision wasn’t irritating enough, they slapped a price hike on top of it. In these regions, Microsoft 365—known for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint—now includes Copilot whether customers want it or not. Users like Alistair Fleming, a YouTuber in Australia, are discovering that their monthly bills have surged. “It went from A$11 to A$16,” Fleming reportedly said, and all he got was a hyperactive AI assistant that wouldn’t leave him alone. “Every time I finished a line, its rainbow logo popped up, offering to ‘help.’ It’s annoying.” A desperate decision to profit from AI This aggressive rollout is all part of Microsoft’s plan to milk its massive investment in AI. Copilot, powered by OpenAI’s tech, is a key piece of CEO Satya Nadella’s strategy to expand the company’s software dominance. Earlier this year, Microsoft launched the premium consumer version of Copilot in the United States at $20 a month, on top of the standard $7 Microsoft 365 subscription. The company claimed it was a game-changing assistant, capable of generating emails, summarizing meetings, and creating entire PowerPoint presentations. But whether it’s worth the extra cash is a hotly debated question. Here’s the thing: people are not exactly lining up to use Copilot. Between May 2023 and mid-December, Copilot’s chatbot app was downloaded 37 million times, according to Sensor Tower. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s ChatGPT raked in a mind-blowing 433 million downloads in the same period. Microsoft might call this a “success,” but let’s not pretend Copilot is winning any popularity contests. For businesses, Copilot comes with an even heftier price tag—$30 per user. Corporate clients are Microsoft’s bread and butter, but the response to Copilot has been lukewarm at best. Many companies have doubts about its accuracy, data security, and whether it actually adds value. A Microsoft spokesperson refused to comment on how happy (or unhappy) corporate customers are, sticking to the usual “we meet global privacy standards” script. Microsoft wants to ditch OpenAI (sort of) While Copilot relies heavily on OpenAI’s technology, Microsoft is already working on alternatives. Reuters recently reported that Microsoft is building its own AI models, like Phi-4, and customizing open-weight models to power Copilot. The goal is to reduce costs and gain more control. This is a noticeable change from Microsoft’s earlier fanfare about its partnership with OpenAI. Back in March 2023, the company proudly announced Copilot’s reliance on OpenAI’s GPT-4. Now, Microsoft seems eager to tone down that reliance. It’s not cutting ties entirely though. OpenAI is negotiating to remove a clause from its agreement with Microsoft that limits the latter’s access to future artificial general intelligence (AGI) models. If this happens, Microsoft could maintain access to cutting-edge OpenAI tech without restrictions, even as it builds its own systems. Land a High-Paying Web3 Job in 90 Days: The Ultimate Roadmap
Wall Street’s so-called Santa Claus rally seems to have tripped over its own feet, while Bitcoin, the supposed king of volatility, is just sitting there like a lump, stuck at $95,000. Is this how we’re ending 2024? Flat stock performance, stagnant Bitcoin, and investors gnawing on their nails instead of celebrating a year-end windfall? The Dow barely scraped together a gain of 0.04%, the S&P 500 dipped by 0.02%, and the Nasdaq went completely nowhere. Treasury yields? Through the roof. The 10-year note hit its highest point since May, sitting at 4.58% before a late-day pullback. This surge in yields is a big problem for growth stocks, especially tech giants, which have propped up the market all year. Now, the “Magnificent Seven” are wobbling, and with them, the hopes of a December rally. Santa Claus rally hits a brick wall For those who don’t obsess over market quirks, the Santa Claus rally is a cute little phenomenon where stocks rally in the final trading days of the year, thanks to low liquidity, year-end bonuses, and tax-loss harvesting. It started to look promising earlier this week. Then reality smacked Wall Street upside the head. Mixed economic data, hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve, and geopolitical tensions quickly killed the buzz. The Fed is holding firm on its less-than-dovish outlook for 2025, with way fewer rate cuts than markets were hoping for. Higher yields are squeezing growth stocks, which is terrible news for a market dominated by mega-cap tech. The S&P 500’s top ten stocks now account for 40% of the index’s market cap, a level that blows past the peak of the Dot-Com bubble. If these giants stumble, the rest of the market doesn’t stand a chance. New U.S. jobless claims data added to the tension. Initial claims dropped slightly, which sounds great, but ongoing claims climbed to their highest levels since 2021. Translation: People are losing jobs, and they’re struggling to find new ones. Combine that with uncertainty surrounding President-elect Donald Trump’s policies, and you’ve got a sense of the market chaos. Bitcoin’s glory days feel like ancient history Meanwhile, Bitcoin is sitting there doing absolutely nothing. It’s been bouncing between $92,500 and $96,000 for days now, a far cry from its December peak of $108,268. As of press time, it’s down 3.6% on the day, trading at $95,693. That’s a drop of over $3,500 in 24 hours, and the market capitalization is down to $1.89 trillion. Trading volume isn’t exactly inspiring either, clocking in at about $39.59 billion. This isn’t just a Bitcoin problem. The entire crypto market feels sluggish. Analysts blame profit-taking after Bitcoin’s monster rally earlier this month, as well as tighter liquidity driven by the Fed’s hawkish cut. Still, there are glimmers of life. Institutional interest hasn’t dried up. MicroStrategy, always the Bitcoin cheerleader, added another $561 million worth of BTC to its stash. Bitcoin ETFs are still pulling in cash, with weekly inflows topping $300 million even in this downturn. But for the average trader, this kind of stagnation is painful. The Fear & Greed Index, which measures investor sentiment, is sitting at 54—smack in the middle of neutral territory. Will the Santa Claus rally make a last-minute comeback? Can Bitcoin escape its $95,000 prison? Or are we staring at the start of a rough 2025? No one knows. From Zero to Web3 Pro: Your 90-Day Career Launch Plan
SBI VC Trade, a crypto-focused subsidiary of Japan’s financial giant SBI Holdings, is set to inherit the accounts and assets of beleaguered crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin. The transfer will take place on March 8, 2025, marking the culmination of DMM Bitcoin’s liquidation process after a devastating $305 million hack in May 2024. Liquidation and Transfer Process In a December 25 notice , SBI VC indicated that customer accounts would be ready by the transfer date, and they would not have to register afresh but would instead be transitioned automatically by the company. Both fiat and cryptocurrency held by former DMM users will be transferred to SBI, with the company inheriting reports of all transactions conducted on the fallen exchange. The Tokyo-based firm initially offered 24 virtual assets for trade on its platform, but its acquisition of DMM Bitcoin will add an extra 14 cryptocurrencies to its books, including Tron (TRX), The Sandbox (SAND), Algorand (ALGO), and Maker (MKR). Additionally, as part of the deal, SBI will take over all leveraged trading pairs previously offered by DMM except those it already provides. The company also clarified that it would not transfer any open positions in leveraged trading. Per the notice, staking stocks will be automatically triggered, with customers that held Ethereum (ETH), Avalanche (AVAX), Oasys (OAS), Flare (FLR), and Hedera (HBAR) on DMM eligible for staking on SBI. They are expected to receive their first staking reward in April 2025 if they continue holding the assets. Hacking Fallout DMM Bitcoin announced its decision to stop operations after months of recovery efforts from a multi-million dollar attack at the end of May failed. The platform lost more than 4,500 BTC, valued at around $305 million, in what is Japan’s second-largest crypto breach after another exchange, Coincheck, lost $523 million worth of NEM tokens in a 2018 incident. The DMM hack is suspected to have been carried out by threat actors linked to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), known as TradeTraitor. In July, investigators revealed that over $35 million stolen from the exchange had been laundered via the infamous Cambodian online marketplace Huione Guarantee. At the time, pseudonymous on-chain detective ZachXBT likened the laundering techniques to those used by another DPRK-linked outfit, the notorious Lazarus Group. Soon after it was exploited, DMM immediately pledged to make affected customers whole. However, even after borrowing 50 million yen to reimburse users, the damage to its operations proved too great, leading to the decision to transfer all assets to SBI VC Trade. The firm confirmed the acquisition in a December 2 announcement, insisting that it would work to ensure a smooth transition for clients. The post SBI VC Trade Completes Acquisition of Hacked Crypto Exchange DMM Bitcoin Assets appeared first on CryptoPotato .
KULR Technology Group, Inc., an NYSE-listed company, has taken a shift in its treasury management by investing $21 million in Bitcoin by buying 217.18 BTC at an average price of $96,556.53. The purchase is the start of a strategy to put up to 90% of the company’s surplus cash into cryptocurrency, as pioneered by industry leaders like MicroStrategy, and also it represents a larger corporate trend toward embracing digital assets. KULR’s Bitcoin treasury plan According to an announcement on Thursday, the coins were purchased at an average price of $96,556.53 per BTC. This is only the beginning of many more purchases since KULR plans to invest up to 90% of its available cash into Bitcoin. KULR has selected Coinbase Prime to provide custody solutions and self-custodial wallet services for its crypto assets. Following the announcement of the Bitcoin strategic reserve, the KULR stock value increased by 40%. KULR Technology Group is led by its CEO, Michael Mo, who discussed in an interview that he took inspiration from the way MicroStrategy approaches Bitcoin. Mo said , “ He calls BTC digital energy, which really resonated with our mission because we are an energy management company for batteries and space applications are our core.” The link between KULR’s core business and Bitcoin’s fundamental technology is a strategic alignment in their investment strategy. To confirm the support of shareholders for the initiative, KULR undertook a survey to assess the endorsement of this novel financial approach. The feedback was predominantly favorable. Cryptocurrency as corporate cash Mo continued, “We received an overwhelming ‘Yes.’ Here we are buying our first block of BTC and entering into the future of money.” Additionally, he expressed his strong belief in Bitcoin, asserting, “We believe that BTC is the future of money.” KULR now adds to the growing list of companies embracing BTC as part of there treasury reserve. On December 23, a Canada-based company, Matador Technologies, announced it will top up its balance sheet with $4.5 million in Bitcoin, as part of a long-term strategy for capital preservation. Quantum BioPharma, a biopharmaceutical company, also joined the trend by investing $1 million in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on December 20. In Japan, Metaplanet recently bought its largest Bitcoin to date, acquiring nearly 620 BTC. The phenomenon of corporate acquisition of Bitcoin was first brought into the limelight by MicroStrategy, which initiated its investments in Bitcoin back in 2020. Currently holding over 444,000 BTC, MicroStrategy is looking to increase its cryptocurrency holdings, aiming to buy more Bitcoins worth $42 billion more in the near future, pending the approval of shareholders. KULR’s Chief Executive Officer expects a future in which the integration of high-tech technologies creates a new corporate structure. He outlined this vision: “ We envision that the future of a dynamic corporation is based on three pillars: super intelligence through AI, an automated workforce through robotics, and the future of money through BTC, he added. “I believe the whole industry is still at the very early stage of figuring out how to tie them together,” suggesting that KULR’s Bitcoin strategy is part of a broader, long-term vision for corporate evolution. A Step-By-Step System To Launching Your Web3 Career and Landing High-Paying Crypto Jobs in 90 Days.
South Korea has seen a significant surge in cryptocurrency adoption, with the number of users jumping by 610,000 in November to reach 15.59 million. Trump Victory Sparks Renewed Interest in Crypto The number of cryptocurrency users in South Korea jumped by 610,000 in November, reaching 15.59 million by month’s end, according to data from the
StakeStone, an omnichain liquidity protocol, launched an incentivized Berachain vault built with Royco on Dec 25, and over $130 million has poured in since. The vault is one of two incentivized pre-deposit vaults launched as a part of Berachain’s “69 hours of Beramas” initiative. Depositors are set to earn rewards such as airdrops and staking incentives from StakeStone and Berachain, plus Berachain ecosystem project rewards from Boyco, which is Royco’s Berachain implementation, KodiakFi and Dolomite . In addition to the StakeStone vault, Beramas also includes a vault through Lombard and its Bitcoin-specific vault . The StakeStone vault has attracted more than double the deposits of Lombard’s, which holds $62 million. To continue reading this as well as other DeFi and Web3 news, visit us at thedefiant.io
Dogecoin (DOGE) faces a challenging outlook as technical indicators suggest a potential decline, attracting the attention of traders across the crypto market. The current market dynamics, primarily influenced by bearish
Shiba Inu experiences significant price drops due to market conditions. Experts remain optimistic about SHIB's potential for recovery and growth. Continue Reading: Shiba Inu Maintains Optimism Despite Market Setbacks The post Shiba Inu Maintains Optimism Despite Market Setbacks appeared first on COINTURK NEWS .
Coinbase International reported a dramatic increase in trading volume driven by the popularity of perpetual contract offerings. The exchange has announced the top five perpetual contract pairs by average daily trading volume (ADV) for 2024 (as of December 13, 2024): SUI-PERP, NEAR-PERP, 1000PEPE-PERP, 1000SATS-PERP, and WIF-PERP. Coinbase International’s total trading volume reached $119 billion last week, averaging nearly $20 billion per day. This represents a significant 124% increase in total weekly volume and 164% increase in average daily volume compared to the previous week. The growth is even more striking when compared to the $2.5 billion daily average in November, reflecting significant momentum in trading activity. The exchange has seen its average daily volume rise to nearly $10 billion so far in December. Related News: Are We in a Bull Market in Bitcoin, or Is It All a Bubble? Analysis Company Founder Shares Several strategic initiatives undertaken by Coinbase International in recent months have contributed to this remarkable growth. These include: European Expansion: Coinbase has entered a significant new market by proactively aligning its operations with the European Union’s Markets for Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. Australian Expansion: Coinbase has increased its presence in Australia, most notably through its sponsorship of the Melbourne Marathon. Increased Leverage: The platform has doubled its maximum leverage offering from 10x to 20x, attracting investors looking for higher potential returns. Spot Market Launch: The launch of spot markets in late 2023 has diversified the exchange’s offerings and allowed it to appeal to a wider range of investors. *This is not investment advice. Continue Reading: Coinbase Reveals 5 Altcoins with the Highest Trading Volume in Futures