News

Bitcoin Climbs from December Low Just in Time for the New Year

Bitcoin has been experiencing quite a wild ride this past week. On December 30th, its price dipped down to $91,000—the lowest it reached all month. However, it quickly bounced back and is now sitting around $97,000. What will Q1 hold for bitcoin?

Terraform Labs Co-Founder Pleads Not Guilty to Major US Fraud Charges

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon pleaded not guilty to nine US fraud charges related to the $40 billion collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin in 2022.

Earlier this week, Kwon was extradited from Montenegro, where he was arrested for using a fake passport, and he is also facing fraud prosecution in his native South Korea. US prosecutors accuse Kwon of deceiving investors about the Terra blockchain’s technology and its user adoption.

While Kwon was in Montenegro, Terraform were found liable in a New York SEC civil fraud suit, resulting in Terraform agreeing to a $4.47 billion settlement before filing for bankruptcy.

IRS Delays New Crypto Reporting Rules to 2026

The IRS has pushed back the new cryptocurrency cost-basis reporting rules to early 2026, giving brokers more time to get everything set up.

This delay helps ensure that people selling assets on centralized exchanges using the default First-in, First-out (FIFO) method aren’t left stranded while exchanges work on supporting other accounting options.

U.S. Bitcoin Mining Pools Take the Lead in 2024, Surpassing Asian Pools

Bitcoin mining in North America underwent a significant transformation in 2024 as U.S. based pools like Foundry USA and MARA Pool saw substantial increases in their hashrates.

By December, these two pools collectively mined 38.5% of all bitcoin blocks, a rise from 32.4% earlier in the year and a notable jump from 18% in January 2022.

This growth not only solidified the United States' leading position in bitcoin mining following China's 2021 mining ban but also highlighted the shift as smaller U.S. pools and the reallocation of hashrate from international sources contributed to the dominance. Additionally, Foundry and MARA Pool achieved impressive annual growth rates of 68% and 168%, respectively, outpacing the overall network's 49% increase.

This consolidation of mining power in the U.S. marks a departure from previous concerns over Chinese dominance and raises questions about future media attention on the centralization of mining within the United States.