News Updates January 04, 2023
1. Top 25 BONK holders own over 50% of supply, no sign of Whitepaper
Solana-based memecoin BONK airdropped over 50% of its total supply across 25 holders out of roughly 98,000 holders of the coin — the project has yet to release an official whitepaper.
Solana-based memecoin “BONK” — which has gained rapid media attention — airdropped over 50% of total supply to the top 25 holders.
As of press time, there were roughly 98,000 BONK holders, which — when compared to the top 24 holders — equates to a ratio of 4083:1.
BONK is up 380% since the start of the new year. However, the project has yet to post an official link to its Whitepaper. As of press time, the mentioned “BONK Paper” was also inaccessible.
Self-proclaimed as “the first Solana Dog Coin for the people by the people,” BONK airdropped approximately 52 trillion tokens out of a total supply of 99.18 trillion across 24 of the top 25 addresses.
Roughly 20 trillion tokens of the 52 trillion were airdropped to 20 accounts on Dec. 16, 2022, while 15 trillion were sent to BONK DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) on Dec. 28, 2022.
The remaining 9 trillion tokens were airdropped to an address on Jan. 3.
BONK was listed on Huobi on Jan. 3, and on Gate.io on Jan. 4.
2. Solana Savior BONK Burns 500 Billion Coins As Price Continues To Surge
Solana meme cryptocurrency BONK completed burn of 500 billion coins of its supply today as its price continues to surge.
The hot meme coin on Solana – BONK- is up over 2000% since its all-time low five days ago. The meme coin that helped boost Solana price last week, announced that it has burned five billion coins, maintaining its hype in the market.
Bonk Burns Half Trillion Supply
According to its official Twitter handle, Bonk has burned off nearly half a trillion of its entire token supply worth $1.2 million at its current price. The token is bulldozing through other coins in terms of market capitalization as well. Though currently ranked nearly around 2500, the coin has recorded double digits gains almost every day in the last five days. Solana’s native token SOL found itself in deep trouble after top NFT projects, DeGods and y00ts, announced to migrate to Polygon and Ethereum, causing panic and doubt over its reputation.
Solana Dog Coin Could Soon See A Massive Sell Off
The token that is currently being hyped out of proportion in the market is not completely risk free. Dune Dashboard shows that the top 20 holders of BONK account for about 50% of the total coins’ supply, which should raise an alarm among its retail investors. Earlier, Justin Sun also announced in a Tweet that his crypto exchange Huobi is going to list the memecoin. Bybit also announced to list the cryptocurrency, giving it more legitimacy and providing more exposure to this obscure memecoin. At the time of writing, BONK is up over 90% in the last 24 hrs trading at $0.000002124.
Another Top Exchange Lists Solana’s BONK, Dries Up SHIB And DOGE Volume
Crypto exchange Bybit suddenly listed Solana's meme token BONK amid massive hype and demand from the crypto community.
3. Dubai and the favorable approach to crypto: Bitcoin, NFTs and the Metaverse.
Over the past year, Dubai, and the UAE in general, have definitely developed a proactive and strategic approach to crypto. Indeed, the sale of Bitcoin in Dubai has recently become an instant operation that SBID provides to clients.
In addition, the UAE has moved steadily to create a regulatory environment and attract global investors. Launching, among others, the Dubai Metaverse Strategy.
In addition, the number of new business licenses issued in Dubai reached nearly 25,000 in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of nearly 60% compared to 2021. All of this, according to the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, was made possible by the strong fundamentals, resilience, and sustainability of Dubai’s economy.
The most prestigious crypto for sale in Dubai: Bitcoin
As anticipated above, the sale of Bitcoin in Dubai is now an instant operation that SBID provides to customers. Customers can sell Bitcoin in Dubai within seconds in the office in the Business Bay.
Dubai, over the past year in particular, has established itself as a hub for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in the Gulf region. The city government has actively encouraged the adoption of these technologies and implemented various initiatives to support their growth.
As a result of the efforts, Dubai has attracted a number of cryptocurrency and blockchain companies to the city, making it a key player in the global cryptocurrency market. The above-mentioned SBID provides crypto solutions in Dubai and contributes to cryptocurrency adoption by allowing people to sell Bitcoin.
Selling Bitcoin in Dubai is a simple process and can be done easily on SBID. It is important to note that buying and selling Bitcoin, as well as other cryptocurrencies, is not illegal in Dubai. However, there is an additional innovation: SBID makes the process easier and visitors can now go to the office and easily sell BTC for cash within minutes.
In addition, SBID also allows tourists to sell Bitcoin in the office. Tourists can: sell BTC for cash in Dubai in different fiat currencies, exchange them for AED (dirham), US dollars, EURO and other fiat currencies.
SBID’s goal is to remove unnecessary obstacles to selling BTC in Dubai and help people get a better cryptocurrency experience. In its Dubai office, SBID offers more than 1,000 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and stablecoins such as USDT (Tether).
NFT trading and the Dubai Metaverse Strategy
In March, Dubai established a legal framework for cryptocurrencies aimed at protecting investors and designing guaranteed international standards for industry governance. A new Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) was granted enforcement powers in the emirate’s special development and free zones, with the exception of the Dubai International Financial Centre. Cryptocurrency exchange FTX, now bankrupt, was among the first to obtain the same license.
Another emirate, Abu Dhabi, submitted draft recommendations for NFT trading. Specifically, these labeled NFTs as intellectual property rather than specific investments or financial instruments and allowed multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) and Virtual Asset Custodians (VACs) to operate NFT markets.
4. Indian Government Launching Crypto Awareness Campaign.
The government of India is launching a crypto awareness campaign that will educate investors about the legality of cryptocurrencies in the country while highlighting the risks of investing in crypto assets.
Indian Government’s Cryptocurrency Awareness Campaign
The Indian government is reportedly launching a first-of-its-kind crypto awareness campaign. It will be conducted by the Investor Protection and Education Fund Authority, a government body controlled by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
A government official was quoted by ET as saying:
The campaign will highlight that cryptocurrencies are not legal in India and there are also deep risks involved in such assets. Any investment where the people are being promised lucrative and assured returns, there is an element of high risk.
The government of India has been working on a crypto policy since 2019 but nothing has been finalized. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government plans to discuss crypto regulations with the G20 members.
The Indian central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has long recommended a complete ban on all cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether, warning of their potential to destabilize the country’s monetary and fiscal stability. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das recently said the next financial crisis will come from cryptocurrencies if they are not prohibited. However, Sitharaman said both banning and regulating require international collaboration to be effective.
Rajagopal Menon, vice president at Indian crypto exchange Wazirx, told The Hindu:
Cryptocurrency investing can be a complex and risky endeavor as the category is extremely volatile and works round the clock. It is important for potential investors to thoroughly educate themselves before making any decision.
However, some are concerned that the Indian government’s crypto campaign may paint cryptocurrencies in poor light, given that the Investor Protection and Education Fund Authority has conducted awareness campaigns on Ponzi schemes, chit funds, and dubious crowdfunding projects.
Vipul Kharbanda, a non-resident fellow at the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), was quoted as saying:
If the government takes a heavy-handed approach and starts saying things like virtual currency is not legal in India, that will not be entirely true. People may presume incorrectly that it is illegal.
Both the Indian government and the central bank have said that cryptocurrency is not illegal in India.
Despite having no regulatory framework for cryptocurrency, the Indian government is taxing crypto income at 30% and has imposed a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) on crypto transactions.
5. Israel’s Securities Watchdog Moves to Better Supervise Crypto Assets
The Israel Securities Authority proposed new legal definitions for digital assets that would formally establish their government supervision – most frequently as securities.
The Israel Securities Authority (ISA) is moving to establish a new legal structure for digital assets that puts them largely under the authority’s umbrella, which could provide the industry with greater clarity.
The amendments to the country’s laws would squeeze “digital assets” into existing securities regulations, according to the proposal, potentially treating most crypto as financial investments supervised by the ISA. The changes would define the assets as digital representations of value that are used for financial investment and that can be transferred using a distributed ledger, and digital assets would be added under the existing category of “financial instruments” in Israeli securities law.
This effort is meant to protect investors while also allowing for the unique advantages of cryptocurrency, the agency said. Though existing securities laws can already regulate some digital assets activity, according to the ISA, the regulations can be difficult to apply as currently written.
The authority’s proposal is open for public comment until Feb. 12, and it suggests a six-month period before it would go into full effect after approval. The ISA has also sought to keep in mind that the regulations must be flexible to adapt to changes in the technology behind digital assets.
Anat Guetta, chairwoman of the ISA, has made it clear that she – taking cues from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler – didn’t see much distinction between cryptocurrencies and securities. “We have to wake up and understand that there is no real difference between crypto and securities and we have to unify the definitions in order to protect consumers and investors, and to make this industry legitimate,” she said in an interview with CoinDesk last year.
