Coindesk

Another jurisdiction has Polymarket in its crosshairs. Over the weekend, Singapore's Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) ordered local internet service providers to block access to the prediction market platform, according to reports from users in the city-state."You have attempted to access an illegal gambling site hosted by an unlicensed gambling service provider," the announcement reads, warning that those found guilty of gambling with unlicensed service providers are liable for a fine of up to SGD 10,000 ($7200) or a jail sentence of up to 6 months.The GRA has yet to make a public announcement on the issue, nor have they launched an enforcement action against Polymarket according to a public directory.Taiwan was the first jurisdiction to actively block its nationals from...

The market for alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) may see an extra dose of volatility this week, as the impending token unlock schedule will release billions of dollars worth of supply for several coins, including Ondo Finance's ONDO token.Data from Tokenomist show the weekly unlocks calendar, that includes names like ONDO, ARB, STRK SEI and others, is worth $3 billion – the largest amount since November.Decentralized tokenization-focused platform Ondo Finance's ONDO accounts for a giant share of the tally.On Jan. 18, the project will free up 1.94 billion ONDO worth $2.23 billion, equating to over 130% of the token's circulating supply of around 1.4 billion. ONDO's impending unlock is also several times bigger than its daily trading volume, which has recently ranged...

Billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Treasury Secretary, plans to dispose of several assets, including investment in bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETF), to avoid potential conflicts of interest with his new role, according to a report by The New York Times.On Saturday, Bessent, who once worked for billionaire liberal philanthropist George Soros, filed the ethics agreement and financial disclosures as required for the impending Senate confirmation, revealing assets and investments worth over $700 million. The tally includes BTC ETF holdings worth $250,000 to $500,000, according to media reports.The other key investments posing a potential conflict of interest include a margin loan of more than $50 million with Goldman Sachs, an account for trading China's currency...

As bitcoin (BTC) wobbles around the $90,000-$95,000 area, down more than 10% from its all-time high touched a bit less than four weeks ago, a contrast is growing between traders — whose technical analysis tools show the top cryptocurrency may be due for another plunge — and long-term investors who believe the bull run is nowhere near done.That’s according to David Siemer, CEO of Wave Digital Assets, a firm that provides asset management services to funds and high net-worth individuals in the crypto space. The company counts Charles Hoskinson, the CEO of the firm behind Cardano, as one of its clients.“In 14 years of owning bitcoin, I've never seen a dichotomy like this,” Siemer told CoinDesk in an interview. “The...

Usual Protocol, an up-and-coming decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol that has seen a remarkable rise over the past months, faced community backlash on Friday after a tweak in the protocol's yield-generating token triggered a sell-off on secondary markets.Amid the turmoil, the protocol's USD0++ token, which represents a locked-up – or staked – version of its $1-anchored stablecoin USD0, fell briefly below 90 cents from $1 on decentralized marketplace Curve. The protocol's governance token, USUAL, plummeted as much as 17% through the day before recovering some of the losses.The selloff was caused by a change in the redemption mechanism of USD0++ token introduced by the team on Thursday that caught investors and liquidity providers off-guard.By design, USD0 is backed by short-term government...