Crypto weekly is authored by maaria bajwa and david blumenfeld

This week's big news: Coinbase withdrew support for the Digital Assets Market Clarity Act (CLARITY), citing concerns over restrictions on stablecoin yields for depositors. The move derailed a Thursday vote on the bill, which would have created a regulatory framework for crypto. Other industry leaders including Robinhood and Galaxy Digital voiced support for the draft bill.

PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD
- Crypto Market Cap ($3.32T): +3% / +9%
- BTC ($95,177): +3% / +9%
- ETH ($3,335): +6% / +12%
- SOL ($142): 0% / +14%
- UNI ($5.35): -4% / -5%
- OP ($0.34): +5% / +28%
- COIN ($241): 0% / +7%
- Tether Mkt Cap ($187B): 0% / 0%
- USDC Mkt Cap ($76B): +2% / 0%
- BTC / ETH Dominance: 57% / 12%

THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO
- The Senate Banking Committee released a bipartisan amendment to the CLARITY Act that appears to prohibit crypto exchanges from offering rewards tied to stablecoin holdings. The banking industry lobbied for these changes based on concerns that stablecoin rewards resemble interest and could deplete deposits. Link. Link. Link.

- The Bank of America CEO told analysts during an earnings call that roughly 35% of US commercial bank deposits, up to $6 trillion, could migrate from the US banking system into stablecoins. Link. Link.

- Coinbase pulled its support for the current version of the CLARITY Act, claiming issues around DeFi prohibitions and stablecoin rewards. Link. Link. Tweet.

- The White House is reportedly considering withdrawing support for the CLARITY Act after Coinbase pulled its support for the bill. Link. Tweet.

- Senators Warren, Grassley, and Durbin voiced concerns over the inclusion of the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act in the CLARITY Act; BRCA clarifies that non-custodial software developers who do not control user funds are not considered money transmitters. Link.

- Spot bitcoin ETFs saw $1.7 billion of inflows over three days, the largest since October's crash that saw a price drop below $100,000. Link. Link.

- Crypto exchange Binance saw its percentage of overall spot trading fall to 25% in December, its lowest level since January 2021. Its share of the derivatives market has also fallen from a peak of 70% to 35%, though it remains the world's largest centralized crypto exchange in both markets. Link.

- Former NYC Mayor Eric Adams said he did not profit from the launch of the NYC Token memecoin, which he had promoted as a way to support educational and nonprofit efforts. The token had Link. Link.

- Burger chain Steak 'n Shake purchased $10 million BTC for its corporate treasury, 8 months after it claimed 50% savings on transaction fees by enabling Lightning Network payments and 15% higher same-store sales (revenue growth at locations open 1+ year). Link.

- The White House said $6.4 million in seized Samourai Bitcoin will be added to the federal Bitcoin reserve. Link.

- Two solo bitcoin miners independently won rewards of $300k by successfully mining blocks. The bitcoin mempool has historically been dominated by 3 players, accounting for over 57% of all blocks mined. Link.

- The Bank of England is considering backing stablecoin deposits in the same way it guarantees savings in banks. Link.

- Privacy cryptocurrency Monero hit all-time highs after a hacker converted $282M of LTC and BTC to Monero. Link.

- Social media platform X revised its developer API to prohibit crypto apps that rewarded users for posting (commonly referred to as InfoFi), a move aimed at curbing bot-driven spam and AI-generated replies. Link.

- Crypto custodian BitGo is reportedly raising $200 million in an IPO, valuing the company at around $2 billion. Link.

- Bitmine, the largest corporate holder of ETH, said it was investing $200 million in MrBeast's Beast Industries. Link.

- Goldman Sachs CEO said the firm is devoting significant resources to tokenization, stablecoins and prediction markets. Link.

- South Korea's Financial Services Commission is looking to set a 5% cap on corporate investments in crypto. Link.

- Transactions on a new China-led digital currency platform have surged to over $55 billion across 4,000 cross-border transactions between central banks in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. Link.