PRICE CHANGE: WTD/YTD

- BTC ($7,105): -6% / +90%
- ETH ($142): -7% / +6%
- LTC ($43): -7% / +41%
- XRP ($0.22): -7% / -39%
- Crypto Market Cap ($194B): -6% / +54%
- BTC Dominance: 67%

THIS WEEK IN CRYPTO

- Heads up this will be the last Crypto Weekly of the year. See you in 2020! 

- ByteDance, the owner of mega-app TikTok, and Shanghai Dongfang Newspaper Co, a Chinese online news outlet, are launching a new company focused on developing blockchain, AI, and other business lines. There were no specifics given on what type of businesses the company will do. Link. 

- Crypto exchange Bitfinex has integrated a KYT ("know your transaction") compliance tool from blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis to monitor crypto transactions in real-time. Chainalysis currently tracks 41 cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, including bitcoin, ether, tether, Maker, and Dai. It is expected to add support for XRP and several other coins in the near future. Crypto exchanges Binance and Bittrex also use Chainalysis' KYT software to monitor suspicious transactions. Link. 

- Fidelity Digital Assets (FDAS), the crypto custody and trading solution for institutional investors, said it could support Ethereum in 2020. To date FDAS has only supported bitcoin, citing its long track record and the appetite from institutional investors relative to other cryptocurrencies. Link. 

- Canadian exchange QuadrigaCX shut down in January, weeks after its chief executive died mysteriously in India on his honeymoon leaving 76,000 users unable to access $163 million of cash and cryptocurrencies. Lawyers are now asking that the body be exhumed to confirm both identity and cause of death. There were allegedly transfers of QuadrigaCX assets to different hot wallets just prior to the executive's death, leading many to speculate fraud. Link. 

- Coinbase has listed browsing privacy-focused token OXT, from Orchid Labs. The release of the OXT token coincides with the release of an app that acts as a VPN software, enabling access to Orchid's decentralized VPN service and network aiming to make web browsing more secure. Users receive VPN services by paying with the ERC-20 based OXT token. Orchid Labs raised over $43 million. Link. 

- Crypto payments firm Bottle Pay is shutting down just months after raising a $2 million seed round, citing concerns over recent EU AML guidelines. The platform has a browser extension tool that allows users to send small bitcoin payments across social media platforms and messaging apps. The new regulation requires exchanges and wallets to register with local authorities, which Bottle Pay believed would significantly harm their user experience. Link. 

- Crypto brokerage Tagomi is slashing its trading fees to 10 basis points for trades smaller than $1 million, in an attempt to lure active traders away from exchanges like Coinbase and Gemini. The news comes just after rumors about potential acquisition between Coinbase and Tagomi. Link. 

- Hackers stole $6.7 million worth of tokens from VeChain Foundation, the nonprofit behind the VeChain protocol. The company blamed human oversight on the part of its finance and auditing teams. VeChain's token uses smart contracts to verify and track assets through their supply chains. Link. 

- 65% of bitcoin mining happens in China, according to a report from CoinShares, with the remaining 35% of mining spread from US to Russia and Kazakhstan. This is up from 60% in June. Bitmain's market share in China has fallen from 70% to 66%. Link. 

- State Street says 94% of its clients hold digital assets or related products, and 38% of them said they planned to increase their allocation of digital assets in 2020. 45% said their allocation would stay the same. State Street also said that 62% of clients said tokenization will improve risk management and 55% said it will enhance security, though only 36% said it would democratize investing for retail investors or increase liquidity. Link. 

- The Weibo accounts of Binance founder Yi He and TRON founder Justin Sun have been blocked by the company. The two were actively engaging with Chinese supporters of the TRON blockchain. Link. 

- Three men were charged for running a $722 million crypto fraud that prosecutors called a "high-tech Ponzi scheme". The men operated BitClub Network, which raised capital from investors for shares in crypto mining pools and rewarded them for recruiting new investors. Link.