The Daily: BlackRock's Bitcoin ETF sees largest daily outflows since launch, Do Kwon pleads not guilty and more

It's Friday! In today's newsletter, BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF sees its largest daily outflows since launch, Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon pleads not guilty to criminal charges, Tether and Bitfinex General Counsel Stuart Hoegner retires, plus more.

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BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF sees largest daily outflows since launch

BlackRock's IBIT spot Bitcoin ETF posted $332.6 million in net outflows on Thursday, marking its largest daily outflow since launching a year ago. 

• Thursday's figure exceeded BlackRock's previous record of $188.7 million in net outflows set on Christmas Eve, though the fund has only seen 11 total negative days in its trading history.
• "Institutional investors often rebalance their portfolios to align with asset allocation targets," Kronos Research Head of Global BD Neal Wen said. "The large outflows from BlackRock's IBIT may reflect such activity, particularly in response to bitcoin's price movements or broader market conditions."
• Despite a string of recent daily outflows, IBIT remains the biggest spot Bitcoin ETF, with $37 billion in total net inflows and $53 billion in assets under management.
• Other U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs, including Bitwise's BITB and Fidelity's FBTC, saw moderate inflows, bringing overall net outflows down to $242.3 million on Thursday.
• Meanwhile, U.S. spot Ethereum ETFs saw $77.5 million in net daily outflows, led by Bitwise's ETHW with $56.1 million.

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon pleads not guilty to criminal charges

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court on Thursday to multiple criminal charges, including fraud and money laundering, following his extradition from Montenegro, Reuters reported.

• U.S. prosecutors allege Kwon misled investors with deceptive techniques and manipulated Terraform's products to create the illusion of a functioning decentralized financial system.
• Kwon faces up to 130 years in prison if convicted on all charges tied to the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin Terra USD (UST) and governance token Luna, which wiped out billions of dollars in 2022.
• He is next set to appear in court on Jan. 8. 
• Kwon previously faced civil charges in a case brought by the SEC, with a jury already finding Terraform and Kwon liable for misleading investors last April.

Tether and Bitfinex General Counsel Stuart Hoegner retires

Stuart Hoegner has retired as General Counsel for Tether and Bitfinex, with Michael Hilliard now in sole charge of their legal operations.

• Hoegner and Hilliard co-led the two companies' legal efforts for several years.
• Hoegner, who joined Bitfinex in 2014, played a pivotal role in guiding the companies through complex regulatory landscapes, the firms said.
• Tether CEO and Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino praised Hoegner's contributions and expressed confidence in Hilliard's ability to help navigate the companies' future growth.
• The leadership change coincides with the EU's MiCA regulation taking full effect, imposing stricter rules on stablecoin issuers like Tether.

AnonCast founder rolls out fully anonymous social platform on Farcaster

Blockchain developer Kartik Patel launched Anon World , a social platform built on Farcaster, introducing a Reddit-like community interface that supports community discussions while maintaining user anonymity.

• The platform uses ZK-based credentials stored locally in users' browsers, requiring no metadata or wallet information collection.
• This means users are required to hold specific ERC-20 tokens to post, initially on the Base network, with plans to extend support to additional chains and credential types.
• Anon World builds on Patel's previous AnonCast project, a decentralized social media application built on the Farcaster protocol that allows users to post anonymously and relay posts to other platforms like X.

'My work is done': Scatter COO steps down from Milady-themed NFT platform

Haiku stepped down as COO of the Milady-themed NFT launchpad and marketplace Scatter as of Jan. 1, stating on Thursday that their "work is done" now the platform is in a strong and sustainable position.

• Going forward, Haiku will focus exclusively on Oekaki Connect, an art collective platform fostering collaboration among digital artists in the web3 space, they said.
• Scatter's new COO, known pseudonymously as Three, was praised by Haiku as a capable leader and designer who will continue driving the platform's artist-first mission.

Looking ahead to next week

• The latest Eurozone CPI inflation figures are due on Tuesday. U.S. FOMC meeting minutes are released on Wednesday. U.S. markets are closed on Thursday in observance of a national day of mourning for former President Jimmy Carter. U.S. nonfarm payroll data are out on Friday.
• U.S. FOMC member Thomas Barkin will speak on Tuesday. Members Patrick Harker and Michelle Bowman follow on Thursday.
• METAVSUMMIT gets underway in Dubai on Tuesday.

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