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Your weekly roundup of the 🔥hottest news in crypto:

Dec. 8 - 14

JPMorgan raises price targets on Bitcoin mining stocks

Analysts at JPMorgan raised price targets for four Bitcoin mining stocks to reflect value from the miners' electrical power assets and BTC holdings, according to a Dec. 10 report shared with Cointelegraph.

The mining operations to see upgrades include MARA Holdings (MARA), CleanSpark (CLSK), Riot Platforms (RIOT) and Iren (IREN), according to the report, which was written by analysts Reginald Smith and Charles Pearce. Each stock is already trading near or above its revised price target.

"We previously valued Bitcoin miners based on the four-year gross profit opportunity for each operator," the analysts said. "We are expanding upon this framework by incorporating 1) the value of each company's land and power assets […] and 2) a HODL premium, which gives miners credit for holding Bitcoin on their balance like MicroStrategy."

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#2

NY regulator approves Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin — Brad Garlinghouse

Ripple Labs CEO Brad Garlinghouse has reported that the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) approved the firm's RLUSD stablecoin after months of consideration.

In a Dec. 10 X post, Garlinghouse said Ripple would soon announce exchange and partner listings for RLUSD after the NYDFS approval. The company launched plans for the stablecoin in April as a competitor to Tether's USDt and USDC.

Ripple executives speculated the stablecoin could reach a market capitalization of $2 trillion by 2028. The company began testing RLUSD on the XRP ledger and Ethereum mainnets in August and announced partnerships with exchanges, including Uphold, Bitstamp, Bitso, MoonPay, Independent Reserve, CoinMENA and Bullish, in October.

#3

Bitwise predicts 2025 as year for crypto IPO — Kraken, Circle to go public

Crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer Bitwise predicted that at least five "crypto unicorns" will go public in 2025, including stablecoin issuer Circle and crypto exchange Kraken.

So-called crypto bank Anchorage Digital, analytics firm Chainalysis and crypto exchange Figure are the other three firms expected to launch initial public offerings (IPOs) next year, Bitwise investment chief Matt Hougan and research head Ryan Rasmussen wrote in a "10 Crypto Predictions for 2025" report on Dec. 10.

Growing investor demand, institutional adoption, a favorable macro environment and a warmer political environment were the main catalysts that led the pair to name 2025 as the "Year of the Crypto IPO."

#4 Prediction of the week

2025 'demand shocks' will spike Bitcoin's price — Sygnum

Surging institutional inflows could cause Bitcoin "demand shocks" in 2025 and potentially send BTC's price soaring, according to a Dec. 12 report by Sygnum Bank, a crypto-focused asset manager.

Institutional capital flows are already exerting a "multiplier effect" on BTC's spot price, with every $1 billion worth of net inflows into spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) driving an approximately 3-6% price move, Sygnum said in its Crypto Market Outlook 2025 report.

Sygnum expects this dynamic to accelerate in 2025 as large institutional investors — including sovereign wealth funds, endowments, and pension funds — add Bitcoin allocations.

"With improving US regulatory clarity and the potential for Bitcoin to be recognized as a central bank reserve asset, 2025 could mark steep acceleration for institutional participation in crypto assets," Martin Burgherr, Sygnum's chief clients officer, said in a statement.

#5

Dogecoin flaw exploited by hacker, crashes 69% of nodes

A hacker exploited a critical vulnerability in the Dogecoin network, causing 69% of its nodes to crash.

On Dec. 12, Andreas Kohl, co-founder of Bitcoin sidechain Sequentia, claimed that he had crashed 69% of the Dogecoin network. Kohl said he used an old laptop in El Salvador to execute the crash.

Data from Blockchair indicated that Dogecoin had 647 active nodes before the vulnerability was exploited. At the time of writing, Dogecoin had 315 active nodes.

Kohl said he used a vulnerability discovered by researcher Tobias Ruck to cause the nodes to crash.

On Dec. 4, an X account called "Department Of DOGE Efficiency" publicly disclosed a vulnerability on the Dogecoin network that they said could have crashed the chain entirely. According to the account, the "DogeReaper" vulnerability allows anyone to crash any Dogecoin node remotely.

#6 FUD of the week

Australia proposes stricter crypto rules to curb financial crime

Australia has proposed stricter Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF) rules aimed at tightening oversight of the cryptocurrency industry to combat financial crime.

The proposed rules, introduced by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (AUSTRAC), follow on the heels of amendments to the AML/CTF Act passed by parliament in November.

The updated framework aims to close regulatory gaps, improve oversight of high-risk sectors, increase customer due diligence measures, enforce stricter reporting obligations and implement tighter rules for businesses.

The draft rules are open for public consultation until Feb. 14, 2025, as AUSTRAC calls on industry stakeholders — particularly those in crypto and financial services — to provide feedback to inform the final version of the framework.