Each year approximately 52,560 blocks are mined on the Bitcoin Blockchain, and while we sadly can't produce a Bits of Blocks post every 10 minutes, we do our best to regularly bring you informative and concise blocks of information.
This year there have been a number of stories which have grabbed our attention, honourable mentions include when Stoner Cats were found to be a security by the SEC, and when Rihanna joined the NFT game by tokenising her music.
So as this year winds down we take a look back on ten popular articles we brought to you:
February saw the United Kingdom (UK) kick off its digital asset consultation by proposing a regulatory regime for crypto assets and emphasising the importance of international cooperation.
Dubai joined the party soon after with its tiered licensing process for Virtual Asset Service Providers.
The co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs, the backer of the Luna USD stablecoin Do Kwon was arrested in Montenegro with a fake Costa Rican passport.
The world's first comprehensive digital asset legislation, the Markets in Crypto-Asset Regulation or MiCA was translated and approved by the European Union with the key provisions coming into effect in 2024.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) released public guidance on the application of GST for certain digital currency interactions and provided clarity on certain crypto assets that are not digital currency for the purposes of its guidance.
Grayscale Investments successfully appealed in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit against the SEC's denial of their proposed Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Product signifying a major victory for the crypto industry.
The long awaited Australian Treasury Digital Asset Platforms Consultation was released establishing a roadmap for regulating digital asset platforms, proposing a new class of financial product called a "digital asset facility", and requiring certain platforms to obtain an AFSL.
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was found guilty on all charges by a jury following a four hour deliberation in a Manhattan federal court. The verdict sent shockwaves through the industry with sentencing set to occur in March 2024.
Cryptocurrency was taken off ASIC's list of top enforcement priorities for 2024 following a blazing 2023 which saw Binance, Qoin, Block Earner and more receive regulatory heat from ASIC.
Microsoft and Sony, two of the biggest players in the gaming and tech spheres are making significant strides in integrating digital assets into their gaming systems. Microsoft's XBox is looking to allow users to link their digital wallet to their XBox and Sony is looking to tokenise in-game assets to sell on secondary markets.
Thank you
While we continue to plug away over the break, we will also take some time to reflect on the many highs and lows of 2023. 2024 promises to be another big year with animal spirits running wild again in the crypto markets, the first spot Bitcoin exchange traded fund seemingly on the cards for the US signaling tighter integration between crypto assets and mainstream markets, and Australia's Treasury moving forward with draft legislation on regulating digital asset platforms.
From everyone at Bits of Blocks, thank you and we will see you in the new year!
By Michael Bacina, Steven Pettigrove, Tim Masters and the Piper Alderman Blockchain team