Sentiment in the Bitcoin market has marked an improvement recently as the Fear 
&amp; Greed Index has surged into the neutral zone for the first time in months. 
Bitcoin Fear &amp; Greed Index Is Now Pointing At &#8216;Neutral&#8217; The &#8220;Fear &amp; Greed 
Index&#8221; refers to an indicator created by Alternative that tells us about the 
average sentiment present among traders in the Bitcoin and wider 
cryptocurrency markets. It determines the investor mentality using the data of 
five factors: market cap dominance, trading volume, volatility, social media 
sentiment, and Google Trends. To represent the sentiment, the index makes use 
of a numerical scale running from 0 to 100. All values below 47 correspond to 
fear among the investors, while those above 53 reflect the dominance of greed. 
The metric being between the two cutoffs suggests a net neutral sentiment. 
Related Reading: Litecoin Whale Activity Spikes To 5-Week High: Reversal Or 
Continuation Signal? Now, here is how the current market sentiment is like, 
according to the Fear &amp; Greed Index: As is visible above, the index has a 
value of 48 right now, indicating that sentiment around Bitcoin is neutral. 
This is a sharp change from how the market mood looked just yesterday. The 
Bitcoin Fear &amp; Greed Index had a value of 26 on Tuesday, which means that the 
investor sentiment was deep inside the fear zone. The reason behind the 
turnaround in trader mood has been the coin&#8217;s recovery rally, which has now 
taken its price beyond the $97,000 level. Since the Fear &amp; Greed Index hasn&#8217;t 
made it into the greed zone yet, investors still look to be hesitant about 
embracing the bullish price action. In the past, the cryptocurrency market has 
often tended to move against the expectations of the majority, so the fact 
that traders aren&#8217;t outright greedy yet could actually be a positive sign for 
the rally&#8217;s sustainability. That said, the latest jump in sentiment has been a 
rapid one, so the indicator could be to keep an eye on in the coming days, as 
a venture into the greed zone could very well be next. The current break into 
the neutral zone reflects the first time since late October that the Fear &amp; 
Greed Index has surged into the region. A greedy sentiment hasn&#8217;t been 
witnessed since the first half of October, more than three months ago. Related 
Reading: Monero (XMR) Rockets 51% To New ATH, But Watch Out For FOMO In some 
other news, the new Bitcoin recovery run has triggered a large amount of 
liquidations, as revealed by on-chain analytics firm Glassnode. &#8220;Across the 
top 500 cryptocurrencies, the latest move triggered the largest short- 
liquidation event since 10/10,&#8221; explained Glassnode. BTC Price At the time of 
writing, Bitcoin is floating around $97,500, up more than 7% in the last seven 
days. Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView.com

Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index Turns ‘Neutral’ For First Time Since October

Solana Mobile users and app developers would be eligible to receive a share of 
roughly 2 billion Seeker tokens following the conclusion of Season 1 of the 
SKR airdrop. Slated for Jan. 21, over 100,000 users and 188 developers will…

Solana Mobile confirms 1.8 billion SKR token airdrop for Seeker phone users

M‑pesa Africa has partnered with the ADI Foundation to integrate ADI Chain, a 
sovereign‑grade Layer 2 blockchain, across its mobile money operations in 
eight African countries, potentially reaching 60 million users. Bridging 
Traditional Mobile Money and Web3 M-pesa Africa and the ADI Foundation 
recently announced a strategic partnership to integrate institutional-grade 
blockchain infrastructure across the […]

M‑pesa Partners With ADI Foundation to Bring Blockchain to 60M Users Across Africa

ASTER is trading near a key resistance zone after a sharp rise in activity, 
with price compressing just below levels that previously capped upside. At 
press time, ASTER was changing hands at around $0.7402, down 1.5% on the day. 
Over…

Aster price eyes $0.76 resistance as Binance Wallet perps go live

The recently released draft of the CLARITY Act, a significant piece of 
legislation aimed at regulating the crypto market, has ignited a wave of 
criticism from supporters within the community. Initially, the bill was meant 
to include protections for developers. However, expert commentary suggests 
that it opens the door to continued prosecution of developers and enhances 
surveillance measures for users of non-custodial software. Crypto Market 
Structure Bill Draft Lacks Essential Protections Market expert Ryan Adams 
highlighted another key issue in the crypto bill, stating that if banks 
succeed in eliminating stablecoin yield provisions within the CLARITY Act, it 
would indicate that the Senate is prioritizing bank interests over those of 
the general public. Adams&#8217;s concerns were echoed by various users, who opined 
that the strategy appears orchestrated to allow banks to benefit by 
controlling how yields are managed and distributed. Related Reading: Zcash 
Foundation Investigation Closed: SEC Decision Sparks 12% Jump In ZEC Price An 
independent report by The Rage reinforces these worries, detailing how the 
proposed draft includes so-called developer protections that may fall short. 
Notably absent are safeguards against the rigorous implications of the Bank 
Secrecy Act (BSA) for self-custodial wallets. Additionally, the draft hints at 
possible applications to decentralized finance (DeFi) that could empower 
agencies to implement Travel Rule-like regulations, along with anti-money 
laundering (AML) measures targeting web-based interfaces and blockchain 
analysis firms. Per the report, the Senate has already received 137 amendments 
to the draft ahead of its markup, scheduled for January 15. A revised version 
of the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act (BRCA) is also included, which has 
been seen as vital for protecting developers. BRCA Loopholes While the BRCA 
offers exemptions under AML and counter-terrorist financing regulations, it 
continues to leave developers vulnerable to accountability for the actions of 
users utilizing their software. The BRCA states that &#8220;non-controlling&#8221; 
developers—defined as those without unilateral control over digital asset 
transactions—will not be categorized as money transmitters under the relevant 
laws. However, this only alleviates certain charges and doesn&#8217;t prevent 
criminal liability for those whose software is misused. Pro-crypto Senator 
Cynthia Lummis remarked on this aspect of the BRCA, indicating that it retains 
all necessary AML protections, which implies that despite any positives, 
accountability remains a looming threat for developers. Simultaneously, the 
&#8220;Keep Your Coins Act&#8221; within the draft includes provisions claiming that 
federal agencies cannot prohibit self-custody of digital assets. However, 
further stipulations assert that this right does not prevent the application 
of laws concerning illicit finance, leaving loopholes for government 
intervention. The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) past attempts to 
impose a broker rule that would classify decentralized finance services as 
intermediaries requiring reporting obligations have been echoed in the current 
draft. This time, the Senate Banking Committee appears to be leaning towards a 
similar regulatory approach, aiming to provide guidance on BSA and AML 
compliance for &#8220;non-decentralized finance protocols,&#8221; thereby raising concerns 
about the implications for crypto developers who maintain and update 
protocols. Privacy Concerns Mount Under the new sections, the Senate Banking 
Committee introduces a concept termed “Distributed Ledger Application Layers,” 
which the report claims invites scrutiny and creates compliance obligations 
for software applications that allow users to interact with decentralized 
finance protocols. The provisions also compel the Treasury to develop 
additional oversight mechanisms to mitigate exposure to illicit financing 
risks identified through distributed ledger analysis tools, effectively 
ensuring that crypto transactions remain under close scrutiny. Related 
Reading: The NYC Token Crash: Allegations Of Rug Pull After $2.5 Million 
Liquidity Withdrawal As it currently stands, the lack of robust protections 
for developers and users involved in privacy-enhancing technologies in this 
current draft suggests that the Senate’s proposal for market structure will do 
little to safeguard non-custodial developers. Instead, it further entrenches 
their vulnerability to government oversight and user surveillance. Ultimately, 
these developments present a significant challenge for privacy software users 
and developers. Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com

Cryptocurrency price in PKR