Billions unlocked: what will FTX customers do next

Plus: Hackers are targeting LastPass – move fast

GM. Welcome to the Daily Squeeze, where we zest the crypto world until it’s out of juice – no rind left unturned.

💰 FTX creditors are finally getting their cash back – repayments kick off this January.

🍋 News drops: another $5M in crypto got stolen from 40 LastPass users, 792 people were arrested in Nigeria for running pig butchering scams + more

🍍 Market flavor today

In some alternate universe, crypto is as exciting as staring at a blank white wall – no action, no hype, just some numbers sitting there. But we landed in this one, where it’s risky to blink ’cause you might miss the next big thing 🪐

The Fear and Greed Index is in 87th gear, drifting in “Extreme Greed.” Meanwhile, Bitcoin set a new all-time high above $107K and hasn’t even looked in the rearview mirror.

According to CryptoQuant’s Avocado_onchain, trading activity has been rising in both futures and spot markets since October, driving the rally. However, lately, futures volumes have cooled a bit, while spot demand is still heating up – this suggests that the market’s leaning less on speculation and more on accumulation. This could mean fewer liquidations ahead, steadier price growth, and even more buying pressure as BTC continues to break new ground.

And the appetite for Bitcoin? Massive:

There’s also a steady flow of capital into spot Bitcoin ETFs – $2.16B last week, pushing total net assets past $114.97B.

So what’s next? Analysts are looking at targets like $115K or $120K, though whispers of a correction haven’t disappeared – especially with the Fed dropping interest rate news tomorrow.

Btw, Ethereum is doing its own thing in the background. Data from Santiment shows that 104 whale wallets now hold at least 100K ETH, controlling 57.35% of all ETH, while smaller wallets are shrinking. Santiment’s calling it a bullish signal, and some analysts are already betting ETH could hit a new all-time high by early next year.

Maybe in that alternate universe, things are calmer… but let’s be real, we’d get bored in a second 🥱 I’ll take this chaos any day, thank you.

🥝 Memecoin harvest

Looks like some memecoins have been hitting the gym (no skipped leg days here) – ’cause those gainz are looking swole 💪

Name

Market Cap

Lordy LORDY

▲463%

$895K

Plankton in Pain AAAHHM

▲88%

$53M

AgentTank TANK

▲69%

$33M

Basenji BENJI

▲68%

$34M

Data as of 08:30 AM EST.

If you ask a normie what events they remember from November 2022, you’ll probably hear stuff like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever dropping, everyone binging Tim Burton’s Wednesday, or the world collectively losing its mind when Rihanna finally made her musical comeback.

But ask anyone who’s into crypto? Yeah…

November 2022 was the month millions of FTX users watched billions of dollars vanish as the exchange collapsed. Two years and pools of tears later, FTX’s bankruptcy plan got approved this October (tho’ not everyone was super happy about it – here’s why).

Well, the latest update to that story: repayments are set to start on January 3, 2025 – which, btw, just so happens to be Bitcoin’s genesis block anniversary. How poetic.

The first group of customers will start getting access to their funds within 60 days, and everyone is expected to be repaid by March.

Kraken and BitGo will be the ones to help distribute the funds, which will come in either cash or stablecoins.

FTX CEO John J. Ray III said that they’re ready to get this money back into people’s hands – just make sure you’ve completed the necessary steps so you can actually receive it “in a timely manner.”

Now, this isn’t just a W for creditors – it’s huge for the rest of the crypto community, too. Think about it: you’ve got a bunch of degens suddenly getting access to huge amounts of money. The dots connect quite easily – there’s a big chance that the money will go right back into crypto.

Justice served, wallets refilled, and bulls ready to charge – looks like 2025 might actually kick off the way we all deserve 🥰

🍋 News drops

🚨 The Grinch came early for some LastPass users – hackers stole another $5.36M in crypto from 40 victims. Security group SEAL warned that passwords or seed phrases stored in LastPass before 2023 are still at risk and advised: “Move your assets before hackers move them for you.”

🚓 792 people were arrested in Nigeria for running pig butchering scams. Their scheme? Sweet-talk victims in the Americas and Europe, build trust, then pressure them into sending money to fake crypto projects.

📃 The SEC sent a Wells notice to CyberKongz over their use of an ERC-20 token tied to a blockchain game, arguing it should’ve been registered as a security. CyberKongz plans to fight back and warns that this could impact the whole Web3 gaming industry.

😐 US lawmakers are making one last push to confirm Caroline Crenshaw for another SEC term before the Democrats lose their majority in January. Critics say Crenshaw’s even tougher on crypto than Gary Gensler. Big yikes.

👛 Mt. Gox moved $172.5M worth of Bitcoin to an unknown wallet. No one knows exactly why, but last time this happened, it led to payouts for creditors.

🚀 Hedera dropped some big news: Chainlink Data Feeds and Chainlink Proof of Reserve are officially live on their network. This means devs can now tap into reliable, tamper-proof data and reserve verification – perfect for building secure DeFi apps and tokenized RWA projects.