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Bitcoin Group Scolded by Regulator After IPO Statements

Updated Sep 11, 2021, 11:31 a.m. Published Feb 13, 2015, 12:46 p.m.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has banned a bitcoin company from issuing statements on its proposed initial public offering (IPO) until a formal prospectus has been lodged.

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The ban was imposed following a post by Melbourne-based Bitcoin Group on social media platform Wechat to gauge interest from investors if the company were to be listed on the Australian SecuritiesExchange (ASX).

ASIC commissioner John Price said:

"ASIC will often review pre-prospectus advertising or publicity to ensure legal requirements are being met. This is because any statements made about potential offers may influence the investment decisions of consumers who will not have the benefit of all material information that would be included in a prospectus."







The commissioner said companies should be fully aware of their obligations regarding advertising and publicity prior to an IPO.

"If they do not observe these requirements, then ASIC will take necessary action so that investment decisions are made in a confident and fully informed environment,” he added.

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KuCoin Hits Record Market Share as 2025 Volumes Outpace Crypto Market

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KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.

What to know:

  • KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
  • This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
  • Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
  • Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
  • Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.

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Bitcoin hash rate slides during U.S. winter storm while markets shrug off mining disruption

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The temporary loss of mining power underscores academic concerns that geographic and pool concentration can magnify infrastructure failures, though markets showed little immediate reaction.

What to know:

  • Bitcoin’s hashrate fell about 10 percent during a U.S. winter storm, underscoring how local power disruptions can strain the network’s capacity to process transactions.
  • Researchers have shown that concentrated mining, as seen in a 2021 regional outage in China, can lead to slower block times, higher fees and broader market disruptions.
  • With a few large pools now controlling most of Bitcoin’s hashrate, the network is increasingly vulnerable to localized infrastructure failures, even as the price of BTC remains largely unaffected in the short term.