Here’s what happened in crypto today
Today in crypto, Binance has secured its 21st global regulatory authorization in Brazil, a lucky memecoin trader profited over $3 million after buying $66 worth of a Pepe-Gladiator-themed memecoin in mid-December, and the community behind the memecoin Floki has allocated a portion of its funds to provide liquidity for its upcoming exchange-traded product (ETP).Binance secures 21st global crypto license in BrazilBinance has secured its 21st global regulatory authorization from Banco Central do Brasil (BCB), the central bank of Brazil, in a significant milestone for crypto adoption in Latin America.Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, was approved as a licensed broker-dealer in Brazil, the most populous country in Latin America.The approval allows Binance to acquire São Paulo-based investment platform Sim;paul, a licensed broker-dealer authorized to distribute securities and issue electronic money (EMI), according to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph.The approval makes Binance the first crypto exchange to have a broker-dealer license in Brazil.Binance’s 21st regulatory approval comes after receiving licenses in Argentina, India, Kazakhstan and Indonesia.Elon Musk’s bizarre name change on X turns trader’s $66 into $3 million profitElon Musk’s brief name change on X to “Kekius Maximus” — a reference to a Pepe-Gladiator meme — has seen one lucky memecoin trader turn $66 of Ether into as much as $3 million in just 18 days.The trader bought 10.17 million of the Kekius Maximus (KEKIUS) memecoins 18 days ago on Dec. 14 and sold 2.81 million of the tokens for 60.3 Ether on Jan. 1 while holding the rest — marking an eye-popping 45,900-fold paper gain, blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain said on X.Kekius Maximus is a mashup of the internet meme Pepe the Frog and Maximus Decimus Meridius, the main protagonist of the 2000 film Gladiator, played by Russell Crowe.Etherscan data shows the KEKIUS memecoin was created on Dec. 13, which accumulated $11.4 million by Dec. 31 before exploding to $380 million at its peak on Jan. 1, according to CoinGecko.Floki DAO approves ETP funding in unanimous voteThe Floki DAO has unanimously voted to allocate part of its community buyback wallet, containing 16.3 billion Floki tokens, as liquidity for the upcoming Floki Exchange-Traded Product (ETP). This ETP, set to launch in Q1 2025, will provide traditional finance investors in Europe with exposure to Floki, a memecoin ranked 66th by market capitalization.According to CoinGecko, memecoins were the second-best-performing crypto narrative of 2024. The sector returned an average of roughly 2,185% to investors during the year — second only to artificial intelligence, which returned an average of approximately 2,939%.