Layer 1 blockchain Aptos’ token, which has been surging since the start of the year, broke an all-time high on Thursday. The token, APT, reached $19.42 and is up 423% since Jan. 1. The rally is far greater than those for bitcoin and ether, the two biggest cryptocurrencies by market cap. Bitcoin is up 30% in 2023, while ether has gained 34%.It's not exactly clear why the price of APT has soared, but NFT trading volume on the Aptos platform has been robust. Analysts, however, have warned that the funding rates for the token are still negative, suggesting traders expect the rally will be short-lived.

Coinbase has been fined $3.6 million by the Dutch central bankfor offering crypto services to customers in the country without registration. Dutch law requires crypto providers to register under anti-money-laundering and terrorist-financing norms. "The base amount [of the fine] has been increased due to the severity and degree of culpability of the non-compliance," the Dutch central bank said, adding that it had also taken account of the scale of Coinbase's Dutch customer base and the competitive advantage the exchange has gained by not paying supervisory fees. Coinbase, which has until March 2 to object to the administrative fine, told CoinDesk it disagreed with the enforcement order and is "carefully considering the objections and appeals process."

Electric-car maker Tesla didn’t buy or sell any bitcoin in the fourth quarter for the second straight quarter, the company reported late Wednesday in its latest earnings report. The value of its digital assets at the end of the quarter was $184 million, down from $218 million at the end of the third quarter due to impairment charges from a decline in bitcoin's price. The price of bitcoin was about $16,500 at the end of the fourth quarter, down from about $20,000 at the end of the third quarter.

Crypto exchange Binance’s BUSD stablecoin has extended its recent declines, amid mismanagement issues involving the exchange’s pegged tokens that surfaced earlier this month and other debacles.

BUSD’s circulating supply fell to $15.4 billion on Wednesday, down $1 billion over the past week and $2 billion in a month, according to cryptocurrency price tracker CoinGecko. The latest drop extended BUSD’s decline from $22 billion in early December when anxious users scrambled to withdraw funds from Binance after it botched a report about its digital-asset reserves.

BUSD is a dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by the New York-based fintech firm Paxos Trust under the Binance brand, backed by cash and U.S. Treasury bill reserves. Traders use stablecoins as an intermediary to convert traditional fiat money to digital assets and facilitate trading cryptocurrencies.

Explore the policy fallout from the 2022 market crash, CBDCs, stablecoin regulation, the challenges in applying 20th century securities laws to 21st century decentralized protocols and more at the Consensus 2023 Crypto Policy Forum. Use code FM15 for 15% off your pass. Learn more and register.