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Blockchain News

Forsage founders charged with $300M crypto pyramid scheme

Forsage
Forsage founders charged with $300M crypto pyramid scheme

Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States revealed that it has filed charges against four persons purported to be Forsage founders. According to the securities market authority, Forsage is a crypto-based pyramid scam that has gathered over $300 million from investors in many nations, including the United States.

The Forsage team offers smart contracts enabling members to lock assets on the Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Tron blockchains. Members also get affiliate connections for recruiting people to the program, which increases their potential profits.

According to information available on the Forsage website at the time of writing, the cheapest Ethereum registration costs around 0.05 ETH ($80). The sum is smaller for the Tron and BNB networks, though.

Vladimir Okhotnikov, Jane Doe (a.k.a. Lola Ferrari), Mikhail Sergeev, and Sergey Maslakov, the four accused masterminds, reportedly created Forsage in January 2020, touting it as a means for investors to receive a higher return on their crypto assets. However, the firm was managed as a pyramid scam, with new investors often funding previous investors.

The SEC further says that Forsage hired U.S.-based promoters and a particular “Crypto Crusaders” network to market the scam and recruit new participants.

In addition, after receiving two cease-and-desist orders from securities authorities in the Philippines and Montana, the project mislead investors by denying it was conducting a Ponzi scheme in several YouTube videos.

Samuel Elis and Sarah Thiessen, two of the seven named U.S.-based Forsage promoters, have resolved charges without admitting or rejecting the allegations. While the SEC continues to pursue action against more promoters, both defendants have paid civil fines and disgorgement.

The U.S. SEC’s most recent action against Forsage makes it the second most popular crypto scam to be shut down. Five persons were prosecuted by the Commission in 2017 for their involvement in the $2 billion Crypto-Ponzi scheme Bitconnect.

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Ethereum

Survey on whether the merge will split Ethereum’s chain

Ethereum merge
The Ethereum Merge Has Been Successful!

There are 50 days till the week of September 19, and the cryptocurrency world has been debating whether or not Ethereum developers would postpone The Merge. In addition, on July 27, the crypto hedge firm Galois Capital issued a poll on Twitter indicating that more than 33 percent of respondents believe Ethereum might split again.

Following the announcement of the so-called penciled-in date for The Merge, the value of Ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum Classic (ETC) soared against the U.S. dollar.

The Ethereum developer and community director for the Beacon chain, Superphiz, indicated that the “timetable is not definitive,” but according to the planned timeline he published, The Merge might be completed during the week of September 19. The Merge will essentially consummate the shift from a proof-of-work (PoW) chain to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus architecture.

After experiencing a bear market decline before the announcement, the price of Ethereum rose significantly almost immediately after the news broke. In the last 30 days, ETH has appreciated by 62.4% versus the dollar.

As the day approaches, there is far less exciting, and some are wondering whether Ethereum devs would postpone The Merge split. This weekend, The Merge’s postponement has been a popular topic of discussion on social media. One writer stated:

In addition to the many Twitter threads discussing The Merge’s postponement, the crypto hedge firm Galois Capital has distributed a poll asking if people believe Ethereum will break into two chains after The Merge’s implementation. 53.7 percent of study respondents believe The Merge will go smoothly, while 33.1% believe the network might split. If it would split, there would be a PoW and PoS token, even if ETH already has a PoW version.

The Ethereum Classic (ETC) network was launched after the 2016 split to repair the DAO compromise, and 51.8% of respondents to the Galois Capital study believe ETH miners will move to ETC.

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News NFT

Tiffany & Co. Unveils First NFT Collection

Tiffany & Co.
Tiffany & Co. Unveils First NFT Collection

Tiffany & Co., one of the most recognizable brands in luxury products for more than a century, is introducing a line of NFTs.

The jeweler teased its impending sale, scheduled to begin on August 5, by tweeting a video of a pixelated grid with the letters NFTiff.

The tweet also included a price of 30 Ethereum (about $51,000 at the time of writing).

An illustration published by the prominent NFT trader Cozomo de’ Medici indicated that NFTiffs will consist of a set of digital and physical pendants resembling the NFTs currently owned by Cryptopunk owners.

According to the webpage the tweet refers to, the promotion is limited to 250 units. Tiffany & Co. is introducing the NFTiffs, the company’s first NFT product, following months of flirting with a deeper Web3 investment.

Tiffany & Co. entered the NFT market for the first time in March when it acquired an Okapi NFT from Tom Sachs. The luxury goods business allegedly paid $380,000 for the NFT and has since used it as its Twitter profile photo.

The next month, it released TiffCoins, a limited-edition collection of gold coins that appeared on April 1st. Individually engraved and restricted to a total of 499 pieces, the solid gold coins were made in a quantity of just 499.

Tiffany & Co.’s website states, “No, we will not be establishing our own cryptocurrency.” “However, these limited-edition 18k gold coins represent a contemporary interpretation of our Tiffany Money and a celebration of our heritage.”

In April, Tiffany & Co. also designed a necklace for the company’s senior vice president of products and communications, Alexandre Arnault, that contained the image of his CryptoPunk #3167. It was crafted from a rose gold set with sapphires, rubies, and yellow diamonds.

At the bottom of the website for NFTiffs is a statement that it is “powered by Chain,” a 2014-founded block-chain-based technology startup that has attracted financing from Capital One, Nasdaq, and Visa.

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Altcoins News Regulation

SEC vs. Ripple Case Continues

Ripple
SEC vs. Ripple Case Continues

Ripple Legal has submitted a motion with the purpose of frustrating the SEC by emphasizing the improper methods used by the SEC. Due to the fact that the token constituted a “security per se,” the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) engaged in unethical use of the Howey Test. This concept was first brought up by the SEC. The Securities and Exchange Commission is to blame because of its “unprecedented assertions.”

A well-known lawyer named James K. Filan just sent out a tweet in which he disclosed a fresh turn of events in the case. A previously unidentified corporation has now joined the picture and has submitted a motion asking for certain paragraphs from the Daubert Motions to be kept confidential. The gathering makes an effort to keep confidential business information a secret in order to protect both the corporation and its employees.

The party wants to keep information about digital wallets, such as “financial account numbers,” confidential. This information was first included in a redaction that was provided by Ripple.

A letter outlining the exhibits that are subject to the sealing requests made by the same party was delivered to Judge Torres in a sealed envelope. The parties involved will be sought out by the case observers for an in-depth review. The discourse among the crowd started almost soon after the tweet was sent.

Ripple is scheduled to respond to the objection raised by the SEC about Judge Netburn’s AC privilege order on August 9th. After then, on the 16th of August, the SEC is required to hand in a response brief after a week has passed.

The current deadline for submitting statements on uncontested facts and motions for summary judgment is September 13th, 2022. The date of October 18th, 2022 is the cutoff for submitting oppositions to requests for summary judgment and answers to such motions.

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Blockchain News NFT

A First-Ever NFT ETF Has Been Launched by KuCoin

NFT ETF
A First-Ever NFT ETF Has Been Launched by KuCoin

With the debut of an NFT ETF product aimed at more than 20 million customers, KuCoin has become the first centralized trading platform to provide blue-chip NFT investments.

According to a press release obtained by Coinposters, the revolutionary trading product reduces entry barriers for millions of users and enables the issuance of a USDT blue-chip basis for Non-Fungible Tokens, propelling leading Non-Fungible Tokens to the top of the market.

KuCoin’s relationship with Fracton Protocol has enabled the debut of the new NFT ETF Trading Zone, allowing the exchange to list hiBAYC, hiPUNKS, hiSAND33, hiKODA, and hiENS4 as underlying assets at the start of trading.

The hiBAYC ERC-20 token symbolizes 1/1,000,000 BAYC token ownership, which is native to the BAYC Meta-Swap of the Fracton Protocol. KuCoin plans to begin hiBAYC token trading on the NFT ETF Trading Zone as the first asset, with more assets to be added to the trading list in the near future.

The CEO of KuCoin, Johnny Lyu, had the following to say on the debut of the new product:

“As a trading platform that maintains its penetration rate in the NFT industry, KuCoin will continue to provide user-friendly goods for investors, enabling them to engage in NFT investments with ease. We are ecstatic to be the first centralized crypto exchange to handle NFT ETFs, allowing customers to invest and trade top NFTs using USDT in a straightforward manner. KuCoin will investigate other NFT-related solutions for our consumers in the future.

The NFT ETF Trading Zone is being introduced by the KuCoin exchange in an attempt to increase premium exposure to the NFT industry. The reduction of entry barriers for NFT trading will let millions of users to participate in the market and contribute to its progressive growth via confidence and liquidity injections.

The NFT ETF Trading Zone is intended to stand out as a specialized trading arena that provides users with access to direct NFT purchases utilizing USDT for stable exchange rates, as well as significant functionality, such as wallets and other modules.

KuCoin’s penetration in the NFT market has advanced in recent months. The introduction of the Wonderland NFT launch platform in April and the Windvane NFT Marketplace in late May positioned the exchange as the go-to location for NFT trading, management, launchpad services, and minting.

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Bitcoin Price Analysis

Bitcoin (BTC) Market Update 07/30

bitcoin 25k
Bitcoin surpasses $25k for the First Time in Nine Weeks

Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView data indicated that Bitcoin (BTC) will maintain $24,000 as resistance until July 30.

In the second part of the week, the pair benefited from macro tailwinds across risk assets, including a strong finish for U.S. stocks. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index each gained 4.1% and 4.6% during the last week, respectively.

In light of the likelihood that off-peak trading would trigger turbulent circumstances at weekly and monthly closing as a result of less liquidity, experts cautioned that anything might occur between now and July 31.

“Like usual, I’ll just observe the market till the end of the week,” Josh Rager said.

In the present market environment, it is difficult to enter substantial trades, however, there may be a few outliers that continue to perform strongly over the weekend.

Others focused their attention on the importance of the present spot price levels, which are above the 200-week moving average (MA) at $22,800. A Bitcoin weekly close above this trendline would be unprecedented since June.

Due to “overbought” circumstances, however, the well-known trader Roman predicted a rebound to at least $23,000 in the immediate term.

The Crypto Dread & Greed Index reached its highest level since April 6 after departing its longest-ever stretch of “severe fear.” Optimism continued to rise throughout crypto markets throughout the week, reaching its highest level since April 6.

The Index entered “neutral” area for the day at 45/100.

Regarding the next month, Cointelegraph writer Michal van de Poppe said that stock performance will continue to foster favorable circumstances for a cryptocurrency recovery.

August was expected to be a calm month for U.S. macro triggers since the Federal Reserve was not planning to modify policy until September.

With the next Consumer Price Index (CPI) reading coming on August 10, the possibility of inflationary acceleration persisted. This Monday, the European Union released its highest-ever estimate for the eurozone’s monthly inflation, at 8.9 percent.

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Blockchain Ethereum News

Vitalik Buterin Concept For An Extremely Secure Blockchain

Vitalik Buterin
Vitalik Buterin's Concept For An Extremely Secure Blockchain

Vitalik Buterin, the inventor of Ethereum, has presented a method for constructing a blockchain with exceptional security. Vitalik Buterin, commenting on the classic argument between optimistic rollups and ZK rollups, presented a hybrid model that combines the advantages of both.

Rollups are Layer 2 solutions that try to increase a blockchain’s scalability. Rollups may consolidate many transactions into a single one and then report the final status. Currently, Ethereum’s maximum throughput is between 20 and 30 TPS. Rollups may double the rate of transaction processing.

Positive rollups and ZK rollups are the two most common forms of rollups. Optimistic rollups have a pessimistic disposition that assumes all transactions are accurate unless otherwise shown. They mix all the transactions without verifying their legitimacy. Then, they provide an opportunity for anybody to contest the validity. In contrast, ZK rollups verify the legitimacy of each transaction.

Although ZK proofs are safer, they are often costly to construct. Buterin seeks to resolve this problem.

Buterin’s strategy incorporates the best of both worlds. He suggested the construction of a rollup that would mix optimistic and ZK rollups. According to his concept, a block would be published on the blockchain. The chain would then wait 24 hours before submitting a challenge. A ZK-SNARK, which is a form of ZK proof, will be released if there is no challenge to the block.

If there is a challenge to the legitimacy of a transaction, the decision will be determined by consulting the optimistic rollup, the zero-knowledge rollup, and the blockchain governance as a whole. The government will resolve any disagreements between optimistic rollup and ZK rollup.

Rollups are a big issue in the Ethereum environment right now. Polygon has recently introduced a zero-knowledge EVM that is compatible with any Ethereum mainnet-compliant smart contract. Matter Labs and Scroll revealed their own zkEVMs after Polygon’s announcement.

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Ethereum

The Ethereum Foundation Awards Developers a $2M Grant

ethereum foundation
The Ethereum Foundation Awards Developers a $2M Grant

In its recently held Academic Grants Round, the Ethereum foundation awarded a $2 million grant to encourage research on Ethereum and related network technologies.

The Ethereum Foundation stated earlier this year that it would provide a $750,000 grant to finance numerous “formal, scientific, and systematic” research initiatives targeted at enhancing the Ethereum network.

Before April 2022, ideas were requested from academic think tanks, research institutions, Ph.D. students, and anybody interested in investigating and increasing their understanding of Ethereum.

Recently, 39 of the several scholarly applications submitted during this time span have been deemed acceptable for funding. Following a follow-up announcement by the foundation on Friday, the award projects span seven of Ethereum’s core categories: Economics, Consensus Layer, P2P Networking Maximum Extractable Value, Formal Verification, Cryptography, zero-knowledge proofs, and other fields.

Teams for these research initiatives are reportedly from Canada, China, the United States, Vietnam, and fifteen other nations.

The original grant allocation of $750,000 was significantly increased to $2 million. The rationale given by the foundation was that the number of high-quality project ideas submitted surpassed their expectations. In addition, it was said that a few of the projects had tremendous potential, therefore justifying the increase in cash.

The Ethereum Foundation said, “We anticipate the outcomes of the several academic studies funded in this round…We are pleased to follow these research teams and see their wide influence on extending academic knowledge across the Ethereum community.”

This is not the first time the Ethereum Foundation has awarded research grants totaling millions of dollars.

In fact, the non-profit organization was founded for the primary purpose of funding research initiatives on Ethereum and related fields.

In 2020, the Foundation provided grants totaling $2.4 million to about 25 companies, including Dark Forest, Web 3 Labs, Hardhat, and Bitfly. These companies were active at the time on Ethereum initiatives spanning the community, education, cryptography and zero-knowledge proof (ZKP), developer experience, Ethereum 1. x, Ethereum 2.0, Layer 2, and user experience indirect financing.

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Blockchain News

Recession-Proof Assets, According to Experts

recession
Recession-Proof Assets, According to Experts

Chief Global Strategist of BCA Research, Peter Berezin, divulged the recession-proof assets that he thinks can safeguard investors during a moment of economic crisis. Berezin is a prominent crypto critic who has referred to Bitcoin as a total scam and said that the cryptocurrency has no practical use.

According to Berezin, investments in consumer staples and healthcare are advantageous for economic protection during a recession. Berezin thinks that things that are essential for people to purchase will do pretty well in comparison to those that are optional.

The United States is most likely not in a recession, according to Berezin. According to him, the United States is only in a recession when the National Bureau of Economic Research acknowledges it.

Since the GDP of the second financial quarter indicated successive quarters of negative growth, there have been extensive arguments as to whether or not the United States is in recession.

The remainder of the economy, according to the White House and Fed head Jerome Powell, is doing much too well to be in a recession. On the other hand, many have accused them of redefining terms to suit their agendas.

The strength of the job market and unemployment rates indicate that the economy is not in a recession, according to Berezin, whose perspective is much more in line with that of the White House. Therefore, recession-resistant assets may not be necessary.

Berezin feels that the Federal Reserve could not engineer a smooth landing. According to him, a successful soft landing has never occurred in the United States. Berezin concurs that the inflation rate will decrease to 4%.

Berezin disagrees with Fed chair Powell’s assertion that September’s FOMC meeting would see an exceptionally substantial interest rate increase. According to him, the Fed will lower the increase to 50 basis points and finally to 25 basis points.

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Blockchain News

Dubai Issues Operating Permit to FTX

Ftx huobi
FTX Will Not Be Buying Huobi

It was announced on Friday by the cryptocurrency trading platform FTX that it has been awarded a license for a Minimum Viable Product by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. This accomplishment makes FTX the first cryptocurrency trading platform to be awarded this certification.

Institutional investors will be able to benefit from the regulated crypto derivatives products and trading services that will be made available by FTX Exchange FZE, which is a subsidiary of FTX’s division in Europe and the Middle East.

These products and services will be made available by FTX Exchange FZE. In addition to this, the cryptocurrency exchange will operate a marketplace for NFTs and provide users with custodial services for their bitcoin holdings.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the Chief Executive Officer of FTX, said that the firm intends to take the lead in building the digital asset industry in countries and jurisdictions that already have a well-established framework for digital assets now that they have been granted this license.

FTX created history at the beginning of this year when it was awarded a provisional license as the first fully regulated exchange to get such an authorization. With this license, the exchange is now ready to try out complex crypto derivatives that are aimed primarily at professional institutional investors in the UAE. These investors are located in the UAE.

As a result of the fact that VARA was able to successfully complete its in-depth regulatory review, the company has now been granted the go-ahead to switch over to an MVP license that allows it to conduct actual operations.

This will make it possible for the Company’s VA Exchange to provide regulated crypto derivatives products and trading services to Qualified Institutional Investors situated anywhere within the area.

In addition, the VARA MVP Licence grants FTX permission to function as a Clearing House, operate an NFT Marketplace and provide Custodial Services within the confines of stringently controlled limits for a certain category of customers. This assures that there will be robust guardrails in place to protect the market and maintain economic stability.

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Blockchain News

U.S. FDIC Warns Banks About Voyager

Voyager
U.S. FDIC Warns Banks About Voyager

Following claims by troubled cryptocurrency lender Voyager, that it is FDIC-Insured and the subsequent issuance of a cease-and-desist statement by The FDIC and The federal reserve, the United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) has issued an advisory to banks and FDIC-Insured institutions regarding its policies. The advisory was issued by the FDIC as a result of these events.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation of the United States has expanded its warning to include all bankers, stating that these bankers need to check with their cryptocurrency partners to ensure that they are not making false claims that the funds of their customers are protected by the government simply because they are affiliated with these banks.

In a letter that was sent out on Friday, the regulatory body made clear that the provision of deposit protection is only applicable in the very unlikely case that an insured bank fails.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which shields depositors of insured banks from the risk of having their funds stolen, has said that this does not apply to “neobanks,” which are organizations that look like banks but are not really banks.

Deposit products like checking and savings accounts that are provided by insured banks are eligible for coverage under the FDIC’s deposit insurance program.

Products that are not deposits, such as stocks, bonds, money market mutual funds, securities, commodities, or crypto assets, are excluded from the protection provided by deposit insurance. The FDIC offered an explanation.

Earlier on, these two United States regulators issued an order to the troubled cryptocurrency lender Voyager, telling it to desist from telling its customers that their funds are protected by the United States government with The FDIC insurance simply because it had accounts at Metropolitan Commercial Bank in New York. On Thursday, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC issued the following statement:

Voyager has made a variety of representations online, including on its website, mobile app, and social media accounts, stating or implying that the following three things are true:

(1) Voyager itself is insured by the FDIC; (2) customers who invested with the Voyager cryptocurrency platform would receive FDIC insurance coverage for all funds provided to, held by, on, or with Voyager; and (3) the FDIC would insure customers against the failure of Voyager itself. Voyager is not FDIC-in

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Altcoins Blockchain News

Dogecoin warns about scam tokens

Dogecoin
Dogecoin warns about scam tokens

The Dogecoin community has cautioned users to be aware of imposters claiming affiliation with the cryptocurrency and its Dogechain block explorer.

The current endeavor is known as “Dogechain,” and it asserts that by placing “wrapped DOGE coins on the smart contract bridge,” the cryptocurrency DOGE will be able to support both NFTs and DeFi.

Despite this, the DOGE development community immediately severed all links with the project after raising many red flags about it.

Mishaboar, a popular Twitter account that focuses on Dogecoin, brought attention to this problem and urged DOGE users from placing their DOGE on any such “bridge.”

On the official Twitter account that it maintains, the DOGE team issued a warning, saying:

Over the course of the previous nine years, there have been plenty of tokens that have rapidly come and gone. There is just one Dogecoin, which is its blockchain, and it is not directly related to- any tokens. One Dogecoin is equal to one Doge, and there is only one. “Be on the lookout for impostors.”

In the past, there have been a great number of fake imitations that have attempted to profit off DOGE’s popularity. The DOGE token known as TeddyDoge (TEDDY) had a price drop of more than 99.94 percent in a single day when it was discovered to be part of a scam involving the cryptocurrency known as Dogecoin. As soon as the price of DogeMother plummeted by 91 percent, it was very evident that it was a honeypot scam.

Before things began to slow down, DOGE had an amazing boom in the first half of 2021, soaring to record highs of $0.76 in May 2021 after having risen by tens of thousands of percent earlier in the year.

Fraudsters are still attempting to profit from the cryptocurrency’s popularity despite the fact that its price has decreased by using questionable tokens to attract new investors. These tokens usually wind up being obvious hoaxes.

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Blockchain News

CZ says crypto is healthier after $2T correction

CZ
CZ says crypto is healthier after $2T correction

It is Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO and creator of prominent cryptocurrency exchange Binance, who feels that a sequence of events that knocked roughly $2 trillion off the crypto market has made cryptocurrencies “far healthier.”

While the crisis harmed investors, CZ argued that it was beneficial for the sector as a whole.

As a result of the Terra LUNA accident, many individuals have been harmed.” However, it also eliminates many of the industry’s weaker companies. When Bitcoin hit $68,000, “I believe the industry is far stronger today than it was [six to nine months ago],” he said.

The Binance CEO went on to discuss the current state of crypto regulation in the US. Zhu said that the SEC and the Justice Department are seeking to exert too much control over the crypto market, which is not in the best interest of the crypto community. Power disputes, according to CZ, may lead to a variety of “issues in diverse ways.”

The crypto millionaire pointed out that in other nations, cryptocurrencies are handled by a single government agency. Cryptocurrencies may now be accepted in these countries, rather than being banned as they had previously been.

El Salvador and Central Africa are examples of nations that have accepted Bitcoin as legal money. Cryptocurrency regulations have been introduced in other nations, such as Dubai. According to CZ, these tactics are “very beneficial” to the sector.

The failure of several crypto initiatives has also been cited by CZ as a contributing cause to the current strength of the crypto industry. A number of crypto enterprises, particularly those that lend money, went bankrupt this year.

Stablecoin UST, the Terra algorithmic stable currency, lost its 1:1 peg to the US dollar in May and fell to zero as a result, bringing down the whole Terra system with it. It wasn’t long until CZ weighed in on the network’s design issue and said that the tokenomics creators needed to have their brains examined.

Terra-exposed firms including Three Arrows Capital and Anchor Protocol had their finances destabilized, and a few of them went bankrupt.

CZ thinks that, despite the demise of several crypto startups, new applications are being developed by other organizations that might lead to greater acceptance of cryptocurrency. Aside from the fact that investors are now more concerned about the long-term rather than short-term profits,

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Blockchain News

Nirvana Suffers A Flash Loan Attack

Nirvana
Nirvana Suffers A Flash Loan Attack

The Solana network has experienced a second flash loan assault within a month. This time, the victim was the decentralized finance (DeFi) yield system Nirvana, and according to on-chain statistics, the attacker took $3.5 million worth of assets.

The attacker carried out the vulnerability by obtaining a $10 million USDC flash loan using the Solana-based lending platform Solend Protocol. The borrowed funds were then utilized to create $ANA, Nirvana’s native currency.

The hacker accomplished this by manipulating the price of Nirvana’s native token $ANA to boost its value. Thus, the amount of borrowed funds in the exploiter’s possession approached $10 million.

The exploiter then exchanged the inflated money, which was initially valued at $10 million in $ANA, for $13.49 million in USDT, deducting the additional $3.49 million from Nirvana’s Treasury.

After the attack, the hacker refunded the $10 million USDC loan to Solend Protocol and transferred the $3.49 million exploit money to an Ethereum wallet using Wormhole bridge. The compromised funds have been converted to DAI and are in the possession of the attacker.

About seven hours after the hack, Nirvana issued a statement on the vulnerability, saying that it would pursue the stolen funds. The business noted that the error was not caused by Solend, but by “a software exploit by Nirvana.”

In the meanwhile, Solend remarked on the incident, stating that it has reached out to Nirvana for assistance in locating the exploiter. Additionally, the lending platform said that it was not impacted by the incident.

As a result of the exploit, the value of Nirvana’s native token $ANA plummeted by 81 percent, to $1.71 as of this writing.

Nirvana’s stablecoin $NIRV also saw a severe decline, resulting in the loss of its 1:1 peg to the US dollar. At the time of writing, $NIRV was trading at $0.18, implying a loss of more than 90 percent.

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Altcoins Blockchain News

Congress Pushing the U.S. Stablecoins Bill Until After the August Break

Stablecoins
Congress Pushing the U.S. Stablecoins Bill Until After the August Break

After the August vacation, bipartisan legislation to provide a regulatory framework for stablecoins in the United States will be considered.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) issued the following statement: “Although the Ranking Member, Secretary Yellen, and I have made significant progress toward a compromise on the legislation, we are regretfully not there yet and will continue our conversations over the August vacation.”

She continued, “It is crucial that we continue to advance in this area so that we can have a regulatory framework that protects consumers while permitting responsible innovation.”

The measure was likely to advance yesterday as a result of bipartisan collaboration between waters and Representative Patrick McHenry (R-NC). The bill would purportedly require stablecoin issuers, such as Tether and Circle, to keep 1:1 reserves of their stablecoins in circulation and restrict the sorts of assets that might be used to support these stablecoins.

The delay is a result of rumors that Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expressed reservations about the draft legislation’s treatment of difficulties regarding the custody of digital assets.

Rep. Waters highlighted the risks of stablecoins during a hearing in February 2022, noting that “investigations have revealed that many of these so-called stablecoins are not, in fact, fully backed by reserve assets” and that speculative trading and a lack of investor protections “could even threaten U.S. financial stability.”

Following the demise of the algorithmic stablecoin UST earlier this year, the planned regulation of stablecoins has taken on a new sense of urgency.

Yellen expressed an “urgent” plea for stablecoin regulation this year at the time. She stated that the run on UST “illustrates that this is a quickly expanding product with rapidly expanding dangers” and that “digital assets may pose hazards to the financial system, necessitating heightened and coordinated regulatory attention.”

In comments to Congress days later, however, Yellen agreed that stablecoins have not yet reached a size “where they are financial stability issues,” saying that the cryptocurrency sector does not yet constitute a “systemic risk.”

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Blockchain News

Ripple lawyer: SEC chair declined to see crypto leaders

Ripple
SEC vs. Ripple Case Continues

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States has come under fire from prominent figures in the digital asset business due to the regulatory rules it has implemented.

Now, a lawyer has disclosed that SEC Chair Gary Gensler turned down the cryptocurrency companies’ request to meet with him last year.

According to claims made by John Deaton, the creator of Crypto Law and a lawyer representing XRP holders, Gary Gensler declined to meet with the 69K XRP holders.

Having said that, he also disclosed that the Chair of the SEC did not even meet with Congress. Instead of meeting with crucial players, Gensler meets around seven times with a company that owns the majority of its wealth.

Deaton revealed this information in a thread on Twitter, and it is being estimated that the SEC Chair’s current wealth is over $100 million. He went on to say that the commission doesn’t care about how improper it would look to be acting.

According to the Crypto Law, records of Gensler’s declaration from 2020 to 2021 indicated the bulk of his wealth is invested in funds managed by the Vanguard Group.

These data cover the time period from 2020 to 2021. Two of his most important companies are an LLC called Annabel Lee and a marital trust.

In the meantime, the public calendar of the SEC Chief does not show any significant meetings with any retail crypto companies or even with the leaders of blockchain association organizations. During the time that he was having a meeting with his asset managers.

The data pertaining to Gensler reveal that the architect did not even bother to respond to the letter sent by the US Rep.

In addition to this, he missed out on an appearance before the Republican members of the Financial Services Committee to address some important concerns.

While he declined to face the leader of the cryptocurrency industry, SEC Enforcement was swarming retail holders in the courtroom.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun monitoring the cryptocurrency exchange known as Coinbase for potential violations of regulatory laws.

The legal representatives for XRP emphasized that Coinbase has, from the very beginning, made every effort to comply with the commission’s requirements. Even after that, the XRP tokens were delisted, and the platform decided against launching LEND.

According to Deaton, the only reason Coinbase was chosen as a target was that the company cooperated with the commission.

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Bitcoin News

As BTC buying pressure rises, experts predict Bitcoin will hit $106k

what is hashrate
Explaining Bitcoin HashRate: What to Know

Bitcoin has exceeded early proponents’ expectations. Once deemed worthless, crypto has become one of the most promising financial asset classes. Some industry experts estimate Bitcoin to hit $100k in 3 years, according to recent research.

Finder’s Panel predicts Bitcoin’s (BTC) short- and long-term performance. The panel of 53 industry experts predicts BTC will reach $106,757 by 2025, or 468 percent of its current price of $21,795.

This projection is positive, but it’s less than half of the Panel’s July 2021 estimate. A year ago, the Panel predicted Bitcoin will reach $256k by 2025.

This change was triggered by the Crypto Winter and ongoing crypto concerns, like LUNA’s bankruptcy and the 3AC controversy. John Hawkins, a senior professor at Canberra University, highlighted inflation and central bank balance sheet tightening.

The panel predicts BTC will fall to $13k this year but reach $35k by year’s end. The panel predicts BTC will end 2022 with over $25,473 and exceed $314k by 2030. Fred Schebesta, the creator of Finder, expects BTC will touch $75k by 2022.

Fearful market. The technology remains robust. Bitcoin is following the economic slump, but Schebesta believes it will recover.

Panelists said global interest rate rises contribute 70% to the current Crypto Winter. They think the LUNA crash caused a space contagion (68 percent ). Inflation was high (40 percent ). Most panelists expect Crypto Winter to endure until 2023.

Panelists encourage investors to buy additional coins. 50% of panelists indicated it’s time to buy, 40% to hold, and 10% to sell.

After the crypto markets’ rebound, the area has a new, hopeful view after the previous month’s collapse. BTC is trading at $21,795 after gaining 10.71 percent in the last week. The Crypto FGI rose to 31 from 11 last month, indicating optimism. The BTC Coinbase Premium Index shows strong US institutional purchasing.

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Altcoins Blockchain News

IMF sees stablecoins causing another crypto winter

stsblecoins
Congress Pushing the U.S. Stablecoins Bill Until After the August Break

Cryptocurrency markets are groaning under pressure after the Terra-LUNA meltdown and liquidity crisis in June, which has been exacerbated by the U.S. interest rate rise. Even stablecoins might collapse, according to a report from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

During an interview on July 27, the IMF’s Director of Monetary and Capital Markets Tobias Adrian said that the crypto market selloff isn’t done since stablecoins might cause another crypto winter. Even in 2022 and 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts weak global economic growth.

As a result, crypto assets and risky asset markets like stocks might suffer more declines.” If any of the coins offers, especially the algorithmic stablecoins, fail, “there are others that might collapse,” says the author.

Some cryptocurrencies, notably algorithmic stablecoins and fiat-backed stablecoins, might be severely harmed if another crypto selloff occurs.

Adrian warns that stablecoins that aren’t completely backed by cash and treasuries offer bigger hazards. Since Tether is not backed one to one and contains hazardous assets, he predicted that it would lose its peg to the US currency after the Terra collapse. Stablecoins backed by cash reserves, on the other hand, have a lower failure rate.

This was disclosed by Tether’s CTO Paola Ardoino today, who said that USDT does not own any Chinese commercial paper. In addition, its exposure to commercial paper has decreased from 30 billion pieces a year ago to approximately 3.7 billion pieces now.

Tether intends to reduce exposure to 200 million people by the end of August and to zero by the end of October/early November of this year. Tether expects to further minimize exposure.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reduced global economic growth because of rising inflation, which might lead to a recession in the near future. According to Adrian, exchanges and wallet providers should be regulated globally.

During the Federal Reserve’s decision on an interest rate increase between 75 and 100 basis points, Bitcoin and Ethereum values have been turbulent.

If the Federal Reserve raises interest rates by 100 basis points in July, it will have a huge impact on the crypto and stock markets. Ethereum’s price is presently at $1,489, while Bitcoin’s price is up 3%.

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Altcoins Blockchain News

Cardano Comes Out As The Most Developed Crypto

Cardano vasil hard fork
Hoskinson On Date Of Cardano Vasil Hard Fork Upgrade

According to Santiment, a business that specializes in crypto analytics, Cardano (ADA) retains its position as the most prominent blockchain with regard to the frequency of relevant activity on GitHub.

This information was provided by Santiment. In addition, the data from Github that was provided by the business Santiment showed that there has been an increase in the amount of activity demonstrated by developers working on Cardano.

It’s possible that the level of activity on GitHub could be taken into consideration as a significant metric for assessing initial coin offers (ICOs) and other cryptocurrency-related ventures.

The time of developers is a resource that may be rather expensive, and the fact that a particular project has a big number of developers who are committing their time and skills to the project can mean a variety of different things depending on the context in which it is being considered.

There is a possibility that these folks have hope that the project will be successful, that the project is releasing a growing amount of features, or that there is a decreasing risk that the project is really an intricate scam.

It is essential to point out that the long-awaited Vasil hard fork has enhanced the popularity of Cardano (ADA), bringing more people to test out the advantages of the cryptocurrency. This is one of the reasons why it is necessary to notice this.

This is something that has to be taken into consideration. You may expect the introduction of more functionality when the substantial upgrade is ultimately made accessible on the mainnet. This will occur at some point in the future.

Cardano’s price has the potential to climb by a factor of 10 as a consequence of the long-awaited Vasil Hard Fork if previous ADA hard fork events are any indicator.

This event has been anticipated for quite some time. In addition to this, it is reasonable to set a 10x goal for Cardano given that the ADA all-time high price of $3.10 will be achieved in September of 2021.

According to the information given by CoinGecko, the price of Cardano has dropped by 0.4 percent over the course of the last twenty-four hours, bringing it down to $0.4666. This brings the total value of the cryptocurrency to $0.4666. A fall of 9.5 percent may also be noticed in ADA membership numbers during the last week.

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Blockchain News

Polygon Network Q2 Transactions At $284M

polygon
Polygon Network Q2 Transactions At $284M

As recently as the second quarter of 2022, Ethereum layer-2 solution Polygon revealed that their network has surpassed a transaction high of $284 million between April and June.

The volume of trades in the second quarter increased by just 4% compared to the first quarter (Q1). The overall number of wallet addresses on the network increased by 12 percent in Q2 to 5.34 million, accounting for $5.56 million in income.

As the number of projects produced on the Polygon blockchain grows, so does Polygon itself. Bungee, a bridge aggregator, has grown its user base by more than 1,000 percent, bringing it to 90,000 users, among other initiatives in the DeFi segment. The aggregator project also saw a 972 percent rise in transaction volume, putting it in fifth place among the network’s DeFi projects.

Meshswap Protocol, an automated market maker (AMM) that switched from the Klaytn chain to Polygon in April, witnessed excellent growth in Q2 as well. Polygon’s implementation of the protocol resulted in 1.6 million transactions and the addition of 91,000 additional members.

As a result, Polygon-based blockchain games saw a surge in revenue. NFT game project Aavegotchi garnered the greatest attention, attracting 102,000 members to its metaverse, nicknamed Gotchiverse. Planet IX, another blockchain game, has surpassed the 58,000 user mark and now ranks in the top 10 most popular on the network, thanks to a modest 8 percent increase in new players.

Despite the worldwide NFT market’s lack of growth in Q2, Polygon Network was able to make some strides throughout the quarter.

NFT marketplace OpenSea reported 1.2 million new wallets on Polygon, raising the total number of NFT wallets to 1.51 million, according to the sidechain. In the second quarter, the network saw a 122.45 million rise in the amount of NFT transactions.

A 49% drop in transaction costs was reported in Polygon Q2’s report, making the network’s average cost per transaction $0.0018. However, according to last week’s news, the blockchain’s developers have launched a Zero-Knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM).

As the network grows and transaction costs are reduced, the blockchain trilemma may be maintained while maintaining decentralization and network security.

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Ethereum Price Analysis

Ethereum (ETH) Market Forecast 07/26

Ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) Market Update 07/24

The cryptocurrency known as Ethereum (ETH) was unable to recover its losses and trade higher than $1,550. As a consequence of this, the price of ETH started to fall again, and it eventually fell below the critical support zone of $1,500. Additionally, the price of ETH is trading at a level that is lower than the 100-hourly simple moving average (SMA).

ETH started the day with a significant drop that took it below the $1,450 mark and tested the support zone around $1,400. As the price of Ethereum continues to consolidate its losses, the price reached a new low of approximately $1,402 in close proximity.
The price of ETH has decreased by 6.65 percent over the course of the last 24 hours, as indicated by statistics made public on CoinMarketCap. At the time of this writing, the price of ETH on the market is $1,424.79.

On the upside, there is some immediate resistance close to the level of $1,440, and the first significant resistance is close to the zone of $1,450. It is currently located quite close to the level that represents the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of the decline that began from the swing high at 1,662 and ended at 1,402 dollars.

On the hourly chart for ETH/USDT, we can see that a significant negative trend line is forming near $1,460, which is acting as resistance. If Ethereum’s price is able to make a decisive move over the trend barrier, it may be able to reach the level of $1,500. After that, the key barrier to overcome will be at $1,550.

In the event that Ethereum is unable to break over the resistance level of 1,460 dollars, the price of ETH may continue to decline. Near the zone of 1,400 dollars is where bears will first find some support.

A decisive break below the support at $1,400 might send the price down toward the zone of support around $1,375. If there is any further selling pressure, the price of ETH may fall to the $1,300 support level.

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Bitcoin Price Analysis

Market Update on Bitcoin (BTC) 07/26

bitcoin market
Bitcoin market update 09/03

In the preceding week, Bitcoin price rose from $20k to as much as $22,000, thanks to an almost flawless start. Bitcoin’s upward trend continued through the second day of the week until it hit a correction at $23,800.

During Wednesday’s trading, Bitcoin $24,000 level of resistance was broken. Market panic sparked a halt to the upward trend after a negative announcement. A Tesla bounced it.

According to the automaker, the majority of their bitcoins were sold in the second quarter. Customers and other shops who had taken pleasure in the company’s position on the digital currency were surprised by this development.

Since the market is fearful, BTC’s price has fallen and is unable to shake off the current pessimistic atmosphere. Despite this, the coin’s value dropped below $21k just a few minutes before publication.

There are numerous signs that the cryptocurrency will continue to decline in the near future. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) is an example of one. A closer look at the indicators suggests that it may have a bearish divergence in a few days.

If, for example, the 12-day EMA dips below the 26-day EMA in the next 48 hours, it will meet. There is a chance that bitcoin will go below $20k if this scenario occurs. An additional danger is looming at the $19k level of support.

Even so, a shift in market mood is possible, changing the aforementioned prognosis. Coins such as Bitcoin are likely to resume their upward trend and reach $22k support. After that, we may expect to see more price hikes.

At the moment, the price of bitcoin has fallen below the pivot point. Since the asset has no obvious future, it’s classified as negative.

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Altcoins Price Analysis

Solana (SOL) Price Analysis 07/26

solana
Solana (SOL) Price Analysis 07/26

A two-week low was reached on July 26 at roughly $35.50 for Solana (SOL), which was in line with other cryptocurrency markets. It is still technically possible for Solana’s price to rise by 40% in August, based on these indicators.-

Although the negative continuation pattern for Solana is evident, the bullish setup for the stock arises out of it.

There has been a “bear flag” formation on SOL’s daily chart, which occurs when an instrument’s price decreases and then recovers when it breaks out of the “bear flag.”

As of this writing, the so-called bear flag collapse has not taken place. This chart shows that if SOL can hold on to the lower trendline as support, it might make an immediate move back toward the higher trendline.

SOL might rise to $49.50 in August, a 40% increase from today’s price, according to the rebound setup. In May, the $49-$50 range had functioned as a support and a barrier.

As long as Solana’s overall bias remains negative, bulls will be relieved by a possible bear flag comeback.

For example, macroeconomic issues such as rising interest rates and a “algorithmic stablecoin,” Terra, which was valued at $40 billion, have thrown crypto markets into a spiral. Since Solana’s financial and network usage indicators have declined in 2022, like any other hazardous asset, as a consequence,

The average daily number of Solana blockchain transactions, for example, decreased by 17.6 percent in Q2/2022 compared to the previous quarter, according to Messari statistics.

Quarter-on-quarter, Solana’s sales fell by 44.4%. (also because of recurring network outages).

Deteriorated network performance has a negative impact on network use and income generation, according to Messari researcher James Trautman.

It’s possible that if Solana’s performance degrades for an extended period of time, it might have a negative impact on network value and volatility.

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Blockchain News

Hollywood Producer Scams $2.5M Crypto

Hollywood
Hollywood Producer Scams $2.5M Crypto

The Department of Justice claimed in a news statement on July 21 that Hollywood producer Felton, who was charged with several charges of wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering, agreed to direct the cash towards financing his luxurious lifestyle.

Notably, the funds were sent to Felton’s account, where he used them to buy a $1.5 million home, a $180,000 Ferrari, a $58,250 Chevy Tahoe, and around $30,000 in diamond jewelry.

The Hollywood producer got the funds by advertising an Initial Coin Offering for a streaming network called FLiK, with the promise that the firm would exceed Netflix.

It’s worth noting that the producer allegedly lied about a popular Atlanta rapper and actor backing the project as a co-owner in order to attract additional investors. However, the aforementioned rapper was not a member of the project.

Surprisingly, innovators were led to believe that the United States military was also on board, having agreed to disseminate the streaming platform to service personnel.

In addition, during the height of the 2017 ICO boom, the platform claimed to be closing license arrangements with major film and television studios.

In the end, Felton dumped almost 40 million FLiK tokens on trade exchanges, causing the value of FLiK coins to plummet dramatically.

In addition, Felton pushed another ICO for CoinSpark, a cryptocurrency trading exchange, in 2018. He guaranteed Spark coin holders that they would get 25% of the trading exchange’s income in dividends. The corporation was never audited, despite a previous pledge.

Felton was also accused of pretending to be a possible investor on numerous online forums and social media platforms, according to the DOJ.

The 48-year-old is awaiting sentence before U.S. District Court Judge J.P. Boulee after pleading guilty to twelve charges of wire fraud, ten counts of money laundering, and two counts of securities fraud.

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Blockchain News

JP Morgan Says Coinbase Shareholders Might Be At Risk

coinbase
SEC and Coinbase Debacle Gets Heated

Following the recent exposure of a bitcoin insider trading tipping operation, another piece of unfavorable news may be on the way for Coinbase stockholders.

Coinbase has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons since the leading exchange revealed that they will be laying off employees. According to JP Morgan’s findings, the corporation could try something different this time around with regard to the employee pay programs it offers.

On Monday, customers of The Wall Street had been advised that stockholders in Coinbase “the danger of increased share dilution coming from restricted stock units.”

According to what was said, the situation is the same with regard to the shareholders of Robinhood. It was noted that the restricted stock units, sometimes known as RSUs, may be included in employee compensation schemes.

A decrease in the price of Coinbase’s shares, as stated by Kenneth Worthington, an analyst at JP Morgan, may lead to an increase in the rate of share dilution by 7 percent per year in the following years.

“Just like their competitors in the technology industry, both of these businesses provide considerable equity to their personnel in the form of restricted stock units (RSUs) as a method of motivating their workers while maintaining lower levels of cash remuneration,”

It is possible that Coinbase will be required to pay its workers by issuing extra shares if this scenario plays out. This might result in a significant reduction in the value of the existing shares.

The analyst from J.P. Morgan noted that the additional shares that were issued and dilution might diminish the value of each firm by thirty percent over the course of five years.

One month ago, Goldman Sachs lowered its rating on Coinbase and suggested that investors sell their shares of the company’s stock. The recent collapse in crypto market prices was the direct cause of the rating cut.

On Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that it had prosecuted three persons, including a former product manager for Coinbase, in connection with the very first cryptocurrency insider trading scam. According to the allegations, the worker disclosed confidential material to his immediate family members and friends before Coinbase made various announcements public.

Ishan Wahi, a worker with Coinbase, participated alongside his brother and a buddy in the process of coordinating important announcements. The commission said in its lawsuit that the plan resulted in an illegal profit of about one million and one hundred thousand dollars.

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Altcoins Bitcoin Ethereum Price Analysis

BTC ADA XRP ETH Price Analysis 07/25

btc
BTC ADA XRP ETH Price Analysis 07/25

As traders adopted a risk-off attitude before the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision this week, BTC fell to as low as $21,400 on Monday during the Asian Market session after just staying over $22,800 on Sunday.

The price reached a one-month high of $24,300 in the middle of last week, but that positive momentum was drained by the weekend. A 2.81 percent loss in market capitalization in 24 hours has brought the value of the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency, BTC, to $21,831 as of this writing.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, has also fallen over five percent to trade at $1,513. As of the start of this week’s trading, XRP (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), and Dogecoin (DOGE) all had their value fall by more than 5% on CoinMarketCap, according to their respective values.

A 3.60 percent drop in the last day has brought the crypto market size to $1.01 trillion. There is still a fear and greed index that shows investor views about issues that might possibly influence cryptocurrencies, even if the index has improved in the last 30 days.

This week, the US central bank is anticipated to raise interest rates by at least 75 basis points in response to the soaring inflationary pressures in the Eurozone.

Expect to hear a statement and a news conference from Fed Chair Jeremy Powell on Wednesday from the US central bank’s Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC). The Fed’s rate rise and other forward-looking initiatives will allow investors to judge whether the rate hike will further depress financial markets or if it will be a major cause of a worldwide recession.

Since June’s meeting, the markets haven’t recovered, and investors are still concerned about this week’s FOMC statement.

Inflation has continued to rise, and the US labor market has remained robust, according to recent data.” No matter how hard the fed pushes, something will eventually break.” Tedtalksmacro published an article for the site.

BTC’s fundamentals have improved in recent weeks, but analysts warn that the price might be rocked in the near term, with its most significant support of $22,000 at danger of being wiped out. As of this writing, “Price Predictions” has predicted that Bitcoin would decline to a minimum price of $21,420 in July, with an average price of $23,628.

Crypto analytics site Santiment reports that Ethereum’s mood has once again dropped into Super negative area, suggesting that prices may continue to tumble before the FOMC meeting.

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Blockchain News

Ex Meta workers secure $150M for quicker blockchain

blockchain
Ex Meta workers secure $150M for quicker blockchain

Acquired $150 million in investment to create cutting-edge solutions to enhance blockchain and web3 experience for developers, Aptos Labs said Monday.

An exodus of former Meta workers formed the San Francisco-based business last year after the company’s crypto project was shut down owing to increased regulatory scrutiny.

Jump Crypto and FTX Ventures, the investment arm of Sam Bankman-derivatives Fried’s crypto exchange FTX, spearheaded the fresh fundraising, according to the official statement.

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Multicoin Capital, and Circle Ventures also participated in the round of financing.

An opportunity to construct dependable blockchain and web3 innovations that boost web3 ecosystem usability and socializing have been presented by Aptos with the additional investment.

To meet customer demands for more efficient and upgradable blockchain technology, the company is working with its key partners to identify those requirements.

As a result, this is the company’s second seed fundraising round of 2017. At the end of March, Aptos secured $200 million in funding from investors in the IT sector and elevated the company’s value to more than $1 billion.

Diem, a now-defunct Meta crypto startup, used the same programming language, termed “Move,” to power their speedier and cheaper blockchain technology.

For some time now, we’ve been aware of the fact that existing blockchains are not suitable for widespread web3 adoption because of concerns like as outages and downtime. According to Aptos Labs co-founder Mohammed Shaikh, “we’re constructing a blockchain to be the trustworthy basis for web3 that invites in people from all over the globe to enjoy the advantages of decentralization.

And in the midst of the bear market, Aptos isn’t the only corporation looking to raise capital; Series B fundraising of $17 million from both current and new investors was announced by South Korean crypto disclosure startup Xangle back in May, according to Coinposters. The firm said that it will be utilized to boost its position in the industry by improving goods and services.

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Blockchain News

Thailand’s regulator will probe Zipmex users’ losses

Zipmex thailand
Zipmex Asked For A Meeting With Thailand SEC

A cryptocurrency exchange called Zipmex, which mostly serves Southeast Asian countries, suddenly stopped accepting withdrawals, which affected many investors. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Thailand has opened a probe into this issue.

Reuters reported that Thailand’s regulator and law enforcement have started their investigation to determine any possible damages incurred by the general population. The SEC is reportedly soliciting input from affected Zipmex consumers through an online forum, it was said. Additionally, traders are questioned about how the exchange’s problem has impacted them.

The primary countries where Zipmex offers services are Thailand, Singapore, Australia, and Indonesia. On July 20, the site ceased allowing withdrawals. It was said that the exchange took this measure to preserve its integrity because of the unstable market circumstances and the financial challenges of its business partners.

According to the article, representatives of Zipmex said that they would be prepared to comply with the regulator’s request. It further said that it communicates often with government organizations. This information is released concurrently with the Thai lender SCB X Pcl’s declaration that it would extend the term for doing due diligence on its $537 million investment in the cryptocurrency exchange Butkub.

The withdrawal service did, however, start up again in Thailand the same evening. While it took longer in other nations. In a letter dated July 21, Zipmex said that it was extending its maintenance window and that trading would be suspended until further notice.

The platforms then revealed that they have exposure to Babel Finance and celsius of $53 million. It said that it was working to settle its $48 million liability with the cryptocurrency loan company and was in continuous touch with Babel Finance. Babel’s representative said that they were proactively addressing the problem to prevent any user losses.

Due to the severe fall of the cryptocurrency market, Zipmex is not the only cryptocurrency company to have difficulties of this kind.

Categories
Ethereum Price Analysis

Ethereum (ETH) Market Update 07/24

Ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) Market Update 07/24

With the crypto market looking upbeat as we begin a new week, Ethereum technical indicators are mainly in neutral positions. This follows a week of positive performance by the digital asset.

Ethereum’s Relative Strength Index (RSI), which measures whether the cryptocurrency is overbought or oversold, has the latest value of 51, according to data given by community-driven crypto analytics site CryptoQuant. There were times recently when RSI levels hovered around 38 for Ethereum.

When the Relative Strength Index (RSI) rises over 70, an asset is considered overbought, and it is considered oversold when the RSI falls below 30. The range of values between -30 and -70 is regarded as a middle ground.

Ethereum’s stochastic oscillator shows a value of 67.4, suggesting a neutral outlook for the cryptocurrency. The price movement momentum of a financial asset is often assessed using the Stochastic oscillator. It is primarily used to spot any asset price reversals that may be on the horizon.

Since the beginning of July, Ethereum has been hovering around the $1.2k level. In spite of its recent rise, the asset’s highest value this month stands at $1,630.7. Despite this, the majority of technical indicators point to Ethereum’s value increasing in the near future.

One of the most eagerly awaited events in the crypto industry is the Merge, which will see Ethereum’s blockchain switch from a Proof-of-Work consensus process to a Proof-of-Stake one. Preparatory modifications are currently underway for the Merge, which will be fully operational in August.

A prominent Ethereum testnet known as Sepolia has switched from proof of stake to proof of work. The Sepolia upgrade was the Ethereum blockchain’s second-to-last upgrade before The Merge’s impending arrival.

On June 30th, the Ethereum team announced the “Gray Glacier” network update, which took effect at block 15,050,000. To prepare the chain for proof of stake, the devs moved the difficulty bomb back 700,000 blocks or 100 days using Gray Glacier.

At the time of this writing, the price of Ethereum (ETH) is $1,601. During the previous seven days, it has risen by 19 percent and by 6.09 percent in the last 24 hours. In comparison to its all-time high of $4,891 in November of last year, this may seem like a letdown, but the asset has held up well through these trying times and is poised for a rise this quarter.

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Bitcoin Price Analysis

Bitcoin (BTC) Market Update 07/24

Bitcoin price
Bitcoin (BTC) Declines Further

Bitcoin (BTC) managed to find support around $22,000 heading into the 24th of July, with bulls continuing to shoot for a strong green weekly close.

The Bitcoin to US Dollar exchange rate stopped falling around $21,900, according to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView and is now moving closer to $23,000 than it was earlier in the day.

The pair maintained a trading range that was intently focused on crucial long-term trendlines. These trendlines had been characterized by experts as being vital to recapture in the past.

These included the 50-day and the 200-week moving averages (MAs), with the latter being especially significant as support during bear markets despite having behaved as resistance since May.

A prominent trading account on Twitter called CryptoMellany stated in part of her most recent post on the day that it was bullish because the market had “fully maintained the 13d ema + horizontal 21.9k.”

“I anticipate we’ll remain around 22,500 for today’s weekly close, with activity down to 21-21.6k to start the new week, and then up for the rest of the week, creating a bull flag,”
At the time of this writing, the 50-day and 200-week moving averages (MAs) were at $22,370 and $22,690, respectively, with the spot price at $22,670.

In continuation, another trader and analyst by the name of Jibon referred to the forthcoming weekly close as “very very crucial.” An accompanying graphic highlighted the prices $21,944 and $22,401 as the dividing lines between a “poor” close and a “good” close, respectively.

Jibon had warned earlier in the week that such a “poor” outcome may be the start of a pullback to new macro lows for Bitcoin, which might go as low as $12,000. However, ongoing strength could spark a relief rally that goes as high as $40,000.

BTC/USD would reach its highest levels since the middle of June if it were to close at the levels it is at right now.

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Blockchain News

Four Convicted Of $25.2M Crypto Fraud

crypto fraud
Four Convicted Of $25.2M Crypto Fraud

Four men have been convicted of stealing and laundering $25.2 million in cryptocurrency from an Australian crypto exchange.

Criminals Stephen Boys, Kelly Caton, Jordan Kane Robinson, and James Austin-Beddoes colluded to carry out their plan from October 2017 to January 2018, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said on Friday. They also collaborated with James Parker, who has since died, according to an inquiry.

After discovering and exploiting a weakness in the crypto exchange trading platform used by the scheme’s mastermind, Parker and the other four men gained access to the exchange and took $25.2 million out of it.

Financial advisor Mr. Boys sought out Kambi, a UK citizen who lives in Dubai, to assist them to convert the stolen crypto assets into cash before laundering them via numerous foreign-based internet accounts, and then splitting the earnings with the rest of the criminal organization.

While Caton and Robinson both took a total of 2.7 million and 1.7 million pounds from their trading accounts, Parker withdrew a total of $18.1 million from his account.

Crypto assets stolen by crooks have been recovered, according to the CPS.

After Parker’s death in January 2021, the court did not have time to bring him to trial. Working with police from the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit, CPS has identified and secured a Civil Recovery Order with an estimated value of approximately $1,000,000 from his illegal actions,” according to a statement from CPS.

In the wake of crypto’s ascent, fraudsters have taken advantage of the asset class in order to carry out a wide range of illegal activities.

More than 500 Chinese and Taiwanese citizens were defrauded out of their money by six Bangkok police suspects in a bogus cryptocurrency operation in May.

South African police recently detained two individuals on suspicion of $2 million in cryptocurrency fraud.

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Blockchain

Chain acquires MDT token ecosystem for $100 million

mayo clinic blockchain
Mayo Clinic uses blockchain technology to develop clinical trials

Chain, a company that provides cloud services to developers so that they can create blockchain-based applications, will gain access to a variety of assets with the completion of the $100 million acquisition. These assets include MDT, the cash-back app RewardMe, and the financial data protocol MeFi. MDT is a decentralized distributed ledger technology.

This particular deal will stand out from others since it will entail a token conversion. Specifically, MDT will be exchanged for XCN, which is Chain’s native token. This serves as an example of how transactions involving digital assets may sometimes take strange and unexpected turns.

The firm’s very own mergers and acquisitions division coordinated the deal, along with the assistance of consultants from Tanner De Witt and Rooney Nimmo.

According to a statement on the company’s blog, “With this purchase, there will be a sunset of the Measurable Data Token (MDT),” which means that all MDTs would be burnt and replaced with XCN tokens. “Holders of MDT tokens will be eligible to reap the benefits of the swap, and it is anticipated that they will get a value of $0.08 per MDT token for the exchange.”

It is true that there is a precedent for this kind of merger; for example, the now-struggling company Voyager Digital acquired LGO Markets, which resulted in a merging between the tokens of the two companies.

Deepak Thapliyal, CEO of Chain, commented on the procedure, stating that it was “complex and involves a lot of cooperation from counter-parties.”

He added:

“In order to facilitate the swap for tokens that are held off-chain, we will need the aid of exchanges. Since we are both predominantly ERC20 tokens, the procedure for tokens that are stored on the chain will be a lot less difficult and will be accessible via a simple smart contract.

Already, Nexo, a bitcoin lender, and Vault, a competitor located in Singapore, have reached an agreement to be purchased. the company that Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX owns and operates.

The United States has also made public its desire to buy BlockFi. Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, recently gave an interview to Yahoo Finance in which he indicated that the cryptocurrency exchange was contemplating between 50 and 100 investment and acquisition possibilities.

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Blockchain News

FTX will pay Voyager users who open an exchange account

FTX
FTX will compensate Voyager users if they sign up for

If users of the Voyager cryptocurrency wallet sign up for an account on the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, the FTX exchange will implement a strategy to save the users of the Voyager wallet.

Voyager is one of the cryptocurrency firms that had significant hardships as a result of the most recent liquidity crisis, as was mentioned in earlier articles written by Coinposters.

The announcement that Voyager would be filing for bankruptcy caused the firm’s customers to suffer along with the company.

Specifically, customers who hold cryptocurrency assets in the company account will be eligible to receive a portion of the remaining cryptocurrency assets, debt recovery from 3AC, shares in the new Voyager company that will be formed as a result of debt restructuring, and tokens of the Voyager platform.

In the most recent turn of events, on the evening of July 22, FTX revealed a plan to “partially rescue” Voyager users, which was developed in partnership with the Alameda Research foundation. As a consequence of this, consumers will have access to a portion of the funds that were previously stored in their Voyager account via the account that they first established on FTX.

In order for the idea to become law, it would first need to be sanctioned by the court. Despite this, FTX aims to finish the transaction with Voyager as quickly as possible around the end of July so that they can begin the deployment in August.

The purpose of our collaborative proposal is to contribute to the establishment of a more effective method for the resolution of insolvent crypto businesses.

This method should be one that enables customers to obtain early liquidity and reclaim a portion of their assets without requiring them to speculate on the outcomes of the bankruptcy or take risks that are lopsided. Sam Bankman-Fried stated

Categories
Altcoins Price Analysis

Shiba Inu (SHIB) Market Update

Ethereum whales
Ethereum Whales Continue To Accumulate SHIB

Shiba Inu has shown that the future of your idea and the foundation that ensures a growing business is more important than what you start as. By market cap, Shiba Inu has become one of the top 15 crypto assets. Amidst recent optimistic tendencies, the asset has risen in tandem with other cryptocurrencies.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) has surpassed Tron (TRX) to become the 15th biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, according to statistics from CoinMarketCap. Now, Shiba Inu is worth $6.48B, only a few million dollars more than TRX, which was valued at $6.19B at press time.

With enormous increases since its birth in August 2020 as an alternative to Dogecoin, the meme currency has grown steadily throughout the years. Dogecoin’s connection to the project has also helped it acquire traction in the crypto community, particularly on Twitter. Because of this, investors are more interested in the asset, and word of mouth about it has spread.

Cryptocurrency prices have plummeted recently, but Shiba Inu’s market worth looks to have shot through the roof in the last week, too. Shiba’s market value was $5.2 billion a month ago, in June, at the worst of the Crypto Winter. It has already surpassed TRX thanks to a further $1 billion in funding announced recently.

To explain SHIB’s recent climb in market value, it is necessary to look back at previous positive occurrences that have attracted investors. William David Volk, a mobile game developer in the United States, tweeted on July 20 that Shiba Inu will be getting something new. As seen by the comments area, the Shiba community was intrigued, with some questioning what the gaming veteran was on about.

Shiba Inu also announced a cooperation with The Third Floor (TTF) on July 20th to see TTF construct a virtual environment for the Shiba Inu Metaverse project. Some of the TTF’s work may be found in the Marvel and Star Wars cinematic universes.

Additionally, JeriPay, a Singapore-based payments platform, announced the following day that it will begin accepting payments in Shiba Inu thanks to a partnership with payment processing service FCFPay.

Shiba is now trading at $0.00001179, down 4.5% in the last 24 hours. As a result of the asset’s 11.47 percent rise this week,

Categories
Blockchain News

Three Arrows assets worth $40m were liquidated

Three Arrows Capital
Three Arrows assets worth $40m were liquidated

According to a story published by Bloomberg News on July 21, the liquidator of Three Arrows Capital (3AC), Teneo, has taken custody of assets worth $40 million that belonged to the hedge fund.

The fund’s assets were claimed to consist of bank accounts, various cryptocurrencies, non-traditional financial instruments, and interests in other firms by the liquidators.

On July 20, a spokesman for Teneo named Russell Crumpler made the announcement that the founders of Three Arrows Capital, Kyle Davies, and Su Zhu, still have ownership of some digital assets and bank accounts. Crumpler claimed that Teneo had contacted around 40 businesses in which 3AC may have invested, in addition to approximately 30 cryptocurrency exchanges and banks.

In a second document that was submitted on July 8, the liquidators said that Zhu and Davies had been unhelpful and that they had been unable to find them. On the list of 3AC’s creditors are companies like Genesis, as well as defunct crypto lending platforms such as Voyager Digital and Celsius Network, as well as Algorand and CoinList. The hedge firm owes a total of $2.8 billion to its various creditors.

In the meanwhile, Su Zhu and the wife of Kyle Davies have both initiated legal action against the misappropriated hedge fund. According to a recently published article, the founders of Three Arrows Capital are now on route to Dubai and have refuted allegations that they are unwilling to cooperate with authorities.

According to the sources, they were driven into hiding as a result of the “death threats” they received; yet, they continued to communicate with the liquidator.

The collapse of the fund was partially attributed, according to the co-founders, to the death of Terra, which was also recognized. Zhu suggests that the possibility exists that they let their close friendship with Do Kwon cloud their judgment about the token.

Categories
Ethereum

ETH Whales Take Interest in Polygon (MATIC)

polygon
Polygon Network Q2 Transactions At $284M

An impressive 30-day rebound has been recorded by Polygon (MATIC), one of the major cryptocurrencies. This uptick is attributed to an increase in whale interest.

According to Whale Stats, the 100 largest Ethereum whales traded the most MATIC tokens in the previous 24 hours. In order to win, the token swapped SNX tokens for the top slot on the board.

More than 82,6 million dollars worth of Polygon tokens is held by the top 100 Ethereum whales, according to data. Only 2.83 percent of their overall wealth is invested in this. There is roughly $144.4 million worth of MATIC tokens in the top 5000 ETH wallets.

According to the whale tracker, the ETH whales purchased $3 million of MATIC tokens in the previous 48 hours. Polygon tokens were contributed to the “Bonobo” wallet in a single transaction, totaling $1.81 million.

Whales Stats also noted that MATIC tokens were among the top 10 tokens acquired by the largest 100 BSC whales. The value of their assets has increased to $31.87 million.

At the time of this writing, the Polygon was trading at an average price of $0.852. Over the previous seven days, MATIC’s prices have risen by more than 21%. In the last 24 hours, Matic’s trading volume was over $882.5 million. However, there has been a little decline in the overall number of holders.

ETH whales have sold huge amounts of MATIC tokens in the previous 24 hours, according to our analysis. The token sits above the tally at the top. The price of Polygon, on the other hand, has declined by around 9% in the same time frame. Among Ethereum Whales’ top ten most often used smart contracts, you’ll find the MATIC token as well.

Chainlink and Shiba Inu, on the other hand, remain the most generally held tokens and the most valuable token in terms of dollars. SHIB coins are valued at $554.3 million to the top 100 ETH whales. It accounts for 19% of their entire investments.

Categories
Blockchain News

Former Coinbase manager accused of insider trading

insider trading
Former Coinbase manager accused of insider trading

Ex-Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi, his brother Nikhil Wahi and a friend Sameer Ramani have been indicted by the US Department of Justice (DOJ). On the basis of an alleged plot to engage in crypto asset insider trading using secret information obtained from Coinbase, the three men were charged with wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud.

New York’s Southern District and the Securities and Exchange Commission have been investigating the brothers since Thursday when they were both detained (SEC). Ramani, on the other hand, is still at large.

The authorities revealed that Ishan Wahi began working at Coinbase in October 2020 and was actively involved in product listings, among other activities attributed to his role.

From August 2021 until May 2022, he was also a member of the company’s private message channel, which was reserved for senior executives. The channel provided crucial information on the asset-listing process, including launch dates and other important data.

There has been a DOJ investigation into how a former Coinbase product manager allegedly obtained nonpublic information about the exchange’s planned cryptocurrency offerings, including public disclosures.

It was only after he violated a nondisclosure agreement that Nikhil Wahi and Sameer Ramani were able to acquire the cryptocurrencies ahead of their official listing date and benefit from their early purchases.

At least 14 insider tradings on 25 different cryptocurrencies resulted in nearly $1.5 million in gains for the three using this strategy.

As soon as he rejected Coinbase’s request for an interview, this former employee attempted to leave for India before being detained by law enforcement.

According to Attorney Williams, fraud is a fraud, and the court will continue to prosecute defaulters regardless of where it takes place.

It’s good to be reminded that Web3 is not a lawless haven. His announcement of the first insider trading case using cryptocurrency marketplaces comes only a few months after he revealed the first ever NFT insider trading investigation.

According to the counselor, the message they are sending with these accusations is quite clear: fraud is a fraud, regardless of where it takes place.

In the article, it was revealed that the three had been charged with different crimes. With a possible penalty of 20 years each, the former Coinbase employee was charged with two charges of conspiracy and two counts of wire fraud.

Both Nikhil Wahi and Ramani Wahi have been formally charged with one count of wire fraud conspiracy and one count of fire fraud.

Categories
Ethereum

Ethereum on exchanges plummets as we prepare for merge

Ethereum
On-chain data shows Ethereum being utilized as a value storage

As a result of record staking statistics on Ethereum 2.0 (the network’s upcoming upgrade, which was recently renamed to “Consensus Layer”), Ethereum (ETH) held on exchanges reached a four-year low yesterday. This comes after record staking figures on Ethereum 1.0.

According to the statistics provided by the analytics platform Glassnode, centralized exchanges presently have 19.09 million Ethereum. This number was slightly less than 20 million in July of 2018, suggesting that Glassnode’s data is accurate.

In addition, the amount of ETH that is now held on exchanges has decreased from 21.191 million by ten percent over the course of the last five days.

These data points were also solidified as a result of the huge outflows that exchanges recently experienced.

According to a research published by Glassnode, the volume of funds leaving centralized exchanges reached its highest level in thirteen months, which may suggest that investors have less interest in trading or holding the asset.

Similar findings were reported by the blockchain tracking and reporting platform Chainalysis, which stated, “The change in ETH held on exchanges experienced the largest one-day decrease in the past 202 days.” This decrease brought the total amount of ETH held on exchanges down to 249.58k from 432.84k.

As the network gets ready for its most significant upgrade to yet, the rapid decrease in the total quantity of Ethereum owned across exchanges is probably due to the increased amount of Ethereum that is being staked.

Ethereum 2.0 is a proof-of-stake (PoS) network, which differs from the Ethereum network that is currently in use. On this network, validators must stake 32 Ethereum in order to certify the network’s integrity.

Additionally, the amount of ETH that is being staked on the Beacon Chain, which is a Proof-of-Stake version of Ethereum that was released in December 2020, has been consistently growing over the last several days.

The Merge is scheduled to take place on September 19, and it is anticipated that this event would see the current mainnet merge with the PoS version. As of right now, the total amount staked is 13.14 million, and there are more than 410,000 distinct validators participating in the process.

During the previous twenty-four hours, the price of ETH increased by 8.6 percent, reaching a high of almost $1,638 before dropping back down.

Over the last week, the value of the second-largest cryptocurrency, which now has a market capitalization of close to $199 billion, has increased by more than 34.5 percent.

Categories
News NFT

Doodles NFT sales down by 80% from May’s levels

doodles
Doodles NFT sales down by 80% from May's levels

Doodles is one of the top 15 digital collector collections of all time, with a cumulative sales volume of over $511.85 million over the course of its existence. Doodles made a total of around $15.39 million in sales for the month of June 2022.

The value of the digital collectible seems to be somewhat low despite the fact that it has completed a number of important milestones. Doodles, on the other hand, outsold Axie Infinity, Bored Ape Kernel Club, the Sandbox, and Meebits over the same time period in terms of monthly sales.

However, as compared to those of Otherside, CryptoPunks, and Bored Ape Yacht Club, the NFT’s sales were much lower. Despite this, Doodles’ most recent sales volume was much lower than May’s. The decline was almost 80 percent. During the month of May, Doodles’ sales came to around $77.63 million.

On October 17, 2021, Jordan Castro, Scott Martin, and Evan Keast were the ones who first presented the concept of Doodles. Burnt Toast was responsible for the creation of the digital attributes that were used to make 10,000 non-fungible tokens for the collection. The hand-drawn Doodles include a variety of characters, including mascots, apes, aliens, cats, and skeletons.

The collection also includes a wide variety of clothing options, one-of-a-kind heads, and a wide range of color swatches from the artist’s palette. When you become an owner of a Doodle, you have the sole right to vote on community-driven events, commodities, and features.

You can see how the decrease in sales volume from June resulted in a decline in Doodle’s transaction counts, which decreased to 677 unique buyers and 998 transactions. This may be attributed to the fact that there were fewer people making purchases.

When compared to January, which was the month in which the NFT’s monthly sales reached their highest point, there were 1,928 different buyers, which resulted in 3,127 transactions. The first month of the year brought in more than $122.11 million for Doodles in terms of revenue.

The sale of the collection hit a new all-time low in June when it brought in less than $30 million for the first time. This is a drop of $106.72 million from January’s total.

In addition to a decrease in sales volume, the typical selling price took a significant dive, dropping from $39,049 in January to $15,417 in June, a reduction of 60 percent.

Categories
Bitcoin Regulation

California approves a significant Bitcoin regulation

California
California approves a significant Bitcoin regulation

Cryptocurrency donations to state and municipal political campaigns are now permitted in California. The Fair Political Practices Commission has adopted new regulations that enable candidates to accept cryptocurrency payments such as Bitcoin. Candidates must, however, promptly convert them to US currency.

The move comes as California strives to become the country’s “crypto capital.” California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order in May to promote innovation via cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies.

According to the Los Angeles Times, California Fair Political Practices Commission passed new regulations on July 22 that enable political candidates to accept crypto payments such as Bitcoin. The new regulations will go into force after 60 days.

However, crypto payments must be converted to US dollars promptly via a registered cryptocurrency processor that records each contributor’s identity, address, profession, and employer.

California, interestingly, was one of the nine states that barred crypto contributions to political politicians. With the adoption of new regulations, California joins Washington, D.C. as the 13th state to permit crypto and bitcoin contributions to political campaigns.

Candidates for federal seats, on the other hand, may already take cryptocurrency contributions. Several crypto-focused political action committees are aiming to spend heavily in the upcoming Presidential Elections in 2024 in order to elect a crypto-friendly U.S. president.

As crypto use grows in the nation, the United States seeks to enhance crypto rules. It will enable businesses to operate under the proposed bipartisan cryptocurrency law.

This week has been a fantastic surge for Bitcoin. The BTC price seems to be approaching the 200 WMA, with a break over $23.8k expected.

According to crypto specialists such as Michael van de Poppe and Rekt Capital, if Bitcoin (BTC) breaks over $23.8k, it might reach $28k. BTC is now trading over the $23.5k mark, up 4% in the previous 24 hours.

Categories
Blockchain News

Germany and the US are the top crypto-friendly countries

Germany
Germany and the US are the top crypto-friendly countries

Germany and the US are top crypto-friendly economies. Coincub’s Q2 2022 Global Crypto Ranking Report found this. Germany remained first from Q1 2022, while the US jumped from third.

The US fared well because of new bitcoin laws, according to the survey. Fidelity Investments’ decision to include Bitcoin in American pension fund holdings boosted the US’s rating. State-by-state crypto regulation in the US scored poorly.

Germany has a favorable tax environment, a large number of crypto holders, and Bitcoin nodes. Switzerland, Singapore, and Australia complete the top 5 crypto-friendly economies (5th). Singapore has several ICOs and cryptocurrency holders. Switzerland has strict AML and KYC rules and several VASPs.

Portugal and the UAE were the fastest-rising crypto-friendly economies. The UAE was praised for licensing exchanges and crypto firms and providing clear criteria for ICOs and crypto agencies. UAE is tax-free. Portugal has a significant tax incentive and minimal crypto taxes, and the government is receptive to mining and trade.

Russia, the US, and France completed the top 5 risers (5th). Russia allowed crypto trade and mining. The US has numerous crypto investors, ATMs, Bitcoin nodes, and miners. France has a large blockchain ecosystem, multiple Bitcoin nodes, and a good bank and government stance on the blockchain.

South Korea (1st) and Pakistan (2nd) fell the most. Pakistan’s crypto regulation was graded poorly. South Korea licensed cryptocurrency exchanges, reducing their number from 60 to 4.

Philippines, Mexico, Belgium, Brazil, China, and Cyprus also declined in crypto-friendliness. They tied for third. These economies lacked a crypto strategy and regulation.

Most crypto-friendly economies have progressive crypto policies, an advantageous tax system, a large crypto community, and a favorable government attitude toward blockchain technology. Low-ranking economies lacked a crypto strategy and crypto regulation. Economies are trying to become crypto innovation centers.

Categories
Blockchain News Regulation

SEC: Coinbase Is Listing Assets That Are Securities

coinbase
SEC and Coinbase Debacle Gets Heated

At least nine of the digital assets that are listed on the cryptocurrency exchange known as Coinbase are allegedly unregistered securities, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). AMP (AMP), Rally (RLY), DerivaDEX (DDX), XYO (XYO), Rari Governance Token (RGT), LCX (LCX), Powerledger (POWR), DFX Finance (DFX), and Kromatika (KROM) are the nine assets in concern. 

If a digital token or crypto asset is able to fulfill the requirements of the Securities Act’s definition of a security, then it is considered to be a crypto asset security. The Securities Act defines security as an investment contract.

The firm that is responsible for the KROM token, Kromatika Finance, has provided a response to the claims of insider trading made by the SEC about the cryptocurrency exchange. Concerning the business’s listing, it is not apparent whether or not the SEC intends to pursue charges against the corporation.

They are also certain that Coinbase would assist the authorities in clarifying the circumstances of the mistake made by this one person acting alone.

Although previous officials of the SEC have said publicly that the agency does not consider cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) to be securities, the current Chairman of the SEC, Gary Gensler, has been less transparent than his predecessors. A month ago, he said to CNBC that the only thing he would definitively state on the nature of cryptocurrencies is that Bitcoin is not a security while dodging queries regarding Ethereum (ETH).

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has taken the position that almost every Ethereum-based token sold in an initial coin offering (ICO) is unregistered security, and the Commission is currently embroiled in a lawsuit against the cryptocurrency payments company Ripple (XRP) over Ripple’s own sale of XRP. The lawsuit has a potential value of $1.3 billion.

Categories
Blockchain News Regulation

South Korea delays 20% crypto tax until 2025

South Korea
South Korea delays 20% crypto tax until 2025

There will be no 20% tax on crypto profits under the amount of 2.5 million won ($1,942.20) until January 20, 2025, the South Korea government stated Thursday, citing “the absence of an investor safety framework” as the reason for delaying taxes. Taxes are levied on revenue from the transfer or lending of cryptocurrency assets.

An article in a local media outlet said that the 20% tax was scheduled to go into force beginning in January 2023. As a result of the May Terra (LUNA) blockchain drama, the government has postponed its decision for two more years.

Additionally, the administration cited unpredictable market circumstances as a major factor in the delay. By 2025, according to a study, the Korean government plans to put in place a comprehensive regulatory framework to defend consumers’ rights.

The 2022 tax change, which was scheduled to take effect next year, would allow Korean investors to claim a 20% income tax on digital asset gains of up to $1,942.

In addition, South Korea imposed an additional 20% tax on earnings that exceeded the stipulated maximum for the year. The implementation of this extra tax will proceed as planned.

Withholding taxes of 11 percent and 22 percent of net capital gains on earnings produced from the sale of cryptocurrencies by a foreign person or corporation are also included in the new law.

A new tax law empowers authorities to look into the validity of tax exemptions claimed under the terms of a tax treaty for income derived from non-residents in part by investigating taxpayers based on tax treaty exclusions.

It was intimated by the South Korean government that it would enforce the “Digital Asset Framework Act,” which was put in place to supervise the virtual asset rights company in 2025 when the tax was introduced. A regulatory strategy for virtual currencies is expected to be in place by the end of the month, according to officials.

The government is going to build up a framework for crypto exchanges operating inside its jurisdiction, as previously reported in June, to avoid what occurred with Terraform from happening again.

Categories
Bitcoin News Price Analysis

Bitcoin (BTC) Market Update After Tesla Sell-Off

Tesla
Bitcoin (BTC) Market Update After Tesla Sell-Off

Tesla has been forced to sell almost 75% of its Bitcoin holdings only 18 months after spending over $1 billion on the digital currency, in what looks to be a last-minute scramble to keep its finances in order.

On Wednesday, Tesla said that it has sold 75% of its bitcoin stash, according to an earnings report. In the second quarter of this year, the business sold $936 million worth of Bitcoin.

As of June 30, Tesla has just 42,000 BTC on hand. If the corporation sold 75% of its BTC for $936 million, then each BTC was sold for an average of $29,000. It seems Tesla sold the assets before the crypto winter, which saw Bitcoin fall to a low of $18,000, according to these numbers.

On June 30, Tesla’s operational income was $2.5 billion, and CEO Elon Musk said that “Bitcoin’s impairment” had harmed the company’s profitability. We had to sell assets to get our books in order, which resulted in a cash infusion of $936 million.

Despite the allegations, BTC has remained over the $20k level and is now trading at $22,867.

Following the results call, a positive surge of enthusiasm swept over Tesla’s shares, which completed the day in the green.

An outcry broke out in the ecosystem when the decision was made to sell for reasons unrelated to bitcoin. Thus, according to DonAlt, “Elon Musk is okay hawking DOGE to the people, but is not comfortable retaining BTC and sells for a (rumored) 10% loss after a complete round trip.”

After buying $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin in February 2021 to add to its balance sheet, Tesla generated quite a commotion. As a result, the price of Bitcoin surged and a revolutionary announcement was made that consumers could now pay for automobiles using the cryptocurrency.

Tesla reversed course and stopped accepting Bitcoin payments for car purchases, so the honeymoon was short-lived. As Musk put it, “the exponential increase in fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions” prompted the decision.

He stated that the firm would not sell any of its bitcoins and will continue to accept the currency as a form of payment when mining operations employ renewable energy.

Categories
Blockchain News Regulation

Stablecoin Laws In The U.S. Might Come Sooner Than Expected

Stablecoins
Congress Pushing the U.S. Stablecoins Bill Until After the August Break

Stablecoin regulations in the United States may soon be the result of an agreement between two House members. In the event that a compromise is reached in the next few days, authorities will have a framework in place to manage the stablecoin problem. The deal might be passed by House within the next several months if all goes according to plan in the next weeks.

WSJ reports that two high-profile members of the House of Representatives are likely to agree to impose more stringent control on stablecoins. Democratic Representative Maxine Waters and Republican Representative Patrick McHenry are likely to reach an agreement shortly. An agreement might be made in the coming days, and the House Financial Services Committee could vote on it as early as next week, according to the report.

As soon as next week, Ms. Waters’ panel may vote on a compromise, and the House might approve it within the next few months if an agreement is achieved.

In addition, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has supported crypto regulation in the past. Yellen urged last month that Congress limit the inclusion of crypto assets in retirement accounts.

In the meanwhile, things aren’t going so well for the senators trying to get a deal done. As of right now, it’s unclear how they’ll respond to proposals for the regulation of stablecoins from current regulatory agencies. For example, Sherrod Brown, a Democrat Senator from Ohio, said that stablecoins should be regulated in accordance with current laws. Senator Brown heads the banking committee in the United States.

Senator Brown was reportedly absent from meetings around the new agreement reached between Waters and McHenry. In the meanwhile, the Fed will likely follow the new legislation when it comes to regulating stablecoin issuers. Non-financial firms will not be able to issue the goods under the bill’s limits, according to the article.

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) announced new stablecoin regulatory advice earlier this month. As stated at the time, the advice establishes fundamental conditions for U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins that fall within its scope.

Categories
News NFT

LG Electronics Ventures Into Metaverse

LG
60FB0E4A 8E8B 4597 B367 A7FBF551EDA4

The most recent company to enter the metaverse is LG, which on July 19 submitted a trademark application for its LG ART LAB brand to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The company intends, as stated in the application, to offer TV software for the issuance and trading of NFTs, as well as trading software, brokerage services, and digital asset management. In addition, payment services and software for cryptocurrency wallets can be found in the metaverse.

Before making this announcement, LG had already released a number of products related to NFT. This collaboration between the company and media artist Refik Anadol began in May and will result in the display of NFT artwork on OLED TVs.

Metaverse and NFT have created a new way for businesses to interact with customers, which has persuaded many established technology companies to enter the space. Samsung and HTC are among the more recent businesses that have expressed interest in expanding into NFT or smartphones.

In addition to LG, another electronic giant based in South Korea, Samsung, also unveiled a variety of products under the NFTs umbrella. Samsung has begun incorporating an NFT platform into its televisions, enabling customers to purchase NFTs directly from their respective devices.

In general, prominent global brands hailing from a variety of industries have been working toward the goal of entering the metaverse by filing trademark applications. According to a report by Finbold, the total number of trademarks associated with NFTs surpassed 4,000 in the United States alone between January 1 and May 31 of 2022.

Categories
Blockchain News

Zipmex Halts Withdrawals Due To Market Conditions

Zipmex thailand
Zipmex Asked For A Meeting With Thailand SEC

The Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Zipmex has suspended withdrawals of user funds until further notice.

In its announcement, the company explained that the decision was influenced by the current state of the cryptocurrency market and the financial constraints of its partner institutions.

Coinbase reportedly intended to acquire Zipmex but ultimately decided to invest in the company. The partnership, which was disclosed last month, was to contribute an undisclosed amount to a $40 million SeriesB+ fund round for the Thailand exchange. There are rumors that crypto lender Babel Finance participated in the funding round, but there have been no official confirmations.

According to a report from mid-June, Coinbase laid off 18 percent of its workforce, or 1,100 employees, as a result of market declines. Babel Finance, on the other hand, has been forced to halt the withdrawal of user funds, just as Zipmex did recently.

The most recent development adds Zipmex to the list of companies that have suspended withdrawals during the crypto winter.

A prime example is the cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network, which has suspended user withdrawals for over a month and has yet to release funds. Last week, the business filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

However, Celsius Network’s insolvency may have been the result of poor risk management, as former employee Timothy Cradle acknowledged that the company had made some risky investments.

Other companies, including CoinFLEX, Vauld, Three Arrows Capital (3AC), and others, have either suspended user withdrawals or declared bankruptcy.

Despite the extreme volatility of the cryptocurrency market, some businesses have increased their acquisition and investment activity. This is exemplified by the cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and FTX. In June, Binance announced it would increase hiring, mergers, and acquisitions (M&A). FTX invested in the cryptocurrency lender BlockFi.

Categories
Bitcoin News

Bitcoin (BTC) Dump Triggers Bull Trap Warning

bitcoin market
Bitcoin market update 09/03

Price rises of Bitcoin have exceeded 7% in the past day and close to 20% in the previous seven days. The current price of Bitcoin (BTC) is $23.4K. The surge in Bitcoin’s price is seen as a bull trap rather than a breakout by many analysts.

An influential and well-known crypto investor, CryptoWhales, has pointed out that one of the largest whales is selling their BTC. There is a lot of exit liquidity, he claims, because of the recent rise in BTC prices.

BTC’s upward trend is in sync with the overall recovery in the cryptocurrency market. On the heels of the announcement of the merge date, the price of Ethereum has skyrocketed. Its current price is $1,537.65, a gain of more than 40% in the previous seven days.

There was a record $361,686,300 BTC selloff by whales, according to CryptoWhales. The BTC price is expected to drop to $10K, according to him, and he predicts additional dumps.

il Capo Of Crypto, another well-known crypto investor, and influencer highlighted that although the short-term trend for Bitcoin is optimistic, the long-term tendency is gloomy. Regardless of what he says, he cautions that $15,8K to 16,2K is still the primary goal. The negative divergences in the market have been repeatedly recited by him.

As a BTC holder since 2014, Profit Blue is confident in his pessimistic outlook. He sees the market as a well-executed bull trap.

BTC has demonstrated strength despite the experts’ bull trap warnings. Significantly, Bitcoin (BTC) just passed the 200-weekly moving average.

A well-known Bitcoin expert, Willy Woo, has disclosed that the current BTC price is quite close to the Realized Price. As a symbol of resistance, it’s traditionally been a positive one.

FEAR rather than EXTREME FEAR has suddenly climbed to the top of Bitcoin’s index of “Fear and Greed.”

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