Crypto
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Bill addressing stablecoins risks in US likely delayed until September: Report
Lawmakers in the United States House of Representatives have reportedly pushed back the timeline for considering a bill addressing the potential risks of stablecoins. According to a Monday report from the Wall Street Journal, people familiar with the matter said House members will likely delay voting on a stablecoin bill until September after being unable to complete a draft in time for a Wednesday committee meeting. The unresolved issues in the bill reportedly included provisions on custodial wallets from the Treasury Department and concerns from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reportedly wanted to coordinate with the Biden administration for her response to the bill. Neither has publicly weighed in on the proposed legislation, but Yellen previously...
Square Enix partners with Enjin to launch Final Fantasy VII collectibles
Game development giant Square Enix partnered with nonfungible token (NFT) platform Enjin (ENJ) to launch a digital and physical collection featuring Final Fantasy VII, a highly popular video game series. In an announcement, Enjin said that to get the NFTs, fans must pre-order Final Fantasy VII’s 25th-anniversary products at Square Enix’s store. The products will include a code to the digital collectible counterpart which can be redeemed at the NFT platform called the Efinity network in 2023. According to Enjin CTO Witek Radomski, the partnership will have a good effect on digital assets and entertainment. The CTO noted that this is because Square Enix is making its way into the industry, setting an example for other big gaming firms. In May, the gaming giant reveale...
GameStop ‘Falling Man’ NFT saga shows people’s power at its finest
A recent nonfungible token (NFT) listing on Gamestop’s marketplace became the center of controversy in the NFT world. The listing received heavy backlash from the community prompting the marketplace to take action within a day, showing how a community can come together to reverse the wrong. The NFT in question, titled “Falling Man,” showed a man in a space suit falling downwards. The NFT in question had quite a resemblance to the infamous 9/11 photo of a man falling to his death that since has become a defining moment of the deadly attacks. Many believed the NFT was mimicking the 9/11 victim and also infringed on the copyright of the image taken by original photojournalist Richard Drew. In another discussion on the meme stock subreddit GME_Meltdown, a user pointed out that the figure in th...
Ethereum’s bearish U-turn? ETH price momentum fades after $1.6K rejection
Ethereum’s native token Ether (ETH) tumbled on July 26, reducing hopes of an extended price recovery. The ETH/USD pair dropped by roughly 5%, followed by a modest rebound to over $1,550. Ethereum gets rejected at $1,650 These overnight moves liquidated over $80 million worth of Ether positions in the last 24 hours, data from CoinGlass reveals. ETH/USD hourly price chart. Source: TradingView The seesaw action also revealed an underlying bias conflict among traders who have been stuck between two extremely opposite market fundamentals. The first is the euphoria surrounding Ethereum’s potential transition to proof-of-stake in September, which has helped Ether’s price to recover 45% month-to-date. However, this bullish hype is at odds with macroeconomic headwinds, namel...
How blockchain can address Austria’s energy crisis
Climate change has become one of the biggest global challenges for humanity. At the same time, the dependence on hydrocarbon energy sources such as coal, oil and natural gas is still strong. Supply lines around these energy sources are further vulnerable to geopolitical tensions. Due to the current sanctions against Russia, experts now expect rising electricity prices and negative effects on the energy market in Europe. The Austrian government understands the urgent need for the energy transition and has set the ambitious goal of being climate neutral by 2040. Alternative solutions to fossil energy have been slow to emerge and, for the most part, are not yet efficient enough on a large scale. But there are promising approaches — especially in the form of decentralized renewable energies or...
Voyager rejects Alameda buyout offer as it ‘harms customers’
Centralized crypto lender Voyager Digital Holdings has rejected an offer from FTX and its investment arm Alameda Ventures to buyout its digital assets on the grounds that the actions “are not value-maximizing” and potentially “harms customers.” In a rejection letter filed in court on July 24 as part of its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, Voyager’s lawyers denounced the offer made public by FTX, FTX US, and Alameda on July 22 to buy out all of Voyager’s assets and outstanding loans – except the defaulted loan to 3AC. The letter states that making such offers public could jeopardize any other potential deals by subverting “a coordinated, confidential, competitive bidding process,” adding “AlamedaFTX violated many obligations to the Debtors and the Bankruptcy Cou...
Stablecoin projects need collaboration, not competition: Frax founder
Stablecoin projects need to take a more collaborative approach to grow each other’s liquidity and the ecosystem as a whole, says Sam Kazemian, the founder of Frax Finance. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Kazemian explained that as long as stablecoin “liquidity is growing proportionally with each other” through shared liquidity pools and collateral schemes, there won’t ever be true competition between stablecoins. Kazemian’s FRAX stablecoin is a fractional-algorithmic stablecoin with parts of its supply backed by collateral and other parts backed algorithmically. Kazemian explained that growth in the stablecoin ecosystem is not a “zero-sum game” as each token is increasingly intertwined and reliant on each other’s performance. FRAX uses Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) as a porti...
Yuga Labs ‘inappropriately induced’ BAYC investors: Class action
A proposed class-action lawsuit alleges that Yuga Labs “inappropriately induced” the community to buy Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the project’s affiliated ApeCoin (APE) token. The proposed class-action driven by law firm Scott+Scott was published on July 21, claiming that Yuga Labs used celebrity promoters and endorsements to “inflate the price” of the BAYC NFTs and the APE token. It also alleges that Yuga Labs promoted the growth prospects and chance for huge returns on investment to “unsuspecting investors.” “After selling off millions of dollars of fraudulently promoted NFTs, YUGA LABS launched the Ape Coin to further fleece investors.” “Once it was revealed that the touted growth was entirely dependent on continued promotion (as opposed to actual utility or unde...
The Merge is Ethereum’s chance to take over Bitcoin, researcher says
Ethereum researcher, Vivek Raman, is convinced that Ethereum’s (ETH) upcoming transition to a proof-of-stake system will enable it to take over Bitcoin’s (BTC) position as the most prominent cryptocurrency. “Ethereum does have, just from an economic perspective and because of the effect of the supply shock, a chance to flip Bitcoin,” said Raman in an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph. [embedded content] The Merge, a long-awaited upgrade that will complete Ethereum’s transition from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake system, is set to take place in September. In addition, The Merge will transform Ethereum’s monetary policy, making the network more environmentally sustainable and reducing ETH’s total supply by 90%. “After The Merge, Ether...
Top 5 cryptocurrencies to watch this week: BTC, ETH, BCH, AXS, EOS
The bulls are attempting to achieve a strong weekly close for Bitcoin (BTC), while the bears are attempting to regain their advantage. Analysts are closely watching the 200-week moving average which is at $22,705 and BTC’s current setup suggests that a decisive move is imminent. Many analysts expect a weekly close above the 200-week MA to attract further buying but a break below it could signal that bears are back in the game. Although the short-term picture looks uncertain, analyst Caleb Franzen said that Bitcoin has been in an accumulation zone since May. Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360 Meanwhile, on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant highlighted increasing outflows of Ether (ETH) from major exchanges, totaling $1.87 million coins on July 22. Usually, outflows fr...
The opportunities and risks of Metaverse for small businesses
The Metaverse has been become one of the biggest buzzwords in the blockchain and crypto, as it promises to provide a more immersive, interactive and collaborative experience than what the internet has accomplished to date. This promise of a new world has huge enterprises like Meta (formally known as Facebook) investing huge sums in the budding space. When most hear the name Metaverse, their mind wanders to a few things: an avenue for global conglomerates to showcase their technology-forward bent, an esoteric product for a selected few to display nonfungible tokens (NFTs) or a new front in gaming development. However, a deep dive into Metaverse reveals a whole new world, a world full of new opportunities and risks for both consumers and businesses. Although the current Metaverse ecosy...
Bitcoin must close above $21.9K to avoid fresh BTC price crash — trader
Bitcoin (BTC) found strength at $22,000 into July 24 with bulls still aiming for a solid green weekly close. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Classic levels for end-of-week price focus Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD halting a weekend drop at $21,900 to return towards the $23,000 on the day. The pair held a trading range closely focused on key long-term trendlines, which analysts had previously described as essential to reclaim. These included the 50-day and 200-week moving averages (MAs), the latter particularly important as support during bear markets but which had acted as resistance since May. “Bullish that we perfectly held the 13d ema + horizontal 21.9k,” popular Twitter trading account CryptoMellany argued in part of her ...
