Crypto
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Illicit crypto usage as a percent of total usage has fallen: Report
Illicit cryptocurrency activity in 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 has declined as a percentage of overall crypto activity, according to blockchain forensics firm CipherTrace. The cryptocurrency industry has long held a reputation in some jurisdictions as a haven for illegal activity. However, CipherTrace estimates that illicit activity was between 0.62% and 0.65% of overall cryptocurrency activity in 2020. The firm reported that it has now fallen to between 0.10% and 0.15% of overall activity in 2021. Source: CipherTrace In its Cryptocurrency Crime and Anti-Money Laundering Report released June 13, CipherTrace outlined that the top ten decentralized finance (DeFi) hacks in 2021 and Q1 2022 netted attackers $2.4 billion. Over half of that figure came from just two events, the largest be...
Crypto lender Celsius freezes withdrawals; rival Nexo offers a ‘helping hand’
Celsius halted withdrawals on Monday, noting that said the process back to normalcy could see delays Fellow crypto lending Nexo tabled an offer to ‘bail’ Celsius by taking up its qualifying assets Crypto lending platform Celsius is seeing the worst of the crypto markets and, in effect, announced on Monday morning that it paused redemptions citing severe “market conditions.” In what it termed a very important message to the community, Celsius justified that it took the decision in order to remain ‘fit’ to honor its withdrawal obligations to customers over time. “Acting in the interest of our community is our top priority. In service of that commitment and to adhere to our risk management framework, we have activated a clause in our Terms of Use that will allow for this process to take place...
Binance resumes withdrawals as many retail crypto investors monitor exchanges
Major crypto exchange Binance has announced that it had resumed Bitcoin withdrawals after more than three hours amid extreme market volatility. In an update during what many are calling cryptocurrency’s “Black Monday,” Binance said on its website the exchange would be processing Bitcoin (BTC) network withdrawals within “the next couple of hours” following the resumption of activity. The platform announced Monday that it had temporarily paused BTC withdrawals, with CEO Changpeng Zhao saying on Twitter that all user funds were “SAFU.” #Bitcoin network withdrawals have now resumed on #Binance.https://t.co/FhxXi3LeBg — Binance (@binance) June 13, 2022 While BTC trading activity on Binance seems to have been restored, withdrawals for users on Celsius have remained frozen since...
Floor price of popular NFT collections collapse due to bear market
It appears there is no respite anywhere in the crypto realm in the face of Monday’s extraordinary market sell-off. Based on data from NFT Price Floor, the floor prices for Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks, two of the most popular nonfungible token, or NFT, collections on the market, have fallen to 74 ETH ($92,223) and 48 ETH ($69,473), respectively. In comparison, pieces in the BAYC collection had an all-time high floor price of 153.70 ETH, while the same metric amounted to 123 ETH for CryptoPunks. The data aggregator tracks 380 collections with a total market cap of $5.58 billion at the time of publication. The sell-off among NFTs was partly exacerbated by a warning just a day prior, where Gordon Goner, co-founder of Yuga Labs — the firm owning both BAYC and CryptoP...
Price analysis 6/13: BTC, ETH, BNB, ADA, XRP, SOL, DOGE, DOT, LEO, AVAX
The United States equities markets extended their decline to start the week on June 13. The S&P 500 hit a new year-to-date low and dipped into bear market territory, falling more than 20% from its all-time high made on Jan. 4. The cryptocurrency markets are tracking the equities markets lower and the selling pressure further intensified due to the rumored liquidity crisis of major lending platform Celsius and traders possibly selling positions to meet margin calls. This pulled the total crypto market capitalization below $1 trillion. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 The sharp declines have led some analysts to project extremely bearish targets. While anything is possible in the markets and it is difficult to call a bottom, capitulations usually tend to sta...
Law Decoded, June 7–13: Lummis-Gillibrand bill is finally here
One can hardly name a document more long-hoped-for as the crypto bill, co-sponsored by United States Senators Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, was for the crypto community. And, it’s finally here. Last week, Lummis and Gillibrand introduced a 69-page bill in the U.S. Senate. What’s inside? The projects of study on the environmental impact of digital assets and advisory committee on innovation, a tax structure, a mandate for analysis of the use of digital assets in retirement savings and much more. Should it become law, the bill would undoubtedly implement major changes to the current regulatory landscape. Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis have confirmed that Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) will be classified as commodities and regulated by the Commodity ...
Nexo looking to bail out Celsius as the network freezes withdrawals
Earlier today, the Celsius network halted all withdrawals, swaps and transfers between its users’ accounts, citing extreme market conditions. Now, rival crypto lending firm Nexo is extending a letter of intent to buy all the company’s eligible assets. Trouble in paradise One of the leading cryptocurrency lenders – Celsius Network – is facing major problems. Citing “extreme market conditions”, the company halted all withdrawals, swaps and transfers between its users’ accounts, causing a stir within the crypto community. Shortly thereafter, a rival company – Nexo – sent a letter of intent to “purchase residual qualifying assets” from Celsius Network. Nexo, its partners and affiliates could easily acquire some or all of the eligible outstanding loan receivables secured by the...
In this together: Musk and Saylor down a combined $1.5B on Bitcoin buys
As the bear market bites, holding crypto investments can be a tough pill to swallow. Consider two of the largest bag holders of publicly traded companies. They are down by almost $2 billion dollars on their Bitcoin buys. According to Bitcointreasuries.net, the 130,000 and 43,00 Bitcoin (BTC) held by Microstrategy and Tesla respectively are worth considerable sums less. The top “Hodlers” of Bitcoin according to Bitcointreasuries.net For Microstrategy, Michael Saylor splashed out almost $4 billion ($3,965,863,658) on 129,218 BTC, approximately 0.615% of the 21 million total supply. The Bitcoin price nosedive has ripped away earlier gains: the investment is worth $3.1 billion ($3,074,987,824), a loss of $900 million. Plus, in premarket trading on June 13, Microstrategy ...
Binance.US faces class-action lawsuit over LUNA and UST sale
Binance.US, the sister company of global cryptocurrency exchange Binance, is facing a class-action lawsuit from investors for the sale of LUNA and TerraUSD (UST). A group of investors filed a class-action lawsuit in the Northern District of California on Monday, alleging that Binance sold unregistered securities in the form of LUNA and UST to investors and mislead them into buying them. The lawsuit was filed by law firms Roche Freedman and Dontzin Nagy & Fleissig on behalf of several investors who lost their money during the recent LUNA and UST spiral collapse. The lawsuit alleged that Binance.US is not registered as a broker-dealer in the United States and thus clearly violates U.S. securities laws. The plaintiffs in the case accused the crypto exchange of knowingly promoting a f...
Binance suspends Bitcoin withdrawals: CZ says funds are ‘SAFU’
Crypto’s Black Monday continues to wreak havoc. Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of crypto exchange Binance, tweeted that there would be a temporary pause on Bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals. Temporary pause of $BTC withdrawals on #Binance due to a stuck transaction causing a backlog. Should be fixed in ~30 minutes. Will update. Funds are SAFU. — CZ Binance (@cz_binance) June 13, 2022 CZ, who often lends his opinion to projects and the market, regularly tweets on behalf of Binance to his 6.4 million followers. He quickly updated the tweet to show: This is only impacting the Bitcoin network. You can still withdraw Bitcoin on other networks like BEP-20. SAFU is a meme that plays on the word ‘safe,’ first appearing in a Youtube video three years ago, while it also refers to Binance’s ...
How to survive in a bear market? Tips for beginners
Usually, bear markets bring about a feeling of uncertainty in any investor. Even more so for a newcomer, for whom it can feel like the end of the world. It may even be common knowledge that during bull cycles, investors are sure of making gains. Whereas in bear markets such as this, an unimaginable amount of pessimism sets in. The co-founder and strategic lead at the Kylin Network, Dylan Dewdney, told Cointelegraph that the two major mistakes that investors make while feeling anxious are “One, over-investing and two, not investing with conviction.” “You need to find the sweetspot where you have enough conviction in your investments while managing the resources devoted to them such that you are 100% comfortable with being patient for a long time. Lastly, bear markets are where the magic rea...
Pennsylvania pharmacist feeds thousands of homeless using crypto
Pennsylvania-based pharmacist Kenneth Kim had always “wanted to do something with crypto” that could “make the world a better place”. In 2019, he founded what is known today as Crypto for the Homeless (CFTHL), a New Jersey registered non–profit organization, which has fed more than 5,000 homeless people around the world through the use of digital currencies. “I always had the desire to get involved with some kind of project in crypto… if it made the world better that would be the best possible scenario,” Kim told Cointelegraph. Whilst he was a pharmacy student at Temple University in Philadelphia between 2018 and 2021, Kim would walk past scores of homeless people just on his route between the campus and his home. It was also around this time that the new Blade Runner 2049 movie was ...
