Crypto
Wazupnaija – Naija Entertainment blogs & Forums – Business – Crypto
Bitcoin sets news 2022 lows as analyst says trip to $24K realized price ‘entirely possible’
Bitcoin (BTC) set a new record low price for 2022 on May 9 as crypto markets continued selling off prior to the Wall Street opening. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView BTC price sinks under $36,700 Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirmed the firmly bearish achievement for BTC/USD, which hit $32,637 on Bitstamp. With the latest installment of a string of losses in May, the pair continued to trade under $33,000 at the time of writing, with weekly losses now at 15%. “Bitcoin sweeping the lows here, that’s probably next liquidity,” Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe told Twitter followers in one of several posts on the day: “We could go towards $30-31Kish as that’s a daily block, but I’d be looking at longs around these regio...
Understanding staking pools: The pros and cons of staking cryptocurrency
As a suitable option for long-term crypto token holders, staking pools offer the promise of earning yields in addition to the capital gains earned through token value appreciation. One can invest in a stake pool with a fraction of the number of tokens required to become a validator on a PoS blockchain, while the staking pool rewards users on a daily, weekly or quarterly basis, depending on the cryptocurrency being staked. For example, investors can stake their ETH tokens in a staking pool on Coinbase for daily rewards and with no minimum balance requirement. Another popular blockchain to stake tokens is Cosmos, the second largest ecosystem in blockchain. Investors can also stake their tokens through various validators on many chains available in the Cosmos ecosystem. Choosing which staking...
NFT markets slump as weekly sales volume dives 30%
The nonfungible token (NFT) collections by Yuga Labs have experienced a dramatic downturn in transaction volume over the past 24 hours. Otherdeed is down just over 50%, Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) is down 46%, and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is down 25% according to data from NFT market tracker NFTGO. Over the past 24 hours, general NFT market activity has mirrored Yuga’s collections, where volume has dropped 31% to $113 million. However, prices have not yet followed suit as the total NFT market cap has dropped marginally to $19.5 billion in the same period. 24hr market analysis by NFTGO Those collections comprise three of the top five traded collections globally. Each collection except Otherdeeds has seen nearly 50% drop-offs in volume over the past seven days as well, possibly ind...
Mining Capital Coin CEO accused of $62M investment fraud scheme
The CEO and co-founder of crypto mining and investment platform Mining Capital Coin (MCC) Luiz Capuci Jr. has been indicted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for “allegedly orchestrating a $62 million global investment fraud scheme.” The DOJ is charging Capuci with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit international money laundering in relation to several allegedly fraudulent schemes that were run via MCC. If found guilty, he faces a maximum prison sentence of 45 years. According to the DOJ’s indictment, Capuci (alongside unnamed co-conspirators) is accused of misleading investors over the profit-bearing potential of MCC mining packages and a native token dubbed Capital Coin that was backed by the “biggest cryptocurrency mining op...
Plain talk about NFTs: What they have been and what they are becoming
There’s been a tremendous amount of hype and misinformation about nonfungible tokens (NFTs) since they appeared on the scene in 2014, particularly since the total market for them passed $24 billion. You can’t open a news feed without an article about nonfungible tokens popping up. These inevitably contain the obligatory “An NFT is a” paragraph for newcomers… and for readers who’ve consumed a dozen similar articles but still don’t get it. If you’re among the latter, you’ve come to the right place. NFTs really can be important and useful, and they’re evolving to become more so. But NFT evangelists and skeptics alike tend to dumb things down, hype things up and sometimes just get things wrong. Here are a few claims you might have read about NFTs — both pro and con: NFTs are a scam. You ...
Top 5 cryptocurrencies to watch this week: BTC, ALGO, XMR, XTZ, THETA
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq have declined for five consecutive weeks, indicating that traders continue to reduce exposure to risky assets. Bitcoin’s (BTC) close correlation with United States equity markets has resulted in its price remaining under pressure. Bitcoin has extended its decline during the weekend and is now on track for its sixth successive weekly loss, the first such occurrence since 2014. The weakness in Bitcoin has pulled down the entire crypto markets, whose market capitalization has dipped below $1.6 trillion. Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360 When the sentiment is bearish, traders sell on every negative news. The de-peg of Terra’s U. S. dollar stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) also appears to be increasing sell pressure across the crypto market. After Bitcoin’s s...
Weekly Report: BitMEX founders fined, California hunting first-mover advantage in Web3, and more
Here are this week’s top stories from the cryptocurrency space: Pantera Capital aims to boost its presence in India with scaled investments Argo Blockchain’s Helios Facility is now energised and set to start mining next week The three BitMEX co-founders have each been ordered to pay a $10 million civil monetary penalty Rapper Ice Cube supports Dogecoin and spurs the largest commercial transaction of DOGE in an NFTs purchase California aims to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for Web3 technology Pantera Capital doubles down on crypto firm funding in India Cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund Pantera Capital has divulged that it’s enhancing its investment push in India. According to Paul Veradittakit, a partner at the firm, Pantera has closed around ten deals in India, notably the...
Utah Governor approves of blockchain and digital innovation task force
After nearly a three-year-long discussion about establishing a task force to oversee blockchain and crypto initiatives, the governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, signed a bill to create the Blockchain and Digital Innovation Task Force. The Utah State Legislature first saw the introduction of the house bill (H.B. 335) in early February 2022, which took nearly two months to pass through several senates, house and fiscal actions before finally being signed by Governor Cox on March 24. Some of the primary duties assigned to the task force involve making policy recommendations related to blockchain and related technologies. A part of the bill reads: “[The task force shall] develop and introduce recommendations regarding policy pertaining to the promotion in the state of the adoption of blockchain, fin...
Bitcoin price target now $29K, trader warns after Terra weathers $285M ‘FUD’ attack
Bitcoin (BTC) prepared for a rare bear feature to return on May 8 after an overnight sell-off took the market ever closer to January lows. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView BTC circles $34,400 lows Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD dipping to $34,200 on Bitstamp, recovering to trade around $500 higher at the time of writing. The pair had seen brief support around the $36,000 mark, but this gave way as thin weekend liquidity added to the volatility. Bitcoin liquidations themselves were limited, however, as market sentiment had long expected a deeper pullback after a tumultuous week on stock markets. Data from on-chain monitoring resource Coinglass countered 24-hour liquidations for both Bitcoin and Ether (ETH), running at aroun...
6 Questions for Ming Duan of Umee
We ask the buidlers in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector for their thoughts on the industry… and throw in a few random zingers to keep them on their toes! This week, our 6 Questions go to Ming Duan, the co-founder and chief operating officer of Umee, a cross-chain DeFi hub that allows decentralized interactions between different blockchains. Ming Duan’s knowledge of the crypto and blockchain world goes back to 2014 when she initially learned about the emerging industry through the first-ever blockchain course taught at a business school. Since then, she has developed extensive crypto investment knowledge through hands-on practice. Duan brings unique insight to Umee, having experience as both a crypto investor and builder in the ecosystem. Her goal for Umee is to build a platf...
LUNA drops 20% in a day as whale dumps Terra’s UST stablecoin — selloff risks ahead?
Terra (LUNA) has plunged significantly after witnessing a FUD attack on its native stablecoin TerraUSD (UST). The LUNA/USD pair dropped 20% between May 7 and May 8, hitting $61, its worst level in three months, after a whale mass-dumped $285 million worth of UST. As a result of this selloff, UST briefly lost its U.S. dollar peg, falling to as low as $0.98. UST daily price chart. Source: TradingView Excessive LUNA supply LUNA serves as a collateral asset to maintain UST’s dollar peg, according to Terra’s elastic monetary policy. Therefore, when the value of UST is above $1, the Terra protocol incentivizes users to burn LUNA and mint UST. Conversely, when UST’s price drops below $1, the protocol rewards users for burning UST and minting LUNA. Therefore, during UST supp...
Nvidia to pay $5.5M as part of SEC case concerning ‘inadequate disclosures’ around crypto mining
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, has announced that it has settled charges against Nvidia — the company behind graphics cards used by many crypto miners — in regards to “inadequate disclosures.” In a Friday announcement, the SEC said that Nvidia failed to disclose that mining cryptocurrencies was “a significant element of its material revenue growth” based on sales of its graphics processing units, or GPUs, during the 2018 fiscal year. The company has agreed to pay a $5.5 million penalty and will be subject to a cease-and-desist order based on violations of the Securities Act of 1933 and disclosures required by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. According to the SEC, Nvidia reported growth in revenue around its gaming business in 2018, but also had informatio...
