Crypto

In stock markets and the crypto sector, traders are always looking for a definite reason to explain an asset’s price action, which means it’s important to stress that correlation doesn’t imply causation.  While it may be easy to connect a regulatory statement or pending legislation to the outcome of an asset’s price, there’s not always hard proof that these were the exact drivers. Some indicators described below may have happened due to pure luck, even if the coincidence continues throughout history. For example, Bitcoin’s (BTC) pump to $48,200 on Oct. 1 could have been related to the Sept. 30 remarks by the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell. When asked to clarify his comments on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), Powell affirmed that...

Twitter user Lauren Walker tweeted a message claiming she was “stealing” nonfungible tokens, only to have crypto-Twitter turn around and mint her words into a token listing for thousands of dollars. In an Oct. 2 post on Twitter, Walker mockingly said her current collection of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, was valued at more than $8 trillion given that she claimed she has right-clicked on the images and saved them to her drive. The message ignores the verifiable scarcity underpinning tokenizing images and artwork, but Walker said she had “a real job” and dismissed criticism from the community. i have stolen over 4 terabytes of NFTs via the little known hacker technique known as “right click -> save as”. my collection has a net estimated value of over 8 trillion dollars — laure...

Emerging markets across Central and Southern Asia have registered a dramatic uptick in cryptocurrency transactions, highlighting a diverse range of motivations among locals for gaining exposure to digital assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). New research from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis finds that crypto transactions surged 706% in Central and Southern Asia and Oceania — a broad region that includes countries such as India, Pakistan and Vietnam — between July 2020 and June 2021. In dollar terms, the value of the transactions amounted to $572.5 billion, or 14% of the global transaction value. Institutional and large payments accounted for the highest percentage of transactions, offering further evidence of smart money adoption of cryptocurrency. This trend was most pronou...

Institutional investors are pivoting back to digital gold with Bitcoin (BTC) investment products posting a third consecutive week of inflows. According to CoinShares’ latest Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly report, BTC investment products generated $68.7 million worth of inflows between Sept. 27 and Oct. 1, representing a 36% increase in exposure week-over-week. While products tracking BTC have now dominated inflows to digital asset products for two weeks in a row, the bullish turn comes fresh off a record streak of outflows that persisted for eight consecutive weeks until early September. Total inflows for digital investment products were $90 million for the week, marking the seventh consecutive week of inflows as institutional investors continue to increase exposure to digital assets. Ins...

Marathon Digital Holdings, a United States-based crypto mining company, has secured a $100 million revolving line of credit with Silvergate Bank using USD and Bitcoin. According to information provided by Marathon Digital, the mining firm obtained the $100 million credit line from the crypto-friendly bank on Friday. The company will use the credit to purchase Bitcoin (BTC) mining equipment and fund its mining operations. Marathon Digital said it expects Silvergate to renew the revolving line of credit annually after the initial one-year arrangement. In addition, Marathon Digital reported it had produced more than 1,252 BTC — roughly $59.5 million at the time of publication — during the third quarter of 2021, with 340.6 BTC minted in September alone— a 91% increase over Q2. The increase in ...

The wider cryptocurrency market fell under pressure on Oct. 4 as the momentum generated by Bitcoin’s (BTC) weekend spike above $49,000 was overshadowed by more global concerns related to the global financial system, rising inflation and supply chain challenges.  Despite these struggles, many altcoins managed to rally and at the time of writing, the crypto gaming and decentralized finance sectors continue to grow in popularity. Top 7 coins with the highest 24-hour price change. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24 hours were Axie Infinity (AXS), PowerPool (CVP) and Polkastarter (POLS). Axie Infinity releases new character details Axie Infinity is a blockchain-based battle and collecting gam...

Major social media and communication platforms Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp went offline Monday as the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies surged. As data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro shows, the Bitcoin (BTC) price moved above $49,000 after falling to a daily low of $47,166, an increase of roughly 4.5% in less than two hours. Similarly, the price of Ether (ETH) rose 3.5% over the same period to reach $3,411 at the time of publication. The sudden price volatility comes as major social media platform Facebook, photo and video sharing app Instagram, and messenger app WhatsApp — both owned by Facebook — went down at approximately 11:16 AM EST on Oct. 4. According to Facebook’s communications team, who communicated through Twitter, the company was “working to get thing...

Bitcoin (BTC) is facing rejection near $50,000, indicating that bears are not ready to give up without a fight. Many analysts expect Bitcoin to soar in the last quarter of the year and stock-to-flow model creator PlanB says the “worst-case scenario” for Bitcoin in October is $63,000 and $98,000 by November. PlanB is not alone in his bullish projection. Using Bitcoin’s relative strength index (RSI) indicator during the four-year cycle, Twitter commentator TechDev suggests that the second leg of the 2021 bull run may just be getting started. The trader expects Bitcoin’s cycle top to be around $200,000. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 While historical projections may be pointing for a rally in the last quarter, the rise may not be linear. The United States e...

Edward Snowden has touted the antifragility of Bitcoin (BTC) despite increasing regulatory scrutiny on cryptocurrencies around the world. Tweeting on Sunday, the former United States Central Intelligence Agency agent stated that Bitcoin has gotten stronger on the back of government bans and anti-crypto policies. Snowden’s tweet referenced remarks made back on March 13, 2020, amid the throes of the Black Thursday decline that saw crypto and equity markets tank amid fears of the coronavirus pandemic. As reported by Cointelegraph at the time, Snowden was unfazed by Bitcoin’s 50% drop, stating that it was the first time he “felt like buying Bitcoin.” “It’s up ~10x since, despite a coordinated global campaign by governments to undermine public understanding of—and support for—cryptocurrency,” S...

Bitcoin (BTC) adoption is growing in the auction world, where privacy is a key concern. An anonymous buyer purchased a legendary rally car driven by iconic rally figures Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz, which was thought to be long-lost in an auction for half a million Australian dollars ($360,000) and reportedly used Bitcoin as a payment method. Australian auction house Lloyds Auctions announced that the 1994 Subaru Prodrive 555 Group A World Rally Championship Car had been found in a barn, covered in dust, in the Victoria state of Australia. The car was originally thought to be valued at 15,000–20,000 Australian dollars ($10,900–$14,500). But a six-month investigation from the International Classic Automobile Authentication and Rating System (ICAARS) revealed that “it may well be worth more...

Following a $680-million funding round, nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace Sorare is looking to be an active player in bridging the gap between sports and digital entertainment. Now valued at $4.3 billion, Sorare told Cointelegraph that the company plans to use the fresh capital to expand its business with new hires and partnerships, as well as support community-led programs. Besides working with community-led football programs aimed at helping young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and backing underprivileged entrepreneurs in sports and gaming, Sorare CEO Nicolas Julia explained via email that the NFT unicorn would also support female representation in sports. He said: “We believe that NFTs can significantly accelerate the development of women’s sports. We will actively invest in th...

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit will soon halt services for unverified users. On Saturday, the company officially announced a set of changes to its customer verification system in compliance with South Korea’s mandatory Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements. According to the announcement, Upbit will start gradually limiting services for unverified users this week, restricting unverified customers from transacting more than 1 million Korean won ($850) at a time, effective Wednesday, Oct. 6. “Once customer verification is completed, the 1 million won limit will be lifted; members who submit an order with less than 1 million won can proceed with customer verification at any time,” the firm said. In a week after initial AML restrictions, Upbit plans to place more limits for ...