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Cryptocurrency is a new technology that has entered the common discourse, setting the stage for a complete upheaval of our long-established financial systems. Of course, some skepticism is unavoidable. Crypto’s association with criminality adds to this shared sense of skepticism. There is no denying that cryptocurrency has and continues to be used for illicit activities across the globe. Having said this, with the use and applicability of crypto becoming increasingly commonplace, the narrative that its creation has facilitated mass criminality needs to be addressed. First impressions count Bitcoin (BTC) was introduced as a bartering tool on Silk Road, a notorious online black market. Criminals-for-hire being among Bitcoin’s first users inflicted reputational damage. Coupled with the myster...

Maybe Amazon really isn’t preparing to accept Bitcoin (BTC) as payment for its goods and services before year’s end, and perhaps Apple isn’t in fact adding $2.5 billion of Bitcoin to its balance sheet — although both events were reported recently, they are still unconfirmed. The question still remains: If and when the tech giants do commit, what impact will they have on the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry? Would it spur crypto adoption or revive Bitcoin as a medium of exchange? Would it confer a seal of approval on digital assets and discourage governments from clamping down on blockchain-based tokens? “This would be a huge validation for crypto,” said Kapil Rathi, co-founder and CEO of CrossTower — an institutional-grade crypto trading platform — when asked to consider the possibil...

Ethereum’s native asset Ether (ETH) crossed above $3,000 in an extended upside rally on Aug. 7, hitting a three-month high. Nevertheless, the cryptocurrency’s incredible move upside also boosted its possibilities of facing a bearish backlash. An on-chain indicator that tracks the total percent of Ethereum addresses in profits predicted the said downside outlook. In detail, the so-called “Ethereum: Percent of Addresses in Profits” indicator by Glassnode reached 96.4% amid the ETH/USD price rally. Lex Moskovski, chief investment officer at Moskovski Capital, highlighted the metric’s capability of predicting Ethereum top. In hindsight, whenever the Glassnode indicator crossed the 90%-threshold, it resulted in profit-taking among Ether investors.  Ethereum pe...

It’s no secret that Coinbase has played an instrumental role in bringing new users into the crypto space. Coinbase’s friendly onboarding process and status as a publicly traded company allow it to appear as a more traditional investment platform to non-crypto savvy investors, leading to greater trust. However, it seems almost weekly that another article hits the internet about Coinbase and its excessive fees for retail and professional traders and investors. The gripe generally unfolds with a comparison of pricing between a couple of different exchanges. With increased competition, the pressure for Coinbase and exchanges around the world to lower fees is mounting. Nevertheless, the biggest pricing issue facing Coinbase and other exchanges is far greater than simply fee structures. Com...

Bitcoin (BTC) reached its highest level in more than two months with just a few days remaining before the July inflation report. The top cryptocurrency climbed 1.65% to $45,363 on Aug.8, continuing the upside momentum that has already seen it jumping 21.62% from its August 5 low of $37,300. BTC/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView.com Momentum was strong among the Bitcoin rivals as well. Ether (ETH), the second-largest crypto by market cap, increased 29.78% from its Aug. 3 low of $2,630, crossing over $3,100 on Sunday. Its gains came after Ethereum’s London hard fork went live on Aug. 5, which should add deflationary pressure to the supply of ETH. July inflation report, on-chain  On Wednesday, Aug.11, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics will release July’s inflati...

This week Ethereum’s London hardfork was completed without a hiccup and investors have now reset their eyes on new highs above $3,100. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the price of Ether (ETH)  did in fact experience a “sell the news” sell-off shortly after London went live but dip buyers quickly rushed in and pushed its price back above $2,800, its highest level since June 7. This bullish momentum extended further after Bitcoin price surged above $44,000 and at the time of writing Ether trades at $3,050. ETH/USDT daily chart. Source: TradingView Now that the network is operating smoothly following its biggest update of the year, here’s a look at what traders and analysts expect next from the top altcoin. A close above the weekly resistance ext...

United States senators Mark Warner and Kyrsten Sinema, both Democrats from Virginia and Arizona, respectively, have introduced a new amendment to the infrastructure bill that would lessen the burden on cryptocurrency tax reporting for miners and wallet providers.  As Perianne Boring reported Saturday afternoon, the senators are endorsing an amendment that would exclude cryptocurrency miners and hardware and software wallet providers from being subject to new tax reporting provisions. The amendment would broaden an earlier update proposed by the same lawmakers, along with Ohio Republican Rob Portman. Senator @MarkWarner and @SenatorSinema have offered a new amendment with tech neutral language. If cloture is invoked, there will be 30 hours of debate left, then they will vote on the bas...

Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link. Top Stories This Week Square to acquire Australian fintech Afterpay in $29B deal Jack Dorsey’s digital payments firm Square entered into a $29 billion stock deal to purchase Australian buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm Afterpay this week.  Just like the name Afterpay implies, Square will essentially be buying the firm now and paying later, with the transaction set for the first quarter of 2022 and to be paid out entirely in Square common stock. Bitcoin (BTC) proponent Anthony Pompliano was pleased with the news, noting on his web...

After a 13% rise in two days, Bitcoin’s (BTC) market capitalization surpassed $800 billion to reach its highest value in 79 days. During the same timeframe, Ether (ETH) accumulated a 45% gain in two weeks, placing the network’s market capitalization at $340 billion.  Positive expectations for the London hard fork and its potential deflationary effect undoubtedly played a role, but some investors continue to question how Ether’s valuation stacks against Bitcoin. Some, including Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead, expect Ether to outpace Bitcoin as the largest cryptocurrency. Market participants may have also been excited after Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari suggested that the Fed may stick with the asset-purchase program a bit longer. The reason cit...

Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision, the fork of another Bitcoin (BTC) fork, has for the third time in three months suffered a blockchain reorganization (reorg) attack. With a call to all stakeholders to mark the malicious network branch as invalid, Bitcoin SV (BSV) developers say the attacks have been repelled and all fraudulent chains identified. The flurry of attacks against Bitcoin SV, though reportedly repelled, highlight the risks associated with proof-of-work (PoW) blockchains that have a low amount of hash rates backing their existence. Indeed, apart from Bitcoin SV, several chains, like Ethereum Classic (ETC) and Firo — formerly known as Zcoin — have been victims of such attempted blockchain reorg exploits. While not all of such attacks are successful, some proceed with significant economic ...

If you’re conversant with the cryptocurrency space and you keep tabs regularly on the happenings going on in the ecosystem, then you felt the excitement during Bitcoin’s (BTC) rally to $63,000 in mid-April. This excitement is currently being caused by the bullish mood crypto enthusiasts and stakeholders are in at the moment. And this bullish sentiment is a result of the gaming niche.  A lot of people say it’s decentralized finance (DeFi) season and I can’t even argue otherwise with them because the facts are there for all to see. DeFi-based nonfungible token (NFT) games are pumping to record highs and they continue to get a lot of people adopting and playing them which makes one wonder, what exactly is the motivating factor behind gamers and crypto enthusiasts ...