crypto blog
EU officials reach agreement on AML authority for supervising crypto firms
The European Council has reached an agreement to form an anti-money laundering body that will have the authority to supervise certain crypto asset service providers, or CASPs. In a Wednesday announcement, the council said it had agreed on a partial position of a proposal to launch a dedicated Anti-Money Laundering Authority, or AMLA. According to the regulatory body, the AML body will have the authority to supervise “high-risk and cross-border financial entities” including crypto firms — “if they are considered risky.” European Parliament member Ondřej Kovařík said EU officials had also reached a “provisional political agreement” on the government body’s Transfer of Funds Regulation. Not all the details of the revision are clear at the time of publication, but Cointelegraph reported that a...
MicroStrategy scoops up 480 Bitcoin amid market slump
Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy has added to its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, reaffirming CEO Michael Saylor’s bullish outlook on the digital asset despite its recent struggles. In a Form 8-K filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Microstrategy disclosed that it had acquired an additional 480 BTC at an average price of roughly $20,817. The total purchase amount was $10 million in cash. With the purchase, MicroStrategy now holds 129,699 BTC, making it the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin. The total value of its holdings is roughly $3.98 billion. MicroStrategy has purchased an additional 480 bitcoins for ~$10.0 million at an average price of ~$20,817 per #bitcoin. As of 6/28/22 @MicroStrategy holds ~129,699 bitcoins acquired for ~$3.98 billion at...
Lending network enables transparent credit history in Africa via blockchain partnership
African mobile banking platform Aella has partnered with Creditcoin Network to make credit histories transparent by integrating all its transactions into Creditcoin’s public blockchain. In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, Creditcoin said that all Aella’s credit transactions will be recorded on the Creditcoin blockchain, making it easy to audit and available for viewing through their block explorer. The recorded transactions will include the terms of the loans as well as payments and repayments. Creditcoin said that the partnership comes with the release of Creditcoin 2.0, an upgrade that makes the network more stable and easier to integrate with. Aella CEO Akin Jones highlighted that the move allows investors to monitor the performance of its business in real time by looking at...
Governments, enterprise, gaming: Who will drive the next crypto bull run?
In his monthly crypto tech column, Israeli serial entrepreneur Ariel Shapira covers emerging technologies within the crypto, decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain space, as well as their roles in shaping the economy of the 21st century. The crypto market, just as any other market, runs in cycles. Even though digital assets are known, if not infamous, for being more volatile than many other asset types, their price action still follows a familiar pattern of ups and downs. Some of this, such as Bitcoin’s (BTC) four-year cycle, largely comes down to the algorithm’s intrinsic rules — more specifically, the halving of miners’ rewards. Off-chain factors, such as the U.S. tax-reporting rules, can also come into play. Still, while the market’s logic dictates change, the logic itself remains ...
Better than Axie Infinity: Kieran Warwick’s 2032 plan for Illuvium
Kieran Warwick created the play-to-earn game Illuvium with his brothers Aaron and Grant — all siblings of DeFi maverick Kain, the founder of Synthetix. He shares his alpha on how NFT game mechanics can be designed in such a way that playing them can be fun and profitable in the long term. Warwick entered the retail world right out of high school, eventually becoming an online shopping entrepreneur. He got his start in the crypto world at brother Kain’s company BlueShyft, which first made Bitcoin and crypto exchange payments available over-the-counter at more than one thousand physical retailers around Australia in 2015. Kieran Warwick is riding Illuvium until 2032. Years later, with a number of business projects under his belt, Kain encouraged him to reenter the space, which led to the cre...
MakerDAO looks to invest $500M into ‘minimal risk’ treasuries and bonds
MakerDAO is currently voting on a proposal aimed at helping it weather the bear market and utilize untapped reserves by investing 500 million Dai (DAI) stablecoins into a combination of United States treasuries and bonds. Following a straw poll in a governance Signal Request, the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) members now must decide whether the dormant DAI should go entirely into short-term treasuries or split 80% into treasuries and 20% into corporate bonds. The Maker Governance votes to determine how to allocate 500 million DAI between different investment strategies. This allocation poll is a result of the passage of MIP65: Monetalis Clydesdale: Liquid Bond Strategy & Execution. A recap on how it would work. 1/ pic.twitter.com/SdF9QT2OM6 — Maker (@MakerDAO) June 27, 20...
Bear market will last until crypto apps are actually useful: Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur known for his role as one of the main investors on the reality television show Shark Tank, said the crypto bear market won’t be over until there’s a better focus on applications with utility. He also doesn’t think the market has hit “cheap” prices yet. Cuban has stated in the past around 80% of his non-Shark Tank portfolio was in crypto. Appearing on a June 23 episode of the Bankless Podcast, he was asked how long he believes the current crypto bear market will last: “It lasts until there’s a catalyst and that catalyst is going to be an application, or we get so low people go ‘fuck it I’ll buy some.’” He believes a better focus on applications with utility will pull crypto from its slump and with so many apps focused on financial technology or...
Trader puts faith in crypto despite the failed first investment
From the highs of feeling like a total genius to the lows of downward price movements, crypto investing has taken Dubai-based trader JC Enriquez on a roller coaster ride. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Enriquez shared his crypto trading journey, starting from his first encounter with digital assets. According to the trader, it all started when a friend asked him about his plans for the future. After sharing his dreams about the future, the friend told him that if he wanted to make those plans come true, he “better study cryptocurrency, buy some and hold it.” Hyped by the bull market in 2021, Enriquez finally decided to jump in and start trading. However, his first crypto rodeo was less than fruitful. He told Cointelegraph that he invested thousands of dollars in one project and ...
Bitcoin price limps under $20K as Asia extends global stocks weakness
Bitcoin (BTC) returned under $20,000 on June 29 as analysts stayed hopeful of a trip higher. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Traders looks to $19,500 for support Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it crossed below the $20,000 mark for the first time in nearly a week in Asian trading hours. The weakness followed rangebound behavior near $21,000, this characterizing a market still in tune with moves in global equities. The S&P 500 had finished its previous session down 2%, while the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 3%. On the day, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was likewise 2.1% lower, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index traded down 1.4%. With few bullish cues coming from macro, Bitcoin thus had little stopping it from revisiting the ...
That’s ‘Sir’ Crypto Dad: French order knights former CFTC chair Chris Giancarlo
The French government has given former United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Chris Giancarlo, also known as “Crypto Dad,” the equivalent of a knighthood. In a Tuesday tweet from Giancarlo, the former CFTC head said France’s National Order of Merit awarded him a Chevalier — the equivalent of a knighthood — in a ceremony at the French ambassador’s residence in Washington D.C. Those attending included current and former CFTC commissioners Rostin Behnam, Brian Quintenz, Christy Goldsmith Romero, Kristin Johnson, Caroline Pham, as well as Hester Peirce of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Merci for honor of l’Ordre National du Mérite at the Résidence de France before mes amis @CFTCbehnam @BrianQuintenz @HesterPeirce Dawn Stump Dan Berkovitz @CFTCcgr @C...
Key Bitcoin price metrics say BTC bottomed, but traders still fear a drop to $10K
The crypto market is currently going through a period of heightened volatility as global economic conditions continue to worsen amid a backdrop of rising inflation and interest rates. As the headwinds impacting global financial markets beat down all traces of bullish sentiment, many crypto investors are predicting that Bitcoin (BTC) price could drop to as low as $10,000 before a market bottom is found. BTC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView While many traders scoffed at the idea of BTC falling below its 2017 all-time high, the recent dip to $17,600 suggests that this bear market could be different from the last one. Here’s what several analysts are saying about the possibility of Bitcoin falling to $10,000 in the next few weeks. Historic pullbacks point to a low at $10,350 Insight...
Bitcoin miner Mawson to defer all major capital expenditures until market conditions normalize
On Tuesday, Bitcoin (BTC) mining company Mawson Infrastructure Group said that it was suspending major capital expenditures until market conditions normalize. In addition, the firm is voluntarily reducing its energy use, also called demand response, in light of the market sell-off and high electricity prices due to inflation. Mawson received its final shipment of Canann A1246 ASIC Bitcoin Miners in June and has no further outstanding payments due for Bitcoin mining rigs. Regarding the company’s decision, CEO and founder James Manning said: “Despite a volatile market, Mawson is currently continuing to self-mine and is also participating in energy demand response programs where applicable. Additionally, we are fortunate to have no outstanding contracts to purchase ASIC Bitc...
