crypto blog
‘Imminent’ crash for stocks? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week
Bitcoin (BTC) starts its first full week of December at three-week highs as bulls and bears battle on. After a weekly close just above $17,000, BTC/USD seems determined to make the most of relief on stocks and a weakening U.S. dollar. As the United States gears up to release November inflation data, the dollar looks to be a key item to watch as BTC price action teases a recovery from the pits of the FTX meltdown. All may not be as straightforward as it seems — miners are facing serious hardship, data shows, and opinions on stocks’ own ability to continue higher are far from unanimous. As the end of the year approaches, will Bitcoin see a “Santa rally” or face a new year nursing fresh losses? Cointelegraph presents five areas worth watching in the coming days when it comes to BTC/USD perfor...
Pakistan launches new laws to expedite CBDC launch by 2025
Regulators worldwide see central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as a way to enhance fiat capabilities by inheriting the financial prowess of technologies that power cryptocurrencies. Pakistan joined this list by announcing new regulations to ensure the launch of an in-house CBDC by 2025. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) signed in new laws for Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs) — non-bank entities offering digital payment instruments — to ensure the timely issuance of a CBDC in the next three years. The World Bank helped Pakistan design the new regulations, according to local media Arab News. In addition to timeline adherence for the CBDC launch, the regulations warrant preventive measures against money laundering and terror financing while considering consumer protection and reporting r...
Standard Chartered forecasts ‘surprise’ Bitcoin downside after FTX collapse
The value of Bitcoin (BTC) is being touted to drop as low as $5,000 in 2023 according to Standard’s Chartered global research head and chief strategist. As initially reported by Bloomberg, a note to investors published on Dec. 4 from the multinational bank’s chief strategist Eric Robertsen weighed-up a potential drop in Bitcoin’s value correlated with a surge in physical Gold. Robertsen outlined prospective scenarios for 2023 that could see interest rate reversals from hikes in 2022, further cryptocurrency sector bankruptcies and negative sentiment towards the market. This could include further downside for Bitcoin next year, with a 70% decline from its current market value while Gold could see an upside of up to 30% to the $2,250 mark per ounce. The closing months of 2022 have been tumult...
Bitcoin price consolidation could give way to gains in TON, APE, TWT and AAVE
The United States equities markets shrugged off the hotter-than-expected labor data on Dec. 2 and recovered sharply from their intraday low. This suggests that market observers believe the Federal Reserve may not change its stance of slowing the pace of rate hikes because of the latest jobs data. Although the FTX crisis broke the positive correlation between the U.S. equities markets and Bitcoin (BTC), the recent strength in equities shows a risk-on sentiment. This could be favorable for the cryptocurrency space and may attract dip buyers. Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360 The broader crypto recovery may pick up steam after more clarity emerges on the extent of damage caused by FTX’s collapse. Until then, bullish price action may be limited to select cryptocurrencies. Let’s lo...
Thanks to Ethereum, ‘altcoin’ is no longer a slur
Altcoin originally meant “Bitcoin alternative” because, in the early stages of cryptocurrency development, every blockchain-based currency was seen as a sort of Bitcoin (BTC) knockoff. Cryptocurrencies back then were mainly used for payments, such as Litecoin (LTC), XRP (XRP) and Peercoin (PPC). Altcoin was used as a catchall term for cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. That’s changed since 2011. With the emergence of more than 20,000 cryptocurrencies, each linked to different types of crypto projects and tokens. We have also seen the dexterity of coins stretch across sectors of public chains, decentralized finance (DeFi), layer 2, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), stablecoins and more. If “altcoin” refers to non-Bitcoin cryptocurrencies with the same characteristics as...
Vitalik Buterin on the crypto blues: Focus on the tech, not the price
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has shared some sage advice for traders feeling the blues of the crypto bear market: Focus on the tech rather than the price. The Ethereum co-founder made the recommendation in response to a Dec. 3 post from self-described crypto investor CoinMamba, echoing what many crypto investors are likely feeling at the moment. After 9 years in crypto I’m kinda exhausted. I want to move on and do something different with my life. Tired of all these scammers and fraudsters.. — CoinMamba (@coinmamba) December 3, 2022 “After 9 years in crypto I’m kinda exhausted. I want to move on and do something different with my life. Tired of all these scammers and fraudsters,” CoinMamba said. The crypto industry has continued to be bombarded with unsavoury news since&...
Despite endless media appearances, SBF unlikely to testify on 13th
Former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has signaled he’s unwilling to testify before the United States Congress until he’s “finished learning and reviewing what happened.” Bankman-Fried was responding to a Dec. 2 tweet from U.S. Representative Maxine Waters inviting him to testify in a scheduled U.S. House Committee on Financial Services hearing on Dec. 13 to discuss “what happened” at FTX. In a Dec. 4 response on Twitter, the former FTX CEO said he feels it is his “duty to appear before the committee and explain,” but only once he’s “finished learning and reviewing what happened,” adding he wasn’t “sure” whether it would happen by the 13th. Rep. Waters, and the House Committee on Financial Services: Once I have finished learning and reviewing what ...
How much is Bitcoin worth today?
Bitcoin (BTC) trades 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is a market that never sleeps, and the BTC price is constantly changing. It doesn’t matter which currency or commodity is used to measure how much a bitcoin is worth — BTC is always live and the market is always open. It wasn’t always that way — in the beginning, before around 2010, there were no exchanges or even reliable price information, and BTC/USD traded at tiny prices — at one point even less than a single U.S. dollar cent. Since those days, however, the Bitcoin price has gone up millions of percent. As of December 2022, one bitcoin is worth (BTC). It’s also easy to compare different prices across the crypto market — there’s no need to rely on a single source, and the market is always at work finding consensus. Want to know ...
Bullish on Bitcoin, US Senator Ted Cruz wants Texas to be a crypto oasis
United States Senator Ted Cruz wants to make the American state of Texas an oasis for Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies. Speaking at the Texas Blockchain Summit 2022 in late November, the politician empathized how the crypto industry can be strategic for the U.S. energy supply and technological development. Cruz argued that Bitcoin mining could be used to monetize energy created from oil and gas extraction, rather than burning it. In addition, he emphasized how mining activity can be used as an energy storage and supply alternative: “The beauty of it [Bitcoin mining] is when you’ve got substantial investment, as we do in Texas and Bitcoin mining, when you have an extreme weather event, either extreme heat, which is frequent in the state of Texas or extreme cold, whi...
Margin trading vs. Futures: What are the differences?
Margin trading aims to amplify gains and allows experienced investors to potentially get them quickly. They may bring dramatic losses, too, if the trader doesn’t know how they work. When trading on margin, crypto investors borrow money from a brokerage firm to trade. They first deposit cash into a margin account that will be used as collateral for the loan, a kind of security deposit. Then they start paying interest on the borrowed money, which can be paid at the end of the loan or with monthly or weekly installments, based on current market conditions. When the asset is sold, proceeds are used to repay the margin loan first. The loan is necessary to raise investors’ purchasing power and buy larger amounts of crypto assets, and the assets purchased a...
AAX clients storm exchange’s office in Lagos following operational halt
Nigerian customer’s of the crypto exchange AAX reportedly attacked the company’s office in Lagos and harassed its employees, in a response for the recent halt of withdrawals, according to local reports from Dec. 3. Although it’s unclear when the assault happened, the Nigerian Blockchain Technology Association Stakeholders (SiBAN) confirmed the storm in an announcement on Nov. 28, urging angry users to be patient with the exchange’s workers, who were also impacted by the issues. SiBAN noted: “Therefore, we appeal to and discourage any dissatisfied or angry user or investor from harassing or victimizing the AAX Country Manager (Nigeria), other local staff members, and AAX ambassadors nationwide. These persons are also facing the same situation as disgruntl...
Legal team for 3AC liquidators blast founders for shifting blame to FTX, media blitz amid bankruptcy
The founders of Three Arrows Capital, or 3AC, the Singapore-based crypto hedge fund with close ties to Terra Labs, have been spending more time engaging on social media and news outlets than dealing with its own liquidation, according to bankruptcy lawyers. In a Dec. 2 hearing in the United States Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York, lawyers for 3AC’s liquidators cited founders Zhu Su and Kylie Davies for being “active and responsive to comments via Twitter” but “repeatedly fail[ing] to engage” with liquidators to discuss the company’s assets and related issues. According to the legal team, Zhu and Davies have only had “limited discussions” with liquidators in addition to changing jurisdictions often — reportedly traveling to Bali and the United Arab Emirates. Adam Goldbe...
