Crypto news
Velodrome recovers $350K stolen funds from team member Gabagool
Velodrome Finance, a trading and liquidity marketplace, announced the recovery of $350,000 stolen on Aug. 4. However, the occasion turned bittersweet when internal investigations pointed out the involvement of a prominent team member, who goes by the pseudo name Gabagool. On Aug. 4, one of Velodrome’s high-worth wallets — dedicated for operating funds such as salaries — was drained off $350,000 before it could be transferred to the company’s treasury multisig wallet. A subsequent internal investigation revealed the attacker’s identification, which allowed the company to recover the entire loot. Velodrome’s official statement revealed: “Much to our disappointment, we learned the attacker was a fellow team member Gabagool.” While many community members came in support of the prominent coder,...
Bitcoin hits $25K as bearish voices call BTC price ‘double top’
Bitcoin (BTC) spiked through $25,000 for the first time in months on Aug. 14, but traders refused to take any chances on a bull run. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Weekend produces brief $25,000 tap for BTC Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView tracked a sudden run-up on BTC/USD, which hit $25,050 on Bitstamp in a $350 hourly candle. The move took the pair to a new personal best since June 13, erasing more of the losses seen that day in what remains a significant BTC price correction. Analyzing the market setup, however, familiar bearish tones remained. For popular Twitter account Il Capo of Crypto, the latest highs appeared to provide the last piece of the puzzle before a new downtrend set in. Il Capo had previously called for a peak o...
AML and KYC: A catalyst for mainstream crypto adoption
For Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin (BTC), the motivation to create a new payment ecosystem from scratch in 2009 stemmed from the economic chaos caused by the banking sector’s over-exuberant and risky lending practices mixed accompanied by the bursting of the housing bubbles in many countries at the time. “And who do you think picked up the pieces after the fallout? The taxpayer, of course,” said Durgham Mushtaha, business development manager of blockchain analytics firm Coinfirm, in an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph. Satoshi recognized the need for a new monetary system based on equity and fairness — a system that gives back power into the hands of the people. A trustless system with anonymous participants, transacting peer-to-peer and without the need of a central ...
Here are Bitcoin price levels to watch as BTC dips 5% from highs
Bitcoin (BTC) headed lower on Aug. 12 as a broadly expected comedown from two-month highs began to take shape. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView 200-week moving average becomes pivot Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD dipping to $23,615 on Bitstamp prior to the day’s Wall Street open, marking 24-hour losses of around 5.2%. The pair had seen its highest levels since June 13 as enthusiasm over declining United States inflation combined with news that the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, was launching a Bitcoin private fund. While some commentators hoped for Bitcoin to tackle resistance closer to $30,000 as a result, others remained cautious, with suspicions that a fresh downtrend could ensue remaining. Target...
Built to fall? As the CBDC sun rises, stablecoins may catch a shadow
There’s a ferment brewing with regard to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and most people really don’t know what to expect. Varied effects seem to be bubbling up in different parts of the world. Consider this: China’s e-CNY, or digital yuan, has already been used by 200 million-plus of its citizens, and a full rollout could happen as early as February — but will a digital yuan gain traction internationally? Europe’s central bank has been exploring a digital euro for several years, and the European Union could introduce a digital euro bill in 2023. But will it come with limitations, such as a ceiling on digital euros that can be held by a single party? A United States digital dollar could be the most awaited government digital currency given that the dollar is the world’s rese...
FTX partners with Paradigm for ‘one-click’ futures spread trading
Paradigm has announced the launch of spreads trading in partnership with crypto exchange FTX. In a Friday blog post, Paradigm said under the FTX partnership users would be able to utilize “one-click” trading with “no leg risk” for the spread between spot, perpetuals and fixed maturity futures on Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX), ApeCoin (APE), Dogecoin (DOGE), Chainlink (LINK) and Litecoin (LTC). FTX will provide “guaranteed atomic execution and clearing of both legs” for the trades. According to Paradigm CEO Anand Gomes, the arrangement was aimed at drawing in new crypto investors interested in cash and carry trades — leveraging crypto spot purchases and futures instruments on FTX. Gomes added that the rollout could lead to new product offerings “further down the...
BlueBenx fires employees, halts funds withdrawal citing $32M hack
BlueBenx, a Brazilian crypto lending platform, reportedly blocked all of its 22,000 users from withdrawing their funds following an alleged hack that drained $32 million (or 160 million Brazilian real). While no details about the hack were made available, the company allegedly laid off most of its employees. BlueBenx joins the growing list of crypto companies that failed to deliver on their promise of exorbitant yield returns this crypto winter. The Brazilian crypto lender promised up to 66% returns for users investing in cryptocurrencies via various in-house earning avenues. A report from the local news board Portal do Bitcoin highlighted that BlueBenx halted all forms of withdrawals after falling victim to an “extremely aggressive” hack. According to BlueBenx’s lawyer, Assuramaya Kuthumi...
Russia plans to roll out digital ruble across all banks in 2024
The Bank of Russia continues working towards the upcoming adoption of the central bank digital currency (CBDC), planning an official digital ruble rollout in a few years. According to the Bank of Russia’s latest monetary policy update, the authority will begin to connect all banks and credit institutions to the digital ruble platform in 2024. That would be an important year for Russia as the country is expected to hold presidential elections in March 2024 and incumbent President Vladimir Putin has the constitutional right to get re-elected. By that time, the central bank expects to complete “real money” customer-to-customer transaction trials as well as the testing of customer-to-business and business-to-customer settlements. In 2023, the Bank of Russia also intend to conduct beta testing ...
The Merge: Top 5 misconceptions about the anticipated Ethereum upgrade
The excitement around Ethereum’s (ETH) upcoming upgrade, The Merge, which involves the merger of two blockchains — Mainnet Ethereum and Beacon Chain — has unknowingly spurred rumors across the community. Termed the most significant upgrade in the history of Ethereum, The Merge does indeed mark the end of proof-of-work (PoW) for the Ethereum blockchain. However, here are five misconceptions that stand out among the rest. Misconception 1: Ethereum gas fees will reduce after The Merge Ethereum’s impending upgrade will reduce Ethereum’s infamous gas fees (transaction fees) is one of the biggest misconceptions circulating among investors. While reduced gas fees tops every investor’s wishlist, The Merge is a change of consensus mechanism that will transition the Ethereum blockchain from PoW to p...
Celsius Network is bankrupt, so why is CEL price up 4,000% in two months?
Crypto lending platform Celsius Network has an approximately $1.2 billion gap in its balance sheet, with most liabilities owed to its users. In addition, the firm has filed for bankruptcy protection, so its future looks bleak. Still, Celsius Network’s native utility token CEL has soared in valuation by over 4,100% in the last two months, reaching around $3.93 on Aug. 13 compared to its mid-June bottom of $0.093. In comparison, top coins Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) rallied 40% and 130% in the same period. CEL/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView Takeover rumors behind CEL explosion? Technically, the price rally made CEL an excessively valued token in early August when its relative strength index (RSI) crossed above the 70 threshold. Takeover rumors appear to be behind CEL̵...
Coinbase posts $1.1B loss, Polygon DApps rocket 400% in 2022 and Elon Musk says inflation is on the decline: Hodler’s Digest, Aug 7-13
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 Elon Musk: US ’past peak inflation’ after Tesla sells 90% of Bitcoin With Tesla now having sold 90% of its Bitcoin holdings during the bear market, Elon Musk says the U.S. economy is “past peak inflation” and predicts that only a “mild to moderate” recession could be incoming. “We sort of have some insight into where prices are headed over time, and the interesting thing that we’re seeing now is that most of our commodities, most of the things that go into a Tesla — not all, more than half the prices — ar...
Metaverse still not ready for virtual weddings and legal proceedings
As the global Web3 ecosystem continued to evolve at a staggering pace, so have the various use cases associated with this niche. In a striking new development, a high-ranking Singaporean government minister recently noted that legal marriage proceedings, court case disputes, and government services could one day be conducted using Metaverse platforms. While delivering a keynote address at Singapore’s TechLaw Fest 2022 late last month, the country’s second minister for law, Edwin Tong, was quoted as saying that he would not be surprised if, in the future, intimate events such as the solemnization of marriages as well as legal disputes “could take place within the Metaverse,” adding: “It would not be unthinkable that, besides registration of marriages, other government services can soon be a...
