Crypto news
Chinese police unearth multi-million-dollar DeFi rug pull
Beijing’s crackdown on crypto continued with the start of the new year, with the Chinese police freezing nearly 6 million yuan ($1 million) worth of crypto and arresting eight people involved with it. As per a report published in Nikkei Asia, the public security bureau of Chizhou unearthed a crypto rug pull scam that could be worth 50 million yuan ($7.8 million). The police began an investigation after an investor lost 590,000 yuan worth of crypto in June last year. The trail of the inquiry led to eight people living in different provinces. The police also seized luxury cars, villas and other expensive items from the accused that were allegedly purchased using the stolen money. The decentralized finance (DeFi) scam lured investors with promises of high returns by swapping liquid...
What bear market? Current BTC price dip still matches previous Bitcoin cycles, says analyst
Bitcoin (BTC) has “at least one more upward impulse to come” before reaching this halving cycle’s all-time high, new research maintains. In a series of tweets about the current state of BTC price action, popular analyst TechDev argued that contrary to many opinions, there is nothing unusual about BTC/USD in 2022. Bitcoin in 2021: Nothing to see here With a drawdown of 40% from November’s all-time highs of $69,000 still ongoing, sentiment has likewise taken a hit — “extreme fear” still characterizes both Bitcoin and altcoin markets. For TechDev, known for his optimistic takes on the Bitcoin outlook, there is nonetheless nothing to worry about. Analyzing new wallet addresses relative to price behavior, he showed that last year’s scenario — new address numbers making lower highs while price m...
Blockchain assessment: How to assess different chains?
With so many blockchain networks appearing all the time, new or even experienced crypto enthusiasts may feel overwhelmed when it comes to deciding which are the best to invest in. In this guide, we’ll outline the most important aspects of any blockchain project, and why one should pay close attention to such details when assessing the different chains on the crypto market. Use case Arguably the most important part of any blockchain project is its use case. What is the project’s reason for existing? Is the project here to enhance payment processing? To improve on a business supply chain or to entertain users? There’s technically no such thing as an invalid use case, but some are certainly more applicable than others. For example, a project meant to assist millions in acquiring food is likel...
Law Decoded: First-mover advantage in a CBDC conversation, Jan. 10–17
Last week saw an unlikely first move in the opening narrative battle around a prospective U.S. central bank digital currency: Congressperson Tom Emmer came forward with an initiative to legally restrict the Federal Reserve’s capacity to issue a retail CBDC and take on the role of a retail bank. This could be massively consequential as we are yet to see a similarly sharp-cut expression of an opposing stance. As a matter of fact, it is not even clear whether other U.S. lawmakers have strong opinions on the matter other than, perhaps, condemning privately issued stablecoins as a digital alternative to the dollar. By framing a potential Fed CBDC as a privacy threat first, Emmer could tilt the conversation in the direction that is friendly to less centralized designs of digital money. Below is ...
Bitcoin price can’t find its footing, but BTC fundamentals inspire confidence in traders
Bitcoin’s (BTC) sudden crash on Jan. 10 caused the price to trade below $40,000 for the first time in 110 days and this was a wake-up call to leveraged traders. $1.9 billion worth of long (buy) futures contracts were liquidated that week, causing the morale among traders to plunge. The crypto “Fear & Greed” index, which ranges from 0 “extreme fear” to 100 “greed” reached 10 on Jan. 10, the lowest level it has been since the Mar. 2020 crash. The indicator measures traders’ sentiment using historical volatility, market momentum, volume, Bitcoin dominance and social media. As usual, the panic turned out to be a buying opportunity because the total crypto market capitalization rose by 13.5%, going from a $1.85 trillion bottom to $2.1 trillion in le...
Panther protocol co-founder Oliver Gale discusses bringing zero-knowledge technology to multi-chain
Privacy coins and zero-knowledge technology, which some use to obfuscate the identity of sends/receivers and transaction amounts, have gained enormous popularity in recent years due to mounting regulatory surveillance against the crypto sector. But despite their rapid rise in market cap, critics continue to scrutinize such class of assets as enablers for masking illicit activities. In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Oliver Gale, CEO, and co-founder of the Panther Protocol (ZKP), elaborated on the technology behind its privacy decentralized finance, or DeFi, solutions and why it’s necessary for today’s crypto space: CT: How much did you raise from your recent token sale, and what does your roadmap look like from here? OG: We’ve raised over $30 million in total. ...
FTX announced as naming rights sponsor of Australian Blockchain Week 2022
FTX Trading Limited (FTX) will be the naming rights sponsor for Australian Blockchain Week 2022, which will run from March 21 to 25. Blockchain Australia is the peak industry network in Australia, bringing together industry, academia and government to discuss the opportunities of blockchain technology. I’m incredibly excited to announce @FTX_Official as the Naming Rights Sponsor for Blockchain Week 2022. A huge to @SBF_FTX for your support of the Australian ecosystem pic.twitter.com/B6cUWaTWIE — Steve Vallas (@stevevallas) January 17, 2022 Over 200 speakers across 75 events will present at Australian Blockchain Week, including FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Launched in May 2019, FTX is a Bahamian-based cryptocurrency derivatives exchange. At the time of publication, it had a 24-hour trad...
Singapore’s MAS updates crypto advertisement regulations
The Singapore regulator has asked crypto service providers not to show advertisements trivialising the high risks associated with these trades Yesterday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore issued guidelines for crypto service providers, asking them to desist from airing advertisements to the general public in the country. A media release published alongside the guidelines confirmed that the regulator aims to inhibit speculation on various assets known to be volatile and thus unsuitable for investors within the general public. Onwards, crypto service providers in Singapore would no longer be allowed to advertise their products on retail-scale platforms. These include physical ATMs in public settings, physical ads, and online platforms. The updated guidelines also required that henceforth, ...
Spain establishes new requirements for influencers advertising crypto assets
New rules will require social media influencers advertising crypto to seek prior approval before publishing their content Spanish regulators have today announced that starting a month from now, they will impose new guidelines around cryptocurrencies. As per the updated guideline policy, promotions by the so-called influencers will be restricted in what is a first for a member country of the European Union (EU). According to a paper published by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) today, Spain intends to ensure that advertisements for products and services offer “true, understandable, and non-misleading content, and includes a prominent warning of the associated risks.” Big adjustments are coming along with the new policy When the new policy comes into effect around...
Pakistan’s president calls for more training in blockchain technology
Arif Alvi, currently serving as the president of Pakistan, called for additional training in emerging technologies including blockchain, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity while meeting with a delegation of blockchain technology experts. In a Monday announcement, Alvi said Pakistan’s talent pool should be ready to meet the needs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which includes utilizing blockchain technology in the public and private sectors. According to the Pakistan president, the technology could be used as a government tool to track transactions, reduce corruption and increase transparency. Among the panel of experts was Bitcoin SV advocate Jimmy Nguyen, founding president of the Bitcoin Association. President Dr. Arif Alvi had a meeting with an international delegation ...
Crypto DAO spends €2.66M on Jodorowsky’s Dune thinking they would own its copyright, receives mass ridicule on Twitter
Late Saturday, Spice DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization that owns a copy of an unpublished manuscript of Frank Herbert and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s never-completed film Dune, announced its roadmap going forward. In the tweet, Spice DAO said it would “Make the book public, produce an original animated limited series inspired by the book and sell it to a streaming service, and support derivative projects from the community.” The group had previously won the Christie’s auction in November for the copy’s sale at 2.66 million euros (a little over $3 million), or about 89 times its price estimates at the midpoint. However, there was just one problem, buying a copy of a book does not grant the purchaser its copyright. In the United States and European Union, ...
Price analysis 1/17: BTC, ETH, BNB, ADA, SOL, XRP, LUNA, DOT, AVAX, DOGE
Bitcoin’s (BTC) volatility has been shrinking in the past few days. The standard deviation of daily Bitcoin returns for the last 30 and 60 days as calculated by the Bitcoin Volatility Index is at 2.63%, the least volatile it has been since November 2020. Generally, tight ranges are followed by strong price expansions. In 2020, the low volatility period in November was followed by a sharp rally in mid-December, which resulted in a supercycle that carried the price all the way to $64,854 on April 14, 2021. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 However, there is no certainty that the volatility expansion will happen only to the upside. The price could break out in either direction. Commentator Vince Prince warned that the high leverage ratio of Bitcoin could trigger a big c...
