roadrunner

A marketplace for digital assets is soon going to open in China under a public-private partnership, local media revealed. According to the report, the goal is to establish a regulated trading platform for digital collectibles as part of government efforts to curb market speculation with such assets. National Marketplace to Support Trading of Digital Collectibles and Copyrights in China Chinese authorities are preparing to launch a state-controlled platform allowing the trading of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other digital assets, local media announced. The initiative is a joint project between government organizations and a private company. The “China Digital Asset Trading Platform,” built in partnership by the China Technology Exchange, China Cultural Relics Exchange Center, and Huaban Digital Copyright Service Center Co. Limited, will launch on Jan. 1, 2023, the report by Sina Finance detailed on Wednesday. The marketplace will operate under the license of the China Digital Exchange, set up by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Intellectual Property Office, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Beijing municipal government. The exchange facilitates purchase and sale of intellectual, scientific, and technological property rights in the People’s Republic. It will provide the underlying infrastructure for the new trading platform, taking responsibility for processing transactions and implementing settlement mechanisms. The new marketplace will be compliant with applicable regulations and provide trading services for digital collectibles and digital copyrights, Huaban President Yin Tao explained. As China has been cracking down on crypto-related activities, the term “digital collectibles” is often preferred by media outlets and companies over “NFTs” to avoid association with cryptocurrencies. In terms of supervision and compliance, this market faces some uncertainties and greater compliance risks, but laws and regulatory policies will be gradually improved, commented Yu Jianing, co-chair of the Blockchain Committee of the China Communications Industry Association. A ban on the resale of digital collectibles imposed by Chinese regulators to limit market speculation with these assets was reportedly the reason behind Tencent’s decision to close down its NFT platform, Huanhe. The news of the move came out in July, only a year after its launch. In June, the popular social media app Wechat, also operated by the Chinese tech giant, announced its intentions to prohibit public accounts facilitating secondary trading of non-fungible tokens. Soon after, the Tencent News app stopped selling NFTs. Do you think China will eventually expand the opportunities for regulated digital asset trading beyond NFTs? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The U.S dollar-Argentine peso exchange rate escalated during December, with the Argentine fiat currency reaching new historic lows as citizens ran to exchange their holiday payments for dollars. The U.S. dollar reached a value of 356 pesos on December 28, losing almost 10% during just one week, and threatening to spur a more significant inflationary jump. Argentine Peso Sinks to Lowest Level in History Argentina, one of the countries in Latam with active exchange control for foreign currencies, is facing difficulties maintaining the value of its fiat currency. The exchange between U.S. dollars and Argentine pesos reached historic levels, with the peso sinking to its lowest level ever on Dec. 28. The dollar reached a price of 356 pesos in its parallel cash denomination, also called “blue,” having closed November with a value of 314 pesos per U.S. dollar. The Argentine peso plummet accelerated last week when it lost more than 10% of its value. Since the start of 2022, the Argentine currency has lost more than 70% of its value, having started the year with a value of 207 pesos per U.S. dollar. This decline has caused Argentines to drop their peso-based savings, migrating to dollars and stablecoins as a hedge. Explanations and Repercussions Analysts who seek to explain the historic drop in the currency’s value mention that there are two main elements making the exchange rate soar. The first one has to do with the abundance of pesos in the market due to payments companies have made, increasing the demand for dollars in an ecosystem with exchange controls. The other has to do with the political and legal uncertainty created by the attempt of Argentine president Alberto Fernandez to disobey the mandate of the maximum tribunal in Argentina, a situation that is still under development. Whichever may be the cause, this abrupt rise is threatening to bring even higher levels of inflation to the nation, which was expecting to close the year with an inflationary level of 100%. Juan Pablo Albornoz, an Argentine economist, expects this to affect the pricing structure in the country. He stated: This rise could affect prices as usual in months after a nominally abrupt jump in the value of this rate. Despite the Argentine government signing price control agreements, the fluctuation could create disruptions affecting the inflationary goals for next year. Fundacion Libertad economist Eugenio Mari explained: In economies with high inflation the price system is destroyed. As a consequence, the exchange rate becomes the fundamental variable that companies and workers follow in order to adjust their prices. What do you think about the historic drop in the Argentine fiat currency’s value? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The Central African Republic’s plan to list the sango coin in the last quarter of 2022 has been put on hold, while the scheduled unlocking of 5% of token holders’ portfolios has similarly been postponed, a statement from the team promoting the token has reportedly said. The decision to delay the listing of the coin was prompted by what the team terms “current market conditions.” Scheduled Token Unlocking Postponed Nearly eight months after becoming the first country in Africa to adopt bitcoin, the Central African Republic (CAR) recently said it will not proceed with the listing of its “Sango” crypto token as planned. In a statement reportedly posted in a sango coin Telegram group, the team promoting the token claimed that “current market conditions” had necessitated this decision. Besides the listing delay, the CAR team said the planned unlocking of up to 5% of sango holders’ portfolios had been postponed as well. According to the token information available on the official Sango website, the CAR had hoped to list the coin before the end of 2022. However, just like the country’s decision to make bitcoin legal tender, which has faced a series of problems, the Central African Republic’s sango coin, too, has run into a series of challenges. Chief among these has been the seemingly limited investor interest in the sango coin. The court ruling that declared unconstitutional the government’s plan to grant the country’s citizenship to sango coin holders is also believed to have dampened investor interest. In addition, many bitcoiners that initially supported the CAR’s decision to make the top cryptocurrency legal tender have questioned the motives behind the sango coin initiative. ‘Sango Bitcoin Sidechain Testnet’ Despite encountering these and other setbacks, the CAR government is still proceeding with the token sale which is now in “cycle 2.” Also as shown by the token roadmap, the CAR will proceed with the “Sango bitcoin sidechain testnet” in the first quarter of 2023, before launching the so-called national mobile smartphones program. Concerning the CAR government’s plan to grant citizenship to investors that acquire or hold $60,000 worth of sango coins, an unidentified Telegram moderator reportedly said “more updates about this will be made next month.” Register your email here to get a weekly update on African news sent to your inbox: What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken is shutting down services in Japan. The company explained that the current Japanese market conditions and a weak global crypto market do not justify the resources needed to further grow its business in Japan at this time. Kraken Exiting Japan Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken announced Wednesday that it has decided to “cease its operations in Japan and deregister from the Financial Services Agency (JFSA) as of January 31, 2023.” The company explained that the decision to exit the Japanese crypto market is part of its “efforts to prioritize resources and investments” in the areas that align with the company’s strategy and “will best position Kraken for long-term success.” The announcement details: Current market conditions in Japan in combination with a weak crypto market globally mean the resources needed to further grow our business in Japan aren’t justified at this time. “As a result, Kraken will no longer service clients in Japan through Payward Asia,” the exchange affirmed. Payward Asia Inc. operates Kraken’s services in Japan. All affected clients have until Jan. 31 to withdraw their fiat and crypto holdings, the announcement adds, noting that deposit functionality will be removed on Jan. 9. Kraken also assured customers that it is “fully funded to ensure all affected clients can withdraw their assets in a timely manner.” The crypto market has suffered significantly this year, with bitcoin falling more than 65% year-to-date. The Terra ecosystem collapse in May and the FTX implosion last month have negatively impacted many crypto companies, and a number of firms ended up having to file for bankruptcy, including FTX, Three Arrows Capital (3AC), Voyager Digital, Celsius Network, and Blockfi. “Since the start of this year, macroeconomic and geopolitical factors have weighed on financial markets. This resulted in significantly lower trading volumes and fewer client sign-ups,” Kraken CEO Jesse Powell detailed last month. “Unfortunately, negative influences on the financial markets have continued and we have exhausted preferable options for bringing costs in line with demand.” Kraken announced in November that it is reducing its global workforce by 30% or approximately 1,100 people “in order to adapt to current market conditions.” What do you think about Kraken exiting the Japanese crypto market? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Microstrategy is now holding approximately 132,500 bitcoin following its most recent purchases. This year, the world’s largest cryptocurrency has emerged as “the institutional-grade digital asset,” said Microstrategy founder Michael Saylor. Microstrategy Acquires More Bitcoin Nasdaq-listed Microstrategy Inc. announced Wednesday that it has purchased more bitcoin for its corporate treasury. Michael Saylor, the company’s founder and executive chairman, tweeted Wednesday: Microstrategy has increased its bitcoin holdings by ~2,500 BTC. As of 12/27/22 Microstrategy holds ~132,500 bitcoin acquired for ~$4.03 billion at an average price of ~$30,397 per bitcoin. In its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Microstrategy clarified that the 2,500 coins were acquired between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24 by its wholly owned subsidiary Macrostrategy. The subsidiary bought approximately 2,395 BTC at an average price of $17,871 per coin between Nov. 1 and Dec. 21. It then sold about 704 BTC at $16,776 per coin on Dec. 22. Macrostrategy then bought about 810 more BTC at $16,845 per coin on Dec. 24. At the time of writing, bitcoin is trading at $16,656.80. The bitcoin sale in December marked the first time Microstrategy sold its bitcoin since it began accumulating the crypto for its corporate treasury in 2020. The company cited tax reasons for selling BTC. “Microstrategy plans to carry back the capital losses resulting from this transaction against previous capital gains, to the extent such carrybacks are available under the federal income tax laws currently in effect, which may generate a tax benefit,” the SEC filing describes. Saylor said in an interview last week: The most positive thing of the year is the emergence of bitcoin as the institutional grade digital asset and the clarity that … there is one crypto asset that’s a digital commodity … Bitcoin is that commodity. The executive noted that both the chairman of the SEC and the chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have confirmed that bitcoin is a commodity. Saylor previously explained that Microstrategy is investing in BTC “for the long term.” He added: “Our strategy is to buy bitcoin and hold the bitcoin, so there’s no price target … I expect bitcoin is going to go into the millions. So, we’re very patient. We think it’s the future of money.” What do you think about Microstrategy growing its bitcoin holdings to 132,500 BTC? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

After the publicly-listed bitcoin mining firm Argo Blockchain suspended trading on Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange, the company said it would follow up the next day with an announcement. The following day, on Dec. 28, 2022, Argo detailed it is selling its Helios facility to Galaxy Digital for $65 million, and the financially troubled business plans to refinance asset-backed loans with a new $35 million loan that stems from Galaxy. Galaxy Digital Purchases Texas Data Center From Argo Blockchain, Company Hopes Transactions Will ‘Enable the Company to Continue Operations’ Galaxy Digital is giving Argo Blockchain (Nasdaq: ARBK) some fresh liquidity, according to a press announcement published by Argo on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022. Argo detailed that it is selling its Helios facility to Galaxy for $65 million. Galaxy has also agreed to host Argo’s fleet of Bitmain-manufactured S19J Pro bitcoin miners at the Helios facility. The Helios facility is located in Dickens County, Texas and the transaction between Argo and Galaxy is expected to settle on Dec. 28. Argo further disclosed that Galaxy is providing the firm with a loan of $35 million with a term of 36 months. The financing is backed by a collateral package of Argo’s machines located at the Helios facility in Texas and some in Quebec. The collateral package equates to 23,619 Bitmain S19J Pro bitcoin mining machines. A number of Argo’s debts are shown to be tied to the firm NYDIG, according to the announcement published on Wednesday morning (ET). Argo insists the transactions with Galaxy will “strengthen Argo’s balance sheet, improve Argo’s liquidity position, and enable the company to continue operations.” Argo’s stock jumped on the news, and it increased 13.55% from $0.59 to the current $0.67 per share at 11:30 a.m. (ET) on Dec. 28. The publicly-listed bitcoin miner also acknowledged the suspension of ARBK share trading on Dec. 27 and detailed that ARBK trades on Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange were now open. The company noted that its Canadian assets, except for “certain mining machines and other assets located in Quebec” that are backing its new loan, are “not affected by the agreements with Galaxy.” Further, Argo also disclosed that its earning results from the third quarter will not be reported “in light of the transaction with Galaxy,” the bitcoin mining operation concluded. Argo Blockchain is one of a handful of publicly-listed bitcoin mining operations that have dealt with financial shortcomings during 2022’s crypto winter. What do you think about Argo Blockchain’s deal with Galaxy Digital? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

According to court documents, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is set to be arraigned by the federal court in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) on Jan. 3, 2023. The disgraced FTX co-founder plans to enter a plea in his fraud case in front of U.S. judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan, according to a report published by Reuters. Report Claims FTX Co-Founder Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Expected to Enter a Plea Next Week,’ Criminal Defense Attorney Says Feds Have a Case With ‘Very Few Holes’ Just recently, the judge that was presiding over Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) fraud case, judge Ronnie Abrams, withdrew from the case citing a conflict of interest. It seems Abrams husband, Greg Andres, was reportedly an FTX adviser last year. Andres is a partner at the white-shoe, international law firm headquartered in New York City, Davis Polk & Wardwell. Following Abrams’s withdrawal from SBF’s case, the judge has been replaced by judge Lewis Kaplan. The 78-year-old Kaplan has been called a “no-nonsense” judge who has presided over a number of high-profile cases involving individuals like the ​​45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, and Prince Andrew, Duke of York. On Dec. 28, 2022, Reuters reported that when SBF faces judge Kaplan, the FTX co-founder is expected to submit a plea during his arraignment. “Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to enter a plea next week to criminal charges,” Reuters contributor Jonathan Stempel wrote on Wednesday. Court documents show that SBF is scheduled to see judge Kaplan on Jan. 3, 2023, in Manhattan’s federal court. The news follows the recent unsealed testimony from Caroline Ellison, the ex-CEO of Alameda Research. Ellison is currently working with federal law enforcement officials, and in her testimony she described a number of fraudulent acts she says she participated in since 2019. SBF is flying first class to California. But at least he's not flying private pic.twitter.com/QHzlftE0LN — Genevieve Roch-Decter, CFA (@GRDecter) December 24, 2022 Moreover, a number of people do not believe the court will go easy on SBF. On Dec. 22, criminal defense attorney, Brian Wice, discussed the situation with Yahoo Finance Live and he told the host, Rachelle Akuffo, that the U.S. attorney in SDNY, Damian Williams, has a case with “very few holes.” Wice remarked that the feds wouldn’t go forward unless “they are convinced that they can make their case beyond a reasonable doubt.” As far as Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang are concerned, Wice said they didn’t have “ironclad plea deals,” but stressed the duo will “get substantial reductions in their sentences if they come in and they testify truthfully.” As far as SBF is concerned, Wice remarked that he’s got a “tough road to hoe” ahead of him. “The more cooperators against him, the tougher it will be,” Wice told Akuffo. “And right now Damian Williams sent up the bat signal saying if you’ve got any guilty knowledge or involvement in this case, you better come in now or it’s only going to get worse,” the criminal defense attorney added. In addition to the SDNY case against SBF, a class action lawsuit filed by FTX customers wants the remaining digital assets tied to Alameda and FTX “earmarked solely for customers.” The plaintiffs from the class action lawsuit detail that FTX’s loans to Alameda Research, as described by ex-CEO Caroline Ellison, were “in direct violation of FTX’s own customer agreements and terms of service, as well as common law and basic principles of honesty and fair dealing.” SBF was released on a $250 million bond on Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, and the former FTX CEO was not asked to enter a plea. What do you think about SBF heading to court to face judge Kaplan on Jan. 3, 2023? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

On Dec. 27, 2022, a number of onchain researchers noticed that funds connected to Alameda Research and FTX have moved and have been swapped for other tokens. Reports show the hacker known as the ‘FTX Accounts Drainer,’ traded large sums of ERC20 tokens for digital assets like tether, ethereum, and bitcoin. Funds Tied to Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research Traded for Ethereum, Tether, and Bitcoin It seems whoever controls the funds that once were connected to Alameda and FTX is starting to move a large handful of ERC20 tokens. According to the OXT onchain researcher Ergo, on Twitter, Alameda-linked addresses started to swap ERC20s for ETH and USDT. “Alameda ETH addresses are digging around in the sofa for spare change and swapping bits ERC20s for ETH/USDT,” Ergo tweeted. “ETH and USDT then funneled through instant exchangers. Rings some major alarm bells,” the onchain researcher added. In response to Ergo’s tweet, the onchain sleuth Zachxbt replied and said: “the funds are being swapped for [bitcoin],” while sharing four different BTC addresses (1, 2, 3, 4). All four of those addresses were sent roughly 11.9 bitcoin worth close to $199K using today’s BTC exchange rates. In the thread published by Ergo, someone asked if the fund movements likely derived from the liquidators. Zachxbt dismissed the idea when he tweeted: “don’t think they would use Fixedfloat or Changenow.” Nansen’s Martin Lee also confirmed that the funds were sent to Fixedfloat or Changenow. “Lots of activity going on among Alameda wallets in the past 6-7 hours,” Lee said. “Various tokens on ETH being consolidated into [two] main wallets. Swapped to ETH/USDT (USDC to USDT too). USDT [then] swapped to ETH. Sent to multiple wallets and [then] to Fixedfloat [and] Changenow.” Lee further added: Transactions seem odd to me. Consolidation makes sense but after it’s being consolidated the funds get sent to fresh wallets before it gets sent to Changenow [and] Fixedfloat. In addition to the recent movements, the FTX Accounts Drainer also controls the ethereum (ETH) address “0x97f.” The wallet holds around $200 million in ERC20 tokens and $41 million worth of FTT tokens. There’s a substantial sum of crypto assets that were confiscated by an unknown entity the same day FTX filed for bankruptcy protection. Furthermore, just days before the bankruptcy filing, on Nov. 6, 2022, FTX’s bitcoin reserves which equated to 20,176.84 BTC, were siphoned from the wallet in less than 24 hours. The whereabouts of the more than 20,000 bitcoin worth $334.24 million today is still a mystery. A number of speculators have wondered if white hat hackers or even law enforcement now have control over these funds, while many speculate the owner is simply a thief. What do you think about the Alameda funds on the move and the ERC20 tokens being traded for ethereum, tether, and bitcoin? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

A group of customers are now suing FTX in an attempt to become the first to recover funds from the insolvent cryptocurrency exchange. The lawsuit, filed as part of the bankruptcy case in Delaware, seeks a court ruling recognizing that their holdings with the trading platform belong to them rather than the failed company. Customers Sue FTX, SBF for Priority Right to Repayment Over Other Creditors Four FTX customers have filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the crypto exchange and its former executives, including founder and ex-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). They want the court to declare that the digital assets held with the platform belong to its customers rather than FTX or its other creditors. The group also asks their suit to be accepted as a class action as part of the case in Delaware, according to reports published by Reuters and Bloomberg. The Bahamas-based FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the state on Nov. 11 as traders and investors rushed to withdraw their money. Amid a number of legal efforts to lay claim to the assets of FTX, its new management pledged that customers will be repaid first. The latest complaint insists that “customer class members should not have to stand in line along with secured or general unsecured creditors in these bankruptcy proceedings just to share in the diminished estate assets of the FTX Group and Alameda.” Following his resignation as chief executive and after his extradition from the Bahamas, Bankman-Fried is facing charges in the U.S. related to a “fraud of epic proportions,” as a federal prosecutor put it. Among them, an allegation that customer deposits, in both fiat and crypto, were used to support his crypto trading platform Alameda Research. SBF’s Ex Also Liable for Converting Customer Holdings, Lawsuit Claims Besides Bankman-Fried, the customers are also suing Caroline Ellison, his ex-girlfriend and former CEO of Alameda. They say both should be held liable for breaching fiduciary duties to them and wrongfully converting their holdings. Ellison pleaded guilty to fraud charges. In her testimony, she admitted that Alameda had access to a special borrowing facility which was FTX customer funds. The proposed class action lawsuit asks the court to determine that “cash and assets traceable to customers, which never belonged to FTX or Alameda and do not belong” to other bankruptcy creditors “should be earmarked solely for customers.” It aims to represent over a million FTX customers in the United States and around the world. And if the court decides that the holdings are property of FTX, then the customers seek a ruling from the judge granting them the priority right to repayment over other creditors of the exchange, which was the second largest in the crypto industry before it collapsed last month. In a separate report quoting a source familiar with the case, Bloomberg revealed that the U.S. Justice Department has launched an investigation into an alleged cyberattack on FTX that led to the loss of over $370 million, mere hours after the bankruptcy court filing in November. It’s still unclear if that was an inside job or a hacking incident. Do you think FTX customers will be granted priority right to repayment over other creditors? Share your expectations in the comments section below. View the full article

2022 has been an interesting year for stablecoin assets as the market capitalization of the entire stablecoin economy lost just over $28 billion in value. Moreover, more than $3 billion has been erased from the stablecoin economy during the last 23 days as BUSD shed roughly 23.3% during the last month. Over $3 Billion in USD Value Has Been Erased From the Stablecoin Economy in 23 Days The market valuation of stablecoins has continued to slide and since Jan. 2022, $28.08 billion in U.S. dollar value has left the stablecoin economy. Archived data indicates that the stablecoin economy was valued at $167.08 billion on Jan. 5, 2022, and today it’s valued at $139.06 billion or 16.77% lower than the first week of the year. The stablecoin economy has not been this low in U.S. dollar value since Oct. 23, 2021, or around 14 months ago. In Jan. 2022, tether (USDT) had a market capitalization of around $77.14 billion, and today it’s down to $66.25 billion. Usd coin’s (USDC) valuation 14 months ago was $42.74 billion and this week USDC’s market cap is roughly $44.28 billion. BUSD’s market cap was $14.28 billion on Jan. 5, 2022, and terrausd’s (UST) market valuation was roughly $10.19 billion. On Dec. 28, 2022, BUSD’s market cap is higher at $17.16 billion, but UST’s valuation was obliterated down to the current $215 million. UST was one of many stablecoins that depegged from the U.S. dollar this year. This month alone the stablecoin economy shed $3.08 billion in value as it slid from $142.07 billion to the current $138.99 billion. On Dec. 5, 2022, BUSD had a market cap of around $22.08 billion which is more than 22% higher than the current $17.16 billion. 356 days ago on Jan. 5, Makerdao’s DAI stablecoin had a market valuation of around $9.07 billion, which is 43.55% higher than DAI’s current $5.12 billion value. Below the stablecoin DAI are the dollar-pegged tokens frax, pax dollar, true usd, usdd, and gemini dollar. In Addition to Terrausd, Neutrino USD, HUSD, and FLEXUSD Depegged From Their $1 Parity Stablecoins that have been bumped down a number of positions include dollar-pegged coins like magic internet money, liquity usd, fei usd, and neutrino usd. The once-stable coin neutrino usd (USDN) is currently trading for $0.448 per unit after depegging from the $1 parity on Nov. 7, 2022. Another former stablecoin that also lost its peg is HUSD, which depegged from the $1 parity on Oct. 27, 2022. A single HUSD token is currently exchanging hands for $0.14 per unit on Dec. 28. Furthermore, the once-stable coin flex usd (FLEXUSD) also lost its dollar peg this year. FLEXUSD is now trading for $0.25 per unit as it depegged from the $1 parity on June 20, 2022. On Dec. 5, 2022, stablecoins represented $60.74 billion of the $107.29 billion in 24-hour trade volume recorded that day, which equates to 56.61% of all trades. 23 days later, the global trade volume is much lower at $37 billion, while stablecoins represent $29.92 billion or roughly 80.86% of the trades recorded on Dec. 28, 2022. What do you think about stablecoins this year losing $28 billion in value and the handful of dollar-pegged tokens that depegged from their $1 parity this year? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The Argentine senate is discussing a preliminary project that would regulate the way in which individuals and organizations promote crypto. The objective of the project, which is still under discussion, would be to educate consumers on the dangers of investing in crypto and also to protect them from investing in crypto Ponzi schemes. Argentine Senate Gets Into Crypto Advertisement Regulation More and more countries are taking action to avoid the diffusion of cryptocurrency scams through advertising channels. Argentina, one of the countries in Latam where cryptocurrency adoption has been growing, has begun to mull the establishment of crypto-related advertisement laws. The discussion, which is being promoted by Senator Eduardo Andrada and others, would put its focus on educating potential users of cryptocurrency about the particularities of these assets. In the same way, another of the objectives of this potential project would be to protect investors from falling into fake and Ponzi-based crypto schemes. The meeting, which saw the presence of Sebastian Negri and Martín Breinlinger, members of the Argentine Securities Commission, presented several cryptocurrency schemes that had promotion and advertising through different media. One of the ideas presented proposed that any crypto-related publicity would have to include slogans explaining the risks that such investments carry. Divided Opinions Senators and other assistants had different views regarding the proposed project. Negri explained the benefits that the approval of such a law would bring to potential investors. He stated: With the rise of Bitcoin from 10,000 to 69,000 dollars, what they did was promise people that the profitability that occurred the previous year was going to be repeated for those who entered now. That is false advertising. One cannot promise guaranteed profits. That’s a basic rule, but it was happening. Furthermore, Negri stated that traditional financial institutions, such as banks, were not able to do so, but crypto can because of the low regulation of the ecosystem in the country. However, Senator Angela Negri expressed her disapproval of the idea of regulating crypto advertising, stating that this could cause the Senate to get caught up in other crypto-related issues. I don’t like this project. I don’t like regulations and I don’t really understand how to regulate something that isn’t regulated. It sounds to me that it is a first step towards a regulation. Other countries have already established regulations around this subject. In January, Spain established its own rules to control crypto publicity, targeting influencers first. In the same way, the U.K. announced in July it would increase its vigilance over misleading crypto campaigns. What do you think about the Argentine senate’s proposal to regulate crypto advertisements? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Gumi, a Japanese mobile gaming company, has partnered with Square Enix and SBI Holdings to build new business opportunities around the metaverse. The deal, which also includes the issuance of new stock valued at $52.7 million dollars, will allow the company to acquire financial and content creation experience. Gumi Raises $52.7 Million in Metaverse-Driven Alliance More and more gaming companies are looking to include metaverse elements in their games. Gumi, a Japanese gaming company focused on mobile entertainment, has announced a capital and business alliance with Square Enix, another Japan-based game developer, and SBI Holdings, one of the biggest financial service companies in Japan. The deal includes the issuance of new shares valued at $52.7 million, which will give SBI Holdings a 22.46% stake in the company, becoming the top shareholder. Square Enix will have a marginal stake of 3.01%, according to regulatory filings. Gumi’s target is the metaverse, and it declared that the funds raised will be invested to grow this new metaverse business at “an even faster rate than ever before.” This pivot towards digital immersive entertainment and the metaverse has marked significance for the future of the company. In a press release explaining the scope and objectives of the alliance, Gumi stated: The group is working day and night to make the metaverse business a second earnings pillar in addition to the mobile online game business, which is the current mainstay of earnings. Areas of Expansion With this strategic alliance, Gumi aims to have a platform to list the tokens it wants to issue as part of its future games strategy. As part of a takeover executed back in May, SBI Holdings purchased a majority stake in Bitpoint, a cryptocurrency exchange. The deal, valued at almost $100 million, would allow SBI to list tokens issued in Gumi-developed games. The company qualified this development as essential, as most of the tokens issued in these kinds of games are distributed on international exchanges, making it “inconvenient” for domestic users. In the same way, Gumi will issue security tokens backed by these games to customers of SBI. Gumi also hopes to take advantage of the experience that Square Enix has in developing, distributing, and publishing games in order to push its own blockchain gaming platform, including an NFT marketplace. What do you think about Gumi’s alliance with Square Enix and SBI Holdings to pivot toward the metaverse? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Venezuelan Banks have started eyeing the accounts of customers with ties to cryptocurrency trading, principally related to peer-to-peer (P2P) transaction activity. According to Legalrocks, a crypto and blockchain-focused legal firm in Venezuela, more than 75 accounts have been blocked by Venezuelan private banks for facilitating crypto-to-fiat and fiat-to-crypto conversions since the end of 2021. Venezuelan Banks Suspend Crypto-Related Accounts Venezuelan banks are ramping up vigilance on accounts that commonly are related to cryptocurrency transactions. According to a blog post published by Legalrocks, a Venezuelan law firm focused on cryptocurrency and blockchain, more than 75 cases of accounts that have been suspended or are under investigation have been registered since the end of 2021. Ana Ojeda, CEO of Legalrocks, states that using these accounts to receive fiat currency for a sale or exchange for cryptocurrency should not be considered a valid reason for blocking them. However, she clarifies that this changes if there are sufficient signs that the funds used in these transactions are related to illegal or criminal activities. In the same way, transactions going through cryptocurrency exchanges not authorized by Sunacrip, the national superintendency for cryptocurrency assets, could also be considered suspicious by financial authorities, and justify an investigation. Stablecoin Love Ojeda explains that stablecoin exchanges through P2P markets are common due to the economic debacle and the high levels of devaluation that the national fiat currency (the Venezuelan bolivar) has experienced during this year. This means that people use stablecoins as a store of value, purchasing them when receiving fiat currency as payment and then exchanging them for fiat currency again to purchase goods and pay for services. According to a report presented by the United Nations in July, Venezuela ranks third among the countries with the most cryptocurrency adoption. According to Ojeda: Venezuela has been leading the region for several years as the Latam country that uses cryptocurrencies the most to protect itself against inflation and the loss of savings capacity. Stablecoin-based P2P markets have become so popular and extensive in Venezuela that some analysts believe they could be playing an important role in the dynamics of the U.S. dollar-bolivar exchange rate. In November, when the bolivar fell 40% against the U.S. dollar, economist Asdrubal Oliveros mentioned the interplay of crypto markets and the greater economy, along with the FTX collapse and the fear of holding funds on custodial exchanges, as a possible cause. What do you think about Venezuelan Banks suspending or investigating crypto-related accounts? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Senegalese-American artist, Akon, reportedly reassured participants in his so-called token of appreciation (TOA) that they will be reimbursed for donations. To back this promise, the singer reportedly claimed he is even willing to do “a world tour just to pay them all back.” Akon, however, conceded during an interview that he should “have gotten more things in place before promoting it [Akon City].” Singer Ready to Do a World Tour for Token Holders Rhythm and blues (R&B) singer and music producer, Akon, reportedly promised to reimburse disillusioned supporters who have been waiting for refunds from his token of appreciation (TOA) campaign. The Senegalese-American artist also told TOA holders that he is prepared to use his own funds to ensure this promise is honored. “I’m dead serious. I would do a world tour just to pay them all back,” the award-winning artist reportedly said. Launched in 2019, Akon’s TOA was given to his early financial backers. The TOA was not only a precursor to the akoin cryptocurrency but it also reportedly gave supporters an opportunity to acquire the crypto. However, after more than two years of waiting, some early backers have lost faith and are now asking for refunds. Although he seemingly acknowledged that some supporters have lost faith in the project, Akon suggested during an interview with the BBC that his ambitious but much-delayed mega-construction project — Akon City — is still on track. As reported by Bitcoin.com News, construction of the initial phase of the singer’s “futuristic cryptocurrency-themed city” was expected to commence sometime in the second half of 2020. Following the announcement of the singer’s reported multibillion-dollar project, Akon’s team revealed that the initial phase, which included the construction of hotels, a school, a waste facility, and a solar power plant, would be complete by the end of 2023. However, according to the BBC report, the site of Akon’s mega city has now become grazing land for goats. Akon City Dream Still Alive During the interview, Akon — who blames the Covid-19 pandemic for causing the delay — conceded that he should “have gotten more things in place before promoting it.” The singer is nevertheless adamant that his project, which has been “co-signed by the current [Senegalese] president” is still alive. “I plan to retire in that city. I don’t like to use the word the king of the city. But that’s what it will turn out to be,” Akon reportedly said. During the interview, the R&B singer was also asked to respond to investor concerns about the legality of using a cryptocurrency in a jurisdiction regulated by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). He said. I want to make sure that however we involve crypto within the city is in a way that it lines up with all the rules and regulations. As explained in the BBC report, the BCEAO has not only warned of the dangers of using crypto but has reportedly called it illegal. Meanwhile, when asked if the akoin cryptocurrency is still the preferred medium of exchange in the envisaged city, Akon promised to have this “figured out by the time the city’s up, that’s for sure.” Register your email here to get a weekly update on African news sent to your inbox: What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

Crypto trading volumes in India have plunged significantly this year. The FTX meltdown has exacerbated the problem, hurting “the sentiment across crypto tokens.” Local crypto experts are not expecting a recovery in the near future “Unless something dramatic happens” in the upcoming Union Budget. Indian Crypto Market ‘Dead’ Since April, Says Expert Cryptocurrency trading volumes at major exchanges in India have plunged significantly this year. Since the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, major exchanges in India lost between 34% and 50% of trading volumes, Moneycontrol reported Monday, citing data from research firm Crebaco. However, the decline began long before the FTX implosion. One of the largest crypto trading platforms in India, Wazirx, lost 97.99% of its trading volumes from the beginning of the year to Dec. 22. Crebaco CEO Sidharth Sogani told the publication: I don’t think a lot of this recent trading volume plunge was driven by FTX. The market in India has been dead since April 2022. “I don’t expect any action or recovery for the sector in India in the next six months, until something major gets announced in the Union Budget,” he continued. Wazirx’s vice president of marketing, Rajagopal Menon, opined: “It all comes down to the removing / reducing the TDS (tax deducted at source) and capital gains without setoff for losses. No one is trading on Indian exchanges because of that.” In this year’s Union Budget 2022, the Indian government imposed a 30% income tax on virtual digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and a 1% TDS on all transactions of 10,000 rupees ($121) or more. Menon stressed: Unless something dramatic happens in the Budget this year, we don’t see a steady recovery in trading volumes anytime soon. How FTX’s Collapse Impacts Indian Crypto Industry “Indian users have not been too badly affected by FTX except for the sentiment. The negative sentiment around the sector got exaggerated by FTX,” a top crypto exchange executive told the publication. The person elaborated: Indian investors, after TDS, have moved to Binance and not FTX because Binance had peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions, FTX doesn’t. If you have INR, the only foreign exchanges you can trade on are Binance and Kucoin. Sogani similarly explained that the FTX meltdown hurt “the sentiment across crypto tokens.” He added: “What came out later on has pushed the crypto industry behind by a few years.” Meanwhile, India still has not come up with a policy on crypto. The Indian government is planning to discuss crypto regulations with the G20 countries in an effort to establish a technology-driven regulatory framework for crypto assets, the country’s finance minister previously revealed. The government recently updated parliament on the status of its cryptocurrency bill. India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has continued to push for the banning of all cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin and ether. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das recently said that the next financial crisis will come from crypto if it is allowed to grow. Do you think the Indian government will announce something positive for the crypto industry next year? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Banking giant HSBC has filed trademark applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a wide range of digital currency products and services, including those related to the metaverse and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). HSBC’s Trademark Applications for Crypto-Related Products and Services HSBC has filed two crypto-related trademark applications for its name and logo with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Mike Kondoudis, a USPTO-licensed trademark attorney, noted in a tweet Friday that HSBC’s trademark applications indicate the bank’s plans for a number of digital products and services, including those related to the exchange and transfer of virtual currencies. HSBC’s crypto-related trademark applications were filed on Dec. 15; their serial numbers are 97718803 and 97718583. The bank described a wide range of products and services in its applications, including sending, receiving, converting, and storing digital currencies. The trademark applications also detail several metaverse-related products and services, such as “facilitating secure payment transactions by electronic means in the metaverse,” “providing banking services in the metaverse,” and “providing processing of virtual credit card, virtual debit card, virtual prepaid card, and virtual payment card transactions in the metaverse.” HSBC also included a number of NFT services, such as “downloadable digital files authenticated by non-fungible tokens (NFTs).” HSBC joined the metaverse by partnering with blockchain virtual gaming platform The Sandbox in March. However, HSBC Group’s CEO, Noel Quinn, said in September that crypto is not in the bank’s future. An increasing number of major corporations and financial services institutions have filed trademark applications covering a wide range of digital currency and metaverse products and services. For example, Visa, Paypal, and Western Union filed crypto-related trademark applications in October. Last month, JPMorgan Chase was granted a wallet trademark covering various virtual currency and payment services. What do you think about HSBC filing trademark applications for crypto-related products and services? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Two prominent Solana projects have announced they are transitioning over to new blockchains. The non-fungible token (NFT) venture Degods detailed it will be moving to the Ethereum chain and the Y00ts NFT team detailed it is moving to Polygon. Both teams said the transitions will take place in 2023. Degods Says NFT Project Will Move to Ethereum, Y00ts Details NFT Venture Is Transitioning to Polygon The crypto community has been discussing two crypto projects that have said the teams plan to transition their ventures from the Solana blockchain network to an alternative blockchain. Degods is one NFT project that revealed on Twitter it was moving from Solana to the Ethereum network. Launched in October 2021, Degods is an NFT venture that created 10,000 deflationary PFP (profile picture) NFTs. On Twitter the Degods team said: Degods will officially bridge to Ethereum in Q1 of 2023. The bridge is not the destination. It is on the path to get there. Interestingly, the team behind the Y00ts NFT collection said it plans to transition over to the Polygon network. “Y00ts will officially bridge to [Polygon] in Q1 2023,” the official Twitter account tweeted on Dec. 25, 2022. The decisions to transition the two NFT projects from one chain to another come at a time where the Solana project itself has been hurt by its former relationships with FTX. Solana’s native crypto asset solana (SOL) is down 94.2% year-to-date and over the last 30 days SOL has lost 19.7% against the U.S. dollar. Last year, SOL was a top ten crypto asset but the digital currency has been struggling to hold the 18th largest market cap position in more recent times. Seven-day stats show that Solana’s NFT sales are still the second largest out of 19 different blockchain networks, according to cryptoslam.io data. While Ethereum dominated the last seven days of sales with $129.12 million out of the $154 million in sales, Solana took the second position with its $14.65 million in NFT sales recorded this past week. Meanwhile, Polygon holds the fourth-largest position in terms of NFT sales with $2.38 million. Defillama metrics shows that there’s $39.42 billion total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (defi) today and Solana commands the 12th largest TVL in defi. Solana’s TVL on Dec. 26, 2022 is $216.39 million which equates to 0.55% of the entire TVL locked in defi. Interestingly, the tweets from Degods and Y00ts say the same thing as both teams mention transitioning “has never been done before at this scale.” What do you think about the two NFT projects transitioning from Solana to different blockchain networks? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Gold prices are ending the year a hair below the values recorded 12 months ago. Statistics on Dec. 26, 2021, show the U.S. dollar value per ounce of gold was $1,810 per unit, and today gold is $1,797 per ounce. Silver, on the other hand, managed to increase a hair in value since last year, as prices climbed from $23.04 per unit to the current USD value of around $23.72 on Dec. 26, 2022. Gold Dropped a Hair During the Last Year, While Silver Rose a Touch — Precious Metal Assets Managed to Hold Value All Year Long Despite the Macroeconomic Calamity and Energy Crisis While precious metals like gold and silver fluctuated in U.S. dollar value during the last year, gold and silver year-to-date price statistics show prices are pretty much the same as last year. Gold is down a touch during the last 12 months as it was trading for $1,810 per ounce and today it’s trading 0.71% lower at $1,797 per ounce. Silver was $23.04 per ounce and today it’s 2.95% higher in value at $23.72 an ounce. 2022 was an interesting year for gold as the precious metal reached a lifetime price high on March 8, 2022, as one ounce of gold reached $2,070 per unit. While silver tapped a high on the same day, the metal still has a long way to go before catching up to the $40 an ounce range reached in 2011. Silver came awfully close to surpassing the $27 per unit range on March 8, 2022. Both precious metals did a lot better than the top two cryptocurrencies bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH). Metrics show BTC is down 66% since this time last year, and ETH has lost a touch more than 70% since last year. Like cryptocurrency fans, precious metals advocates think 2023 will see a bullish revival in terms of silver and gold rising in value. Kitco News contributor Phillip Streible shared his predictions for the two precious metals on Dec. 23. “By year-end [2023], inflation should decline to 3-3.5%, leading to gold prices averaging $1,950/oz with extensions up over $2,000 at different periods,” Streible said. “We should see the 2’s vs. 10’s yield curve flatten while Silver could easily see ‘green shoots’ up into the mid-high $ ’30s, settling back to $28 by year-end.” Like cryptocurrencies and equity markets, gold and silver have been affected by the macroeconomic storm and events like Covid-19, the Ukraine/Russia war, and the result of expanding the world’s money supply like no other time in history. The U.S. Federal Reserve has increased the federal funds rate six times so far in order to combat America’s highest inflation rates in over 40 years. The gold bug and economist Peter Schiff believes gold and silver will do well in 2023 as well but he’s not as optimistic about the inflation rate as Streible. Speaking with Kitco News anchor David Lin, Schiff said there’s a chance it could drop but he expects the U.S. inflation rate to jump above 10%. “We’re not getting anywhere near 2 percent [inflation],” Schiff remarked. “Maybe we’ll go below 7 percent before we go above 10 percent, but I think we’re going to take out the highs from 2022 before the end of 2023 on a year-over-year basis,” the economist added. What do you think about gold’s and silver’s market performances in 2022? What do you think about Phillip Streible’s and Peter Schiff’s opinions about inflation and precious metal prices? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Litecoin raced to a ten-day high to start the week, as markets returned from the Christmas holiday weekend. The token extended recent gains to start the week, and neared a key resistance point in the process. Xrp was also higher, as it also collided with a price ceiling. Litecoin (LTC) Litecoin (LTC) was one of the notable gainers on Monday, as the token raced to a ten-day high. LTC/USD rose to a high of $70.83 to start the week, which comes less than a day after hitting a low of $65.54. Today’s surge has taken litecoin to its highest point since December 16, and closer to a key resistance level of $72.00. As can be seen from the chart, Monday’s move comes as the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) rose above its own ceiling at 45.00. The index is currently tracking at 51.79, with the next visible point of support at the 54.00 level. Should the RSI reach this point, it is highly likely that prices will also collide with a ceiling of $72.00. XRP XRP, formerly ripple, also moved higher to start the week, as the token collided with a key resistance point. Following a low of $0.3447, XRP/USD hit a high of $0.356 earlier in today’s session, which is also a recent price ceiling. Monday’s gain is the highest point that XRP has hit since December 18, and comes as traders returned from the Christmas holiday weekend. Looking at the chart, this move accompanied a recent move beyond a ceiling on the RSI of 42.00. As of writing, the index is now tracking at 43.45, which is its strongest point since December 15. Ultimately, should this trend continue, XRP could continue to move towards the $0.4000 mark. Register your email here to get weekly price analysis updates sent to your inbox: Do you expect crypto markets to move higher heading into the new year? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. View the full article

Like most crypto projects this year, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) felt the pain of 2022’s crypto winter as sales are down a great deal and blue-chip NFTs have been slashed in value. For instance, last month, there was roughly $534 million in NFT sales compared to the $2.77 billion in NFT sales sold in Dec. 2021. The NFT Industry Takes a Hit in 2022 — Sales and Google Searches Down Significantly 2022 hasn’t been kind to non-fungible token (NFT) holders, and statistics show that interest in the subject has dropped a great deal this year. Google Trends (GT) data shows that the search term “NFT” had a score of around 52 during the week of Dec. 26, 2021 – Jan. 1, 2022. The term also skyrocketed to the highest score of 100 on Jan. 16 – Jan. 22, 2022. Today, however, for the week of Dec. 18 – Dec. 24, 2022, the search term “NFT” has a score of around 16. There’s been a slight rebound in interest recently in NFTs according to GT data, which started around Dec. 4, 2022. GT data shows the most interested region in NFTs today is China, followed by Hong Kong, Singapore, Nigeria, and Taiwan. Statistics also show that NFT sales volume has dropped a great deal since last year. Cryptoslam.io data indicates that there was $2.77 billion in NFT sales sold in Dec. 2021, and last month only $534 million in NFT sales were recorded. Metrics saved to archive.org indicate that during the week of Dec. 27, 2021, $414.84 million in sales were recorded. Sales during the week of Dec. 27, 2021 were also down 32.05% lower as the previous seven days saw $610.53 million in sales. In terms of NFT sales by blockchain at the time, Ethereum saw $334.83 million out of the $414.84 million in total sales that week. The week of Dec. 27, 2021, Ronin had roughly $45.65 million in sales and Solana had just over $16 million in sales during the seven day period. The top five projects or collections in terms of seven day sales during the last week of Dec. 2021, included Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), Cryptopunks, Axie Infinity, Bored Ape Yacht Club, and The Sandbox. This month, roughly a year later, NFT sales pale in comparison to the purchases made last year. As of Dec. 25, 2022, NFT sales dipped by 12.22% this week as $154.02 million in sales were recorded during the past seven days. Over the trailing seven days, there were 295,338 NFT buyers and just over one million NFT transactions. This week, the top blockchain in terms of NFT sales is still Ethereum (ETH) and over the last seven days, there’s been $129.23 million in NFT sales that derive from the ETH chain. ETH is followed by Solana, Polygon, Immutable X, and Cardano in terms of the largest sales last week by blockchain. Last year, on Dec. 27, 2021, an NFT called “Mega” sold for 888 ether which was worth $3.6 million at the time. Furthermore, on the same day, Cryptopunk #9137 sold for 310 ether or $1.21 million at the time of sale. Dappradar stats indicate that Cryptopunk #9137 is now worth anywhere between 63.95 ether or $77,995 (Cryptopunks’ current floor), or 377.24 ether or $460K (Dappradar estimates). Last year’s archived data from nftpricefloor.com indicates that the floor value of a Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT was around 87.5 ether. ETH was also trading for $4K per unit at that time, which means 87.5 ether was around $350,000 at the time. A Cryptopunk could be purchased for 65 ether on Dec. 19, 2021, and its value at that time measured in U.S. dollars was around $260K. Sales recorded on Dec. 25, 2022 are a completely different story, as current statistics from nftpricefloor.com show a BAYC can be purchased for 69.88, which is worth roughly $85,159 using today’s ether exchange rates. A cryptopunk NFT purchased at the current floor value on Dec. 25, 2022, will cost 63.95 ETH or around $77K in USD value. GT data also shows that interest in the term “Bored Ape Yacht Club,” has declined a great deal as well since last year. Last year, during the week of Dec. 26, 2021 – Jan. 1, 2022, the search term “Bored Ape Yacht Club,” had a score of around 50, and by the week of Jan. 16 – Jan. 22, 2022, the search term hit 100. Today, the BAYC-related search term is down to a score of 10, which is a considerable drop in overall interest since last year. Similarly, this week China dominates in terms of BAYC interest and the country is followed by Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, and Australia. GT data related to other blue chip NFTs like Cryptopunks, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, and others have also seen GT search interest drop a great deal. What do you think about this year’s NFT sales and overall interest in digital collectibles sliding a lot lower than last year? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Cryptocurrencies were mostly consolidating on Dec. 26, as markets remained muted following the Christmas weekend. Bitcoin remained marginally above a key support point at $16,800, whilst ethereum remained near a ceiling at the $1,230 mark. Overall, the global crypto market is up 0.20% as of writing. Bitcoin Bitcoin (BTC) remained slightly above a ceiling at the $16,800 level to start the week, as markets remained mostly unchanged following the Christmas weekend. Trading volume typically slows down during the holiday period, with most financial markets shutting down. Cryptocurrency markets however remained open, with BTC/USD moving closer to recapturing the $17,000 level. As can be seen from the chart, Bitcoin hit a high of $16,908.86 earlier in today’s session, which is marginally above Sunday’s low of $16,755.25. The move comes as the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) moved closer to a key ceiling at 49.00. Currently, the index is tracking at the 47.55 mark, with bulls likely to continue to push towards the aforementioned resistance level. Ethereum Like BTC, ethereum (ETH) mostly consolidated on Monday, with prices continuing to trade below the $1,230 point. Following a low of $1,203.72 on Christmas Day, ETH/USD raced to a peak of $1,222.61 earlier in today’s session. As a result of today’s move, ethereum continued to trade below its key resistance level of $1,230 for a sixth straight day. Looking at the chart, the failure to break out of this point comes as the RSI continued to hover near a resistance of its own at 48.00 As of writing, the index is tracking at 47.33, which comes after two weeks of residing under the 48.00 mark. Despite this, the 10-day (red) moving average (MA) has begun to move closer to its 25-day (blue) counterpart, which could mean an upward cross is pending in the coming days. Register your email here to get weekly price analysis updates sent to your inbox: Do you expect cryptocurrencies to consolidate for the remainder of the year? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. View the full article

A Ukrainian living in the U.S. has reportedly hacked a major drug market on the Russian dark web, diverting some of its crypto proceeds. The man says he donated the digital cash stolen from the illicit website to an organization delivering humanitarian aid across his war-torn homeland. Wisconsin Resident With Ukrainian Roots Hacks Russian Dark Web Market Solaris Ukrainian-born cyber intelligence expert Alex Holden, who left Kyiv as a teenager in the 1980s and now lives in Mequon, Wisconsin, claims he has hacked into Solaris, one of Russia’s largest online drug markets, Forbes informs in a report. Supported by his team at Hold Security, he was able to get hold of some of the bitcoin sent to dealers and the darknet site’s owners. The cryptocurrency, worth over $25,000, was later transferred to Enjoying Life, a charitable foundation based in the Ukrainian capital. Without revealing exactly how he did it, Holden explained he took control of much of the internet infrastructure behind Solaris, including some administrator accounts, obtained the website’s source code and a database of its users and drop off locations for drug deliveries. For a while, the Ukrainian and his colleagues also gained access to the “master wallet” of the marketplace. It was used by buyers and dealers to deposit and withdraw funds and operated as the platform’s crypto exchange, the article details. Given the rapid turnover, the wallet rarely had more than 3 BTC at a time. Holden managed to appropriate 1.6 BTC and send it to Enjoying Life. Hold Security donated another $8,000 to the charity, which provides assistance to people affected by the war in Ukraine. Solaris Linked to ‘Patriotic’ Russian Hacking Collective Killnet The darknet market Solaris is suspected of having connections to the hacking crew Killnet, which after Moscow launched its invasion in late February became one of Russia’s “patriotic” hacker groups vowing to target Ukrainians and their supporters. Killnet has also conducted a number of attacks in the U.S., including on airport and state government websites as well as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. It reportedly hit the Eurovision song contest, the Estonian government and Italy’s National Health Institute. The group was also blamed for attacking Rutor, the main rival of Solaris, which became Russia’s leading underground drugs market after Hydra was shut down this past spring. According to U.S. cybersecurity firm Zerofox, Solaris was paying Killnet for DDoS services. Besides the battlefield, Russia and Ukraine have also clashed in the online space, with the government in Kyiv recruiting experts for its own cyberforce. The special unit was tasked to identify and prevent Russian attacks but also hack back. Hits such as those on Russia’s largest bank, Sber, and the Moscow Stock Exchange have been attributed to the Ukrainian IT army. Social media accounts associated with the hacktivist collective Anonymous took responsibility for many other attacks. What do you think about Alex Holden’s attack on the Russian darknet market Solaris? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Seychelles, December 26, 2022 – Leading global cryptocurrency exchange, Bitget launches “MegaSwap“, a new feature on its platform that enable the platform’s users to trade or swap their digital assets for over 10,000 cryptocurrencies on a DeFi environment. With a MegaSwap account, users can gain access to trade through eight influential chains and 10 important DEXs while staying on Bitget’s platform. The feature bridges the freedom and variety of DeFi with the security and convenience of CeFi, enabling users to enjoy the best of both worlds. While CEX users enjoy secured trading experiences with diversified products and services, DEXs are also gaining increasing traction amongst investors who want to get a hold of a more variety of tokens fast. However, trading on DEXs is not for everyone. Due to the knowledge barrier and the lack of protection with assets stored on DeFi wallets, many users are deterred from getting involved with DEXs. In light of this, MegaSwap is designed to satisfy users with the demand for trading in convenience and safety, while enjoying asset variety and high liquidity at the same time, allowing users to integrate a centralized trading experience in DeFi marketplaces. Users only have to activate the MegaSwap account with a few clicks to unlock the function of trading over 10,000 cryptocurrencies on 10 leading DEXs, such as Uniswap, Pancake, Curve, Sushiswap, and more. Empowered by the variety of DEXs, MegaSwap is equipped with the best options for liquidity pools out there. The feature currently supports transactions on eight different chains, including ETH, BSC, Polygon, OP, Fantom, Klay, HECO and OEC. With the assistance of MegaSwap, users can complete cross-chain swaps effortlessly and straightforwardly in one place. Aside from combining the advantages of CEX and DEX, MegaSwap even further smoothens the trading experience by streamlining payment of gas fees. Compared to normal DeFi trading, where traders have to prepare different chain-native tokens to pay for gas fees incurred from the transactions, MegaSwap automatically converts gas fees from stablecoin balances in the user’s accounts, allowing users to trade with minimum effort. Gracy Chen, Managing Director of Bitget, says, “MegaSwap is an important step taken by Bitget in building a safe, dynamic and robust one-stop trading experience to reach the critical mass. Facing fluctuation and uncertainty in recent trading markets, we observe that users and investors long for the protection of assets without sacrificing convenience and performance. And MegaSwap provides the right solution to connect the dots, which enables users to enjoy the upsides of DEX and the heightened protection covered by Bitget’s platform. We value offering users a variety of options and liquidity, and at the same time, pair with our top-notch security measures and risk management, including hot and cold wallet separation, multi-signature wallet, Zero Trust security architecture and a lot more to protect users’ assets. ” Gracy adds, “DeFi has become a crucial element of this ever-evolving crypto space, and is also playing a part in enriching asset variety and diversifying the crypto ecosystem with CeFi. We aim to be the portal that seamlessly connects CeFi and DeFi with MegaSwap, as we actively listen to our community and users to cater to changing market needs and keep ourselves on top of market trends.” About Bitget Bitget, established in 2018, is the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange with innovative products and social trading services as its key features, currently serving over 8 million users in more than 100 countries around the world. The exchange is committed to providing a secure, one-stop trading solution to users and aims to increase crypto adoption by collaborations with credible partners, including legendary Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi, the Italian leading football team Juventus, official esports events organizer PGL, and the leading esports organization Team Spirit. For media queries, please contact: sylvia.huang.yq@bitget.com rachel.cheung@bitget.com This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

Ahead of the holidays and new year, the former U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) contractor known to the world as a staunch privacy advocate and whistleblower, Edward Snowden, has offered to step up as the new CEO of Twitter after current “Chief Twit” Elon Musk has said he is stepping down. In other news from this week, hedge fund manager Michael Burry — of “The Big Short” fame — said that audits of cryptocurrency exchanges like FTX and Binance are “meaningless.” Get caught up on these hot stories and much more just below in this latest issue of the Bitcoin.com News Week in Review. Elon Musk Promises to Step Down as Head of Twitter — Edward Snowden Throws His Name in the Hat for CEO Tesla CEO and Twitter chief Elon Musk has promised to step down as head of Twitter. As the billionaire seeks a new CEO to run the social media platform, privacy advocate Edward Snowden threw his name in the hat, stating that he takes payment in bitcoin. “The question is not finding a CEO, the question is finding a CEO who can keep Twitter alive,” Musk clarified. Read More New FTX CEO Told Members of Congress SBF’s Family ‘Certainly Received Payments’ From the Business According to multiple reports, FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents face scrutiny over their reported involvement with their son’s business operations. The two Stanford professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried have not been charged with any wrongdoing, but the current FTX CEO, John J. Ray III, recently told members of the U.S. Congress that Joseph Bankman and “the family certainly received payments” from FTX. Read More ‘Visibly Shaking’ FTX Co-Founder Hammers out a ‘Wasted Day’ in Court as Bahamian, US Legal Team Prep for Extradition FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) had a difficult day in court on Monday according to a number of accounts that said SBF’s local attorney seemed to be in conflict with his U.S. legal team. Furthermore, courtroom reports noted that SBF dozed off for an extended period of time and had to be shaken awake by an official. Read More Big Short Investor Michael Burry Says Audits of Crypto Exchanges Like Binance and FTX Are ‘Meaningless’ Hedge fund manager Michael Burry, famed for forecasting the 2008 financial crisis, says the problem with auditing cryptocurrency exchanges, like Binance and FTX, is the same as when he started using a new kind of credit default swap. “Our auditors were learning on the job,” he described, adding that it’s “not a good thing.” Read More What are your thoughts on this past week’s hottest stories from Bitcoin.com News? Be sure to let us know in the comment section below. View the full article

The enforcement of a requirement for brokers to report gains made by crypto investors has been postponed by the U.S. Treasury Department and the IRS. The new tax rules, incorporated into the $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed by the U.S. Congress in 2021, were to be imposed in 2023. Crypto Brokers Told to Comply With Existing Laws Until Final Regulations Are Issued The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are delaying an obligation for digital asset brokers to start tracking and reporting proceeds from customer transactions. The respective provision was introduced with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law in late 2021, and was scheduled to enter into force on Jan. 1, 2023. The main purpose of the requirement, imposing on the crypto sector the regulations that currently apply to securities brokers, was to increase tax revenues from coin trading by revealing gains from such operations in a 1099 form. However, additional rules are needed to enforce the legislation, including defining the scope of the term “broker” — critics have pointed out that it’s currently too wide and covers entities such as miners that may not be able to comply with the regulations. On Friday, the Treasury and the IRS provided transitional guidance on the matter. The announcement stated that crypto brokers will not be expected to report additional information with respect to dispositions of digital assets until final regulations are adopted and noted: Brokers are still required to comply with existing laws and regulations. The authorities also emphasized that the guidance applies only to returns filed by brokers while taxpayers still need to report any income received from transactions involving cryptocurrencies. “They are also required to answer the digital asset question on page 1 of either Form 1040PDF or Form 1040-SRPDF,” the notice detailed. In another announcement released on Dec. 23, the IRS also said it’s delaying new rules requiring third-party settlement organizations, such as Paypal, Venmo, Cash App, and other digital wallets, to report transactions exceeding $600 until next tax year. The new minimum threshold, lowered from the previous one of more than 200 transactions per year, was enacted with the American Rescue Plan of 2021. It was initially supposed to apply to transactions that occurred in the calendar year 2022, which is now considered a “transition period.” What do you think about the tax rules delays announced by U.S. authorities? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. View the full article