roadrunner

Volatility in crypto markets remained high on Monday, as bitcoin was mostly in the red to start the week. The token has once again moved below $20,000, as prices appear to be consolidating. Ethereum was also trading sideways, with prices falling marginally below a key support level earlier in the day. Bitcoin Bitcoin (BTC) started this week how it ended the previous, trading not only in the red, but also below $20,000. The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell to an intraday low of $19,673.05 on Monday, as the post-nonfarm-payrolls-report bearish sentiment continued. Today’s low saw BTC/USD briefly move close to its support point of $19,600, however bulls have so far resisted a move below this point. Looking at the chart, it appears as though the decline came as the 24-day relative strength index (RSI) failed to break through its own ceiling. As of writing, the RSI is tracking at 35.84, which is below the aforementioned resistance point of 37.90. In order for bitcoin to climb back above $20,000, this is likely a hurdle it must first overcome. Ethereum Although ethereum (ETH) was once again trading below $1,600, prices were mostly higher than Sunday’s low. ETH/USD hit a low of $1,540 during yesterday’s session, however it has rallied to a peak of $1,584.26 so far today. The move takes ethereum closer to its recent resistance level of $1,615, which appears to be an area of sizable uncertainty. This level of volatility has been heightened by the fact that the RSI is also near a similar point of resistance, as the index currently tracks at 48.00. As seen from the chart, bears typically opt to reenter at this point, hoping to capitalize on bulls hoping for a breakout. Like with bitcoin, should ETH bulls intend to send prices surging, they will first need to move past these current points of contention. Register your email here to get weekly price analysis updates sent to your inbox: Do you expect ethereum to move closer to $2,000 during September? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. View the full article

Police in the southern Russian city of Astrakhan have detained a man accused of defrauding people who wanted to purchase crypto miners. Law enforcement officials say the suspect made millions of rubles through fictitious sales of mining devices to Russian citizens and foreigners. Investigators Claim Russian Made Money Selling Nonexistent Crypto Mining Rigs A resident of Russian Republic of Tatarstan’s capital city, Kazan, has been apprehended in Astrakhan, Southern Russia, for allegedly defrauding 10 local residents and a number of foreigners who tried to buy mining equipment from him. The Russian posted fake ads of crypto mining machines for sale and insisted on receiving the payments in advance. Law enforcement authorities have estimated he was able to collect around 19 million rubles this way (approx. $315,000). “According to the investigation, the young man posted on the internet tempting offers for the sale of cryptocurrency mining devices, which he never actually had. Now he is the defendant in a criminal case initiated under Part 3 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Large-scale fraud),” explained the local department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Astrakhan region. A press release detailed that the suspect promised his victims he would send them the crypto miners provided they pay him in full beforehand. One of the buyers transferred 936,000 rubles to the bank account of the seller, who broke all communication once he got the money. If found guilty in court, the fake mining hardware trader may get up to six years in prison. Cases of fraud and theft related to crypto mining have been on the rise in Russia, alongside the growing popularity of the extraction of digital coins, both as a profitable business for companies and as an alternative income source for many ordinary Russians. In June, mining rigs valued at $1.9 million were stolen from a mining hotel in Irkutsk. And in July, masked men robbed a large crypto farm near Moscow. Tatarstan, where the arrested fraudster comes from, became home to Russia’s largest Ponzi scheme in recent years. The Finiko pyramid lured investors from Russia, the former-Soviet space, Europe, and beyond with promises of extraordinarily high profits in return for the bitcoin they send to the phantom entity. According to a report by blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis, the scam received over $1.5 billion worth of BTC alone in just two years. Do you expect to see a further increase in fraud cases related to cryptocurrencies and mining in Russia? Share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Action Point, an Argentine startup, has developed a white-label solution that allows banks to offer cryptocurrency services through their already existent ATM infrastructures. The company provides this service in partnership with Lirium AG, a crypto-as-a-service organization, and has already implemented the solution in over a dozen ATMs in the country. Argentine Startup Action Point Takes Crypto to Fiat ATMs Latam has been a fertile land for crypto adoption, and now banks in Brazil and Argentina are including cryptocurrency services on their platforms. Action Point, an Argentine startup, aims to surf the wave of this trend by providing middleware tech to help banks achieve this goal. The company has developed a white-label solution for banks to include cryptocurrency services in their already available ATM networks. The white label property of the tool allows each banking organization to preserve its own digital app as the only way of accessing its services. The solution works on the back of each tech stack, giving the banks the administration of these functions. For the operation of this service, dubbed Crypto Solution, Action Point has partnered with Lirium AG, a Liechtenstein-based cryptocurrency-as-a-service company, that also provides plug-and-play services, to aid them in fulfilling compliance requirements. Regarding how compliance is key for this kind of tool, Lirium COO Martín Kopacz stated: Globally, one of the key demands for banks has to do with compliance, whereby crypto ATM operators must demonstrate capabilities to monitor their customer base, particularly over wallets that may be connected to criminal activity. This is how Crypto Solution was born, a cryptocurrency tool for banking apps that covers all regulatory, technical, operational, and security aspects. Cryptocurrency ATMs Swell in Latam This proposal seeks to power the cryptocurrency ATM base in the country, which is still in its growth stages. According to numbers from Coin ATM Radar, Argentina only has 13 crypto-enabled ATMs, most of them located in Buenos Aires, the capital of the country. In other countries, cryptocurrency ATMs have been more popular. Colombia experienced a cryptocurrency ATM boom last year, having 50 units already operating in the country. The country with the most extended crypto ATM network in Latam is El Salvador, with 212 units. This cryptocurrency ATM explosion is part of the rollout of the Chivo wallet, the state-backed crypto wallet, after the approval of bitcoin as legal tender in the nation last year. Other crypto ATM companies are also interested in getting into Latam, as Bitbase, a Spain-based organization, is already preparing to launch operations in Venezuela this year. What do you think about the development of cryptocurrency ATM solutions for Argentine banks? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The Chinese metaverse industry has reportedly raised about $780 million in funding and there are expectations this will grow to be a $5.8 trillion industry by 2030. So far there are 160,000 virtual human enterprises in China while 20 provinces or cities in the country are reportedly supporting the metaverse. Developing the Metaverse According to a local media report, China’s metaverse industry has raised $780 million (5.46 billion yuan) in funding. In addition to 160,000 “Chinese virtual human enterprises,” there are about 20 provinces or cities that are already supporting the metaverse, the report added. Also, as per a report on the Chinese language news site, there are expectations that the market size of China’s metaverse would grow to $5.8 trillion by 2030. Meanwhile, the report said two Chinese companies — the internet giant Tencent and one of the country’s leading video gaming companies Netease Yaotai — are competing and working to find ways to develop the metaverse. While Tencent is reportedly focused on championing the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) with the real economy, Netease Yaotai has concentrated on using cloud gaming and AI to build a system that enhances interactions in the virtual world. Key Departments in Metaverse Companies Commenting on Tencent’s efforts thus far, Wu Yunsheng, the company’s Cloud Vice President said: For the implementation of technology, we will not clearly distinguish between 2B and 2C. The company’s metaverse technology has application scenarios in the 2B field (such as Baowu Steel), and there are also many attempts in the C-side QQ metaverse. Therefore, when we land, we will not strongly demonstrate whether it is 2B or 2C, but will only see what real value or convenience our technology can bring to people’s lives and production. On the other hand, Liu Bai, the “person in charge” at Netease Yaotai claimed that his company has different kinds of activity scenarios and nearly “100 kinds of personalized clothing” that will be used for in-depth simulations. Bai also outlined what he sees as key departments in metaverse companies. He said: “The most important positions in Metaverse companies are R&D, product planning, and art.” What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

On September 2, the crypto market aggregation web portal Coingecko.com published a study that identifies the top ten states in America that are most interested in the two leading digital currencies, bitcoin and ethereum. The team leveraged Coingecko’s page traffic data and found that California captures 43% of the traffic visiting the site’s bitcoin and ethereum web pages. California and Illinois Lead the Pack, New Jersey and Indiana Ranked the Lowest Between May 2 and August 21, 2022, Coingecko’s researchers conducted a study that aims to determine the top 10 and 20 states in America that are the most interested in the two leading cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and ethereum. Coingecko utilized the site’s web traffic data and indexed the data set to 100, with 100 being the highest point for web page traffic scores. The crypto market aggregation website is popular as it has a similarweb.com global rank of 1,743 and in the U.S. it’s 3,150. In the last month, coingecko.com recorded 44.4 million visits according to statistics on September 3. Coingecko’s study indicates that California dominated out of all the states in America and Illinois had the second highest index score. Residents from Illinois visited the bitcoin web page a lot more, while ethereum’s web page was visited a lot less. Most of the top 20 states had a higher score for bitcoin, but states like New Jersey, Wisconsin, Colorado, and Florida had a higher rank score for ethereum. New Jersey and Indiana had the lowest ratings (1.5) out of the top 20. Out of the top 20 states, Coingecko’s study shows bitcoin dominates in interest by 76% while ethereum has 24%. Following the second most interested state, New York, Florida, Washington, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Georgia and Arizona followed in popularity. Coingecko’s COO and co-founder Bobby Ong explained that he wasn’t surprised that California was the most dominant state in the U.S. regarding interest in bitcoin and ethereum. “It is unsurprising that California, as one of the world’s major technological hubs, takes the crown in ‘blue-chip’ cryptocurrency interest,” Ong said in a statement on Friday. “What’s especially notable is Colorado, Wisconsin, New Jersey, and Florida’s interest in Ethereum over Bitcoin. It remains to be seen how these rankings and market shares will play out in the coming months, with Ethereum’s Merge around the corner.” What do you think about Coingecko’s study that shows California dominates the site’s traffic? What do you think about the other statistics and state scores? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Non-fungible token (NFT) sales jumped 26.76% higher this week, as NFT sales statistics show that $180.43 million in NFT trades were recorded this week compared to last week’s $142.33 million. While Ethereum-based NFTs captured the lion’s share of volume this week with $79.2 million, Ethereum-based NFT sales are down 23.65% during the past seven days. NFT Sales Volume Swells 26% Higher Than Last Week NFT sales are up this week more than 26% higher than the week prior, according to metrics collected by cryptoslam.io. 17 different blockchain networks raked in over $180 million in NFT sales after recording $142.33 million last week. The top collection this week was Uniswap V3 NFTV1 Polygon with $68.65 million in sales. The week’s top collection was followed by the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT compilation raking in $7.58 million in sales this week. Immutaswap.io, Digidaigaku, and Sorare followed the top two collections in terms of sales with $5.9 million to $7.35 million. Ethereum (ETH) recorded the most NFT sales with $79.29 million which was followed by Polygon’s $69.46 NFT sales. Ethereum and Polygon were followed by Solana, Immutable X, and Binance Smart Chain. Flow ranked six this week with $2.02 million in sales, down 54.19% lower than the week before. During the last week, Polygon (MATIC)-based NFT sales increased by more than 620%. Solana-based NFT sales jumped 46.99% higher than last week and Arbitrum-based NFT sales increased by 142.19%. While ETH-based NFT sales dominated this week, the blockchain’s NFT sales dropped more than 23% lower this week than the week prior. The top five sales this week included three Bored Apes, one NFTiff, and one Cryptopunk NFT. Bored Ape Yacht Club #6588 was the most expensive NFT sale this week as it sold for 769.9 ether or $1.17 million four days ago. Bored Ape Yacht Club #441 sold for 350,000 DAI six days ago and NFTiff #212 sold for 175 ETH or $271K. Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) has the most expensive floor price today with 69.95 ETH which is followed by Cryptopunks floor at 65 ETH. Castaways – The Raft is the third largest NFT floor on Sunday, September 4 at 17 ether and Pegz floor value is 14.69 ETH. Lastly, Mutant Ape Yacht Club holds the fifth most expensive floor value at 12.75 ETH. What do you think about this week’s NFT sales increasing 26% higher than last week’s sales? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

On September 1, Vitalik Buterin conducted an interview with the economics author Noah Smith and the co-founder of Ethereum spoke an awful lot about Bitcoin and the network’s long-term security. Buterin also discussed the crypto economy’s crash and said he was “surprised that the crash did not happen earlier.” Buterin: Bitcoin Is ‘Not Succeeding at Getting the Level of Fee Revenue Required to Secure What Could Be a Multi-Trillion-Dollar System’ Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently did an interview with the economics author Noah Smith and Buterin had a lot to say about the current state of crypto. Smith first asked Buterin about his thoughts about the recent crypto crash and Buterin said he thought that it would have crashed sooner. “I was surprised that the crash did not happen earlier,” Buterin said during the interview. “Normally crypto bubbles last around 6-9 months after surpassing the previous top, after which the rapid drop comes pretty quickly. This time, the bull market lasted nearly one and a half years,” the developer added. Buterin also talked a great deal about the Bitcoin (BTC) network and The Merge, Ethereum’s highly anticipated transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS). He claims Bitcoin is not cutting it when it comes to fee revenue from block subsidies. “In the long term, Bitcoin security is going to come entirely from fees, and Bitcoin is just not succeeding at getting the level of fee revenue required to secure what could be a multi-trillion-dollar system,” Buterin said. When Smith asked Buterin about Bitcoin’s energy usage, the Ethereum co-founder noted that PoS will not only reduce harm to the environment, it’s also about keeping the blockchain secure. “A consensus system that needlessly costs huge amounts of electricity is not just bad for the environment, it also requires issuing hundreds of thousands of BTC or ETH every year,” Buterin stressed. “Eventually, of course, the issuance will decrease to near-zero, at which point that will stop being an issue, but then Bitcoin will start to deal with another issue: how to make sure that it stays secure.” Buterin added: And these security motivations are also a really important driver behind Ethereum’s move to proof-of-stake. Ethereum Co-Founder Insists Early Proof-of-Work Era Is ‘Unsustainable and It’s Not Coming Back’ Buterin understands that Bitcoin won’t change its consensus mechanism, at least for now, but if the chain was attacked, he believes the discussion of a hybrid PoS algorithm could come into play. “Of course, if Bitcoin actually gets attacked, I do expect that the political will to switch to at least hybrid proof of stake will quickly appear, but I expect that to be a painful transition,” the software developer told Smith. The Ethereum co-founder said that he thinks people have the wrong idea about PoS giving the largest stakeholders control over the network. “There are also people who try to claim that PoS allows big stakeholders to control the protocol, but I think those arguments are just plain wrong,” Buterin said. “They rest on a misconception that PoW and PoS are governance mechanisms, when in reality they are consensus mechanisms. All they do is help the network agree on the right chain.” Buterin continued by noting that he thinks the early version of PoW was a good starting point but nowadays he believes it’s antiquated, on its way out the door, and likely won’t return. The highly democratized early proof-of-work era was a beautiful thing, and it helped tremendously in making cryptocurrency ownership more egalitarian, but it’s unsustainable and it’s not coming back. What do you think about Vitalik Buterin’s comments about the crypto crash, the Bitcoin network, and PoW vs. PoS? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Hedge funds are betting against Rome’s liabilities as S&P Market Intelligence data indicates investors have amassed a $37 billion short bet against Italian debt. The hedge funds are betting large against Italian bonds and investors haven’t bet this high against Rome since 2008, as Italy faces political uncertainty, an energy crisis, and an inflation rate of 8.4% in July. Investors Expect Italian Debt Default Amid Country’s Shaky Bond Market, Energy Crisis Italy’s economy has been volatile in recent times as the Ukraine-Russia war has wreaked havoc on the European country adjacent to the Mediterranean coastline. The country is dealing with a significant energy crisis and Italian residents are being asked to turn down the heat this winter. The Italian economy has people speculating that it’s only going to get worse and reports show a massive number of investors are shorting Rome’s liabilities. Bond borrowing schemes highlight how investors borrow the Italian liabilities in order to bet that values will decline before the debt buyback is due. S&P Market Intelligence data shows €37.20 billion of Italian bonds were borrowed by August 23. The sum of bonds borrowed is the highest since January 2008 during the Great Recession. Italy has continued to print high inflation rates as well, with May posting 7.3%, June recording 8.5%, and July printing 8.4%. The $37 billion in shorts suggests market speculators believe Rome will default and the financial shock will spread like a contagion across Europe. Italy is traditionally known for having a strong economy but the country has a dependence on Russian gas. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned last month that Italy’s economy would see a 5% contraction due to Europe’s tensions with Russia over the Ukraine-Russia war. Italy’s economic downturn is taking place amid India surpassing the U.K. as the world’s fifth largest economy. Reports noted in July that Italy and the country’s prime minister, Mario Draghi, have not done enough “to kick-start growth.” Despite Draghi’s pledge to save the euro in July 2012, Italy is struggling and the country pays the highest premium to borrow bonds after Greece. Holger Schmieding, an economist at Berenberg, said: “Draghi is trying, has done a little bit here and there but neither I nor the market are yet convinced that trend growth in Italy is strong enough.” What do you think about the hedge funds betting against Italy’s debt? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The Argentinian Tax Authority (AFIP) has won a historic case to seize taxpayer funds from a digital account. The case, which was won in an appeal in the Federal Chamber of Mar del Plata, might bring about more seizures of this kind and include cryptocurrencies as part of a stricter policy of the organization. Argentinian Tax Authority to Seize Funds From Digital Account The eyes of regulators around the world have turned to fintech and crypto companies and their operations. The Argentinian Tax Authority (AFIP) has recently won a landmark case in the area, allowing it to seize funds from a digital account in the country to pay tax-related debts. The request, which was first denied by a judge and then accepted in an appeal at the Federal Chamber of Mar del Plata, may be the first of many seizures of this kind. The institution will be able to confiscate the totality of the funds owed to the state, adding 15% more for interest and processing charges. The chamber states that it doesn’t find any reason to not consider these and future funds, which were held in a digital Mercado Pago account, as part of the heritage of the account holder. Furthermore, the order declares that “the rise of economic and financial activity through the use of digital accounts imposes the need to interpret the law in accordance with the current circumstances,” and that these technologies cannot become evasion mediums for taxpayers. The organization added this kind of wallet to its list of assets which can be confiscated in February. Cryptocurrency Might Also Be Confiscated In the eyes of analysts, the same criteria applied to digital accounts might be used to confiscate cryptocurrency. Eugenio Bruno, a crypto and fintech specialized attorney, told Iproup that cryptocurrency assets fulfill functions of units of account and stores of value, and can also be used to make payments. In this way, they could be seizable due to their money-like capabilities. However, the management of these assets is determined by the possession of their private keys, and that’s when an eventual seizure can be difficult to execute. Bruno states: In cases where crypto assets are held through exchanges, the eventual AFIP order may indicate that the private keys corresponding to digital accounts of taxpayers affected by the embargoes cannot be used to arrange transfers. However, when these keys are not held by institutions the applicability of the criteria gets tricky, as the user might not present the private keys of their wallet to the authorities. What do you think about the seizure of digital accounts in Argentina? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

In this week’s Bitcoin.com News Week in Review, one market strategist issues a dire warning about the U.S. economy and a large market crash that could cause a “50 to 60 percent haircut” in stocks. Further, the Russian government is reportedly making moves to create a global gas cartel with Iran. These stories, as well as the latest Robert Kiyosaki market predictions, and news of a whale spending 10,000 bitcoins likely connected to the 2011 Mt Gox hack, are just below. Market Strategist Expects Stock Market to Drop 50% From Here, Says There’s ‘Going to Be No Middle Class Left’ Following Jerome Powell’s hawkish commentary at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, major stock indexes, cryptocurrencies, and precious metals slid significantly in value. Over $240 billion was erased from the crypto market and the Crypto Fear and Greed Index continues to slide lower, edging toward “extreme fear.” Furthermore, the chief strategist at bubbatrading.com, Todd ‘Bubba’ Horwitz, explains that the Federal Reserve raising rates during a recession will wreak havoc on what’s left of America’s middle class. Read More Robert Kiyosaki Says Real Estate, Stocks, Gold, Silver, Bitcoin Markets Are Crashing — ‘Millions Will Be Wiped Out’ The famous author of the best-selling book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has warned that all markets are crashing, specifically naming real estate, stocks, gold, silver, and bitcoin. Referencing his earlier prediction of a bigger crash than during the 2008 financial crisis, Kiyosaki said: “That crash is here. Millions will be wiped out.” Read More Report Claims Russia and Iran Plan to Establish a Global Gas Cartel, Moscow to Launch Its Own Precious Metals Exchange Following Russian president Vladimir Putin’s statements at the end of June that indicated members of the BRICS nations have formalized plans to create a new “international reserve currency,” Russia is reportedly building the foundations of a global gas cartel with Iran. Financial journalist and best-selling author Simon Watkins claims the “alliance aims to control as much of the two key elements in the global supply matrix as possible.” At the same time, Russia intends to create a precious metals exchange called the Moscow World Standard (MWS). Read More Whale Spends 10,000 BTC Worth $203M, Bitcoins Stem From the Infamous 2011 Mt Gox Hack In two days’ time, bitcoin’s price dropped to fresh August lows as it dipped below the $20K per unit region for the first time since mid-July. During that time, two addresses created on December 19, 2013, sent 10,000 bitcoin worth $203 million to unknown wallets after sitting idle for close to nine years. Onchain data shows the 10,000 coins moved this week originally came from the Mt Gox breach that occurred on June 19, 2011. Read More What are your thoughts on this week’s stories? Are the dire market predictions accurate? Will crypto and other assets help the so-called middle class to weather the storm? Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Zug, Switzerland, September 4, 2022 – The Everscale Foundation has been officially registered as a non-profit organization to facilitate the growth of the Everscale network’s ecosystem, attract new developers, and further expand the international community. The Foundation’s mission is to remove barriers between Everscale and the external world. Back in late 2021, the Everscale community supported a DAO initiative to create a representation of the network in the real world. By the end of August this year, all the necessary registration procedures had been completed, and the non-profit Everscale Foundation has now officially launched in Zug, Switzerland – the gold standard location for international NPOs. In full accordance with the original vision, the major areas where the Everscale Foundation is starting to perform its duties are as follows: Representation The Everscale Foundation will increase the network’s publicity and provide a single entry point for journalists, developers, influencers, government bodies, etc. The Foundation will form professional working groups and develop the required interfaces. These may include PR, GR, and marketing initiatives. Grant Program The Foundation will be the prime destination for qualified projects that want to develop and create their products and businesses on Everscale. Those projects that bring the most value to the network may receive support from the Foundation. These might vary from core infrastructure developers (nodes, system utilities, etc.) to various projects in the DeFi, NFT, GameFi, metaverse, and IoT spheres, or other areas as decided through voting by Foundation members in accordance with the current market context. Intellectual Property Management The Foundation will be the place where the network’s crucial intangible assets like trademarks, domains, patents, etc. are stored and will protect such rights in courts if necessary. Legal and Compliance Support To provide a better understanding of Everscale and facilitate listings of ecosystem tokens on exchanges, trackers, and analytical resources, the Foundation will take the lead in preparing and keeping up-to-date versions of the relevant legal documentation, including but not limited to legal opinions, compliance policies, and so on. Promotion and Popularization The Everscale Foundation will act as a popularizer of the network and its ecosystem, which may include participating in various industry events, publishing content, forming public opinions on various industry topics, and taking part in industry working groups to represent the interests of the ecosystem and the industry. Even though the Everscale Foundation is being appointed to perform a wide spectrum of critical duties, it will not become the centralized governance system for the Everscale network. As it is distributed by its nature, Everscale has many passionate and supportive individuals and institutions forming alliances and unions to boost the network’s growth, and the Foundation is only one of these. The Everscale Foundation will not in any way control Everscale – it will only perform the duties delegated to it by public consensus within the framework of the allocated funding. The only actual control possible in the Everscale network is the public consensus reached through voting with Everscale’s native tokens – EVERs. The Foundation’s decisions are not legally binding to Everscale community members; however, the Foundation can operate and sign any agreements on its behalf within its powers. About Everscale Everscale is a layer-1 PoS blockchain network of the 5th generation. It is blazingly fast and is the most scalable blockchain in existence. Everscale is one of the most technologically advanced blockchain networks, incorporating all of the blockchain innovations and concepts of recent years. Its versatility gives it the potential to become a decentralized hub for lots of blockchains and resource-demanding applications such as GameFi, DeFi, micro-transactions, real-time bidding, etc. Due to its dynamic multithreading and sharding technology, there’s always more room to add capacities to handle any load, so that the network can scale almost infinitely – that’s something that no other blockchain can offer. 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

The Bank of Ghana has said the expected implementation of the central bank digital currency will not disrupt or negatively impact the operations of mobile money operators. Rather, the central bank expects the digital currency to improve the efficiency of Ghana’s settlement systems as well as to “fast-track cross border trade.” CBDC to Complement Mobile Money The Ghanaian central bank has moved to allay fears that the implementation of the central bank digital currency (CBDC) known as the e-cedi might adversely impact the operations of mobile money operators (MNO). In a speech delivered at the recently held stakeholder’s forum, Clarence Blay, the Bank of Ghana (BOG)’s assistant director of fintech and innovation said the central bank would ensure that operations of MNOs are not disrupted. In the Joy Online report, Blay is quoted outlining the principles guiding the BOG as it moves ahead with plans to launch the CBDC. He reportedly said: For the central bank, one of the critical principle[s] guiding the roll-out of the e-cedi is to complement already existing mobile money operations. [The] e-cedi will not supplant already existing platforms, but rather enhance mobile money services, making it more vibrant and efficient. In addition to making mobile money services more efficient, the assistant director reportedly claimed that the CBDC will boost the operations of MNOs. Boosting MNOs in turn will promote financial inclusion, the report added. Mobile Money Operators Must Embrace CBDC According to Blay, some stakeholders from the Kenyan mobile money sector have “attested that the e-cedi or CBDC will help in cost reduction.” They have also said that digital currency will deepen interoperability as well as improve the efficiency of settlements. In the meantime, Eli Hini, CEO of Mobile Money Ghana Limited, is quoted in the same report stating that a properly implemented CBDC will bring benefits to the operations of MNOs. There is also an expectation that the e-cedi “will fast-track cross border trade while reducing the risk of carrying bulk cash.” Therefore, instead of being fearful of the CBDC, Hini urged players in the mobile money ecosystem to prepare their businesses for the inevitable launch of the e-cedi. 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

Just over 11% of United Arab Emirates (UAE) residents have invested in cryptocurrencies, a report issued by the country’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) has reportedly said. Globally, the United Arab Emirates is now ranked tenth in terms of cryptocurrency investment rate. UAE’s Mission to Become a Global Crypto Hub According to a study by the United Arab Emirates telecoms regulator, the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), about 11.4% of the country’s residents own or have invested in cryptocurrencies. With this proportion of residents exposed to crypto, the UAE now ranks among the top ten countries with the most crypto-investing residents. As per a report in the Khaleej Times, the findings of the TDRA’s 2022 Digital Lifestyle study suggest that the UAE may be on course to fulfill its goal of becoming a global hub for digital assets. In addition, the revelations in the TDRA’s Digital Lifestyle report to some appear to vindicate the UAE’s decision to become one of the first countries to adopt and regulate cryptocurrencies. Issuing of Licenses to Crypto Platforms One of the ways the UAE has been promoting or helping to boost the use of cryptocurrencies is via issuing of operating licenses to global cryptocurrency platforms. As has been reported by Bitcoin.com News, the UAE — through regulatory bodies like the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) — has issued licenses to leading crypto exchange platforms like Binance, FTX, and OKX. Furthermore, some of the crypto platforms have since set up operations in the country. Also, through the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the country has been focused on creating a regulatory and supervisory framework that meets global standards. According to the Khaleej Times report, these may be some of the factors that propelled the UAE to its rank as the tenth leading country in terms of cryptocurrency investments. What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

The official Youtube channel of the South Korean government has been hacked on Saturday and those who did it, broadcasted a cryptocurrency-related clip. The video also featured billionaire and crypto enthusiast Elon Musk, local media reported quoting sources in Seoul. Hackers Air Interview With Musk via Korean Government’s Youtube Account The official Youtube channel of the South Korean government has become target of a hacking attack on September 3, 2022. The perpetrators have managed to broadcast a crypto-themed video, the Korean Yonhap news agency revealed in a report based on statements by officials from the executive power in Seoul and Google. In the early morning hours on Saturday, the channel on the video-sharing platform appeared to have been hacked as its name changed to “Spacex Invest.” It also showed a live broadcast dedicated to cryptocurrency that included an interview with U.S. business magnate and Spacex founder and CEO Elon Musk. A representative of the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which is responsible for administering the Youtube account, said that the department’s employees became aware of the situation around 6 a.m. They immediately took security measures and were able to restore control over the channel at 7:20 a.m. The main suspicion is that the account’s ID and password have been stolen. Google, Youtube’s parent company, confirmed that the channel had been hacked, Yonhap added, while also quoting an official at Google Korea who said that the unit was looking into the hacking incident. Earlier this week, a Youtube account run by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) was also hacked. The channel, with over half a million subscribers, was first targeted on Thursday, then again the next day, and is still unavailable. A KTO representative told the news agency that that Google automatically blocks access to an account in case it detects abnormal activities. In another hacking attack recently, an anti-government group called ‘Belarusian Cyber Partisans’ tried to sell Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko’s passport as an NFT. The hacktivist collective has been raising cryptocurrency to fund its activities in opposition of Minsk’s involvement in the Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Who do you think is behind the hack of the South Korean government’s Youtube channel? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Ukrainian investigators have exposed a scheme targeting residents of the country and the European Union with various financial scams, including some related to cryptocurrencies. The criminal organization members contacted their victims through call centers to collect personal financial information. Fake Ukrainian Call Centers Promise Foreigners Excess Profits From Crypto Trading Officers from the Main Investigative Department of Ukraine’s National Police and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) have dismantled a criminal group running schemes designed to misappropriate funds from citizens of the country and a number of EU nations. Its members offered investors to participate in exchange trading of crypto assets, securities, and commodities. Investigators found that the scammers established a network of call centers and presented themselves as officials from state banking institutions in order to obtain credit card data. They used high-tech equipment and software which allowed them to change their phone numbers to appear as if they were the official numbers of the banks. The organizers of the scheme employed fake websites and exchange platforms for trading fiat and digital currencies, securities, gold, and oil. To attract investment funds they promised excess profits in a short period of time, the National Police of Ukraine detailed in a press release published Tuesday. What’s more, the fraudsters also gained access to a database with the contact information of foreign nationals who had been targeted in similar attempts in the past. On behalf of a so-called “Community of cryptocurrency brokers,” they offered the victims to track and return their stolen cryptocurrency for a “commission.” After accepting the services of the non-existent entity, these people were sent details for the transfer of the commission to accounts controlled by the members of the criminal scheme. After receiving the funds, the “brokers” suddenly interrupted communication and the lost cryptocurrency was never returned. In searches conducted by Ukrainian law enforcement at the addresses of the call centers, computer equipment, mobile phones, and records confirming the illegal activities were seized. If found guilty under the provisions of Ukraine’s Criminal Code for large-scale fraud committed by an organized group and the use, distribution, or sale of harmful software, the perpetrators may face up to 12 years in prison. Do you think the Ukrainian crypto fraudsters will be convicted in court? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

The layer two (L2) scaling solution Arbitrum revealed on Wednesday that the team has implemented the project’s Nitro rollup stack migration. Earlier this month, Arbitrum developers noted that the Nitro migration would reduce network fees and improve throughput. Arbitrum Developers Implement Nitro Update The Offchain Labs-managed L2 Ethereum scaling solution Arbitrum, told fellow Arbinauts (the project’s users) on Wednesday that the development team has implemented the Nitro upgrade. “All Arbinauts, please prepare for liftoff,” the team explained. Moreover, the official Arbitrum Twitter account wrote that the “migration has officially begun, [and] the network will remain down during the upgrade process for the next 2-4 hours.” The team invited fellow Arbinauts to hold tight during the change in the project’s Discord server discussion room. Bitcoin.com News reported on Arbitrum’s August 31 Nitro upgrade on August 7. The upgrade aims to improve the Arbitrum experience a great deal with faster transactions and lower fees. Currently, Arbitrum’s experience is already a lot cheaper than Ethereum’s gas fees and this was the case before the Nitro upgrade. Statistics show that current gas costs to send ethereum (ETH) onchain is $1.07 and to swap tokens onchain it’s $5.35, according to l2fees.info data. The same fee aggregation website indicates Arbitrum’s L2 fees are $0.14 to send ether, and it is $0.36 per transaction to swap tokens using Arbitrum. All-time metrics from cryptoslam.io’s non-fungible token (NFT) data, shows Arbitrum’s the 13th largest blockchain among 19 networks, in terms of all-time NFT sales. The NFT data aggregation site indicates that Arbitrum has recorded $30,122,260 in all-time NFT sales. Defillama.com statistics shows Arbitrum has close to $1 billion or $947.18 million total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (defi) on August 31. Arbitrum is the seventh largest blockchain in terms of TVL size, which has increased by 17.76% during the last 30 days. In addition to Arbitrum, there are many L2 choices out there including Immutable X, Metis, Optimism, Loopring, Polygon Hermez, Zksync, Boba, and Aztec. Nitro is Arbitrum’s largest upgrade to date, and the development team already testnet deployed the upgrade last April. Furthermore, the blockchain network Ethereum is expected to transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) in 12 days via The Merge, and Cardano is expected to initiate the Vasil hard fork in September as well. At 1:37 p.m. (EST), Arbitrum announced that the Nitro upgrade was officially completed. The team said onchain activity resumed and the developers thanked the community for their patience. What do you think about Arbitrum’s August 31 Nitro upgrade? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) profiled the Onecoin cryptocurrency scam and its co-founder Ruja Ignatova, aka “Crypto Queen,” in a new podcast. Onecoin was one of the world’s biggest crypto scams and Ignatova was recently added to the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives list. FBI on Onecoin Crypto Scam and Ruja Ignatova The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) published an “Inside the FBI” podcast episode last week titled “Ten Most Wanted Fugitive Ruja Ignatova.” Also known to some as “Crypto Queen,” Ignatova co-founded Onecoin, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency scams. Inside the FBI podcast highlights news, cases, and people from around the bureau in audio form. The show’s host, Monica Grover from the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs, explained: On this episode of Inside the FBI, we’ll learn how Ignatova, through a company once marketed as the ‘Bitcoin killer,’ didn’t change the world … but instead robbed investors of billions of dollars. Ignatova was added to the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives list in June. The law enforcement agency is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to her arrest. The Onecoin co-founder is also on the list of Europe’s most wanted. Europol is offering a reward of up to 5,000 euros ($5,000) for any information that could lead to the arrest of Ignatova. “On October 12, 2017, Ignatova was charged in connection with the Onecoin fraud scheme, and a federal warrant was issued for her arrest,” Grover explained in the seven-minute podcast episode, adding: Investigators believe she may have been tipped off that she was under investigation. She traveled from Sofia, Bulgaria, to Athens, Greece, on October 25, 2017, and has not been seen since. The Greek police reportedly received intelligence regarding the whereabouts of Ignatova in July. “She’s currently 42 years old and has brown eyes and dark brown to black hair. However, investigators believe she could have changed her physical appearance,” Grover further detailed. “Ignatova speaks English, German, and Bulgarian. She may be traveling on a fraudulent passport and has known connections to Bulgaria, Germany, Russia, Greece, and the United Arab Emirates. She’s known to have lived a lavish lifestyle.” The podcast concludes with Grover urging anyone with information about Ignatova to contact their local FBI office or the nearest American embassy or consulate. Tips can also be reported online anonymously. What do you think about the FBI podcast on Onecoin and co-founder Ruja Ignatova? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The government of Iran has finalized a set of cryptocurrency regulations. A “comprehensive and detailed” law ratified by the administration provides a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency, including their authorized usage and crypto mining, a government official reportedly said. Iran Finalizes Crypto Regulations The Iranian government has evaluated all issues relating to cryptocurrencies and approved a set of cryptocurrency regulations, Reza Fatemi-Amin, the minister of Industry, Mines, and Trade, told reporters at the conclusion of an automotive industry event in Tehran Sunday. He explained that the government has ratified a “comprehensive and detailed” law that defines cryptocurrency regulations, including the use of fuel and electricity for crypto mining and the authorized uses of cryptocurrencies, Tasnim news agency conveyed. The minister added that under an agreement between his ministry and the central bank of Iran, cryptocurrency can be used to pay for imports. He additionally noted that local business owners can import cars using cryptocurrencies instead of the U.S. dollar or euro. The use of cryptocurrency to pay for imports is seen as a way to circumvent U.S. sanctions imposed on the Iranian finance and banking sector, allowing Iran to trade with countries similarly embargoed by U.S. sanctions, including Russia. Minister Fatemi-Amin was quoted by Iran International publication as saying: All the issues related to crypto-assets, including how to provide fuel and energy, and how to assign and grant licenses were devised. Earlier this month, Alireza Peymanpak, vice minister of Iran’s Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade and president of the country’s Trade Promotion Organization (TPO), said the first official import order was successfully placed with cryptocurrency worth $10 million. He added: “By the end of September, the use of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will be widespread in foreign trade with target countries.” The minister of Industry, Mines, and Trade noted that many mining farms are operating illegally in Iran. He explained that some crypto miners were previously licensed and authorized to operate in the country. However, their operations were subsequently halted. Fatemi-Amin said that the government has decided to resume issuing licenses for crypto mining operations under the new regulatory framework. Iran has a complex relationship with cryptocurrencies. In August 2019, the Iranian central bank banned crypto trading inside the country but the government has since allowed the use of cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin, to pay for imports. The authorities have not disclosed which other cryptocurrencies are allowed to be legally used for this purpose. Iran also legalized cryptocurrency mining in August 2019. The country then established a licensing framework for crypto miners, requiring them to obtain authorization, identify themselves, pay higher tariffs for electricity, and sell their mined bitcoins directly to the government. However, in December last year, the Iranian government ordered licensed cryptocurrency miners to temporarily stop operations due to extreme weather taking a toll on the country’s power grid during the cold months. Tavanir, the Iran Power Generation, Distribution, and Transmission Company claimed that illegal cryptocurrency mining in Iran accounted for nearly 85% of the industry’s power consumption. The national electricity company then announced a four-month ban on crypto mining in May. The authorities lifted the ban in mid-September after licensed crypto mining facilities voluntarily shut down their operations to ease the electricity burden. What do you think about Iran approving “comprehensive and detailed” cryptocurrency regulations? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has outlined new reasons to terminate the $44 billion deal to buy Twitter in a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Citing a whistleblower report, Musk’s lawyer said the allegations, known to the social media giant but undisclosed to Musk, indicate “far-reaching misconduct at Twitter.” Elon Musk Presents More Reasons to Terminate Twitter Deal in New SEC Filing Tesla CEO Elon Musk has found more reasons to terminate his $44 billion offer to buy Twitter Inc. Musk’s lawyer filed a letter he sent to Twitter with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Monday to provide additional notice of termination of the agreement. Musk officially terminated his offer to buy Twitter on July 8. Twitter subsequently sued the Spacex boss to force him to close the deal, prompting Musk to countersue the social media giant. In the letter sent to Twitter Chief Legal Officer Vijaya Gadde, Musk’s lawyer detailed: Allegations regarding certain facts, known to Twitter prior to and as of July 8, 2022, but undisclosed to the Musk parties prior to and at that time, have since come to light that provide additional and distinct bases to terminate the merger agreement. The letter references a whistleblower report to Congress, the SEC, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed on July 6 by Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, Twitter’s former chief security officer. The report was recently published in the Washington Post. Musk’s lawyer claimed that “The Zatko complaint alleges far-reaching misconduct at Twitter — all of which was disclosed to Twitter’s directors and senior executives, including [CEO] Parag Agrawal — that is likely to have severe consequences for Twitter’s business.” For example, Zatko alleged that “Twitter is in material noncompliance” under data privacy, unfair trade practice, and consumer protection laws and regulations. Moreover, he said Twitter has been violating a consent decree it entered into with the FTC in 2011. Alleging that “Twitter’s platform is built in significant part on the misappropriation and infringement of third party intellectual property,” the whistleblower claimed: Twitter is uniquely vulnerable to systemic disruption resulting from data center failures or malicious actors, a fact which Twitter leadership (including its CEO) have ignored and sought to obfuscate. Moreover, Zatko explained that “Twitter’s SEC filings contained untrue statements of material fact or omitted to state material facts necessary to make the statements therein not misleading.” He further alleged that “Twitter’s CEO, Parag Agrawal, knowingly presented false and misleading reports to Twitter’s board of directors in order to cover up flagrant vulnerabilities in Twitter’s security and data protection infrastructure.” A number of authorities in various countries are currently investigating the allegations by Zatko, Musk’s lawyer conveyed, adding: Twitter will also now face a myriad of civil lawsuits, asserting claims pursuant to various privacy and cybersecurity laws, state consumer protection laws, false advertising laws, intellectual property theft and misappropriation and common law claims, such as unjust enrichment, fraud, and breach of contract. There are also issues of intellectual property. The whistleblower revealed that “Twitter apparently never acquired the rights to Twitter’s core machine learning models, which the Musk Parties understand to be fundamental to the Twitter platform itself,” Musk’s lawyer wrote. The case is scheduled to go to trial in the Delaware Chancery Court for five days beginning Oct. 17. However, Musk’s legal team is seeking to delay the trial by a month in light of the whistleblower disclosure. Do you think Elon Musk has enough reasons to walk away from the $44 billion deal to buy Twitter? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

The host of Mad Money, Jim Cramer, has advised investors to avoid cryptocurrency and other speculative investments. “Don’t get memed. Don’t get SPAC’d. Don’t get crypto’d,” Cramer stressed, warning of “a giant washout of all things that are speculative.” Jim Cramer Advises Investors to Avoid Crypto The host of CNBC’s Mad Money show, Jim Cramer, offered some advice Tuesday regarding what to invest in the current market condition. Cramer is a former hedge fund manager who co-founded Thestreet.com, a financial news and literacy website. The Mad Money host has urged investors to stay away from speculative assets including cryptocurrencies. He warned that these investments will struggle as the Federal Reserve continues its hawkish stance to combat inflation. “Look, Fed chief Jay Powell told us that we need to stop doing stupid things with our money. That was the thrust of his speech on Friday,” Cramer said, referring to Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The central banker warned that the Fed’s battle against inflation will bring “some pain.” Cramer explained that the Federal Reserve is “going to bring the pain until it puts an end to the gambling.” Referencing Powell’s speech, the Mad Money host asserted: Of course, he’ll also hurt some good investments in the process … but we won’t see the end of this decline until we get a giant washout of all things that are speculative. Cramer said this includes cryptocurrencies, adding that other speculative investments investors should avoid include money-losing firms that went public via special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) and meme stocks. He also tweeted Tuesday that the Federal Reserve is telling people to sell cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), initial public offerings (IPOs), and SPACs before these investments wipe out their savings. “No more nonsense,” he exclaimed. “What matters is that we just have to get through it intact. Don’t get memed. Don’t get SPAC’d. Don’t get crypto’d. And you’ll get through this thicket and find yourself in a much better time when we are sufficiently oversold for a huge bounce,” Cramer described. The Mad Money host further opined: This is what it looks like when the Fed gets serious. In July, Cramer said that the immolation of crypto showed that the Fed’s job to tame inflation is almost complete. Moreover, he said in June that he expects the price of bitcoin to fall to $12,000. At the time of writing, the cryptocurrency is trading at $20,241. What do you think about Jim Cramer’s recommendations? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

This week, Ticketmaster Entertainment, Inc. revealed the company will give event organizers the ability to mint non-fungible token (NFT) tickets via the Flow blockchain. Last November, Ticketmaster said it was working with Polygon but since Super Bowl LVI, the ticket sales and distribution behemoth started working with the Dapper Labs-managed Flow. Ticketmaster Has Minted More Than 5 Million NFTs Using Flow’s Technology On August 31, 2022, a sportsbusinessjournal.com report detailed that Ticketmaster will allow event organizers to issue NFTs using the Flow blockchain. Organizers will be able to mint NFTs before, during, or after an event and they can represent tickets or memorabilia, VIP access and rewards as well. The report notes that the ticketing agency has already minted 5 million NFTs via the Flow network. Clients that have issued NFTs include The Black Crowes, the Apollo Theater, and Gavin DeGraw. Ticketmaster originally said it would use Polygon but in February the world’s largest ticket marketplace decided to use Flow for the Super Bowl LVI NFT tickets. Flow already works with the NFL via the partnership it worked out for the “NFL All Day” NFTs. Furthermore, the Dapper Labs operated Flow was also leveraged to mint “NBA Top Shot” NFTs and “UFC Strike” NFTs. Furthermore, NFL game attendees can get Flow-issued NFT tickets from over a hundred games from the 2022 season. Flow Says ‘Ticketmaster Is Empowering Event Organizers’ All-time statistics from the NFT data aggregator cryptoslam.io shows that the Flow blockchain commands the fourth largest position in terms of NFT sales among 19 different blockchains. The Flow blockchain has recorded $1,098,215,401 in all-time NFT sales, according to cryptoslam.io data. 30-day stats indicate Flow is the fifth-largest just below Immutable X which saw a 417% rise in the past month. Flow also confirmed the Ticketmaster deal on Wednesday when it tweeted about it to Live Nation fans. “Big news for live event fans,” Flow said. “[Ticketmaster] event organizers now can offer digital keepsakes, minted [on Flow].” The company continued: Activate access to experiences and rewards. And that’s not all — [Ticketmaster] is empowering event organizers to enhance live experiences for fans — Share your experiences online, never lose that ticket from the show you loved, new ways to reward communities, [and] enjoy VIP experiences. What do you think about Ticketmaster choosing the Flow blockchain for ticket-related NFTs, memorabilia, VIP access, and rewards? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

The Eurozone’s inflation rate reached a record high in August of 9.1%, the highest ever recorded in history, according to Europe’s statistics office Eurostat. The rate was higher than economists suspected and most of the rise was fueled by Europe’s rising energy prices. Europe’s Torrid Inflation Continues to Rise, While the Region Faces an Energy Crisis Currently, Europe is suffering from the highest inflation rate the euro area has seen in almost 50 years, and each one of the members of the monetary union has seen red-hot consumer prices. Just recently, Reuters polled a number of economists, and the data published by Eurostat is larger than the economists predicted. Eurozone #inflation hits record: Consumer prices surged 9.1% YoY in August outpacing est. of 9%. Core inflation jumped 4.3%, a fresh ATH as well. Above all, the rise in core inflation is also putting the #ECB under pressure. pic.twitter.com/DI9ruavNUT — Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) August 31, 2022 Statistics show that energy prices had the largest inflation rise reaching 38.3% and items like food jumped 10.6%. Furthermore, non-energy industrial goods rose by 5% compared to the value of these goods measured last year. In terms of energy prices, things look as though the energy crisis could get worse due to the Ukraine-Russia war. Starting today and up until September 2, 2022, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline is undergoing “maintenance.” The maintenance has people worried that Russian leaders will extend the shutdown of the pair of offshore natural gas pipelines that connect Russian gas supplies to Germany. The Russian Federation already cut flows by 40% in June and reduced flows by another 20% in July. Furthermore, the Russian gas giant Gazprom told the public on Tuesday that it would halt gas supplies to French industrial energy group Engie. Some suspect that Europe may need an energy bail-out from other nations, while others believe European leaders have no choice but to rescue energy consumers in the member countries. Some people believe the European Central Bank (ECB) needs to hike the benchmark bank rate as the Federal Reserve has done in recent times. The ECB will meet on September 8 and reports indicate that economists are betting the ECB will raise the benchmark rate by 75 basis points (bps). Speaking with The Street, ING’s senior economist, Bert Colijn, opined that the ECB needs to slow down, but how much is the current question at hand. “Specific European problems continue to push inflation higher — The gas supply crisis and droughts are adding to persisting supply-side pressures on inflation at the moment,” Colijn said. “As the economy is slowing rapidly — and perhaps already contracting at this point — the question is how much the ECB needs to slam the brakes,” the ING economist added. What do you think about the Eurozone’s battle with red-hot inflation? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

On Wednesday, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty jumped 9.26% higher, recording the second highest difficulty rise in 2022. The latest rise is Bitcoin’s third difficulty increase since August 4, 2022, and it’s now 11.63% harder to find bitcoin block reward. Bitcoin Difficulty Jumps 9.26% — Metric Prints the Second Largest Rise This Year Bitcoin (BTC) has experienced the third difficulty increase this month as the difficulty increased by 9.26% on August 31. The difficulty change took place at block height 751,968, and the 9.26% jump is the second biggest this year. The largest rise in 2022 took place 223 days ago on January 20, 2022, at block height 719,712. Currently, the difficulty is 30.98 trillion, which is only 0.27 below the network difficulty’s all-time high (ATH) at 31.25 trillion on May 10, 2022. With bitcoin’s lower USD value and a 9.26% difficulty increase, miners have been dealt a blow. In fact, the last three difficulty increases have made it 11.63% harder to find a bitcoin block reward prior to August 4. On August 4, at block height 747,936, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty rose by 1.74% and two weeks later, it increased again by 0.63%. Five days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported on the community discussing the possibility of the difficulty seeing a notable rise. On August 25, Blocksbridge Consulting tweeted that it was expecting “a notable difficulty jump.” Furthermore, during that same week, Bitcoin’s hashrate spiked to 282.21 exahash per second (EH/s). The hashrate was roughly 3.35% lower than the all-time high (ATH) recorded on June 8, 2022, at block height 739,928. At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s hashrate is coasting along at 236.33 EH/s. The difficulty rise and the lower BTC value has not affected miners yet as the hashrate continues to run at elevated speeds. The difficulty increases when 2,016 bitcoin block rewards are discovered ‘too fast,’ and the metric decreases when the block discovery time or interval is ‘too slow.’ Average Block Interval and Current Hashrate Speed Show Another Increase Is Likely in the Cards Satoshi Nakamoto’s design makes it so roughly every ten minutes, a new BTC block is found as the DAA system is modeled by a Poisson distribution scheme. The average block interval at the time of writing is 7:59 minutes, which means if the next 2,016 bitcoin block rewards are discovered ‘too fast,’ the next difficulty is estimated to increase again. There are roughly 1,964 BTC block rewards left until the next difficulty shift and it is estimated to take place on September 12, 2022. If the rise is higher on that day, there’s a great possibility that the network’s difficulty could very well surpass the ATH recorded 113 days ago on May 10, 2022. What do you think about the latest difficulty change? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

LEO rose to a six-week high on Wednesday, as prices rallied for a fifth consecutive session. The move came as the token raced past a key resistance level, on its way to today’s peak. Near protocol was another notable gainer, climbing for a third straight day. UNUS SED LEO (LEO) Unus Sed Leo (LEO) was one of the big movers in today’s session, as the token rose for a fifth consecutive day. Following a low of $5.33 on Tuesday, the token raced to an intraday peak of $5.68 earlier in the day. The move saw LEO/USD climb past its resistance point at $5.40, on its way to its highest point since July 10. As seen from the chart, today’s surge took LEO close to another price ceiling at the $5.70 level, however, bullish momentum faded as the session matured. Currently, the LEO is trading at $5.64, which is marginally below earlier highs, and comes as the relative strength index (RSI) approaches its own obstacle. The index is tracking at 65.10 as of writing, which is close to a ceiling of 66.50. Should we see this resistance sustained, prices will likely decline. Near Protocol (NEAR) Like LEO, near protocol (NEAR) also extended recent gains on Wednesday, as prices moved higher for a third straight day. NEAR/USD surged on hump-day hitting a high of $4.42, which is its strongest point since August 25. This one-week high comes as prices broke out of a $4.00 resistance point, two days after trading at the support of $3.70. As of writing, the token is now at $4.40, which is over 7% higher than yesterday’s low, and comes as the RSI has risen to a two-week peak of 47.50. Honing in on the chart, you can see that this upwards momentum has altered the direction of the 10-day moving average (red), which is now trending sideways. Should relative strength move beyond an upcoming ceiling at 49.00, it is likely we will see NEAR hit $4.50. Register your email here to get weekly price analysis updates sent to your inbox: Do you expect bullish momentum in near protocol to continue this week? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. View the full article

According to a recent report, the venture capital firm founded by Alexis Ohanian, Seven Seven Six, is planning to raise $177 million for a new crypto-centric fund. The new Seven Seven Six fund called Kryptós will concentrate on investing in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum. Seven Seven Six Launches Cryptocurrency Fund Kryptós — Plans to Go Live in October On August 29, 2022, The Information reporter Kate Clark published a report that noted Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six is raising money for a new crypto-focused fund called Kryptós. The company has been behind a number of investments tethered to the crypto and Web3 industry. For instance, Seven Seven Six led the Ethereum Web3 wallet platform Rainbow’s $18 million funding round. In mid-December 2021, Seven Seven Six teamed up with Polygon to launch a $200 million social media Web3 fund. On Monday, The Information’s report says the fund Kryptós is looking to raise $177 million and it will invest in crypto assets. Last April, Seven Seven Six was approved to operate as a registered investment advisor (RIA), and Clark reports that her publication read the Kryptós fund marketing paperwork. The Kryptós fund paperwork notes that there’s “potentially a unique opportunity” to obtain crypto investment vehicles “at a discount.” Now that Seven Seven Six is a registered investment advisor, it can invest in digital assets and manage the fund for a fee. Clark’s report further cites one of the founding partners at Ohanian’s venture capital (VC) firm, Katelin Holloway, who is quoted as saying “everything is on sale,” when it comes to crypto investment vehicles Kryptós could acquire. Holloway further added: This is the best time to buy if you’re really long on the industry. The crypto winter has not slowed VCs and businesses looking to invest in crypto-related products, projects, tokens, and companies in 2022. With the ability to invest directly into crypto assets like BTC and ETH, it can compete with investment funds offered by Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Seven Seven Six plans to charge a 2.5% management fee for Kryptós and the fund aims to go live in October 2022. What do you think about the VC firm Seven Seven Six targeting $177 million for a new cryptocurrency fund called Kryptós? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article