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Cryptocurrency is going to break out of its bubble and reach critical mass thanks to layer-2 blockchains — and a couple of other factors. After 2021, we entered an era in cryptocurrency where people stopped talking only about financial decentralization and started to broadly discuss the tokenization of everything, thanks in part to nonfungible tokens (NFTs). This shift represents a critical perspective that is set to guide three theses for the upcoming bull market . To fully grasp these theses , it is crucial to understand that everything is data. Money is data. Your engagement with a brand is data. Your credentials are data. The ticket for your favorite show is data. Since 2021, the ecosystem has increasingly started to store a large part of this data in the form of fungible tokens, NFTs, and timestamps on the blockchain, which acts as a data repository in this context. Related: Expect new IRS crypto surveillance to come with a surge in confiscation While not all data needs to be on...

ETH price finally polevaulted the $2,000 resistance, but will retail demand and network use support the current bullish momentum? Ether (ETH) experienced a surprising 8% rally on Nov. 9, breaking the $2,000 barrier and achieving its highest price level in six months. This surge, triggered by news of BlackRock registering the iShares Ethereum Trust in Delaware, resulted in $48 million worth of liquidations in ETH short futures. The initial announcement was made by @SummersThings on a social network, later confirmed by Bloomberg ETF analysts. The iShares Ethereum Trust has just been registered in Delaware. For context, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust was registered in a similar manner 7 days before they filed the ETF application with the SEC. Details below. [announcement: I’m moving to @SynopticCom soon] pic.twitter.com/IYafIaxMzA — Summers (@SummersThings) November 9, 2023 The news fueled optimistic expectations regarding a potential Ether spot ETF filing by BlackRock, a $9 t...

Jury deliberations are to expected to begin shortly and may last until next Monday. Closing arguments for the criminal trial of Sam Bankman Fried (SBF), the disgraced founder of crypto exchange FTX, have officially concluded with U.S. Southern District of New York Judge Lewis Kaplan moving to jury instructions. As per the indictment from last December, Bankman-Fried faces a total of seven charges, including two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and commit campaign finance violations. In his briefing to the jury, Judge Kaplan explained that counts one and three — charges for a scheme to defraud FTX customers using interstate wires and charges for a scheme to defraud lenders to Alameda Research using interstate wires — are substantive, or alleged crimes that are not dependent of another.  "The gov...

Bitcoin’s reluctance to give up ground has attracted strong buying in select altcoins. Bitcoin (BTC) price climbed by 15% last week and 10.45% the week before. The S&P 500 Index dropped 2.53% last week and 2.39% the week before. This shows that Bitcoin has decoupled from the S&P 500 Index in the short term and may chart its own course. However, the path higher may not be easy. The Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting on Nov. 1 may cause some volatility, but it will li be short-lived as no surprises are expected. CME’s FedWatch Tool projects a 98% probability that rates will remain unchanged. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 A large part of the gains in Bitcoin have been fuelled by expectations that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission will approve a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the near future. Any adverse news in this regard may prove to be a major setback for the bulls. When traders start chasing prices higher, it increases ...

Analysis of token movements from Redditor moderators' wallets suggests at least three moderators dumped thousands of dollars worth of Moon tokens just minutes before the actual announcement. Popular social network platform Reddit announced the wind-down of its blockchain -based community points program on Oct. 17 citing scalability issues. The announcement created controversy in the crypto community with many calling it a rug-pull as the price of the native token on different subreddits tanked after the announcements.  Each subreddit had its own native token . For example, the Moons (MOON) token was the native crypto asset of the r/CryptoCurrency board, while Bricks (BRICK) was for the r/FortNiteBR subreddit. Users could spend these points on badges and exclusive items for their avatars. At the time of the announcement the moderators of most of the subreddits involved with the community points program claimed to be unaware of the decision. However, this is now being called int...

SBF, Caroline Ellision, Alameda and FTX may have conspired to keep Bitcoin price below $20,000, but is it actually possible and worth the effort? On Oct. 11, Caroline Ellison, the former head of the now-defunct Alameda Research, informed a U.S. court that she received instructions from FTX's co-founder and CEO, Sam "SBF" Bankman-Fried, to sell Bitcoin (BTC) if its price remained above $20,000.  This admission came as a shock to the entire crypto industry, but the two conspiring to suppress BTC price, versus actually doing it are two different things. While there are no details available regarding the size and timing of these trades, the timeframe likely falls within September and October 2022, just weeks before Alameda and FTX collapsed. Determining whether Alameda effectively acted to suppress Bitcoin's price below $20,000, as alleged by some analysts and traders is challenging, if not impossible. Nevertheless, it is possible to assess the significance of FTX'...

The plaintiff, Mr. Ming, will have no judicial relief to recoup his 80,000 Tether loan after its borrower defaulted. A second Chinese court has ruled that crypto lending is an activity outside the protection of the country’s legal system. According to an Oct. 10 press release by the Nanchang People’s Court, in April 2021, an individual known as Mr. Ming lent a total of 80,000 Tether (USDT) to an individual known as Mr. Gang for stablecoin trading. The loan was to be repaid within six months. However, Mr. Gang defaulted on the loan, leading Mr. Ming to sue his counterparty in court .  In its landmark decision this week, the Nanchang People’s Court stated Mr. Ming was required to prove that Tether is a legally issued fiat currency to bring a necessary cause of action for judicial relief, citing a series of legislation forming China’s crypto ban. Since Mr. Ming could not do so, the court ruled that the lawsuit did not fall within the appropriate scope of civil litigation. Mr. Ming sub...

The new legislation aims to protect crypto investors from disputes, manipulation or fraud potentially stemming from transactions occuring off-chain. A new bill in the United States aims to require cryptocurrency service providers to report all blockchain transactions to a government repository. On Sept. 28, U.S. Democrat Representative Don Beyer introduced the “Off-Chain Digital Commodity Transaction Reporting Act,” requiring trading platforms to report all transactions to a repository registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The new legislation aims to protect cryptocurrency investors from disputes, manipulation or fraud potentially stemming from transaction s occurring off -chain , or transaction s that take place beyond the blockchain network. Unlike on -chain transaction s, off -chain crypto transaction s are not instantly logged on a blockchain but are processed through secondary layers, thus creating some difficulties in being tracked. With the emergenc...

Xiaodong Feng, Mixin's founder, immediately outlined a compensation plan but would only reimburse up to 50% of users' assets for now. Hong Kong-based decentralized cross-chain transfer protocol Mixin Network is drawing controversy over the disclosure of a $200 million hack on Sept. 25. In a post on Sept. 25, Zhuoer Jiang, CEO of Bitcoin mining pool BTC.TOP, claimed that BTC stored in the Mixin protocol "should have never been stolen in the first place." Jiang claims that, normally, Mixin's Bitcoin (BTC) would have been "kept in cold storage" and remained unaffected by the cloud server hack compromising Mixin's hot wallets. During its last monthly report in July, Mixin disclosed a total of 9,544 BTC, worth roughly $253 million, stored in its protocol.  On Sept. 23, Mixin's cloud service provider's database was breached by hackers, resulting in the loss of $200 million in assets on its mainnet. Deposits and withdrawal services were immediate...

According to eToro deputy CEO Hedva Ber, Europe is “hugely important” for the firm as the majority of eToro users are based in the region. Cryptocurrency-friendly brokerage firm eToro is expanding its crypto services worldwide by securing new regulatory approval in Europe. eToro has received the Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) registration from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), the firm officially announced on Sept. 21. According to eToro, the registration will authorize it to offer regulated crypto services to all countries in the European Union from one single entity known as eToro Europe Digital Assets. The registration will specifically come into effect once the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) is enforced in December 2024. According to eToro deputy CEO Hedva Ber, the registration shows that eToro is “100% ready to embrace a new era for crypto once MiCA comes into effect next year.” The exec pointed out that Europe is “hugely important”...

Bitcoin mining is becoming harder — which means miners will have to spend more to receive fewer rewards. But there are still ways to be profitable. Only seven months remain before the next Bitcoin (BTC) halving in April 2024. It happens approximately every four years and is a deflationary process that cuts the production of new coins by 50%. Bitcoin's halving is a high-profile event for crypto investors, and has historically led to an increase in Bitcoin's price. However, its impact on the mining industry is a more complex issue. It reduces block rewards,  one of the primary revenue streams for miners. The 2024 halving will reduce it from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. That’s why miners must adapt their strategies to compensate for the reduced rewards resulting from the halving. Let’s explore the strategies and alternative income sources that may help Bitcoin miners amid hostile market conditions. Changing mindsets Bitcoin mining involves a competitive process where miners vie for ...

Crypto exchanges HTX (formerly Huobi) and OKX have seen their traffic surging 200% and 185% YTD, respectively. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) have been widely described as going through a bear market in 2023, but this may not exactly be the case, according to indicators such as the website traffic of certain crypto platforms. Some major cryptocurrency websites, such as Binance and Coinbase, have seen a significant traffic drop in 2023, but there are many crypto sites that have experienced the opposite. According to data from the web analytics platform Similarweb, the number of total monthly visits on the Binance website tumbled by 22% from 69 million in January 2023 to 54 million in August. Coinbase’s website has experienced a 15% traffic decline over the period, with the number of visits dropping from 33.5 million to 28.4 million. A number of cryptocurrency exchange websites have had more success in terms of traffic, though. According to Similarweb data accessed by Cointelegraph...

The order reportedly came on the same date with Voyager Digital issuing a notice of default to 3AC for its failure to pay its 15,250 Bitcoin and 350 million USDC loan. Troubled cryptocurrency venture capital firm Three Arrows Capital (3AC) is facing more uncertainty amid new reports on the company’s liquidation. A court in the British Virgin Islands on June 27 ordered the liquidation of Singapore-based 3AC, the British news agency Sky News reported on Wednesday. The information in the report refers to an unspecified person familiar with the matter. Three Arrows Capital did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. Three Arrows Capital, also known as 3AC, is a Singaporean crypto hedge fund founded in 2012 by Kyle Davies and Su Zhu. The firm has reportedly failed to meet margin calls from its lenders amid a massive market downturn this year, with Bitcoin (BTC) dropping below $20,000 for the first time in two years. 3AC reportedly borrowed BTC From crypto Lending ...

Adults in Ireland have become slightly less interested in crypto with a drop in ownership from 12% to 10% in the last year. The number of crypto investors in Ireland has decreased slightly in the past year, or so it appears according to recent data from Finder.com.  The report revealed that cryptocurrency adoption in the island nation has dropped by approximately 16.6% within the last year. Of the surveyed adult Irish internet users, 10% own cryptocurrency, as opposed to 12% in 2021. Finder’s crypto specialist James Edwards commented that such a small decrease is actually a positive shock given the state of the bear market. “We saw huge drops in the price of Bitcoin at the start of May and June and while we did see a reduction in the number of people holding cryptocurrency it’s not as severe as expected." Edwards says the data suggests that despite the selloffs, the low drop in holders signals both hodlers and even more purchasing at discounted rates. The survey also highlighte...

The Securities and Exchange Commission will inevitably approve a spot Bitcoin ETF, but we should retain some healthy skepticism about the risks it will create. The first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application, filed in July 2013, was denied in both 2017 and 2018. A decade has passed since that initial application, and the Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected more than a dozen additional applications and repeatedly punted the date for deciding on others. The ETF saga’s latest iteration saw Bitcoin (BTC) jump more than 6% as industry advocates celebrated a court ruling that affirmed what we already knew — that the SEC’s rejection of Grayscale’s ETF application was “arbitrary and capricious.” This was, of course, followed by the SEC delaying its decision on all seven pending Bitcoin ETFs, and a subsequent price drop. Now we wait as the SEC deliberates on its next move and Grayscale pleads for approval. Related: Bitcoin ETFs: Even worse for crypto than central exch...

While Fidelity hasn’t yet confirmed rumors it will launch retail Bitcoin trading, the firm said enabling broader access to digital assets remained a key area of focus. $4.2 trillion asset management firm Fidelity Investments is reportedly working towards offering Bitcoin trading services to its 34.4 million retail investor base, according to Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz and people familiar with the matter.  While Fidelity hasn’t officially confirmed plans to incorporate crypto onto its retail platform, Novogratz told a conference audience in New York on Sept. 12, that the move may be just around the corner: “A bird told me that Fidelity, a little bird in my ear, is going to shift their retail customers into crypto soon enough.” “I hope that bird is right. So we are still this institutional march and that gives crypto its floor,” he added. Novogratz isn’t the only person to have signaled the potential move from Fidelity. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Sept. 12 noted that that F...

Binance VP Eastern Europe Gleb Kostarev and CIS director Vladimir Smerkis have announced they have quit the company. Cryptocurrency exchange Binance is losing two key executives related to the Russian market amid major regulatory challenges related to sanctions. Gleb Kostarev, head of Eastern Europe and Russia at Binance, took to Facebook on Sept. 6 to announce his departure from Binance. In his Russian-language announcement, Kostarev said that today marks the last day of his long-running work at Binance. He added that he’s stepping down as vice president responsible for Eastern Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Turkey, Australia and New Zealand. He also stepped down from serving the role in the Asia-Pacific region “a few months ago,” the exec added. Kostarev expressed gratitude to Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao and co-founder He Yi for all the opportunities that they provided. “Thanks to all the local initiative teams for their hardcore work and amazing campaig...

The Hong Kong regulators have only approved a handful of crypto exchanges to date that are permitted to offer crypto retail trading services. OKX crypto currency exchange has entered the final stage before acquiring a virtual asset service provider license (VASP) in Hong Kong. The crypto exchange expects the final approval for a VASP by March next year. Li Zhikai, the global chief commercial officer of OKX, in an interview, said that they are actively engaged in a dialogue with the banks and are currently waiting for the group to be issued a license and start a business. The crypto exchange has started the preparatory work such as technology docking. Hong Kong became a pro-crypto nation in 2023 and announced a licensing regime for crypto exchanges to offer their services to retail customers. While more than 80 crypto firms initially showed interest in opening an office in the country, only a couple of crypto platforms such as HashKey and OSL gained the necessary license to ...

Arkham Intelligence said the wallet contains approximately $2.54 billion worth of ETH under custody for user balances. Crypto analytics platform Arkham Intelligence has revealed financial services company and crypto trading platform Robinhood as a leading holder of Ether (ETH) and the owner of the fifth -largest ETH wallet, which contains about $2.54 billion of the cryptocurrency. Arkham stated on X (formerly Twitter) that its recognition of Robinhood possessing the third -largest Bitcoin wallet garnered significant attention. However, it said less attention has been paid to its identification of Robinhood as the holder of the fifth -largest ETH wallet. In a separate update, Arkham emphasized that these funds are user balances under custody. The largest Bitcoin (BTC) wallets in the world, according to BitInfoCharts, are reportedly owned by Binance and Bitfinex. Our identification of Robinhood as the owner of the third-largest Bitcoin wallet was widely covered. But most coverage ...