South Korea is throwing another $51 million at the metaverse, Mt. Gox saga is drawing to a close, Canaan BTC miner sales revenue plunges 60%.
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Thailand’s $1B crypto sacrifice, Mt Gox final deadline, Tencent NFT app nixed: Asia Express
Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments.
South Korea invests another $51M in metaverse tech
South Korea’s plans for metaverse domination are gathering pace. A March 8 document prepared by the Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the National IT Industry Promotion Agency, and the Korea Radio Promotion Association, says the three entities will invest a total of 27.7 billion Korean won ($21 million) in metaverse projects across 13 sectors such as healthcare, tourism, and education. One example use case is about telemedicine in the metaverse:
“Establish a virtual counseling space and provide mental health recovery and promotion services through expert psychological counseling, healing contents, and community activities.”
The same day, South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT also announced the creation of a 40 billion Korean won ($30 million) metaverse fund to be operated by local investment management companies. It cited the need to incubate domestic metaverse-related companies to become big enough to compete with global companies through the expansion of business areas and scale.
The South Korean government is betting big on the development of VR. Source: Korean Tourism OrganizationMt. Gox’s final deadline for claims
On March 9, trustees of bankrupt Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox announced that creditors have until April 6 to complete registration to receive repayment. The biggest Bitcoin exchange in the world at one time, Mt. Gox filed for bankruptcy in 2014 after discovering that 850,000 of the exchange’s Bitcoin had been stolen via discreet hacks and siphoning over a number of years. The exchange has since recovered around 200,000 BTC. The funds have been held in trust for the creditors, with 162,106 BTC ($3.49 billion) sitting in wallet addresses tracked by Token Unlock.
Bitcoin price falls to a multi-month low, but data points to a possible short-term bounce
BTC and altcoin prices succumbed to this week’s negative newsflow, but sentiment analysis and on-chain data point to the possibility of a short-term bounce.
Bitcoin price falls to a multi-month low, but data points to a possible short-term bounce
March started off on a low due to a resurrection of inflationary fears. On March 7, hawkish comments from United States Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell amplified the market’s expectation of a 50-basis point hike in the upcoming policy rate meeting on March 22 to March 23.
On March 8, the U.S. government’s $1 billion Bitcoin (BTC) transfer of assets seized from Silk Road sparked fears of a sell-off. Later on the same day, the largest crypto-friendly bank confirmed its collapse and planned to liquidate its crypto positions voluntarily. The week’s events sent Bitcoin to a two-week low of $20,050.
A spike in negative sentiment may preclude a bounce
The flurry of bad news and price drops caused a significant dip in CryptoQuant's Coinbase premium index, which measures the difference in trading prices on Coinbase and Binance. Higher prices indicate stronger demand in the U.S. versus the rest of the world. The premium dipped to a two-month low on the morning of March 9 as negative news piled on.
Coinbase premium index. Source: CryptoQuantOn-chain analytics firm Santiment reported fear, doubt and uncertainty (FUD) settling in the markets, increasing the “probabilities” of contrarian price bounces during this “period of disbelief.“
However, the funding rate for BTC perpetual swaps is still neutral, with no major liquidations in the futures market. It doesn’t show considerable negative bias to suggest the possibility of a short squeeze. The Fear and Greed Index also slipped to two-month lows of 44 but stayed well above historic bounce levels between 10 to 25. This suggests that any positive rallies are likely to be short-lived.
Biden budget proposes 30% tax on crypto mining electricity usage
The tax would be phased-in at 10% per year over three years and covers electricity generated from both on and off-grid sources.
Investors might have avoided FTX if the SEC had addressed Bitcoin ETFs, says BitGo CEO
According to Mike Belshe, the U.S. SEC’s reluctance to address a “basic” regulatory issue like the issuance of a BTC ETF could have paved the way for FTX's alleged illicit activities.
NY AG sues KuCoin for selling securities and commodities without registration
New York Attorney General Letitia James said the suit is the first time a regulator has claimed Ether is a security in court.
Crypto industry braces for impact with Silvergate exit
Silvergate may not pose a systematic risk for the U. S. banking system, but it could raise risks related to banking concentration and introduce new challenges for venture capital firms sources claim.
Bitcoin price drops to $20.8K as regulatory and macroeconomic pressure mounts
BTC margin and options markets are steady, even as investors run for cover as crypto and stock prices fall.
Women in Web3 advocate for increased diversity in the ecosystem
Several women suggested that education and grassroots training can be effective tools in promoting diversity within the Web3 ecosystem.
House Republicans directly criticize Biden administration for digital asset policies
"Because of actions taken by this Administration, the United States is at risk of pushing the digital asset ecosystem overseas,” said Republican Financial Services Committee members.
US REPO task force names crypto as target in efforts involving $58B in sanctioned assets
Members of the task force have worked to “counter Russian sanctions evasion”, which included illicit crypto transactions and money laundering schemes.
SWIFT moves to next phase of CBDC testing after positive results
According to SWIFT, 24% of central banks will introduce a CBDC within the next couple of years.
SWIFT moves to next phase of CBDC testing after positive results
According to SWIFT, 24% of central banks will introduce a CBDC within the next couple of years.
Why is XRP price up today?
XRP price extended its gains on March 9, rising around 1.5% to $0.40, despite a general downturn in the cryptocurrency market.
XRP price four-day winning streak
The rally in the XRP/USD pair started on March 5 with the XRP market capitalization gaining over 10% in the past four days.
XRP/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingViewIn contrast, the entire crypto market's cap has dropped by about 5% in the same period, with top coins Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) losing by 4.5% and 4%, respectively.
Ripple scores early win versus SEC
XRP's gains appear as investors pin their hopes on Ripple winning its long-running courtroom battle against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
On March 6, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres issued a ruling on motions filed by Ripple and the SEC to exclude the comments of expert witnesses from the upcoming summary judgment. She approved and denied the motions in part, underscoring no clear winner and loser in the matter.
Why is XRP price up today?
XRP’s (XRP) price extended its gains on March 9, rising around 1.5% to $0.40, despite a general downturn in the cryptocurrency market.
XRP price four-day winning streak
The rally in the XRP/USD pair started on March 5 with the XRP market capitalization gaining over 10% in the past four days.
XRP/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingViewIn contrast, the entire crypto market capitalization has dropped by about 5% in the same period, with top coins Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) losing 4.5% and 4%, respectively.
Ripple scores early win versus SEC
XRP’s gains appear as investors pin their hopes on Ripple winning its long-running courtroom battle against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
On March 6, U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres issued a ruling on motions filed by Ripple and the SEC to exclude the comments of expert witnesses from the upcoming summary judgment. She approved and denied the motions in part, underscoring no clear winner and loser in the matter.
Bitcoin price levels to watch as trader says 'lights out' below $21.6K
BTC price action is getting traders worried that $20,000 may not survive in the event that Bitcoin loses current support.
Bitcoin price levels to watch as trader says 'lights out' below $21.6K
Bitcoin (BTC) rested at multi-week support at the March 9 Wall Street open as concerns over a deeper BTC price drop increased.
BTC/USD 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingViewTrader: $19,700 "on the table"
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD circling $21,800 on Bitstamp.
With $22,000 in danger of flipping from support to resistance, popular trader Pentoshi was among those warning that further undoing of support may come next.
“We made it. Best r/r currently however not a fan of the slow bleed. Would have liked a SFP (one may still come),” he wrote in an update on a prior BTC price forecast.
“Below this can get ugly w 19.7-20.5k on the table.”
$54B fund partner runs women-only DAO, LatAm blockchain gaming guild
Clara Bullrich helps run a $54B investment fund, a women-only DAO and she founded a gaming guild to teach gamers in Latin America play to earn.
$54B fund partner runs women-only DAO, LatAm blockchain gaming guild
Clara Bullrich must have cloned herself or possibly invoked dark forces that shouldn’t be meddled with. Somehow, she’s managed to cram about four careers into one life.
Her main gig is leading her own financial entity, AlTi, managing a whopping investment fund, which grew to $54 billion under management following a recent merger. That’s a big enough job in itself.
A member of Women in Blockchain, she also runs a women-only DAO, Komorebi, that concentrates on funding female and non-gender-specific projects.
“I’ve seen in crypto that there’s very few women, and I really want to push that as much as I can,” she says. “For me, it’s always important to have skin in the game.”
And if that wasn’t enough, she’s also the founder of a gaming guild, Ola Guild Games (OlaGG), that hopes to upskill the quarter of a billion mobile gamers in Latin America so they can boost their incomes using play-to-earn blockchain games.
