Decentral Block Post

Cloudflare, a significant infrastructure provider for the internet, recently experienced widespread problems, leaving many crypto exchanges down.

The content delivery network (CDN) confirmed via an update posted on Tuesday that it is experiencing issues with its services and network, and a fix is currently being implemented. However, the firm has yet to provide information regarding what went wrong, causing services across the world to come to a halt.

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX tweeted that its platform and other sites will be difficult to access for many people, claiming that the exchange is now in “post-only” mode. Crypto exchanges Bitfinex and OKEx also tweeted about the issue, with the latter asking if there is a Web3 alternative in the future.

Cloudflare, which became public about three years ago, offers web network infrastructure to businesses, allowing them to publish their material online. The infrastructure also provides security services, including distributed denial of service protection (DDoS).

This isn’t the first time that a Cloudfare outage has had ripple effects in the cryptocurrency world. In August 2020, a similar outage brought Bitfinex and other major websites to a halt.

Last week, a WeChat post published by the Shanghai Fengxian Court began circulating in crypto circles regarding its recent ruling on a car sale in May 2019 made using digital currency. At the time, the buyer, identified only as Mr. Huang, signed a sales contract to purchase a 2019 Audi AL6 for 409,800 Chinese yuan, or $59.477 at the time of writing, in exchange for the consideration of 1,281 Unihash (UNIH) tokens with an undisclosed car dealership in Shanghai. Per the original contract, the seller was to deliver the car to Huang within three months’ time.

According to the Shanghai Fengxian Court, Mr. Huang paid 1,281 UNIH on the date of the contract signing but did not receive the car within the specified duration nor afterward. As a result, Mr. Huang took the seller to court, demanding the delivery of the vehicle and the payment of 0.66% daily interest of the transaction amount in damages for each day that the car went undelivered beyond the original deadline.

The case took over three years before a verdict was reached this June. Citing regulations in September 2017 that evolved into what is known now as China’s cryptocurrency ban, the Shanghai Fengxian Court said that digital assets “cannot and should not be used as a currency for circulation in the markets,” and that the use of digital tokens such as UNIH in lieu of fiat money as a consideration in everyday contracts was in breach of respective regulation that overrides such contracts themselves. Therefore, the sales contract was ruled to be null and void. The buyer was neither granted damages, delivery of the car, nor a refund of his 1,281 UNIH. 

It’s unclear as to how the seller agreed to a conversion rate of 1 UNIH = 320 Chinese yuan as stipulated in the original contract in the first place. Unihash was supposedly a digital payment token developed for e-commerce in 2018 and was only available to private investors with no public initial coin offering (ICO). Shortly after its launch, allegations quickly surfaced on Chinese social media that labeled the project to be a “scam” and that its token metrics, as well as company history, had allegedly been grossly inflated to solicit investors. 

Currently, the project appears to be abandoned with no link to socials, no market listing and no further development activity. Moreover, the firm behind UNIH did not accomplish any of its goals listed in its original white paper. One such promise made to investors in the document included: “What can be certain is that the Unihash token can appear on several exchanges by Q4 2019.”

The crypto markets have been in a strong bear phase for the past several months but JPMorgan Chase analysts expect that to change and they have projected a significant upside from the current levels. The analysts cited the rising share of all stablecoins in the total crypto market for their bullish outlook.

Unperturbed by the current fall, retail traders have been adding Bitcoin (BTC) to their portfolios. The number of wallet addresses holding one Bitcoin surged by 13,091 to a record high of 865,254. Similarly, the number of addresses holding about 0.1 Bitcoin has also witnessed a sharp rise in the past 10 days, according to data from Glassnode.

Bitcoin’s sharp recovery from the June 18 fall shows strong buying at lower levels and according to Whalemap, this has led to the formation of a new “whale level,” which may act as short-term support.

Could the recovery in Bitcoin and major altcoins continue in the near term? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin plunged below $20,000 on June 18 but made an equally sharp recovery on June 19, indicating aggressive buying at lower levels. If bulls sustain the price above $20,000, it could improve sentiment and attract more buyers.