Blockchain and Crypto News

Don’t miss real-time updates

Decentral Block Post

Access real-time blockchain and cryptocurrency news updates from around the globe.

Price analysis 8/21: SPX, DXY, BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, ADA, DOGE, SOL, DOT

After the sharp fall on Aug. 17, Bitcoin (BTC) remained stuck inside a tight range over the weekend. This suggests indecision between the bulls and the bears about the next directional move. 

After the latest fall, about 88% of Bitcoin held by Short-term Holders (STHs), owning Bitcoin for 155 days or less, has plunged into loss, according to Glassnode’s weekly newsletter, “The Week On-Chain.” Glassnode warns that the STH cohort is “increasingly price sensitive.”

In comparison, the long-term holders have neither panicked nor gone on a shopping spree during the current fall.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

Traders are likely to keep a close watch on the United States Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium on Aug. 25. If Powell does not spring a negative surprise, then the event may turn out to be bullish for risky assets. History suggests that U.S. stocks generally rise in the week after Jackson Hole.

What are the important support and resistance levels to watch for in Bitcoin and altcoins? Let’s analyze the charts to find out.

image
Continue reading

Scientists reverse-engineered the Luna flash crash using particle physics

More than $40 billion in investor assets were lost in the crash between May 5 and May 13, 2022. Less than a year later, Do Kwon was arrested after allegedly attempting to flee prosecution for criminal activity associated with the losses.

Volumes have since been written discussing the breakdown, which saw the Luna coin plummet and Terra’s UST stablecoin de-pegged from the U.S. dollar.

Now, for what appears to be the first time, scientists have applied statistical mechanics to essentially reverse-engineer the crash using the same techniques used to study particle physics.

The research, conducted at King’s College London, concentrated on transaction events and orders occurring during the crash. Per the team’s preprint research paper:

“We view the orders as physical particles with motion on a 1-dimensional axis. The order size corresponds to the particle mass, and the distance the order has moved corresponds to the distance the particle moves.”

Continue reading

On-chain tool to seize crypto is a purist's nightmare, but a must: CEO

The founder of layer-1 blockchain Jurat has defended his protocol against potential haters, arguing that on-chain legal enforcement is a necessary trade-off for crypto mass adoption. 

On Aug. 8, a U.S. District Court used Jurat’s on-chain enforcement tool to lock several sanctioned individuals out of their crypto accounts. These individuals were sanctioned for money laundering and using ransomware to extort cryptocurrency payments to benefit North Korea’s weapons program.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Mike Kanovitz, the founder and CEO of Jurat said the judicial order was the first of its kind.

The Jurat blockchain was launched in late 2022, formed via a fork of the Bitcoin blockchain. The technology connects blockchain nodes with court dockets to enforce court orders.

Kanovitz admits that such technology will likely garner criticism from die-hard supporters of decentralization.

Continue reading

HBAR, OP, INJ and RUNE flash bull signals as Bitcoin price looks for stability

Trader sentiment has turned bearish following Bitcoin’s (BTC) 11% slump this week. Although Bitcoin is taking support near $25,000, several analysts are factoring in another leg down toward the crucial $20,000 level.

The weakness is not limited to the cryptocurrency markets alone. United States equities markets also witnessed a losing week. The S&P 500 Index fell 2.1% and the Nasdaq Composite dropped about 2.6%, both indices recording a three-week losing streak. This suggests that traders are in a risk-off mode in the near term.

Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360

The fall in Bitcoin dragged several altcoins lower, indicating a broad-based sell-off. However, amongst the sea of red, there are a few altcoins that have stood out either by bouncing off strong support levels or by continuing their up-move.

Let’s study the charts of the top-5 cryptocurrencies that may buck the negative trend and stay positive over the next few days.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin has been range-bound between $24,800 and $31,000 for the past several days. After failing to sustain above the resistance, the price has dipped near the support of the range.

image
Continue reading

SEC seeks appeal over Ripple, crypto prices plunge and EU debuts Bitcoin ETF: Hodler’s Digest, Aug. 13-19

Top Stories This Week

Judge grants SEC request to file motion for appeal in Ripple case

Judge Analisa Torres has granted a request from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to file a motion for leave to file an interlocutory appeal in its case against Ripple Labs. The decision allowed the SEC to file a motion, on Aug. 18, requesting permission to bring a case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Ripple will also be able to file an opposition to the motion. Torres ruled, on July 13, that Ripple’s XRP token is not a security when distributed in public sales, but the ruling considered XRP a security in institutional sales. The case against Ripple has been ongoing since December 2020, when the SEC sued Ripple and its executives over allegations of offering an unregistered security.

Bitcoin, Ether price slump leads to crypto bloodbath with $1B in liquidations

The Bitcoin and Ether price slide on Aug. 18 saw the top two cryptocurrencies fall to a two-month low and triggered a series of liquidations for thousands of derivative traders. The crypto bloodbath led to billions of dollars worth of hedged positions being liquidated, and several traders lost millions of dollars in a single trade. According to CoinGlass data, a total of 176,752 traders got liquidated within hours, indicating a rapid rise in price volatility just days after BTC and ETH recorded their lowest daily volatility in several years. The price function in the crypto market was attributed to several factors, including the SpaceX Bitcoin write-down and macroeconomic factors.

Bitcoin-friendly El Salvador sees bond returns soar to 70% in 2023

El Salvador, which adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender in 2021, has seen its dollar bond outperform the majority of the emerging markets with a 70% return in 2023. The massive rally of the bond has now drawn interest from several institutional giants, including JP Morgan, Eaton Vance and PGIM Fixed Income, prompting President Nayib Bukele to say, “I told you so.” Apart from the institutional giants, the likes of Lord Abbett & Co LLC, Neuberger Berman Group LLC and UBS Group AG have also added debt security since April. El Salvador paid $800 million in debt in full within the due maturing time at the start of this year, raising confidence in the country’s bonds again.

First EU spot Bitcoin ETF hits Euronext Amsterdam exchange

Europe welcomed its first-ever spot Bitcoin ETF after the long-awaited launch of Jacobi Asset Management’s Jacobi FT Wilshire Bitcoin ETF. The London-based digital asset management firm announced that its new investment product was going live on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange on Aug. 15, more than a year later than its planned launch in 2022. The new ETF is trading under the BCOIN ticker. Its launch marks a milestone for Europe, while United States regulators are yet to approve a number of similar spot Bitcoin ETF applications from major asset managers, including BlackRock and Fidelity. The new ETF is trading under the BCOIN ticker.

Coinbase wins NFA approval to offer Bitcoin and Ether futures in US

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has obtained approval from the National Futures Association (NFA) to offer investments in crypto futures to eligible customers in the United States. The approval enables Coinbase to introduce Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts through a derivatives exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Following the decision, the exchange’s website displayed a link for joining an early access waiting list. Coinbase claims the global crypto derivatives market accounts for 75% of crypto trading volume worldwide.


Continue reading

Curve Finance to reimburse users, another DeFi hack, and ConsenSys launches L2: Finance Redefined

Welcome to Finance Redefined, your weekly dose of essential decentralized finance (DeFi) insights — a newsletter crafted to bring you the most significant developments from the past week.

Over two weeks after Curve Finance’s multiple pool exploits, the DeFi protocol has assured the hack victims that it is assessing each impacted user for reimbursement. This comes after the exploiter returned 73% of the stolen funds.

The DeFi ecosystem moved beyond the Curve dilemma only to face another set of exploits this past week, with Zunami Protocol seeing its stablecoins pools exploited, resulting in a net loss of over $2 million. However, the week was also filled with optimistic developments as ConsenSys completed the public launch of its zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM), Linea, with $26 million worth of Ether (ETH) bridged.

In another development, Fantom-based decentralized exchange SpiritSwap was rescued from its shutdown at the last moment through a community resolution.

Curve Finance vows to reimburse users after $62 million hack

Curve Finance has officially stated its intention to reimburse users impacted by its recent hack, which resulted in $62 million in losses. According to an X (formerly Twitter) post from its official account, ongoing investigations are yielding progress, with approximately 79% of the funds successfully recovered. The platform also said it would assess each impacted user for reimbursement.

Continue reading

Price analysis 8/18: BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, ADA, SOL, DOGE, DOT, MATIC, LTC

A tight range usually resolves with a range breakout and that is what happened in Bitcoin (BTC) on Aug. 17. Bitcoin fell sharply, resulting in a $1 billion liquidation for derivatives traders, the biggest since the FTX collapse in 2022.

It is difficult to pinpoint any specific reason for the sell-off but analysts believe that the confusion arising from the alleged write-down of SpaceX’s $373 million Bitcoin holdings may have been one of the potential triggers.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

Whatever the reason, the decline has started. The next major question troubling investors is how low could Bitcoin fall. Several analysts have turned bearish and expect Bitcoin to continue its downtrend in the near term.

Will Bitcoin continue to drop, dragging the rest of the cryptocurrency markets with it? What are the important support levels to keep an eye on? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin’s narrow range resolved to the downside on Aug. 17, triggering a long liquidation, which pulled the price to $25,166.

image
Continue reading

Bitget and crypto influencer embroiled in legal saga after ReelStar token listing fiasco

Update (Aug. 18 at 2:09 pm UTC): This article has been updated with both sides’ perspectives and additional information. Further commentaries are expected from both sides.

Crypto influencer Evan Luthra has brought a lawsuit against crypto exchange Bitget for freezing his account after a new token listing in March. According to Luthra, the exchange suspended his withdrawals and froze $200,000 in Tether (USDT) while attempts to seek clarification went unanswered. 

Luthra’s involvement with the ReelStar project serves as a backdrop to these events. The influencer was hired as an adviser to ReelStar, a startup developing a social media app for creators. As compensation, Luthra was offered Reel Tokens (REELT), the project’s utility token. Upon its listing, the influencer sold 1.3 million REELT tokens on Bitget. Luthra’s account was then frozen under suspicion of market manipulation. A spokesperson from Bitget told Cointelegraph about the decision:

“Bitget faced a manipulative attack by a group of traders attempting to profit by manipulating trades on the exchange. Their target was a new coin called REELT, which they tried to dump immediately after its listing on Bitget, causing a large drop in the coin’s price.“

Additionally, Bitget claims to have contacted the crypto influencer for an explanation: “In response, he admitted to selling the tokens. However, when we asked for the reasons behind this abnormal behavior, we did not receive active feedback or satisfactory response.“

Continue reading

SpaceX Bitcoin write-down sparks confusion, Bitcoiners quiz Elon Musk

SpaceX's Bitcoin write-down report on Aug. 18  sparked confusion among the crypto community. The report published in Wall Street Journal puzzled many, who questioned whether SpaceX held $373 million worth of Bitcoin and sold it in 2021-22 or whether they only reduced their Bitcoin exposure by the same amount.

Several social media outlets reported that SpaceX had sold its entire BTC holdings while others expressed uncertainty, claiming they were unable to confirm the amount based on the wording of the report.

Elon Musk revealed in 2021 that SpaceX holds Bitcoin, as does Tesla, on their balance sheet. While Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings were made public, there were no estimations around SpaceX’s BTC holdings which has been key to the ongoing confusion. Tesla once held $1.5 billion worth of BTC purchased during the bull market, but revealed it sold 72% of its holdings in Q2 of 2022

The SpaceX write-off claims were also believed to be one of the key catalysts behind the $2000 BTC price drop, although several others denied it being a cause. Elon Musk hasn’t addressed the issue yet, but the market FUD made him a target of Bitcoin proponents who questioned his strategy of buying high and selling low while a few others called it a market FUD.

One Reddit user wrote that Musk is running out of cash across all his companies while suggesting that Musk might sell “all of his Bitcoin and doge within the next 6 months.”

Continue reading

Real reason for China’s war on crypto, 3AC judge’s embarrassing mistake: Asia Express

Our weekly roundup of news from East Asia curates the industry’s most important developments.

On Aug. 11, a Chinese individual known only as Mr. Chen was sentenced to nine months in prison after helping his friend, Mr. Lin, purchase 94,988 Chinese yuan ($13,104) worth of Tether (USDT) and earning a commission of 147.1 Yuan ($20.24).

Because Mr. Chen shared his personal bank information for the peer-to-peer fiat-to-crypto transaction, Chinese authorities considered the act to be money laundering and imposed a harsh sentence.

Chinese judge explains in a prior case why a Bitcoin lending agreement was legally invalid even in the event of a breach of contract. (Jstv)

Officially, Chinese authorities attribute the tough-on-crypto approach to a spree of data theft and the use of crypto to launder proceeds of crime. However, sources tell Cointelegraph that the crackdown is more related to the country’s stringent capital control rules, where Chinese nationals are prohibited from buying more than $50,000 worth of foreign currencies each year without a state permit. The same applies to large-sum Chinese yuan transactions with foreign banks.

The capital controls had been almost complete until the advent of crypto, sources say. The problem is further exasperated by a looming recession in China, making senior government officials wary of further money moving out of the country.

Chinese judge explains why the Bitcoin lending contract was invalid and therefore denied relief for breach of contract.
Continue reading

Crypto games need EVO-style viral moment, Nitro Nation review: Web3 Gamer

Blockchain gaming needs its own ‘EVO Moment 37’?

While the Web3 gaming ecosystem is still trying to find its footing in the mainstream gaming world, a key element missing from almost all the Web3 titles is inspiration. To achieve a broader audience, Web3 gaming needs a “wow” moment to go viral and into the records of gaming history.

Web3 gaming studios are falling into the same trap that many of their traditional predecessors fell into: Better visuals, more rewards and a larger cast of characters. Sure, these are some vital elements of the gaming experience, but in order to expand a whole ecosystem, developers need to think beyond that.

With Street Fighter 6 just released and Mortal Kombat 1 on the horizon, it’s safe to say that the fighting games are having a big comeback. But let’s remember the exact moment that showed players worldwide the joy of fighting games for the first time: The EVO Moment 37.

In 2004, during the golden years of home consoles, the fighting game-focused tournament EVO saw a magical moment where two legendary players competed with each other and one of them — Daigo Umehara — pulled a move that was then considered impossible. YouTube was not a thing back then, so that moment was captured by the official DVD that was released the following year. It was named “Evo Moment 37” and became a major trigger for wide audiences to take fighting games seriously.

Web3 gaming needs that. Web3 studios need to add inspiration, “wow” moment potential and an aspect of virality to their products. It will be a tough road to gain the interest of mainstream audiences until then.

Cut The Rope and The Sandbox collaborate to bring Om Nom to the metaverse.
Continue reading

Bitcoin and Ether now less volatile than oil: Report

The Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) 90-day price volatility hit a new multi-year low in August as the top two cryptocurrencies continue to trade under their key resistance of $30,000 and $2,000 respectively.

According to data shared by crypto analytic firm Kaiko, the 90-day volatility of BTC and ETH hit 35% and 37% respectively making it less volatile than oil with volatility of 41%. Such a decline in the price momentum of the top two crypto assets was last seen in 2016.

90-day price volatility of Bitcoin, Ether and Oil. Source: Kaiko

The chart above indicates that BTC and ETH price volatility is more than half at the same time last year. While August is considered a bullish month for the crypto ecosystem, the declining price fluctuation is considered bullish by many.

Apart from the 90-day volatility at its lowest in 7 years, the daily Bitcoin volatility is also at 5-year low.

Bitcoin daily volatility reaches 5-year low. Source: TradingView

Bitcoin technical analyst who goes by the social media name of Cryptocon took to X platform to share observations about Bitcoin price volatility decline and what actually follows the period of low volatility.

image
Continue reading

SHIB, BONE, LEASH tokens dip amid rumors of $2.5M Shibarium gaffe

The launch of the Shibarium mainnet — a layer 2 scaling solution for the Ethereum network — appears to have gotten off to a rocky start, at least when it comes to the price of its related tokens. 

Many Shiba Inu (SHIB) holders had held out hope for a sharp appreciation of SHIB, Shibarium’s governance token BONE and the LEASH token with the launch of the Shibarium network on Aug. 16.

However, those aspirations have been dashed rather quickly.

At the time of publication, the price of SHIB is down 8.1% in the last 24 hours while BONE has fallen more than 14% in the same timeframe. The ecosystems’ LEASH token — a low supply staking rewards coin — fared the worst, dropping 23.5% on the day.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) price following the launch of the Shibarium network. Source: CoinGecko

The price dip comes amid reports of a potential hiccup in the launch.

image
Continue reading

Ripple Labs bites back against SEC's request to file appeal

120 Total views

8 Total shares

Listen to article
News

Ripple Labs has voiced its opposition towards the United States securities regulator’s move towards filing an interlocutory appeal relating to the summary judgment laid down by U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres on Jul. 13.

In an Aug. 16 letter to Torres of the Southern District of New York, Ripple’s lawyers explained that because the Securities and Exchange Commission failed to satisfy elements of the Howey test relating to Ripple’s distribution of XRP — a “legal question” — the Court should reject the SEC’s motion for leave to file an interlocutory appeal.

An interlocutory appeal occurs when a ruling by a trial court is appealed while other aspects of the case are still proceeding and are only allowed under specific circumstances.

image
Continue reading

Shiba Inu’s Shibarium Ethereum L2 blockchain goes live on mainnet

Shiba Inu launched the Shibarium mainnet, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution, on Aug. 16 after months of testing that saw millions of users participate and 21 million wallets created.

Shibarium is built on a new consensus mechanism called proof-of-participation (PoP), which works by selecting validators in proportion to their quantity of holdings in the associated cryptocurrency. This is done to avoid the computational cost of proof-of-work schemes. The new L2 blockchain solution is designed to interact with the primary Ethereum layer-1 blockchain, providing a more scalable and cost-effective transaction platform.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) rose to popularity during the bull market of 2020–2021, even briefly overtaking the OG meme cryptocurrency, Dogecoin (DOGE). However, it couldn’t hold onto its gains for long and lost more than 80% of its valuation during the bear market.

The price decline didn’t deter the Shiba Inu community, which built a decentralized ecosystem around the cryptocurrency comprising a decentralized exchange, ShibaSwap, and a native token, BONE, along with a metaverse and a Web3 game. The price of SHIB also surged to a new multiweek high in anticipation of Shibarium’s launch.

Prior to the mainnet launch, Shiba Inu’s lead developer, who goes by the pseudonym Shytoshi Kusama, noted that the L2 has already gained a lot of traction from new projects. In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the developer shared a screenshot of companies currently developing on Shibarium, suggesting over 100 companies are already using it.

Continue reading

Price analysis 8/16: BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, DOGE, ADA, SOL, MATIC, LTC, DOT

Bitcoin (BTC) continues to trade inside a narrow range with no clear signs of a breakout from it. Trading platform QCP Capital said in their latest market update that Bitcoin may remain quiet for a few more weeks before making its move in September

Delphi Digital co-founder Kevin Kelly believes that the cryptocurrency markets are in the early stages of a new bull cycle. Based on a study of Bitcoin’s four-year cycle patterns, Kelly expects Bitcoin to hit a new all-time high by Q4 2024 and a new cycle peak by Q4 2025.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

Similarly, Bitcoin investor and author Jesse Myers also maintains a bullish view for the long term but he does not expect Bitcoin to reach $100,000 before the next halving. Myers believes that the market will take 12-18 months after halving to price-in the effects.

Will Bitcoin and the major altcoins remain range-bound in the near term or is a breakout on the horizon? What are the important levels to watch out for? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin rose above the 20-day exponential moving average ($29,383) on Aug. 14 but the long wick on the candlestick shows selling at higher levels.

image
Continue reading

Fantom DEX rescued at eleventh hour following planned shutdown

SpiritSwap, a decentralized exchange (DEX) on Fantom, will no longer shut its doors in September after having treasury funds stuck on troubled cross-chain protocol Multichain.

In an Aug. 16 community vote, SpiritSwap users passed a resolution to transfer the project to Power, a fellow nonfungible token platform and DEX that is also based on Fantom. In consideration, Power will deploy 200,000 USD Coin (USDC) into the SpiritSwap treasury.

“Initially, I had requested a deposit of 20-30K to the treasury to cover the essential costs of SpiritSwap. However, the Power team is willing to go above and beyond by depositing 200,000 USDC," wrote Nzaru, head manager at SpiritSwap, who announced that he would depart the DEX after receiving a new job offer. “On the 30th, I will finalize the new team and conduct orientation sessions to prepare for the upcoming month,” he said.

Snapshot of the SpiritSwap takeover proposal. Source: Snapshot

Prior to the acquisition, Power developers stated: “We have the means and the desire to inherent SpiritSwap. This would be a direct benefit to the PNFT holders, the POWER community, and the SpiritSwap community.”

On Aug. 9, SpiritSwap said it would wind down operations by Sept. 1 if it could not find a team to take over after the Multichain exploit drained its entire treasury. Interestingly, Power was also exposed to the Multichain fiasco but only suffered “small” losses, as its treasury assets were not bridged to Multichain. 

Continue reading

Banning ransomware payments: An attractive but dangerous idea

A successful cyberattack on critical infrastructure — such as electricity grids, transportation networks or healthcare systems — could cause severe disruption and put lives at risk. 

Our understanding of the threat is far from complete since organizations have historically not been required to report data breaches, but attacks are on the rise according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. A recent rule from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission should help clarify matters further by now requiring that organizations “disclose material cybersecurity incidents they experience.”

As the digital world continues to expand and integrate into every facet of society, the looming specter of cyber threats becomes increasingly more critical. Today, these cyber threats have taken the form of sophisticated ransomware attacks and debilitating data breaches, particularly targeting essential infrastructure.

A major question coming from policymakers, however, is whether businesses faced with crippling ransomware attacks and potentially life threatening consequences should have the option to pay out large amounts of cryptocurrency to make the problem go away. Some believe ransoms be banned for fear of encouraging ever more attacks. 

Following a major ransomware attack in Australia, its government has been considering a ban on paying ransoms. The United States has also more recently been exploring a ban. But other leading cybersecurity experts argue that a ban does little to solve the root problem.

Cumulative yearly ransomware revenue 2022 vs 2023
Continue reading

Breaking: Binance Connect shutting down on August 16

14 Total views

Listen to article
Breaking news

Binance Connect, the regulated buy-and-sell crypto arm of Binance exchange, will shut down on August 16. Cointelegraph confirmed on August 15 via an email with a Binance spokesperson. 

The same day, BNB Chain decentralized exchange Biswap tweeted that Binance "has made a difficult decision to disable Binance Connect on 15 August due to its provider closing the supporting card payments service." The Binance spokesperson stated: 

"At Binance, we periodically review our products and services to ensure that our resources continue to be focused on core efforts that align with our long-term strategy. In the last six years, Binance has grown from being an exchange to a global blockchain ecosystem with multiple business lines. We consistently adapt and modify our business approach in response to changing market and user needs."

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.

Big Questions: Did the NSA create Bitcoin?

Over the 15 years since Bitcoin was created, there has been no shortage of crazy conspiracy theories about how it was made and where it came from. 

Some believe Bitcoin was the work of “a bunch of engineers” in the Chinese Communist Party — presumably for world domination; others claim Bitcoin is the work of benevolent aliens to help humans evolve.

But one theory with circumstantial evidence supporting it has persisted over the years — and it involves one of America’s most secretive intelligence-gathering agencies. 

There’s a small sect of Bitcoiners that believes Satoshi Nakamoto — the creator of Bitcoin — is, in fact, the United States National Security Agency in disguise.

Many more, of course, think the idea is ridiculous and point out there’s no absolutely no solid evidence to support it.

NSA
Continue reading
Image