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Google searches for ‘crypto’ fall to 2020 levels as BTC sentiment neutral

A two-month-long lull in cryptocurrency optimism has seen online search interest for “crypto” and other common cryptocurrency terms stumble down to late 2020 levels.

According to data from Google Trends, the term “crypto” currently has a score of 17, which is well off its reference point of 100 in May 2021. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum have followed a similar downward trajectory.

However, search interest for these terms has been in a relatively consistent decline since May 2022, about a month after much of the Terra Luna ecosystem collapsed. A small spike in interest came in early November when the crypto exchange FTX collapsed.

Search interest over time for the word "crypto" Source: Google Trends

The fall in interest comes as Bitcoin (BTC) has held steady around $28,000 for 10 weeks now — something which Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz recently described as “lackadaisical,” due ta lack of “institutional excitement right now.”

Guy Turner, commonly known as “Coin Bureau Guy” suggested in a June 4 Twitter post that the fall in interest also coincides with lower trading volumes on exchanges, which he claims to have reached a 32-month low last month:


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Web3 Gamer: GTA 6 crypto rumors, Dr Who/Sandbox, Thai tourist NFTs review

Grand Theft Auto VI crypto rumors

Rumors that the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI (GTA 6) will incorporate cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have once again surfaced, sparking speculation among fans.

Posts shared on Twitter suggest that GTA 6 will be a play-to-earn game and that in-game items such as cars and weapons will be NFTs.

GTA creators Rockstar Games are yet to weigh in on whether there’s any truth to these claims, but there seems to be little solid evidence backing the rumors.

The company cracked down on the use of crypto in GTA in November last year and sent cease and desist letters to companies running public servers with blockchain integrations — a blow to several game makers that had built their games on the platform.

A lambo from GTA 5. (Steam/Rockstar Games)

Given that GTA 5, released in 2015, has sold over 180 million copies and generated a staggering $8 billion in revenue, it seems unlikely that Rockstar would drastically alter the successful formula of the franchise, the latest instalment of which is expected next year or in 2025.

A lambo from GTA 5
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Bitcoin price chart flashes a bullish sign that could lead to breakouts in ADA, QNT, RNDR and RPL

The United States equities markets welcomed the debt ceiling deal and the May nonfarm payrolls data on June 2 with strong rallies. The S&P 500 rose 1.8% during the week while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was up 2%. This was the sixth successive week of gains for the Nasdaq, the first such occasion since January 2020.

In addition to the above, the expectation of the Federal Reserve remaining in a pause mode during the next meeting may have acted as a catalyst for the rally. CME’s FedWatch Tool is showing a 75% probability of a pause, with the remaining 25% expecting a 25 basis points hike in the June 14 meeting.

Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360

Rallies in the equities markets failed to trigger a similar performance in Bitcoin (BTC) and the altcoins. However, a minor positive is that several major cryptocurrencies have stopped falling and are trying to start a recovery.

Could bulls maintain the momentum and surmount the respective overhead resistance levels? If they do, which are the top five cryptocurrencies that may lead the rally?

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin has been trading close to the 20-day exponential moving average ($27,233) for the past three days. This suggests that the bulls are buying the dip near $26,500.

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Musk’s alleged price manipulation, the Satoshi AI chatbot and more: Hodler’s Digest, May 28 – June 3

Top Stories This Week

Dogecoin investors accuse Elon Musk of insider trading in amended class-action lawsuit

A group of Dogecoin investors has requested leave to amend a class-action lawsuit against tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, alleging he is responsible for insider trading of DOGE and asserting the token is a security under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulations. According to the complaint, Musk profited off DOGE trading at the expense of other investors by causing the price of the token to spike through actions including changing Twitter’s logo to the Dogecoin logo. As one of the world’s richest people, the Twitter CEO has made frequent statements about Dogecoin to his millions of followers since 2019, often causing the price of the token to surge.

Satoshi Nak-AI-moto: Bitcoin’s creator has become an AI chatbot

Satoshi Nakamoto may have effectively disappeared over 12 years ago, but two artificial intelligence dabblers are seeking to revive the ability to chat with the famed Bitcoin creator. The model, essentially, is OpenAI’s ChatGPT trained on a limited data set, including Nakamoto’s public emails and forum posts, as well as other Bitcoin sources. In testing, the chatbot generates responses that are typically uncertain of the future of fiat currencies and hopeful about Bitcoin. Its goal is to show that AI tools could potentially be used in education, one of the creators said.

Buying a bank won’t solve crypto’s debanking issue — Binance CEO

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has considered acquiring a bank amid the ongoing debanking of crypto firms across the globe. However, according to CZ, regulatory complexity and capital requirements make it unwise for Binance. “The reality is much more complex than the concept,” said the crypto executive. Binance has recently lost its fiat on-ramp and off-ramp partner in Australia — after difficulties finding a bank partner in the United States earlier this year. The company has been seeking a new payment provider in the country. 

Crypto.com has been granted a major payment institution license for digital payment token (DPT) services in Singapore. With the license, the crypto exchange is now authorized to offer its DPT services to customers in the country. The latest announcement adds to Crypto.com’s track record of securing regulatory licenses. The exchange has also been granted registration and/or licenses in France, the United Kingdom, Dubai, South Korea, Australia, Italy, Greece and Cyprus..

Web3 developer Magic raises $52M in funding led by PayPal Ventures

Wallet-as-a-service provider Magic raised $52 million in a strategic funding round led by PayPal Ventures. The funding round also saw participation from venture firms Cherubic, Synchrony, KX, Northzone and Volt Capital, bringing Magic’s total funds raised to over $80 million. Magic’s software is currently used by brands in retail, music, fashion and gaming, including Mattel, Macy’s, Xsolla and Immutable. Founded in 2020, Magic has generated over 20 million unique wallets to date. 


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Arbitrum price soars after DeFi whale address resumes ARB accumulation

On June 2, the price of Arbitrum jumped alongside the top-ranking cryptocurrencies after the United States Senate voted to raise the debt limit.

Why is the ARB price up today?

The price of Arbitrum (ARB) rose 9% to an intraday high of $1.25, beating the crypto market’s total overall gains of 1.5% in the same period.

ARB/USDT vs. total daily price chart. Source: TradingView

Arbitrum’s outperformance coincided with some strange buying activity associated with popular trader Andrew Kang’s crypto addresses.

Notably, on June 2, the Mechanism Capital co-founder deposited $1 million worth of stablecoins into Arbitrum pools and spent over 20% of it buying RDNT, the native token of decentralized finance lending platform Radiant Capital.

Andrew Kang's crypto activity snapped on June 2. Source: Lookonchain

Later, Kang exchanged his newly bought and existing RDNT reserves for $867,000 worth of ARB. Then, he deposited the proceeds to Radiant Capital to borrow Circle’s USD Coin (USDC), according to data resource Lookonchain.

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Privacy-focused Aleo blockchain gets new wallet as mainnet launch approaches

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Demox Labs has debuted a new wallet for the privacy-oriented Aleo blockchain network, according to a June 1 announcement. Called “Leo,” the wallet allows users to generate zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs within their browsers, letting them interact with Aleo’s ZK-based apps. Aleo is in its testnet phase but expects to launch a mainnet later this year.

According to the announcement, Demox also raised $4.5 million from investors to further develop ZK-proof technology through Aleo and other networks. Over 40,000 users signed up for the Leo wallet waitlist in the period leading up to its debut.

The funding round was led by venture capital firm HackVC and included participation from DCVC, Amplify Partners, Coinbase Ventures, CRV, OpenSea and CSquared. The funds will be used to make Leo compatible with other ZK-proof blockchains and develop Web3 applications for enterprises.

Demox Labs co-founder and CEO Barron Caster saw the wallet’s launch and fundraise as the start of a new privacy-focused era in Web3:

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Price analysis 6/2: BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, ADA, DOGE, MATIC, SOL, DOT, LTC

The United States equities markets rallied sharply on June 2 even though the nonfarm payrolls in May rose 339,000, blowing past economists’ expectations of a 190,000 increase. A few analysts pointed out that the market was possibly encouraged by the slower growth rate of hourly earnings which was slightly below estimates and an uptick in the unemployment rate.

The rally in the equities markets failed to act as a tailwind to the cryptocurrency markets, which remain stuck in a range. Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz said in an interview with CNBC that the lack of enthusiasm in the crypto markets was due to absence of institutional buying.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

Bitcoin’s (BTC) historical performance in June does not give a clear advantage either to the bulls or the bears. According to CoinGlass data, between 2013 and 2022, there have been an equal number of positive and negative monthly closes in June.

Will buyers defend the respective support levels and start a strong recovery in Bitcoin and select altcoins? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin has been trading inside a descending channel pattern for the past few days. The price closed below the 20-day exponential moving average ($27,239) on May 31 but the bears are struggling to maintain the lower levels.

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Bitcoin wicks down to $26.5K, but trader eyes chance for ‘bullish surprise’

Bitcoin (BTC) bounced near multiple support trend lines into June 2 as market indecision remained in force.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart on Bitstamp. Source: TradingView

Traders bet on $27,500 BTC price ceiling

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting lows of $26,519 on Bitstamp after the daily close.

The pair showed little signs of trend change as a stalemate between bulls and bears continued to produce little volatility.

The collection of moving averages (MAs), as well as the short-term holder (STH) realized price, near $26,000 thus stayed untested on intraday timeframes.

Analyzing the current setup, popular trader Crypto Ed considered the potential for upside topping out at $27,500.

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OpenAI CTO's Twitter account hacked, shilling 'scam' airdrop, community warns

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Crypto Twitter has been flooded with warnings from users, after the Twitter account of Mita Murati, the chief technology officer of artificial intelligence firm OpenAI, was seemingly hacked —  promoting a "scam" cryptocurrency airdrop.

On June 2, Murati's account tweeted what appears to be a phishing link promising an airdrop of a purported ERC-20 token OPENAI named after the firm that created ChatGPT. 

Murati has 126,200 followers on Twitter and has a verified account on the platform. The post has been viewed 79,600 times and has been retweeted 83 times at the time of writing. 

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Yuan stablecoin team arrested, WeChat’s new Bitcoin prices, HK crypto rules: Asia Express

RMB stablecoin team allegedly arrested

On May 31, local news outlet PANewsLab reported that the developers for the offshore Chinese RMB and Hong Kong dollar stablecoin issuer CNHC had allegedly lost contact or had been taken away by law enforcement officials. A photo shows what appears to be an empty office building at CNHC’s Shanghai division with the following message posted:

“The building’s assets have been seized by law enforcement; vandalism is prohibited.”

In March, CNHC raised $10 million in its Series A, led by KuCoin Ventures, Circle, and IDG Capital. The team said back then that it planned to use the funds for “expansion in the Asia Pacific Region” and was in the process of moving its headquarters from the Cayman Islands to Hong Kong.

The reported move appears to be part of a wider crackdown on cryptocurrencies by Chinese authorities. On May 24, Asia Express reported that tokens of Singaporean inter-blockchain communications protocol Multichain had plunged 30% on a delayed backend upgrade and rumors of Chinese police arrest of its core developers.

Though Multichain says that it is still operational, it stated on June 1 that it is still “unable to contact CEO Zhaojun and obtain the necessary server access for maintenance,” and as a result, the protocol will need to suspend a number of affected cross-chain services.


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BitCulture: Fine art on Solana, AI music, podcast + book reviews

BitCulture explores arts, culture, music and media in blockchain and Web3.

Fine art on the blockchain

Exchange.art head curator Haley Karren came to Web3 from some of the world’s leading art institutions and says that working with 14,000 artists on Solana’s fine art marketplace has broadened her tastes. 

Exchange.art head curator Haley Karren (Supplied)

“I have a new appreciation for pixel art, voxels and things that really are very much native to this space. It’s been fascinating to see the difference between what I was more interested in two years ago and what I’m interested in now.”

Formerly a curator at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Karren says her role has always been as a “conduit” between contemporary artists and the rest of the world. Even more so now that she’s connecting traditional artists to a space that utilizes blockchain, NFTs and artificial intelligence.

“Digital art and traditional art spaces are moving together more and more. That’s a big push for us at Exchange.art, but there is still a little bit of a divide,” she says. 

Exchange.art’s head curator Haley Karren
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Memecoins the next catalyst for crypto adoption — DappRadar analyst

In episode 22 of Hashing It Out with Cointelegraph’s Elisha Owusu Akyaw, Sara Gherghelas, blockchain research analyst at DappRadar — a cryptocurrency data tracking platform — discusses the recent hype around memecoins, while looking at on-chain data. Gherghelas also provides insights on how other sectors, such as nonfungible tokens (NFTs), are faring as memecoins take off.

Gherghelas believes we are in a memecoin era. From her perspective, when you mention Web3 or cryptocurrencies in 2023, many people will associate the terms with memecoins. Gherghelas says there have been multiple memecoin cycles in the cryptocurrency space, but this time is different because the trend has been sustained for a more extended period.

The blockchain analyst associates the trend with the popularity of memecoins on social media and the creation of tight-knit communities that people want to be a part of. What’s more, the price action of memecoins in this cycle has attracted a large crowd of traders looking to make returns, according to Gherghelas. She also adds that memecoins are more accessible and inclusive due to their low barrier of entry.

“You can be a millionaire in Shiba, but you can never afford one million Bitcoin or one million Ethereum.“

Memecoins could be more than just a social media trend or an attempt to make quick returns. Gherghelas highlighted projects like Shiba Inu, which is building a decentralized exchange and layer-2 network, and Floki Inu, which is building a metaverse. The blockchain research analyst believes that memecoins are not a zero-sum game for the cryptocurrency industry because most people who come in through memecoins may stay and discover other aspects of crypto.

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Tether USDT market cap breaks ATH, Binance CEO points at regulatory caps

Tether-issued USDT (USDT) stablecoin broke past a new all-time-high market cap of over $83 billion as it continues its stablecoin market dominance.

The new ATH market cap for the USDT stablecoin comes in a year when other stablecoin issuers are struggling to remain afloat due to regulatory ire. The same was pointed out by cryptocurrency exchange Binance’s CEO Changpang Zhao aka CZ.

Tether USDT market cap chart. Source: Coinmarketcap

CZ in a quote tweet drew attention towards BUSD, a Binance stablecoin issued by Paxos. The Binance CEO said that “BUSD was a fully regulated stablecoin that was ‘capped’ by NYDFS at a $23 billion and currently sits at a $5 billion market cap and since then USDT has seen tremendous growth.”

In February earlier this year, the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) ordered Paxos to stop any new issuance of BUSD citing violations of security laws.

At a time when USDT has reached its ATH market cap, its competitors such as Circle-issued USD Coin (USDC) or Binance’s BUSD are struggling to maintain their market dominance. USDC the second largest stablecoin’s market cap stands at $28.8 billion with a difference of over $50 billion. For context, at one point UDC's market dominance was nearing that of USDT and its market cap reached an ATH of $55.8 billion in June 2022.

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PepeCoin (PEPE) price action points to a potential 70% drop

Pepe (PEPE) price has dropped by more than 70% three weeks after establishing its record high of $0.00000449. And the memecoin could fall even more in the coming days, according to a mix of technical and fundamental indicators.

PEPE charts flash a classic bearish reversal pattern

From a technical standpoint, the price of PEPE could drop sharply from its current levels. At the core of this bearish outlook lies the classic head-and-shoulders (H&S) pattern.

Analysts who use technical analysi view the H&S pattern as a bearish reversal indicator for the unversed. It forms when the price forms three peaks atop a common neckline support; the middle peak, called "head," is higher than the other two, called the "left shoulder" and "right shoulder."

Head-and-shoulder breakdown illustrated. Source: Forex Academy

The H&S pattern resolves after the price breaks below its neckline. Meanwhile, as a rule of technical analysis, traders measure the pattern's downside target by adding the maximum distance between the head and neckline to the breakdown point.

On May 22, PEPE broke below its H&S neckline near $0.00000156. That puts its downside target near $0.00000041 in June, down around 70% from current price levels.

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Price analysis 5/31: BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, ADA, DOGE, MATIC, SOL, DOT, LTC

After rising for four successive months, Bitcoin (BTC) is on track to end May with losses of about 7%. Another noteworthy thing in May is that Bitcoin’s 30-day volatility dropped to 1.52%, which is far below the yearly average 4% and higher. Glassnode data shows that Bitcoin’s low volatile periods have only lasted for 19.3% of its total price history. Hence, there is an expectation for volatility to pick up in June.

In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Glassnode lead on-chain analyst James Check said that Bitcoin could rally to $32,000, which is its “true cost basis.” Analysts at Glassnode arrived at this level after focusing on active Bitcoin investors and removing coins that are lost forever.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

In the near term, the outcome of the vote on the debt ceiling in the United States House of Representatives could provide direction. If the vote succeeds, as is widely accepted, it could lead to a knee-jerk reaction to the upside. But if the vote fails, then Bitcoin is likely to break below $25,000.

The short-term charts of Bitcoin and select major altcoins suggest that the bulls may be losing their grip. What are the important support levels that the bulls need to hold to avoid a collapse? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin reversed direction from the downtrend line on May 29, indicating that the bears continue to sell near crucial resistance levels.

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Bitcoin played second fiddle as KAVA, XRP, TRX, RPL and RNDR led the crypto market in May

The cryptocurrency market experienced a dull month with Bitcoin (BTC) dropping 7.37%, its worst performance since November 2022 and Ethereum (ETH) losing 0.22% in May. 

The average loss across the market stands at 5.62% on the last day before the monthly close.

However, some outliers posted impressive gains thanks to popular investment narratives and the growth of the Ethereum staking sector.

In the first half of May, memecoins grabbed headlines with Pepecoin (PEPE) leading the narrative. The memecoin cycle guzzled up a lot of gas on Ethereum in the first half of May.

PEPE’s market capitalization surged to a peak of $1.54 billion in the first week of May, according to CoinGecko. It has witnessed a sell-off since then as token holders booked profit. However, the token still ended the month with over 300% gains.

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Mad scientist’s NFTs degrade when they’re traded: 0xDEAFBEEF, NFT Creator

When NFTs first took off, it was Beeple’s digital art, CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club PFPs that dominated the headlines and top sales — but one individual bucked the trend in a unique way, garnering attention with generative audiovisual art using just a C compiler. 

That individual was 0xDEAFBEEF, an artist and engineer based in Toronto, Canada who’s spent over 20 years experimenting with art, technology, music, generative art, computer animation, blacksmithing and sound recording. 

Using low-level computer code and a minimal toolset to craft raw information into audiovisual artworks has proven more popular than you might expect. A collection of six of 0xDEAFBEEF’s sold for $6.8 million in August 2021, and two weeks ago, “Series 1: Angular – Token 134” fetched $241,300 at Sotheby’s. It was auctioned during part 1 of “Grails,” a collection of highly desirable NFTs originally owned by the now-insolvent 3AC (Three Arrows Capital).

Trained on classic piano as a kid and somewhat of a mad scientist when it came to audio equipment, discovering a programmable blockchain in Ethereum was a revelation.

“I’d describe myself as a tinkerer, jumping around between many fields, overlapping art and technology. It just happened that the project that I commenced before I knew anything about NFTs, doing audiovisual work with code, happened to align with things that were happening within Ethereum,” 0xDEAFBEEF says. 

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Blockchain firm raises $25M to develop third-generation architecture

Swiss nonprofit Anoma Foundation has secured a significant funding boost to continue the development and research of its third-generation blockchain architecture.

A third fundraising round secured $25 million for the organization, which is building what it describes as a generalized intent-centric blockchain architecture. The technology is touted to enable the development of completely decentralized applications (DApps) and services, ranging from decentralized exchanges (DEXs) to blockchain rollup protocols.

Anoma co-founder Adrian Brink told Cointelegraph that its third-generation architecture offers more composability and ease of use than existing smart contract protocols like Ethereum and its Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

Brink highlighted the evolution of blockchain systems, with Bitcoin (BTC) being the first generation of scriptable settlement architectures. Ethereum became the second generation with programmable settlement architecture, while Anoma looks to further the decentralization of existing blockchain-based applications and platforms:

“Anoma is the first architecture that is intent-centric, marking the third generation of architectures that contrast with the current transaction and blockchain-centric architectures.”

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CNHC stablecoin issuer detained by Chinese police: Report

The Chinese government continues to crack down on the cryptocurrency industry with a new investigation targeting a major Chinese yuan stablecoin issuer.

The team of Trust Reserve, the issuer of the Chinese yuan-pegged stablecoin CNHC, has been detained by the Chinese police, the local blockchain publication PANews reported on May 31.

According to the report, Trust Reserve employees have been out of reach since afternoon May 29 due to multiple arrests. Some employees’ family members have also been reportedly notified about the detentions.

PANews also learned that Trust Reserve’s office in Pudong, Shanghai was empty as of May 31. The door was sealed on May 29, with a notice saying “Judicial seizure, strictly no vandalism.”

Trust Reserve’s office in Pudong, Shanghai. Source: PANews

Trust Reserve, formerly known as CNHC Group, is the issuer of the Chinese CNHC stablecoin as well as the Hong Kong dollar-pegged stable currency HKDC.

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Could Ben.eth’s PSYOP tokens face legal scrutiny? It depends, say lawyers

Ben.eth, the pseudo-anonymous memecoin creator behind at least three controversial token launches in recent weeks could fall under the crosshair of United States regulators, crypto lawyers suggest.

A previously little-known personality in the crypto community, Ben.eth has seen his Twitter following blow up nearly five-fold in May. The influencer has launched at least three memecoins in recent weeks — Ben Coin (BEN), PSYOP, and LOYAL.

Pre-sales of these memecoins — which require Ether (ETH) to be sent directly to the creator himself — have allowed Ben.eth to gather thousands of ETH. Currently, his wallet holds 10,946 ETH, equivalent to $20.8 million.

The ETH balance of the ben.eth wallet is nearing $21 million worth. Source: Etherscan

While Ben.eth’s supporters have defended the legitimacy of the token sales, others warn that the influencer’s actions could face the wrath of regulators and disgruntled investors alike. 

Michael Kanovitz, a partner at Loevy & Loevy told Cointelegraph, the Psyop launch “is a classic example of the concerns the SEC has identified in actions like those against Kim Kardashian and Paul Pierce.”

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