Prominent crypto exchange Bitfinex has announced a collaboration with Synonym to introduce a new feature that enables customers to purchase Lightning Network connections for instant deposits, withdrawals, and payments. The Lightning Channel feature is offered through Blocktank, a platform operated by Synonym, a subsidiary of Tether Holdings Limited. Bitfinex Teams Up With Synonym According to...Read More
On January 15, TrueUSD (TUSD), the USD-pegged stablecoin, experienced a deviation from its $1 parity that saw its price decline to $0.985. This comes amidst speculations that TrueUSD holders are exchanging hundreds of millions of tokens for the competing stablecoin Tether (USDT). TrueUSD Depeg Sparks Trading Frenzy on Binance Based on data from the exchange’s...Read More
Since the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on January 10, BTC has witnessed intense selling pressure stemming from short-term holders realizing substantial profits. In the latest edition of the weekly Bitfinex Report, analysts at the crypto exchange warned that BTC is still susceptible to price corrections as...Read More
The first batch of ETF approvals came in last week. In the aftermath, Synapse Network co-founder Paweł Łaskarzewski has shed light on BlackRock’s moves that have captured the crypto community. Within a mere 2 days, the prominent investment giant withdrew a massive 11,500 BTC from the supply. In the latest post on X (formerly Twitter), Łaskarzewski...Read More
Tether, the entity responsible for the USDT stablecoin, has experienced a surge in market dominance from 50% to an impressive 71% throughout 2023, as reported by Glassnode. Meanwhile, Tether’s growth has managed to attract bad actors such as criminals, money launderers, and scammers in Southeast Asia, according to a United Nations report published on Monday....Read More
Digital asset investment products experienced a $1.18 billion increase in inflows last week, according to CoinShares. This figure, however, did not surpass the previous high set in October 2021 when futures-based Bitcoin ETFs garnered a total of $1.5 billion. The latest edition of “Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly Report” further revealed that the trading volumes...Read More
Michael Saylor revealed an alarming trend involving the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) generated deepfake videos featuring him. Saylor disclosed that his team is tirelessly working to remove approximately 80 such fake videos daily, most aimed at promoting various Bitcoin scams. Deepfake Videos Promoting Bitcoin Scams ⚠️ Warning ⚠️ There is no risk-free way to...Read More
Bankrupt lending firm Celsius has transferred over $125 million worth of its Ether to crypto exchanges in the past week as part of its initiative to repay creditors. The move follows that of FTX and Alameda Research, which also resumed funds transfer earlier this month. $125 Million ETH Transfer From January 8 to January 12,...Read More
Maker (MKR) witnessed a noteworthy surge in activity in the first week of the year. The crypto asset climbed to $2,140, a level not seen since April 2022. As a result of the price action, MKR’s monthly gains surged to exceed 50%. This impressive rise seems to be associated with the accumulation of MKR by...Read More
Chainlink’s native token – LINK – experienced a noteworthy recovery after a significant downturn, briefly dipping below the crucial $13 support level earlier this month. This decline was attributed to widespread speculation surrounding the potential rejection of the spot Bitcoin ETF by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The latest data suggest that LINK...Read More
Asset management giant Vanguard’s decision to block clients’ access to the just-approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has elicited unpleasant reactions from the crypto community. According to several posts on the social media platform X, community members believe Vanguard’s days are numbered as the asset manager’s clients exit their accounts in droves. Numbered Days Following...Read More
As Bitcoin experiences over a 7% decline to $41,600 since the debut of spot ETFs in the U.S. on Thursday, analysts at 10x Research caution that a classic “sell the fact” price action might be underway. The report, led by Markus Thielen, has issued a cautionary note, suggesting that the sell-off might persist in the...Read More
On Jan. 15, Ripple CTO Paolo Ardoino said that someone attempted to attack Bitfinex using a “Partial Payments Exploit.” However, the attack failed due to the way the exchange handles a data field for the delivered amount, he added. The clarification follows alerts that a huge $15 billion XRP transfer from an unknown wallet to...Read More
Amidst a challenging backdrop where the crypto spot market witnessed its lowest activity levels in over four years, the downturn created a daunting scenario for centralized exchanges and market makers, exacerbated by the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX in November 2022. This incident had a profound impact on investor trust in centralized entities, casting a...Read More
1inch experienced a substantial surge in volumes and market dominance in the fourth quarter of last year amidst a broader market resurgence, According to Messari’s report, the popular DEX aggregator recorded over $30 billion in executed volume and a commanding 64% share of the Ethereum DEX aggregator market. The nearly doubled volume from external sources...Read More
Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are currently following a pattern similar to previous years, during which their prices surged by 500% and 1,000%, respectively, according to the latest research report by Coinbase Research and Glassnode. The observation draws parallels between the ongoing crypto market cycle and the period from 2018 to 2022, characterized by substantial...Read More
Earlier this week, a long wait for the launch of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States ended after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved 11 products for listing and trading on several national exchanges. The journey began ten years ago, and there are industry participants who laid the foundation for...Read More
Solana’s native SOL token was one of the best-performing crypto assets in 2023. The developer ecosystem of the Layer 1 network also showed consistent growth during the same period. In the same timeframe, the Solana ecosystem saw a notable increase in developer retention, jumping from 31% to more than 50% within a three-month timeframe. This...Read More
Wintermute – the popular market maker and liquidity provider – witnessed continued growth in all business verticals in 2023 despite the market downturn. In a new report, the platform said that its over-the-counter (OTC) volume surged by over 400% throughout the year as volumes moved off-exchanges. During the first half of 2023, Wintermute’s OTC trading...Read More
This week was full of hustle, anticipation, and excitement as many major developments came into existence and one of the major eye-capturing events was the approval of Spot Bitcoin ETF by the Securities and Exchange Commission. This approval news circulated tremendously on social media sites despite this many other major things happened in the crypto...Read More
The dApp industry experienced unprecedented growth, with DappRadar’s 2023 Industry Report revealing a 124% year-over-year increase in Unique Active Wallets (UAW). The report provides an overview of the dynamic landscape, shedding light on key NFTs, DeFi, and blockchain gaming trends. Blockchain Games Dominate Blockchain-powered games took the lead in dApp activity with a dominance of...Read More
A father-son duo, residents of Maryland, have been sentenced for their involvement in a dark web drug trafficking and Bitcoin money laundering scheme. Joseph Farace, aged 72, was sentenced to 19 months in federal prison on January 8 for aiding his son, Ryan Farace, aged 38, in the laundering of Bitcoin proceeds from illicit drug...Read More
More than 30% of blockchain games announced in 2023 have been reported as discontinued or canceled, as per the data provided by the Big Blockchain Game List. As of January 2024, the list encompasses 911 games, with 334 currently live and 577 still in development. Blockchain Games Face High Discontinuation Rate Out of the cumulative...Read More
In its recent report, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) underscored a fundamental issue within DeFi systems, pointing to the absence of clear lines of responsibility and accountability intentionally overlooked by certain industry structures. The report emphasized the substantial risks that DeFi systems pose to consumers, investors, financial stability, market integrity, and the fight against...Read More
The US Securities and Exchange Commission finally greenlighted a spot Bitcoin ETF earlier this week, although in a slightly reluctant fashion. Now, speculations are starting to arise on when the agency will do the same in terms of an exchange-traded fund tracking the performance of the second-largest cryptocurrency. When ETH ETF? 2023 will go down...Read More
Digital Currency Group (DCG) subsidiary – Genesis Global Trading – reached a settlement with the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) on January 12th. Genesis will pay an $8 million penalty after an agency’s investigation found significant failings in anti-money laundering and cybersecurity programs. NYDFS said the compliance failures left the company vulnerable to...Read More
Bitcoin plummeted 10% below $42,000 on Friday, triggering $338 million worth of crypto market liquidations. The collapse erased most of the asset’s progress over the past month leading up to the approval of several Bitcoin spot ETFs for public trading in the United States. According to Coinglass, over 101,000 crypto traders have been liquidated in...Read More
Crypto firms faced substantial regulatory action, collectively paying nearly $6 billion in fines primarily due to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) violations and deficiencies in customer checks last year. This marks a significant development, as crypto and fintech groups experienced higher fines for inadequate controls than the entire traditional financial system for the first time. Crypto-Related Fines...Read More
The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has doubled down on his criticisms of Bitcoin (BTC) despite approving a slew of exchange-traded funds for the asset earlier this week. During an interview with CNBC on Friday, the chairman argued that Bitcoin boasts few use cases aside from illicit activity, and has ironically trended...Read More
After a challenging decade of attempts, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally approved spot Bitcoin ETFs. These products enable retail customers and traditional financial institutions to access Bitcoin’s price through standard brokerage apps without relying on crypto exchanges. This excitement is being reflected in the prices of altcoins as data indicates a notable...Read More
