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Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) price is near a one-month low as economic data indicates continued growth in the US and traders brace for another Federal Reserve rate hike. Although the June Retail Sales report showed some weakness, excluding autos, gasoline, building materials and food services, retail sales grew by 0.6% in June. This boosts traders’ confidence in economic growth and the probability of a 25 basis point Fed rate hike is now 97.3%. Bitcoin price is currently hovering around $29,930, close to the lower bound of its recent price range.
The US SEC has accepted the second Bitcoin ETF application for review in a week. Valkyrie’s application, in partnership with Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), for a spot BTC ETF has been accepted and the public comment period has begun. This acceptance is a significant milestone for the industry, as a Bitcoin ETF would offer a regulated way for investors to gain exposure to the crypto market.
Due to the regulatory turmoil surrounding Binance, some cryptocurrency traders are showing bearishness towards BNB (COIN:BNBUSD), the exchange’s native currency. The interest-weighted open funding rate for BNB turned negative, indicating that traders betting on a price drop are willing to pay those holding out for gains. Binance has faced regulatory scrutiny in several countries and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, faces serious allegations from the SEC. The perpetual swap market for BNB also reflects traders’ pessimism, with an open interest of more than $460 million.
The Neon EVM allows developers to build Ethereum decentralized applications (DApps) on the Solana blockchain. This integration combines the robustness of the Ethereum DApp environment with the technical efficiency of Solana. With Neon EVM, developers can deploy Ethereum DApps directly on the Solana network, taking advantage of Solana’s parallel transaction execution and significantly lower transaction fee. This integration offers an alternative to traditional Layer 2 solutions, providing developers with greater efficiency and savings. The Neon EVM also launched the NEON Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) to play a role in governance. The NEON token (COIN:NEONUSD) is used for this purpose.
Although the Web3 ecosystem is based on decentralization, many aspects are still centralized, such as metaverse servers and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that depend on companies like Amazon Web Services (AWS). Dominic Williams, founder of Dfinity, believes that the Internet Computer blockchain can change this situation. He highlighted that using smart contracts would make the protocol autonomous and decentralized, eliminating human backdoors. The Internet Computer (COIN:ICPUSD) allows independent data centers to come together to provide a decentralized alternative to the centralized cloud. Williams emphasized replacing centralized systems such as AWS with Internet Computer.
During the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) event in Paris, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD), shared the challenges and innovations of account abstraction on the blockchain. The feature will allow users to pay transaction fees with whatever currency they are transferring, as well as save money on gas and data through subscription bundling. However, there are hurdles to overcome, such as upgrading existing accounts to smart contracts and integrating technologies like biometrics and existing wallets. Despite the challenges, Buterin is excited about progress and future improvements to account abstraction.
The Oasis Foundation has released Sapphire, an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible blockchain that provides enhanced privacy features for existing DApps on EVM networks. Developers can integrate Sapphire’s capabilities without migrating to the Oasis blockchain.” Being fully EVM compliant means developers can build private smart contracts in an environment they are already familiar with – for example, Solidity smart contracts running on EVM, as known from Ethereum ”, said Oasis Foundation director Jernej Kos. Oasis points out that most of the DApps developed on the platform are focused on privacy, offering users full control over their data and information sharing on-chain.
During a press conference, Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance of India and current Chair of the G20, announced that the group has welcomed the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) on cryptocurrency activities and global stablecoin agreements. The FSB’s recommendations call for stricter rules to protect cryptocurrency customers’ assets. Stablecoin regulation was also discussed, and the G20 will receive a joint FSB and International Monetary Fund (IMF) paper on the macro global implications of crypto in September. Furthermore, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) highlighted the significant risks of cryptocurrencies in a January 2023 paper. The G20 also discussed central bank digital currency (CBDC), recognizing its potential to facilitate cross-border transactions.
Republicans and Democrats in the United States are close to an agreement on regulating stablecoins. Members of the House Financial Services Committee stated that Republicans are pursuing state legislation to regulate stablecoins, but that will not be a significant obstacle to moving the bill forward. Both parties agree to avoid a “race to the bottom” to protect fiat-backed digital currencies. The Federal Reserve will have authority to oversee stablecoins under the current bill. A vote on the legislation is scheduled for the end of July.
According to a research note from investment bank Berenberg, the Coinbase Earn program can be classified as securities, based on the recent court decision regarding the status of Ripple’s XRP (COIN:XRPUSD). Analyst Mark Palmer argues that Coinbase Earn, which offers staking rewards to retail customers, could be considered a security. Coinbase’s pause in staking services in four US states highlights the regulatory risks associated with the product. Coinbase claims that staking is not a security and warns of the risk of pushing staking to offshore entities. In other news, the CEO of Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), Brian Armstrong, will hold a private meeting with House Democrats to discuss digital asset legislation and related issues such as tax regulations, national security, privacy and environmental impact. Armstrong has been advocating for clearer regulations in Washington and has called for consideration for two bills in the pipeline.
Binance Argentina, the local arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has canceled its partnership with the Argentine Football Association (AFA), citing lack of compliance on the part of the AFA. The five-year contract between the two parties was terminated due to the breach of contractual obligations by the AFA. Despite this, Binance will continue to work with local partners such as universities and strategic alliances.
Cryptocurrency lender Celsius has reached an agreement with Series B holders to distribute $25 million from the sale of cryptocurrency custodian GK8. The settlement calls for $24 million to go toward legal expenses and the remaining $1 million to be distributed among Series B holders. The largest group of Series B shareholders is seeking court approval of the settlement. Galaxy Digital purchased the GK8 from Celsius in December 2021, and Celsius filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2022. The SEC also filed suit against Celsius last week.
Evertas, a cryptocurrency insurer, has acquired Bitsure, an insurer specializing in Bitcoin mining operations. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. Evertas gained authorization from Arch Insurance to offer mining policies of up to $200 million per site, expanding Bitsure’s capacity from just $5 million per site. Insurance for cryptocurrency mining equipment is considered a misunderstood risk due to asset value volatility and mining difficulty. The acquisition will strengthen Evertas’ insurance offering in the cryptocurrency market.
Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA), a US-based cryptocurrency mining company, is facing a lawsuit brought by shareholders who allege that its CEO, Fred Thiel, along with other executives, violated fiduciary duties, unfairly enriched and squandered corporate assets. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Nevada, based on five claims, including violations of securities laws, unjust enrichment and waste of assets. Shareholders are also looking to improve the company’s governance and make changes to the board. Marathon Digital received an SEC subpoena in May related to party transactions during the construction of its Montana facility. The company was also able to reduce its debt recently by paying off a term loan with Silvergate Bank.
Futureverse, a startup comprised of 11 different companies, raised $54 million in a Series A round led by 10T Holdings and with contribution from Ripple Labs. The company aims to use artificial intelligence and blockchain to build the infrastructure of the metaverse and improve the user experience. Futureverse emerged from the merger of eight companies in 2022, with three more to follow. Notable projects include FLUF World, a collection of cartoon rabbit NFTs, and AI League, a FIFA-licensed mobile soccer game. The substantial funding indicates that there is investor enthusiasm for projects that combine digital assets with other areas such as AI.
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