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Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) started the week on a low note, recording a -3.35% drop over the last 24 hours and trading around $29,076. The digital asset market is in a tight trading range, reflecting investor caution. The recent lull in major crypto assets suggests that investors are waiting for positive developments before taking action.
The Worldcoin cryptocurrency project, founded by Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, was recently launched. World ID is the flagship offering, functioning as a “digital passport” that proves human identity. Users do an iris scan using the Worldcoin ‘orb’ to obtain their World ID. The project already has 2 million users in the beta phase and has expanded its operations in several cities and countries. Worldcoin’s WLD token also experienced a price increase on Binance. World IDs can be stored on blockchains to ensure privacy and differentiate real people from AI bots. Worldcoin can also help address the economy reshaped by generative AI and potentially support programs like universal basic income.
Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD) co-founder Vitalik Buterin highlighted four possible risks associated with the Worldcoin identity verification solution, highlighting issues of privacy, accessibility, centralization and security. Buterin proposed an alternative solution that combines approaches from general hardware biometrics, social graph, and specialized hardware biometric techniques to create a decentralized system that is secure against false identities. The Worldcoin project launched its WLD token with an 88% increase after listings on several exchanges. Buterin values the concept of proof of personality, but highlights the need for more progress in different approaches.
Dogecoin (COIN:DOGEUSD) saw an increase of up to 5% following Twitter’s rebranding on Monday. While the broader market faced declines, with Bitcoin (BTC) falling below $29,100, Dogecoin resisted the downtrend. Elon Musk-owned Twitter is renaming itself X.AI, and the addition of the Dogecoin logo to Musk’s bio has fueled speculation about the cryptocurrency’s role in the renamed company.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse has heavily criticized the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its “regulation by enforcement” approach and has expressed displeasure with its comments on the Ripple case. The SEC suggested appealing the ruling against Ripple Labs, stating that sales of XRP (COIN:XRPUSD) did not constitute securities. Garlinghouse argued that clear legislation is needed to protect retail investors. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler also expressed his disappointment with the court’s ruling on XRP’s securities status.
B2BinPay and Ledger have joined forces to offer limited edition hardware wallets with unique B2BinPay cryptocurrency design. Available to new customers and loyal supporters, the devices can be redeemed with promotional codes on the Ledger website. Ledger is renowned for its highly reliable multi-currency devices designed for secure offline storage of cryptocurrency private keys. B2BinPay is a crypto payment platform that allows businesses to easily send, receive, convert and accept cryptocurrencies.
South Korea’s KEB Hana Bank is collaborating with the Central Bank of Korea (BOK) on the latter’s CBDC pilot project and also exploring stablecoin alternatives such as tokenized deposits. Both parties are conducting internal research on developing a monetary system based on blockchain technology. Central banks are looking to improve the design of popular stablecoins and avoid price volatility with their CBDC projects. South Korean commercial banks are also showing strong interest in tokenized deposits, with significant growth projected for this market.
Russia moves forward with its central bank digital currency (CBDC) after President Vladimir Putin signed the digital ruble law on July 24. The law will come into effect from August 1, 2023, except for some amendments that will come into force in August 2024. The Russian central bank will run the first CBDC pilot with real consumers in August, with the digital ruble being designed for payments and transfers. Citizens won’t be required to use it, and the government doesn’t expect mass adoption before 2025 or 2027.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) have a confirmed date for their initial hearings. Judge Katherine Polk Failla approved the joint request by the two parties to proceed with the hearings. Coinbase must submit its initial brief by August 4th and August 11th for supporting documents. The SEC’s response must be delivered on or before October 10, 2023, with Coinbase’s response no later than October 24.
The decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol called Conic Finance faced two separate hacking attacks, resulting in the loss of over $3.2 million worth of Ether (COIN:ETHUSD). The first attack exploited a vulnerability in Curve V2 pools, netting the attacker 1,700 ETH tokens. The second attack drained around $300,000 worth of crvUSD Omnipool tokens. The Conic Finance team applied maximum security measures and temporarily shut down all Omnipools in response to the attacks. They stated that they are working to recover the stolen funds and highlighted the help of the Curve team. The CNC token (COIN:CNCCUSD) has seen a 47.60% drop over the past 7 days.
Crypto payment platform Alphapo has suffered a breach of its hot wallets, resulting in the loss of at least $31 million in Ethereum, TRON (COIN:TRXUSD) and Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD). The hack appears to have been the result of a private key leak. The stolen funds were transferred through various cryptocurrencies and blockchains to hide their origins. Client HypeDrop, a mystery box platform, suspended deposits and withdrawals following the incident. It is estimated that up to $100 million may have been compromised. There are suspicions that North Korean cybercrime group Lazarus may be involved.
Last week, venture capital and investment firms invested $201.4 million in crypto projects, most notably the Futureverse and RISC Zero funding rounds, raising $54 million and $40 million, respectively. Infrastructure projects such as RISC Zero and Manta Network continued to show resilience. Polychain Capital also reportedly raised $200 million for its fourth venture capital fund, according to Fortune.
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