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While the U.S. stock market faced losses on Friday, Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) regained its upward momentum, reaching its highest value in nearly a month, peaking at $66,874.39. This increase coincided with a global IT shutdown and was driven by robust trading volume in BlackRock’s (NASDAQ:IBIT) spot Bitcoin ETF.
A report from ARK Invest revealed that Bitcoin experienced excessive selling in June after the German government liquidated 50,000 seized BTC. This event triggered a price drop from highs above $70,000 to below $55,000. However, indicators such as miner outflows and ongoing interest in BTC ETFs suggest a potential bullish reversal for the market.
Other cryptocurrencies also showed notable performance. Solana (COIN:SOLUSD) advanced 6.4% in the last 24 hours, reaching $169.31, and surpassed $170 for the first time since early June, with an intraday high of $172.57. The Internet Computer (COIN:ICPUSD), with a 5.3% increase at $10.18, stood out for its goal of offering a decentralized alternative to cloud computing. The token broke a significant resistance level and is well-positioned for potential gains up to $17, depending on the development of technical patterns like the golden cross.
Meanwhile, Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD) gained 2.2%, Dogecoin (COIN:DOGEUSD) rose 4.1%, Ripple (COIN:XRPUSD) increased 1.7%, and Binance Coin (COIN:BNBUSD) advanced 3.32%.
Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, announced that by the end of July, the platform will launch a Mini App Store and an integrated browser with Web3 functionalities. These innovations will include anti-fraud measures, such as displaying the month and country of registration for public accounts, and enabling Mini Apps to tag channels for decentralized verification. Meanwhile, Telegram’s partnership with The Open Network (COIN:TONCOINUSD) has garnered significant interest, especially with the success of the game Hamster Kombat, which attracted 239 million users in just 81 days. However, developers only plan to launch a tradable digital asset for this game in 2024. Due to the explosive popularity of Hamster Kombat, the game has frequently been targeted by phishing scams. Fraudsters deceive players by promising to convert game coins into real money, thus capturing Telegram login details. As warned by Olga Svistunova from Kaspersky, such attacks enable criminals to access personal accounts, steal data, and commit other fraudulent actions.
Ryan Selkis resigned as CEO of Messari, a data aggregator platform, amid controversy generated by his political statements and calls for a civil war in the United States. Selkis expressed extreme opinions on social media, including after an attack on former President Donald Trump, highlighting his intense political stances. Eric Turner, who has been with the company since 2018, will take over leadership. Selkis will remain as a senior advisor, focusing on systemic issues and cryptocurrency policy.
Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, called for increased investment in decentralized peer-to-peer technologies following a global IT failure on July 19. The disruption, caused by a software error in CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD), resulted in the Blue Screen of Death on Windows systems, affecting various sectors worldwide. Ardoino argues that the excessive centralization of the internet makes global infrastructure vulnerable and advocates that Tether (COIN:USDTUSD) and Holepunch, a platform for decentralized applications, are working on technologies that could prevent such failures.
On July 17, there was a modest increase of $53.3 million in ETFs, with the iShares Bitcoin Trust (NASDAQ:IBIT) adding $110.4 million. Conversely, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (AMEX:GBTC) saw an outflow of $53.9 million. The trend continued on July 18, with total inflows of $84.8 million, again led by iShares, which recorded inflows of $107 million. Meanwhile, Grayscale continued to experience withdrawals, losing another $22.5 million. This activity suggests a possible market stabilization after a tumultuous start to the week with significant inflows.
Grayscale announced a reduction in the management fee of its Mini Trust Ethereum (COIN:BANANAGUSD) from 0.25% to 0.15%, making it one of the most affordable Ethereum ETFs in the market. The company will also waive this fee for the first six months for assets under management up to $2 billion. This strategy aims to maintain competitiveness against rivals like BlackRock and Fidelity, which offer fees between 0.19% and 0.25%. Additionally, to avoid massive outflows like those seen in its Bitcoin Trust, Grayscale is reallocating 10% of the $10 billion in assets from the Ethereum Trust. This action may help retain assets and attract new investors due to the highly competitive fee structure.
The European market may be on the verge of introducing the first exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on Ether staking, a significant development for cryptocurrency adoption. Charles d’Haussy, CEO of the dYdX Foundation, highlighted that while the U.S. is not yet ready, Europe or adjacent markets might pave the way for Ethereum staking ETFs.
Galaxy Digital (COIN:BANANAGUSD), led by Michael Novogratz, acquired most of the assets of blockchain node operator CryptoManufaktur LLC, increasing its Ethereum assets under management by approximately 43%. The acquisition includes the operations and engineering teams of CryptoManufaktur, with founder Thorsten Behrens joining Galaxy’s blockchain infrastructure team. This move elevates Galaxy’s Ethereum assets under management to $3.3 billion, strengthening its expansion in blockchain infrastructure and staking services.
Binance has introduced the Banana Gun token (COIN:BANANAGUSD) as the first project of its Airdrops Portal. The token, which powers the Banana Gun bot with trading tools for on-chain tokens, will be listed on July 20, 2024. Binance users who subscribed their BNB tokens to Simple Earn products between June 23 and July 5, 2024, qualified for the BANANA token airdrop.
Data from Flipside Crypto shows that the cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash, despite being banned and facing ongoing sanctions, registered a surprising 50% increase in deposit volume in the first half of 2024, totaling about $1.9 billion. The growth occurs even as the founding team faces legal difficulties and sanctions from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) since 2022, following the service’s use by North Korean hackers to launder approximately $455 million in illicit funds.
The Scroll, an Ethereum layer-two network, opted to delay the finalization of its chain due to a vulnerability that could be exploited. The anomaly was initially noticed by Rho Markets, a lending protocol, which paused operations on July 19 after detecting unusual activity. This incident resulted in an estimated loss of $7.6 million in USDC and USDT reserves. In response, Scroll decided to delay the chain’s finalization to better assess the situation, explaining that the flaw was limited to a specific application. The decision sparked a debate about the network’s centralization versus decentralization. Meanwhile, the attacker proposed returning the funds, arguing it was an exploitation of a configuration flaw, not a hack.
Cryptocurrency exchange WazirX filed a police complaint and notified the CERT-In (India’s Computer Emergency Response Team) after suffering a hack resulting in the loss of $230 million. The attack compromised one of the platform’s wallets, leading to massive withdrawals. The investigation may lead to increased scrutiny of WazirX’s security and operational standards. WazirX and Liminal Custody are at odds over who is responsible for the incident, leaving users concerned about the security of their funds. WazirX attributes the issue to an interface discrepancy with Liminal, claiming the failure occurred in a multisig wallet managed by Liminal’s digital asset custody service. The company is working with forensic experts and authorities to identify and capture those responsible. Liminal, however, asserts that its infrastructure was not compromised and that all wallets, including those of WazirX, are secure.
A federal judge called for a hearing to clarify her decision in an SEC case against Binance after the platform’s lawyers interpreted the ruling in a way that benefited the company. During the hearing, the judge emphasized that she did not intend to exclude certain third-party tokens from the charges, contradicting Binance’s interpretation. The discussion centered on the classification of these tokens and the scope of the SEC’s investigation. The judge committed to reviewing Binance’s motion to dismiss and the SEC’s responses to resolve the disputes over the classification of these digital assets.
Following a judicial decision under Chapter 11, Terraform Labs received authorization to reopen the Shuttle Bridge and destroy a significant amount of LUNA tokens. The reopening allows users to redeem Terra Classic assets. Additionally, TFL will destroy 150 million LUNA tokens to reduce the circulating supply and stabilize its value, as part of a broader effort to rebuild trust and stabilize the platform. These measures are part of a strategy to overcome bankruptcy and realign Terra as a reliable player in the cryptocurrency market.
The European Union introduced new guidelines under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) aimed at standardizing the classification of crypto assets. Authorities issued a consultation paper using targeted questions to determine how tokens are classified, whether as traditional financial assets, e-money tokens, or other categories. The rules also detail documentation requirements for issuers of these tokens.
KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting firms, formed a strategic alliance with Cryptio, a crypto accounting software, to assist cryptocurrency companies in the United States with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) compliance. Brian Consolvo of KPMG highlighted the importance of improving digital asset accounting practices and meeting regulatory obligations. The partnership allows crypto-related companies to meet their accounting and reporting obligations with the support of Cryptio’s software, promoting the sector’s long-term sustainability.
Bitrue Ventures, the investment and research division of the cryptocurrency exchange Bitrue, announced the creation of a $40 million investment fund dedicated to the Web3 ecosystem. The fund will be distributed among various Web3 startups and developers, with investments of up to $200,000 per project. In addition to financial support, Bitrue will offer development assistance, industry connections, and managerial support. Projects in areas such as artificial intelligence, real-world asset tokenization, GameFi, decentralized physical infrastructure, and decentralized finance will have priority.
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