Shiba Inu (SHIB) team has relaunched the Shibarium L2 network in private mode after the initial launch was plagued with technical issues. Although the SHIB price remains stable at $0.0000008, indicators on the chain may suggest that bulls could take action at any moment.

Moving Process in SHIB!

Shiba Inu launched the Shibarium mainnet, a Layer 2 scaling solution that handles millions of transactions, on August 16th, following months of testing. However, it was quickly halted after a series of technical issues. Shiba Inu holders are now taking their tokens under their own supervision, probably due to the fear of a security vulnerability in the network.

Despite the assurances of a $2 million insurance plan, the amount of money Shiba Inu has deposited into crypto exchange wallets has dropped to the lowest level in over a year. Data from Cryptoquant shows that Shiba Inu’s reserves started decreasing right after the launch of the Shibarium mainnet on August 16th and continued to decline on August 17th.

However, the data also indicates that SHIB reserves have not been this low since February 2022. Reserves track real-time changes in the total SHIB balance held in prominent crypto exchange wallets. The shared graph shows that significant decreases in reserves occurred before the recent upward trends in Shiba Inu prices on August 5th and August 12th.

Between August 17th and August 26th, Shiba Inu holders withdrew 1.8 trillion SHIB tokens worth $14.5 million at the current market price of $0.000008. This represents more than 10% of Shiba Inu’s average trading volume last week. This situation highlights the potential supply congestion that could disrupt the SHIB price after a successful re-release of Shibarium, following the reduction of FUD and an increase in market demand.

Effects of Shibarium on SHIB!

Many participants of the Shiba Inu network have refrained from conducting transaction activities in recent weeks due to concerns over the latest network vulnerabilities in Shibarium. The number of daily active addresses on the Shiba Inu network has decreased since August 16th. As of August 26th, it dropped by 56% to 3,647 compared to the 8,214 active addresses recorded on August 16th.

Active addresses estimate the daily number of participants conducting economic transactions on a blockchain network. This signifies a significant decrease in the number of investors using SHIB for transactions. Not surprisingly, the SHIB price has continued to follow a neutral trend within the $0.0000008 range in the past few days.

As a result, the future movement of the SHIB price will heavily depend on users returning to the network. The correlation between the decrease in market demand due to the Shibarium failure and the potential impact of a successful re-release of Shibarium on the SHIB price could indicate a change in the game.

Solana Labs announced the integration of its decentralized payment protocol – Solana Pay – with e-commerce giant Shopify as a new payment option. The move will enable millions of businesses operating on the Shopify platform to leverage Solana Pay for their payment needs.

Initially, USDC payments will be accepted via the integration, but more crypto-assets will added down the line.

Solana Pay x Shopify

According to the official press release, Solana Pay will essentially eliminate bank fees, chargebacks, and holding times while allowing immediate, direct payment settlement of USD stablecoins compatible with Solana.

Furthermore, merchants and consumers using Solana Pay will also be able to benefit from Web3-enabled commerce experiences, such as token-gated offers, simple cross-border payments, as well as NFT-based loyalty programs.

Commenting on the development, Solana Foundation’s Head of Commerce Business Development, Josh Fried, said,

“Solana Pay on Shopify opens up millions of merchants to a more dynamic and efficient payment choice, while consumers get the convenience and increased utility of being able to pay for goods and services with digital dollar currencies from the vast network of merchants using Shopify.”

Launched in February 2022, Solana Pay is an open-source protocol built on top of the layer-1 blockchain Solana. The initial payment option for its integration with Shopify will include USDC, the second-largest stablecoin with a market capitalization of nearly $26 billion.

In a statement provided to TechCrunch, Fried explained that the choice of USDC was deliberate and was influenced by the fact that most merchants are likely to be more receptive to adopting a payment method closely linked to the stability of the US Dollar.

He went on to add that Circle’s USDC, being subject to higher regulatory oversight compared to other crypto-assets, holds a level of familiarity among consumers already accustomed to transacting in digital dollars. However, Solana Pay remains open to the possibility of incorporating other crypto-assets, including SOL and BONK, into its offerings in the near future.

Solana: 6 Months Without Outage

The Solana blockchain experienced significant disruptions caused by recurrent outages, some of which persisted for more than a day. However, the subsequent upgrades, such as the implementation of QUIC TPU, Stake weighted QoS, and localized free markets, have improved the network’s capacity to manage substantial traffic and meet demand.

As a result, Solana maintained uninterrupted service for the past six months and has been 100% uptime since February.

The post Shopify to Accept USDC Payments Via Solana Pay Integration

The cryptocurrency market has experienced a relatively calm week, although it is impossible to say that any week passes without any incidents. This week, significant developments in the crypto sector, especially those related to social media, include XRP, increased KYC requirements by exchanges, and Circle’s plans.

Seychelles-based Exchanges Demand KYC

Chinese blockchain analyst and journalist Colin Wu made headlines with a development he shared, particularly on Monday. Wu emphasized that Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit now requires KYC, stating that there has been no change in Seychelles regarding this matter. The “regulatory freedom” enjoyed by offshore exchanges is no longer preferred by those who want to be present in the international market.

XRP Loses its Gains

The second significant development revolved around XRP. XRP officially lost all the gains made as a result of the preliminary decision in the SEC case, which led to its rise to $0.91. Renowned BTC investor Kaleo described XRP’s loss of the gains from the SEC news in one month as madness.

Changes for Grayscale

The third important news focused on Bitcoin ETF. Grayscale’s recent move could work, according to some experts. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffert stated that Grayscale’s plan to convert its Bitcoin Trust product into an ETF could be successful.

Seyffert emphasized that the likelihood of this happening in the next 6 months has increased significantly.

Approval of a Bitcoin-focused spot ETF could bring about a significant change in the cryptocurrency sector.

NFT Market Declines!

The latest development was shared by NFTstats.eth. It is stated that more than 75% of leading NFT collections were not bought or sold in any way in 2023, during the bear market. This indicates that many NFTs have remained without any buyers or sellers. NFTs have experienced a significant loss of value and reputation in 2023.

The primary agenda will revolve around discussions regarding the proposed restructuring plan and disclosure statement. Attendees can anticipate the committee and its advisors being present to address queries and concerns.

Recent developments indicate positive progress for Celsius, as a judge greenlit the company’s disclosure statement last week. Under the Chapter 11 process, Celsius’s Interim CEO, Chris Ferraro, expressed dedication to achieving optimal outcomes for clients and creditors.

The proposed plan involves transferring assets to the Fahrenheit consortium, and potential returns diverge.

Earn account holders might expect around 67% returns, while Celsius lending program participants, mainly in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), could see returns as high as 85.6%. However, asset liquidation offers a less substantial 47% return.

Previously, the bankrupt crypto lending platform initiated a new company owned by creditors. This venture aims to distribute approximately $2 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum. Permission from the bankruptcy court has paved the way for customer voting on this proposal.

The plan envisions customer returns through equity in this company, tasked with managing Celsius’ mining operations, institutional loans, private equity investments, venture capital investments, and $500 million in liquid cryptocurrency investments.

Despite progress, some customers’ opposition and creditors’ potential challenges against Celsius’ repayment plan loom. The court is scheduled to evaluate plan approval in October.

Celsius has strategically partnered with PayPal as a potential agent for specific distributions to individual US creditors, underscoring the company’s commitment to efficient management.

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