Binance has introduced Binance Pay in Brazil. According to the recent announcement, Binance customers can now make crypto payments at partner businesses. Binance Pay is a crypto payment method that supports over 70 cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, and USDT. Users can make payments without any fees, while businesses can accept payments using a secure solution that transfers funds from wallet to wallet within seconds. Brazilian businesses can receive payments in Brazilian Real or directly in crypto to their wallets.

According to a Deloitte survey, about three-quarters of consumer businesses in the US plan to accept crypto payments by the end of 2023, and 87% agree that it will give them a competitive advantage.

Binance Pay has reached over 12 million active users since its initial launch in 2021 and has processed payment volumes exceeding $98 billion to date.

Bitcoin (BTC) is still facing mild bear activity as the asset trades at $26.04K after recording a daily decrease of 0.08% and a weekly decrease of 11.2%. However, Bitcoin’s trade volume has spiked by 40% during the same period and is presently at $12.9B.

The Bollinger bands are still diverging, indicating that the volatility of Bitcoin is still high as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) still moves below its average level in the oversold region, as bear effects remain felt ahead of the recent dip.

Ethereum (ETH) is also seeing some bear activity as the asset now sits on losses of 0.6% within a day of trading, taking it to $1661 as the trading volume dropped by 19% to now sit at $4.7B as of press time. ETH’s volatility levels are still high as the Bollinger bands maintain a divergence. 

The RSI indicator is still below its average line in the oversold region, again showing bear effects on the market as the MACD indicator also moves in the red zone.

#crypto2023 #BTC #cryptocurrency

Bitcoin and Ether fell during Tuesday afternoon trading in Hong Kong, along with all other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. BNB, the native token of Binance, has been trading near its yearly low since reports emerged last week about the termination of the partnership between the cryptocurrency exchange and its U.K. payments partner.

See related article: Weekly Market Wrap: Bitcoin falls below US$26,000 following Evergrande’s bankruptcy

Bitcoin and Ether fall along with all top 10 cryptos

Bitcoin traded at US$26,088 as of 4:30 p.m. in Hong Kong after falling to a two-month low of US$25,409 last Friday.  

Ether inched down 0.11% during afternoon trading in Asia to US$1,665 and was down 9.57% during the past week.

According to Phillip Lord, president of the crypto payment app Oobit, the crypto market needs more clarity on Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications to start gaining momentum.

The SEC delayed a decision on approving the spot Bitcoin ETF application of Ark Investment Management on Aug. 11, following a 21-day public consultation, a week before the agency announced that it will delay its decision on the pending Bitcoin ETF applications to 2024. The agency has accepted a total of six spot Bitcoin ETFs for review.

“The upward momentum will be reinvigorated once the fog of the [Securities and Exchange Commission’s] saga will be dispersed,” wrote Lord.

BNB fell 2.17% over the past 24 hours to US$208 on Tuesday, close to its yearly low of US$207 registered on Monday.

Binance has reportedly placed euro withdrawal limits in Europe on Sunday, due to mounting issues with its payments partners. Binance announced in June that it will change its euro banking partner, Paysafe Payment Solutions, from Sept. 25. On Aug. 17, London-based payment processor Checkout.com ended its partnership with the exchange due to concerns over money laundering and compliance. Binance contested these reasons, suggesting they might pursue legal recourse. 

#bitcoin #dyor #cryptocurrency

When FTX fell apart last year, the repercussions were devastating. The contagion not only caused crypto assets to tumble and damaged the portfolios of professional traders, but it also eliminated a prominent investment pool for blockchain startups. Countless individual investors witnessed their life savings evaporate, and I sympathize with all the victims. 

While acknowledging past mistakes and repercussions, there is a silver lining that cannot be ignored. Although unpopular in some quarters, the news of a potential FTX relaunch under a new name has sparked a wave of optimism in the crypto community, and with good reason. A relaunch could bring about a range of positive outcomes for the industry, investors and customers alike.

Relaunching FTX has its merits

One of the most significant advantages of a successful FTX relaunch would be the potential to attract more investors back into the crypto space. Should the exchange re-emerge with a new management team and a realized commitment to rectify past issues, it may garner renewed interest from the wider investing community. And the positive effects would compound. Increased investor participation would infuse the exchange with additional funds, which could then be used to repay users who have experienced losses in the past, again instilling trust in centralized crypto exchanges.

While the crypto community is rightly skeptical of the motives behind launching FTX 2.0, there is precedent showing that it is in fact possible to make creditors whole through restructuring. The Bitfinex incident is a great example. In 2016, crypto exchange Bitfinex was hacked, and 120,000 Bitcoins were subsequently stolen. In response to the hack, Bitfinex released the “recovery rights tokens” (RRT), designed to serve as an IOU to affected customers. These tokens promised a share of future profits to compensate for the losses. Within a year, all the tokens were redeemed and customers were repaid. 

#crypto2023 #cryptocurrency #BTC

US Judge Lewis Kaplan allowed the former CEO of FTX – Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), to meet with his lawyers and thus prepare his defense for the October trial. 

However, the meeting can only proceed between 8.30 am and 3 pm on August 22, with all other previous requests being denied.

A Few Hours Out of the Cell

As stated in Kaplan’s order, SBF will be able to talk to his counsel in the Marshal’s cell block attorney room. He is allowed to bring one Internet-enabled laptop and a Wi-Fi device. The judge also dismissed all other requests that the fallen crypto tycoon had displayed over the past few weeks.

“The balance of the request for August 22 is denied,” the document reads.

Spending a few hours outside his prison cell is not exactly what SBF insisted on. His lawyers urged Judge Kaplan to grant freedom for their client during weekdays, claiming that the jail conditions are too restrictive and would not allow him to properly prepare for the upcoming trial on October 2.

Despite being accused as the main culprit behind the FTX meltdown, the US magistrates let Bankman-Fried spend several months at his parents’ house under a whopping $250 million bond.

However, the following leak of Caroline Ellison’s (former CEO of FTX’s sister company Alameda Research) private diary became a reason for the authorities to send SBF behind bars. The US Department of Justice was the main agency that insisted on prison time, arguing that Bankman-Fried’s actions could have intimidated the woman who is expected to testify against him in less than two months. 

From a Cozy House to One of the Worst Jails

SBF spent nearly eight months at his parents’ $4 million home in Palo Alto, California, leaving many to wonder why a suspect of massive crypto fraud is allowed to live in luxury. 

In a sudden twist of events, though, the US authorities sent him to jail on August 12 over witness tampering allegations. It is worth mentioning that he will spend the days until his trial in one of the worst prisons in New York City – MDC Brooklyn.

#crypto2023 #cryptocurrency

DWFLabs, a global digital asset market maker and web3 investment firm, recently transferred 2 million Curve DAO Tokens (CRV) to Binance.

The transaction took place two hours ago when the average price of the CRV was $0.5, and the total value of the transfer was recorded at approximately $1 million.

The move comes after DWFLabs purchased 12.5 million CRVs at a price of $0.4 per token from the Curve founder on August 1.

DWFLabs currently holds 10.5 million CRVs in its wallet and may deposit more tokens on Binance or other exchanges in the future. However, users should take into account that DWFLabs has an aggressive market-making style and their deposits may result in a volatile change in the CRV price.

The wallet, in which the company, which uses many different crypto wallets for transactions, dumped its CRV tokens to Binance, was also largely reset with the last transaction. At the time of this writing, the wallet only contains Frontier (FRONT) tokens worth approximately $60,000.

On July 31, a hacking attack occurred on the Curve Finance platform, and the Curve Finance founder was in danger of liquidation due to the depreciation of the CRV token.

#CRV #cryptocurrency #dyor

Bitcoin (BTC) price has come out of the range of 28,000-30,000, which it has been in for a long time, and is trading at approximately $ 26,000 at the time of this writing.

Many investors wonder how critical the current market situation is and what factors might affect Bitcoin's future direction.

Cryptocurrency analysis company CryptoQuant has released a comprehensive report examining Bitcoin's previous price cycles based on realized prices of short- and long-term holders. The realized price is the average price each Bitcoin unit was last moved to and reflects the cost basis and sensitivity of different types of holders.

According to CryptoQuant, the current cycle is comparable to the 2019 cycle, where Bitcoin faced a significant correction.

Binance Futures, derivatives product of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, announced the launch of a new perpetual contract for CyberConnect (CYBER), a Web3 social networking protocol.

The contract will begin trading on August 21, 2023 at 15:00 (12:00 UTC) with up to 20x leverage.

#BinanceTournament #blockchain #dyor

Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, criticized some speculative and misleading headlines on Twitter that are claiming that Bitcoin is a bubble.

CZ, quoting a news article titled “Is the Bitcoin Bubble About to Burst” shared in a news source, criticized these headlines after every sudden drop in BTC price and commented “here we go again”.

In particular, some major foreign media outlets have been throwing such headlines in the past with every sudden drop in the BTC price, and this has become a subject of ridicule among the cryptocurrency community.

“Is the Bitcoin Bubble Bursting” News in Traditional Media Has So Far Signaled a Bottom in BTC

Binance CEO CZ also hinted that he wondered where such headlines were left after the decline and that this news came as expected.

The most striking part was that Zhao said that such news was a sign. There is a view in the cryptocurrency market that such “bubble” news signals that a bottom has been reached in the BTC price. Changpeng Zhao was probably referring to this. Zhao stated that such news “marks to a point”.

#BTC #cryptocurrency #blockchain

With the recent spike in the cryptocurrency market, some whales are apparently trying to turn this price decline into an opportunity.

One of these investors was a whale, who woke up after a five-month sleep and used 1.52 million USDC 21 hours ago to buy 907.4 Ethereum at an average price of $1,680, and has been described as a smart whale by his past transactions.

The whale in question is known for having a history of buying low and selling high in all previous ETH trading cycles and has made an estimated $600,000 profit so far.

Another whale, identified as 0xee2, spent 11.15 million USDC and bought 5,120 wrapped ETH (WETH) and 1,506 ETH at an average price of $1,683. Prior to the acquisition, the whale in question had invested 6,676 ETH and 2,747 staked ETH (stETH) to borrow 8 million USDC from Aave, a decentralized lending platform.

A third wallet, known as the smart trader and labeled 0x828, raised 2.6k ETH at an average price of $1,682, spending a total of $4.38 million. This trader made an impressive $14.17 million profit in the last two ETH trading cycles. It currently holds 22,601 ETH worth $37.8 million at the current price.

#Ethereum #BTC #cryptocurrency

According to Onchain data, Amber Group, a digital asset investment firm, has increased its exposure to some altcoins over the past 24 hours.

With assets of over $1 billion, the firm has purchased more Lido DAO (LDO), Maker (MKR) and Blur (BLUR) tokens from various exchanges.

According to the data, an address suspected to be owned by Amber Group purchased 2,096 million LDO tokens from Binance at an average price of $1.64 for a total of $3.44 million.

The same address also purchased 1,000 MKR tokens from Binance at an average price of $1,090, paying a total of $1.09 million.

He also bought 1.5 million BLUR tokens from OKX at an average price of $0.209, paying a total of $314,000.

Patrick Hillmann Claims Licensing A Major Exchange In Europe And Opening The Korean Market Could Bring Over $60,000 In Bitcoin

Hillmann said that the catalyst needed for the Bitcoin price to reach $60,000 and beyond will be the licensing of a major cryptocurrency exchange under Europe's crypto laws, the Crypto Asset Markets (MICA).

In addition, Hillmann stated that another catalyst that could enable BTC to set a new record could be the opening of the Korean market to the world, making it more accessible. He stated that very few people understand the future importance of the Korean market.

According to Bloomberg’s report, which is based on people familiar with the matter, the SEC is unlikely to block the approval of products related to Ethereum futures contracts.

It is not yet clear which funds will receive approval. The source said several funds could receive approval by October.

About twenty companies, including Volatility Shares, Bitwise, Roundhill and ProShares, have applied to issue ETFs.

Bitcoin Price Drops Sharply Amid Big Selling Speculation, Triggering Market Turmoil

Bitcoin's value dropped by up to 9% in 24 hours. Since this decrease took place in an average of 30 minutes, it had serious effects.

Losses in altcoins were deeper than BTC, but found 20 percent.

There are 2 known sources of the late fall. The first is the news that SpaceX, the company of Elon Musk, has sold his Bitcoins. The other is Evergrande's filing for bankruptcy.

While various factors have been cited as potential triggers for this market turmoil, including rumors of SpaceX's Bitcoin sales and the bankruptcy of China Evergrande, experts warn that these events may not have directly impacted the price crash.

In particular, SpaceX's so-called Bitcoin sales were reportedly based on unsubstantiated claims, and the company's Bitcoin holdings were reportedly falling in value.

Harbor Protocol, a cross-chain stablecoin protocol built on top of the Cosmos ecosystem, has been hacked by an anonymous hacker who stole funds from several vaults.

The attack, which occurred in the past few hours, affected stable-mint and stOSMO, LUNA and WMATIC vaults.

According to the statement made by the Harbor Protocol team, the attacker used comdex1sma0ntw7fq3fpux8suxkm9h8y642fuqt0ujwt5 to perform all actions. The team is currently working to investigate the attack and trace the funds, as well as calculate the total losses incurred.

#blockchain #bitcoin #BTC

Asset management firm Valkyrie has applied to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an Ethereum futures exchange-traded fund (ETF). This application, made on August 16, indicates Valkyrie’s intention to expand its investment offerings beyond its Bitcoin futures ETF proposals.

The ETF will not directly invest in ETH. Instead, it aims to purchase various ETH futures contracts. Within the decentralized ecosystem, users widely utilize Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency, ETH, for peer-to-peer transactions.

The submitted document states that Ethereum’s classification may change and it may be considered a currency or digital commodity depending on its use in private transactions.

While some major and minor retailers accept ETH as payment, its use in commercial and retail transactions is relatively limited. Ethereum has also been marked by significant price fluctuations despite exhibiting characteristics of a store of value.

Valkyrie’s application specifies certain limitations on investing in Ethereum futures contracts for the ETF, limited to 8,000 contracts per month in accordance with position limits set by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. If the application is approved by the SEC, investors will have the opportunity to speculate on future prices of Ethereum through the ETF.

In addition to Ethereum futures, the ETF plans to invest its remaining assets in cash, cash equivalents, or high-quality securities, including bonds, stocks, treasury bills, money market funds, and corporate debt issued by the US government.

Notably, Valkyrie is one of several major asset management players seeking approval for an Ether futures ETF for US investors. Others include Grayscale, VanEck, Bitwise, Volatility Shares, ProShares, and Round Hill Capital.

The increase in these applications reflects widespread anticipation that US regulatory authorities may soon approve a Bitcoin ETF. Many investment giants such as BlackRock and Fidelity are also awaiting regulatory approval for their ETF proposals.

#blockchain #crypto #BTC

Bitcoin fell below $29,000 on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve indicated the need to maintain its tight stance in the meeting minutes published on August 16. Bitcoin experienced a 2% drop overnight and is currently trading around $28,600.

This decline also pulled down the broader crypto market, with the total market value dropping by 1.7% or nearly $20 billion overnight, according to data. Ethereum is also struggling to hold the $1,800 support level and is trading around $1,795 with a 1.5% drop in the last 24 hours.

The S&P 500 index continued its decline since Tuesday and experienced a 0.76% drop. NASDAQ closed the day with a 1.15% decline.

The Dollar Index (DXY) gained 0.54% against other major currencies this week due to the Fed’s interest rate expectations and reached a one-month high yesterday.

In the Fed policy interest rate meeting last month, the interest rate was raised to the highest level in 22 years, between 5.25% and 5.50%. Many expected the interest rate hike, which started aggressively from zero in March 2022, to be one of the last increases made to control high inflation.

The central bank’s interest rate hikes have been one of the most important factors limiting the rise of risky assets such as stocks and cryptocurrencies. Higher borrowing costs suppress growth and expansion and attract investors to safer bets like Treasury bonds. It is also one of the fundamental tools in the Fed’s hands to balance rising consumer costs.

However, the latest meeting minutes show that the Fed’s decision-making committee is “extremely cautious about inflation risks.” The document also stated that the business outlook is positive with “strong” job gains and low unemployment rates.

#crypto #bitcoin #blockchain

SEI, a blockchain platform, experienced a significant drop in its token price due to an influx of airdrop requests and subsequent sales by those who received the tokens. The price, which was nearing $1 on the day of its Binance listing, fell to $0.17 at the time of writing.

The SEI Foundation announced the beta phase of its main blockchain network a few days ago. This morning, it was reported that the number of wallets that won the right to the airdrop increased due to high demand. Initially, there were 500,000 wallets, but this number later rose to 1.5 million.

As part of the airdrop, the SEI team also set aside 3% of the tokens for themselves, equivalent to approximately 300 million tokens. Currently, about 1.8 billion tokens are in circulation in SEI, with a total supply of 10 billion tokens. SEI, which is part of the Cosmos ecosystem, aims to overcome the scalability and user experience challenges encountered in blockchain technology. It seeks to promote the widespread adoption of Web3 applications.

#Sei #cryptocurrency #blockchain

Medium-Term ETH Analysis

When the 12-hour technical chart of Ethereum is examined, it is observed that candle closings below the $1815 level have brought the price down to around $1780. As long as ETH continues to close below the mentioned $1815 level on a daily basis, it can expand the downward movement towards the support range of $1778 – $1749.

However, if ETH receives strong buying responses in the $1778 – $1749 support range, it can rise from this support zone towards the $1880 level first and then towards the $2023 level. However, if ETH closes below the $1749 support on a daily basis, there is a possibility of continuing the downward trend.

If the ETH price achieves daily candle closings below the $1749 level, it can continue its downward movement towards the next critical support level of $1720. If closings below $1720 occur, the next target could be $1690. However, if ETH closes above $1880 on a daily basis, it can eliminate the possibilities of a decline.

#Ethereum #cryptocurrency #bitcoin

The leading cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum, known for their high ups and downs, seem to be taking a break in the summer. Now, even surpassing oil, these digital assets have become less volatile.

According to the new data from Kaiko research, the 90-day volatility indices for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) have reached multi-year low levels, decreasing by 35% and 37% respectively. This has caused the volatility of the largest cryptocurrencies to fall below the volatility of oil, which is at 41%.

Market volatility is the frequency and magnitude of price movements, either up or down. It is calculated based on how much a price has changed over a certain period of time – a higher percentage represents higher volatility, while the opposite represents lower volatility.

Historically, cryptocurrencies have been seen to be more volatile than oil, with greater frequency and magnitude of price movements, leading Kaiko analyst Dessislava Ianeva to describe the current market as “unusual.” However, according to the Kaiko analyst, this volatility has significantly decreased because “Bitcoin is continuing to mature as an asset.”

#airdrop #blockchain #cryptocurrency