За даними CryptoPotato, Міністерство фінансів США зайняло негативну позицію щодо служб змішування криптовалют, також відомих як послуги змішування конвертованих віртуальних валют (CVC). Хоча існують законні способи використання цих послуг, наприклад клієнти, орієнтовані на конфіденційність, які прагнуть уникнути відстеження за допомогою інструментів аналізу блокчейнів, кіберзлочинці також часто ними користуються. Tornado Cash, відомий міксер, зараз стикається з обвинуваченнями в суді Манхеттена, які можуть призвести до 20 років ув'язнення для його засновників.

20 жовтня 2023 р

Weekly Market Highlights — це ініціатива дослідницької команди Binance, щоб підсумувати тиждень, узагальнюючи ключові ринкові події та погляди команди.

🔎 Макро/TradFi

Standard Chartered збирається запровадити послугу зберігання криптовалют в Дубаї, ОАЕ, яка обслуговує інституційних клієнтів і підтримує біткойни та Ethereum.

Metamask оголосив про інтеграцію зі Stripe, щоб увімкнути оперативне обслуговування користувачів із США.

Після того, як CoinTelegraph опублікував роз’яснення щодо розповсюдження фальшивих спотових новин Bitcoin ETF, Ларрі Фінк, генеральний директор BlackRock, визнав глобальний попит клієнтів на криптовалюту та пояснює нещодавню цінову динаміку «втечею до якості» на тлі спекуляцій про схвалення спотових Bitcoin ETF.

Відповідно до Foresight News, протокол f(x) з кредитним плечем ETH прийняв стандарт Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) LayerZero, що дозволяє користувачам передавати токени fETH, xETH і FXN через мережу Arbitrum. Карбування та обмін fETH і xETH все ще відбуватимуться лише в основній мережі, але з’єднання токенів між Ethereum і Arbitrum можна завершити на вкладці «Міст» на офіційному веб-сайті.

За даними Cointelegraph, OpenAI, творець чат-бота AI ChatGPT, співпрацює з дубайською технологічною холдинговою групою G42, щоб розширити можливості AI на Близькому Сході. Співпраця спрямована на використання генеративних моделей ШІ OpenAI у секторах, де G42 має досвід, таких як фінансові послуги, енергетика, охорона здоров’я та державні послуги.

G42 заявила, що організації в Об’єднаних Арабських Еміратах (ОАЕ) та інших регіонах, які використовують її бізнес-рішення, тепер повинні мати більш спрощений процес інтеграції розширених можливостей ШІ в існуючий бізнес. Компанія планує зробити пріоритетом свою потужну інфраструктуру штучного інтелекту для підтримки локальних і регіональних висновків OpenAI у центрах обробки даних Microsoft Azure.

According to CoinDesk, Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital (MARA) has announced that it will store some of its digital assets with Fidelity Digital Asset, adding a second custody partner in an effort to diversify. Previously, Marathon had stored all its bitcoin with a single provider. As part of its broader treasury management strategy, the company has now added a new, enterprise-grade custodian as its second custodian. In a separate filing, Marathon stated that it would open one or more custodial asset accounts with Fidelity.

Marathon may further expand and add more custodians in the future. The company held 13,726 bitcoin as of September 30 and is producing over 1,000 more per month. Marathon CFO Salman Khan said in a statement that it is an opportune time to diversify their bitcoin custody across multiple custodians. Custody plays a crucial role in crypto and other markets, as firms that do not want to store their own digital assets can entrust them with a third party. Having more than one company providing custody ensures that if a single provider encounters issues, not all assets will be lost. Marathon's decision comes after several custodians, including Fortress Trust, have been targeted by hackers who stole some digital assets. In the case of Fortress Trust, the theft led to the custodian attempting to sell itself to blockchain tech company Ripple, but the deal ultimately fell through. Marathon's stock was up 1.3% in post-market trading and has risen 116% this year, while bitcoin has climbed 71%.

According to Cointelegraph, Universal Music Group (UMG) has announced a partnership with social music creation platform BandLab Technologies. The collaboration aims to promote responsible practices with artificial intelligence (AI) in the music industry, focusing on the ethical use of AI and protecting the rights of artists and songwriters. Michael Nash, the executive vice president and chief digital officer of UMG, emphasized the importance of responsible AI use in music creation tools and championing human creativity and culture.

UMG has previously addressed AI-related issues, such as collaborating with Google to combat AI deep fakes and developing a tool for legally creating AI tracks using artists' likenesses. YouTube has also released principles for working with the music industry on AI technology, including the introduction of its new 'Music AI Incubator'. The issue of copyright infringement regarding AI has reached the courts, with a United States judge denying copyright for AI art in August 2023.

According to CryptoPotato, Bitmain, a leading Bitcoin ASIC manufacturer, has reportedly terminated four employees for leaking salary information and violating the company's 'Management Standards for External Information Disclosure.' The company emphasized that employees should not share any company information with external parties without proper authorization.

This development comes a week after some Bitmain employees raised concerns about salary arrears due to cash flow issues, as per information obtained from the Maimai Community, China's workplace networking site, on October 8th. They also noted that the 2022 bonuses remained unpaid and that half of the base salary for all employees and performance-based wages could be withheld due to poor cash flow issues.

In response to the violation of company policy, Bitmain issued an internal disciplinary notice and dismissed the employees who disclosed salary delay information on the social networking platform. The company also reported the incident to the educational institutions where the interns involved in the matter are enrolled, hinting at potential legal consequences.

While Bitmain has not publicly commented on the development, the company made a significant investment of $53.9 million in Core Scientific to support mining operations in September. As part of the purchase agreement, Bitmain will provide Core Scientific with 27,000 Bitmain S19J XP 151 TH bitcoin mining servers. In exchange, Bitmain will receive $23.1 million in cash and $53.9 million in Core Scientific common stock. The company also recently unveiled its newest mining device, the S21 Antminer series.

According to Cointelegraph, Meta AI has developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) system that combines a non-invasive brain scanning method called magnetoencephalography (MEG) with AI to decode imagery from human brain waves. The system can be deployed in real time to reconstruct images perceived and processed by the brain at each instant.

A demonstration of the model's real-time capabilities was showcased on X, formerly Twitter, by the AI at Meta account. The experimental AI system requires pre-training on an individual's brainwaves, interpreting specific brain waves as specific images. There is no indication that the system could produce imagery for thoughts unrelated to pictures the model was trained on.

Meta AI acknowledges that this is early work and further progress is expected. The research is part of the company's ongoing initiative to unravel the mysteries of the brain. While there is no current reason to believe the system could invade someone's privacy, it could potentially provide a quality of life upgrade for some individuals. The Meta AI team hopes that one day it may provide a stepping stone toward non-invasive brain-computer interfaces in a clinical setting that could help people who have lost their ability to speak.

According to Cointelegraph, a bipartisan parliamentary committee in the United Kingdom has called for action to protect creators from potential copyright violations related to nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The committee also requested the government to address possible harms caused by sporting groups issuing digital assets. The members of the committee believe that the most pressing issue is the risk to the intellectual property rights of artists due to the ease and speed at which NFTs can be minted.

In other NFT news, Yemel Jardis, the executive director of the Decentraland Foundation, shared his thoughts on the NFT market slump with Cointelegraph. He believes that as more community education on NFTs takes place, the focus will shift from speculative trading to genuine utility. According to Jardis, a steep decline in NFT prices should not be seen as a sign of distress, but rather as an indication that the market is maturing.

Additionally, the Ethereum wallet MetaMask, popular among NFT collectors, was briefly removed from Apple's App Store on October 14. This raised concerns over a possible permanent removal from the marketplace. At the time, Apple users were also unable to download the application from the MetaMask website. Some speculated that Apple's terms of service were behind the app's disappearance, as the App Store's rules prohibit apps running unrelated background processes, such as cryptocurrency mining.

According to CoinDesk, a CNBC report has revealed more information about Jimmy Zhong, who was arrested last year for stealing over 50,000 bitcoins from the Silk Road marketplace. The case was reopened when Zhong called emergency services in Athens, Georgia, to report that hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cryptocurrency had been stolen from his home. After some investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested Zhong and seized one of the largest-ever amounts of cryptocurrency from an individual.

Before his arrest, Zhong was known for hiring private jets, throwing lavish parties, and gifting his friends thousands of dollars. He was charged with wire fraud and, after pleading guilty, was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison. He also forfeited his bitcoin. Zhong, now 33 years old, began his sentence at the federal prison camp in Montgomery, Alabama, on July 14, 2023. Zhong's attorney, Michael Bachner, told CNBC that the government has not been hurt by his client's actions. He pointed out that if the government had seized the 50,000 bitcoins at the time of Silk Road operator Ross Ulbricht's arrest, they would have sold them for about $320 per coin, or roughly $14 million. However, due to Zhong's actions, the government has made a $3 billion profit.

According to CoinDesk, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) has been criticized by its inspector general for leaving banks under its supervision unprepared to navigate the regulator's crypto expectations. As a result, the FDIC has agreed to develop a new strategy by January. The Office of the Inspector General for the FDIC found the agency's performance in preparing the industry for crypto risks to be lacking, according to a report issued on Wednesday.

The report concluded that the FDIC's lack of clear procedures causes uncertainty for supervised institutions in determining the appropriate actions to take. The agency also hadn't concluded its effort to assess whether it could head off systemic banking dangers from crypto. The inspector general noted that the FDIC told some banks to pause their crypto activities last year and this year, but then it didn't tell the banks how long they'd be paused or how it might end.

The FDIC has been suspicious of the digital assets industry and has leaned toward shielding the banking system from deep involvement with crypto. This stance has been felt acutely by crypto businesses struggling to find and maintain banking relationships in the U.S. The agency agreed to inspector general recommendations that it come up with a plan and schedule for figuring out the risks cryptocurrency activity poses to lending institutions, and that it also clarify its process for the crypto reviews at individual banks.

According to CoinDesk, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) has been criticized by its inspector general for leaving banks under its supervision unprepared to navigate the regulator's crypto expectations. As a result, the FDIC has agreed to develop a new strategy by January. The Office of the Inspector General for the FDIC found the agency's performance in preparing the industry for crypto risks to be lacking, according to a report issued on Wednesday.

The report concluded that the FDIC's lack of clear procedures causes uncertainty for supervised institutions in determining the appropriate actions to take. The agency also hadn't concluded its effort to assess whether it could head off systemic banking dangers from crypto. The inspector general noted that the FDIC told some banks to pause their crypto activities last year and this year, but then it didn't tell the banks how long they'd be paused or how it might end.

The FDIC has been suspicious of the digital assets industry and has leaned toward shielding the banking system from deep involvement with crypto. This stance has been felt acutely by crypto businesses struggling to find and maintain banking relationships in the U.S. The agency agreed to inspector general recommendations that it come up with a plan and schedule for figuring out the risks cryptocurrency activity poses to lending institutions, and that it also clarify its process for the crypto reviews at individual banks.

According to CoinDesk, the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) has been criticized by its inspector general for leaving banks under its supervision unprepared to navigate the regulator's crypto expectations. As a result, the FDIC has agreed to develop a new strategy by January. The Office of the Inspector General for the FDIC found the agency's performance in preparing the industry for crypto risks to be lacking, according to a report issued on Wednesday.

The report concluded that the FDIC's lack of clear procedures causes uncertainty for supervised institutions in determining the appropriate actions to take. The agency also hadn't concluded its effort to assess whether it could head off systemic banking dangers from crypto. The inspector general noted that the FDIC told some banks to pause their crypto activities last year and this year, but then it didn't tell the banks how long they'd be paused or how it might end.

The FDIC has been suspicious of the digital assets industry and has leaned toward shielding the banking system from deep involvement with crypto. This stance has been felt acutely by crypto businesses struggling to find and maintain banking relationships in the U.S. The agency agreed to inspector general recommendations that it come up with a plan and schedule for figuring out the risks cryptocurrency activity poses to lending institutions, and that it also clarify its process for the crypto reviews at individual banks.

According to CoinDesk, bear markets provide an opportunity for firms to build and position themselves for the next bull run. As a result, features that were once cutting-edge become standard in the next cycle. Crypto exchanges can no longer simply facilitate buying and selling cryptocurrency; they must evolve beyond being mere asset marketplaces, particularly with the rise of decentralized finance (DeFi). Instead, they should construct portals to an entire financial universe.

The opportunity is significant as Gen Z comes of age with crypto familiarity and eagerness to invest. A recent survey by the FINRA Foundation and the CFA Institute found that 44% of Gen Z investors started investing by purchasing crypto, while 32% started with stocks and 21% with mutual funds. Additionally, 65% of Gen Z investors use financial apps and pay attention to their guidance.

Crypto platforms offering 'investment as a service' can take cues from traditional finance giants like Vanguard to welcome the next generation to a home base for wealth development. However, early attempts in this area have been hindered by U.S. regulations, with crypto exchanges no longer able to offer debt-based yield services or retail-friendly staking services.

A compliant path forward involves proactively cooperating with the Securities and Exchange Commission and relying on robust custody partnerships, including tools like separately managed accounts. Direct indexing platforms are the next step to wide adoption of long-tail digital assets beyond bitcoin and Ethereum. Indexes allow for efficient asset allocation, risk management, product development, and performance measurement, enabling crypto to evolve into an institutional financial market.

Advisers will play a crucial role in simplifying Web3, managing client inventory, and maximizing yield with the inevitable proliferation of on-chain protocols, products, and decentralized apps. However, what is missing in the U.S. is regulatory support and index adoption that captures the more nuanced and differentiating aspects of crypto markets, such as proof-of-stake reward rates. While U.S. regulators are hoped to provide clear guidelines, innovation will continue with or without them.

Fellow Binancians,
Binance will open trading for the ATOM/FDUSD, AVAX/FDUSD, BAND/TRY, BCH/FDUSD, LOOM/TRY and MATIC/FDUSD spot trading pairs at 2023-10-19 08:00 (UTC).
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2023-10-18

According to Cointelegraph: Bitcoin's price is predicted to hit at least $128,000 by the conclusion of 2025, according to various analytics models. Renowned trader and analyst, CryptoCon, proposed this lofty two-year target on Oct. 17 via X (formerly known as Twitter).

The Bitcoin market forecasts differ regarding the cryptocurrency's price trajectory following next year's block subsidy halving. However, CryptoCon maintains a bullish long-term outlook, with figures around $130,000 emerging as the most popular prediction.

BTC price model data. Source: CryptoCon/X

Forecasts based on multiple Bitcoin price cycles, as well as their peaks and troughs, all point to the $130,000 mark. As CryptoCon notes, early tops in each price cycle, as well as the cycle top constituting new all-time highs, reaffirm this expectation.

The analyst further elaborated that early tops, on average, occur within a three-week frame around July 9, and all-time highs tend to materialize within three weeks around Nov. 28.

CryptoCon devised this prediction by using simple diagonal trendlines from the first early top. The resulting calculation identified the price of the last two cycle tops accurately and suggested a price target of around $138k for the current cycle.

Despite being open to lower prices, CryptoCon's analysis predominantly favors a $130,000 target for Bitcoin during this cycle. According to the model's timeline, 2025 should witness the peak of the next cycle, almost double the current 2021 record.

These four-year halving cycles have shaped the viewpoints of many notable Bitcoin market commentators. Among them is analyst Rekt Capital, who anticipates new local lows in the pre-halving year 2023 before the bull market peaks. In the past, Rekt Capital cautioned about possible price downturns with highs of $32,000 forming a double-top pattern.

As Rekt Capital explains, downturns "should be treated as an opportunity for re-accumulation," suggesting that while the current pattern favors bears, bulls should still view any lows as investment opportunities.