Kategorie: Crypto Markets

Daily headlines and news about crypto markets.

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Bitcoin falls below $21K amid reports SEC is probing Coinbase

Bitcoin price fell below $21,000 on Tuesday as the market sentiment turned sour on reports the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was investigating US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.

BTC has touched lows of $20,915 and with potential downside likely to push it to the key support line around $20K. Fresh selling could include pain beyond the psychological level.

SEC probing Coinbase spooks investors?

Coinbase had already come out against suggestions that it had listed crypto token securities on its platform when it first emerged following the SEC’s insider trading charges against the crypto platform’s former product manager.

But on Tuesday, it emerged that the SEC was indeed looking into whether Coinbase offered security tokens to US investors – with at least seven of nine alleged security tokens listed on Coinbase.

According to a Bloomberg report, the SEC’s investigation started way before the insider trading case. However, with regulatory scrutiny firmly on the crypto sector following recent events, the investor community is seemingly spooked on the potential impact of the SEC vs. Coinbase case if it comes to that.

Crypto market cap falls below $1 trillion

The downside in the BTC market was also mirrored across the altcoin market, with top altcoin Ethereum (ETH) declining by more than 8% to drop below $1,400.

The sell-off pressure, also seen across the equities market with US indexes opening lower amid investor jitters over recession ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.

The S&P 500 was down nearly 1% and the Nasdaq over 1.3% lower, while the crypto market total capitalisation has fallen below the $1 trillion mark.

The post Bitcoin falls below $21K amid reports SEC is probing Coinbase appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Bitfinex enables zero-fee USDT deposits and withdrawals on Tezos

Bitfinex customers can now benefit from zero fee deposits and withdrawals of USDT on the Tezos blockchain.

Tether (USDT), the world’s largest and most widely used US dollar-pegged stablecoin, has officially launched on the Tezos blockchain.

USDT is the third largest cryptocurrency by market cap of $65 billion, ranked behind Ethereum and benchmark asset Bitcoin.

USDT live on 12th blockchain

In an announcement on Friday last week, cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex said that USDT would be enabled on the proof-of-stake (PoS) for deposits and withdrawals, all at zero fees.

USDT going live on Tezos means that the stablecoin is now available on twelve blockchain platforms. These are Ethereum, Tron, Polkadot, Algorand, Avalanche, Solana, EOS, Bitcoin Cash’s Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP), Liquid Network, Kusama and Omni.

XTZ tokens

The native Tezos token XTZ plays a massive role in the blockchain platform’s ecosystem. Apart from allowing users to interact with decentralised applications (dApps), XTZ can be used to pay transaction fees and for network security through staking. 

Customers can buy XTZon Bitfinex via cash via Bank wire, as well as crypto and credit cards.

XTZ, currently trading around $1.60, reached an all-time high of $9.12 in October last year. The cryptocurrency has a market cap of $1.47 billion.

The post Bitfinex enables zero-fee USDT deposits and withdrawals on Tezos appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Voyager rubbishes FTX’s acquisition bid as a selfish gambit

Voyager Digital does not agree with billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX and Alameda Ventures’ proposal to acquire the embattled crypto lender’s assets, details included in a court filing indicate.

According to the filing, AlamedaFTX’s bid is selfish and could “harm customers.”

Lawyers representing the firm argue that FTX’s proposal contravened the Bidding Procedures and aimed at generating publicity rather than being focused on giving value to Voyager’s customers.

“AlamedaFTX’s actions are not value maximizing,” the lawyers wrote, noting that the acquisition bid “is nothing more than a liquidation of cryptocurrency on a basis that advantages AlamedaFTX.”

Voyager lawyers say bid misleading

FTX last week sent a bid for Voyager’s assets, promising to allow affected customers access to a portion of their held assets rather than having to wait for the bankruptcy procedures to complete.

“The goal of our joint proposal is to help establish a better way to resolve an insolvent crypto business – a way that allows customers to obtain early liquidity and reclaim a portion of their assets without forcing them to speculate on bankruptcy outcomes and take one-sided risks,” FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried said.

But Voyager rejects the proposal saying AlamedaFTX public comments in the cover letter “openly disparaged” the beleaguered crypto lender. 

The statements in the press release were also misleading, the lawyers claimed – only tailored to benefit FTX based on assets it deems valuable, while completely ignoring that which it sees as being of no value. According to Voyager, the proposal is nothing but a “low-ball bid dressed up as a white knight rescue.”

Bankman-Fried believes otherwise and says the offer his firms put forth represent the best for customers. 

In any case, he contends those opposed are likely those intending to benefit the most from the remaining Voyager assets as the bankruptcy process drags on.

The post Voyager rubbishes FTX’s acquisition bid as a selfish gambit appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Ethereum is that asset institutional investors may soon feel ‘compelled to own’, Bitwise CIO says

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan sees the crypto market growing 5-10x bigger in the next few years, with the next market cycle likely catalysed by Ethereum’s merge.

Bitwise Asset Management CIO Matt Hougan says Ethereum (ETH) transitioning from a proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (Pos) network, and the announcement of the date of the “Merge” is “a massive piece of news” – likely the signal that marks the beginning of a crypto bottom.

Hougan, speaking in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday, also believes the highly anticipated Merge puts Ethereum on the cusp of unprecedented adoption by institutional investors.

The Merge is big, and not just for Ethereum

Last week, Ethereum developer Tim Beiko announced that the highly anticipated Merge update will happen in mid-September, and the crypto market’s reaction helped ETH price soar more than 40% – rising from about $1,200 to over $1,640. Ethereum had dipped below $1k earlier in the month.

Hougan says a bottoming process could be underway as a result of the announcement, with this probably marking the turning point that eventually heralds the next crypto boom.

“We may look back on the merge – or the announcement of the date of the merge – as the single moment that turned us from sort of the crypto winter into at least a sideways move before we go to the next big move.”

As for Ethereum, Hougan says the network is poised for its biggest development since the explosion in decentralised finace (DeFi) in 2020. Ethereum has not seen as much institutional hype as Bitcoin, but the transition, the Bitwise exec believes, will help make the cryptocurrency an even more attractive asset for institutional investors.

“It’s going to transform Ethereum into an asset that institutional investors feel increasingly attracted to, maybe even compelled to own… Institutional investors have only been in Bitcoin primarily, but in the future of crypto they’re going to be in Bitcoin, Ethereum and, I would argue, a wide array of assets.”

Catalyst for 5-10x market growth

DeFi, non-fungilbe tokens (NFTs) and stablecoins were all huge over the last bull market. Before that, it was Ethereum-based initial coin offerings in 2017 and prior to that, Bitcoin’s revolutionary, non-sovereign monetary system in early 2010s. 

The future of crypto could see “five or six other killer products” emerging over the next few years. When this happens, greater adoption could see the market grow 5-10 times. Hougan explained when he thinks this will happen.

“I think it will be the moment that crypto goes mainstream and your friends, your uncles, your cousins are all interacting with the crypto market through gaming, digital identity, music and NFTs ticketing, DeFi and stablecoins for payments,” he opined.

This kind of growth, he argued, might just be “a year or two off.”

During the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) in Paris earlier this week, co-founder Vitalik Buterin talked of the “long and complicated” journey that has been the transition to PoS.

He noted that the Merge was just a part of the roadmap that could end with Ethereum as a “a system that is more powerful and robust in so many ways.” But even then, with the pivotal merge, Ethereum would only be “55% complete.”

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Bitcoin price outlook: What levels are analysts watching?

Bitcoin (BTC) rose to a seven-day high above $24,000 this week, hitting its highest price level since mid-June.  

The benchmark cryptocurrency has however found it hard to break higher, with a subsequent cooling pushing it to lows of $22,600 on Friday evening.

Market observers, including analysts at JPMorgan and Citi say the sentiment across the market is improving as the negativity heightened by recent turmoil dissipates. But what BTC levels are analysts watching?

Analysts share key Bitcoin levels to watch

Popular crypto analyst Rekt Capital says the next important move for BTC/USD this week is to achieve a weekly candle close at or above the 200-week moving average. The key price level then is around $22.8k.

“BTC is see-sawing around the 200-week MA all week,” the analyst said, adding that “the most important thing will be the confirmation relative to the 200-week MA in the form of a Weekly Candle Close. The 200-week MA represents the price point of $22800.”

Crypto trader Mayne suggests bulls need to hold above $22.5k to maintain this week’s positive outlook.

“Simple view, potential range break out. Upside could be juicy if we can hold above $22.5k/range high. Lose the range high, this was likely a deviation. The move above range high becomes your risk as you target shorts back into the range.”

Another analyst, the pseudonymous Shardi B says Nasdaq’s 1.87% dip on Friday may cascade into the crypto market, a likely scenario given the high correlation between risk assets (crypto and equities).

Crypto trader CryptoGodJon says flipping higher and holding above $24.5k could see a breakout to the $27k-$28k range. However, a dip from current levels could easily open up a path to $20k and even lower.

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