Binance terminates wallet services to WazirX

  • Binance says WazirX has till 3 February 2023 at 23:59 UTC to withdraw assets from its accounts.
  • According to Binance, Zanmai Labs, the company behind WazirX, has failed to retract misleading public statements about their relationship.
  • Changpeng Zhao said in August 2022 that Binance never acquired WazirX and that it only offered wallet services to the exchange.

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has terminated wallet services it has been offering to Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX.

An announcement Binance published on Friday, 3 February 2023, notes that the decision to halt the wallet service relates to Zanmai Labs, the company that operates WazirX. As explained in the blog post, Zanmai has severally put forth misleading claims about its relationship with Binance.

In particular, claims that Binance had control over WazirX user funds and exchange operations is a misleading narrative that Zanmai has continued to perpetuate.

Binance halts wallet services to WazirX operator

Due to all the false claims, Binance says it gave Zanmai the opportunity to retract the misrepresentations if they wanted to still benefit from the wallet services. That hasn’t happened and it’s the reason for the move.

According to Binance, the relationship between it and Zanmai has only been around the provision of wallet services. These, the exchange added, are offered “as a tech solution” to help power WazirX’s exchange operations and that this isn’t unique to Zanmai. 

The wallet service is similarly offered to other companies that leverage the technology and infrastructure to run their own businesses.

“On 26 January 2023, we offered Zanmai a choice between retracting the false public statements (and continuing to use our services) or terminating the use of our wallet service. Since Zanmai has refused to clarify their misleading statements, Zanmai has till 3 February 2023 (23:59 UTC) to remove the funds from the accounts that they used for WazirX’s operations,” Binance wrote.

Reportedly, Zanmai is ready to withdraw all WazirX assets from Binance accounts. Binance is also offering to allow the withdrawals to extend beyond 3 February. The process will not impact Binance users, the exchange noted.

In August last year, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao explained that although his company had announced its acquisition of WazirX in 2019, the deal never materialized. Zhao’s comments came as the Indian government froze WazirX accounts amid investigations into a money laundering scheme.

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MicroStrategy BTC paper loss hit $1.3B but no plans to stop trading bitcoin

  • MicroStrategy registered $34 million in its first-ever bitcoin sale.
  • The company registered a paper loss of over 1 billion in 2022.
  • MicroStrategy made its first bitcoin purchase in August 2020.

Despite making a paper loss of about $1.3 billion in 2022, MicroStrategy’s chief financial officer, Andrew Kang, said that the company will continue trading bitcoin. During a presentation for the Q4 2022 financial results webnier, Kang said:

“We may consider pursuing additional transactions that may take advantage of the volatility in Bitcoin prices, or other market dislocations that are consistent with our long-term Bitcoin strategy.”

The company’s stand on digital currencies comes at a time the crypto market is witnessing considerable recovery from last year’s plunge although it is not clear if digital currencies will ever reclaim their previous highs.

Microstrategy bitcoin investment

Microstrategy made its first bitcoin purchase in August 2020 acquiring 21,454 BTC in what it described as a “capital allocation strategy.” The company has been accumulating bitcoins since then and by December 24 2022 it had as much as 132,500 BTC worth $4.027 billion according to Microstrategy bitcoin statistics on the Buy Bitcoin Worldwide website.

In the presentation on February 2023, Kang confirmed that Microstrategy holds 132,500 bitcoin that are worth about $1.84 billion as of Dec. 31, 2022.

In the last quarter, MicroStrategy made a loss of $34 million after making its first-ever Bitcoin sale. The company made the decision to sell some of its bitcoins to recoup some tax losses.

Microstrategy co-founder Michael Saylor said Bitcoin is one of the most important benchmarks that it uses to measure its stock performance against. He said that the company’s stock has risen by 117% since August 2020 compared to the bitcoin price which has risen by 98% in the same period.

In an interview with a popular news outlet, Saylor said:

“The only real safe haven for an institutional investor is Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the only universally acknowledged digital commodity, and so if you’re an investor, Bitcoin is your safe haven in this regard.”

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BTC/USD price forecast following the Fed’s decision

  • Bitcoin moves in a tight correlation with the US dollar
  • Investors are unsure what to make of the Fed’s decision
  • Technical analysis favors a stronger dollar

The Federal Reserve of the United States (Fed) has raised the funds rate once more this week – this time, by 25bp. The decision triggered a selloff in the US dollar, which lost ground against its peer fiat currencies.

Also, it lost ground against Bitcoin as well.

The reason for the greenback’s weakness was the message that disinflation in the United States had already begun. As such, the fight against rising inflation appears to be over, and so the Fed approaches the terminal rate for this tightening cycle.

But the dollar’s weakness proved to be shortlived.

The next day following the Fed’s decision, the dollar strengthened. Nothing changed from the Fed’s point of view, but investors suddenly decided it was time to buy the dollar.

So they did, and now the dollar is in a range ahead of the jobs report in the United States.

Bitcoin dropped against the dollar, too, after trading above $24k for a brief period. At the current levels, it sits dangerously at the lower edge of a reversal pattern.

BTCUSD chart by TradingView

Rising wedge and bearish RSI divergence call for caution

Bitcoin’s price action diverged from the RSI even before the Fed’s decision. A bearish divergence forms when the oscillator, in this case the RSI, fails to make new higher highs. Yet, at the same time, the price action, or the market, does form them.

This way, the two diverge, and the oscillator shows signs of weakness in the market.

Besides the bearish divergence with the RSI, BTC/USD is in a rising wedge formation. This is a reversal pattern, but traders must be patient before shorting the market.

The idea is to wait until and if the market breaks below the pivotal area marked in blue on the chart above. Such a move implies that the reversal pattern ended and a new market move has already started.

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Crypto Gaming Arcade, Metacade, Has Potential to 10X in 2023! Here’s What You Need to Know

Investors searching for potential gains in 2023 have been wowed by the news that Metacade’s initial presale stages have sold out within a matter of weeks as bullish investors poured more than $4.9m of funding into the fledgling crypto gaming platform.

With MCADE’s presale continuing to attract massive interest in subsequent presale rounds, some experts are predicting that early investors could enjoy 10X gains in 2023.

Metacade could be the buy of the year

Forward-thinking investors and crypto gaming enthusiasts have been effusive in their early backing of Metacade during the presale, supporting the platform’s aim of delivering the most comprehensive range of online arcade games in the metaverse.

The momentum behind the presale has picked up pace in stage 3, which indicates that the value of Metacade’s utility token and native currency coin is set to surge in the short term, with potentially enormous long-term gains to be realized in the coming years. 

Beginning at $0.008 per token in the beta phase, MCADE’s value is set to rise to $0.02 by the end of the ninth and final presale stage. Expectations are that the price could leap in value once MCADE becomes available to the public.

Bullish investors have been seduced by Metacade’s vast long-term potential, set out in their comprehensive and ambitious white paper. This, combined with the wider projected explosion in the GameFi sector over the next five years and plans to place themselves at the center of crypto gaming for years to come, means MCADE has the potential to achieve 10X gains this year.

How high could MCADE reach in 2023?

The value of the MCADE is set to rise throughout the duration of the presale, culminating in a value of $0.02 per token as it prepares for its IDO. The coin will then be launched on decentralized exchanges (DEXs) when buyers globally will likely scramble to get their hands on MCADE.

Early investors are expected to maintain their HODLing, awaiting a huge jump in MCADE’s value. With a limited fixed supply of 2 billion tokens, demand for MCADE is expected to surge enormously on centralized and decentralized exchanges, which could lead to an increase in price as MCADE establishes itself as a solid crypto-gaming token.

The utility built into the MCADE token makes it an even more attractive prospect for investors to get their hands on. Expectations are that the value can deliver 10X gains with a rise in value to between $0.10 and $0.20 – a realistic prospect for 2023.

Is cryptocurrency a good long-term investment?

Between 2016 and 2021, global crypto holders increased by almost 60 times in five years. Although market conditions turned decidedly frosty in 2022, driven by the collapse of some big names in crypto markets, such as FTX, and global economic conditions, the number of investors and platforms continues to grow.

In addition, the crypto-gaming market is projected to grow approximately 70% year-on-year to become a $63 billion industry by 2027. Metacade is superbly placed to take advantage of this growth with its unrivaled range of online arcade games.

The crypto world is fast-paced, with an ever-increasing number of user cases, so predicting the future is hard. However, with countries like El Salvador beginning to adopt crypto as a genuine means of international payment, the signs for crypto markets are incredibly positive.

What is Metacade?

Metacade is building a brand-new platform hosting the most extensive range of online arcade games in the metaverse, becoming the first project of its kind to launch in the crypto-gaming world. Built on the Ethereum blockchain, Metacade will host a wide variety of play-to-earn (P2E) titles allowing gaming enthusiasts to come together with like-minded individuals, build a community and earn crypto rewards as they play.

A community-driven project, Metacade offers gamers and users a range of different earning mechanisms outside the P2E capability, with members rewarded for social interactions with the platform and, shortly, being able to apply for paid roles, including game testers, on Metacade and in the wider Web3 industry.

Metacade: Driving GameFi development

Metacade aims to go well beyond the traditional sphere of P2E crypto gaming platforms by delivering innovation in the wider GameFi industry through its ground-breaking Metagrants scheme. Developers can submit applications for funding to support the creation of new exclusive titles. These submissions are pooled and presented to MCADE token holders who vote for their favorites.

By handing control of the games that go into development to the community, Metacade allows the GameFi industry to benefit by having games that players want on their platform while providing much-needed development experience to the most talented game developers to employ the newest and best Web3 techniques in their work, keeping Metacade ahead of its competition.

Metacade: The best crypto gaming coin with 10X gains in 2023

The MCADE presale presents investors with a unique opportunity to purchase tokens in one of the most exciting crypto-gaming projects in the metaverse. The current price of $0.013 in stage 3 of the presale looks undervalued, even in today’s bear market conditions.

Experts expect Metacade’s presale to fully sell out quickly at every stage, making MCADE the must-buy token before the price increases. With 10X gains looking possible in 2023, it’s a good time for investors to pick up the MCADE token. 

You can participate in the MCADE presale here.

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Indonesia to unveil national crypto exchange by June

  • The crypto landscape in Indonesia could see a national crypto exchange before the end of June this year.
  • Indonesia initially planned to launch the crypto bourse before the end of 2022.
  • The government says the cryptocurrency exchange will include five active and licensed platforms.

Indonesia is set to roll out its national crypto exchange in the next few months, the country’s Trade Ministry has said. 

As previously reported by CoinJournal, the country indicated it would be launching the exchange this year. The latest crypto news on the subject as highlited by a local news outlet, is that the Indonesian government is looking to have the crypto bourse ready by June 2023. 

Currently, crypto assets trading in Indonesia falls under the purview of the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency.

Indonesia’s growing crypto landscape

The new timeline comes after new developments (authorities suspended the licensing of new exchanges) and other official delays forced the relevant government bodies working on the project to push the launch from the originally envisaged rollout of December 2022. 

But December also saw lawmakers in the House of Representatives pass the Financial Sector Development and Reinforcement Bill.

The bill, referred to as the omnibus law, is now Indonesia’s primary legal reference for the broader financial services industry. Among the areas covered in the new law is the regulatory oversight of crypto exchanges. 

At the moment, a review of digital asset exchanges earmarked to join the national crypto exchange is ongoing. Per the latest report on the matter, the government has identified five active, registered exchanges from a list of 25 for the role.

Commenting on the upcoming bourse, Indonesia’s Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan said there’s need for everything to be done to ensure all is set before launch. According to him, rushing the project could end up with a scenario where the public who are still learning about crypto trading get harmed by the very project designed to protect them.

Indonesia is one of the countries with the fastest growing crypto communities. As recent research by CoinJournal showed, the country ranks among the top by percentage of population owning cryptocurrencies.

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