Crypto_NFT

2022-09-19 11:36:00 ​​Bitcoin has failed the level of $19,000. Ethereum is below $1300

On Monday, September 19, the quotes of the first cryptocurrency did not stay above $19,000. Over the past day, the asset has fallen in price by 7.8%, according to CoinGecko.

At the time of writing, bitcoin is trading near $18,460. The second largest cryptocurrency by capitalization has lost 10.8% over the past day, having failed the level of $1,300.

All crypto assets from the top 10 also moved into the red zone. The most notable drop was for Caradano (-9%).

According to Coinglass, positions in the futures market were liquidated as a result of a correction in the amount of more than $418 million. Most of it was in Ethereum - $168.6 million.

The capitalization of the cryptocurrency market amounted to $943.6 billion. The Bitcoin dominance index is 37.6%, ETH is 16.6%.

The main event of the week, which puts pressure on the first cryptocurrency, is the Fed meeting on September 21. According to the futures market, the probability of raising the key rate immediately by 75 bp. p. is 80%.

The growth of the core indicator of inflation, contrary to the forecast, strengthened the perception of the speech of the head of the Fed, Jerome Powell, as part of the symposium in Jackson Hole. Then the official warned of his intention not to rush to lower the rate in order to maintain control over inflationary expectations.

On September 13, Bitcoin came under pressure amid the publication of a macroeconomic release. According to the document, the annual growth of consumer prices in the US in August slowed down to 8.3%, which strengthened the scenario for maintaining the aggressive policy of the Fed.

Bloomberg strategist Mike McGlone ruled out the possibility of Fed easing the key rate in the near future. Analyst Twitter account Games of Trades noted that the S&P 500 has reached a critical time before the start of trading on Wall Street. Open / Comment

2022-09-18 16:35:02 ​​Cardano developers have begun implementing Vasil into the main network

The Input Output Global (IOG, formerly IOHK) team has begun the final stages of activating the Vasil update on the Cardano mainnet. According to the head of the company, Charles Hoskinson, the developers initiated the hard fork combinator mechanism.

“The hard fork combinator request has been submitted and successfully accepted. Which means the process has begun. […] We will all sit and watch the Vasil rocket take off. She's already in the air. […] Now there is no going back. Everything has already begun,” he said.

The Hard Fork Combinator (HFC) is a protocol fusion tool developed by IOG that allows large-scale updates to the blockchain “in the background”.

HFC was first used in July 2020 when the Shelley upgrade was activated in Cardano. The mechanism eliminates the violation of the integrity of the blockchain and network downtime, since the nodes do not need to simultaneously update to the latest version of the software - the transition is carried out over time.

As planned, Vasil will be activated on the mainnet on September 22, 2022. However, according to Hoskinson, due to a number of technical reasons, some of the changes will not take effect until September 27th.

The head of IOG also urged community members to update the Daedalus digital wallet to the latest version (5.0.0), which contains several important fixes.

Vasil includes four proposals to improve the Cardano network, focused on reducing transaction fees and improving network security. The update will also make it easier to interact with smart contracts. Open / Comment

2022-09-18 16:32:47 ​​Hackers stole $3.3 million through a vulnerability in Profanity's Ethereum address generator

Attackers stole about $3.3 million in cryptocurrency from Ethereum users who generated addresses through the Profanity tool. Earlier, the 1inch Network team warned about the vulnerability of the service.

The Profanity tool made it possible to generate human-readable Ethereum addresses (vanity addresses) containing words, names, or phrases. Work on the tool was abandoned several years ago, but the wallets created with it still function today.

On September 15, the 1inch team warned the community that the keys to such addresses can be picked up by brute force - a systematic enumeration of all possible combinations of characters. The service used a 32-bit vector to populate 256-bit private encoders.

Then the developers said that the vulnerability could allow the theft of assets "for tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars." 1inch Network co-founder Anton Bukov noted that some of the rug pull schemes recorded in 2022 could be associated with it.

A researcher under the nickname ZachXBT drew attention to the theft of funds. He also alerted a user that hackers had gained access to his wallet and helped save over $1.2 million worth of NFTs and tokens. Open / Comment

2022-09-18 16:30:21 ​​Do Kwon denies reports of his 'escape'

The head of Terraform Labs, Do Kwon, said he was not on the run and was cooperating with law enforcement. According to him, he is not hiding from government agencies that are "interested in communicating" with him.

“I'm not on the run, nothing like that - we cooperate with any government agencies that have shown an interest in communication, and we have nothing to hide. We are defending interests in multiple jurisdictions - keeping the bar of integrity high and looking forward to clarifying the truth over the next few months," he wrote.

Kwon stressed that he is not going to reveal his location to strangers. According to him, this is a direct invasion of privacy.

On September 17, Reuters, citing the Singapore police, reported that the head of Terraform Labs had left the city-state. Similar information is provided by the local newspaper Lianhe Zaobao.

On September 14, a court in Seoul issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwon and five others on charges including violations of South Korea's capital markets laws. According to authorities, all the suspects were in Singapore. Open / Comment

2022-09-16 17:53:16 ​​Fitch Downgrades El Salvador's Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating

The international rating agency Fitch Ratings has downgraded El Salvador's long-term issuer default rating in foreign currency from "CCC" to "CC".

According to the document, one of the reasons for the country's limited market access and problems with bond redemption was the recognition of the first cryptocurrency as a legal means of payment.

“The policy controversy surrounding the government’s adoption of bitcoin reduced the likelihood of a timely deal with the IMF,” Fitch Ratings noted.

The organization has repeatedly criticized the decision of the country's authorities, and in January recommended depriving bitcoin of the status of legal tender. In 2021, El Salvador requested a $1.3 billion loan from the IMF.

According to Fitch Ratings, until January 2023, the state will need about $3.7 billion, with a "financing gap" of about $900 million. Experts noted that the current situation "makes a default more or less likely."

“The liquidity situation in El Salvador ahead of the Eurobond payment in January 2023 is dire,” the report said.

In July, Reuters reported that the country would use $560 million to buy back bonds maturing between 2023 and 2025. On September 12, President Nayib Bukele wrote that the amount was $360 million.

In Fitch's view, the external debt buyback plan "is likely to further ease an already tight liquidity position."

“The size and volume of the transaction do not significantly affect the probability of default,” the experts added.

The country’s authorities first started buying bitcoin in September 2021, creating a special fund in the amount of $150 million. Already at the end of the month, El Salvador purchased an additional 150 BTC, bringing the total reserves to 700 BTC.

In November, another 100 BTC were bought, in January 2021 - an additional 410 BTC on a market drawdown. In May 2022, Bukele announced the acquisition of 500 BTC.

At the time of writing, El Salvador holds 2,381 BTC worth $47.2 million in the government fund, according to Buy Bitcoin Worldwide.

In June, against the backdrop of a fall in the price of the first cryptocurrency below $23,000, the “paper” loss of the country from 2,301 BTC in reserves exceeded $46.1 million.

Earlier, Moody's downgraded El Salvador's long-term foreign currency credit rating to Caa1 with a negative outlook. In early 2022, the firm’s experts noted that Bitcoin purchases were putting further pressure on the level of credit confidence in the country.

Recall that the head of the Central Bank of El Salvador, Carlos Acevedo, said that the legalization of the first cryptocurrency "killed" relations with the IMF. Open / Comment

2022-09-16 17:50:24 ​​SEC Cryptocurrency Accounting Guidelines Undermine Banks' Initiatives

The SEC's requirement for all U.S. public companies to treat customers' digital assets in custody as liabilities has had a negative impact on banks' projects, Reuters writes.

The proposal is presented in the recommendations of the Commission in March of this year. According to the document, firms are required to increase the amount of cash and equivalents due to the increase in such liabilities.

The regulator also pointed to the need to disclose the technological, legal and regulatory risks associated with them.

According to informed sources of the agency, the SEC did not consult on this issue with the banking regulator.

“The document came out without feedback, without discussion with the industry,” said Trey Hollingsworth, a member of the Financial Services Committee of the US House of Representatives.

Banking regulation standards being formed by the Basel Committee are also expected to impose strict capital requirements and risk restrictions on cryptocustodians.

Together with the SEC recommendations, they can further reduce the attractiveness of holding digital assets for US banks.

Journalists noted that the actions of the Commission have complicated the efforts of banks to develop the digital asset market. They may refuse to implement these plans, even in spite of increased demand from customers.

US Bank, the fifth-largest by assets in the US, told Reuters it was suspending new clients from the industry until it assesses the "changing regulatory environment."

The head of State Street Digital, Nadine Chakar, said that the management would not interfere with offering services for the storage of cryptocurrencies, but would deprive them of economic sense.

BNY Mellon declined to comment on the status of its cryptocurrency-related projects.

Representatives of an unnamed European bank, which planned to enter the US market with a similar product, said that it would be "prohibitively expensive" under the new guidance.

Reuters, citing people familiar with the matter, reported on ongoing efforts to lobby for the removal of banks from management or the provision of more lenient supervisory conditions.

Stakeholders are also counting on the emergence of special guidance from the banking regulator, which will soften the capital requirements for working with digital assets.

The Fed, FDIC and OCC did not respond to the agency's request.

In June 2022, Citigroup chose the infrastructure company Metaco as a partner in launching a pilot project of a platform for storing and managing digital assets.

On September 21, 2020, the OCC allowed national banks and federal savings associations to hold reserves of stablecoin issuers. Open / Comment

2022-09-06 13:38:10 ​​Twitter Fake Bitcoin Farm Raises $100,000 in Hours

A Twitter-popular DeFi researcher under the pseudonym FatManTerra came up with a fake investment scheme as part of an experiment and raised over $100,000 in bitcoin in a couple of hours.
Over 101,000 people have subscribed to FatManTerra. He is known as a former Terra supporter who is now actively opposing the project after its $40 billion collapse in May.
On September 5, he tweeted about allegedly gaining access to a “highly profitable bitcoin farm” from an unnamed fund, and invited subscribers to join farming.
FatManTerra deliberately did not disclose additional details of the investment scheme, but even without this information, he managed to collect over $100,000 worth of bitcoins within a couple of hours.
“I want to send a clear message to everyone in the crypto world – anyone who offers you easy money is lying. Influencers who sell quick trading training or great investment opportunities are cheating you,” he added.
FatManTerra claims to have returned all the money to users.
He added that the experiment was inspired by the Lady of Crypto account, which was accused of promoting dubious investment schemes among 257,500 subscribers. Open / Comment

2022-09-06 13:26:34 ​​Aave Community Supports Ethereum Borrowing Suspension Ahead of The Merge

The proposal to suspend borrowing in Ethereum through the Aave DeFi protocol before a massive update of The Merge received support for almost 78% of the vote.
The authors motivated the pause in lending by the high risk of growth in volumes. Users are expected to borrow Ethereum to capitalize on potential PoW forks of the second-largest cryptocurrency network.
“High utilization hinders liquidation operations, increasing the chances of the protocol becoming insolvent. Additionally, an increased ETH borrowing rate could make recursive stETH/ETH positions unprofitable. This will increase the chances that users will close positions and increase the price deviation of stETH,” the explanation reads.
According to Dune Analytics, there has been no noticeable increase in the volume of lending in the protocol over the past month.
The value of funds locked in Aave has fallen by nearly 10% over the past 30 days to $6.45 billion, according to DeFi Llama. Open / Comment

2022-09-06 13:09:37 ​​Nearly 73% of Ethereum Nodes Signal Ready for The Merge

72.6% of Ethereum nodes are ready to merge ahead of the scheduled September 6th Bellatrix upgrade, according to Ethernodes.
The upgrade is seen as the first phase of blockchain migration to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) algorithm. Bellatrix will prepare Beacon Chain's "signaling network" for the merger.
One of the main developers, Tim Beiko, urged node operators who have not updated the software to the current version to do so before the update.
“If you are using an Ethereum client that has not been updated to the latest version, after the upgrade it will sync with the pre-fork blockchain. You will be stuck on an incompatible chain under the old rules and will not be able to send ether or operate on the network after the merger,” the Ethereum Foundation noted.
The dominant share of nodes that are not ready to merge is accounted for by the most popular Geth client. The post-The Merge version of the software supports both "execution" and "consensus" network layers.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin also addressed node operators:
"The merge is still expected to happen around Sep 13-15. What's happening today is the Bellatrix hard fork, which *prepares* the chain for the merge. Still important though - make sure to update your clients!"
Bellatrix activation is expected to take place at 14:34:47 (Kyiv/Moscow) at epoch 144 896. The next part of The Merge is called Paris.
A number of cryptocurrency platforms have announced the suspension of support for Ethereum during a large-scale update (AntPool) or restrictions on certain operations (Coinbase, Binance).
Recall that ForkLog discussed in educational cards how the transition of Ethereum to PoS will take place, what changes and new upgrades await the network. Open / Comment

2022-09-05 11:49:19 ​​Mercado Bitcoin exchange operator cut another 15% of staff

2TM Group, the parent company of Brazilian cryptocurrency exchange Mercado Bitcoin, has cut staff by 15% following layoffs in June. It is reported by The Block.

The firm noted that the lack of regulation of the industry in Brazil puts local crypto companies at a disadvantage.

“At 2TM, we have combined brands and completed the integration of companies acquired in 2021 to increase efficiency and synergy. However, the economic woes continue and the competitive environment is deteriorating and unfair without an established legal framework for crypto assets. Players who abide by the laws lose out to companies that ignore local regulations,” the statement said.

In June, the company did not name the number of laid-off employees.

In December 2021, 2TM Group closed a $50.3 million Series B extended funding round. Prior to that, the firm raised $200 million from the SoftBank Latin America Fund, becoming the eighth-largest unicorn in the region.

Earlier, Mercado Bitcoin received $37.4 million to expand its presence in the markets of Latin America.

Recall that in July, the head of the exchange, Reinaldo Rabelo, announced plans to expand the provision of services to the Mexican market.

In May, the largest Mexican crypto trading platform Bitso laid off 80 employees. Open / Comment