Crypto Portal

2023-05-09 19:00:04 ​SEC’s lawsuit cut down the number of XRP exchanges, but will things change?

XRP has had arguably the hardest time among top cryptos due to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) lawsuit against Ripple Labs a few years ago. In fact, since the lawsuit was filed, there has been a fall in the number of XRP exchanges around the world too.

XRP Exchanges’ decline affected XRP’s reach
Soon after the lawsuit was filed in 2020, the number of XRP exchanges saw a significant decline. Several exchanges, including big shots like Coinbase, Crypto com, and OKCoin, announced that they would suspend trading XRP on their platforms. The delisting definitely had a negative impact on the token’s global reach as these exchanges are very popular worldwide.

In its official announcement, Coinbase mentioned, “In light of the SEC’s lawsuit against Ripple Labs, Inc, we have made the decision to suspend the XRP trading pairs on our platform. Trading will move into limit only starting December 28, 2020 at 2:30 PM PST, and will be fully suspended on Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.”

However, trading suspension did not affect customers’ access to XRP wallets, which remained available for deposit and withdrawal functionality after the trading suspension.

However, it is interesting to note that as the years passed, a few of the exchanges such as Crypto com re-listed XRP, giving their users access to trade the token. The year 2023 can turn out to be instrumental for XRP, especially since many believe the lawsuit is reaching its endgame soon. If XRP manages to win the case, the probability of exchanges re-listing XRP are high. This can, in turn, shower blessings on the token’s price action.

A look into history
The SEC’s litigation against Ripple Labs, which has been affecting XRP since 2020, has been a significant setback for the company and its native token. To begin with, the SEC charged Ripple and its employees, Christian Larsen and Brad Garlinghouse, with public sales of unregulated securities worth more than $1.3 billion.

The lawsuit undoubtedly hurt XRP since it may have caused investors to lose faith in the token. The lawsuit caused XRP’s price to decline sharply, as is evident from the chart. However, the token was quick to recover as it registered gains in the following days. Nonetheless, the fact that negative sentiment around XRP spiked during that period can’t be overruled.

The road ahead looks like…
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, in a recent interview with CNBC, cited that the company will have spent $200 million defending itself against a lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by the time it is over in 2023.

This can be a game changer for Ripple, as speculations have emerged of late that the lawsuit can end soon. If the judgment is passed in Ripple’s favor, several exchanges might re-list XRP once again. This might be enough to create hype and pump the token’s price over the subsequent months.

XRP’s current state
XRP’s performance has not been on par for quite some time now. Its development activity plummeted, which in general is a negative sign. XRP’s performance on the social front is also not up to the mark, as evident from a decline in its social volume.

At press time, according to CoinMarketCap, XRP was down by more than 7% in the last seven days. In fact, it was trading at $0.4245 with a market capitalization of over 22 billion, making it the 6th largest crypto by market cap.

Though XRP’s demand in the derivatives market remained pretty stable, it tumbled during the concluding weeks of April. The same can be evidenced by its red Binance funding rate. XRP’s network growth and velocity also declined over the last 3 months.

The decline indicated that fewer new wallets were created and the token was not transferred among wallets at a higher rate. Nonetheless, investors’ confidence in XRP remained unaffected as the total amount of holders increased. Open / Comment

2023-05-06 17:30:00 ​UK FCA cracks down on unregistered crypto ATMs yet again

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the United Kingdom’s financial regulator, has announced the inspection of sites across the country suspected of hosting illegally operating crypto ATMs.

The FCA announced on 5 May that it has worked with local authorities in Exeter, Nottingham, and Sheffield to raid locations suspected of operating unlicensed crypto ATMs.

The enforcement action followed similar operations in East London in March and near Leeds in February, in which the FCA claimed it issued warnings or cease-and-desist letters to suspected crypto ATM operators.

“The action we’ve taken over the past few months and wider work shows that we will act to stop illegal activity,” said Therese Chambers, executive director of enforcement and market oversight of FCA.

She added,

“Crypto ATMs operating without FCA registration are illegal. We will act to stop illegal activity… Besides disrupting unregistered crypto businesses, the joint efforts have helped raise awareness of illegally operated crypto ATMs in the UK among the public. This is especially important as crypto products are high risk and not currently regulated.”

Peter Highway, the Economic Crime Unit Manager at the South West Regional Organised Crime Unit, emphasized the dangers of unlawful crypto ATM activities. He said,

“Criminals will use crypto ATMs to launder illegally obtained cash, so we were pleased to assist our colleagues at the FCA in targeting businesses in the region displaying these machines without authorization.”

UK crypto ATMs starts falling
In conducting the inspections, FCA officials highlighted their authority under the UK’s Money Laundering Regulations from 2017. The financial watchdog stated that it intended to analyze the material acquired and consider taking further action if necessary.

According to CoinATMRadar data, there were 17 crypto ATMS in the United Kingdom, operated by entities such as Big Sea Coins, BD ATMs, Cryptobitecoin, and Computer House. It is unknown if any were registered under the FCA.

As the FCA has begun taking measures against unlawful crypto ATM operators, the number of ATMs has fallen. Open / Comment

2023-05-03 19:30:00 ​Assessing Bitcoin’s [BTC] state as Ordinals hit a new record

Bitcoin [BTC] Ordinals again made it to the limelight by registering massive growth in terms of the number of inscriptions. Daily inscriptions reached an all-time high of more than 300,000 on 1 May, pushing the total number of inscriptions to over 3 million.

key stats look encouraging
A look at the share of different types of Ordinals inscribed suggested that the majority of them were text type, which accounted for 79%. As per Dune’s data, text type Ordinals were followed by image type and others.

Additionally, the increase in number of inscriptions was also accompanied by a massive surge in Ordinals fees paid, which also reached a new ATH on 2 May 2023.

Tom Wan, a research analyst, pointed out an interesting development. Despite the massive increase in the number of inscriptions, the average block size decreased.

The reason behind this decline was the dominance of text type Ordinals. As text type Ordinals’ size is less than that of image-type Ordinals, the average block size declined from its ATH of 2.5 MB to 1.57 MB.

Miners enjoyed the episode
Ordinals’ latest achievement also brought good news for miners. While Ordinals hit a new ATH, a hike in BTC’s hashrate was also seen, suggesting an influx of new miners in the network.

Moreover, thanks to the increase in fees of Ordinals, miners also generated more revenue. As evident from Glassnode’s chart, miners’ total revenue in BTC registered a spike on 1 May, 2023.

Bitcoin investors should consider this
Though things looked good for the miners, the same can’t be said for investors. A look at BTC’s hash ribbon displayed the possibility of the 60-day moving average (MA) flipping the 30-day MA.

Such a flip suggests that the market is not appropriate for more accumulation. Therefore, if the flip happens, BTC might be subjected to a price correction.

The trouble is for real
CryptoQuant’s data revealed that at the time of writing, Bitcoin’s exchange reserve was increasing, suggesting higher selling pressure. The increased sell pressure was also proven by BTC’s red aSORP, which indicated that more investors were selling at a profit.

In addition to that, BTC’s taker buy/sell ratio pointed out that selling sentiment was dominant in the derivatives market, which was also a negative signal. According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin’s price increased by nearly 2% in the last 24 hours and at press time, it was trading at $28,481.10 with a market capitalization of over $551 billion. Open / Comment

2023-04-30 20:00:03 ​Bitcoin [BTC] whales are on the move again, will this kickstart a new rally?

Whales are known to influence Bitcoin [BTC] prices and again. It was observed that over the last few months, while BTC prices were rallying, both whales and retail investors shared a bullish sentiment around the

Whales swallow more BTC
As BTC prices reached $30,000, whales started exiting their positions, leaving retail investors in the dust. However, it was recently observed that whales have started to show interest in accumulating BTC yet again.

As per the data provided by Santiment, during the slight dip and wavering of prices, the addresses that held 100 to 10,000 BTC added a total of 64,094 coins to their pile since 11 April.

Due to the high interest in BTC from whales, the BTC supply per whale value reached a stable number of 5300 BTC / Whales

When there is a high accumulation of Bitcoin by whales, it suggests that these large holders have a bullish sentiment toward the cryptocurrency. This can have a positive impact on Bitcoin’s prices as it indicates that investors with significant capital are confident in its potential for growth.

Though whales dominating the BTC supply may impact BTC prices positively in the short term, it could make retail investors more vulnerable.

According to glasssnode’s data, the number of addresses holding 0.01 coins has reached an all-time high. This suggested that retail investors continued to show faith in BTC.

Bears lurk in the shadows
The interest from whales and retail investors in BTC could cause a spike in prices temporarily. However, the selling pressure on miners could hinder its growth.

It is to be noted that mining difficulty has now reached an all-time high of 209 zettahashes. Mining difficulty refers to the computational effort needed to mine a block. It increases over time, making it harder for miners to validate transactions and earn rewards.

This can lead to higher energy and equipment costs, lower profitability, and fewer miners on the network. In the event that miners are compelled to sell their assets to make profits, it may have a detrimental effect on the market value of Bitcoin. Open / Comment

2023-04-27 18:30:00 ​Franklin Templeton in a pioneering move uses Polygon to support its OnChain fund

Franklin Templeton, a New York-based investment firm with $1.4 trillion in assets under management, expanded its OnChain U.S. Government Money Market Fund by integrating it into Polygon, a popular Ethereum scaling solution.

This move is part of the company’s efforts to improve operational efficiency by leveraging blockchain-integrated systems.

Franklin Templeton Taps Into Ethereum’s $260 billion Ecosystem
Polygon will enable the company to extend the distribution of its OnChain money market fund while also enhancing security, reducing costs, and facilitating faster transaction processing.

By integrating with Ethereum’s ecosystem, the investment giant hopes to tap into its $260 billion market and bring greater value to its shareholders.

Moreover, this is not the first time the OnChain fund has made a blockchain debut. In 2021, it was launched on the Stellar network.

Templeton is the first U.S.-registered mutual fund to utilize a public blockchain for processing transactions and recording share ownership.

Each share of the fund is represented by a BENJI token. The token holders can access the money market fund in digital wallets using the Benji investments application.

Colin Butler, Global Head of Institutional Capital at Polygon Labs, said:

“It’s amazing to have a legacy institution like Franklin Templeton bringing transparency, interoperability, and secure, democratized access to their financial instruments, all things afforded with Polygon. Tokenized assets are going to positively rewire the global financial system, and Franklin Templeton is at the forefront of this movement.”

While speaking at the recently held Consensus Festival, Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson stated that crypto industry players should stop complaining about the regulatory climate in the United States.

She said companies need to accept that more regulations will be imposed, even if they don’t agree with them. She believes that the future of the crypto industry will be regulated. Open / Comment

2023-04-25 15:00:04 UTBAI's Price Rises from $0.02 to $0.2005, Reflecting UnitedTeleBot's Success

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Stay Tuned Open / Comment

2023-04-24 20:30:00 ​Russia is reportedly the second-largest Bitcoin mining hub behind U.S.

A shift in the market share of Bitcoin mining hubs around the world seems to have worked out well in favor of Russia.

The Russian Federation has reportedly become the world’s second-largest Bitcoin mining hub.

Russia’s expanding market share has been attributed to a shortage of electricity last year in China, which is a major rival in this space.

Kazakhstan’s crackdown on mining activities has also paved the way for Russia to claim second place.

Regulatory uncertainty in the U.S. may redistribute BTC mining market
According to a report by Russia’s Kommersant, local Bitcoin mining giant BitRiver brought attention to the country’s latest achievement in the BTC mining industry.

BitRiver, which offers hosting services for mining operations, stated that Russia’s Bitcoin mining capacity has reached 1 gigawatt (GW).

The statistics are reportedly based on data gathered between January and March 2023. The capacity puts the country in second place behind the United States, which boasts a capacity of 3-4 GW.

Other heavyweights in this space include Canada (400 MW), Malaysia (300 MW), Gulf nations (700 MW), and Kazakhstan (100 MW).

Kommersant’s report also attributed Russia’s recent achievement to the United States’ shrinking market share in light of the recent crackdown on miners.

The report highlighted the lack of regulatory clarity in the United States and indicated that the current landscape may trigger a new redistribution of the Bitcoin mining market.

However, without a legal framework for miners and the growing risk of sanctions, Russian miners may face difficulty in maintaining their market share.

Data from The Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance shows that in December 2021, Russia was ahead of the United States and Kazakhstan in terms of Bitcoin mining capacity.

The year before that saw China take the lead in terms of Bitcoin hash rate, boasting a whopping 65% market share. Open / Comment

2023-04-21 18:15:00 ​Uniswap [UNI] protocol witnesses high activity, could this be the reason

Uniswap [UNI] has been a prominent player in the decentralized exchange (DEX) sector for the past few months. Recently, there has been a notable increase in its user activity.

A rise in activity
According to data provided by Token Terminal, Uniswap observed a substantial surge in daily active users, with the press time figure hovering close to 85,000, marking a notable high since May 2021.

This upswing in user activity can potentially be attributed to the burgeoning popularity of memecoins, which are now experiencing significant market demand.

Even though the daily activity on Uniswap increased, the median trade size being made on the protocol declined dramatically.

The decline in median trade size could be one reason why fees and revenue collected by the protocol decreased despite the high activity on the network.

Token Terminal’s data further showed that the fees collected by Uniswap fell by 31.9% over the last month. Coupled with that, the revenue generated by Uniswap fell by 0.43% in the same period according to Messari’s data.

Moreover, the liquidity removed from the Uniswap protocol has also increased. When there is less liquidity on Uniswap, it means that there are fewer assets available for trading.

This can result in less trading activity and wider price differences between buy and sell orders. Hence, only a few people might use the platform, and it will be harder to find trading pairs. It can harm the platform’s growth and stability in the long run.

However, these factors haven’t impacted the efforts made by the protocol to make improvements.

According to Uniswap’s 19 April tweet, Uniswap routers have burnt a large amount of ETH. Over the last month, 11,589 ETH were burned by Uniswap routers.

What are UNI holders up to?
Coming to the UNI token, it was observed that the network growth had declined significantly over the past three months. This implied that new addresses have started to lose interest in UNI at the time of writing.

However, the supply held by top exchange addresses continued to increase, showcasing that whale interest in the token remained strong. Despite the high whale interest, the price of UNI continued to fall over the last few days. Open / Comment

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2023-04-18 20:00:03 ​Kyber Network requests immediate withdrawal of funds, here’s why

The developer of the Kyberswap Elastic decentralized crypto exchange, Kyber Network, announced on 17 April that there was a potential vulnerability in the exchange’s contracts. All liquidity providers have been instructed to withdraw their cash as quickly as feasible.

According to the developer, no funds were lost. The developer, however, recommended liquidity providers (LPs) withdraw their cash as a precaution.

Only Kyberswap Elastic money is in jeopardy. According to the researchers, the vulnerability does not exist in Kyberswap Classic smart contracts.

The team announced in a separate post that farming incentives were temporarily paused. This is supposed to continue until a fresh smart contract can be installed. All prizes earned previous to 18 April, 11:59 p.m. (GMT+7) were already distributed and were unaffected by this halt.

The developer also mentioned that it will soon provide an update to the community on when funds can be safely placed back into the protocol.

Investigation underway, KNC token drops and recovers
KyberSwap Elastic, according to its own documentation, is a decentralized exchange (DEX) that allows LPs to provide “concentrated liquidity.”

Rather than requiring them to offer liquidity at any price point, it lets them choose a price cap and floor for the tokens they deposit into the pool.

LPs no longer earn fees if the price falls below the floor or rises over the ceiling. They do, however, receive additional compensation if the price remains within the range they have established. In contrast, the DEX’s previous version, KyberSwap Classic, did not support concentrated liquidity.

In September 2022, the Kyberswap user interface was hacked, and an attacker made off with $265,000 in cryptocurrency, as a result.

The protocol acknowledged that investigations were still underway.

The protocol’s native token, KNC, dropped by 6% following the news. However, later on, its value recovered to the same point as before. Open / Comment