NFT / BTC / DEFI News 📣

2022-07-19 16:38:24 ​​Bitcoin not a currency? South Africa to regulate crypto as financial asset.

South Africa’s Reserve Bank will regulate cryptocurrencies as financial assets, and new laws are expected over the next 12 months.

The South African Reserve Bank is set to introduce regulations next year that will see cryptocurrencies classed and treated as financial assets to balance investor protection and innovation.

Cryptocurrency use in South Africa is in a healthy space, with around 13% of the population estimated to own some form of cryptocurrency, according to research from global exchange Luno. With more than six million people in the country having cryptocurrency exposure, regulation of the space has long been a talking point.

Companies or individuals looking to provide advice or intermediary services involving cryptocurrencies are currently required to be recognized as financial services providers. This involves meeting a number of checkboxes to comply with global guidelines set out by the Financial Action Task Force.

South Africa’s National Treasury budget review published in February 2022 formally introduced the move to declare cryptocurrencies as financial products. The state also plans to enhance the monitoring and reporting of cryptocurrency transactions to comply with exchange regulations in the country.

South African Reserve Bank deputy governor Kuben Chetty has now confirmed that new legislation will be introduced in the next 12 months, speaking in an online series hosted by local investment firm PSG on Tuesday. This will see cryptocurrencies fall under the scope of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA).

This is significant, as it will allow the sector to be monitored for money laundering, tax evasion and terrorism financing, which has been a heavily debated byproduct of the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies and blockchains.

Chetty highlighted the road that the SARB will take over the next 12 months to introduce this new regulatory environment. Firstly, it will declare cryptocurrencies as a financial product which allows their listing as a schedule under the Financial Intelligence Centre act. Open / Comment

2022-07-11 11:16:35 ​​Global GPU price drops to compensate for falling Bitcoin mining revenue.

The meteoric drop in GPU prices opened up a small window of opportunity for small-time miners to procure a piece of more powerful and efficient mining equipment.

As a direct result of falling Bitcoin (BTC) prices, total revenue earned by miners in transaction fees and mining rewards dropped to its one-year lows at nearly $15 million on July 4. However, a concurrent fall in graphic cards or GPU prices is set to help miners offset their operational costs amid an ongoing bear market.

Bitcoin mining revenue fell 79.6% over a period of 9 months, ever since reaching an all-time high of $74.4 million on Oct. 25, 2021. In addition, a global chip shortage and the coronavirus pandemic shot up prices of the most important part of a mining rig — the graphics processing unit (GPU) — further impacting the miners’ bottom line.

With card manufacturers resuming operations across the world, GPU prices have seen a massive decline with some cards selling for below MSRPs. In May alone, GPU prices dropped over 15% on average as supply exceeded the market demand. Moreover, the recent influx in GPUs has forced sellers on the secondary markets to bring down their exorbitant prices on used mining rigs.

Cointelegraph previously reported that several public Bitcoin miners are well-positioned to survive the prolonged bear market as the low revenue continues to sustain the operational costs of the mining facilities. As shown below, Argo, CleanSpark, Stronghold, Marathon and Roit are some of the miners with a stable mining revenue to operational cost ratio — a fair indication of good health.

Moreover, the meteoric drop in GPU prices opened up a small window of opportunity for small-time miners to procure a piece of more powerful and efficient mining equipment. Coupled with lower hash rate requirements of 203.6 exa hashes per second, miners now require lower computing power to successfully mine a block on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Despite the evident drop in mining revenue, Marathon Digital Holdings revealed to continue stacking BTC via mining while being “fairly well insulated and well-positioned.” Open / Comment

2022-07-07 11:22:56 ​​DappRadar and LayerZero launch chain-agnostic staking token.

A new staking mechanism through RADAR token has been created that is set to minimize gas fees and support recurring APR across multiple blockchains.

DappRadar and omnichain interoperability protocol LayerZero have launched a new token to enable cross-chain staking across multiple blockchains and Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible networks — a move designed to minimize fees and increase access to staking opportunities.

The functionality for the newly launched RADAR token is provided through a set of smart contracts, DappRadar said. One of the contracts is known as the controller and the other as a proxy. The two smart contracts work together to enable the new staking mechanism.

Requests made to withdraw or claim rewards are sent to the proxy smart contract. It communicates with the controller contract to determine if the request is valid. If the request is valid, the controller informs the proxy to release the tokens. DappRadar claims this type of cross-chain staking was previously unavailable anywhere.

DappRadar also provided documentation instructing users on how to take advantage of this new functionality. The instructions mention that users can “can stake their RADAR tokens on the Ethereum blockchain and then claim the rewards on BNB Chain.” These two chains are the first supported, with a rollout for Polygon (MATIC) expected soon.

DappRadar describes itself as a decentralized application exploration platform. The RADAR overview mentions that the token will help the company broaden its coverage, pursue faster listings for emerging projects, provide more accurate listings of current projects and offer better portfolio tools.

DappRadar and LayerZero first announced their RADAR token in December 2021. Seven months later, the crypto market landscape has changed dramatically, with June capping off the worst quarter in 11 years. Despite the current bear market, other tokens have seen new highs up to 300%. Open / Comment

2022-07-02 10:04:55 ​​Major Bitcoin ETF Legal Battle Begins as Grayscale Sues SEC

One of the biggest bitcoin (BTC) and crypto investment companies, US-based Grayscale Investments, sued US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after it rejected its application to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), the world's largest BTC fund, to a spot exchange-trading fund (ETF).

"It is the SEC’s arbitrary and capricious actions and discriminatory treatment of issuers that necessitates elevating this matter to the courts in the best interest of GBTC and our investors," the company said.

According to them, the market watchdog is failing to apply consistent treatment to BTC investment vehicles as evidenced by its denial of GBTC’s application for conversion to a spot ETF, but approval of several BTC futures ETFs.

"If regulators are comfortable with ETFs that hold derivatives of a given asset, they should logically be comfortable with ETFs that hold that same asset," they added.

Meanwhile, the SEC still claims that the GBTC conversion would not prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices and would not protect investors and the public interest.

The GBTC now holds USD 12.9bn worth of BTC. Per Grayscale, as of June 29, GBTC shares traded at an approximately 30% discount to net asset value, representing around USD 8bn of unrealized shareholder value.

"We hold firm in our belief that converting GBTC to a spot Bitcoin ETF remains the best option for investors: it would effectively eliminate the discount and cause the shares to track the price of bitcoin," the firm said.

"Having read the 80 pages of the SEC’s previous rejection, I can’t imagine that they will think that during a smoldering crash of this magnitude it is a good time to very publicly change their mind," crypto hedge fund Pantera Capital’s CEO Dan Morehead wrote in his monthly letter yesterday before the SEC rejected the application.

According to him, after the rejection "we will see the widest discount possible."

"Seems like in the next month or two the washout will be the most extreme GBTC will ever see," the CEO added. Open / Comment

2022-06-27 08:16:54 ​Bitcoin, Ethereum Technical Analysis: ETH on the Cusp of $1,200 Following Breakout of Key Resistance Level

Bitcoin edged marginally higher on the last Friday of the month, breaking out of its recent resistance of $21,100 in the process. ETH was also in the green during today’s session, climbing by nearly 5% to move past a price ceiling of its own.

Following a turbulent week of trading, BTC was once again higher on Friday, as prices moved above $21,000 heading into the weekend.

Less than a day after trading at a low of $20,233.56, BTC/USD rallied to an intraday peak of $21,266.39

Friday’s flurry of trading saw prices move past a key resistance point of $21,100, and this comes as bulls continue to buy the recent bitcoin dip.

After overcoming today’s hurdle, it is likely that traders will target this week’s high of $21,700 over the course of the weekend.

Looking at the chart, should this level be achieved, we will likely see many bulls choose to secure gains and exit positions, due to an upcoming ceiling on the 14-day RSI.

This hurdle is the 36.70 point on the Relative Strength Index, which is currently tracking at 35, and is firmly in oversold territory.


Ethereum was fast approaching $1,200 on Friday, as bullish momentum took prices above a key level of resistance.

After almost falling below $1,000 during Thursday’s session, ETH/USD surged to an intraday high of $1,191.27 as of writing.

This peak saw the world’s second largest crypto token trade nearly 8% higher than yesterday’s floor, breaking the $1,190 ceiling in the process.

As discussed yesterday, this level was one of the only hurdles in place preventing prices from re-entering the $1,200 region.

Today’s mounting pressure from ETH bulls comes after the 35.60 ceiling of the 14-day RSI was broken on Thursday.

With a breakout likely later in today’s session, the only question is where bulls will choose to exercise an exit. Open / Comment

2022-06-21 13:24:14 ​​SEC, State Regulators Probe Crypto Lender Celsius Over Accounts Freeze

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and several state regulators are reportedly investigating the decision by crypto lender Celsius Network to freeze withdrawals.

The U.S. SEC and securities regulators in Alabama, Kentucky, New Jersey, Texas, and Washington are investigating the decision by crypto lender Celsius Network to freeze withdrawals, Reuters reported Thursday.

Texas’ director of enforcement Joseph Rotunda explained that officials representing the five state securities regulators met Monday morning to begin the investigation following Celsius’ withdrawal freeze announcement Sunday night.

Noting that the investigation is a “priority,” Rotunda said:

I am very concerned that clients – including many retail investors – may need to immediately access their assets yet are unable to withdraw from their accounts.

“The inability to access their investment may result in significant financial consequences,” he stressed.

Rotunda said he and his team learned about Celsius’ accounts freeze from the company’s tweet and blog post Sunday night.

“Due to extreme market conditions, today we are announcing that Celsius is pausing all withdrawals, swaps, and transfers between accounts,” the company wrote.

Alabama Securities Commission Director Joseph Borg told the publication that the SEC has also been in communication with Celsius, adding that the crypto lender has been responsive to questions from the regulators.

Last year, regulators in a number of states, including Alabama, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Texas hit Celsius with a cease and desist order over the lender’s interest-bearing products, which they said should be registered as a security.

After freezing withdrawals, Celsius reportedly sought help from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, a law firm that specializes in financial restructuring. The crypto lender is also reportedly hiring Citigroup as an advisor.

Moreover, Ben Armstrong, aka Bit Boy, announced a class-action lawsuit against Celsius and CEO Alex Mashinsky on Wednesday via Twitter. Open / Comment

2022-06-16 22:57:13 ​​Hackers Are Cloning Web3 Wallets Like Metamask and Coinbase Wallet to Steal Crypto

Confiant, an advertising security agency, has found a cluster of malicious activity involving distributed wallet apps, allowing hackers to steal private seeds and acquire the funds of users via backdoored imposter wallets. The apps are distributed via cloning of legitimate sites, giving the appearance that the user is downloading an original app.

Hackers are becoming more and more creative when engineering attacks to take advantage of cryptocurrency users. Confiant, a company that is dedicated to examining the quality of ads and the security threats these might pose to internet users, has warned about a new kind of attack affecting users of popular Web3 wallets like Metamask and Coinbase Wallet.

The cluster, that was identified as “Seaflower,” was qualified by Confiant as one of the most sophisticated attacks of its kind. The report states that common users cannot detect these apps, as they are virtually identical to the original apps, but have a different codebase that allows hackers to steal the seed phrases of the wallets, giving them access to the funds.

The report found out that these apps are distributed mostly outside regular app stores, through links found by users in search engines such as Baidu. The investigators state that the cluster must be of Chinese origin due to the languages in which the code comments are written, and other elements like infrastructure location and the services used.

The links of these apps reach popular places in search sites due to the intelligent handling of SEO optimizations, allowing them to rank high and fooling users into believing they are accessing the real site. The sophistication in these apps comes down to the way in which the code is hidden, obfuscating much of how this system works.

The backdoored app sends seed phrases to a remote location at the same time that it is being constructed, and this is the main attack vector for the Metamask imposter. For other wallets, Seaflower also uses a very similar attack vector.

Experts further made a series of recommendations when it comes to keeping wallets in devices secure. These backdoored applications are only being distributed outside app stores, so Confiant advises users to always try to install these apps from official stores on Android and iOS. Open / Comment

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2022-06-11 11:48:00 ​South Korean Crypto Exchanges Prepared to Self-regulate, Says Ruling Party.

South Korea’s ruling political party – the People’s Power Party – has stated that the nation’s leading crypto exchanges have created plans that could see them form a self-regulating body that could be empowered to take cross-platform decisions on matters such as delisting and the suspension of transactions.

Per Asia Kyungjae and SBS, a party spokesperson told the media that the crypto “industry” had “recently” presented it with “a plan for self-regulation at a private meeting.”

The media outlets claimed that the plan includes measures that would see a joint body give the authority to make quick decisions on coin listing policies and the suspension of trading. The body would be charged with “securing the trust of investors” by “creating regulatory measures” that will let exchanges “jointly respond in case of emergency.”

The proposals are likely to be discussed at a second high-level private sector-executive summit to be held on Monday next week. The summit has been convened to “protect cryptocurrency investors” in the wake of the galvanizing Terra/UST crash. The exchanges faced a barrage of criticism for failing to coordinate their delisting of the collapsed LUNAC token – leading to feverish speculative and “kimchi premium” trading.

They have apparently attempted to show that they are capable of acting as one in the period since, however: All five of the fiat-trading exchanges this week simultaneously announced they would be delisting litecoin (LTC) after the latter’s node operators agreed to add privacy protocols.

Also attending the summit, along with leading party officials, will be a number of government members – including ministers. Regulators from the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service will also be in attendance.

The MP Yoon Chang-hyeon, who is chairing the People’s Power Party’s Virtual Assets Special Committee, hinted that the exchanges were responding to government pressure. Yoon stated that the party had “asked the exchanges” to draft an “autonomous protocol or a common countermeasure” system.

Yoon added,

“It seems that it will take a long time to improve [the cryptoasset] market. We will need to supplement and refine the voluntary guidelines a little more.” Open / Comment