Thursday, June 30, 2022

Traders debate whether Solana (SOL) is a buy now that it’s down 87% from its all-time high

SOL price is 87% down from its all-time high, but do improving fundamentals strengthen its investment thesis?

The crypto sector is caught in a deep correction and recent reporting shows that a majority of altcoins are more than 70% down from their 2021 highs. Solana is among that list and investors are on the fence about whether the token has strong enough fundamentals to warrant buying SOL at its current value. 

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows SOL is down 87.5% from its all-time high and given the current state of the market, most price breakouts fail to notch a daily higher high.

SOL/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView

Despite, the dismal outlook, there are a few potential positives that could make Solana a project to watch once the wider market enters a consolidation phase.

Solana Mobile

SOL price received a quick boost late last week after a June 23 announcement that the project would release a Solana mobile stack which enables native Android Web3 apps on Solana.

To go along with the new operating interface for smartphones, Solana also revealed that it will be releasing its own “Saga” Android phone through Solana Mobile in an effort to lead the way on Web3-enabled devices.

Web3 and the Metaverse are two of the topics that arose out of the 2021 bull market and point to the future of where blockchain technology is headed. This move by Solana shows that despite the short-term struggles, it continues to develop for the future and looks to play a part in the wider adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrency.

The low fee nature of the Solana blockchain makes it an ideal candidate for nonfungible token (NFT) projects and gaming dApps, and the release of a tech stack for mobile phones is the next step in creating wider access to these technologies.

If the developers can manage to solve the issues that continue to cause Solana network outages, the token has a chance of being a top contender once the wider market turns bullish again.

Short-term pain is expected, but fundamentals improve

While it's nice to look ahead at what the distant future may hold, the reality is that the short-term outlook for Solana and the wider crypto ecosystem is rather unappealing.

Insight into the lower price points to keep an eye on was offered by crypto trader and pseudonymous Twitter user Crypto Tony, who posted the following chart warning traders to not fall for the first retest of a major support level.

SOL/USDT 1-week chart. Source: Twitter

Crypto Tony said,

“First demand zone tested hence this reaction, but you really want to call a bottom already after the first test…”

Based on the chart provided, the notable lower levels of support for Solana are located at $13.50 and $3.50.

Market analyst and pseudonymous Twitter user Crypto Patel also predicts further downside in the near term for SOL due to a strong amount of resistance found at the 200-day exponential moving average.

SOL/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: Twtter

Crypto Patel said,

“After breakout and retest of $40 zone, Supports converts into Resistance [...] Facing resistance at 200EMA. Anytime can give downside movement. Sell: $38.5, SL: $43.2, TP: $27.”

Related: SOL price eyes 75% rally as Solana paints a bullish reversal pattern

Is SOL in the early stages of a recovery?

A more optimistic outlook for Solana was offered by pseudonymous Twitter user Trader McGavin, who posted the following chart highlighting the important levels of resistance at $60, $74 and $95.

SOL/USDT 1-day chart. Source: Twitter

The analyst said,

“Double bottomed after breaking down from the wedge and rebounding higher. One of the first to bounce off the bottom and may be headed to $48.”

The importance of maintaining the current price levels was also touched on by crypto trader and pseudonymous Twitter user Altcoin Sherpa, who posted the following chart noting the bullish signal provided by the medium-term EMAs.

SOL/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: Twitter

Altcoin Sherpa said,

“$SOL: Still a do or die area in low time frames; this is the first time we've seen some of the medium EMAs flip bullish since March. Longing mid $30s is my current plan as a scalp since I missed the short higher.”

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.



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CFTC brings $1.7B fraud case involving Bitcoin against South African national

“The defendants misappropriated, either directly or indirectly, all of the Bitcoin they accepted from the pool participants,” said the CFTC.

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, has taken enforcement action against a South African national in what the regulatory body called its “largest fraudulent scheme involving Bitcoin.”

In a Thursday announcement, the CFTC said it had filed a civil enforcement action in federal court for fraud and registration violations against Cornelius Johannes Steynberg. The South African national allegedly created and operated a global foreign currency commodity pool totaling more than $1.7 billion, only allowing the participants to pay using Bitcoin (BTC).

The CFTC alleged that Steynberg used the South Africa-based firm Mirror Trading International Proprietary Limited to solicit BTC from the public using social media and various websites. From May 2018 to March 2021, the regulatory body claimed that he accepted at least 29,421 BTC — valued at more than $1.7 billion at the time, but roughly $564 million at the time of publication — including from individuals in the United States.

“The defendants misappropriated, either directly or indirectly, all of the Bitcoin they accepted from the pool participants,” said the CFTC. “The CFTC seeks full restitution to defrauded investors, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, permanent registration and trading bans, and a permanent injunction against future violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC Regulations.”

Related: The CFTC’s action against Gemini is bad news for Bitcoin ETFs

The case against Steynberg is the latest in a series of enforcement actions the CFTC has taken against individuals allegedly using cryptocurrencies for illicit purposes or digital asset firms for violations of the Commodity Exchange Act. In June, the CFTC filed a lawsuit against Gemini, claiming the crypto exchange made false or misleading statements to the regulatory body in 2017. A federal court also ordered the founders of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX to pay $30 million in penalties as part of the conclusion of a suit filed by the CFTC in October 2020.



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Reserve Bank of India ranks crypto near the bottom of systemic risks despite harsh criticism

India's central bank has been a vocal critic of cryptocurrencies over the years; it previously stated that CBDCs could thwart the adoption of digital assets.

In its latest financial stability report published on Thursday, the Reserve Bank of India, or RBI, reiterated its skepticism of digital assets, writing: 

"We must be mindful of the emerging risks on the horizon. Cryptocurrencies are a clear danger. Anything that derives value based on make-believe, without any underlying, is just speculation under a sophisticated name."

The report alleged that decentralized cryptocurrencies "are designed to bypass the financial system and all its controls," including Anti-Money Laundering, Combatting Financial Terrorism, and Know Your Customer mechanisms. In a tone similar to the previous report, the RBI says that private currencies often result in instability over time and undermine sovereign control over the money supply. 

However, despite all the harsh words, cryptocurrencies, perhaps ironically, rank at the nadir of the RBI's risk agenda. Based on a systemic risk survey, factors such as global growth headwinds, rising commodity prices and geopolitical tensions were regarded as high-impact events that could threaten the integrity of the global financial system.

Related: RBI seemingly wants to ban cryptocurrencies, but not for the reasons you might think

On the other hand, digital asset risks were at the bottom of the risk-weighted scale, being tied to sovereign rating downgrades and just slightly above political uncertainty and the threat of terrorism. In part, the RBI attributes such risk limitations to the relatively tiny foothold digital assets have on the global scale as well as their lack of integration within traditional finance.

Cryptocurrencies currently account for anywhere between 0.4% to 1% of the world's estimated $469 trillion in total financial assets. RBI has traditionally been one of the most skeptical central banks on crypto adoption, claiming that central bank digital currencies could "kill" private crypto



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Reporting ‘limited progress,’ FATF urges countries to introduce legislation for travel rule

“Countries that have not introduced Travel Rule legislation should do so as soon as possible, and FATF jurisdictions should lead by example," said the organization.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) reported that 11 out of 98 responding jurisdictions have started enforcing its standards on Combating the Financing of Terrorism, or CFT, and Anti-Money Laundering, or AML.

In an update released Thursday on the “Implementation of the FATF Standards on Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers,” the FATF reported the “vast majority” of jurisdictions assessed by the organization’s Global Network since June 2021 “still require major or moderate improvement” in AML/CFT compliance in accordance with the travel rule. According to the FATF, countries moving towards implementing these requirements made “limited progress” over the last year, with 29 out of 98 responding jurisdictions reporting passing legislation related to the travel rule, and 11 starting enforcement.

“While around a quarter of responding jurisdictions are now in the process of passing the relevant legislation, around one-third (36 out of 98) have not yet started introducing the Travel Rule,” said the FATF. “This gap leaves VAs and VASPs vulnerable to misuse, and demonstrates the urgent need for jurisdictions to accelerate implementation and enforcement.”

The organization added that companies in the private sector had made progress in introducing solutions to support compliance with the travel rule and “taking early steps to ensure interoperability with other solutions.” However, the FATF hinted at the necessity of implementing these solutions quickly, given the “significant threat of ransomware actors misusing VAs to facilitate payments” and funneling illicit funds through Virtual Asset Service Providers, also known as VASPs.

“Countries that have not introduced Travel Rule legislation should do so as soon as possible, and FATF jurisdictions should lead by example by promoting implementation, and by sharing experiences and good practices [...] Rapid implementation by jurisdictions will incentivize progress further.”

Related: President of Panama shoots down crypto bill citing FATF guidelines

Among other developments since 2021 included a rise in the growth of decentralized finance, or DeFi, and nonfungible projects, which the FATF labeled as a “challenging area for implementation” of the travel rule. The organization cited a Chainalysis report released in February that “suggests that threats from criminal misuse continue” with illicit transactions in DeFi, and reached similar conclusions for NFTs potentially being used for “money laundering and wash trading.”

Under FATF guidelines, VASPs operating within certain jurisdictions need to be licensed or registered. The organization reported in an April update that roughly half of assessed jurisdictions in 120 countries had “adequate laws and regulatory structures in place” to assess risks and verify beneficial owners of companies, urging them to prioritize identifying and reporting information on cryptocurrency transactions.



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Basel Committee wants to limit banks' digital asset exposure to just 1% of equity

Volatile cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin would also be subjected to a 1,250% risk premium.

On Thursday, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision suggested during its second consultation on the prudential treatment of crypto-asset exposures that banks limit their exposure to so-called Group 2 crypto assets to just 1% of their Tier 1 capital. 

Group 1 digital assets consist of tokenized traditional assets, such as synthetic stocks, or those with effective stabilization mechanisms, such as regulated stablecoins. Under the new proposal, Group 1 digital assets would be subject to at least equivalent risk-based capital requirements as traditional capital assets within the current capital framework, Basel III.

However, cryptocurrencies that do not meet the above requirements will be classified as Group 2 digital assets, which would theoretically include major non-stablecoin, non-tokenized cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and most altcoins. Therefore, banks would only be able to commit 1% of their total equity or net asset value in either long or short positions toward Group 2 digital assets.

Related: Bank of England and regulators assess crypto regulation in raft of new reports

Moreover, the Basel Committee is considering banks adopting a 1,250% risk premium for Group 2 digital assets. In comparison, stocks typically have a 20% to 150% risk premium attached to their nominal values, depending on the company's credit rating. Under Basel III, a bank's risk-weighted assets must not surpass 10.5% of its Tier 1 capital for prudent leverage.

The move would likely severely constrain banks' ability to purchase volatile cryptocurrency in the future as, for the sake of argument, a bank would need to add $125 million worth of risk-weighted assets to its portfolio for every $10 million in Bitcoin purchased, making them far less lucrative than assets with less risk-weighting premiums. Basel III is an international regulatory accord that nearly all financial institutions in developed countries must abide by and is enforced by law.



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Bitcoin nears worst monthly losses since 2011 with BTC price at $19K

Bitcoin price action will seal monthly losses over 40% for the first time in 11 years if it closes at $19,000.

Bitcoin (BTC) drifted further downhill into the June 30 Wall Street open as United States equities opened with a whimper.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

U.S. dollar returns to multi-decade highs

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it abandoned $19,000 to hit its lowest in over ten days.

Bulls failed to preserve either $20,000 or $19,000 at the hands of limp U.S. stock market moves, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index down 1.8% and 2.6% respectively at the time of writing.

At the same time, the U.S. dollar once again staged a comeback to fix a trajectory toward twenty-year highs seen this quarter.

The U.S. dollar index (DXY) was above 105.1 on the day, coming within just 0.2 points of its highest levels since 2002.

U.S. dollar index (DXY) 1-day candle chart. Source: TradingView

"The US dollar (DXY) looks set to test highs last seen in December 2002 as the short-term downtrend is broken convincingly amid risk markets' continued crumble," researche and trader Faisal Khan summarized on Twitter.

Data on inflation meanwhile once more suggested the worst could be behind the market.

As Cointelegraph reported, however, central banks began to acknowledge that the low rates seen before COVID-19 may never return.

Bulls' worst month in 11 years

With the majority of on-chain metrics now at historic lows, price data hinted how far BTC could theoretically go in a bear market increasingly unlike the rest.

Related: No flexing for Bitcoin Cash users as BCH loses 98% against Bitcoin

Should it close at current levels of $19,000, BTC/USD would seal monthly losses of over 40% for June 2022.

That would make it the worst June ever and the heaviest monthly losses since September 2011, data from TradingView and on-chain monitoring resource Coinglass confirms. 

Even March 2020 and the 2018 and 2014 bear markets were less severe on monthly timeframes. 40% drops were last seen when BTC/USD traded at $8.

BTC/USD monthly returns chart. Source: Coinglass

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.



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Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Polkadot's founder announces steps toward full decentralization with new governance model

Gavin Wood said that he seeks to transform the Polkadot blockchain into a full technocracy.

Live from Polkadot Decoded in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, Polkadot (DOT) and Kusama founder Gavin Wood announced that the blockchain's governance model would undergo a new transformation. Dubbed Gov2, anyone would be able to start a referendum at any time for as many times as they wish in the new setup, similar to initiating new transactions on the blockchain.

Thereafter, pending referenda need 50% of the vote from stakeholders within 28 days' time for approval or face rejection by default. Participants can also intervene and launch timely cancellation proposals, which require similar voting procedures, in the event that technical glitches are discovered within the referenda, themselves. Passive voters, t can specify a different delegate for every class of referendum in the system in a process known as multirole delegation.

Wood said there will be a new body, dubbed the Polkadot Fellowship, composed of technical experts who have the power to shorten referenda voting times in the event of time-sensitive matters. Overall, several tenets would remain invariant from the previous governance model. First, 50% of the total stake in the system will be allowed to command the system's future. Greater weight will also be given to those willing to lock their tokens in the system for a longer durationin a process known as conviction voting. Finally, a committee will also remain to oversee the blockchain's technocratic developments.

As told by Gavin, the changes will reflect the flaws of centralization and one referendum at a time voting system present in Polkadot's original governance model. Gov2 is set to launch on Kusama imminently, following afinal professional audit of its code. Once tested on Kusama, a proposal will be made to bridge it to Polkadot.



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It’s time to refocus on crypto infrastructure, CoinShares CSO says

CoinShares CSO Meltem Demirors finds crypto infrastructure and developer tools more interesting than Web3 and the money aspect of crypto during the current bear market.

The ongoing cryptocurrency market decline is the right time for the community to strengthen infrastructure fundamentals, according to the chief strategy officer at the European digital asset manager CoinShares.

CoinShares is one of the largest digital asset investment firms in Europe, with net assets exceeding $260 million by the end of 2021. According to CoinShares’ latest fund flows weekly report, digital asset investment products saw outflows totalling $423 million last week, the largest since records began by a wide margin.

The report noted that the outflows were likely responsible for Bitcoin’s (BTC) decline to $17,760 on June 18, marking the lowest price level recorded since 2020. A more resilient infrastructure of crypto and decentralized finance will not only help ensure security but also would enable more decentralization, Demirors said in an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph on June 9.

According to CoinShares CSO, the current crypto infrastructure is very much dependent on centralized service providers like Amazon Web Services and others. There’s a lot of ways to build peer-to-peer networks to perform computations, have better telecommunications, better broadband connectivity and decentralize and make the energy grid more resilient, the exec said.

“I come from the oil and gas industry and infrastructure investing so for me it’s fun to sort of go full circle but to embed crypto economics and some of these principles of decentralization into infrastructure investing to make our global systems more resilient,” Demirors noted in the interview.

Related: ‘Builders rejoice’: Experts on why bear markets are good for Bitcoin

Demirors also mentioned that she’s very excited about decentralized identifiers and verifiable credentials, along with using Bitcoin as a communication protocol. She stated that a higher infrastructure level would make crypto more resilient to attacks and vulnerabilities that come from the "fact that bits and bytes require atoms to function," adding:

“We’ve been so focused on tokens and money and Web3. I think it’s time to refocus on the underlying infrastructure layers that make all of that possible and really think about how we make crypto more resilient."

Don’t miss the full interview on our YouTube channel and don’t forget to subscribe!



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Bitcoin holds $20K as ECB warns inflation may never return to pre-COVID lows

Markets beyond the euro slow to react as Europe acknowledges higher inflation may be permanent.

Bitcoin (BTC) held steady at just above $20,000 after the June 29 Wall Street open as Europe's chief banker admitted the world would "never" return to low inflation.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Lagarde on inflation: "I don't think we're ever going back"

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD looking unvolatile but precarious as it stuck in a narrow range on the day.

United States equities markets were likewise calm after Asian trading had seen fresh losses. In Europe, meanwhile, comments from central bankers set the macro tone.

In particular, Christine Lagarde, head of the European Central Bank (ECB), appeared to state that inflation would remain high indefinitely.

"I don't think we're going back to that period of low inflation," she said during a press conference at the ongoing ECB Forum event in Sintra, Portugal.

Joining her was Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, who sounded similarly downbeat on the prognosis while promising to not rest until inflation matched the bank's 2% target.

"That is our aim, that is our intention; we think there are various pathways to achieve that, to achieve the path back to 2% inflation while sustaining a strong labor market. We believe we can do that, that's our aim; there's no guarantee that we can do that," he said.

Bitcoin bulls defend 2017 top

Bitcoin was unresponsive to the comments, which preceded fresh U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) data by around two weeks.

For Bitcoin analysts, meanwhile, the focus was on the June monthly close.

On-chain analytics resource Material Indicators eyed a breakout now due "very soon" as the monthly candle was all but doomed to disappoint.

"Bulls are defending the 2017 Top, but with one day to go it's going to be almost impossible to print a green Monthly candle," it told Twitter followers.

"Still a chance for green on the Weekly. Expecting volatility. One way or another, Bitcoin is going to breakout or breakdown very soon."

An accompanying chart showing the order book of major exchange Binance confirmed the buy and sell interest on BTC/USD focusing right at current prices.

BTC/USD order book data (Binance). Source: Material Indicators/ Twitter

As Cointelegraph reported, June 2022 was already on track to be the worst month since 2018.

Prices continues to roast corporate investors

Elsewhere, MicroStrategy upped its Bitcoin corporate treasury with a fresh 480 BTC purchase, a moved lauded by commentators.

Related: No flexing for Bitcoin Cash users as BCH loses 98% against Bitcoin

Smaller compared to some buy-ins, MicroStrategy and CEO Michael Saylor were running conspicuously against claims that the company may get liquidated on a $205 million loan taken out for BTC acquisition.

"Although this recent buy of 480 BTC from Saylor may be relatively small, I think it sends a message more than anything," William Clemente, lead insights analyst at Blockware, reacted.

"Despite all the criticism and claims he’s 'getting liquidated' from bears, he’s not going anywhere and is sticking to his long term allocation strategy."

A look at monitoring resource Bitcoin Treasuries nonetheless showed MicroStrategy down a combined $1.4 billion on its inventory, with number two placed Tesla down almost 50%.

Payment network Square also remained down $60 million on its $220 million allocation.

Major publicly traded companies' BTC treasury data (screenshot). Source: Bitcoin Treasuries

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.



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Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Bitcoin’s bottom might not be in, but miners say it ‘has always made gains over any 4-year period’

To mine, or not to mine, that is the question. Professional Bitcoin miners discuss the nuance of BTC mining and whether now is a good time to get started.

Your favorite trader is saying Bitcoin (BTC) bottomed. At the same time, the top on-chain indicators and analysts are citing the current price range as a “generational buy” opportunity. Meanwhile, various crypto and finance media recently reported that Bitcoin miners sending a mass of coins to exchanges are a sign that $17,600 was the capitulation move that pins the market bottom

There’s so much assurity from various anon and doxed analysts on Crypto Twitter, yet Bitcoin price is still in a clear downtrend, and the metrics don’t fully reflect that traders are buying every dip.

A critical component of BTC price that many investors often overlook is the condition and sentiment of Bitcoin miners, which is exactly why Cointelegraph had a chat with Rich Ferolo of Blockware Solutions and Will Szamosszegi of Sazmining Inc. to gain clarity on what’s happening in the mining industry and how this might impact market sentiment going forward.

Cointelegraph: Is the bottom in for Bitcoin? The price touched $17,600 nearly two weeks ago and it’s starting to feel like the fund-driven capitulation armageddon might be over. Thoughts?

Will Szamosszegi: It’s impossible to say whether or not Bitcoin has hit a bottom. In general, I recommend a dollar-cost-averaging strategy to people: Just buy however much Bitcoin you feel comfortable with on a consistent schedule. We’ve seen drawdowns even bigger than this before — such as 93.7% in its early days and 83.4% in 2018. Bitcoin has always made gains over any four-year period in its history.

CT: Currently, Bitcoin is trading below the realized price and below miners’ cost of production. The price also dipped below the previous all-time high and the hash rate is dropping. Typically on-chain analysts pinpoint these metrics hitting extreme lows as a generational purchasing opportunity, but is it?

Rich Ferolo: Blockware has done a lot of research on this and we’ve calculated the breakeven price from machines as far back as the s9 from 2016, at $.07 per kilowatt, the breakeven is $38,000 for a s9. You’re going to see older machines coming off the network eventually. For the s17s, at $.07 cents per kilowatt, BTC needs to be at around $18,000.

Newish machines are more efficient and while difficulty and the hash rate adjustment are trending down for current generation machines, anything above 90 terahashes (TH/s) can make it. Anything below 34 watts per Terahash is inefficient.

One factor to consider is that the value of machines is going down. Even if BTC price starts to go up and there’s a symbiotic relationship between price and the macro factors impacting Bitcoin price and prices throughout the wider-crypto market.

Machines are hard assets and the big aspect of mining is the machine. Bitmain and MicroBT adjust prices as BTC price goes up. This is a hard asset that, in a way, earns yield on a daily basis, the same way that BTC does.

If you’re in the long game, you don’t care about the current price of BTC. Just because the BTC price goes down doesn’t mean all the miners will go down also. It’s more about survival of the fittest. You need to be aware of the macros, but it’s not as bad as one might think. There are different perspectives and situations depending on what size outfit you’re running. Big public companies have a lot of operational factors to consider, but their operational costs (OPEX) inflate their overall cost even if they get $.05 per kilowatt. Their model is different from the analytics of the average miner outside of the public user.

CT: What is the state of the BTC mining industry right now? There are rumors that leveraged miners could go under, inefficient miners are turning off and equipment is being sold 50% to 65% lower than 2020 to 2021 prices.

What’s happening behind the scenes and how do you see this impacting the industry for the next six months to a year?

RF: I agree with all of your observations. We’re at a price consolidation point currently and the market is cleaning up the amount of mining debt that exists. If you can hang on and keep mining, it might keep the hash rate and difficulty at bay. Blockworks believes that there is a severe lack of infrastructure in the space. To have infrastructure, you have to have an incredible amount of CAPEX to get going. There’s been and still is a lack of infrastructure.

Regardless of the machines that are there, there’s not a lot of space for hosting. From the broader standpoint, you’re going to see a lot of capitulation, insolvency and excess machines. I know a lot of the big players are putting a pause on funding for miners. That’s a plus for people wanting to get in the space, but we predicted a 60% hash rate increase in 2022 when things were booming. And, as the s19XPs come into light, the hashrate will go up.

WS: Many veterans in this space have grown accustomed to these cycles in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Historically, you see the hashrate decline following the price doing the same. In drawdowns like this one, newer miners typically wash out, while the network fortifies. Over the next six months, mining will become more competitive, as bigger players may consolidate and buy miners at a discount.

CT: Exactly why is now a good or bad time to start mining? Are there particular on-chain metrics or profitability metrics that miners are looking at or is it just a no-brainer that Bitcoin’s current pricing makes mining attractive?

Let’s say I have $1 million cash, is it a good time to set up an operation and start mining? What about $300,000 to $100,000? At the $40,000 to $10,000 range, why might it not be a good time to set up at home or use a hosted mining service?

RF: Regardless of the size of the investment, I don’t think any of those values frankly would warrant you wanting to set up infrastructure at scale. A million bucks worth of machines at $5,000 per machine will get you 200 machines, almost a 0.6 megawatts worth. 1 megawatt of power is equal to 300 machines. Housing 200 machines is way different than housing 2 to 10 machines. To diversify $1 million to $300,000, or 60 machines, that’s where you want to start looking at hosting, assuming you’re all in on mining.

I treat mining as a hedge, so I’d take 60% of the capital and buy machines and 40% buy spot BTC, or 60% CAPEX for machines, 20% for OPEX and 20% for spot BTC. This is a broader place to think about hosting. $100,000 gets you 20 machines, so you could apply the same strategy. Most residential homes can’t handle that much power demand. There’s a threshold of at-home mining power capacity so you’d have to consider how much power you can get to your house without shutting down the neighborhood.

The $10,000 to $40,000 range is more amenable to at-home mining. If your power rate is fixed at $.10 or below you could pull it, depending on where the price is. $40,000 will get you about eight machines. That’s more doable, to be honest. It’s about 24.4 kilowatts per hour for eight machines if you start from four to five machines and test the waters. It’s almost like dollar-cost-averaging into machines and buying them if prices continue to drop.

Related: Buy Bitcoin or start mining? HashWorks CEO points to ‘attractive investment yield’ in BTC mining

CT: Does BTC price dropping below its all-time high for the first time ever have any significant future ramifications on the fundamentals of the asset and industry?

WS: The fundamentals of BTC are unchanged, which is why I still expect BTC to evolve into a global reserve asset. The industry, on the other hand, will learn from this crash: Do not be overleveraged and do not offer yields that leave you vulnerable.

RF: Great question, I think from where we’re at now, it was expected based on where people (retail) had bought in the previous cycle. Smart money expected a long bear market to happen, but what has shocked everyone is when and how fast it happened. The mysterious long-awaited blow-off top never happened.

Crypto has a lot more exposure and a lot more bad press due to recent implosions and we’ll see more because the news loves bad press and it’s easier to generate. For those who believe in BTC, they’ll ignore it and it's the opportune time to buy and invest in the space, especially once all the bad energy is cleared out.

Lots of people have probably sold the bottom and won’t be back, but this is just the basic market dynamics.

CT: The network’s next reward halving is approaching in 676 days. In your view, how will this alter the landscape of industrialized mining and the amount of equipment required to solve an algorithm which becomes more difficult to compute with each halving?

RF: Halving events tend to induce miner capitulation. I’m surprised that the current hash rate hasn’t fallen further. We’re not seeing the sharp decrease that was expected before like 20% to 25%. This happens because older-generation machines have to unplug and the rewards don’t match the cost but the expected hash rate increase that comes with each halving means older-gen machines benefit in the short term. Miners unplug when OPEX is unfavorable and then plug back in when the time is right.

WS: Miners will want to reduce their costs, as half the reward in Bitcoin may render many mining operations unprofitable (assuming a constant Bitcoin price in United States dollars). Mining equipment will continue to improve in efficiency and miners will continue to seek out the most cost-effective energy sources. Halving is one of the many genius features of the Bitcoin network because it washes out inefficiencies.

Disclaimer. Cointelegraph does not endorse any content of product on this page. While we aim at providing you all important information that we could obtain, readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company and carry full responsibility for their decisions, nor this article can be considered as an investment advice.



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How crypto is attracting some institutional investors — Huobi Global sales head

“I think everyone is in agreement now that crypto is going to be around for the long term,” said James Hume.

James Hume, head of sales at Huobi Global, said that while some institutional investors have gotten “cold feet” over crypto, many with billions of dollars are exploring the space.

Speaking to Cointelegraph at the European Blockchain Convention on Tuesday, Hume said that the crypto exchange had observed increasing interest from institutional investors within the last one to two years in entering the digital asset space. According to Hume, it took a long time for certain firms and hedge funds to “build teams, raise capital and understand the infrastructure” to participate in crypto, estimating that 20–30 firms with more than $1 billion could start trading within the year.

“I think it’s a pretty exciting time,” said Hume. “A lot of the more speculative bets in crypto… Some have got a bit of cold feet, obviously, if you’re looking to come to the market and take a pretty decent size allocation.”

The Huobi sales head added that the exchange noted that people had “slowed slightly” in investments in hedge funds, speculating that larger venture capital firms could wait out some of the market volatility, but some investors could “get scared, back out, trade, deleverage.” Some institutional investors, according to Hume, needed to be educated on the regulatory aspects of the space

Regulatory compliance, in addition to the number of new crypto market participants and infrastructure, could affect which companies choose to place speculative, long-term bets on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC):

“Over the past few years, the amount of places who have come out and said "we’re going to do crypto regulation" and it turns out to not be what everyone had quite hoped — either it takes too long, or they put things in places which are quite restrictive.”

Related: Institutions are exploring the space — KPMG Canada crypto team

Cointelegraph reported in June that Huobi had secured licenses to operate in New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates, while its Thailand-based affiliate — a separate entity — planned to shutter by July 1 after the country's Securities and Exchanges Commission revoked the firm’s operating license. The crypto exchange also announced the launch of an investment arm with more than $1 billion in crypto assets under management aimed at exploring decentralized finance and Web3 projects.

“I think everyone is in agreement now that crypto is going to be around for the long term,” said Hume. “Everyone is kind of in agreement for the most part that it’s going to be around, that it’s not a scam. There’s actual utility in the market [...] that people can utilize in the real world.”



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Can Cardano's July hard fork prevent ADA price from plunging 60%?

ADA's price is above a key technical support level in the days leading up to the major Cardano upgrade.

Cardano (ADA) has started painting a bearish continuation pattern on its longer-timeframe charts, raising its likelihood of undergoing a major price crash by August.

ADA price in danger of a 60% plunge

Dubbed the "bear pennant," the pattern forms when the price consolidates inside a range defined by a falling trendline resistance and rising trendline support after a strong move downside. Additionally, the consolidation moves accompany a decrease in trading volumes.

Bear pennants typically resolve after the price breaks below their trendline support and, as a rule, could fall by as much as the height of the previous big downtrend, called a "flagpole," as illustrated in the chart below. 

ADA/USD three-day price chart featuring "bear pennant'"setup. Source: TradingView

As a result, a decisive breakdown below ADA's bear pennant structure could mean extended declines to the level at length equal to the flagpole. In other words, the target for Cardano's price will be $0.20, down over 60% from June 28's price.

In the meantime, ADA shows signs of consolidating inside the pennant's range with its imminent bias looking skewed toward bulls. This opens the door for ADA/USD to rebound from the pennant's rising trendline support near $0.46 to rally toward its falling trendline resistance around $0.60 by July.

Cardano's Vasil hard fork

Despite the interim bearish outlook, Cardano could get a boost from its upcoming "Vasil" hard fork.

The upgrade, originally scheduled for June end, will now go live sometime in July and aims to improve the Cardano network's speed and scalability.

Related: Institutional crypto asset products saw record weekly outflows of $423M

In addition, Vasil is expected to make Cardano more developer-friendly, which proponents argue could even attract projects from rivaling layer-one blockchains, leading to a higher demand for ADA.

ADA's price has a history of rising in the days leading up to Cardano hard forks, which should boost its chances at a rally alongside favorable technicals, as shown below.

ADA/USD three-day price chart featuring 'bear pennant' setup. Source: TradingView

What's more, ADA also has a history of plunging hard after its hard forks in a sell-the-news fashion.

Thus, Cardano could be setting up to resume its downtrend after Vasil goes live in July, which would fall in line with the bear pennant discussed above.

ADA/USD and Nasdaq's weekly correlation coefficient. Source: TradingView

At the same time, Cardano's price remains almost in lockstep with U.S. equities amid the Federal Reserve's interest rate hiking, which should continue to put downward pressure on its price in the short to medium term.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.



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Must staking and liquidity pool lock-ups change to see crypto mass adoption?

Will the wave of lending protocols struggling in the bear market stimulate the development of alternative solutions to create more sustainable investment opportunities?

The recent downturn in the broader crypto landscape has highlighted several flaws inherent with proof-of-stake (PoS) networks and Web3 protocols. Mechanisms such as bonding/unbonding and lock-up periods were architecturally built into many PoS networks and liquidity pools with the intent of mitigating a total bank run and promoting decentralization. Yet, the inability to quickly withdraw funds has become a reason why many are losing money, including some of the most prominent crypto companies.

At their most fundamental level, PoS networks like Polkadot, Solana and the ill-fated Terra rely on validators that verify transactions while securing the blockchain by keeping it decentralized. Similarly, liquidity providers from various protocols offer liquidity across the network and improve each respective cryptocurrency’s velocity — i.e., the rate at which the tokens are exchanged across the crypto rail.

Download and purchase reports on the Cointelegraph Research Terminal.

In its soon-to-be-released report “Web3: The Next Form of the Internet,” Cointelegraph Research discusses the issues faced by decentralized finance (DeFi) in light of the current economic background and assesses how the market will develop.

The unstable stable

The Terra meltdown raised many questions about the sustainability of crypto lending protocols and, most importantly, the safety of the assets deposited by the platforms’ users. In particular, crypto lending protocol Anchor, the centerpiece of Terra’s ecosystem, struggled to handle the depeg of TerraUSD (UST), Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin. This resulted in users losing billions of dollars. Before the depeg, Anchor Protocol had more than $17 billion in total value locked. As of June 28, it stands at just under $1.8 million.

The assets deposited in Anchor have a three-week lock-up period. As a result, many users could not exit their LUNA — which has since been renamed Luna Classic (LUNC) — and UST positions at higher prices to mitigate their losses during the crash. As Anchor Protocol collapsed, its team decided to burn the locked-up deposits, raising the liquidity outflow from the Terra ecosystem to $30 billion, subsequently causing a 36% decrease in the total TVL on Ethereum.

While multiple factors led to Terra’s collapse — including UST withdrawals and volatile market conditions — it is clear that the inability to quickly remove funds from the platform represents a significant risk and entry barrier for some users.

Dropping the Celsius

The current bear market has already demonstrated that even curated investment decisions, carefully evaluated and made by the leading market players, are becoming akin to a gamble due to lock-up periods.

Unfortunately, even the most thought-out, calculated investments are not immune to shocks. The token stETH is minted by Lido when Ether (ETH) is staked on its platform and allows users access to a token backed 1:1 by Ether that they can continue using in DeFi while their ETH is staked. Lending protocol Celsius put up 409,000 stETH as collateral on Aave, another lending protocol, to borrow $303.84 million in stablecoins.

However, as stETH depegged from Ether and the price of ETH fell amid the market downturn, the value of the collateral started falling as well, which has raised suspicions that Celsius’ stETH has been liquidated and that the company is facing bankruptcy.

Given that there is 481,000 stETH available on Curve, the second-largest DeFi lending protocol, the liquidation of this position would subsequently cause extreme token price volatility and a further stETH depeg. Thus, lock-up periods for lending protocols act not only as an additional risk factor for an individual investor but can sometimes trigger an unpredictable chain of events that impact the broader DeFi market.

3AC in trouble

Three Arrows Capital is also at risk, with the ETH price decline reportedly leading to the liquidation of 212,000 ETH used as collateral for its $183 million debt in stablecoins and putting the venture fund on the brink of bankruptcy.

Moreover, the inability of lending protocols to negate the liquidations recently pushed Solend, the most prominent lending protocol on Solana, to intervene and propose taking over a whale’s wallet “so the liquidation can be executed OTC and avoid pushing Solana to its limits.” In particular, the liquidation of the $21-million position could cause cascading liquidations if the price of SOL were to drop too low. The initial vote was pushed through by another whale wallet, which contributed 95.1% of the total votes. Even though a second vote overturned this decision, the fact that the developers went against the core principles of decentralization, and revealed its lack thereof, alarmed many in the crypto community.

Ultimately, a lack of flexibility with bonding/unbonding and locked liquidity farming pools may deter future contributors from joining Web3 unless they have a strong understanding of DeFi design and commensurate risk. This is exacerbated by the collapse of “too big to fail” protocols like Terra and uncertainty around hybrid venture capital firms/hedge funds like Three Arrows Capital. It may be time to evaluate some alternative solutions to lock-up periods to allow for sustainable yields and true mass adoption.

This article is for information purposes only and represents neither investment advice nor an investment analysis or an invitation to buy or sell financial instruments. Specifically, the document does not serve as a substitute for individual investment or other advice.



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Monday, June 27, 2022

Terra's LUNA2 skyrockets 70% in nine days despite persistent sell-off risks

LUNA2 may have bottomed in June, but just who is buying this controversial token?

The price of Terra (LUNA2) has recovered sharply nine days after falling to its historic lows of $1.62. 

On June 27, LUNA2's rate reached $2.77 per token, thus chalking up a 70% recovery when measured from the said low. Still, the token traded 77.35% lower than its record high of $12.24, set on May 30.

LUNA2's recovery mirrored similar retracement moves elsewhere in the crypto industry with top crypto assets Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) rising by approximately 25% and 45% in the same period.

LUNA2/USD four-hour price chart versus BTC/USD. Source: TradingView

LUNA2 price rally could trap bulls

The recent bout of buying in the LUNA2 market could trap bulls, given it has come as a part of a broader correction trend.

In detail, LUNA2 appears to be forming a "bear flag" pattern, a bearish continuation setup that appears as the price consolidates upward inside a parallel ascending channel after undergoing a large move downside.

Bear Flags resolve after the price breaks below the channel's lower trendline. As a rule of technical analysis, their breakdown takes the price to the level at a length equal to the size of the previous downside move (called "flagpole"), as shown in the chart below.

LUNA2/USD daily price chart featuring 'bull flag' setup. Source: TradingView

LUNA2, now trading near its Bear Flag's upper trendline (~$2.40), could undergo an imminent pullback toward the pattern's lower trendline near $2. 

If accompanied by an increase in volume, an extended price correction would put LUNA2 at risk of crashing to $1.30, down almost 50% from June 2's price.

LUNA2 is risky

LUNA's depressive technical outlook also takes cues from its controversial history.

Notably, LUNA2 came to existence in late May as a means to compensate investors who had suffered losses during the collapse of Terra's algorithmic stablecoin, now called TerraClassic USD (USTC).

Meanwhile, the almost-worthless old version of LUNA2, named LUNA, started trading as an independent token under the revamped brand called "Terra Classic (LUNAC)."

LUNA2 opened across major exchanges with a 483% spike to $12.24, only to give up all the gains in a massive correction move later. Mati Greenspan, the founder of crypto research firm Quantum Economics, noted that nobody in their right mind would want to invest in LUNA2 after the LUNAC collapse.

LUNA/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

That leaves LUNA2 in the hands of hardcore holders who want to recoup their Terra losses entirely and speculators who want to place excessively leveraged bets on its day-to-day volatile price moves.

Related: Bitcoin price dips under $21K while exchanges see record outflow trend

Interestingly, such speculations are also leading LUNAC and USTC's market cap higher.

LUNAC and USTC market cap. Source: CoinMarketCap

The market capitalization of LUNAC, despite being dead in theory, has risen by 75% to $594 million on June 27, after reaching as low as $339 million on June 12. Similarly, USTC's market valuation has rallied from $13 million to $96 million in the same period.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.



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NFT​.NYC — How the Web3 space is validating the work of digital artists

The Digital Diaspora, an event hosted at Samsung 837 during the week of NFT.NYC, beamed a spotlight on some of the most prominent Black artists within the NFT space.

Following the conclusion of the fourth annual NFT.NYC conference, attendees took the opportunity to reflect upon a week of artistic inspiration, community networking and developer innovation from within the nonfungible token (NFT) space.

A sequel to last year’s popular debut, The Digital Diaspora event on June 19 served as a dedicated exhibition, panel discussion, and fundraiser to amplify the voices and creative talents of artists of color in the NFT space. 

The event was a collaboration between the renowned skyscraper photographer DrifterShoots and youthful rising-star artist Diana Sinclair, in partnership with sponsors MetaMask and Samsung, and was hosted at the Samsung 837 hub in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan, New York on Father’s Day and Juneteenth. 

Hosted by Community Manager at MetaMask, Faith Love, panelists included Diana Sinclair, Emonee LaRussa, Andre O’Shea, Elise Swopes, Cory Van Lew and a cameo stage appearance from DrifterShoots.

June 19, known commonly as Juneteenth, is one of the most culturally significant days of the American calendar, marking the historic moment in 1865 when the last African Americans were emancipated from slavery in Galveston, Texas. 

Nowadays, the federal holiday of Juneteenth serves as a poignant reminder to consciously reflect on the atrocities of the past, but it's also an opportunity to amplify the societal narrative around cultural diversity and representation, as well as celebrate the modern accomplishments of people of color. 

The Digital Diaspora — with "diaspora" referring to the global migration and displacement of people of similar culture or origins — was a celebration of Black culture, aiming to bring “awareness to issues of racism and inequality, while highlighting the beauty of the art birthed from these ever-present struggles,” according to the website. 

“The Digital Diaspora is an art show that celebrates Black culture and the people who design it, elevating voices that often go unheard and giving a platform to those less seen. By displaying and celebrating the artists chosen and through the charity selected, we push forward to design and build a future that truly welcomes Black art in its truest form.” 

The Digital Diaspora event was attended in person by Cointelegraph’s NFT reporter, Tom Farren, as a part of his week-long reporting duties at the NFT.NYC conference.

Pictured Left to Right: Faith Love, Diana Sinclair, Emonee LaRussa, Andre O’Shea, Elise Swopes, Cory Van Lew.

Sinclair shared insights into the inspiration and origin story of a recent piece of work titled “You Cant Smooth A Crumpled Paper Or A Wrinkled Heart” in collaboration with musician and producer Reuel Williams. 

“It was a very intense art piece that took a lot of time to make. This piece was a lot about the process of it, actually, rather than exactly the end artwork,” Sinclair stated before continuing: 

“I created a video collage of this friend of mine [where] she's breathing and moving. I printed out each frame of the video, crumpled it up with my brother and flattened out each one, so now it's like a wrinkled piece of paper. Then, I scanned and turned it into a stop motion video, and my mother created a poem to go with it.” 

Williams was instrumental in evolving the piece to a “whole other level,” said Sinclair. The cascading sonics of the musical soundtrack provide a structural intensity to the visual imagery, complementing the narrative of progression in the face of adversity. 

“This piece is about persistence and how even though we — meaning Black people in this country — have been wrinkled, have been flattened, have gone through so much struggle, that we still persist, and we still continue. So, it's a looping video,” said Sinclair. 

An accompanying poem was written for the piece by Sinclair’s mother, Leia which can be viewed here. The final four lines read: “We lift wrinkled hearts to the sun for healing / While we show beautiful shades / Of smooth unbothered shea butter skin / To the world.” 

The Sinclair and Williams collaborative piece is one of nine that was displayed at the event and is currently under auction. Others include Yacht Lounge by Cory Van Lew, Bask in the Glow by Elise Swopes, and One Decision Away by Andre O’Shea, among others. 

Related: Crypto secures a place in the African American saga

Andre O’Shea spoke with eloquence on the subject of Black representation within the NFT space, sharing his belief that progress exists in the form of an infinite symbol where when one circle — depicting an artist’s career or creative contribution — ends, the next circle continues the cycle for the next generation.

“Becoming an artist in the Web3 space, I see how validated we are as digital artists now [because it] gives us this platform. But also, speaking to the new opportunities that it gives us is much kind of like what Diane is doing now — creating more spaces for us, create bigger spaces for us, actually laying down that path.”

The everlasting ability to expand the branches of opportunity and uplift new creators and voices is a significant benefit in the Web3 space compared to its predecessor, claimed O’Shea. 

Emonee LaRussa, a two-time Emmy award-winning motion graphics artist, and founder of the nonprofit project, Jumpstart Designers, utilized her time portion of the panel to publicly announce her curation of an upcoming event on Nov. 5 in Los Angeles at SuperChief Gallery.

She also shared her philosophy behind Jumpstart Designers, and the ways in which the educational program is supporting young creators from underserved communities develop their digital skills on Adobe Creative Cloud, and gain access to necessary computing equipment. 

“This has been a dream of mine since I was a kid. I didn't grow up with a whole lot of money, and being in digital art, I had realized that […] me experiencing not having access really made me realize how reliant my dreams were on money.” 

“And so, I wanted to change the future of digital art. So that is our motto: change the future of digital art. Because we really believe that by bringing these kids on, you'll see new experiences, new stories that you've never seen before, and they won't be limited to what they can create.” 

In 2021, 25-year-old LaRussa mentored six emerging artists as a part of the Voice NFT Residency to create and auction their own NFT artworks. All of the $38,742 raised to-date has been donated to low-income children seeking to increase their digital literacy and animation skills. 

“We all know, digital art is very expensive. And how many kids out there are just so talented, so creative and don't even have the opportunity? NFTs have changed our life and how many opportunities NFTs brings for us, they're just not even in question for that. And so, we want to change that.” 

Invited onto the stage from his seat in the audience, DrifterShoots, commonly referred to as Drift, shared his gratitude for the approximate 1,000 people in physical attendance.

“This means the world to us,” he stated. “You know, the space can be a lot of smoke and mirrors at times — people playing with ‘pretend money’ and things like that. But I think at the end of the day as artists, especially as Black artists, with purposes and real intentions, we want our art, our lives, our stories to make a clear impact in the world.” 



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Goldman Sachs downgrades Coinbase stock to ‘sell’

The United States cryptocurrency exchange has seen its stock price plunge in lockstep with Bitcoin, Ether and the broader digital asset market.

Shares of Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN) have been downgraded by analysts at Goldman Sachs after plunging cryptocurrency prices affected the exchange’s underlying business, underscoring the challenges posed by the bear market. 

The reason for the downgrade stems from the “continued downdraft in crypto prices,” Goldman analyst William Nance said in a note that was obtained by Bloomberg. The analyst said Coinbase “will need to make substantial reductions in its cost base in order to stem the resulting cash burn as retail trading activity dries up.”

According to Bloomberg, Coinbase still has 20 buy recommendations, 6 holds and 5 sell ratings as of June 27. Stocks with a buy rating are on analysts’ recommended list. Stocks with hold ratings are expected to perform roughly on par with the broader market and sell recommendations are calls to liquidate an asset.

Shares of Coinbase have plunged over the past seven months. Source: TradingView.

Coinbase began trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange in April 2021 and quickly exceeded its pre-listing reference price, eventually reaching $381. At those price levels, COIN had a fully diluted market capitalization of nearly $100 billion. However, since November, COIN has been on a downward spiral, plunging 84% to less than $58 a share. The stock was down 8% on Monday, dragging its market cap below $15 billion.

The selloff in Coinbase stock has occurred in lockstep with plunging crypto prices. Since peaking at around $69,000 in November 2021, Bitcoin (BTC) is down almost 70%.

In addition to its collapsing share price, Coinbase has been forced to lay off around a fifth of its staff and has even gone as far as rescinding job offers. CEO Brian Armstrong said the likelihood of recession could prolong the so-called “crypto winter” and lead to an extended period of adverse market conditions.

Related: Google users think BTC is dead — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

As Cointelegraph reported, credit rating agency Moody’s recently downgraded Coinbase’s Corporating Family Rating to Ba3 from Ba2. As Moody’s noted, Coinbase’s revenue model is tied to trading volumes, which have dried up in recent months due to the mass exodus of retail traders.



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Sunday, June 26, 2022

ANZ's stablecoin used to buy tokenized carbon credits

The latest A$DC transaction saw ANZ’s institutional partner Victor Smorgon use A$DC to purchase Australian Carbon Credit Units from blockchain-based carbon trading platform BetaCarbon.

ANZ’s stablecoin A$DC has been used to buy Australian tokenized carbon credits, marking another critical test of the asset’s use cases in the local economy.

In March, the “Big Four” bank became the first major Australian financial institution to mint its own stablecoin after overseeing a pilot transaction worth 30 million AUD ($20.76 million) between Victor Smorgon Group and digital asset manager Zerocap.

ANZ’s stablecoin is fully collateralized by Australian dollars (AUD) held in the bank's managed reserved account. So far, A$DC transactions have primarily been conducted over the Ethereum blockchain.

According to a June 27 report from the Australian Financial Review (AFR), the latest transaction saw its long-time institutional partner Victor Smorgon use A$DC to purchase Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).

The carbon credits were tokenized and provided by BetaCarbon, a blockchain-based carbon trading platform that issues digital security assets dubbed “BCAUs,” which represent one kilogram of carbon offsets per credit.

The transaction also saw participation from Zerocap again, who provided market-making services and liquidity by exchanging the A$DC sent from Victor Smorgon into USD Coin (USDC) so that BetaCarbon could accept the deal. The value of the transaction has not been specified, however.

In terms of the bank’s outlook on the crypto/blockchain sector, ANZ’s banking services portfolio lead Nigel Dobson told the AFR that the firm is looking at blockchain tech as a means of “pursuing the transition of financial market infrastructure” and is not necessarily interested in speculative crypto assets themselves.

“We see this is evolving from being internet-protocol based to one of ‘tokenized’ protocols. We think the underlying infrastructure – efficient, secure, public blockchains – will facilitate transactions, both ones we understand today and new ones that will be more efficient.”

Dobson echoed similar sentiments at the Chainalysis Links event in Sydney on June 21, noting that ANZ promptly “banned the word crypto immediately in all of our internal communications and narrative” when it started exploring blockchain tech a few years ago.

He went on to add that the bank has explored multiple use cases for blockchain tech, such as supply chain tracking and providing on-ramps via stablecoins for institutions to invest in digital assets. However, Dobson suggested that tokenized carbon credits were a key area that the bank has been gearing up for:

"Another area where we have a strong position in terms of sustainability is where we feel the tokenization of carbon credits and marketplaces driven by tokenized assets and tokenized value exchange will be really efficient."

Related: BTC Markets becomes first Australian crypto firm to get a financial services license

At the start of this month, ANZ ruled out offering any crypto exposure to retail investors due to their lack of financial literacy.

Maile Carnegie, an executive for retail banking, noted at the Australian Financial Review Banking Summit that “the vast majority of them don’t understand really basic financial well-being concepts.”



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