Bitcoin Price: US$ 27,210.35 (-1.75%)
Ethereum Price: US$ 1,873.63 (-1.42%)
Bitcoin faced selling pressure as a top Federal Reserve official, Loretta Mester, expressed support for continued liquidity tightening, causing concern among investors. Additionally, weak manufacturing data from China and the depreciation of the Chinese yuan against the US dollar added to the bearish sentiment in the cryptocurrency market. Historically, yuan devaluation has been considered positive for assets like bitcoin and gold, but a strong dollar could lead to further monetary tightening and pose a challenge for risk assets, including cryptocurrencies. In another development, stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Financial has removed all U.S. Treasury bonds from its USD Coin reserves in anticipation of potential fallout from the U.S. debt ceiling showdown. The company’s decision is aimed at safeguarding its $29 billion USDC stablecoin amid uncertainty in the bond market.
Multichain, a blockchain protocol, is facing difficulties as its CEO, Zhaojun, is unreachable and the company has lost access to its servers. Rumors of Chinese authorities arresting Multichain executives have surfaced, but remain unconfirmed. There are reports that law enforcement officials have taken control of a $1.6 billion wallet belonging to the company. As a result of these issues, the protocol has experienced multiple problems, affecting cross-chain services for various blockchains. Multichain has requested partners to temporarily halt smart contracts running on its platform until access to servers is regained. In other news, cryptocurrency exchange Binance will no longer offer trading services for privacy coins like Monero, Dash, and Zcash in France, Italy, Spain, and Poland, in response to regulatory requirements in these countries. In a similar news, cryptocurrency exchange volumes have reached their lowest monthly level since October 2020, largely due to reduced activity from large trading firms and decreased volatility in the market.
Ethereum staking provider Rocket Pool has deployed on the zkSync Era network, becoming the first liquid staking protocol to do so. By operating on zkSync Era, users can move Rocket Pool’s rETH token faster and cheaper, enhancing the user experience in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. Rocket Pool is already live on Ethereum Layer 2 networks Optimism and Arbitrum. zkSync Era is a Layer 2 network on Ethereum that utilizes zero-knowledge proofs to secure transactions. In other news, Avalanche, a Layer 1 blockchain network, has surpassed 1 million monthly active users, attributed to the recent launch of AvaCloud. AvaCloud is a platform that allows for the easy creation of customizable blockchains, enabling developers to build specialized decentralized applications. Multiple projects, including SK Group, Blitz, and Shrapnel, have committed to building subnets via AvaCloud, indicating the network’s momentum and growth.
Source:
https://coindesk.com
https://decrypt.co
https://theblock.co
Disclaimer: The following summaries are provided for informational purposes only and are not intended to infringe upon any copyrights. All rights to the original content belong to their respective owners, and the summaries are intended to provide a brief overview of the content. If you are the owner of any of the content summarised here and have concerns about its use, please contact us to discuss the matter further.
