Bitcoin Price: US$ 57,079.76 (+3.82%)
Ethereum Price: US$ 2,359.50 (+2.71%)
In 2023, the FBI reported that Americans lost $5.6 billion to cryptocurrency fraud, a 45% increase from the previous year, with older individuals being the most affected. These losses were primarily due to investment schemes where scammers exploited victims through confidence schemes and ATMs, making it difficult to recover stolen funds. Despite recent outflows tied to Bitcoin’s price drop, wealth advisers are rapidly adopting Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) faster than any previous ETF, with significant inflows into products like BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF. This growing interest contrasts with the slower adoption among traditional institutions, indicating both growth potential and existing challenges in the crypto ETF market. Kamala Harris, in her 2024 presidential election policy platform, emphasises innovation and economic fairness but does not specifically mention cryptocurrency or blockchain technology. Her campaign aims to advance U.S. leadership in technology and address middle-class issues, with some experts suggesting her approach to crypto may align with the current Biden administration’s stance.
Plume Network is launching a tokenised ‘Mineral Vault’ to meet the growing demand for high-yield private assets on-chain, offering financial exposure to natural resource production like oil and gas in the U.S. Meanwhile, tokenised real-world assets (RWAs) are expanding rapidly, with the potential to become a $30-trillion market, particularly in yield-bearing assets. Kazakhstan is considering granting full digital asset trading licenses to Binance and Bybit after extensive compliance audits, which could position the country as a key player in the crypto-mining sector despite challenges with power consumption. These developments follow a crackdown on unlicensed exchanges and the restructuring of the country’s regulatory framework for digital assets. Additionally, Ether.fi is introducing a crypto-native credit card on the Ethereum layer-2 network Scroll, allowing users to borrow against crypto collateral and pay globally with cryptocurrency via Visa, as the market for crypto credit cards is expected to grow significantly in the coming years.
Cryptocurrency investment products faced substantial outflows totalling $726 million, marking one of the largest since March 2024, with Bitcoin products alone seeing $643 million in outflows. This trend is partly driven by uncertainty over potential interest rate cuts, with markets closely monitoring upcoming U.S. inflation data. Despite the bearish sentiment, Solana attracted $6.2 million in inflows, indicating selective investor interest. Meanwhile, Coinbase had its worst week in 2024, with its stock plummeting to its lowest value since February, a decline mirrored by other crypto stocks and major Bitcoin mining companies, which also suffered double-digit losses. Adding to the market’s concerns, a leaked video from Chainalysis has raised questions about Monero’s privacy, suggesting that the blockchain’s transactions might be traceable through Chainalysis’ methods. Although the leak has sparked backlash, some argue it could enhance Monero’s security by identifying potential vulnerabilities. On a brighter note, Ether is showing signs of a potential price breakout after a prolonged downtrend, with analysts pointing to improving macroeconomic conditions and bullish technical indicators as possible drivers. Whales have also re-entered the market, buying significant amounts of Ether, which could influence price action, though the cryptocurrency remains in a five-month downtrend, partly due to negative outflows from Ether-based ETFs, which have seen over $568 million in outflows since their launch.
Starknet is set to transform decentralised governance with the launch of its Snapshot X protocol on September 10, which introduces gasless voting for decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) and blockchain communities. By leveraging Starknet’s rollup technology, Snapshot X allows participants to vote on-chain without incurring gas fees, addressing the inefficiencies and costs associated with traditional on-chain voting. This protocol uses Starknet’s technology and storage proofs to enable users to prove ownership of assets on one blockchain without moving them, facilitating seamless gas-free on-chain governance. The first vote using Snapshot X will determine the minting mechanism for Starknet staking, concluding on September 13. Meanwhile, Steven Nerayoff, an early Ethereum adviser, has filed a $100 million lawsuit against Covington & Burling, alleging the firm mishandled his defence in a 2019 crypto extortion case, which was eventually dismissed in May 2023. He claims that the case could have been avoided if his attorneys had presented exculpatory evidence earlier. Furthermore, a Federal Reserve survey reveals that cryptocurrency ownership in the U.S. has not increased despite a market recovery, with ownership rates dropping from 24.6% in January 2022 to 15.4% in January 2024. However, the survey also shows growing interest in future crypto purchases, with 21.8% of respondents likely to buy crypto by April 2024.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com
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