Bitcoin Price: US$ 22,136.41 (-1.56%)
Ethereum Price: US$ 1,208.90 (-0.08%)
Ethereum price falls below $1.1K and data suggests the bottom is still a ways away
- Ether (ETH) price nosedived below $1,100 in the early hours of June 14 to prices not seen since January 2021. The downside move marks a 78% correction since the $4,870 all-time high on Nov. 10, 2021.
- More importantly, Ether has underperformed Bitcoin (BTC) by 33% between May 10 and June 14, 2022, and the last time a similar event happened was mid-2021.
- Even though Bitcoin oscillated in a narrow range two weeks before the 0.082 ETH/BTC peak, this period marked the “DeFi summer” peak when Ethereum’s total value locked (TVL) catapulted to $93 billion from $42 billion two months earlier.
- Data shows steady growth in active addresses, which increased from 595,620 in mid-March to 857,520 in mid-May. So, not only did the TVL growth take investors by surprise, but so did the number of users.
- By May 10, 2022, Ethereum had 563,160 active addresses, in the lower range from the past couple of months. This is the exact opposite of the mid-2021 movement that occurred as Ether price accelerated its losses in BTC terms.
Binance CEO plans to leverage crypto winter
- Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, commonly known as “CZ,” said in a recent interview that a potential crypto winter is good for business.
- When asked how Binance will fare during the current crypto winter following reports of recruitment freezes at Gemini and Coinbase, he answered confidently.
- “It’s not the first time we’ve gone through a crypto winter. If we are in a crypto winter, it would be my third and Binance’s second. So it’s not the first time we’ve been through this.”
- Changpeng Zhao has undertaken what is, for many exchanges, a hairy endeavor — recruiting new staff during a bear market to take advantage of the next possible bull market. “Right now is much better to hire, during bull markets, everyone is starting their own projects, and everyone is getting paid a ridiculous amount of compensation,” he continued:
- “Now the markets are more balanced, so top talents are available, and we want to hire them.”
OpenSea announces migration to Seaport protocol
- On Tuesday, OpenSea, the most popular nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, marketplace by trading volume, announced that it was migrating to Seaport. Among many perks, the protocol says it will feature lower gas fees, the ability to make offers on entire collections, removal of new account initialization fees and more user-friendly signature options.
- As told by OpenSea, users would pay 35% less for gas fees when transacting on Seaport. Based on data from 2021, it would amount to an estimated $460 million (138,000 ETH) in total savings. In addition, the removal of the setup fee would potentially result in $120 million (35,000 ETH) per year in additive savings.
EU commissioner reiterates need for ‘regulating all crypto-assets’
- Mairead McGuinness, the Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union at the European Commission, is moving forward with a discussion on regulating cryptocurrencies amid three major events in the space.
- In written remarks for a speech in Brussels on Tuesday, McGuinness said the Celsius Network’s recent suspension of withdrawals, as well as the crash of Terra (originally LUNA, now LUNA Classic, or LUNC), show the need for crypto-asset regulation in the European Union. She added that ongoing concerns about crypto potentially being used to circumvent sanctions on Russia were also a factor.
- “Regulating all crypto-assets — whether they’re unbacked crypto-assets or so-called “stablecoins — and crypto-asset service providers is necessary,” said McGuinness. “Sanctions implementation could be facilitated if our framework on crypto was in place, and if all crypto-asset service providers were regulated entities and subject to effective supervision in the European Union.”
‘Too early’ to say Bitcoin price has reclaimed key bear market support — Analysis
- BTC price action is back above the 200-week moving average, but the Fed may still sour the mood.
- Bitcoin (BTC) crept higher after the June 14 Wall Street open as analysts hoped that long-term support had been preserved.
- The pair had seen a strong bounce after nearing $20,800, with traditional markets likewise recovering after panic set in over United States inflation.
- Nonetheless, it was “too early to tell” if the 200 SMA would continue to provide an attractive zone, a tweet stated, with the Federal Reserve due to provide inflation cues on June 15.
- “Currently the market gives a 96% probability that the Fed delivers a 75bps hike on Wednesday. The market had recently been pricing in a 50bps hike but last week’s hot inflation data changed that sentiment. (This time last week a 75bps hike was given ~4% chance of occurring),” popular Twitter account @tedtalksmacro wrote in one of a series of tweets on the day.
‘Nothing issue’ — MicroStrategy CEO plans to hodl Bitcoin ‘through adversity’
- Bitcoin (BTC) megahodler MicroStrategy can ride out further BTC price declines, even if it falls to just $3,500, its CEO confirms.
- In a tweet on June 14, Michael Saylor sought to allay fears that his firm’s BTC exposure may be about to cost it dearly.
- With the largest corporate Bitcoin treasury, MicroStrategy has felt the pain of this year’s BTC price declines — at least on paper.
- According to the monitoring resource Bitcoin Treasuries, the firm’s 129,218 BTC stack is currently being held at a net loss of $1.06 billion — around two-thirds of its total market cap.
- This week, rumors over a potential default on a $205 million used to purchase those reserves intensified. Specifically, BTC/USD dropping below $21,000 would trigger a margin call, potentially losing MicroStrategy its position if it did not respond with extra capital.
- “When MicroStrategy adopted a Bitcoin Strategy, it anticipated volatility and structured its balance sheet so that it could continue to HODL through adversity,” he declared to Twitter followers.
OpenSea announces new security features to protect users from NFT scams
- One of the most popular crypto startups, OpenSea, has recently come under fire for stolen and plagiarized nonfungible tokens (NFTs).
- In light of the growing number of NFT scams, OpenSea has announced the launch of a new feature that will automatically hide suspicious NFT transfers from view on their marketplace. This will help to protect users from being scammed and ensure that only legitimate transactions are visible.
- According to a blog post on Monday, the new feature will automatically conceal suspicious NFT transfers to address key concerns around trust and safety on OpenSea.
Binance aims to become a super app with Splyt crypto partnership
- The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance has partnered with Splyt, a “super app enabler,” to bring payment options to the Binance application. Payment options made for Splyt services include cryptocurrency.
- When live, the integration will allow Binance users to pay for ridehailing services, but “also bikesharing, scooters, airport transfers, public transport and even food delivery,” a Splyt spokesperson told Cointelegraph.
- As per usual, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, better known as “CZ,” helped to break the news on Twitter:
- The news comes as some relief to Binance, which suffered issues related to “stuck transactions” on Bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals on Monday. The problem was resolved eight hours later.
NYC Mayor Eric Adams speaks out against PoW mining ban legislation
- New York City’s Mayor Eric Adams spoke out on Monday against a bill just one step away from effectively banning Bitcoin mining in the state for the next two years.
- The bill is designed to place a two-year moratorium on proof-of-work (PoW) crypto miners who do not use 100% renewable energy. At the same time, New York state’s environmental agency is investigating the effects of mining on the environment. The bill passed on June 3 in the State Assembly and now awaits Governor Kathy Hochul’s signature to become a law.
- Mayor Adams told Crain’s on Monday that he intends to request Governor Hochul veto the bill due to the economic damage it will cause the state’s people. Mayor Adams has been a frequent proponent of the crypto industry, previously accepting Bitcoin (BTC) instead of cash for his salary payments.
- He now stands with miners against the bill, stating that “we can’t continue to put barriers in place” for miners who wish to help bolster the state’s economy with the “billions of dollars that are spent on cryptocurrency” in the state:
- “I’m going to ask the governor to consider vetoing the bill that is going to get in the way of cryptocurrency upstate.”
Illicit crypto usage as a percent of total usage has fallen: Report
- Illicit cryptocurrency activity in 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 has declined as a percentage of overall crypto activity, according to blockchain forensics firm CipherTrace.
- The cryptocurrency industry has long held a reputation in some jurisdictions as a haven for illegal activity. However, CipherTrace estimates that illicit activity was between 0.62% and 0.65% of overall cryptocurrency activity in 2020. The firm reported that it has now fallen to between 0.10% and 0.15% of overall activity in 2021.
- In its “Cryptocurrency Crime and Anti-Money Laundering” report released Monday, CipherTrace outlined that the top ten decentralized finance (DeFi) hacks in 2021 and Q1 2022 netted attackers $2.4 billion.
- Over half of that figure came from just two events, the largest being the late March 2022 Ronin Network exploit worth about $650 million and the $610 million August 2021 hack of the Poly Network, most of which was returned by the anonymous hacker.
