Bitcoin Price: US$ 59,068.96 (-0.73%)
Ethereum Price: US$ 2,572.82 (-2.41%)
The National Futures Association has imposed a $150,000 fine on cryptocurrency fund Ikigai Strategic Partners for an illicit $2.5 million Bitcoin loan, underscoring a broader regulatory crackdown on crypto misconduct following the FTX collapse and highlighting ongoing scrutiny in the cryptocurrency market. Meanwhile, Bitcoin demand has plummeted since April, with apparent demand shifting from a 30-day growth of 496,000 BTC to a negative 25,000 BTC, causing its price to fall from $70,000 to $51,000 due to decreased spot ETF purchases and a lower trading premium on Coinbase; however, permanent holders continue to buy BTC at unprecedented rates. Additionally, Ethereum’s transaction dynamics are improving as private transactions now dominate order flow, consuming more than half of the network’s gas and introducing new centralisation risks, driven by users seeking protection from frontrunning and MEV, which affects public transaction costs and market predictability.
Donald Trump has indicated he may consider appointing Tesla CEO Elon Musk to a Cabinet position if he wins the 2024 presidential election, although he has not yet specified the department. This suggestion follows a discussion between Trump and Musk about potential roles and comes amid Musk’s growing support for Trump and campaign contributions. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission plans to regulate the expanding cryptocurrency market by issuing licenses for exchanges, following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s removal of transaction restrictions and aiming to address regulatory challenges faced by platforms like OKX. In Bitcoin mining, costs have surged by 168% to $51,887 per BTC in Q2 2024 due to higher electricity costs and the April halving event, even as mining capacity increased significantly and BitFuFu’s revenue rose by 70%, reflecting both the increased costs and expanded operations.
Coinbase’s layer-2 solution Base has set a record with 4 million active addresses, fuelled by its “Onchain Summer” campaign, which incentivises blockchain development with 600 Ether and includes initiatives like bringing Atari’s classic games onchain, despite some controversy over the authenticity of these games. Concurrently, State Street has unveiled a new digital asset platform for institutional clients in collaboration with Taurus, offering tokenisation and custodial services amid growing institutional interest, evidenced by significant inflows into Bitcoin ETFs and increased investment activity. Meanwhile, Tether has minted an additional $1 billion in USDT tokens on the Tron network, raising its total minting in the past year to $33 billion, with similar substantial minting on Ethereum, reflecting a strategy to replenish inventory and manage liquidity, as Tron leads in stablecoin supply.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com
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.
