Bitcoin Price: US$ 26,248.38 (-1.23%)
Ethereum Price: US$ 1,580.71 (-0.36%)
Coinbase Inc., the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, has reportedly explored the possibility of acquiring FTX Europe as part of its expansion plans for its derivatives business. Although talks did not progress to an advanced stage, Coinbase was interested in FTX Europe due to its profitable derivatives operations and growing customer base. Meanwhile, Ether (ETH) has transitioned back to an inflationary state as Ethereum network activity has declined, causing network fees to plummet to their lowest levels in nine months. The reduced destruction of ETH tokens in transaction verification has contributed to the supply increase. This shift has raised concerns among analysts about the impact on Ether’s price. In contrast, Web3 role-playing game Big Time is set to launch in early October, aiming to create a player-owned economy driven by non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and its native cryptocurrency. Big Time distinguishes itself from other crypto-centric games by avoiding pay-to-win mechanics and cultivating a strong community while rewarding skill and strategic resource use rather than just time spent playing.
CoinShares, a European crypto asset manager, is expanding into the U.S. hedge fund sector, launching a hedge fund unit tailored for qualified American investors. This expansion aims to provide institutional investors with actively managed exposure to digital assets, capitalising on shifting macroeconomic conditions shaped by interest rates and inflation. CoinShares sees the return of interest rate-driven volatility as an opportunity for its innovative fund products designed to mitigate counterparty risk and provide investors with well-defined asset class and strategy exposures. This move comes as traditional hedge funds’ involvement in crypto assets has declined, with a significant portion reconsidering their strategies due to evolving U.S. regulatory conditions. CoinShares’ stock gained 2.2% on the Stockholm stock exchange following this announcement. Additionally, the Terra Classic community has voted to halt all minting and reminting activities related to TerraUSD Classic (USTC) to restore a stable peg to the United States dollar. This decision, supported by 59% of the community, aims to safeguard the interests of both the community and external investors by reducing the supply of USTC and aligning it with the U.S. dollar, following USTC’s depegging in May 2022, which led to a significant disruption in the Terra ecosystem. The proposal also expects major crypto exchanges to burn USTC, contributing to price stability. Meanwhile, Coinbase has obtained Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance registration from Spain’s central bank as part of its ongoing European expansion. This registration enables Spanish users to custody their crypto assets on Coinbase and engage in crypto asset trading in euros while adhering to national legal requirements. Spain’s growing crypto enthusiasm is highlighted, with 29% of adults considering cryptocurrencies as the future of finance, and crypto surpassing traditional bank transfers as the country’s second most preferred payment method. Coinbase continues to seek regulatory compliance worldwide, with recent achievements in obtaining similar registrations and approvals in various countries.
Coinbase has recently been identified as holding nearly 1 million Bitcoins in its wallets, equivalent to almost 5% of the total Bitcoin supply, with a total value of over $25 billion. Meanwhile, Bitmain unveiled its latest Antminer S21 and S21 Hydro ASIC miners at the World Digital Mining Summit, boasting impressive performance metrics in terms of hash rate and energy efficiency. The mining industry is increasingly focusing on sustainability and renewable energy integration, given rising electricity costs and the upcoming Bitcoin supply halving in April 2024. Coinbase’s layer-2 network, Base, has seen substantial growth, surpassing Solana in total value locked (TVL). This was driven primarily by projects like decentralised exchange Aerodrome Finance and social media platform Friend.tech, both of which experienced significant increases in TVL and user activity over the past month, contributing to Base’s success in the DeFi space.
Source:
https://cointelegraph.com
https://coindesk.com
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