Bitcoin Price: US$ 27,736.40 (-1.17%)
Ethereum Price: US$ 1,892.60 (-0.84%)
Over the past year, the market share of stablecoins pegged to the US dollar has experienced some shifts. While many stablecoins have seen a decline, Tether (USDT) has reached its all-time high, with a current market dominance of 65.89% compared to 47.04% a year ago. On the other hand, Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) has seen its market share decrease from 34.88% to 23.05%. Tether’s market capitalisation has soared to $83.1 billion, while USDC’s market cap has dropped from $55 billion to $29 billion. The economic uncertainty and regulatory crackdown in the US have been cited as factors influencing these changes. In other news, hardware crypto wallet firm Ledger faced criticism for its upcoming “Recover” service, which offers a paid feature for backing up and restoring private seed phrases. Due to security concerns, the launch of the service was postponed, and Ledger plans to open-source the code behind the Recover protocol. Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier emphasised that the service is optional and aims to make secure self-custody easier for users. However, some users and experts have raised concerns about potential risks associated with the service. In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin touched $28,000 and Ethereum surpassed $1,900 as US lawmakers reached a tentative deal on the federal government’s debt ceiling, boosting market sentiments and contributing to the rise in prices for these cryptocurrencies and stocks. The deal will now undergo a vote in Congress and aims to prevent the US government from defaulting on its debt.
Russian lawmakers have abandoned their plans to create a state-owned cryptocurrency exchange and instead aim to establish regulations for existing private enterprises in the crypto industry. The Ministry of Finance did not support the idea of a national crypto exchange and will focus on legally regulating the establishment and operation of such exchanges by private businesses. In other news, Pancake Swap, a decentralised cryptocurrency exchange, has launched Pancake Protectors, an immersive tower defense game that integrates its native token, CAKE. Players can earn CAKE while playing the game and utilise it for various benefits and utilities within the game. Additionally, the U.S. debt ceiling agreement reached between President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy appears to have blocked proposed taxes, including the Digital Asset Mining Energy (DAME) excise tax, which would have imposed a 30% tax on cryptocurrency mining firms. The agreement aims to suspend the debt limit until 2025 while imposing spending restrictions.
Several major video game publishers, including Square Enix and Ubisoft, are embracing blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in their games. Square Enix, known for games like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, has been exploring NFT video games since 2019 and even released a collection of Ethereum-based NFT trading cards. Ubisoft, a French game publisher, faced backlash for introducing NFTs in its games but continues to research and develop blockchain integrations for upcoming titles. Meanwhile, bitcoin transaction fee revenue reached its highest level in over two years in May, with a significant increase attributed to the popularity of Ordinals, which create on-chain artworks tied to satoshis. Bitcoin’s transaction traffic has reached record highs, making it the second most active network for NFTs after Ethereum. Overall, mining revenue for bitcoin has also seen a surge, nearing $840 million in May.
Michael Egorov, the CEO of DeFi protocol Curve Finance, and his wife Anna have reportedly purchased two mansions in Melbourne, Australia, with a combined value of around $40 million. One of the properties, Avon Court, is a historic Victorian mansion with nine bedrooms, two pools, gym, sauna, wine cellar, and other luxurious amenities. The couple acquired the mansion from its previous owners, the Du family. In other news, Huobi HK, a cryptocurrency exchange, has applied for a virtual asset exchange license in Hong Kong and is now offering crypto spot trading to retail and institutional clients. The platform aims to comply with regulations and anti-money laundering measures to meet the requirements of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.
Source:
https://coindesk.com
https://cointelegraph.com
https://decrypt.co
https://theblock.co
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