Key TakeawaysCrypto volatility is back up to levels last seen when FTX collapsed in November$791 million of liquidations rocked investors between Thursday and Sunday$383 million of longs were liquidated on Thursday and Friday, the largest 48-hour number of the yearNews that deposits will be made whole at SVB propelled the market upwards late on Sunday, with $150 million of short sellers liquidated as Bitcoin retook $22,000Despite Fed move stablising prices and 2023 showing a bounceback, the long-term implications for the crypto market are negative here and should concern investorsFor once, it’s not crypto doing the collapsing. Trad-fi was feeling left out of the party, evidently, as the banking sector wobbled in a big way this weekend. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is no more, in what amounts to the largest collapse of a US bank since 2008, when Lehman Brothers pulled its best Satoshi Nakamoto impression and disappeared into the ether (pun not intended). While the drama may have centred in trad-fi, crypto bounced around aggressively over the weekend as a variety of knock-on effects rumbled. SVB was a crypto-friendly bank, as was Silvergate, which was announced to also be winding down last night. This, as well as the fact that the entire financial markets wobbled, meant crypto faced a storm. We have dug into some of the movements here at <a href="http://www.coinjournal.net">https://coinjournal.net/</a> to sum up the carnage. Liquidations With violent price swings, liquidations were inevitable. Longs got caught out badly on Thursday and Friday, as the <a href="https://coinjournal.net/bitcoin/">Bitcoin price</a> fell south of $20,000. There were $249 million of long liquidations across exchanges on Thursday, with Friday bringing an additional $134 million. The $383 million of long liquidations was the most in any 48 hour period this year. <a href="https://media.igms.io/2023/02/13/1678730039766-7d4e2d62-777c-486e-84f0-1723854e4bcf.jpg">Media</a>VolatilityObviously, liquidations stem from volatility. Looking at Bitcoin to dissect the extent of the movements, the volatility is now back up to levels last seen when <a href="https://coinjournal.net/news/ftx-insolvent-what-next-for-crypto/">FTX collapsed</a> in November. The chart below shows that the metric had been rising steadily, before SVB going poof kicked it back up to a mark 3-Day volatility mark of 50%, last seen when Sam Bankman-Fried’s fun and games were revealed to the public.<a href="https://media.igms.io/2023/02/13/1678729778081-9795f1d0-d60c-400b-bd47-909475c1c827.jpg">Media</a>“We have been seeing relatively muted action in the crypto markets since the FTX collapse last November” said Max Coupland, Director of CoinJournal. “The SVB event served to kick volatility back up to levels we last saw amid all the crypto scandals of last year – not only FTX, but Celsius, LUNA etc. The difference with this event is that the crash was sparked in trad-fi for a change”.Crypto bounces backBut all is well that ends well. Or something along those lines, as despite SVB going under, the Fed announced last night, after a weekend of chaos, that all deposits at SVB would be made whole. The bail-out (if you can call it that, as SVB is still going under) quelled up fear in the markets that the issue could become systemic. Crypto roared back, with Bitcoin spiking back up to $22,000 at time of writing. And this time, it was shorts who got caught offside, with $150 million liquidated across the market Sunday. Perhaps the biggest winner of all was the world’s second-biggest stablecoin, USDC. 25% of the stablecoin’s reserves are backed by cash. Crucially, 8.25% ($3.3 billion) of reserves were (are) trapped in SVB, with the stablecoin dipping below 90 cents on several major exchanges over the weekend. 1/ Following the confirmation at the end of today that the wires initiated on Thursday to remove balances were not yet processed, $3.3 billion of the ~$40 billion of USDC reserves remain at SVB.— Circle (@circle) <a href="https://twitter.com/circle/s…

Filecoin’s native token FIL spiked 24% to around $6.44 on Monday.The launch of the Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM), expected on 14 March, has the community buzzing.FVM brings smart contracts and network programmability to the Filecoin network.Filecoin, a decentralised storage network that allows users to access efficient blockchain-based file storage at low, is hours away from a major network upgrade. The excitement around the new features that come with the upgrade, alongside broader market exuberance, has helped push the value of the native FIL token higher.Filecoin price todayFIL was trading around $6.36 at 2:00 pm ET on Monday, up more than 24% in the past 24 hours. According to data from TradingView, the cryptocurrency’s price had touched an intraday high of $6.44 on major crypto exchange Coinbase.Per the market data from CoinGecko, the file storage platform’s native token has jumped more than 32% over the past month.MediaFilecoin price chart showing FIL jumped to $6.50 on Coinbase on Monday. Source: TradingViewWhy did Filecoin price rally?The broader cryptocurrency market has rallied hard in the past 24 hours, with massive buying pressure on Monday as the markets reacted to news of the US government working to backstop failed banks. As CoinJournal reported, the sentiment flip saw Bitcoin add over $4,000 in 24 hours as bulls rallied to prices above $24,000. Most altcoins also soared, with the total cryptocurrency market cap rising nearly 15% to over $1.16 trillion.But for Filecoin, as noted above, the upside momentum also included buyside pressure catalysed by an upcoming network upgrade.  In February, the Filecoin developer team announced that the Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM) would go live in March.The price of FIL tokens jumped more than 26% on the day after the Filecoin news reached the market. Just like then, the latest price surge comes as the developer team confirmed that FVM would go live on Tuesday, 14 March 2023. This is because the upgrade is set to introduce smart contracts, allowing for the creation and deployment of decentralised applications (dApps) on Filecoin. The FVM upgrade also unlocks features such as collateral lending and liquid staking.“Basically – if you regard the Filecoin storage network as a massive decentralized data warehouse whose state is being constantly proven to the public, you can think of the FVM as a programmable controller for it,” the Filecoin team noted last week.The post FIL jumps 24% as Filecoin community eyes major network upgrade appeared first on CoinJournal.

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More and more people are interested in investing in cryptocurrencies – this also applies in Germany. Bitcoin is of course particularly popular. This digital currency has existed since 2009, which is not controlled centrally and was therefore unique from the start. However, the price of Bitcoin is very volatile. Again and again there are enormous swings up and down within a very short time. Traders can benefit from this and achieve enormous profits with the right forecast.Of course, bitcoin trading is not about a long-term investment. Anyone who assumes that Bitcoin will increase in value over a period of several years should not pay attention to the daily price fluctuations. Trading, on the other hand, is all about short-term positions. These can also be opened or closed around the clock – trading with cryptocurrencies has no fixed trading hours.Trading and analysis methodsThere are different methods of trading and you should know the advantages and disadvantages of each. In so-called day trading, investors want to make profits on the basis of short-term falling or rising prices. Spread over the day, you usually conclude several trades, which should be closed at the end of the day. Scalping, on the other hand, relies on positions that run even shorter. Here the focus is on very small profits, so returns require many successful trades. At the same time, the risk can be minimized. Finally, swing trading, which involves larger price cycles, should also be mentioned. Individual positions are held for weeks or months.Regardless of the type of trading you decide to do, it’s important to keep an eye on breaking news. After all, the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX in November 2022 was hardly foreseeable, but it caused enormous falls in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies within a few days. These setbacks also came at the end of a year that had seen little good news for the industry as a whole. In 2023, traders should therefore expect that news and even rumors about the regulation of certain aspects of cryptocurrencies can cause high price movements in the short term.Looking at the year as a whole, some analysts assumed in early 2023 that the price of Bitcoin could even fall as low as $10,000. In this case, the market value of Bitcoin would still be around $200 billion, but the drop would still be dramatic. However, even when prices are falling, traders can make profits with the right tools. Falling prices are more of a problem for long-term investors.Entry into tradingIn the course of January it became apparent that long-term forecasts for the Bitcoin price are very difficult. This rose so much that only a few experts had predicted. This development has shown once again that trading depends on the right strategy. In any case, you should always keep an eye on your own risk and not make trades based on a gut feeling.Anyone who follows this rule has already taken an important step. Practical things like analyzing charts or recognizing patterns are then the next aspect. However, the work that you put into it can definitely pay off investing in cryptocurrenciesThe post Tips to improve your crypto trading appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Bitcoin rallied on Monday even after the Signature Bank news late last week.Financial advisor Douglas Boneparth says he’s keeping bullish on blockchain.Crypto analyst Altcoin Sherpa shares his view on what’s next for bitcoin price.Bitcoin rallied sharply on Monday even though the crypto space has lost both of its primary banks in recent days.Douglas Boneparth’s take on blockchain technologyLate last week, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation put up the shutters for Signature Bank and took control of its deposits.Still, the renowned financial advisor – Douglas Boneparth is keeping constructive on blockchain and decentralised finance at large. Speaking with CNBC this morning, he said:Most financial advisors like myself aren’t going to make the recommendation for a client to buy or sell crypto. But I’m still bullish on the technology when it comes to crypto.Ethereum climbed all the way back to just under $1,700 today as well.Here’s what Boneparth recommends you doRemember that the Signature Bank news arrived only days after its peer Silvergate Capital Corp said it will wind down operations and liquidate its bank.Still, Boneparth doesn’t recommend simply passing up on the crypto space at large. In his CNBC interview, he added:The best thing that you can do, almost anyone, is take the time to learn about the technology and learn how decentralised finance works a little bit. It would go a long way.Also on Monday, crypto analyst Altcoin Sherpa said a meaningful break above $25,000 will established $30,000 as the next major target for Bitcoin.The post This financial advisor is keeping bullish on crypto technology appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Bitcoin rallied today even after the Signature Bank news late last week.Financial advisor Douglas Boneparth is keeping bullish on blockchain.Crypto analyst Altcoin Sherpa shares his outlook for bitcoin price.Bitcoin rallied sharply on Monday even though the crypto space has lost both of its primary banks in recent days.Douglas Boneparth’s take on blockchain technologyLate last week, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation put up the shutters for Signature Bank and took control of its deposits.Still, the renowned financial advisor – Douglas Boneparth is keeping constructive on blockchain and decentralised finance at large. Speaking with CNBC this morning, he said:Most financial advisors like myself aren’t going to make the recommendation for a client to buy or sell crypto. But I’m still bullish on the technology when it comes to crypto.Ethereum climbed all the way back to just under $1,700 today as well.Here’s what Boneparth recommends you doRemember that the Signature Bank news arrived only days after its peer Silvergate Capital Corp said it will wind down operations and liquidate its bank.Still, Boneparth doesn’t recommend simply passing up on the crypto space at large. In his CNBC interview, he added:The best thing that you can do, almost anyone, is take the time to learn about the technology and learn how decentralised finance works a little bit. It would go a long way.Also on Monday, crypto analyst Altcoin Sherpa said a meaningful break above $25,000 will established $30,000 as the next major target for Bitcoin.The post This financial advisor is keeping bullish on crypto technology appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Key takeawaysMeta is ending support for NFTs on Instagram and Facebook.The company introduced the NFT feature roughly a year ago.Meta said it would focus on other ways to support businesses and creators.Meta’s NFT integration comes to an endStephane Kasriel, Meta’s head of commerce and financial services, announced on Monday that the social media giant is ending its support for nonfungible tokens (NFTs) on its social media platforms. Some product news: across the company, we're looking closely at what we prioritize to increase our focus. We’re winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses. 🧵[1/5]— Stephane Kasriel (@skasriel) March 13, 2023According to Kasriel, the decision was prompted by Meta’s desire to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses. He said;“A big Thank You to the partners who joined us on this journey and who are doing great work in a dynamic space. Proud of the relationships we built. And look forward to supporting the many NFT creators who continue using Instagram and Facebook to amplify their work. We learned a ton that we’ll be able to apply to products we’re continuing to build to support creators, people, and businesses on our apps, both today and in the metaverse.”Meta introduced its NFT feature on May 10, 2022. By August, the social media giant had expanded the NFT feature to capture 100 countries in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Middle-East, and Africa.By September, Meta introduced a new feature that allowed users on both Facebook and Instagram apps to share and cross-post their digital collectibles.Meta to focus on other productsDespite winding down support for NFTs, Kasriel said Meta continues to pursue various ways it can help creators connect with their fans. The social media giant will focus on other products, including Reels, for messaging and monetisation.Meta added that it would continue to work with NFT and web3 content creators who take advantage of its various tools to help them grow their community. Kasriel wrote;“And we’ll continue investing in fintech tools that people and businesses will need for the future. We’re streamlining payments w/ Meta Pay, making checkout & payouts easier, and investing in messaging payments across Meta.”Despite the initial traction, the social media giant is shifting its strategy in a bid to explore other areas. The post Meta to end support for NFTs on Facebook and Instagram appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Hackers stole almost $200 million from Euler protocol on Monday.USDC accounted for a majority of the stolen tokens.Euler Labs is currently working to recover the funds.Euler protocol is facing a different threat from the crypto firm collapses, crypto lawsuits, and crypto-related bank shutdowns that have plagued the crypto space in the recent past.The small-cap Ethereum-based decentralized finance lending protocol was on Monday hacked leading to the loss of crypto assets worth nearly $200 million.Euler flash loan attackBlockchain security firm PeckShield on Monday tweeted notifying Euler to take a look at some fishy transactions from its platform.Hi @eulerfinance: you may want to take a look: https://t.co/L7ddZhHNq5— PeckShield Inc. (@peckshield) March 13, 2023Looking at the transactions from Euler on etherscan, the hacker(s) took off with a variety of cryptocurrencies including 34.4 million USDC, 8.89 million DAI, 85,690 stETH, and 849 WBTC.According to a tweet from SlowMist, another blockchain security firm:“The attacker used flashloans to deposit funds and then leveraged them twice to trigger the liquidation logic, donating the funds to the reserve address and conducting a self-liquidation to collect any remaining assets.”Euler Labs, the startup behind Euler Protocol, has however said that it successfully stopped the exploit and it is currently working to recover the stolen funds in collaboration with a number of firms including Chainalysis.An update on our work today to recover funds for Euler protocol users.Here are a few actions we took immediately:1. Stopped the direct attack as soon as possible by helping disable the EToken module, which blocked deposits and the vulnerable donation function2. Engaged TRM… https://t.co/6ZClE9uGoH— Euler Labs (@eulerfinance) March 14, 2023Euler’s native token, EUL, down 52%The native token of Euler, EUL, dived by more than 52% following the revelation of the exploit.At press time, the token was trading at $3.08 down from a high of $6.4826 on Monday morning. And although the token price seems to have consolidated above $3, it is not certain if the token will be able to hold that level seeing that it had dipped from its attempt to recover after the fall.The post EUL token down 52% after the $200 million Euler protocol exploit appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Liquity is a small but fast-growing blockchain platform that owns LUSD.LUSD has managed to maintain its peg during the period of strains.Liquity (LQTY/USD) price has been one of the top performers in the crypto industry as demand for the mid-cap token jumps. It peaked at $3.37, the highest point since March last year. This means that the coin has risen by over 460% from its lowest point this year.Liquity price steadyLiquity is a small and fast-growing blockchain platform that provides interest-free loans on Ethereum. It does this through its Liquity USD, its stablecoin. Data compiled by CoinMarketCap shows that LUSD has maintained its peg against the US dollar. It was trading at $1.02 while its total market cap has jumped to over $255 million. It is unclear why Liquity has done well in the past few weeks. A likely reason is a fact that LUSD is one of the top over-collateralized stablecoins. The next key catalyst for the Liquity price will be the upcoming American inflation numbers scheduled for Tuesday. Economists believe that the data will show that the headline consumer price index (CPI) pulled back to 0.4% while core CPI came in at 0.5%. On a YoY basis, inflation is expected to come in at above 6%.A higher-than-expected inflation figure will put more pressure on the Federal Reserve to act. Analysts believe that the Fed will hike rates by 0.25% in its meeting next week. Some believe that it will not hike rates while those from Mizuho sees the bank cutting interest rates by 0.25%.Liquity price is also jumping as Bitcoin and Ethereum prices continue rising. Bitcoin has jumped to $24,800 while Ethereum has soared to $1,692. In all, the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies has risen to over $1.08 trillion. Cryptocurrencies tend to have a close correlation with each other.Another reason for the LQTY rally is the news that Binance has become one of the biggest holders of the token. Data shows that it owns about 11.5 million LQTY tokens.Liquity price predictionMediaLQTY chart by TradingViewThe daily chart shows that the LQTY price has been in a strong uptrend in the past few days. It jumped above the key resistance point at $1.81, the highest point on June 16. It also crossed the important level at $2.85, the previous YTD high. Liquity remains above all moving averages while oscillators like the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and the Stochastic Oscillator have moved above the overbought level.Therefore, Liquity price will likely continue rising as buyers target the next psychological level at $3.50. The stop-loss of this trade will be at $2.50.How to buy LiquityHuobiStart Your Cryptocurrency Journey Today. Huobi Global has a variety of features that make it an ideal place to buy and sell digital asset.Buy LQTY with Huobi todayThe post Liquity price rally is gaining steam: How high can LQTY go? appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Bitcoin price hit highs of $26,553 on Coinbase, with 16% upside in 24 hours.US inflation data showed CPI rose 6% in the past 12 months in February.On-chain data suggests BTC price could rally to $30,000 in the short term.Bitcoin rose sharply on Tuesday, breaking past $26,000 as the crypto market reacted positively to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data by the US Department of Labor.Bitcoin breaks $26k amid market reaction to CPI dataAccording to data from TradingView, the price of Bitcoin spiked 16% to highs of $26,553 on the cryptocurrency Coinbase. MediaBitcoin price rallied above $26,000 on Tuesday. Chart courtesy of TradingView As noted yesterday, BTC price soared from lows of $20,000 to break above $24,000 – the bullish sentiment buoyed by the US government’s actions in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse.On-chain data shared by market research platform IntoTheBlock shows Bitcoin faces minimal selling pressure to around $30,000.On-chain ownership indicators for Bitcoin are pointing to very little potential new selling pressure until we get closer to $30k $BTC.https://t.co/9Mt8pOZD34 pic.twitter.com/DoAAxdX7lF— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) March 14, 2023The aggregate market data from CoinGecko showed the total crypto market cap has surged by more than 14% as major altcoins like Ethereum and BNB hit highs of $1,750 and $315 respectively.Per the US Department of Labor, CPI rose 0.4% in February and 6% over the last year to align with market expectations. Notably, the data showed US inflation had increased at its slowest pace since September 2021. The core CPI, which strikes off the more volatile food and energy items, increased by 5.5% to also fall within expectations.Stocks also opened higher on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 up 1.5% as investors turned attention to the Federal Reserve and its interest rates path. Market analyst Carl Quantanilla points out this scenario.#CPI "isn't the best-case scenario, but there are enough dovish pieces that when coupled with what’s happening with banks should give Powell cover to dramatically shift the policy message on 3/22. It’s still hard to say whether they do 0 or 25bp .." @knowledge_vital— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla) March 14, 2023The Dow Jones Industrial Average had added 320 points, or 1%, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.7% at 9:50 am ET.The post Bitcoin hits $26K as investors react to latest CPI data appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Key TakeawaysBitcoin has surged beyond $26,000 as interest rate expectations flip Inflation reading provides further impetus as investors dream of return to lower interest environment and surging crypto pricesThere are reasons to be hesitant here, however, writes our Analyst Dan AshmoreShutdown of three crypto banks will hurt industry, while there has been nothing but bearish developments since the start of the yearThe decoupling from other risk assets is also unusual and has not been seen to the upside since 2021I don’t really make predictions because what would be the point? I’m just a boy hitting keys on a laptop, and I know better than to fool myself into thinking I know enough to predict the market. However, the speed of this <a href="https://coinjournal.net/bitcoin/">Bitcoin</a> run-up surprises me. Not that you should put any weight at all into that – if you’re in the habit of trusting people’s words on the Internet, I suspect your bank wallet is already hurting, anyway – but let me explain what is confusing me. What is happening to Bitcoin?First, let us surmise what has happened in the last week to kick this rally off. We saw the startling collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) last week, followed by Silvergate, which sent shockwaves throughout the market. This had particular implications for crypto for a couple of reasons. The first was USDC, the second biggest stablecoin on the market. Revealed to have 8.25% of its reserves held in SVB, the market feared for the solvency of the stablecoin. Of course, this fear all settled down when the US administration stepped in to shore up the crisis and guarantee deposits would be made whole. This shored up the panic and crypto began rebounding. But that is not all that happened. The fact that the banking sector wobbled so drastically shifted market expectations surrounding the future path of interest rate hikes. With such creaking evident, the market has moved to betting that the Fed is more or less done with interest rate hikes. Fed futures currently imply a 72% chance of no hike at next week’s Fed meeting. Just last week, this was 0%, with the baseline expectation (70%) expecting a 50 bps hike.Looking further out at the long-term trajectory, the prognosis has shifted even more dramatically. There is now only a 1.6% chance of higher rates in July, compared to 100% last week, again looking at futures. There is even a 31% chance that rates will be lower in July than they are today. That is a remarkable flip. This has sent Bitcoin aggressively upward, surging beyond $26,000 as I write this, for its highest level since last June. It has also been aided by the CPI reading this afternoon, coming in at 6%, its eighth consecutive decline and the lowest metric since September 2021. Has Bitcoin risen too much?But does this make sense? While on the one hand, this is exactly what we would expect given the enormous flip in rate forecasts, I am confused as to the sheer level of the outperformance vs other risk assets. This is a divergence which we have not seen since the heyday of the bull market back in 2021. That should provide thought. Of course, Bitcoin is capable of moves that other assets can only dream of matching, so maybe it’s just doing what it likes to do. But then there is the implications arising out of losing three crypto-friendly banks – Silvergate, SVB and Signature. The environment in the US is now barren for crypto firms. Whether they can simply move abroad remains to be seen.But even if so, the fact the world’s biggest economy is pushing these crypto firms out is not a good thing for the industry at large. Is it anything to do with Bitcoin specifically? No. But the market is driven by emotion, and there is also the fact that onramping is much harder now, and Bitcoin is still tied to the crypto industry as a whole. The strict regulatory environment, with the clampdown headlined by the shutdown of BUSD last month, had already worsened significantly since the turn of the year. Throw in various bankruptcies that came post…

OKX Ventures invests in Ethereum L2 ScrollOKX says the strategic investment is meant to support Ethereum scalability.Scroll is expected to go live on the Ethereum mainnet in four months’ time.OKX Ventures, the venture arm cryptocurrency exchange OKX, has announced a strategic investment in Scroll, a zkEVM-based zkRollup platform on Ethereum.A press release OKX published on Tuesday said the investment is targeted at helping with Ethereum scalability via off-chain transactions.Scroll uses zk-Rollups to boost Ethereum scalabilityWith Scroll built to allow for native compatibility for Ethereum-based dApps and tools, the collaboration will see the team tap into zero knowledge proofs and zkRollup technology to enhance transaction speed and lower user costs.Scroll helps achieve the high throughput via off-chain computations, with only a validity proof submitted to the chain. This is what zkRollup is all about – taking transactions and bundling them into one before moving them off-chain for processing.It’s a layer-2 solution designed to ensure greater usage and interaction with the mainnet without sacrificing the underlying security mechanisms. Once it goes live on Ethereum, Scroll could be applied across token transfers and specialised applications. Implementation of general-purpose smart contracts will also help with overall adoption of the Ethereum applications.Unlike some layer-2 solutions, Scroll will not require changes to the Ethereum protocol. This is because implementation for the off-chain solution is independent of Ethereum’s layer-1 mainnet. Scroll is expected to go live on the Ethereum mainnet in four months’ time and its Alpha release is now available to all.Scroll has seen over 672,700 unique wallet addresses and recorded more than 2,916,472 transactions.The post OKX Ventures invests in Ethereum Layer 2 platform Scroll appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Moxy.io is a blockchain-powered eSports gaming platform.Gamers will compete in eSports-style gaming during the “eSports for ALL” Beta Challenge.Winners will receive rewards in cash payouts (in the USDC stablecoin), native MOXY tokens, and Moxy Collectibles.Gamers will have the chance to compete in eSports-style gaming on Moxy after the blockchain-powered eSports platform launched its “eSports for ALL” Beta Challenge.The Beta Challenge is an important milestone for Moxy since it will completely stress-test the various components of the Moxy.io platform ahead of the platform’s public launch and Token Generation Event (TGE).Participating in the Moxy Beta ChallengeTo participate, players are required to sign up, create a Moxy Club account and complete KYC. They will then receive the 1,000 MOXY testnet tokens for use in facing off with other eSports competitors.Players can also earn a bonus of 50 MOXY tokens for every referred player who subsequently completes the signup and KYC process.Competitor rewardsThe Beta Challenge comprises four stages and competitors will seek to win against others to accrue points as they progress through the stages. At the end of the fourth stage, those at the top will be rewarded in USDC stablecoin cash payouts, native MOXY tokens, and Moxy collectibles.The value of each prize is however yet to be revealed. The value will be revealed at the official launch of the Moxy platform. The total prize pool, however, contains $100,000 not including the Moxy collectibles and MOXY tokens.Moxy aims to elevate this fast-growing P2E eSports gaming industry by integrating popular games to enable players to play an eSports-enabled version of their favourite releases and earn lucrative real-money prizes.The post eSports gaming marketplace Moxy launches $100K “eSports for ALL” Beta Challenge appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Wemade and Space and Time want to use blockchain technology to power the next generation of GameFi.WEMIX CEO Shane Kim says “blockchain is the future of gaming.” The partnership targets onboarding the next wave of game developers to the blockchain gaming industry.Wemade, a leading publicly-listed South Korea-based game developer, has announced a strategic partnership with decentralised data warehousing provider Space and Time (SxT).The collaboration will allow Wemade, a company with a market capitalization of $1.4 billion, tap into SxT’s suite of developer tools to power its growing line of blockchain and gaming services. Wemade is the game studio behind the blockbuster RPG title ‘The Legend of Mir 2’.According to Wemade, Space and Time’s decentralised tools will help the company service over 20 play-to-earn (P2E) games, including global no.1 game MIR4. The partnership is set to work via Wemade’s blockchain gaming platform WEMIX PLAY.Powering next-gen GameFi developmentWEMIX PLAY is part of Wemade’s mega-ecosystem, which includes the mainnet WEMIX 3.0 for NFTs and DeFi and WEMIX coin that will power that ecosystem. WEMIX is also launching an Ethereum layer-2 that will leverage zero knowledge proof (ZKP) protocols to enhance scalability, user privacy and security.The Wemade blockchain ecosystem will also benefit massively from Space and Time products, including developer access to real-time, tamperproof analytics. Other key features are access to a serverless API gateway and low cost on-chain storage.These functionalities are key to simplified development and deployment of decentralised applications (dApps). Wemade can also utilise these features to introduce complex earning schemes in different P2E games.According to the platform, the partnership with Space and Time is targeted at collaborating towards supercharging the next phase of GameFi development. The partnership will help the blockchain gaming industry “onboard the next wave of game developers,” said Nate Holiday, the CEO & co-founder of Space and Time.According to WEMIX CEO Shane Kim, blockchain gaming offers gamers an opportunity to take greater control and ownership of their digital assets, and that collaborating with SxT is part of the overall goal of enhancing that.“As the blockchain transformation of traditional games continues to grow, the partnership with Space and Time will help strengthen our blockchain infrastructure capabilities and contribute to our commitment to building an inter-game economy,” he added.The post South Korea’s Wemade partners with Space and Time to power next-generation blockchain gaming appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Binance cites “Paysafe” as it halts sterling transactions.The announcement affects less than 1.0% of its users.Binance says it’s already looking for an alternative.Binance continues to pause deposits and withdrawals in notable currencies. On Tuesday, it suspended transactions in sterling as well – about a month after it had ceased dollar transfers.Why did Binance pause sterling transfersReason cited for the halt was Paysafe – its partner for GBP transfers that paused pound transactions for new users on Monday. The service will be terminated for all users on May 22nd. According to a Paysafe spokesperson:The U.K. regulatory environment in relation to crypto is too challenging to offer this service at this time and so this is a prudent decision on our part taken in an abundance of caution.Binance will continue to work with Paysafe in Europe and Latin America, though. Paysafe is yet to make an official comment on the development.Binance is hunting for an alternative solutionBinance that currently serves over 128 million customers worldwide also confirmed today that it had already started looking for an alternative to resume sterling transactions.Binance will ensure that affected users are still able to access their GBP balances. The change affects less than 1.0% of Binance users.Remember that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), in June of 2021, had warned consumers that Binance did not have permission to undertake regulated activity in the United Kingdom.Binance is currently under investigation by the Justice Department for suspected violations including money laundering as well.The post Here’s why Binance is suspending sterling transfers appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Key TakeawaysEthereum has fallen against Bitcoin thus far this yearThis is unusual as the market has risen, and altcoins tend to outperform Bitcoin in bull marketsNonetheless, Bitcoin maxis represent everything that is and about the space, writes our Analyst Dan AshmoreTheir celebrations also forget the fact that Ethereum has still crushed Bitcoin over the past five yearsDespite Ethereum’s outperformance, Ashmore explains why Bitcoin remains the only crypto asset for him, despite his disdain of Bitcoin maximalismI am a <a href="https://coinjournal.net/bitcoin/">Bitcoin</a> investor. But there are few things more toxic in the cryptocurrency space than Bitcoiners persecuting others for investing in different coins. Of course, the people who do this are only a tiny minority. Colloquially known as Bitcoin maximalists, this group are just <em>so damn loud and aggressive </em>that it makes it seem as if they are plenty in number. They’re not.Do I personally invest in cryptos beyond Bitcoin? Not really, beyond a bit of fun on the side. I’m a bit of a boomer investor and hence altcoins have never made it into my long-term portfolio. But that doesn’t mean I have to spend my nights berating people online for whatever they do with their money. It’s really strange behaviour. Ethereum the biggest target<a href="https://coinjournal.net/ethereum/">Ethereum</a>, being the second biggest cryptocurrency on the planet, is naturally the biggest target of these maxis, who typically travel in packs through the virtual world, but are rarely seen outside of the Internet in broad daylight.  And Ethereum is the reason I am crafting this piece today because Twitter, which is the always-positive kingdom in which these maxis are most commonly found, is alive with celebrations that Bitcoin is accelerating against Ethereum, with the latter falling sharply in the last few days and close to its lows this year against Bitcoin. A couple of things on this. And again, I am a Bitcoin investor so I don’t really have any reason to be biased here (or if anything, I do in the opposite direction). But sharing the 2023 chart is guilty of a little bit of cherry-picking. It is no secret that over the last few years, throughout the bull market surge of the pandemic years in 2020 and 2021, Ethereum has absolutely crushed Bitcoin. Since April 2020, it is up 2.53X against Bitcoin, to be precise. Ethereum, like most altcoins, tends to outperform Bitcoin in bull markets and underperform in bear markets. This is no secret and makes intuitive sense – it is further out on the risk spectrum and essentially trades like a levered bet on Bitcoin. Nothing mind-blowing in that. And hence it makes sense that Bitcoin lagged Ethereum during the bull market of 2020 and 2021. But look at the below chart since Bitcoin’s all-time high in November 2021 (we can use this as the marker for the top in the crypto market): it’s been quite steady, down only 3.5%, a near-negligible number in the volatile world of cryptoland. The fall of ETH vs BTC in 2023 also doesn’t really look overly dramatic with a bit of zooming out and a wider y-axis. It’s all about perspective, right? So ETH crushed BTC in the last bull market, and has more or less tracked it in the bear market. By all accounts, it is not much cause for celebration for the maxis. Why am I holding Bitcoin?It begs the question: why am I holding Bitcoin over Ethereum? Well, I believe in the asymmetric return profile of Bitcoin and I like the way it fits in with my portfolio. I am a boomer investor at heart, a lover of diversification and a big fan of the old portfolio allocation studies. Stocks are and always have been the cornerstone of my portfolio, but Bitcoin presents as a nice diversifier, alongside some other asset classes.I’m also not as bullish on Ethereum long-term. Put frankly, I am not sure I understand it fully yet. My knowledge of Bitcoin is deeper and, since I entered the space in 2017, I have been intrigued by its macro implications and how unique it is. Ethereum is more technical…

Bitcoin and other financial assets now have a Credit Suisse problem.Credit Suisse credit default swaps signal that the company could collapse.Credit Suisse stock price plunged by 20% and reached a record low.Bitcoin price came under intense pressure on Wednesday as the banking sector came under a significant strain. BTC pulled back from the year-to-date high of $26,548, to a low of $24,526. It has retreated by ~7.8% from its highest point this week.Credit Suisse crisis deepensBitcoin price has been in a strong bullish trend in the past few days as investors reacted to the ongoing performance in the banking sector. After falling to a low of $19,500 last week, the coin made a spectacular recovery as it jumped to a high of $26,548. This rally happened after America’s regulators decided to bailout key banks like Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank. They decided to provide a backstop for their depositors, many of whom were companies in the crypto industry, as we wrote here.The most important part of the bailout was the fact that it saved USD Coin, the second-biggest stablecoin in the world. Circle, the parent company of USDC, had over $3.3 billion deposited in the company. If it had failed, the ripple effect on the crypto industry would have been dire.Now, it seems like we have another bank crisis. Credit Suisse stock price plunged by more than 20% after the company lost confidence of another key investor. Earlier this month, the company’s biggest shareholder, Harris Associates, decided to sell its entire stake. And on Wednesday, Saudi National Bank said that it will not provide more finance to the company. Therefore, there are significant risks that the company will fall. Indeed, its credit default swaps have risen, signaling that investors expect the bank to fall.A collapse of Credit Suisse would have some positives for Bitcoin prices. For one, it will lead to a pause in interest rate hikes by the Fed and other central banks.Bitcoin price forecastMediaThe BTC/USD price soared to a high of 26,548 on Tuesday and then pulled back to a low of 24,102. As it dropped, BTC moved below the key support level at 25,275, the highest point in February. On a positive note, the pair’s 50-day and 100-day moving averages have formed a bullish crossover. The coin has also formed what looks like a small head and shoulders pattern. Therefore, I suspect that it will continue falling in the next key support at $23,000. A move above the key resistance point at 25,275 will invalidate the bearish view.How to buy BitcoineToroeToro offers a wide range of cryptos, such as Bitcoin, XRP and others, alongside crypto/fiat and crypto/crypto pairs. eToro users can connect with, learn from, and copy or get copied by other users.Buy BTC with eToro today Disclaimer PublicPublic is an investing platform that allows you to invest stocks, ETFs, crypto, and alternative assets like fine art and collectibles—all in one place.Buy BTC with Public today Disclaimer The post Bitcoin price recovery at risk amid new Credit Suisse crisis appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Key takeaways;The US Government wants to halt the $1 billion deal between Binance.US and Voyager Digital.The government said the deal should be on hold while key legal objections are ironed out.Binance looks prime to acquire Voyager Digital’s assets after FTX’s collapse in November.Government seeks to halt the Voyager-Binance.US dealThe United States government revealed in a filing on Tuesday that it wants the $1 billion deal offered by Binance.US to buy assets of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager to be put on hold until key legal objections are ironed out. This latest cryptocurrency news comes after an appeal by the U.S. Trustee, a branch of the Department of Justice responsible for bankruptcy cases. The US Trustee has concerns that the deal would ensure that Voyager and its staff would not be held responsible for breaches of tax or securities law.The filing by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said;“The Court cannot tell the Government to speak now or forever hold its peace before Voyager and Binance.US wed. Nothing in the Bankruptcy Code permits courts to exculpate parties from liability to the Government for past and future conduct.”According to Williams, the approval of the deal should be paused, or at least the parts which limit the US Government’s ability to enforce the law, until appeals are properly addressed in higher courts. Binance.US looks set to complete Voyager Digital’s acquisitionThe appeal comes a week after New York bankruptcy judge Michael Wiles approved the deal. The judge showed considerable skepticism of arguments from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which argued that Voyager’s VGX token might be an unregistered security.Last month, Voyager Digital sold some of its assets through the US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.The company received roughly $100 million in the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin for sales of several tokens, including Shiba Inu, Ethereum and the native Voyager Token.Binance.US took the prime position to acquire Voyager Digital’s assets after the collapse of FTX. FTX previously agreed to acquire Voyager Digital before the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange.The post The US Government wants the Voyager-Binance deal to be halted appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Wilmington, Delaware, 15th March, 2023, ChainwireNFTonPulse.io has announced the launch of its innovative NFT marketplace, designed to be the ultimate destination for NFT enthusiasts, artists, and collectors.After more than 15 months of development, NFTonPulse is ready to go live. The marketplace, now in beta on the Goerli Ethereum testnet, will soon launch on the PulseChain network, putting creators and collectors at the forefront of the ever-growing NFT ecosystem.NFTonPulse’s launch on PulseChain will enable lightning-fast transactions, easy NFT creation, and a simplified platform that makes it easy for everyone to participate in the NFT market. By saying goodbye to gas fees and introducing lazy minting, NFTonPulse lets creators create gas-free NFTs and set their own royalty percentages. At the same time, collectors can easily build their NFT collections.To celebrate the launch of NFTonPulse, HowToPulse is offering an airdrop of their HTP token to early adopters of the platform. The launch of NFTonPulse is a fantastic opportunity for NFT enthusiasts, artists, and collectors to experience the future of NFTs and potentially receive HTP.NFTonPulse makes it easier than ever to create and list NFTs in seconds. Low minting fees mean creators can generate more income from their NFTs. The marketplace was designed to benefit both creators and collectors, with the fees from NFT creation going into the HTP staking pool.The fees generated by NFT sales on NFTonPulse go into the HTP Staking Pool, and creators can earn 100% of the marketplace fees by staking their HTP tokens in the staking pool. The HTP token will serve as a utility token on platforms and dapps built on PulseChain, carrying forward their vision of “more accessible decentralized dapps with beliefs of financial freedom and the right to ownership.”Since launching in 2021, HowToPulse has attracted 250,000 visitors. The core team has been working tirelessly to develop dapps for the future of Web3. As a result, the community has seen tremendous growth, with 15,000 members on social media. This drive and knowledge led to the creation of NFTonPulse.As NFTonPulse grows, more and more creators will be able to profit from their art. The team is grateful for the support it has received so far and is excited to see what the future holds for the community with the launch of NFTonPulse.For more information about NFTonPulse, visit: https://nftonpulse.io/Join NFTonPulse on Twitter, Telegram, and Youtube to stay up to date on their announcements.About NFTonPulseThe HowToPulse team is dedicated to revolutionizing the NFT industry and providing best-in-class tools and services to help NFT enthusiasts, artists, and collectors succeed in the NFT ecosystem. With NFTonPulse, HowToPulse is leading the charge for NFT innovation and is excited to see what the future holds.ContactMichael Francis, info@nftonpulse.ioThe post HowToPulse.com Launches NFTonPulse.io, a Brand New NFT Marketplace appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Cathie Wood says crypto had “nothing to do” with SVB and Signature Bank collapses.Rather, it’s Fed policy that “caught many regional banks offside.”According to her, the banks suffered as a result of assets/liability mismatch.Cathie Wood, the founder and CEO of ARK Invest, says <a href="https://coinjournal.net/cryptocurrencies/">crypto</a> isn’t responsible for the failed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank, which was <a href="https://coinjournal.net/news/new-york-banking-authorities-shut-down-crypto-friendly-signature-bank/">shut down</a> by US authorities last Sunday.Rather, she contends that the bankruptcies of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank were a result of the Federal Reserve’s policy. She believes that the lack of venture capital funding and higher yields on money market funds led to a reduction in deposits in the US banking system, contributing to the banks’ financial troubles.Wood: the Fed caught many regional banks offsideAccording to the highly respected asset manager and investor, the banks’ struggles are not due to crypto but down to regulatory and systemic issues, with many banks caught unawares after the surplus money flows of the COVID-19 era.“<em>Crypto had nothing to do with the banks’ investment decisions, nor the Fed’s decision to jack up interest rates 19-fold in less than a year. Incorrectly assuming that it was fighting a seventies-style inflation, the Fed caught many regional banks off sides with unrealized losses</em>,” she argued.In a <a href="https://twitter.com/CathieDWood/status/1636178306209923072">Twitter thread</a> posted on 16 March, the ARK Invest executive noted that despite the yield curve inverting in July 2022, and with credit default swaps “<em>flashing red</em>”, the Fed maintained its upward rates trajectory. In her view, the Fed failed to take note of unwinding inflation indicators, including commodity prices. “<em>I am baffled that banks and regulators could not convince the Fed that disaster loomed. Did they not understand that the asset/liability mismatch – normal in most circumstances for banks – was untenable as deposits left the banking system for the first time since the 1930s?</em>,” the ARK Invest CIO added.The asset/liability duration mismatch – securities earning only 1-2% vs. deposits paying 3-5% – became untenable as deposits started leaving the system. Like SVB, some banks were forced to sell HTM securities, recognizing losses that depleted their equity accounts.— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) <a href="https://twitter.com/CathieDWood/status/1636178312841003008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2023</a>Commenting on what happened last week, with the government shutting Signature Bank after SVB’s collapse, Wood says that all this is just about regulators trying to scapegoat crypto. In her opinion, cryptocurrency is “<em>the solution to central points of failure, opacity, and the regulatory mistakes</em>.”Wood’s comments came as House Republican Whip Rep. Tom Emmer, said he had written to FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg about reports the agency was “weaponizing” the instability witnessed in the banking sector to purge cryptocurrency activity from the United States. If you are correct, Congressman, then the FDIC and others will prevent the US from participating in the most important phase of the internet revolution. Like you, I believe regulators are using crypto as a scapegoat for their own lapses in oversight of traditional banking. <a href="https://t.co/UDh3bwB2pB">https://t.co/UDh3bwB2pB</a>— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) <a href="https://twitter.com/CathieDWood/status/1636178266510721024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 16, 2023</a>Wood believes this scapegoating could see the US miss out on what is likely the most important innovation so far.The ARK Invest CEO also commented on the overall market performance of cryptocurrencies amid the banking sector fallout. According to her, crypto acted more like safe haven assets as bank stocks tanked.As highlighted <a href="https://coinjournal.net/news/bitcoin-hits-26k-as-investors…

BitDAO’s BIT price was little changed on Thursday after the developers unveiled a new proposal for adjusting Bybit’s contributions to its treasury. The goal of this proposal will be to improve the token’s tokenomics and lead to more decentralization. BitDAO proposes new Bybit contribution mechanismIn a statement, BitDAO, one of the biggest decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO), said that a core contributor had submitted a key proposal that will change its tokenomics. The proposal primarily targets the contributions made to Bybit, one of the biggest cryptocurrency companies in the industry. The main part for the new adjustment will be to modify the Bybit contributions from a dynamic exchange-linked amount to a fixed scheduled amount for over 4 years. The schedule will start at 120 million BIT per month. To boost its tokenomics, the amount will halve every year. Further, the new changes will help to retain Bybit’s contributions in the community instead of burning them. Burning is a process of removing tokens from circulation by locking them in an unopenable or inaccessible account. Why this upgrade mattersThe upgrade will have numerous outcomes. For one, it will help to increase the stability and predictability of BIT’s tokenomics. This will happen by having a clean schedule of Bybit’s activities going forward. Further, it will lead to more decentralization of BIT’ holdings and overall governance. Most importantlt, it will reduce the number of BIT in circulation from about 6 billion to 3.3 billion in the next few years. Reduced supply of tokens tends to have a positive impact on a crypto token’s price. At the same time, BitDAO will have a 1.8x boost for its economics and voting power.Bybit is an important part of BitDAO’s community. Over the years, it has contributed over $600 million USDT/USDC and 177k Ethereum to BitDAO Treasury. The statement said:“BitDAO will continue to partner with Bybit in terms of product ideation, bootstrapping product development, BIT integration, and product distribution.”The post BIT price flat as BitDAO seeks to change Bybit’s contributions to treasury appeared first on CoinJournal.

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ETHUSD soared to a new high for the year The move was not related to the US dollar$2,000 is a pivotal level for the pairLess than one week before the Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting, the cryptocurrency market reached new highs for the year. ETH/USD, for instance, just made a new high, trading close to $1,800.It was not because of a soft dollar. Just the contrary, the dollar has been bought across the FX dashboard while the leading cryptocurrencies made a new high for the year. Therefore, investors might find the current levels too depressed and think it is worth investing in.What does the technical picture show for Ethereum now that it has made a new high for the year?MediaETHUSD chart by TradingViewBullish triangle’s measured move points to more upsideETH/USD consolidated in a contracting triangle during the second half of last year. The triangle formed at the bottom of a bearish trend, and when 2023 started, the market broke above its upper trendlineTherefore, the pattern acted as a reversal.Such a triangle has a measure move given by the length of its longest segment. The second segment is the longest, as the triangle is irregular (i.e., the second segment is longer than the first one).It means that if we project the length of it from the end of the triangular pattern, we can find the measured move around $2,200. Moreover, it means that the market should move above the pivotal $2,000 level.On the flip side, the bullish scenario would be invalidated should Ethereum reverses and moves below $1,200.It would be curious if the market would remain uncorrelated with the US dollar. That should concern crypto traders, given that the Fed March meeting is due next week.The post ETH/USD price forecast after reaching a new 2023 high appeared first on CoinJournal.

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