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In a recent development, Sam Trabucco, a key figure in Sam Bankman-Fried’s inner circle, has resurfaced after his absence from the public eye following the collapse of crypto exchange FTX in late 2022. 

According to Bloomberg, Trabucco has come forward to support Ryan Salame, another former FTX executive who awaits sentencing for his involvement in the platform’s downfall.

Sam Trabucco’s First Communication Since FTX Bankruptcy

Trabucco’s endorsement of Salame was expressed in a letter describing Salame as the “funniest, most passionate, most supportive friend” he has ever had. The letter, made public as part of court filings on Wednesday, marks Trabucco’s first communication since the days leading up to FTX’s bankruptcy in November 2022.

Formerly serving as the co-chief executive of Alameda Research, a crypto fund established by Bankman-Fried, Trabucco played a crucial role in venture capital and market-making. However, in August 2022, three months before FTX’s failure, he abruptly stepped away from Alameda and retreated from public life.

Unlike other close associates of Bankman-Fried, such as Caroline Ellison, the other co-chief executive of Alameda, and FTX executives Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, Trabucco did not participate in Bankman-Fried’s trial or contribute publicly available evidence. 

As Bitcoinist reported, Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison sentence in March, while his former colleagues await their verdicts in the following months. Notably, Trabucco has not faced any public accusations of wrongdoing.

Diverse Group Rallies Behind Former FTX Executive

Trabucco has a long association with Bankman-Fried, having known each other since their early days at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) math camp. According to Bloomberg, he often shared how his poker strategy influenced Alameda’s trading decisions.

Prior to Alameda’s collapse, Trabucco allegedly received approximately $25 million in transfers from the firm. Moreover, Alameda spent $2.5 million to purchase a 52-foot yacht for Trabucco, which he affectionately named “Soak My Deck.” 

Ryan Salame, who formerly oversaw FTX’s digital assets unit in the Bahamas, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business and engaging in campaign finance fraud. 

Several individuals, including a Georgetown finance professor, a martial arts grandmaster, family members, neighbors, former FTX employees, and Bahamian residents, have submitted letters in support of Salame.

As the legal proceedings progress, the emergence of Sam Trabucco and his endorsement of Ryan Salame sheds new light on the ongoing fallout from FTX’s collapse. 

The exchange’s native token, FTT, trades at $1.65, down over 3% in the past 24 hours.

Featured image from Bitcoinist, chart from TradingView.com

On-chain data suggests the Bitcoin “Miner Price” metric has fallen under the BTC Electrical Cost. Here’s what happened next the last few times.

Bitcoin Miner Price Has Declined Below Electrical Cost For Fifth Time Ever

In a new post on X, Capriole Investments founder Charles Edwards has pointed out a development that has recently occurred in the situation of the Bitcoin miners.

There are two relevant indicators here: Electrical Cost and Miner Price. The first measures the total daily cost that miners have to incur in electricity bills to mine 1 BTC.

The second one, the Miner Price, keeps track of the revenue that 1 BTC provides to the miners. This cohort earns their mining revenue through two modes: the block rewards and the transaction fees.

The former is paid out in BTC at a more or less constant rate, so its value is only dependent on the cryptocurrency’s price. As such, a single token from the block rewards would contribute a value equal to the current spot price to the miners’ total revenue.

The transaction fees don’t work so simply, as their value reflects the amount of traffic the network receives. The fees tend to stay low in times of little activity, as users don’t have much incentive to attach high amounts.

During periods of congestion, though, the network prioritizes only the high-fees transactions, as there is only a limited capacity to handle transfers. Thus, senders don’t have a choice of paying a low fee if they want their moves through in a reasonable amount of time.

Since the Miner Price considers the total revenue contributed by just 1 BTC, the transaction fees associated with 1 token would be required. Edwards’ metric has divided the total transaction fees by the total amount of BTC being mined.

This is because the transaction fees are only given out by the Bitcoin network alongside the block rewards when the miners add the next block to the chain (with this fee naturally being the amount the transactions contained within the block had paid out to the network).

Thus, this fee revenue could be assumed to be associated with the BTC amount given out in the block rewards alongside them (at present, this is 3.125 BTC). As such, the revenue associated with just one 1 BTC would be the ratio of the fees to this number.

Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Bitcoin Electrical Cost and Miner Price over the last decade:

The graph shows that the Bitcoin Miner Price has recently declined under the Electrical Cost, meaning miners aren’t making enough revenue from 1 BTC to pay the electricity costs needed to mine it.

The analyst has highlighted the previous instances of this rare trend in the chart. The cryptocurrency’s price appears to have observed some sharp bullish momentum whenever the miners have been under such distress.

It now remains to be seen how Bitcoin will behave in the future, given that the asset has once again witnessed this trend.

BTC Price

Bitcoin had surged above the $66,000 level earlier, but the asset appears to have retraced some of this recovery as its price is now trading around $64,800.

Neel Somani, Founder of Ethereum Layer-2 Blockchain Eclipse, has been replaced as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) due to accusations of sexual misconduct. Eclipse Labs announced Vijay Chetty, the company’s Chief Growth office (CGO), as the new CEO, taking over Somani’s responsibilities.

Ethereum L2 Eclipse Changes Leadership

Eclipse Labs is a software firm that “contributed to developing the first Ethereum layer-2 using the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM).” Per Neel Somani, “Eclipse is built to be Ethereum’s fastest layer-2, leveraging the best pieces of the modular stack available today.”

On Thursday, Eclipse Labs revealed that Vijay Chetty would be “effective immediately” elevated from his CGO position to become the company’s CEO. The new appointment came due to the “departure” of Somani, Eclipse’s Founder and former CEO.

In the X post, the company highlighted Chetty’s decade-long trajectory in the crypto industry, having held leadership positions at Uniswap Labs, dYdX Trading, and Ripple Labs. Furthermore, Eclipse’s team explained that the new CEO played a “critical role” in building the Ethereum-based project’s community, investors, and partner base.

The announcement failed to acknowledge the reason behind Somani’s departure. However, Eclipse’s team previously stated they took the allegations against its former CEO seriously, claiming to be committed to “maintaining the highest personal and professional standards.”

In March, Hack VC, a Web3 Venture Capital firm, co-led Eclipse’s $50 million Series A Funding alongside Placeholder VC. Due to their link to the company, the Venture Capital firm replied to the post, acknowledging the serious allegations.

We were deeply troubled to learn about the serious allegations made recently against @EclipseFND founder Neel Somani. We do not tolerate sexual harassment or misconduct in any form at Hack VC, and we hold our founders and portfolio companies to the same high standards. To be… https://t.co/2g5P7Bjqq3

— Hack VC (@hack_vc) May 16, 2024

 

The firm stated it does not tolerate sexual harassment or misconduct “in any form.” As a result, Hack VC revealed that their team had worked with other investors and Eclipse’s team to “correct the situation” since learning about the accusations, including urging Somani to resign from his position.

Crypto Community Calls Out Inappropriate Behavior

At the end of April, a member of the crypto community publicly called out Somani for his alleged inappropriate behavior against women. In the X post, user Beachmojito urged women to stay away from the Eclipse founder, sharing a telegram message of Somani seemingly “hitting up” someone.

Moreover, the user claimed having thought that Somani’s behavior was “open knowledge in the industry.” After his post, many women came forward to back up the accusations and share their experiences with the founder.

In the following days, stories of Somani allegedly grabbing women by the waist and pulling them toward him despite being physically and verbally rejected started to appear.

When he grabbed my waist and pulled towards him even after I said NO and pushed him away, I knew that this will happen one day. Thank you for speaking up ser. https://t.co/cDjYT3n7uv

— Jiwoo Jun (@jiwoo_jun) May 8, 2024

Other females in the industry shared how the founder seemingly invited them to dinners under pretenses, as the women believed the meeting was supposed to be business-related. Further allegations against the former Eclipse CEO continued to be shared, with many including a pattern of inappropriate touching without consent despite clear rejection.

Somani denied all allegations on May 10, claiming to have “never sexually assaulted or harassed any woman.” He stated he didn’t intend to minimize this ongoing issue by his “denial of these false allegations.” At the time, Somani announced he would temporarily reduce his role as Eclipse’s public face while he cleared his name.

Since the accusations, a vital conversation has opened: sexual harassment remains an issue in the industry that must be taken seriously.

Despite not being exclusive to the crypto community, the persistence of harassment and minimization of this behavior should always be called out. As a community member pointed out, advocating for respectful and professional conduct in all business interactions should be a priority.

In a recent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Morgan Stanley, the American multinational investment bank and financial services company, disclosed its substantial investments in the newly approved Bitcoin ETF market.

The bank’s filing revealed holdings in two prominent Bitcoin exchange-traded funds: Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and Ark Invest’s ETF.

Morgan Stanley’s Multi-Million Dollar Bet

According to Fintel data, Morgan Stanley purchased 31,712 shares of Ark’s 21Shares ETF (ARKB), while also allocating an impressive $269 million to the Grayscale ETF. This significant investment propelled Morgan Stanley into the top 20 list of Ark’s ETF investors and established it as the third-largest holder of GBTC ETF shares.

These developments come on the heels of Morgan Stanley’s recent filing with the SEC, where it sought approval to incorporate spot Bitcoin ETFs into 12 of its investment funds. 

In addition, the bank previously announced plans to allow 15,000 brokers to recommend spot Bitcoin ETF investments to their clients, making Morgan Stanley the first multinational investment bank to solicit client investments in spot Bitcoin ETFs actively.

Institutional Giants’ Investments In The Bitcoin ETF Market

This increased interest from Morgan Stanley, coupled with other institutional players, has the potential to revolutionize the cryptocurrency market and mark a new era of acceptance within traditional finance. 

In one of the most significant investments in the ETF market in recent weeks, Millennium Management, a firm managing over $64 billion in assets, recently invested an unprecedented $2 billion in multiple Bitcoin ETFs.

Furthermore, the Wisconsin Investment Board acquired $98.6 million worth of shares in BlackRock’s ETF. Bracebridge Capital, a Boston-based hedge fund, reported significant investments in Ark Invest’s ARKB ETF and BlackRock’s IBIT.

In recent data from SoSo Value, Bitcoin spot ETFs experienced a net inflow of $303 million during Wednesday’s trading session, with Grayscale’s GBTC seeing a single-day inflow of $27.0466 million. Fidelity’s FBTC ETF attracted $131 million, while Bitwise’s BITB ETF recorded an inflow of $86.2578 million.

The entry of these institutional powerhouses into the cryptocurrency space signals a growing recognition of the potential for substantial returns and long-term viability. This endorsement could pave the way for an influx of institutional capital, further boosting the appeal and value of the largest cryptocurrency in the market.

As Wall Street giants embrace Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market, it is becoming increasingly clear that digital assets are gaining recognition as viable investment options. 

As of press time, Bitcoin trades at $65,700, battling for the second consecutive day to surpass the key $66,000 resistance wall, following a renewed bullish sentiment in the market. 

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com 

Dogecoin is once again seeing an upside following the Bitcoin recovery above $66,000, which, in turn, triggered a broader crypto market recovery. Crypto analyst Crypto Scient expects this bullishness to continue going forward and eventually lead to the start of another meme coin mania.

Dogecoin Set To Kickstart Meme Coin Mania

Presently, the Dogecoin price is not as bullish as expected since it continues to struggle to break out of $0.15. However, it has not eroded expectations for the meme coin as crypto analysts continue to predict that its price still has room to rally.

Crypto Scient is the latest in the long line of analysts who believe this, expecting the meme coin to flip bullish at some point. As he explains, once the Dogecoin price flips bullish, it’ll trigger the start of another meme coin mania as other meme coins start to move with it, similar to what was seen in February 2024.

The crypto analyst points to a break above $0.15 that could trigger another rally toward $0.2. Then, after this, he expects the meme coin to break and flip once again, but this time around, it is the $0.175 level. At this point, Crypto Scient expects a continuation signal for further upward rallies.

As for price targets, the top of the analyst’s target sits at $0.34. From the current level of around $0.155, it would mean an over 100% increase from here. However, even achieving this price point would still put it around 50% below its all-time high price of $0.7.

DOGE Metrics Flipping Bullish

Despite its price not performing as well as investors hoped, the steady rise in bullishness in Dogecoin metrics suggests that the meme coin could end up seeing a delayed rally. One of these metrics is the open interest.

Over the last 24 hours alone, the Dogecoin open interest has risen by over 10% to $869.54 million, according to data from Coinglass. This suggests a steady rise in interest in the altcoin among traders who are not open more positions on the meme coin. Historically, whenever open interest started rising, the DOGE price has followed as well.

Another metric that has seen a bullish reversal is the Dogecoin daily trading volume. CoinMarketCap’s data shows that DOGE’s daily trading volume has also seen an 11% increase during the last day, rising above $1.8 billion.

If these metrics hold and Dogecoin eventually flips bullish as Crypto Scient predicts, then a rally similar to what was seen in February could easily push it toward $0.4. However, for now, the meme coin continues to struggle at $0.154, indicating a small 3.24% increase in the last day.

Aiden Pleterski, known in the crypto community as the “Crypto King,” and his associate Colin Murphy have been formally charged with serious financial offenses.

These charges emerged from an extensive joint investigation, Project Swan, conducted by the Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS) and the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC).

The investigation focused on allegations of fraud and money laundering centered in Ontario, particularly in Whitby and Oshawa, the respective residences of Pleterski and Murphy.

Investigation Details And Public Advisory

The authorities have levied multiple charges against Pleterski, including a fraud charge for over $5,000, laundering the proceeds of crime, and breaching a court order from May 14, 2024.

Given the gravity of these charges, Pleterski is currently detained and awaiting a decision on his bail. In contrast, Colin Murphy, also charged with fraud of over $5,000, was released under conditions that mandated his future court appearance.

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) and the Durham Regional Police Service (DRPS), in collaboration with the Toronto Police Service, York Regional Police, and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), have jointly pursued this case.

In response to these developments, the OSC has released a public advisory urging those approached by Pleterski or Murphy to report their experiences.

This appeal has proven fruitful, providing critical information that has benefited the ongoing investigation.

Canada’s Stance On Crypto

The charges against Pleterski and Murphy come when institutional interest in crypto noticeably increases in Canada.

According to a recent survey by KPMG in Canada and the Canadian Association of Alternative Assets and Strategies (CAASA), institutional investors have significantly increased their adoption of crypto assets.

Approximately 39% of these investors reported exposure to digital currencies in 2023, a notable rise from 31% two years earlier. Many institutions allocate at least 10% of their portfolios to cryptocurrencies, demonstrating a growing confidence in this asset class.

This trend is complemented by expanding the range of digital currency-related services offered by Canadian financial institutions. About half of the surveyed financial service organizations now provide at least one type of crypto service, from trading platforms to custody solutions and quantitative trading strategies.

This expansion reflects a broader belief in the potential of digital currencies and a supportive regulatory environment in Canada.

The US-based crypto exchange Coinbase announced a significant regulatory milestone in Canada amid these developments. The company has obtained a registration license as a restricted dealer in Ontario under Canadian Securities Administrators’ (CSA) oversight.

This registration allows Coinbase to conduct digital currency asset transactions in compliance with Canadian regulatory standards, further solidifying the country’s position as a welcoming environment for crypto innovation and investment.

Featured image from Unsplash Chart from TradingView

Ethereum is a legacy network, but it has been rapidly evolving. It has adapted to environmental needs, for example, while looking for ways to scale. Several hard choices have been made, including shifting from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake system.

However, Péter Szilágyi, a developer and team lead at Ethereum, is concerned about how “malleable” Ethereum is becoming.

Ethereum Prioritizing Short-Term Fixes Over Protocol Integrity?

Taking to X, Szilágyi criticized the project’s development direction. The team lead noted an increasing trend of developers prioritizing short-term fixes over the protocol’s long-term health.  

This criticism comes at a time when regulators have been scrutinizing Ethereum, and even the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reportedly considers ETH as an unregistered security. It is the decision that has been made around this that Szilágyi is worried about.

The developer is concerned that the constant tinkering with core protocol rules to appease regulators is a recipe for disaster. This “co-opting tiny decisions here and there,” the team lead said, risks morphing Ethereum into a traditional finance (TradFi) clone.

When this happens, the core tenets of decentralization and the technically elusive “censorship resistance” feature in TradFi, will be sacrificed. 

Szilágyi thinks Ethereum is on a losing path, especially regarding the Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) issue. In Ethereum, validators, tasked with approving transactions in no particular order but depending on the attached gas fee, can “capture” value by changing the transaction order within a block. 

Danger Of Centralization: MEV Issues Not Addressed, Suspicion On Liquid Staking

The developer said MEV’s negative effects have not been addressed yet. However, instead of dedicating time and effort to fix it, the focus has shifted towards “catering the protocol and infra around it to proprietary MEV builders.” Adopting this path, Szilágyi argues that Ethereum developers are essentially handing to a centralized lot, watering the decentralization in the second most valuable network. 

Beyond MEV, the developer also thinks the rise of liquid staking solutions like Lido Finance will destabilize the network.

ETH holders can earn rewards through liquid staking platforms without running a validator node. Over time, the  Szilágyi worries that only a few operators will wield strong network control, increasing concentration. 

Whether developers will heed Szilágyi’s concerns remains to be seen. However, what’s clear is that developers have been introducing implementations on the mainnet to enhance user experience and reduce costs. 

In the latest upgrade, Dencun, developers made trading on layer-2 protocols like Base and Arbitrum cheaper. As seen from the Ethereum roadmap, there will also be more efforts to scale the mainnet via Sharding in the coming years.

Dogecoin seems to have flipped into a bullish momentum, at least in the short term, prompting analysts to predict bullish outlooks in the short term. Particularly, DOGE is up by 7% in the past 24 hours and is still on a 14% increase in the past 3 days. 

Current price action shows the cryptocurrency is moving to break past a resistance level of around $0.16. A crypto analyst known pseudonymously as World Of Charts believes the potential of this breakout happening is very strong and DOGE is primed for a surge to a price target between $0.27 to $0.30, which represents a 100% surge on the upper end.

Major Dogecoin Metric Explodes

Doge is starting to turn bullish in a number of metrics, which in turn has increased investor interest. One of these metrics is the DOGE open interest across crypto exchanges. At the time of writing, Dogecoin’s open interest has spiked by over 12.47% in the past 24 hours to reach $883.89 million in the past 24 hours, according to Coinglass data.

Other metrics, such as an increase in derivates volume and a 14.4% increase in trading volume in the past 24 hours, also point to increased activity for DOGE, which in turn could lead to a significant price uptick. 

According to a 12-hour timeframe Dogecoin chart shared on social media platform X by World Of Charts, DOGE is on the verge of breaking out of a descending triangle. This chart shows DOGE has been on an interesting price action formation of lower highs with equal lows since the beginning of April.

This form of descending triangle is particularly a strong bullish indicator for Dogecoin analysts, especially considering it started to form after a strong DOGE uptrend in February and March. When this pattern occurs within an established uptrend such as this, it generally indicates corrections before the trend continues.

The analyst remarked that DOGE is “on verge of another breakout.” As per his analysis, a successful breakout would push DOGE on the uptrend continuation and a move towards $0.27 to $0.30 for the first time since October 2021.

Despite going on an 182% price increase in February and March, DOGE is yet to break into $0.27 this year. The cryptocurrency peaked at $0.22 before spiraling down and correcting to $0.13, representing a 40% decrease.

At the time of writing, DOGE is trading at $0.156 and could keep surging for the rest of the month. The first step before reaching $0.3 is to break above a resistance around $0.167, If DOGE can surge above $0.17 and the bulls hold this price level, it could continue climbing to $0.22 and beyond. 

Data shows a mass amount of short contracts have seen liquidation in crypto derivatives during the past day following Bitcoin’s rally above $66,000.

Bitcoin Recovery Has Triggered Large Derivatives-Related Liquidations

According to data from CoinGlass, the cryptocurrency market as a whole has observed a large amount of liquidations on the derivatives side over the last 24 hours.

“Liquidation” here naturally refers to the process that any contract undergoes after accumulating losses of a certain degree, where its platform has to close it up forcibly. Below is a table that shows the total amount of liquidation over the past day.

As is visible, more than $135 million in cryptocurrency derivatives contracts belonging to over 52,000 traders were liquidated during this window.

This derivatives flush has disproportionately affected the short holders, as $93 million of their contracts were caught in it. In more concrete terms, 68.4% of the liquidations involved the shorts. This is natural because Bitcoin and other assets have seen green returns in the past day.

More than $42 million longs still managed to get liquidated despite the positive performance, suggesting that speculators jumped on with overleveraged positions when the surge took place. Still, they arrived too late and found liquidation when the initial leg-up cooled off.

As is usually the case, Bitcoin-related contracts contributed the most to this liquidation event, as the heatmap below suggests.

BTC’s $47 million liquidations significantly outweighed Ethereum’s this time, whose $16 million figure is more similar to Solana’s $12 million share. This would suggest the appetite for speculation around ETH has been unusually low recently.

A mass liquidation event like today’s is popularly known as a “squeeze.” During a squeeze, a sharp swing in the price triggers a large number of liquidations, which only feed back into the price move, thus unleashing a cascade of liquidations.

The shorts saw the most liquidations the past day, so the event would be called a short squeeze. Historically, such large liquidations haven’t exactly been rare in the cryptocurrency market.

This is because most coins can be quite volatile, and speculation is rife. Overleveraged positions can be quite risky in this market, so it’s not surprising that when volatility like today’s emerges, many traders get caught off guard.

The warning signs that liquidations would pop up had already appeared when the surge began yesterday, as the Bitcoin futures Open Interest, a measure of the total amount of open positions, had shown a rise.

The chart shows that Open Interest is still high even after the surge, suggesting that the squeeze hasn’t been able to put off the speculators.

BTC Price

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at around $66,000, up 8% over the past seven days.

According to the Financial Times, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group, the world’s largest futures exchange, is reportedly in discussions to introduce spot Bitcoin (BTC) trading. The move aims to tap into the growing demand among Wall Street money managers seeking exposure to the crypto sector. 

The move marks a significant step for major Wall Street institutions to enter the digital asset space, following the approval of 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January. 

A Direct Catalyst For Bitcoin’s Price? 

By introducing spot Bitcoin trading on its platform, which already facilitates Bitcoin futures trading, CME Group would enable investors to engage more easily in basis trades. 

Basis trading, a widely-used strategy among professional traders and prevalent in the US Treasury market, involves selling futures while simultaneously buying the underlying asset to capitalize on the price difference between the two. 

What’s even more interesting is that spot Bitcoin purchases directly impact BTC’s price, as buyers own the actual asset. This direct ownership strengthens the link between the demand for Bitcoin and its price, resulting in a bullish catalyst if the plans for this launch are successful. 

In addition, spot markets, which are more liquid than futures markets, allow for efficient price discovery and fluid trading. Moreover, arbitrage opportunities between exchanges help to align prices and reduce discrepancies.

In sum, by facilitating spot purchases, investors contribute to price discovery, increase liquidity, and potentially create a more stable and efficient market for BTC’s price.

Open Positions Skyrocket As Institutional Demand Surges

The resurgence of Bitcoin from its 2022 low, reaching a record high of $73,700 earlier this year, combined with increased acceptance among investors, has transformed some of the world’s largest financial institutions from Bitcoin skeptics to advocates. 

Exchange-traded funds linked to BTC have experienced significant growth, attracting substantial investments from hedge funds such as Bracebridge Capital and pension funds like the Wisconsin Investment Board. Asset managers, including BlackRock, Fidelity, and Ark, have seen over $10 billion of assets flow into their crypto-related vehicles.

According to the Financial Times, CME Group has been a major beneficiary of this renewed institutional interest, surpassing Binance to become the world’s largest BTC futures market. 

Its market in Chicago currently holds approximately 26,000 open positions valued at around $8.5 billion, more than twice the amount compared to a year ago. The potential spot trading business would be operated through the EBS currency trading venue in Switzerland, which adheres to “robust regulations” governing the trading and custody of cryptocurrencies.

However, one industry executive questioned whether CME Group can achieve significant market share if its Bitcoin trading business operates across two separate markets—CME in Chicago and EBS in Switzerland. Concerns revolve around potential inefficiencies resulting from this approach. 

As CME Group moves closer to finalizing its plans for Bitcoin spot trading, it underscores the growing integration of traditional financial institutions into the evolving cryptocurrency landscape. The potential for increased market access, liquidity, and infrastructure promises to shape the future of institutional participation in the digital asset space.

As of press time, the largest cryptocurrency on the market is trading at $66,000 and has been struggling for the past 24 hours to break this level fully. This level is one of the key resistance walls for BTC on its way to retesting higher levels and its current all-time high.  

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com

Crypto analyst Javon Marks recently suggested that the Altcoin season might be imminent, and Ethereum might be the cause. As part of his analysis, the analyst predicted that Ethereum would likely kickstart the rally these crypto tokens are expected to record once the Altcoin season begins. 

Altcoins To Follow Ethereum’s Move

Marks remarked in an X (formerly Twitter) post that a new all-time high (ATH) for Ethereum could be of “major service in many Altcoin progressions.” The analyst made this statement while highlighting a bull flag that had formed on Ethereum’s chart. He claimed that a breakout from that flag could spark a massive rally for Ethereum, which would, in turn, positively affect other Altcoins. 

Ethereum periodically outperforms the flagship crypto, Bitcoin, which inspires other crypto tokens to make significant rallies instead of mirroring Bitcoin’s price action. Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe indicated that the news around the Spot Ethereum ETF will likely trigger this move for Ethereum and other altcoins. 

He also revealed that Bitcoin’s dominance has peaked, meaning that the flagship crypto might cool off while these altcoins enjoy an upward trend. Van de Poppe had previously predicted that the narrative would shift to Ethereum and that he expects altcoins to bounce in their Bitcoin pairs post-halving. 

In a more recent X post, the crypto analyst also suggested that a significant rally is on the horizon for Ethereum. According to him, the second-largest crypto token by market cap is currently at the end stage of the correction. “The good times are there in a few weeks time,” he added. 

These “good times” are also on the way for other altcoins, as Van de Poppe revealed that he is currently seeing a period of consolidation on the Altcoin market cap charts, which is what comes before the “next big push upwards.”

Altcoin Season Might Still Take A While 

Crypto analyst Rekt Capital suggested it might still take a while before the market witnesses Altcoin season. In an X post, he stated that “the window for Altcoin bottoming has just begun,” meaning that these crypto tokens are still likely to drop lower before they experience a trend reversal and make parabolic moves to the upside. 

In another X post, the analyst again reaffirmed this sentiment, stating there is “still time left before the Q2 Altcoin Hype Cycle takes off. However, he noted that altcoins are already getting primed for this move, claiming that the “very foundations of the next wave of Altcoin rallies are being built as we speak.”

Rekt Capital assured that this period of consolidation from altcoins was necessary before they could experience any significant price surge. “Market-wide breakouts can’t occur without the market first experiencing slow consolidation periods,” he claimed. 

At the time of writing, Ethereum is trading around $3,000, up over 3% in the last 24 hours according to data from CoinMarketCap. 

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson recently stoked the excitement of the cryptocurrency world with a succinct yet evocative post on X stating, “Genesis is coming.” This proclamation was linked to an in-depth blog entry by Nicholas Frisby, a software engineer at IOHK, shedding light on the forthcoming Ouroboros Genesis protocol, a significant update aimed at enhancing the foundational consensus mechanism of the Cardano blockchain.

Genesis is coming https://t.co/Len10oA0WN pic.twitter.com/CT8eyVwEcl

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) May 16, 2024

Cardano: Deep Dive Into Ouroboros Genesis

The Ouroboros Genesis protocol represents a significant step forward in the development of Cardano’s underlying consensus mechanism. Building on the previous iterations—Ouroboros Classic, Ouroboros BFT, and Ouroboros Praos—Genesis introduces critical enhancements aimed at protecting network nodes when they are most vulnerable: at the time of their initial connection to the network or upon rejoining after a significant absence.

The update brings several innovative features to address the unique challenges faced by new or returning nodes:

• Ledger Peers: A new component in the node architecture to enhance security by ensuring that nodes connect to trusted network participants, thus reducing the risk of eclipse attacks.
• Lightweight Checkpointing: A mechanism that provides a fallback option during critical situations, allowing the network to quickly establish a consensus on the correct version of the blockchain history.
• Limit on Eagerness (LoE): This feature prevents nodes from prematurely committing to a blockchain that hasn’t been fully validated by trusted sources.
• Genesis Density Disconnections (GDD): A protocol to disconnect from peers that suggest a denser but potentially dishonest version of the blockchain.
• Limit on Patience (LoP): Ensures that nodes only maintain connections with peers that deliver blockchain data promptly, reducing the risk of stalling attacks.

Moreover, Ouroboros Genesis goes beyond mere incremental improvements by deeply integrating mechanisms that significantly elevate the security posture of the network:

• Rollback Limits: Retaining a set rollback limit from previous iterations (2,160 blocks), Genesis ensures a balance between flexibility and stability, preventing potential abuses in rollback capabilities while maintaining essential safety checks.
• Peer Selection Logic Revision: The updated peer selection logic in Genesis leverages recent stake distributions to choose peers, increasing the probability of connecting to honest nodes and reducing the likelihood of eclipse attacks.
• Adaptive Network Adjustments: The protocol features dynamic adjustments, such as modifying the number of ledger peers during a node’s syncing phase, which is crucial for maintaining robust defenses against network segmentation or isolation.

The introduction of Ouroboros Genesis is expected to mark a significant leap forward for Cardano’s security. With a projected release in Q3 of 2024, it is currently undergoing the final development and testing phases. This period is critical in ensuring the seamless integration of new features with existing systems, as well as their performance under diverse operational conditions.

At press time, ADA traded at $0.454.

Central American country, El Salvador has realized significant profits from its extensive Bitcoin reserve. The country which previously accepted Bitcoin as a legal tender has now made hundreds of millions of dollars in gains as Bitcoin surged past $66,000 recently. 

El Salvador Bitcoin Profits Soar

El Salvador’s audacious Bitcoin bet continues to pay off as the country’s profits have risen significantly following the cryptocurrency’s surge to $66,000 on May 16, 2024. Over the past three, the country has aggressively accumulated a staggering amount of BTC. Related Reading: Shiba Inu Burn Rate Suffers Scathing 91.94% Crash, What’s Happening?

Against all criticism and discouragement from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender in 2021. Since then, the country has continually increased its Bitcoin reserves, acquiring the cryptocurrency by any means either through direct purchase or mining. 

According to El Salvador’s Bitcoin office, the country holds about 5,751 BTC valued at approximately $379 million using the current price of Bitcoin. Since 2021, the Central American country has mined a total of 474 Bitcoin worth about $29 million, embracing green energy by utilizing its volcanic geothermal energy to facilitate mining activities.

In March, when Bitcoin’s price had reached a new all-time high above $73,000, the Central American country had yielded significant profits, experiencing a slight drop when Bitcoin’s price gave up gains to trade below the $60,000 price mark. Now, with Bitcoin surging once more, the country’s profits are increasing steadily. 

El Salvador President Nayi Bukele, a vocal advocate for Bitcoin, has championed the cryptocurrency as a means to promote economic growth and improve financial inclusion in the country. President Bukele disclosed earlier on February 2, 2024, that the country does not plan to sell its Bitcoin assets. Instead, it aims to continuously incorporate more into its digital asset reserve. 

Bitcoin Surges Above $65,000

Bitcoin rose above $66,000 this week, marking the first time since April 24, 2024. The pioneer cryptocurrency has recorded a 6.74% increase over the past 24 hours and is presently trading at $65,993. 

Following the Bitcoin halving event on April 20, the cryptocurrency experienced a massive downturn, giving back the majority of its gains made from its rally in March. At the time, Bitcoin’s skyrocketing value was driven by the soaring demand of Spot Bitcoin ETFs. 

According to crypto analyst, Ali Martinez, the crypto market is still very early, highlighting that Bitcoin was just 25 days post Bitcoin halving and suggesting that the cryptocurrency could surge even higher once bearish sentiment diminishes.

Presently, Bitcoin’s daily trading volume has experienced a significant upward momentum, highlighting the growing interest from investors and crypto traders in the industry. The cryptocurrency’s 24-hour trading volume of approximately $42.3 billion has risen by more than 70.27%. Additionally, its overall market capitalization has jumped by more than $1.3 trillion, marking a daily increase of 6.56%. 

Nigeria’s naira continues its downward spiral despite a tightening noose around cryptocurrency trading. The government, blaming digital assets for the currency’s woes, has launched a multi-pronged attack on the digital asset, forcing major exchanges to retreat and pushing traders towards riskier avenues.

Central Bank Points Finger At Crypto

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has cast cryptocurrency  as the villain in the naira’s depreciation drama. Officials allege rampant manipulation of the currency’s value through pump-and-dump schemes on peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms. This, they claim, undermines their efforts to stabilize the naira through monetary policy.

Exchanges Feeling The Heat

The finger-pointing has had a chilling effect on digital currency businesses. Fearing regulatory retribution or an outright ban, major exchanges like Binance, OKX, and most recently, KuCoin, have all suspended naira support on their P2P platforms.

KuCoin, in a Wednesday announcement, downplayed the move as a “temporary pause” to ensure compliance with local regulations. However, the lack of a clear timeline for resumption leaves Nigerian bitcoin traders in limbo.

Looming P2P Ban Pushes Traders Into The Shadows

The situation is likely to worsen as the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plans a full-blown ban on crypto P2P trading. This move, if enacted, will effectively push crypto transactions into the shadows of encrypted messaging apps.

Experts warn that this shift will expose traders to a Wild West environment rife with scams, exploitative rates, and a complete lack of consumer protection.

Central Bank Freezes Transactions, EFCC Targets Traders

The CBN is not stopping at regulating exchanges. In the past two weeks, they have instructed financial institutions to freeze and report all cryptocurrency transactions. This move effectively cuts off any legal avenues for Nigerians to buy or sell crypto using their naira.

Adding fuel to the fire, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, has frozen over 1,000 crypto trader accounts in the past three weeks. These accounts are reportedly under investigation for money laundering and terrorism financing, allegations that many find dubious given the transparency inherent in blockchain technology.

Crackdown’s Effectiveness Questioned

Despite the aggressive measures, the naira continues its downward trajectory. Currently, it trades at a dismal 1,520 naira to the US dollar. This suggests that the crypto crackdown might be a misguided attempt to address a complex economic issue with a technological scapegoat.

Lack Of Clarity Frustrates Businesses

The Nigerian government’s approach has also been criticized for its lack of transparency. Binance CEO, Richard Teng, shared his frustrations in a recent blog post, highlighting their year-long efforts to obtain licensing information from the Nigerian SEC, all in vain.

This lack of clear regulatory framework makes it impossible for legitimate crypto businesses to operate, further pushing the industry underground.

Featured image from Getty Images, chart from TradingView

As the cryptocurrency industry moves toward a thriving altcoin Season, popular Shiba Inu team member and marketing lead Lucie has proclaimed the season is the perfect time to showcase the potential of Shibarium, the project’s layer 2 blockchain solution, to the larger cryptocurrency community. In this statement, Lucie positions Shibarium as a major participant in the altcoin boom by highlighting its distinct benefits and technological advancements.

Altcoin Season: A Golden Opportunity For Shiba Inu’s Shibarium Capabilities

On Wednesday, Shiba Inu marketing head Lucie shared her insights on the much-anticipated altcoin season and its impact on the project’s ecosystem. According to Lucie, Altcoin season is a thrilling time when altcoins frequently perform better than Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency asset, which presents a fantastic opportunity for Shibarium and the ShibArmy.

The post read:

Altcoin season is an exciting period when alternative crypto often outperforms Bitcoin. For Shibarium and the ShibArmy, it is a fantastic opportunity.

During altcoin season, Lucie pointed out that funds tend to move from Bitcoin to altcoins such as SHIB, SHEB, BONE, LEASH, and other Shibarium tokens. This shift in investment will potentially trigger the value of these altcoins considerably. Thus Shibarium may become more widely used and benefit the ecology, due to its distinct qualities.

Another aspect highlighted by Lucie to be triggered by the altcoin season is Shiba Inu’s community power. In the course of the period, the fervor of the ShibArmy may fuel more visibility and appeal of Shibarium tokens.

The altcoin season will also cause an increase in trading volume and liquidity, according to the marketing head. “Higher trading volume means more liquidity, making it easier to trade Shibarium tokens,” she stated.

Lastly, Lucie advocates the growth of the layer 2 solution during the altcoin season, as the excitement may encourage Shibarium’s growth and innovation, which would benefit the entire crypto community.

As a result, the Shiba Inu team member believes that making money during the altcoin season is not all to consider but also an opportunity to establish Shibarium‘s reputation in the cryptocurrency space and highlight its potential.

How To Determine Altcoin Season

Lucie has also identified several factors to observe in order to determine when an altcoin season begins. The first aspect to watch out for is the investors’ interest in Bitcoin and the optimism around its price when the bull cycle starts.

When Bitcoin appreciates, it attracts all of the attention and capital for a period. After experiencing significant increases, investors sell some Bitcoin to lock in profits, thereby looking for the next big investment, turning their attention towards altcoins, triggering an altcoin season.

With more investors shifting their investments towards the altcoin market, prices will increase significantly, surpassing Bitcoin’s performance in the period. “So, a bull run starts with Bitcoin, then money flows into altcoins, creating altcoin season where altcoins surge in value,” she added.

ShibaSwap, the native decentralized exchange (DEX) of the Shiba Inu ecosystem, has officially launched on Shibarium, Shiba Inu’s layer-2 scaling solution. This strategic move was announced via X, signifying a major step forward in leveraging the scalability and cost-efficiency of Shibarium while maintaining the security features of the Ethereum blockchain.

The SHIB army received this news with the following statement from the Shiba Inu team via X: “ShibArmy the wait is finally over — ShibaSwap is coming home to Shibarium! ShibaSwap is more than just an exchange; it’s where our community’s spirit meets innovation, where your community tokens not only exist but thrive.”

Shiba Inu’s DeFi Ecosystem Makes A Giant Leap Forward

The integration of ShibaSwap onto Shibarium is not just a mere transition; it is a transformative shift that establishes ShibaSwap as a multi-chain DEX now operating on both Ethereum and Shibarium, according to the latest issue of SHIB Magazine. This dual-chain approach optimizes user benefits by combining the robust security of Ethereum with the enhanced scalability and reduced transaction costs offered by Shibarium.

A central feature of this integration is the enhanced ability for users to directly influence the exchange’s ecosystem by creating new liquidity pools for their preferred tokens. This move significantly enhances the decentralized nature of the platform, allowing for greater community participation and influence in shaping the ecosystem’s growth.

“Adding liquidity to ShibaSwap’s pools empowers you to participate in decentralized trading while earning fees with ease. While setting up a liquidity pool on Ethereum can cost around $100 or more, doing so on Shibarium typically costs less than $1, making it an attractive option for users seeking to participate in DeFi without breaking the bank,” the SHIB team explained.

In addition to technical upgrades, ShibaSwap has introduced substantial improvements to its user interface and overall user experience. The redesigned dashboard and simplified user interface are aimed at enhancing the trading and yield farming experience for all users, regardless of their level of expertise in the DeFi space. This redesign makes navigation and operation within ShibaSwap more intuitive, facilitating smoother interactions with the platform’s various features.

The platform now includes advanced features such as trend analysis charts, which allow users to spot trending tokens by volume and trading activities. The newly integrated analytics display provides users with real-time data on ShibaSwap’s total value locked (TVL) and trading volume, enhancing their ability to make informed trading decisions.

The increased transaction volume on Shibarium not only promises more fees for liquidity providers and stakers but also supports a higher burn rate of the SHIB token through the burning of base gas fees. This dynamic serves a dual purpose: rewarding users for their participation and investment in the ecosystem and simultaneously reducing the overall supply of SHIB, potentially increasing its scarcity and value.

Commenting on the future of ShibSwap in the SHIB Magazine, the dev team revealed that the DEX “is poised for even greater advancements with the upcoming V2 and V3 releases,” which will introduce a range of new features designed to further enhance user experience. These include extended user interfaces, more concentrated liquidity management tools, and customizable price ranges.

All enhancements aim to improve rewards for liquidity providers, enhance portfolio management, and optimize overall liquidity performance.

At press time, SHIB traded at $0.00002550.

The once-feverish NFT marketplace, where digital art and collectibles commanded millions, now resembles a deserted online bazaar. A new report paints a stark picture – a 97% plunge in trading volume since 2021 and a staggering 95% of NFT projects holding zero market value.

This dramatic decline begs the question: is the NFT market headed for extinction, or is this just a temporary hiccup?

From Jpeg Millionaires To Tumbleweed Sales

Just two years ago, NFTs were the new gold rush. Beeple’s $69 million digital collage sale became a cultural phenomenon, and stories of overnight millionaires from “on-chain jpegs” fueled a speculative frenzy. However, that frenzy seems to have fizzled out.

Today, the average NFT sale struggles to break the $200 mark, a far cry from the seven-figure sums of yesteryear. Daily sales have nosedived from a bustling 87,000 in 2021 to a mere 2,000 in 2024.

Crypto Winter And Beyond: A Cocktail Of Challenges

The blame for this downturn falls on several factors. The broader crypto market slump, often referred to as the “crypto winter,” has undoubtedly played a role. Economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions haven’t helped either, dampening investor confidence.

However, the NFT market’s woes may run deeper. Critics point to a saturation of low-quality projects and a lack of utility for many NFTs beyond bragging rights. The multi-million dollar sales of 2021 might have been outliers, fueled by hype rather than genuine value.

A Glimmer Of Hope? Retail Investors Hold The Key

Despite the bleak landscape, the report suggests a potential comeback. The authors point to historical trends in the crypto market, where periods of decline have often been followed by resurgence.

A return of retail investors, those willing to take on higher risk for potentially high rewards, could breathe new life into the market. This hinges on a recovery in the broader market and a renewed sense of optimism among investors.

Regulation: A Looming Cloud

The future of NFTs isn’t without its hurdles. Regulatory scrutiny from the US government casts a long shadow. While some argue that clear regulations could bring stability and legitimacy to the market, others fear it could stifle innovation. Finding the right balance between protecting investors and fostering growth will be crucial for the NFT market’s future.

The Verdict: A Time Of Reckoning

We can view the current status of the NFT market as a reckoning era. The gaudy dreams of 2021 have made way for a more grounded reality. It will be interesting to watch if NFTs develop into a strong asset class with practical applications or if they become just another digital memory.

Featured image from Mundissima/Alamy, chart from TradingView

The curtain fell on the first-quarter 13F filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday, and the reports revealed a seismic shift in institutional investment patterns toward spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with Millennium Management emerging as a frontrunner in this new asset class.

Millennium Becomes The King Of Bitcoin ETFs

Millennium Management, helmed by billionaire Izzy Englander and overseeing assets worth over $64 billion, reported an unprecedented $2 billion investment distributed among several Bitcoin ETFs. This mammoth investment has not only positioned Millennium at the zenith of Bitcoin ETF ownership but also signals a broader acceptance and validation within traditional investment frameworks.

The detailed disclosure showed Millennium’s investments spread across five major funds: $844,181,820 in BlackRock’s iShares BTC Trust (IBIT) which represents 20,859,447 shares, $806,640,303 in Fidelity’s Wise Origin BTC Fund (FBTC) encompassing 12,997,749 shares, $202,029,915 in Grayscale’s BTC Trust (GBTC) holding 3,198,194 shares, $45,001,320 in ARK’s BTC ETF (ARKB) for 634,000 shares, and $44,737,805 in Bitwise’s BTC ETF (BITB) with 1,155,717 shares.

Renowned crypto analyst MacroScope remarked via X, “Major filing after the market closed today. Next to Wisconsin’s yesterday, certainly one of the most important BTC disclosures to date and it will get huge attention from asset managers.” On Tuesday, the State of Wisconsin disclosed a $161 million allocation in BlackRock’s IBIT and Grayscale’s GBTC.

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, this level of diversified investment across all Bitcoin ETFs is unprecedented. But “Millennium is king of the Bitcoin ETF holders with about $2 billion across four ETFs, out of over 500 holders. This is approximately 200 times the average for new ETFs,” Balchunas explained.

He further noted the majority of these investments came from investment advisors (60%) and a significant portion from hedge funds (25%). Balchunas also highlighted the rapid accumulation of liquidity and a diverse institutional footprint in IBIT, which is atypical for a newly launched ETF.

Millennium is king of the bitcoin ETF holders w/ about $2b across four ETFs. This is out of over 500 holders (about 200x the avg for new ETF). Majority are inv advisors (60%) but a big dose of HFs (25%). Never can be totally sure what HFs up to but they were def big buyers. pic.twitter.com/iVtVXjhId0

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) May 15, 2024

“You normally don’t see such a diverse range of holder types until years after an ETF’s launch,” he added, indicating the robust market confidence in Bitcoin’s potential as an investment asset.

The sector’s growth was further underscored by additional disclosures from other major financial entities. Paul Singer’s Elliott Capital disclosed an investment of nearly $12 million in BlackRock’s IBIT as of the end of the quarter, while Apollo Management Holdings reported a $53.2 million stake in ARK/21’s ARKB.

The wave of investment did not end with hedge funds and asset managers. Other notable entities such as Aristeia Capital and Hudson Bay Capital also revealed significant stakes in Bitcoin ETFs, contributing to the combined assets under management of all 10 available spot Bitcoin ETFs, which now stand at cumulative inflows of $12.1 billion.

As the deadline closed, the filings painted a picture of a rapidly maturing market where Bitcoin is no longer seen as just an alternative or speculative asset but as a viable part of diversified investment portfolios, attracting interest across the spectrum of financial institutions.

At press time, BTC traded at $65,771.

Chinese law enforcement agencies have announced a breakthrough in their fight against illegal financial activities. They have dismantled a large underground banking gang allegedly involved in facilitating illegal transactions using Tether’s USDT stablecoin. 

The operation spans multiple provinces and is believed to have enabled over $2 billion worth of illicit USDT transactions. 

193 Suspects Arrested In Tether-Linked Banking Scandal

According to local media reports, the Chengdu Municipal Public Security Bureau uncovered a significant underground banking case involving a staggering 13.8 billion yuan ($1.9 billion). 

The operation was spread across 26 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. 193 suspects have been arrested nationwide, with public security agencies in each jurisdiction filing 58 cases. Authorities have also frozen 149 million yuan in funds associated with the operation.

The investigation was initiated in November 2022 when the Longquanyi District Branch identified suspicious fund settlements through underground banks, indicating potential engagement in illegal foreign exchange activities. 

The Chengdu Municipal Public Security Bureau reportedly formed a task force of various departments, including economic investigation, cyber security, legal affairs, and technical investigation. 

On June 1, 2023, the task force coordinated arrest operations in Shanghai, Changsha, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Fuzhou, Jinhua, and other locations under the command of the Ministry of Public Security and the Public Security Department.

As a result, 25 criminal suspects, including Lin, Weng, and Chen, were apprehended, and significant evidence, such as bank cards and payment instruments, was seized.

$1.9 Billion Illegal Scheme Unveiled

The investigation revealed that the criminal gang, led by Lin, Weng, Chen, and others, primarily operated within the import and export business sector. Authorities further claim that they allegedly exploited USDT as a medium to provide illegal services to customers seeking to transfer funds abroad. 

Their activities primarily involved illegal foreign exchange, payment, and settlement businesses, which reportedly facilitated the smuggling of drugs and cosmetics, overseas asset purchases, and fraudulent tax refund schemes. 

According to the report, Tether’s use of stablecoin allegedly allowed it to evade national foreign exchange supervision, posing “substantial risks” to foreign exchange security and financial management.

By reportedly utilizing USDT and collaborating with other companies for fund settlements, the gang engaged in various criminal activities, including financial fraud, job-related crimes, drug management obstruction, smuggling of prohibited goods, credit card fraud, and export tax refund fraud.

Crack Down On Criminal Operations

Tether has swiftly cracked down on criminal operations utilizing its digital currency in response to allegations of its involvement in illicit activities. Paolo Ardoino, the firm’s CEO, has consistently emphasized the company’s commitment to combating illicit activity and has called Tether “the dumbest choice for doing illicit activity.” 

Recently, Tether also took a decisive step to combat illicit activity by freezing approximately $5.2 million USDT. The action was taken in response to crypto tracking and compliance platform MistTrack findings. 

The platform identified 12 Ethereum addresses associated with phishing operations, which threatened users and the integrity of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. 

Tether has also implemented new security measures aimed at preventing illicit financial activities. In collaboration with Chainalysis, a crypto tracking and compliance platform, the stablecoin issuer has developed a tool specifically designed to monitor secondary markets. This enables Tether to detect and address any suspicious or unauthorized transactions promptly.

Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com 

Data shows that Bitcoin selling pressure on the crypto exchange Coinbase is decreasing, which could be conducive to a short-term bounce.

Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Gap Is Approaching Neutral Mark Again

As analyst Maartunn explained in a post on X, the Coinbase Premium Gap has risen since plunging into negative territory yesterday. The “Coinbase Premium Gap” here refers to a metric that tracks the difference between the Bitcoin prices listed on Coinbase (USD pair) and Binance (USDT pair).

When the value of this indicator is positive, it means the cryptocurrency price listed on Coinbase is greater than on Binance right now. Such a trend implies the buying pressure is higher (or the selling pressure is lower) on the former than on the latter.

On the other hand, a negative value would suggest that the selling pressure on Coinbase may be higher than on Binance, as the asset is trading for a lower value on the exchange.

Now, here is a chart that shows the trend in the Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Gap over the past few weeks:

As displayed in the above graph, the Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Gap has been negative for the past few days, suggesting Coinbase users have been selling more heavily than Binance ones.

Coinbase is popularly known to be the preferred platform for US-based institutional investors, while Binance hosts global traffic. As such, the premium’s value can tell us about the behavior of American whales.

The recent negative values of the indicator would naturally imply that these large entities have been participating in some selling. From the chart, it’s visible that these investors also showed similar behavior earlier.

When the selling finally dropped off, and the Coinbase Premium Gap flipped, the cryptocurrency’s price rebounded in the short term. Over the past day, the indicator has shown a similar trend, as its value has now approached the neutral mark.

This may imply that the institutional traders could be done with their selling for now. “This could potentially create some short-term upside opportunity,” notes the analyst.

In some other news, the Bitcoin Open Interest, a measure of the total amount of derivatives-related positions currently open for the asset, has seen an alarming spike during the last few hours, as Maartunn has pointed out in another X post.

Generally, an increase in open interest can lead to higher volatility in Bitcoin prices. This 9% rise has come so suddenly, so a violent liquidation event may be coming for the cryptocurrency.

BTC Price

Bitcoin has recovered over the past day as its price has now crossed the $64,800 mark.