Quick Take The digital asset market is witnessing an accelerated phase of Bitcoin (BTC) accumulation across two distinct cohorts: Shrimps and Sharks. The “Shrimp cohort” refers to retail investors holding less than one Bitcoin who have traditionally increased their holdings steadily. Currently, this group is exhibiting its most assertive accumulation since November 2023, expanding its...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
A California judge dismissed a class action lawsuit against Apple that accused the tech giant of imposing restrictions on third-party crypto payments on March 26. District Judge Vince Chhabria said the complaint contained “several fatal problems,” including inadequately alleged agreements between Apple and other payment services. He expressed doubts that the agreements restricted decentralized crypto...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said institutions will inject more than $1 trillion into Bitcoin via ETFs over the coming year as due diligence is completed and further exposure is approved. Hougan shared his perspective in the latest weekly investor note from the company, where he reflected on the challenges and opportunities facing investors in the...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Bitwise has filed its application for a spot Ethereum ETF with the SEC on March 28. The company submitted an S-1 form for a fund titled the Bitwise Ethereum ETF. Like other similar applications, the fund aims to provide exposure to the value of ETH held in its trust. The submission includes several vital details,...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The White House ordered all US federal agencies to appoint chief AI officers on March 28. Vice President Kamala Harris described the far-reaching nature of the role, commenting that chief AI officers will “oversee all — I’m going to emphasize that — all” use of AI within each agency. She added that these officers must...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Detained Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan has initiated legal action against Nigerian authorities, including the National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu and the Economics and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), over allegations of human rights violations. Gambaryan, an American citizen overseeing the exchange’s crime investigation unit, was detained alongside his colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla by Nigerian authorities on...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The US and UK governments have launched a joint investigation into crypto transactions worth over $20 billion that may have violated Russian sanctions, Bloomberg News reported on March 28. The transactions, suspected of being routed through the Russia-based crypto exchange Garantex, aim to evade international sanctions and potentially fund military activities in Ukraine. In recent...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Geneva, Switzerland, March 28, 2024 – HackaTRON Season 6, co-hosted between TRON DAO, HTX DAO, BitTorrent Chain, and JustLend DAO, introduces an exciting lineup of new sponsors, partners, and judges. Showcasing HackaTRON Sponsors Diamond Sponsors: Ankr: Specializing in decentralized infrastructure services for DApp development, Ankr supports the seamless integration and deployment of blockchain applications. ChainGPT:...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Ethereum liquid restaking platform Prisma Finance said its vaults were exploited earlier today for an undisclosed sum. According to the protocol: “Prisma Protocol has been paused by the emergency multisig and remaining funds are safe. mkUSD and ULTRA, as stablecoins, are overcollateralized and are not at risk.” CryptoSlate data shows that the mkUSD stablecoin has...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in jail today in a packed courtroom, marking a significant moment in the legal scrutiny of the crypto industry. He will be 57 years old when he is released. The sentencing, as detailed by Inner City Press, comes after a series of legal...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Reports indicate that Google has expanded its search engine capabilities to include blockchain data from various networks, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum virtual machine networks like Fantom. This integration empowers users to access transaction details by searching for specific blockchain addresses directly within Google’s search engine ‘rich’ results. Last year, Google introduced this feature for...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take Bitcoin, frequently dubbed “digital gold” and traditional gold, showcased impressive performance throughout Q1 2024. Bitcoin has surged over 60%, trading above $70,000 and nearing its all-time high of approximately $73,500. Similarly, gold has gained over 7%, trading at over $2,200, close to its record high. Notably, the correlation between Bitcoin and gold over...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Bucharest, Romania, 28 March 2024: Atlas Navi, a trailblazer in AI-powered navigation, has unveiled Drive2Earn 2.0 — enhancing rewards for drivers as it sets its sights on overtaking Tesla as a market leader in capturing and analyzing vast quantities of data from dashcams. The app, which has now been downloaded more than 700,000 times worldwide,...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Ethereum’s blobs transaction fees witnessed an unprecedented surge yesterday with the debut of “BlobScriptions.” Blobs represent a novel transaction type that alleviates layer-2 fees on the Ethereum network and was introduced through the Dencun upgrade. Since its inception, the minimum gas price for a Blob to secure inclusion in an Ethereum block has stood at...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs witnessed net inflows on March 27, totaling a solid $243.4 million, equivalent to 3,534.7 BTC. Leading the charge was BlackRock’s IBIT, which recorded a net inflow of $323.8 million, or 4,701.5 BTC, bringing its total net inflow to an impressive $13,862.7 billion, equivalent to 250,787 BTC. This is the largest...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The Ethereum network has witnessed a surge in validator numbers, with the count nearing one million. On-chain data from Beacon Chain and Ethereum’s Validator Queue show an active validator count of 979,686. However, a Dune Analytics dashboard curated by Dragonfly analyst Hildobby places the total number on the network above the one million mark. These...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take The Ethereum (ETH) to Bitcoin (BTC) exchange rate, currently trading slightly above 0.05, has utilized this support level for the past six months. This enduring stability at the support level may indicate an impending alteration in market dynamics. Historically, Ethereum has closely tracked Bitcoin’s market movements. However, this correlation has weakened in recent...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The Bitcoin sell-side risk ratio is calculated by dividing the sum of all profits and losses realized on-chain by the realized capitalization, offering a comparative view of daily investor activity against the total market capitalization adjusted for real-time inflows and outflows. A rise in this metric indicates a higher likelihood of sell-side pressure, potentially leading...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The US Department of the Treasury and its Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Palestinian news network Gaza Now on March 27 over allegations of supporting Hamas. The Treasury sanctions also designate several crypto addresses linked to Gaza Now and its related parties. The Treasury designated an empty Bitcoin address and two Ethereum...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said the record-breaking performance of IBIT has made him more bullish about the future of Bitcoin. Fink made the statement during an interview on Fox Business on March 27, where he called the company’s spot Bitcoin ETF the most rapidly expanding fund in history. He also stated: “I’m very bullish on...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Amazon completed an investment deal with AI firm Anthropic after injecting another $2.75 billion into the company on March 27. The latest investment follows $1.25 billion given to the company in September 2023 as part of a $4 billion deal. The deal provides Amazon with minority ownership in Anthropic. Under the deal, the two companies...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Fidelity Investments has taken another step in its effort to launch a spot Ethereum ETF, filing a registration statement on March 26 despite the uncertain regulatory landscape. The move follows a previous filing by Cboe, the exchange planned for this ETF, which submitted a form 19b-4 to the SEC on Fidelity’s behalf in November 2023....Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take Eric Balchunas, a Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg, has compiled a chart showcasing the Top 30 ETFs by assets accumulated in their initial 50 days of trading. This impressive lineup is selected from a vast pool of 11,338 ETFs worldwide and includes four Bitcoin ETFs among the frontrunners. Notably, the BlackRock IBIT and...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Three Artificial Intelligence (AI) protocols have confirmed a monumental $7.6 billion merger to establish the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance, with the primary goal of advancing the development of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), according to a March 27 statement shared with CryptoSlate. SingluarityNET (AGIX), Fetch.ai (FET), and Ocean Protocol (OCEAN) said they joined forces to create an...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take The highly anticipated Bitcoin halving event is now less than 25 days away, scheduled for April 20. With only two difficulty adjustments remaining until the halving, the first adjustment is expected to be a slight negative of -1%, according to Newhedge, around 9 am GMT on March 28. The last adjustment before the...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Oslo, Norway, March 27, 2024 – Dune, a web-based platform that allows users to query public blockchain data and create it into interactive live dashboards, has officially integrated the TRON network, a high-performance blockchain known for being the home of Web3. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in increasing coverage of accessible data for the...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said the exchange had anticipated that the Court would allow the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case against it to proceed. Grewal made the statement in a March 27 post on social media platform X after Judge Katherine Polk Failla ruled that the Commission had “sufficiently pleaded” its...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Asset management firm Hashdex’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) will begin trading today on the US market under the ticker “DEFI.” According to Yahoo Finance data, early trading data indicates significant trader interest, with the fund already showing a pre-market uptick of over 3%. Fund conversion In a March 26 statement, Tidal Investments and Hashdex...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Munchables, a web3 game operating on the Ethereum layer-2 network Blast, has successfully recovered the $62.5 million it recently lost to an exploit. The platform disclosed that the attacker voluntarily provided all relevant private keys to facilitate the return of user funds. The keys holding the $62.5 million worth of ETH, 73 WETH, and the...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take Significant Bitcoin inflows into Coinbase’s Prime Brokerage services, which cater primarily to US institutional investors, can be seen via CryptoQuant data. Coinbase Prime offers advanced trading platforms, over-the-counter (OTC) desks, and custody services – appealing features for institutional clients. This influx aligns with the launch of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Jan.11; CryptoQuant...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
US Senate candidate John Deaton has called for the resignation of Gary Gensler, the current Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In an extensive March 26 post on X (formerly Twitter), Deaton said Gensler should resign because the SEC under his leadership “has forgotten, or intentionally abandoned, its primary mission in protecting innocent...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take BitMEX’s recent data highlights a substantial inflow in Bitcoin (BTC) Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), showcasing their most significant day of inflows since March 13, with a total of $418.0 million, equivalent to 5,986.1 BTC. Notably, Fidelity’s FBTC ETF led the surge with an exceptional $279.1 million in net inflows, equivalent to 3,997.2 BTC, maintaining...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Three blockchain-based artificial intelligence companies are in discussions to merge their crypto tokens to develop a decentralized AI platform, according to a report by Bloomberg. The companies involved in the potential merger are SingularityNET, Fetch.ai, and Ocean Protocol, as reported by people familiar with the matter who asked to remain anonymous due to the private...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Embattled crypto exchange KuCoin endured a surge in withdrawal requests the past day after the US authorities levied criminal charges against the platform. Data from various on-chain analytics firms, including DefiLlama, Nansen, and SpotOnChain, showed a surge in withdrawals across multiple categories of traders, including whales, funds, smart money, and market makers. On March 26,...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Solana‘s total value locked (TVL) currently stands at $4.666 billion, with a bridged TVL reaching just over $21 billion as of press time. This figure is distributed across dozens of protocols, each contributing to the burgeoning ecosystem in a unique way. The distribution of value across protocols is an indicator of user preferences, emerging trends,...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Coinbase said that it will store a greater amount of USDC on its Base network on March 26. Max Branzburg, Vice President of Product, announced the change on X. He wrote: “Going forward, Coinbase is going to be storing more corporate and customer USDC balances on Base.“ Branzburg said the change will allow Coinbase to...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
A group of Republican lawmakers, including the chairmen of the House Financial Services Committee and House Committee on Agriculture, has formally requested SEC Chair Gary Gensler to provide clear guidance on the regulatory stance regarding the custody of non-security digital assets by Special Purpose Broker-Dealers (SPBD). The March 26 letter specifically demands clarity on the...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz shared an optimistic outlook for the future of crypto, specifically Bitcoin, in light of recent ETF approvals and the prevailing economic conditions. Novogratz said during the company’s latest earnings that spot Bitcoin ETFs will continue to attract “boomer wealth” that will drive adoption to unprecedented levels. He said: “With the...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take The latest Bitcoin cycle, starting from the lows of November 2022 at approximately $15,500 and soaring to over $73,000, is drastically altering investor expectations as it deviates from the traditional bull market patterns. Historically, Bitcoin has seen 30% drawdowns in bull markets, which is a common occurrence. However, this cycle has left many...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
KuCoin CEO Johnny Lyu said the US criminal charges against the exchange will not affect the platform’s operational stability and assured users that their funds remain safe. Lyu made the statement on social media after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it is levying criminal charges against the exchange for flouting anti-money laundering (AML)...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take Examining the relative forces between Bitcoin cohort accumulation and monthly issuance offers intriguing insights into the current market situation. The ongoing epoch witnesses daily mining of approximately 900 BTC, translating to nearly 27,000 BTC per month, represented as the blue line in our analysis graph. The distinct cohorts are classified from shrimps (holding...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The phenomenon of the Bitcoin halving is a cornerstone event in the crypto world, fundamentally altering the economic landscape for miners and investors alike. Occurring approximately every four years, this event reduces the reward for mining new Bitcoin blocks by half, a mechanism designed to control the supply of Bitcoin and mimic the scarcity-driven value...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Ordinals infrastructure platform OrdinalsBot said it raised over $3 million in its seed funding round to enhance opportunities within the broader Bitcoin ecosystem, according to a March 26 statement shared with CryptoSlate. The funding round was led by DACM, with significant contributions from Eden Block and Nural Capital. Notable participants include WWVentures, Lightning Ventures, and...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Tether, the company behind the world’s largest stablecoin USDT, has announced a strategic expansion into artificial intelligence, as reported by the company on March 26. With a market cap of $104 billion, Tether aims to lead the development of open-source, multimodal AI models and integrate AI solutions into market-driven products. The move comes amid growing...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
London, United Kingdom, March 26, 2024 – TradingView has become an official partner for HackaTRON Season 6, hosted by TRON DAO, BitTorrent Chain, HTX DAO, and JustLend DAO. This year’s competition is illuminated by the expertise of Maksim Shymanovich and Alexey Telnov from TradingView, set to judge the projects competing for a prize pool of...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has detailed the rationale behind its insistence that crypto company Ripple should be fined roughly $2 billion in a March 25 court filing. Ripple’s top brass, including CEO Brad Garlinghouse and CLO Stuart Alderoty, had previously hinted at the SEC’s forthcoming move. They said that redacted versions of...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Craig Salm, the Chief Legal Officer at Grayscale, suggested that the US SEC’s “perceived lack of engagement” with spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) applicants wouldn’t be a decisive factor that would hinder the prospects of such products. In a March 25 post on X (formerly Twitter), Salm said the Ethereum ETFs would be approved because...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned 13 entities and two individuals for operating in the financial services and technology sectors of the Russian economy, including those developing or offering services in virtual assets that reportedly enable the evasion of US sanctions, as reported by the Treasury Department...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take According to data from BitMEX, the Bitcoin (BTC) ETF market experienced its first day of net inflows since March 15, collecting a modest $15.7 million, or 221.2 Bitcoin. This event paused five consecutive days of net outflows and represented the second-smallest day of inflows recorded. Despite this positive shift, the larger narrative remained...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
SWIFT said on March 25 that it discovered several applications for its central bank digital currency (CBDC) solution following a successful six-month test. The company did not create its own CBDC but instead developed an interlinking solution for existing CBDCs — dubbed the SWIFT connector. The company wrote: “At the core of our solution is...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse and CLO Stuart Alderoty have revealed that the SEC is seeking a staggering $2 billion in fines and penalties. According to the company’s executives, the fines have been proposed in a court filing that will be unsealed on March 26. ‘Unhinged’ SEC Garlinghouse said the SEC is seeking heavy penalties despite...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take VettaFI’s data showcases the impressive traction of BlackRock’s IBIT, marking it as the US ETF with the second-largest inflows year to date. IBIT only trails behind the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, which has garnered inflows of $21.6 billion year-to-date (YTD), positioning it at the forefront. Notably, despite IBIT’s trading activity spanning merely 50...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The DeFi Education Fund, a crypto advocacy group, and Texas-based apparel company Beba LLC have jointly initiated legal proceedings against the US SEC to clarify the status of airdrops as non-securities offerings. The March 25 court filing emphasized the need to halt the SEC’s regulatory actions, which the two entities perceive as an overreach into...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
In a dramatic opening to a much-anticipated trial, the US SEC cast Terraform Labs and its co-founder, Do Kwon, as central figures in a vast financial deception that left investors nearly destitute following its collapse, Reuters reported on March 26. The trial, unfolding in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York,...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The London Stock Exchange said in a March 25 notice that it plans for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs) to begin trading on May 28. The latest announcement also details other key dates. The London Stock Exchange will begin accepting applications for admission from issuers on April 8. The FCA must...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Ripple‘s developer arm, RippleX, revealed that some of the recently introduced Automated Market Maker (AMM) pools on XRP Ledger (XRPL) encountered technical issues that prevented transactions from processing correctly. In a March 24 statement on X (formerly Twitter), the developers said: “The discrepancy affected how the DEX payment engine routes liquidity through AMM pools and order...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Bitcoin‘s trading volume on centralized exchanges (CEXs) saw a significant spike in March, marking the highest recorded CEX volume since May 2021 — and the month isn’t over yet. Monitoring trading volume on CEXs offers invaluable insights into market sentiment, liquidity, and the overall health of the crypto market. From September 2023 to Mar. 24,...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take Bitcoin has started the week strong with a push above $69,000—up more than 3% today and marking its highest value since March 16. The move triggered a flood of liquidations in the digital asset ecosystem. These liquidations stem partly from the digital assets strong rally, peaking at an impressive $69,400. Coinglass data shows...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take Deribit data indicates that nearly $9 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) options are due to expire on March 29, the last Friday of the month, with the total open interest amounting to 133,914 BTC. The put/call ratio is reported at 0.80, signifying more calls in circulation compared to puts, and reflects bullish market...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Crypto exchange Binance said it would end support for Tron network-based USD Coin (USDC) stablecoins by April 5, according to a March 25 statement, following recent news Circle is pulling out of the Tron blockchain entirely. Consequently, Binance users have less than two weeks to withdraw their assets or convert them to USDC on alternative...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The Arbitrum Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) is contemplating a $3.3 million memecoin fund to foster a memecoin-friendly ecosystem within the Ethereum layer-2 blockchain network, according to a March 24 proposal on the platform’s discourse forum. According to the proposal: “The motivation of the memecoin fund is to help the Arbitrum ecosystem as a whole. Draw...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take Bitcoin, often referred to as ‘digital gold,’ is nearing a notable juncture, as its market capitalization approaches 10% of gold’s massive $14.55 trillion market cap, currently at 9.5%, according to data from the Clarkmoody dashboard. As Bitcoin hovers at approximately $67,000, its market capitalization stands at an estimated $1.314 trillion. This comes amidst...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Binance confirmed to CryptoSlate that Nadeem Anjarwalla, one of its executives detained by the Nigerian authorities, has escaped custody. A Binance spokesperson said: “We were made aware that Nadeem is no longer in Nigerian custody. Our primary focus remains on the safety of our employees and we are working collaboratively with Nigerian authorities to quickly...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take Analyzing Bitcoin’s net profit/loss, a key metric calculated from the difference between realized gains and losses. Utilizing a seven-day moving average to sift through the noise and pinpoint a more accurate trend, Bitcoin’s net realized profit nearly matched its record high set in January 2021 – a whopping $3.8 billion. This trend was...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Recent EU anti-money laundering regulations (AMLR) have sparked a heated debate about balancing combating financial crime and preserving citizens’ rights to privacy and economic freedom. The new laws, approved by most of the EU Parliament’s lead committees, have drawn criticism and support from various stakeholders. Following an article from Finbold on March 22, originally titled...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
BlackRock and Fidelity Investment’s spot Bitcoin ETFs — IBIT and FBTC — have become the most popular funds the two asset managers currently offer in less than 50 days of trading, based on data shared by Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. IBIT and FBTC were launched on Jan. 11 and have consistently posted record-setting numbers...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Web3 has always felt like an inclusive and empowering community to be a part of. In making the transition from traditional finance to DeFi, there has been no lack of support, encouragement, and guidance. Embodying a leadership role as a female has also felt free from obstacles or adversity. Gender Gap Still Evident However, despite...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Members of the Solana community and the crypto ecosystem denounced the recent surge in inflammatory memecoins on March 22. Unknown parties recently took advantage of Solana’s token creation feature to introduce thousands of memecoins with racist and antisemitic terminology in their names, some tokens also contained anti-China descriptions and other broadly offensive material. Solana founder...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
AI firm Anthropic has blocked Saudi Arabia from engaging in the sale process of 8% of its shares — currently owned by defunct crypto exchange FTX, CNBC reported on March 22, citing people familiar with the matter. FTX is selling the stake as part of its bankruptcy proceedings to repay its creditors, who lost billions...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood said Bitcoin could be worth more than $1.5 million per coin if institutions allocate roughly 5% of their portfolios to the digital asset. Wood made the statement during the Bitcoin Investor Day conference in New York on March 22. She said: “Since the SEC gave Institutions the green light to...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
BlackRock believes that Bitcoin (BTC) will become an integral part of the financial system over the coming decade as it increasingly melds with the best parts of the traditional financial system. The asset manager’s Head of Digital Assets, Robert Mitchnick, made the statement during Reflexivity Research’s Bitcoin Investor Day on March 22. FOX Business reporter...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take Utilizing data from Glassnode to estimate a market-wide cost basis reveals intriguing trends in the average price at which coins are withdrawn from exchanges. The information, segregated into cohorts, uncovers an upward trajectory on a cost basis, indicating a trend of purchasing Bitcoin at incrementally higher prices. Most notably, the 2024 cohorts experienced...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Montenegro’s Supreme Court has intervened in Do Kwon’s extradition to South Korea, putting the process on hold indefinitely, according to a March 22 translation of the Court notice. The Court said it overturned previous decisions from two lower courts that had greenlit Kwon’s extradition to South Korea because of the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office’s request. Consequently,...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer WisdomTree has secured regulatory approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) to operate its digital asset business in the state. According to a March 22 statement, the asset management firm received a charter to operate as a limited-purpose trust company under the New York Banking Law....Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) appears to be ushering in a new era of decentralized cloud computing innovation, as evidenced by the vibrant ecosystem of developers and projects showcased in the recent CryptoSlate Twitter Space. Hosted by CryptoSlate’s Akiba, the space featured insightful dialogue with key figures from the ICP community, including Isaac from the...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
North Korea-backed Lazarus group has stepped up their use of sanctioned crypto mixer Tornado Cash, moving over $100 million worth of Ethereum through the platform in the past week. According to blockchain security firm PeckShield, addresses linked to the exploiters of Justin Sun-linked HTX exchange and Heco Bridge have transferred 40,391 ETH, equivalent to $145.7 million,...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would lose its war against Ethereum. In a March 22 post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Garlinghouse pointed out that the financial regulator lost its securities classification battle against his company’s XRP token and is on course to suffer a similar...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take On March 21, Bitcoin ETFs experienced decreased outflows of $93.9 million compared to earlier in the week, corresponding to 1,433.6 BTC. BitMEX data highlights outflows extending over four consecutive days, an event that has occurred for the second time since the ETF’s launch on Jan. 11. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) reported an...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Tech giant Google has integrated Ethereum Name Service (ENS) data into its search results through data available from Etherscan. CryptoSlate confirmed this feature by testing it with several ENS addresses, including Vitalik.eth, an address belonging to Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of the Ethereum blockchain network. The displayed result showed the address details like the Ethereum balance...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take Bitcoin is poised to achieve a rare feat, closing seven consecutive months with gains, as reported by Glassnode. This streak, initiated in September 2023, echoes a previous record set between March and September 2012, marking only the second occurrence of such a streak in Bitcoin’s history. Notably, the scale of value differs significantly...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a global artificial intelligence (AI) resolution on March 21. The new resolution aims to promote “safe, secure, and trustworthy” AI development. The Assembly said it is paramount that AI is developed in a sustainable manner that does not threaten human rights. The AI Resolution The UNGA has requested member...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The government of Estonia has enacted a bill that introduces stringent legal requirements for digital assets service providers, local media reported on March 21. The legislation — approved on March 20 — is part of the country’s efforts to regulate the crypto industry and enhance its reliability. Regulatory supervision on the horizon Estonia has been...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Bitcoin (BTC) hit a 24-hour low of $64,760 on March 21 — just 18 hours after hitting a daily high of $68,120. Most of the drop occurred over a shorter period, as BTC fell 3.2% from $66,906 to $64,760 within three hours. Bitcoin had only slightly recovered above the $65,000 mark as of press time, with...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
A hacker exploited a bug in a newly launched gaming token on Blast network — Super Sushi Samurai — to steal roughly $4.6 million worth of Ethereum on March 21 — less than a month from its launch. The exploit resulted in an approximately 99% slippage in the token’s value following an unauthorized token dump. The...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Coinbase-backed Base has the highest transaction fees among Ethereum layer-2 networks due to the current wave of attention it enjoys among crypto traders. Gasfees data shows that Base is the priciest layer-2 protocol among scaling solutions that have implemented the Dencun Upgrade’s Blobs feature. The feature significantly reduces transaction fees and enhances throughput for layer-2...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take Recent data highlights a notable increase in Bitcoin open interest, reaching 500,000 BTC, despite a minor reduction of about 10,000 BTC during the latest dip from peak levels, according to Coinglass. The total open interest has seen a 25% increase since early March, with a notable contribution from trading activities on the CME,...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The realized Bitcoin price represents the average on-chain acquisition cost. It’s a handy metric as it perfectly gauges the market’s valuation baseline at any given point. When dissected through the lens of short-term and long-term holders, it provides insights into the cohorts’ investment horizons and their acute effect on Bitcoin’s price. These cohorts’ 7-day change...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take March has proven to be a tumultuous month for Bitcoin, showcasing fluctuations from an opening at roughly $61,000 to a steady rise above $67,000. Despite this progress, the path was not without its challenges. On March 20, Bitcoin experienced a notable decline to $60,700, marking an 18% fall from its peak above $73,000...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Total fees generated from the top 10 DeFi dApps tracks via DefiLlama will amount to $4.8 billion annually based on the past 24 hours of activity. Across staking, dexes, lending, and wallets, $13.15 million in fees were generated in the past day. Name Category 24hr Fees 24hrs Revenue Lido Liquid Staking $3.38m $337,749 Uniswap Dexes...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Notable pro-crypto pressure groups in Kenya and the United States have demanded the release of Binance executives held by the Nigerian government since Feb. 26. Last month, two Binance executives—Tigran Gambaryan and Nadeem Anjarwalla—traveled to Nigeria to address the ongoing issues surrounding the exchange’s operations in the African country. However, instead of engaging in constructive dialogues,...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Quick Take The US Federal Reserve’s recent policy stance has had noticeable effects on various financial assets. The Fed maintained the fed funds rate at 5.25 – 5.50% on March 20 and signaled a slowed pace of balance sheet reduction. According to Zerohedge, Jerome Powell said, “We did not make any decisions today. The general...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
FTX CEO John Ray III has debunked Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) claims about the level of losses suffered by users of the defunct exchange. In a March 20 letter to Judge Kaplan, Ray said Bankman-Fried’s statements were “categorically, callously, and demonstrably false” because the exchange users would “never be in the same position they would have...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Asset management firm BlackRock selected Coinbase as the key infrastructure provider for its tokenized investment fund, BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL). According to BlackRock: “BUIDL seeks to offer a stable value of $1 per token and pays daily accrued dividends directly to investors’ wallets as new tokens each month. The Fund invests 100%...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Glassnode’s hodler net position change metric offers a granular view into the behavior of Bitcoin’s long-term investors. The metric is calculated by tracking the inflows and outflows from wallets categorized as holders — or those who have been “holding on for dear life” for a very long time. This metric is pivotal in understanding market...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has approved Coinbase Derivatives Exchange’s application to list futures contracts tied to Dogecoin (DOGE), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC). According to the filing, the listings will go live and begin trading on or after April 1, 2024. The CFTC’s website indicates that all three contracts were certified on...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Congressman Patrick McHenry and Senator Cynthia Lummis recently expressed optimism regarding the passage of critical crypto legislation before the upcoming election in November, according to media reports on March 20. Speaking at a Coinbase event, McHenry highlighted the positive shift in legislative prospects, particularly in the wake of leadership changes within the House Republicans. According...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The US Federal Reserve announced on March 20 that it would keep interest rates steady at 5.25% to 5.5% — aligning with market expectations and easing concerns of a more aggressive tightening of monetary policy. Additionally, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) maintained its projection for a rate cut within this year, signaling a cautious...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network is seeking the return of over $2 billion withdrawn by major customers shortly before its bankruptcy declaration in July 2022, according to a release shared with CryptoSlate. The initiative, led by a committee appointed during the company’s Chapter 11 proceedings, is part of the firm’s restructuring efforts and targets individuals...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The Appellate Court of Montenegro has declined Do Kwon’s appeal to halt his extradition to South Korea, according to a March 20 notice. In its ruling, the Court affirmed the High Court’s decision to deport Kwon, the co-founder of now-defunct Terraform Labs, to face criminal charges in South Korea. These charges are linked to his...Read full story at CryptoSlate >
The Ethereum Foundation has been issued its first subpoena by an unknown “state authority” — a development disclosed after the foundation removed the “Warrant Canary” from its website. The disclosure was made in a GitHub repository update and marks a significant moment of government interaction with the foundation. The event has raised several questions about...Read full story at CryptoSlate >