Are crypto prices heading for another gray period in the middle of winter?
That may not be the case, but let’s wait and see.
- Solana may be up to something with its Chapter 2 phone
- A new type of scam (a hybrid) involving romance fraud and crypto exchanges exists
- Things are looking up for Core Scientific.
- Plus, things were not as bad as they seemed last year for the industry (read on to find out)
As usual, these are your decentralized diaries!
Bitcoin is at $40k as the ETF Excitement Cools
The markets are yet to reach support after a $43,566.27 high before swinging to a $40,516.10 low. Prices are at $40,599.71 (as of 1/22/2024).
The altcoins are looking grey as well. Ethereum (ETH) is at $2,368.45, Solana (SOL) at $86.63, Avalanche (AVAX) at $30.34, Chainlink (LINK) at 14.95, and Polkadot (DOT) at $6.52.
The Solana Chapter 2 Phone Broke Records
Things may be turning around for Solana as efforts into the crypto phone had better than expected records per its Chapter 2 phone prelaunch.
The smartphone recorded 25,000 preorders on the first day, much higher than its predecessor, the Saga.
The FDIC Issued Cease and Desist Orders Against Five Crypto Firms
On January 19, the FDIC issued cease and desist orders against five crypto companies, accusing them of false representation about deposit insurance. Consequently, the FDIC ordered ORGANO Payments, Inc. and its subsidiary OGPay (OGPay), Horizon Globex GmbH, the operator of Upstream Exchange, Atmos Financial, PBC (Atmos), Zil Money Corporation (Zil) and BybitcoinEx, Inc. (BybitcoinEx) to remedy the issues.
MetaMask Partnered with Consensys to Run Ethereum Validator Nodes
MetaMask, the premier web3 and crypto wallet, unveiled its partnership with Conensys, a leading blockchain infrastructure development company. The nodes will allow anyone with 32 ETH (about $80,500 approximately) to stake the amount and earn 3.8% annual percentage yields (less a 10% fee currently).
The CFTC Charged Debiex Exchange with Fraud
In a January 19 statement, the CFTC revealed charges against Debiex, a crypto exchange, of fraud over romance scams. The regulator alleged that officials of the cryptocurrency exchange employed romance scam methods to lure their victims and convert them into customers.
Additionally, civil enforcement charges filed at the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona named Zhāng Chéng Yáng (Zhang) as a defendant because of stolen funds traced to his wallet. Furthermore, the CFTC alleges the exchange misappropriated $2.3 million in customer funds.
DappRadar-Web3 Apps Grew 124% in 2023
Data from the DappRadar 2023 Industry Report shows increased activity in the Web3 space, with a rapid rise in apps. According to the report, things are looking ahead for games with a 34% dominance. New wallets in the NFT and DeFi spaces grew 166%, while the total value locked for DeFi grew 77% to $103 billion.
Blockchains were not left out. Arbitrum, Klaytn, and Near saw the highest number of new user wallets. Ethereum still held sway with a 57% dominance of the smart contract space.
Core Scientific will Exit Bankruptcy
There may be a silver lining in the skies for the debtors of Core Scientific, the bankrupt Bitcoin mining firm, after the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas approved its reorganization plan.
Core Scientific indicated in a January 16 statement that it will pay shareholders 60% of equity values alongside its current debts. Also, the crypto miner indicated intentions to keep its self-mining business units.
TrueUSD Introduced a Reserve Audit in Peg Restoration Attempts
To assure users of its fiat reserves, TrueUSD, the Justin Sun-linked stablecoin, indicated it had obtained the attestation services of an accounting firm. Additionally, the stablecoin issuer blamed the mining pool activities of the Binance launchpad community. The TrueUSD lost its 1:1 peg to the greenback on January 15.
Tether Refuted the UNODC Report
Tether, the USDT stablecoin issuer, refuted a previously published report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) alleging that the token was the preferred means of money laundering activities in Southeast Asia.
In a January 15 blog post, Tether highlighted efforts to curb money laundering and expressed disappointment at the report. The stablecoin issuer admonished the UN agency to learn more about blockchain technology and its potential. Tether also proposed dialogue as the way forward, iterating that the same process worked with other agencies.
Crypto.com- Number of Crypto Owners Grew 34% in 2023
According to a recently released report from Crypto.com, a premier cryptocurrency exchange, the total number of new cryptocurrency users grew 34% from 432 million in January to 580 million in December.
Additionally, the report indicated that Ether users grew by 39% to 124 million, 21% of token owners globally.
Chainlink Announced Circle Protocol Integration
Chainlink (LINK), the decentralized data-focused network, revealed its partnership with Circle, the stablecoin issuer. The collaboration integrates the Circle Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) and the Chainlink Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP), improving the cross-chain transfer capabilities of stablecoins.
