According to data from blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant, bitcoin miners have transferred 14,000 bitcoins over the past few weeks.
Bitcoin was trading around $23,448.55, up about 7.5% over the past 24 hours as for time writing.
At the current price, a total of $328,839,700 has been transferred from the miners’ wallets. This was the highest number of bitcoins sold since January 2021.
This phenomenon is known as “miner capitulation,” which, through the sale of Bitcoin, is primarily used to pay for ASIC servers, capital investments to increase data centre capacity, and to repay the debt on schedule.
The cost of producing Bitcoin has gone negative as it dropped from about $24,000 at the start of June to around $13,000 now, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Cryptocurrencies have fallen over 60% so far as risk assets struggle with Fed hikes to fight inflation and high-profile collapses in the crypto industry like Terra/Luna and Three Arrows Capital
Citi analyst Joseph Ayoub wrote in a note:
“Given rising electricity costs and bitcoin’s steep price decline, the cost of mining a bitcoin may be higher than its price for some miners,”
Argo also disclosed that it sold 637 BTC at an average price of $24,500 in June in order to pay for operating expenses and a BTC-backed loan from Galaxy Digital.
American Nasdaq-listed cryptocurrency mining firm Core Scientific has shared its operational update by selling over 7200 Bitcoins in June.
it sold as much as 7,202 Bitcoin units worth approximately $167 million at an average price of $23,000 during the month.
Aave announced Tuesday about an integration with the distributed network of more than 44,000 nodes on the Pocket Network to enhance decentralised application development.
Following the new integration, the Aave-based DApps can access on-demand blockchain data from Pocket Network.
Aave is an open source and non-custodial DeFi Protocol which enables the creation of money markets. Aave’s native cryptocurrency is called LEND. According to the FCA, Aave’s UK business entity was granted an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license on July 7.
CEO of Pocket Network, Michael O’Rourke, said, “The goal is to power the next wave of decentralised applications that combine Aave’s best-in-class liquidity market with Pocket’s unrivalled RPC coverage, which now supports 50 blockchains and is well on its way to achieving its goal of 100 blockchains in 2022.”
Pocket Network Inc. is a software startup building a universal, decentralised API protocol for blockchains. Its function is to provide an extensive relay network for API requests from major blockchains. Its cryptoeconomic model can minimise developer costs while delivering value directly to full-node operators.
Pocket provides Remote Procedure Call RPC access to Ethereum, Polygon, and a dozen more blockchain networks.
The integration with Pocket Network provides a more stable development environment to enhance the development of decentralised applications, reduce latency, improve uptime and provide services such as optimised multi-chain data.
According to DEFI pulse, Aave Protocol currently has the fourth highest TVL of $4.86B.
Currently, at $95.91, it is up 33.65% over the past week as of this writing.
Stani Kulechov, the founder of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) lending protocol, Aave has spearheaded the emergence of Lens Protocol, an ecosystem that seeks to boost a permissionless, composable, and decentralised social graph that makes building a Web3 social platform easy.
Crypto music streaming platform Audius has developed a new feature that allows users to send the platform’s governance tokens to their favourite creators.
The Audius protocol provides a blockchain-based alternative to SoundCloud to help artists publish and monetize their work and distribute it directly to fans.
This consists of a first-party app for interacting with the protocol and a reference implementation of the underlying protocol as specified in the whitepaper
With 7 million users and 250,000 artists, the platform, which is currently valued at more than $1 billion, allows its fans to support their favourite artists in a tokenized form, express their support through the Audius platform’s governance token audio or connect to an external crypto wallet.
The company plans to add ways to tip in fiat currency by credit card in the coming months,
Forrest Browning, co-founder of Audius, said, “We kind of see it as laying out the breadcrumbs to help our mainstream, Web2 audience start to understand how to tip and how to support their favourite artists and a Web3 ecosystem.”
He added that the platform doesn’t need to attract all the fan base from various platforms but mainly tries to attract the 10 most engaged fans.
Last August, The global video streaming platform TikTok and the encrypted music streaming platform Audius developed a new feature called “TikTok Sounds” to support users to share sounds to the TikTok platform through Audius.
In two funding rounds, Audius has raised a total of $8.6 million. The Solana Foundation has launched a $5 million product in conjunction with music streaming service Audius and non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Metaplex to attract influencers to create their artwork on Web 3.
Bitcoin (BTC) has regained momentum and reclaimed the $23K level, but this begs the question if this uptick is short-lived, given that the Federal Reserve (Fed) has adopted the strategy of continuously increasing the interest rate.
Mike McGlone, a senior Bloomberg Intelligence commodity strategist, delved deeper into the issue and stated:
“The Fed is using a sledgehammer on commodities and risk assets. Down about 20% since the June 75 bps rate-hike, the aftermath of another 75 in July may be similar for the three C’s — crude oil, copper, and corn. The stock market may be more vulnerable than crude.”
With the Fed increasing the interest rate by 75 basis points (bps) in June, the highest since 1994, McGlone expects a similar hike this month meant to tame runaway inflation.
The United States recently released vital inflation data for June, with the consumer price index (CPI) jumping by 9.1%, the highest since November 1981.
Therefore, McGlone might base his analysis on these figures by predicting that a 75 bps interest rate hike is likely in July.
Interest rate surges usually have bearish impacts on high-risk assets like Bitcoin (BTC). For instance, after the Fed raised the interest rate by 50 bps in May, BTC sank to a two-month low approximately two days later.
Market analyst under the pseudonym Tajo Crypto noted that Bitcoin was still not out of the woods yet in the short term based on tightened macroeconomic conditions.
“This week has been very bullish for Bitcoin. But the macroeconomic situation around the world is still not encouraging, and the Fed will continue with its quantitative tightening. So, the pump we witnessed this week might correct soon. But BTC is long-term bullish.”
Tajo Crypto went ahead to note that the current rally might be a fake-out based on these factors and said:
“Bitcoin has been consistently pumping this week and has been able to get to $23K. Now lots of people are gradually becoming bullish on the market again, but this could be a fake-out.”
Bitcoin was up by 7.12% in the last 24 hours to hit $23,414 during intraday trading, according to CoinMarketCap.
Celsius Network’s repayment options to creditors suggest either accepting “cash at a discount” or remaining long-term crypto holders, but this is yet to be decided as the crypto lender’s bankruptcy case carries on.
Celsius filed for court protection against bankruptcy last week. The crypto lender’s case involves billions of dollars of customers’ assets tied with the platform; however, experts are yet to find a solution as they are puzzled about how cryptocurrencies should be treated under the US bankruptcy code.
According to Bloomberg, Celsius customers will be represented by an official voice from a committee of creditors in the case once the panel is appointed by the office of the US Trustee – an arm of the US Department of Justice that oversees corporate bankruptcy cases.
The crypto lender suggested, via a slide presentation posted on the company’s bankruptcy website, for its part that it may give customers “the option, at the customers’ election, to recover either cash at a discount or remain ‘long’ crypto.”
The company also said on the opening day of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy hearing on July 17 that it promises not to force customers to accept repayment they may be owed in fiat currency.
Patrick Nash, a bankruptcy lawyer for Celsius, said some users could be interested in receiving cash recoveries, but a “substantial majority” will prefer to fight through the crypto winter by remaining “long crypto.”
However, Celsius’ bankruptcy case rides on uncertainty as even veteran US Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn, overseeing the bankruptcy case in Manhattan, is fighting to grapple with several fundamental questions. Glenn must find a way to see how he can crack this puzzle of a case involving a firm that bills itself as a lender but has none of the traditional protections enjoyed by regulated banks.
Adding more to the turmoil, Celsius’s terms of service state that its users’ digital assets are “unsettled” and “not guaranteed” in the event of insolvency, which could mean that users may be treated as unsecured creditors.
According to Bloomberg, “under US law, traditional banks are not allowed to declare bankrupt; instead, they are taken over by regulators and customer deposits are protected. However, bank holding companies that do not hold any deposits will sometimes use Chapter 11 to reorganise themselves and pay off creditors.”
The bankruptcy case is “not a liquidation,” Nash told Glenn. “All is not lost. We intend for this to be a reorganisation.”
Speaking of bankruptcy, Chirs Giancarlo, a senior counsel at law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, commented on the case to CoinDesk, noting that the Celsius “Chapter 11 filing is different.” Bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code allows a company to regroup, not put it out of business. That period of restructuring and reorganization “is exactly what Celsius is attempting to do.”
Giancarlo pointed out that in most cases, “we often think about bankruptcy as the final step in the end of a company or enterprise’s existence.”
The former Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chief also believed the case would be one of those mile markers in the progression of this new asset class, resulting in “the regime that will be followed on a bankruptcy will be more clearly articulated,” as “it will be the first time a federal bankruptcy court will weigh in on a crypto collateral-based bankruptcy.”
During the July 17 hearing, Celsius also received approval from Glenn to spend $3.7 million in construction costs at a new bitcoin mining facility in Texas.
Glenn also approved $1.5 million on customs and duties on imported bitcoin mining rigs for Celsius.
As part of the restructuring process, the bitcoin mining facility is a means for the company to repay debts.
Nash told Glenn that Bitcoin mining could provide a gateway to repay customers whose assets were frozen before the firm’s bankruptcy filing.
“In a world where the crypto market rebounds, the mining business has the potential to be quite valuable,” Nash said.
Prior to bankruptcy
According to a report from Blockchain.News, the crypto lender, suspended all withdrawals and transfers around a month ago, citing unfavourable market situations as the crypto market plunged, cutting off access to savings for individual investors.
Celsius left 1.7 million customers unable to redeem their assets by freezing withdrawals and transfers, prompting state securities regulators in New Jersey, Texas and Washington to investigate the decision.
According to Reuters, Celsius had about 23,000 outstanding loans to retail borrowers as of July 13. It added that the loans totalled $411 million backed by collateral with a market value of $765.5 million in digital assets.
Celsius officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 13 at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. However, a $1.19 billion deficit was listed on the company’s balance sheet the next day.
Celsius had positioned itself in the market by promising more than 18% in interest to peoples’ holdings who deposit their digital coins. In turn, the crypto lender lent those coins out, Bloomberg reported.
However, the crypto lenders’ business model came under scrutiny following a sharp crypto market sell-off spurred by the collapse of major tokens terraUSD and luna in May.
Celsius Network’s repayment options to creditors suggest either accept “cash at a discount” or remain long-term crypto holders, but this is yet to be decided as the crypto lender’s bankruptcy case carries on.
Celsius filed for court protection against bankruptcy last week. The crypto lender’s case involves billions of dollars of customers’ assets tied with the platform; however, experts are yet to find a solution as they are puzzled about how cryptocurrencies should be treated under the US bankruptcy code.
According to Bloomberg, Celsius customers will be represented by an official voice from a committee of creditors in the case once the panel is appointed by the office of the US Trustee – an arm of the US Department of Justice that oversees corporate bankruptcy cases.
The crypto lender suggested, via a slide presentation posted on the company’s bankruptcy website, for its part that it may give customers “the option, at the customers’ election, to recover either cash at a discount or remain ‘long’ crypto.”
The company also said on the opening day of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy hearing on July 17 that it promises not to force customers to accept repayment they may be owed in fiat currency.
Patrick Nash, a bankruptcy lawyer for Celsius, said some users could be interested in receiving cash recoveries, but a “substantial majority” will prefer to fight through the crypto winter by remaining “long crypto.”
However, Celsius’ bankruptcy case rides on uncertainty as even veteran US Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn, overseeing the bankruptcy case in Manhattan, is fighting to grapple with several fundamental questions. Glenn must find a way to see how he can crack this puzzle of a case involving a firm that bills itself as a lender but has none of the traditional protections enjoyed by regulated banks.
Adding more to the turmoil, Celsius’s terms of service state that its users’ digital assets are “unsettled” and “not guaranteed” in the event of insolvency, which could mean that users may be treated as unsecured creditors.
According to Bloomberg, “under US law, traditional banks are not allowed to declare bankrupt; instead, they are taken over by regulators and customer deposits are protected. However, bank holding companies that do not hold any deposits will sometimes use Chapter 11 to reorganise themselves and pay off creditors.”
The bankruptcy case is “not a liquidation,” Nash told Glenn. “All is not lost. We intend for this to be a reorganisation.”
Speaking of bankruptcy, Chirs Giancarlo, a senior counsel at law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, commented on the case to CoinDesk, noting that the Celsius “Chapter 11 filing is different.” Bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code allows a company to regroup, not put it out of business. That period of restructuring and reorganization “is exactly what Celsius is attempting to do.”
Giancarlo pointed out that in most cases, “we often think about bankruptcy as the final step in the end of a company or enterprise’s existence.”
The former Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chief also believed the case would be one of those mile markers in the progression of this new asset class, resulting in “the regime that will be followed on a bankruptcy will be more clearly articulated,” as “it will be the first time a federal bankruptcy court will weigh in on a crypto collateral-based bankruptcy.”
During the July 17 hearing, Celsius also received approval from Glenn to spend $3.7 million in construction costs at a new bitcoin mining facility in Texas.
Glenn also approved $1.5 million on customs and duties on imported bitcoin mining rigs for Celsius.
As part of the restructuring process, the bitcoin mining facility is a means for the company to repay debts.
Nash told Glenn that Bitcoin mining could provide a gateway to repay customers whose assets were frozen before the firm’s bankruptcy filing.
“In a world where the crypto market rebounds, the mining business has the potential to be quite valuable,” Nash said.
Prior to bankruptcy
According to a report from Blockchain.News, the crypto lender, suspended all withdrawals and transfers around a month ago, citing unfavourable market situations as the crypto market plunged, cutting off access to savings for individual investors.
Celsius left 1.7 million customers unable to redeem their assets by freezing withdrawals and transfers, prompting state securities regulators in New Jersey, Texas and Washington to investigate the decision.
According to Reuters, Celsius had about 23,000 outstanding loans to retail borrowers as of July 13. It added that the loans totalled $411 million backed by collateral with a market value of $765.5 million in digital assets.
Celsius officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 13 at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. However, a $1.19 billion deficit was listed on the company’s balance sheet the next day.
Celsius had positioned itself in the market by promising more than 18% in interest to peoples’ holdings who deposit their digital coins. In turn, the crypto lender lent those coins out, Bloomberg reported.
However, the crypto lenders’ business model came under scrutiny following a sharp crypto market sell-off spurred by the collapse of major tokens terraUSD and luna in May.
Celsius Network’s repayment options to creditors suggest either accept “cash at a discount” or remain long-term crypto holders, but this is yet to be decided as the crypto lender’s bankruptcy case carries on.
Celsius filed for court protection against bankruptcy last week. The crypto lender’s case involves billions of dollars of customers’ assets tied with the platform; however, experts are yet to find a solution as they are puzzled about how cryptocurrencies should be treated under the US bankruptcy code.
According to Bloomberg, Celsius customers will be represented by an official voice from a committee of creditors in the case once the panel is appointed by the office of the US Trustee – an arm of the US Department of Justice that oversees corporate bankruptcy cases.
The crypto lender suggested, via a slide presentation posted on the company’s bankruptcy website, for its part that it may give customers “the option, at the customers’ election, to recover either cash at a discount or remain ‘long’ crypto.”
The company also said on the opening day of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy hearing on July 17 that it promises not to force customers to accept repayment they may be owed in fiat currency.
Patrick Nash, a bankruptcy lawyer for Celsius, said some users could be interested in receiving cash recoveries, but a “substantial majority” will prefer to fight through the crypto winter by remaining “long crypto.”
However, Celsius’ bankruptcy case rides on uncertainty as even veteran US Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn, overseeing the bankruptcy case in Manhattan, is fighting to grapple with several fundamental questions. Glenn must find a way to see how he can crack this puzzle of a case involving a firm that bills itself as a lender but has none of the traditional protections enjoyed by regulated banks.
Adding more to the turmoil, Celsius’s terms of service state that its users’ digital assets are “unsettled” and “not guaranteed” in the event of insolvency, which could mean that users may be treated as unsecured creditors.
According to Bloomberg, “under US law, traditional banks are not allowed to declare bankrupt; instead, they are taken over by regulators and customer deposits are protected. However, bank holding companies that do not hold any deposits will sometimes use Chapter 11 to reorganise themselves and pay off creditors.”
The bankruptcy case is “not a liquidation,” Nash told Glenn. “All is not lost. We intend for this to be a reorganisation.”
During the July 17 hearing, Celsius also received approval from Glenn to spend $3.7 million in construction costs at a new bitcoin mining facility in Texas.
Glenn also approved $1.5 million on customs and duties on imported bitcoin mining rigs for Celsius.
As part of the restructuring process, the bitcoin mining facility is a means for the company to repay debts.
Nash told Glenn that Bitcoin mining could provide a gateway to repay customers whose assets were frozen before the firm’s bankruptcy filing.
“In a world where the crypto market rebounds, the mining business has the potential to be quite valuable,” Nash said.
Prior to bankruptcy
According to a report from Blockchain.News, the crypto lender, suspended all withdrawals and transfers around a month ago, citing unfavourable market situations as the crypto market plunged, cutting off access to savings for individual investors.
Celsius left 1.7 million customers unable to redeem their assets by freezing withdrawals and transfers, prompting state securities regulators in New Jersey, Texas and Washington to investigate the decision.
According to Reuters, Celsius had about 23,000 outstanding loans to retail borrowers as of July 13. It added that the loans totalled $411 million backed by collateral with a market value of $765.5 million in digital assets.
Celsius officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 13 at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. However, a $1.19 billion deficit was listed on the company’s balance sheet the next day.
Celsius had positioned itself in the market by promising more than 18% in interest to peoples’ holdings who deposit their digital coins. In turn, the crypto lender lent those coins out, Bloomberg reported.
However, the crypto lenders’ business model came under scrutiny following a sharp crypto market sell-off spurred by the collapse of major tokens terraUSD and luna in May.
More digital assets custody providers have won approval from the Italian financial regulator, the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM), to serve customers in Italy. BitGo is another one.
According to documents from the Italian regulator, as seen on Tuesday, July 19, BitGo has been registered as a cryptocurrency service provider by the regulator, therefore cleared to offer digital wallet services to Italian customers in compliance with Italian laws.
As per the documents, the company’s German branch, BitGo Deutschland GmbH, was registered to provide crypto products in Italy on July 15.
This means that BitGo has met requirements from the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM), which oversees the activities of financial and brokerage firms in Italy and implements anti-money laundering controls.
BitGo is also licensed to offer services in South Dakota, New York, Switzerland, and Germany. The company disclosed that its applications to serve in a couple of other jurisdictions are still pending.
Others Expanding into Italian Market
BitGo’s entrance into the European nation follows a trend of other global cryptocurrency firms gaining approvals to operate in Italy.
On Tuesday, Crypto.com gained regulatory approval in Italy as part of its efforts to continue its expansion to new regions. The approval allowed the firm to provide a suite of products and services to Italian clients, open offices, and expand its national team.
Likewise, Coinbase was granted approval by the Italian regulator to operate as a crypto assets service provider in the country on Monday. The regulatory approval enabled Coinbase to continue providing crypto services in Italy and to bring new products to the market.
Also, the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori registered crypto exchanges such as Binance, Kraken, Bitpanda, and brokerage Trade Republic to operate in the country.
In light of the market’s rapid growth, the financial regulator recently introduced new requirements that mandate all crypto firms to meet the criteria before continuing to offer services in Italy.
For the first time in about a month, the combined crypto market capitalisation climbed back up above the $1 trillion benchmark.
There has been a massive upsurge sweeping through the cryptocurrency ecosystem since the start of the week as retail investors are capitalising on a predominant bullish sentiment in the industry.
The general crypto market cap was pegged at $1,065,628,469,022.754 at the time of writing as fueled by the massive growth in the price of Bitcoin (BTC), and Ethereum (ETH), respectively. While Bitcoin was up over 6% to $23,385, over the past 24 hours, Ethereum has printed as much as $1,561 in price, up over 3% within the same time frame.
Market bulls, particularly those holding onto their bags, will feel somewhat relieved with this trend as it signifies that the digital currency ecosystem can receive a rejuvenation even without any notable fundamental driving the bullish sentiments.
With Bitcoin growing to its highest point in a month after slumping as low as its 18-month performance last month, speculations are now mounting concerning the likelihood of the industry slowing and easing out of the menacing crypto winter.
The Worst Days May Still be Ahead
Without sounding so pessimistic, the current surge in crypto prices is likely a natural bullish correction after the encompassing market slump that stretched several weeks.
Some of the most pivotal events are still ahead, including the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) scheduled for the end of this month. With inflation notably higher than projected, the Feds may be forced to raise interest rates again, likely more than the 75 basis points recorded the last time, all in a bid to curtail the inflation rate.
Should this happen, the stock market is bound to react in a way that might offset this current growth in the digital currency ecosystem. While the gravity cannot yet be forecasted, there is a likelihood that the industry is not yet out of the woods, and while the omen remains good, the crypto winter may be far from being over now.
Meta said that it is partnering with digital fashion startup DressX for Meta’s new Avatar Store.
The partnership with the Los Angeles-based startup will introduce new avatar fashion on the Avatar Store. To Meta, this is the first cooperation with a digital fashion retailer, per online media outlet Forbes. This is also a milestone for DressX as well, as the startup is the “first digital fashion company to provide for Meta’s new avatar fashion marketplace, whose arrival last month,” according to Vogue Business.
“The opportunity of the scale that we can achieve with Meta is great,” said DressX co-founder Daria Shapovalova, adding that “For us, it is a little victory because when we started, there was nothing [for digital fashion]. The goal is to make it easier to wear digital fashion. We want people to wear collections from DressX on Snapchat, Meta, Roblox and more.”
Users can start purchasing DressX outfits from July 19. They can wear them on avatars across Meta platforms, including Messenger, Facebook, Instagram and VR headset Quest.
Meta rolled out its upgraded 3D avatars at the start of this year as part of an ongoing push into the metaverse. In addition, constructing new infrastructures in the Metaverse has become a promising industry business.
Launched in 2020, DressX offers digital-only collections from brands and 3D designers.
The Block reported, citing Crunchbase profile, that the digital fashion startup has raised $3.3 million in funding. It was also the first digital fashion brand to launch a collection on Roblox.
Previously, DressX collaborated with H&M to launch virtual fashion for the fashion brand. It also became a finalist for LVMH’s 2022 Innovation Award.
This partnership comes after Meta, formerly Facebook Inc, announced that it would shut down its Novi cryptocurrency digital wallet on September 1 this year.
The social media giant has already advised users to make withdrawals of their funds as soon as possible and notified them that users wouldn’t be able to add funds to their accounts starting on July 21.
Furthermore, Meta’s Facebook has also reportedly commenced trials for the integration of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its platform, Blockchain.News reported.
As reported by TechCrunch, the users that have been granted exclusive access will be able to add their NFTs on their profiles under a new tab. The report detailed that a ‘digital collectables’ tag will be added on the NFTs just as it is on Instagram.
