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Enthusiasm to Sell in the Crypto Market Subsided amid Prices Stabilize

by Blockchain NewsAugust 16, 2022

The urge to sell in the cryptocurrency market has dwindled based on the surge of leading coins, according to on-chain insight provider Santiment.

Santiment stated:

“Crypto traders’ enthusiasm to sell has quickly subsided, especially as Bitcoin jumped back over $25k and Ethereum over $2k this weekend. Ideally, bulls will actually want FUD to stay high, as prices historically flourish when there is doubt.”

Source: Santiment

This is a bullish sign because once selling pressure shrinks, the demand to buy kicks in and this triggers an upward push.

Despite retracing to the $24K and $1,880 levels, Bitcoin and Ethereum were up by 0.74% and 5.88%, respectively, during intraday trading, according to CoinMarketCap.

Meanwhile, a hodling culture continues to play out in the BTC market, given that the balance on crypto exchanges hit a 4-year low. Market insight provider Glassnode stated:

“Bitcoin balance on exchanges just reached a 4-year low of 2,366,543.394 BTC Previous 4-year low of 2,368,067.658 BTC was observed on 15 August 2022.”

Source: Glassnode

This correlates with the fact that the amount of BTC hodled or lost hit a 21-month high, Glassnode added.

Source: Glassnode

Coins leaving exchanges illustrate a hodling trend because coins are transferred to cold storage and digital wallets for future purposes other than speculating and selling. Therefore, it is another bullish signal.

Meanwhile, the leading cryptocurrency has held the 200-week moving average (WMA) as support for three consecutive weeks. Crypto analyst Rekt Capital explained:

“Notice how the BTC $23400 level (blue) is approximately confluent support with the orange 200-week MA A dip into ~$23400 would constitute another retest of the 200-week MA. The 200-week MA has been held as support for three consecutive weeks thus far.”

Source:TradingView/RektCapital

The 200 WMA is a long-term indicator that shows whether a market is bullish or bearish.

On the other hand, Bitcoin’s open interest has been experiencing an uptick, Blockchain.News reported.

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Tagged : #BTC / Analysis / Crypto / Cryptocurrency / Investment / Market / PRICE ACTION

Brazil’s Digital Banking Platform Nu Holdings Adds 5.7m new customers in Q2

by Blockchain NewsAugust 16, 2022

Fintech unicorn Nu Holdings has added 5.7 million new customers in the second quarter of 2022.

The Brazilian digital banking platform now has 65.3 million people and businesses using its services.

Nu has achieved a growth in customers by 57% year-over-year in the second quarter – an upward trend from about 41.7 million in June 2021 – the company disclosed in a second-quarter earnings release ahead of a conference call on Monday.

“We had another very strong quarter, with growth and profitability in our core business. We registered record revenues and are making huge strides towards becoming a multi-product and multi-country platform,” David Vélez, founder and CEO, said.

According to its published financial report, the latest growth mainly comes from its core products, including credit cards and personal loans – which reached 29 million and 4 million active customers, respectively, pushing the company as the fifth largest financial institution in Brazil in terms of numbers of customers.

The growth also contributed to the company earning a new record high of $1,2 billion in Q2, increasing 230% YoY, according to the statement.

In July, when the digital banking company entered the crypto market by launching the Nucripto platform, it added 1 million users within three weeks of its launch.

According to a late July report from Blockchain.News, the firm had projected to reach the milestone within a year after launching Nucripto in May and making it available to the crypto trading service to 46.5 million users in June.

On May 11, 2022, Nubank launched an initial rollout of Nucripto, which allows cryptocurrency trading starting from R$1 (US$0.19). The firm aims to democratize crypto in Brazil and in the rest of Latin America, the report added.

Nucripto was introduced to eliminate the complexity of the crypto market and to make it accessible to anyone who wants to be part of it, according to Nubank.

The Nucripto platform allows users to sell and buy Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) through a crypto-trading and custody service powered by Paxos’ blockchain infrastructure.

In May, Nubank allocated roughly 1% of the cash on its balance sheet to Bitcoin to demonstrate its belief in crypto.

Nu said that 52.3 million or 80% of its total customers are active. According to the company, the total consists of about 63.3 million consumers and 2 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Currently, Nu’s biggest market is Brazil, and its customers grew 51% year-over-year in the second quarter to 62.3 million.

Besides Brazil, the company aims to expand into neighbouring Mexico and Colombia, with around 2.7 million and 314,000 customers, respectively. The company said in the earnings report that it has added almost 700,000 customers in those countries during the quarter.

“Our largest operation -Brazil- is now profitable, having registered a net profit of US$ 13 million in the first half of 2022, driven by customer growth to 65 million and the ability to offer and cross-sell new products. Moving internationally, we are now the #1 issuer of new credit cards in both Mexico and Colombia –where we have just received a license approval to continue our expansion,” Vélez said.

The Block reported that the banking company’s revenues jumped 230% in the second quarter to $1.2 billion on a foreign exchange-neutral basis.

In terms of net loss, the company witnessed $29.9 million growth in the second quarter. While it had seen $15.2 million in the same three months of 2021.

The company stated that this net loss result was due to “higher share-based compensation and related tax effects in the quarter.”

However, the company’s core products reached 29 million, 45 million and 4 million active customers, respectively, in quarter two of 2022. Nu’s core products include credit cards, NuConta and personal loans.

While the company’s gross profit totalled $363.5 million in quarter two, increasing 109% year-on-year FX neutral basis (FXN). The gross profit margin was 31% in quarter two.

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Tagged : Bitcoin / Blockchain / Brazil / Crypto / Enterprise / NUHOLDINGS

Crypto Exchange Zipmex Granted 3-Month Protection from Singapore Court against Creditors

by Blockchain NewsAugust 16, 2022

Zipmex, Asia’s leading digital asset exchange, said it has won creditor protection from the Singapore High Court for more than three months, gaining time to address liquidity issues.

ZipmexX suspended cryptocurrency withdrawals on July 21, citing the possibility that the exchange’s assets could be swallowed up by the financial crisis facing Celsius Network and cryptocurrency lender Babel Finance.

Some cryptocurrencies such as Solana (SOL), Ripple’s XRP, and Cardano’s ADA have since resumed withdrawals from Zipmex’s trading wallets. But mainstream coins, including Bitcoin and Ether, are still locked.

The company filed five moratorium applications on July 27, seeking creditor protection for six months, giving it time to restructure its debt.

According to Bloomberg, the Singapore High Court has ordered five Zipmex companies to each have a debt moratorium until Dec. 2, during which the company will be immune from the risk of a creditor lawsuit.

The court’s latest legal action allows them a three-month extension to stop their creditors from starting or continuing any legal proceedings.

The judge believed that the company needed to negotiate with the creditor committee and hold a meeting of creditors.

Lenders are currently conducting due diligence during the exploratory period while court proceedings are taking place in the background.

Zipmex, which operates in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Australia, has been in court for six months of bankruptcy protection to explore its restructuring options.

The Thailand-based cryptocurrency exchange is not the first cryptocurrency company to suspend trading in Singapore.

In August, the Singapore High Court granted troubled cryptocurrency lender Vauld a three-month extension as it continues to explore how to repay its creditors.

Vault has been applying to the court for a six-month moratorium to prepare for the company’s restructuring and possible acquisition by Nexo.

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Tagged : Bitcoin / Blockchain / Legal / Singapore / Vauld / Zipmex

Digital Asset Venture Dragonfly Acquires Crypto Fund MetaStable Capital for Rebranding

by Blockchain NewsAugust 16, 2022

Digital asset venture capital firm Dragonfly has acquired cryptocurrency investment fund MetaStable Capital, according to Bloomberg.

MetaStable Capital is a long-term value investing crypto asset hedge fund with over $400 million in assets under management as of July 31.

This company has invested in Ethereum, Avalanche, Cosmos, Starkware, NEAR and Algorand.

The exact amount of the acquisition was not disclosed to the official. Dragonfly added that the acquisition was rebranding, renaming it MetaStable, dropping “Capital”, and using a new logo.

Qureshi, a former partner at MetaStable, said that:

“The bear market has caused a lot of traditional funds and crossover funds to exit the crypto market. We’re the opposite: we’re going deeper, and committing to our crypto-native roots.”

By 2022, $17 billion in VC cryptocurrencies and +1k deals have flowed into the crypto market. This year has the highest median deal size, with the highest funding raised at $4.5 million.

Qureshi explained that DragonFly Capital has grown much from its previous size and believes that traditional VCs will eventually return.

Recently, DragonFly Capital launched a $650 million venture capital fund to continue investing in the broader digital currency ecosystem.

In early August, Dragonfly Capital completed a $3.5 million seed round of funding for the encrypted credit protocol Debt DAO.

In May, Dragonfly Capital closed its third venture capital fund with an oversubscribed $650 million. The investment firm lists DeFi, DAOs, NFTs, and scaling smart contracts as its main focus areas.

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Tagged : Bitcoin / Blockchain / Dragonfly / Enterprise / METASTABLE CAPITAL

Crypto Weekly Outflows Reached $17m, Ending Six Consecutive Weeks Inflow: CoinShares

by Blockchain NewsAugust 16, 2022

Outflows from crypto investment products reached $17 million in the week ended Aug. 12, according to digital asset management firm Coinshares, ending a six-week run of inflows for the cryptocurrency industry.

Bitcoin (BTC) accounted for the lion’s share of these outflows with $21 million, driving a 2-week streak of outflows throughout August. However, falling Bitcoin short positions flowed into $2.6 million.

ProShares, Purpose, 3iQ Digital Asset Management and CI Investments crypto investment providers all saw corresponding outflows.

Source: CoinShares

Per the statistics from Coinshares show that capital outflows are distributed across regions. Canadian outflows totalled $26 million, $10 million outflows from the U.S., accounting for the majority of outflows, and inflows to European exchanges totalled $20 million.

The corresponding outflows from other regions are not particularly large. The most notable were Australia, Brazil, and Switzerland, with outflows of $800,000, $1 million, and $600,000, respectively.

According to a report by James Butterfill, an investment strategist at CoinShares:

“It is difficult to discern if this is a meaningful change in sentiment given its small size, although minor outflows were seen across a broad set of providers. It also comes at a time of low trading volume and a recovery in prices, suggesting there could be an element of minor profit-taking.”

Last week, blockchain-related equities saw an inflow of $8 million, indicating an improvement in market sentiment.

Bitcoin rose 1.47% over the past seven days and regained $25,000 on Sunday, according to CoinMarketCap. During the same period, Ethereum rose 7.38% over the week to $1,905.

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Tagged : Analysis / Bitcoin / Blockchain / Coinshares / Crypto

Crypto Exchange Coinify Gets Regulatory Approval to Operate in Italy

by Blockchain NewsAugust 16, 2022

Denmark-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinify has announced that it has received regulatory approval to operate in Italy.

Coinify said its registration application was approved by the Italian Financial Supervisory Authority (OAM) on August 12.

Crypto trading and payment services are now available to Italian users and institutional investors under the supervision of the financial regulator, the company said in a statement.

The online platform has provided virtual currency trading services in over 180 countries.

In February, the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) issued a new decree requiring cryptocurrency and digital wallet service providers operating or intending to operate in Italy to register with the financial regulator Organic Intermediaries (OAM)- a special part of the registration.

The exchange follows in the footsteps of other crypto companies that are expanding their operations and registering with the Italian financial regulator OAM.

So far, several major exchanges have registered with OAM, including BitGo, Binance, Coinbase in the US, Crypto.com in Singapore, and Luxembourg-based cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp.

Italy has also taken a more welcoming approach to crypto companies as the crypto industry emerges from its recent slump.

In 2021, American cryptocurrency trading platform Voyager Digital announced the acquisition of Coinify on August 2.

Yet, Voyager Digital suspended withdrawals on its platform on July 4 due to the market downturn. The company said at the time that the move would give it time to explore possible options to deal with the difficulties posed by the current bear market.

Soon after, the struggling company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to preserve its assets and maximize customer value.

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Tagged : Bitcoin / Blockchain / Coinify / Exchanges / Italy

Galaxy Digital Terminates BitGo Acquisition, But Still Eyes Listing on Nasdaq

by Blockchain NewsAugust 16, 2022

Galaxy Digital, one of the leading crypto financial services providers, has announced its plans to terminate the proposed acquisition of crypto infrastructure service provider, BitGo.

The deal is billed to be completed in the first quarter of this year, as reported earlier by Blockchain.News, but Galaxy Digital said it had to terminate the acquisition as BitGo did not fulfil some of the terms of the acquisition.

According to Galaxy Digital, BitGo has refused to deliver its audited financial statements for 2021 that comply with the requirements of our agreement. Per the announcement, this financial statement was due by the end of July this year. The company said would be no termination fee associated with the broken partnership and acquisition.

“Galaxy remains positioned for success and to take advantage of strategic opportunities to grow in a sustainable manner. We are committed to continuing our process to list in the U.S. and providing our clients with a prime solution that truly makes Galaxy a one-stop shop for institutions,” said Mike Novogratz, CEO and Founder of Galaxy.

While it revealed the deal’s termination, Galaxy Digital said it still plans to go public in the United States and eventually trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. The proposed listing was pushed to this year. Despite the onslaught in the digital currency ecosystem, the firm said the loss is now dependent on the completion of the SEC’s review and subject to stock exchange approval of such listing.

BitGo came off as a very well coveted startup for prominent players in the digital currency ecosystem at a time. Prior to the time when Galaxy Digital submitted its bid for the company, there were reports that Paypal also had its eye on the firm, as it was making its way into the digital currency ecosystem with new product suites back in 2020.

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Tagged : Acquisition / Bitgo / Enterprise / Galaxy Digital / Listing

Tornado Cash Community Fund Signatories Relinquish their Positions

by Blockchain NewsAugust 16, 2022

The sanctions on the cryptocurrency mixing protocol, Tornado Cash, by the US Treasury Department are causing more internal wranglings for the platform than projected.

In the latest update, the signatories to the protocol’s community funds have relinquished their role, automatically ceding control of the funds to the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO).

Tornado Cash had a robust and functioning ecosystem before the US regulator’s crackdown. As revealed, the mixer recorded a transaction of about $7 billion through its life cycle, and in 2021, it established a community fund to reward contributors to the protocol.

With the sanctions, the community-elected signatories to this fund decided to part ways with Tornado Cash in a bid not to incur the wrath of the US regulators. As shown by the history on Gnosis Safe, two of the five signatories removed themselves on August 12, one left the DAO on August 13, and the last two signatories dropped the pen on August 14.

With their exit, the community fund is now totally under the control of the protocol’s DAO. Association with Tornado Cash may not bode well for anyone at this time as the fine ranges from $10 million to as much as a jail term of 30 years.

The core developer behind the Tornado Cash protocol, Alexey Pertsev, was arrested by Dutch Authorities a few days ago, showcasing the risk posed to anyone with connections to sanctioned crypto mixer.

In reaction to the news of the exodus by the community elected signatories to the fund, some are optimistic that the departure will grant more powers to the holders of the Tornado Cash native token.

Even though the Treasury Department sanctioned Blender.io prior to Tornado Cash, the impact of the sanctions on the latter is more resounding, given its close-knit nature with key stakeholders in the broader crypto ecosystem.

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Tagged : BLENDER.IO / COMMUNITY FUNDS / News / Sanctions / Tornado.Cash / Us Treasury

Celsius Network Coin Report Shows Latetst Net Liabilities Over $2.8 Billion

by Blockchain NewsAugust 16, 2022

Embattled crypto lending platform Celsius Network may be in bigger trouble as its coin report shows that the deficit in its balance sheet is much more than the previously reported $1.2 billion reported.

The coin report showed that the crypto lender has a net liability of $6.6 billion and total assets under management at $3.8 billion.

This figure contrasts massively when compared to the asset base of $4.3 billion in assets and $5.5 billion in liabilities it reported in its bankruptcy filing. While the bankruptcy filing showed a $1.2 billion deficit, the deficit in the coin report was pegged at $2.85 billion.

Simon Dixon, one of the well-followed Angel Investors in the Web3.0 ecosystem, took to Twitter to announce the discrepancies, noting that he was not taken seriously when he revealed earlier that Celsius Network was padding its numbers.

Per the document shared by Dixon, of the 100,669 BTC deposited into Celsius’s vaults, the lender said it lost as much as 62,853 BTC and has only 37,926 BTC left. The loss represents about 64% of the platform’s total Bitcoin debts.

Celsius Network has long declared bankruptcy after it halted withdrawals on its platform, the first protocol to make a move as far back as June. While it has no direct link or exposure to Terraform Labs, the collapse of the blockchain startup caused the domino effect in liquidity that later impacted the lender.

The situation of Celsius Network has caused a divergence of thoughts in the digital currency ecosystem, with many sympathetic to the beleaguered company for its woes.

With the company’s reported liabilities looking larger than normal, it may further scare prospective investors like Ripple Labs, trailing the likes of FTX that refused to come to the firm’s aid when it saw the depth of the hole on its balance sheet.

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Tagged : Bankruptcy / Bitcoin / Celsius / News

Binance Snaps Up the In-principle Approval to Trade in Kazakhstan

by Blockchain NewsAugust 16, 2022

Binance has received the authorization to trade in Kazakhstan after snapping up the In-Principle Approval from the Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA).

The announcement comes off as yet a huge milestone for the exchange, which is tagged as the biggest in the world by trading volume. The approval will enable it to operate a Digital Asset Trading Facility and Provide Custody in the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC).

The approval comes off as the first such granted to a Binance entity in the region.

“Kazakhstan has shown itself to be a pioneer in Central Asia crypto adoption and regulation,” said Changpeng Zhao (CZ), founder and CEO of Binance. “This further signifies Binance’s commitment to being a compliance-first exchange and providing products and services in a safe and well-regulated environment across the globe.”

Binance is determined to turn the tables after being pressed hard by regulators for not following the right channels prior to plying its trades on their shores. The latest regulator to spank Binance was the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the country’s biggest monetary authority, while a Filipino think tank also called on the government to ban the exchange from operating in the country.

Binance has recently made many advances with the licenses it has secured. From Spain to Bahrain, to France and Italy, the trading platform expanded its footprint across Europe and Asia.

The push in Kazakhstan was trailed by the exchange’s CEO signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kazakhstani government as it looks to help pioneer the nation’s digital transformation agenda through blockchain technology.

The positive outlook in Kazakhstan is contagious, and the country said it would continue to make its shores a haven for investors looking for a home.

“Large investors seeking new markets need clear-cut and well-managed rules and high regulatory practice standards. When a regulator meets these requirements, it creates collaboration based on trust and an ecosystem where players can work safely and efficiently. We believe that Binance’s work will further develop this vibrant ecosystem of digital assets industry locally and regionally,” said Nurkhat Kushimov, Chief Executive Officer of AFSA.

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Tagged : AFSA / AIFC / Binance / Exchanges / Kazakhstan