The Korean prosecution has simultaneously raided WeMade, the issuer of the cryptocurrency WEMIX, and Hyperism, the asset management company responsible for WEMIX’s market making. This incident comes right after South Korea’s parliament passed the Virtual Asset Protection Act, which aims to crack down on illegal illegal trading practices such as market price manipulation and insider trading.
The raid was conducted at the headquarters of Hyperism, located in Gwanak-gu, Seoul. An official from Hyperism confirmed that the prosecution was conducting a search in relation to WEMIX. The office was tightly sealed, with both the front glass door and the external iron door firmly closed.
The Financial Investigation Department 1 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office initiated the search at WeMade’s headquarters in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do. The investigation also extended to the market makers of WEMIX.
Previously, WEMIX investors had filed a complaint against Hyun-guk Jang, the representative of WeMade, accusing him of fraud and fraudulent unfair trading under the Capital Market Act on May 12.
In 2021, WeMade had invested in Hyperism through its blockchain-specialized subsidiary, WeMade Tree. It was reported that WeMade had invested KRW 5.2 billion from the funds raised from the sale of WEMIX, and subsequently paid 18 million WEMIX to the Hyperism Eco Fund.
DeFi protocols Bunny Finance and Qubit announced plans of “restructuring.” The joint statement revealed that the two projects, governed by the development team until recently, will now be managed by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
Restructuring, Not Disbanding
According to the official blog post, the community will be granted all the relevant authority once the transition to DAO is completed. Among other tasks, the members will have the power to upgrade contracts, alter fee structure, etc.
Bunny Finance also confirmed that the team will not “disband,” and they will continue compensating the victims for the losses. The DeFi yield farming aggregator also notified that they will keep tracking the exploiter.
Changing the protocol to a DAO will also include revision of the Bunny fee structure and stopping the protocol’s vaults from minting BUNNY tokens. Besides, the leveraged farming vaults and single asset vaults operated by borrowing assets from Qubit have already been ceased.
BSC-based DeFi project, Qubit also issued a brief statement, revealing that the team will reduce the number of its employees but clarified that it is not a dissolution. The original members of the MOUND team, composed of developers and entrepreneurs, will continue to develop the compensation project and trace the exploiter.
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The blog post also stated,
“All of the team’s tokens will be locked in the smart contracts owned by our community and the total profit generated by this contract will move to the compensation pool.”
This essentially means that the fees and reserves of the protocol will be allocated to existing holders while all the relevant users will be compensated. Additional profits will not be shared with the team anymore.
The Hack
X-Bridge, the cross-chain bridge of Qubit Finance, was exploited recently, resulting in a loss of $80 million worth of BNB tokens. For the uninitiated, the X-Bridge facilitates swapping tokens from the Ethereum blockchain to Binance Smart Chain, meaning when a user receives a BSC compatible BEP-20 token upon depositing an ERC-20 token to the bridge.
The blockchain security firm CertiK revealed that an error in the X-Bridge’s smart contract code allowed the bad actor(s) to withdraw tokens on BSC despite no tokens being deposited on Ethereum.
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This week, we take a closer look at Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Solana, and Shiba Inu.
Ethereum (ETH)
ETH failed to push above $3,200 this week and fell back on the $3,000 support level yesterday, where the price is now consolidating. Despite this most recent pullback, the cryptocurrency had a stellar performance this week, with a 16% price increase in the past seven days.
The big question is if ETH can hold above $3,000. If it manages to do so, then bulls might be in a position for another shot at the $3,200 resistance in the coming week. If they fail, however, the cryptocurrency could fall to the next support level at $2,800, which would make it lose a critical psychological level ($3,000).
Looking ahead, the indicators remain bullish, which gives reasons to be optimistic. Buyers need to defend the $3,000 level. Otherwise, sellers may take over the price action in the coming week.
Chart by TradingView
Ripple (XRP)
XRP had a major breakout this week, with the price moving above the key resistance at $0.70 and quickly reaching $0.90 after that. Overall, it was a fantastic week for XRP with a 34% price increase.
However, it failed to push above $0.90 and is now found in a correction with support at $0.80. This is not surprising, considering the massive rally that happened not too long ago. If $0.80 fails, then XRP may fall all the way back on the $0.70 level, which is now acting as support (was resistance before the breakout).
The indicators are still bullish for XRP, and this pullback can also be explained by the daily RSI, which briefly entered overbought conditions during the rally and now fell back below 70 points. Once this correction is over, XRP may attempt a new rally to test the critical psychological level at $1.
Chart by TradingView
Cardano (ADA)
ADA also had a good week, but the resistance at $1.2 did not allow it to move higher, and it has been struggling since then. Nevertheless, the cryptocurrency closes the last seven days in green with a nice 9% price increase.
Considering the ongoing correction, ADA may fall back on the key support at $1.1 before any renewed rally can be expected. Even if this happens, the overall price action remains bullish, and after the pullback, ADA may rally once more and try to cross above $1.2.
The indicators remain bullish and seem likely to stay if ADA does not fall under the key support. This should prepare it for a nice rally next week if the bullish momentum resumes. On the other hand, a drop under $1.1 would likely push ADA into a bearish trend.
Chart by TradingView
Solana (SOL)
After a rally to $120, SOL failed to move higher, and since then, the price has been falling towards the key support at $100. It is unlikely for SOL to turn back right now, and a test of the key support appears probable. Despite the current correction, SOL still managed to close the past seven days in green with a 5% price increase.
Volume has been falling as price went higher last week, which was an early signal that SOL did not have the momentum to sustain the rally. The MACD remains bullish on the daily timeframe, but the histogram is showing a loss of momentum with lower highs.
Next week will be crucial for SOL, and buyers have to do their best to defend the $100 level. Any failure there will only embolden sellers to take SOL under $100, which would be a significant defeat.
Chart by TradingView
Shiba Inu (SHIB)
SHIB has been the best performer from our list, with a 50% price increase in the past seven days after a major breakout from the descending channel (in blue on the chart). Now, the price is consolidating above the key support at $0.000029.
If this consolidation continues and the support level holds, then SHIB may chart another leg up, which could take it all the way to $0.000040. The indicators remain bullish for now, and the only concern is the decreasing volume, which may cast some doubts on the strength of this rally.
Looking ahead, SHIB has put an end to the downtrend and started a new surge with a bang. It is unlikely for SHIB to make a lower low considering this latest development. Therefore, the most probable scenario now seems to be a consolidation or continuation of the rally.
Chart by TradingView
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After tapping a new five-week high at nearly $46,000, bitcoin was rejected and driven south vigorously. Most altcoins are deeper in red, with substantial price losses from Ripple, Solana, Polkadot, Shiba Inu, and others. THETA is among the few exceptions with a double-digit surge.
Bitcoin Stopped Ahead of $46,000
Earlier this week, bitcoin spiked to above $45,000 for the first time since early January after previously reclaiming $40,000. However, the bears didn’t allow any further increases, and they pushed it south to below $43,000.
After a few days of relatively stagnant movements, BTC tapped $45,000 once more yesterday before reminding of its volatile nature in the following hours. After the US released its highest inflation rate numbers in 40 years (again) of 7.5%, BTC dumped by nearly $2,000.
Yet, it started to gain value just as fast and spiked by almost $3,000 to just shy of $46,000. This became its new highest price tag since January 5th while also causing pain for leveraged traders.
The bears came out to play once more at this stage, and BTC dumped by another $3,000 to below $43,000 hours later. As of now, the asset has recovered some ground and stands around $43,500, and its market capitalization is well above $800 billion.
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BTCUSD. Source: TradingView
Altcoins Retrace: Market Cap Down $100B
As it typically happens when enhanced volatility reaches BTC, the altcoins experience even more substantial losses.
Ethereum exceeded $3,200 at one point yesterday before a 3% daily decline drove it south. As of now, ETH stands beneath $3,100. Similar decreases are evident from Binance Coin, Cardano, Terra, and Dogecoin.
Ripple (-6.5%), Solana (-6.3%), Polkadot (-5.5%), and Shiba Inu (-5%) are even deeper in red. THETA is among the very few exceptions, as a 15% surge has driven it to $4.2.
Ultimately, though, the cumulative market capitalization of all digital assets dropped by approximately $100 billion in a day and is down beneath $2 trillion now.
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A few weeks after reports emerged suggesting that the world’s largest online video sharing platform will enter the blockchain, metaverse, and NFT world, the company has provided more details.
With 2021 becoming the year of non-fungible tokens, all eyes were on such assets and the metaverse as of the start of 2022.
Countless companies both from inside and outside the cryptocurrency realm continue to hop on board, and Alphabet’s YouTube was the latest to outline such plans, as CryptoPotato reported in late January.
The video-sharing giant wanted to focus on expanding its ecosystem to “help creators capitalize on emerging technologies, including things like NFTs, while continuing to strengthen and enhance the experiences creators and fans have on YouTube.”
In a more recent blog post, the company’s CPO – Neal Mohan – dug deeper, indicating that some forms of NFTs could be actually harmful to creators and fans due to scams or copyright theft.
However, YouTube aims to make them safer:
“Giving a verifiable way for fans to own unique videos, photos, art, and even experiences from their favorite creators could be a compelling prospect for creators and their audience.” – reads the post.
YouTube also wants to allow its users to join the metaverse, with one possible idea circulating that they will be able to watch videos together.
The company will most likely start with videos related to “gaming, where we will work to bring more interactions to games and make them feel more alive.”
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Bitstamp has struck a three-year partnership deal with U.S. professional esports organization Immortals to be the official cryptocurrency exchange of the gaming company.
Bitstamp Collaborates With Immortals
Immortals announced the news of the collaboration via a press release on Wednesday (February 9, 2022). According to the statement, the deal will also make Bitstamp a founding member of the esports organization.
The partnership aims to educate the Immortals community about the crypto industry while also creating incentives for fans. This is Bitstamp’s second collaboration with an esports brand, the first being with the London-based Guild Esports, in a sponsorship deal worth £4.5 million ($6 million).
Meanwhile, Bitstamp and Immortals will be jointly involved in various initiatives. One of them, called Team Bitstamp, involves content creators who would act as the exchange’s brand ambassadors. The team will provide fans with content, exclusive crypto giveaways, and interactive livestreams.
Immortals Invasion is an initiative formed in celebration of the upcoming League of Legends World Championships in North America later in 2022. There will be vlogs, in-person gaming activations, and more engagements launched by Immortals and the Immortals Progressive League of Championship Series (LCS) team to celebrate the League of Legends community.
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The final initiative, Immortals LCS Trigger Program, will see Bitstamp offer cryptocurrency giveaways. Each time Immortals draw the “first blood” in any LSC game, fans get a chance to be rewarded with digital assets.
Growing Link Between Crypto and Esports
Commenting on the collaboration was the CEO of Bitstamp USA, Bobby Zagotta, who said:
“Our partnership with Immortals is an extension of our mission to empower our customers by creating a more authentic experience between crypto and gaming. The esports community is diverse, passionate, and highly-attuned to the digital evolution. It is among the first to explore the integration of digital assets within their industry.”
Furthermore, the partnership between Immortals and Bitstamp will explore future non-fungible token (NFT) activations and cryptocurrency integrations.
According to a statement from the Immortals’ CEO Jordan Sherman:
“This partnership will further enhance the Immortals fan experience with real, tangible benefits that connect the crypto and gaming worlds.”
More cryptocurrency companies continue to capitalize on the esports industry to foster mass crypto adoption, leading to several partnerships between both industries. In September 2021, Crypto.com signed a five-year partnership deal with U.K.-based esports organization Fnatic, worth over $15 million, to become the brand’s global cryptocurrency partner.
Later in November, the digital asset exchange also became the official global cryptocurrency partner of esports tournament series Twitch Rivals, operated by live-streaming platform, Twitch. Blockchain project Tezos entered a three-year partnership deal with French esports brand Team Vitality to revolutionize fan engagement.
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The world’s largest issuer of crypto ETP’s 21Shares announced two new ETPs – tracking the performance of Decentraland and FTT. Both products will go live on the Swiss exchange – BX Swiss.
The exchange-traded products (ETPs) will allow traders and institutions to get exposure to the two assets without owning them outright. 21Shares Decentraland ETP (Mana) and 21Shares FTX Token ETP (AFTT) will be listed on BX Swiss, a Swiss stock exchange.
Decentraland (MANA) is a native token of the metaverse game by the same name. FTT, on the other hand, is the native cryptocurrency of the FTX exchange.
CEO and co-founder Hany Rashwan called the move a key milestone for the company as it aims to continue expanding its services.
Most recently, the firm launched ETPs tracking Aave, Chainlink, and Uniswap on the same Swiss exchange.
“Adding the worlds’ first NFT and single Metaverse ETP and one of the world’s leading crypto exchanges to our product suite is a key milestone for us in making crypto accessible for everyone.” – Rashwan explained.
Decentraland is one of the largest metaverse gaming projects so far. Its token (MANA) allows users to access in-game features, including buying land. So far, some $180 million worth of digital land was sold in-game.
FTX is one of the largest crypto exchanges that signed numerous impressive partnerships in the past year or so. Its FTT token enables clients to stake it and get trading fee discounts as well as participate in governance.
21Shares is a pioneer in the crypto ETP space. In 2018, it released the first crypto index listing on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Currently, it manages around $2 billion in digital asset ETPs.
The firm offers a Crypto Basket Index ETP with the ticker HODL, which tracks the top 5 digital assets by the projected 2050 market cap.
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Fitch cited policy unpredictability stemming out of the increased concentration of power in the presidency, weakening institutions, and the legalization and adoption of Bitcoin as the reason for lowering the rank.
Reasons Behind The Move
As per the official post, “heightened” financing risks arising from growing dependency on short-term debt reflects Fitch’s move of downgrading El Salvador.
It also pointed out the limited scope of the country’s domestic market financing as well as uncertain access to additional multilateral funding and external market financing considering high borrowing costs. Increased concerns with respect to debt sustainability due to the expected increase in GDP next year after modest improvement in 2021 is yet another factor.
It stated,
“In Fitch’s view, weakening of institutions and concentration of power in the presidency has increased policy unpredictability, and the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender has added uncertainty about the potential for an IMF program that would unlock financing for 2022-2023.”
Fitch stated that El Salvador continues to face growing risks caused by high and increasing financing needs in 2022-2023. It further estimated that the Central American country’s total financing needs would total to a whopping $4.85 billion in 2022, meaning a 16% increase in GDP.
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Another 18% rise in GDP to $5.4 billion is also expected. In terms of financing options in the local market, the rating firm noted that the domestic private pension funds and banks have a restricted appetite for growing their exposure to such instruments.
It also observed “uncertainty” around external financing options, including multilateral funding, as well as doubts over an IMF program, in addition to El Salvador’s capacity to issue “bitcoin-backed bonds.”
El Salvador’s Ambitious Bitcoin Bond Issuance Plans
Earlier this week, El Salvador’s finance minister Alejandro Zelaya announced plans to issue Bitcoin Bonds between March 15 and 20. During the interview with the local news outlet, Zelaya also confirmed that the government will issue $1 billion for the first bond.
Besides, cryptocurrency peer-to-peer platform, Paxful earlier launched a Bitcoin education center in the country. The main objective behind the creation of the new center, dubbed ‘La Casa Del Bitcoin,’ is to foster awareness around the benefits of buying and selling BTC as a means of exchange for the El Salvadoreans.
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Leading Israeli bank, Hapoalim Bank, has recently filed a letter of defense to dismiss the claims of the 69-year-old pensioner, Esther Freeman, to allow the deposit of $320k profit she made from a $3,000 Bitcoin investment nearly nine years ago.
According to a Thursday report by a local media outlet, the bank claims that its insistence on denying the deposit was because of cases where digital currencies are used to facilitate money laundering and terrorist financing.
Hapoalim Bank Rejects $320k Deposit from Crypto Profits
Earlier in November 2021, Freeman filed a lawsuit against the bank, demanding the entity to declare that the source of money invested in Bitcoin is “known, clear, and supported by references.”
In a statement, the bank noted that it was impossible to trace the money path in connection with Freeman’s crypto purchase in 2013. It added that it has not been able to make a connection as to when she moved the funds from her account towards the purchase of the bitcoins.
“Only in cases where the funds used to purchase the virtual currency and the proceeds went out and returned from the same account can the receipt of the funds be confirmed – then the plaintiff did not meet this condition,” the bank said.
Hapoalim also pointed out that there is no substantial evidence of the BTC purchase since Freeman did not buy the cryptocurrency from a registered exchange but from a private individual in cash.
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Failure to Provide References
“The plaintiff failed to present actual references to the purchase price of the virtual currency.” – reads the new report.
Additionally, the bank noted that at the time of purchase, the Israeli financial regulator, the Bank of Israel, had mandated banking organizations not to accept deposits of funds from crypto transactions.
For the aforementioned reasons, Hapoalim Bank argued that it should not be forced to accept the deposit of funds obtained from cryptocurrency transactions, considering the financial risks associated with them.
In response, Freeman’s attorney said, “It is very unfortunate to find out that Bank Hapoalim has decided to wage a bitter war on its longtime customer, a pensioner, whose only desire is to receive in her bank account money that belongs to her and originates from digital coins she bought many years ago.”
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New York City elected bitcoin enthusiast Eric Adam as its Mayor in November last year. And, he famously received his first paycheck in BTC. But that doesn’t settle the debate if New York is indeed a bitcoin-friendly state.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman urged on Wednesday Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams to remove barriers in the way of New York becoming a crypto center of innovation.
Bill Ackman’s tweet came as a reply to a complaint suggesting that the person was not able to open an account with a crypto exchange for being a New York resident. Then, he threatened he might move to Connecticut for this reason.
@NYCMayor @GovKathyHochul lets fix this right away. We can’t lose any more New Yorkers. NY is on its way to becoming a crypto center of innovation. Let’s remove barriers, create opportunities for growth and innovation, and help our state and city! https://t.co/H9tsG4OO9W
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) February 9, 2022
Founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, Ackman was recently in the news for taking a stake in streaming giant Netflix worth $1.1 billion.
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Buzz of Making New York a Bitcoin Hub
In recent months, particularly after the election of Adams as the Mayor of NYC, there has been renewed optimism that the Big Apple may emerge as a digital asset hub. Cryptocurrency data platform Chainalysis leased new office space in Manhattan, planning to “tap into the city’s deep talent pool for our next phase of growth.”
“The new mayor’s support for the industry strengthens my conviction that New York is the best place for Chainalysis’s headquarters,” Reuters quoted Michael Gronager, chief executive and co-founder of Chainalysis, in a report.
During his campaign, Adams talked about introducing a digital wallet for public funds after he became the NYC mayor. “NYC is going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry…Just wait!” he said in November.
Climate Agenda Clashing With Crypto Mining
But the cheerful notes of making New York the center of the cryptocurrency industry don’t seem to have a strong backing of the policymakers. In particular, the mining industry doesn’t enjoy the blessings of Governor Hochul or NYC Mayor Adams.
“I support cryptocurrency, not crypto mining,” Adams said at a joint session of state legislators in Albany early this month. However, green activists were not satisfied and criticized the mayor “for not taking a more forceful stand.”
Governor Hochul is also under pressure from environmentalists who wish she takes a more stringent stance against mining.
“We are hopeful that the Governor’s encouraging words on climate will be backed up by strong action, starting with a rejection of the Greenidge fracked gas power plant currently powering a bitcoin mining operation in the Finger Lakes and a commitment to stop the ludicrous practice of firing up dirty, retired power plants to mine cryptocurrency,” said a note in Food & Water Watch.
Featured Image Courtesy of CNBC
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