Tag: Trading

THORChain Pauses Network Amid Reports of Vulnerability

by Blockchain News

THORChain is a decentralized cross-chain liquidity protocol that enables users to swap assets between different blockchain networks without needing centralized exchanges. The platform, founded in 2018, currently offers swaps between eight different chains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.

On March 28, THORChain announced that it had temporarily paused all trading due to reports of a potential vulnerability with a THORChain dependency that could impact the network. The decision was made as a precautionary measure while the reports were verified, according to THORChain. Social media reports had indicated that THORChain’s liquidity platform, Nine Realms, and its dedicated security team, THORSec, had received “credible reports” of a possible vulnerability affecting THORChain. As a result, the THORChain network was halted globally.

“Network preemptively paused by NO’s to investigate the report; updates will follow,” Nine Realms tweeted.

THORChain’s native token, Rune (RUNE), has dropped about 5% in value following the news, according to CoinGecko data. As of this writing, the token is trading at $1.32, down 18% over the past 30 days.

This is not the first time that THORChain has had to pause its network due to issues. In October 2022, the network was paused due to a software bug that caused “non-determinism between individual nodes.” After 20 hours of maintenance, the network was fully functional once again.

In 2021, THORChain also had to halt its network after suffering a breach, resulting in hackers stealing $7.6 million worth of cryptocurrency assets.

After about eight hours of the initial announcement, THORChain updated its Twitter account, stating that the vulnerability was credible but would require a malicious node in the last churn, which is when new nodes are added to the network. THORChain has resumed trading as no nodes can exploit the current vulnerability, according to the update.

In conclusion, THORChain’s temporary network pause due to a potential vulnerability serves as a reminder of the risks associated with decentralized protocols. While such protocols offer many benefits, they can also be susceptible to security vulnerabilities and breaches. THORChain’s quick response and resolution to the situation demonstrate the importance of having a dedicated security team and protocol in place to handle potential issues swiftly and efficiently.

Source

Tagged : / / / / /

Binance NFT Adds Polygon Network Support for Marketplace Trading

by Blockchain News

Binance NFT, the non-fungible token (NFT) arm of the popular cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has announced the inclusion of the Polygon network as one of the supported blockchains in its marketplace. The move is part of Binance’s efforts to expand the NFT ecosystem within its community and allow users to trade NFTs on various blockchains like Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, and now Polygon, using their Binance accounts.

However, Binance is still maintaining a strict approach to its NFT listings, as not all NFT collections are currently available on the platform. Binance NFT clarified that only selected ERC-721 NFT Collections on the Polygon network are available on the marketplace at the moment, and more NFT collections will be integrated regularly.

In January, Binance NFT tightened its rules on NFT listings, delisting NFTs with daily trading volume lower than $1,000 and limiting the number of NFTs that artists can mint per day. The exchange also periodically reviews NFT listings and recommends those that do not meet its standards for delisting.

Apart from its efforts to expand its NFT marketplace, Binance is also exploring the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the Web3 space. On March 2, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announced the launch of “Bicasso,” an AI-powered NFT generator that minted 10,000 NFTs in just 2.5 hours. The move highlights Binance’s interest in exploring the potential of AI in the NFT space.

Overall, the inclusion of the Polygon network in Binance NFT’s supported blockchains is a significant step towards expanding the NFT ecosystem within the Binance community. However, the platform’s strict approach to NFT listings shows its commitment to maintaining high standards of quality and ensuring that only the best NFT collections are available to its users. With its foray into AI-powered NFTs, Binance is also showcasing its willingness to explore new technologies and push the boundaries of what is possible in the Web3 space.

Source

Tagged : / / / / /

Binance Australia Derivatives Closes Accounts After False Classification

by Blockchain News

On February 23, the company Binance Australia Derivatives sent an unexpected notice to a subset of its customers, informing them that the company would be immediately canceling their accounts because of an error in which certain users were incorrectly categorized as “wholesale clients.” The error occurred as a result of the company incorrectly classifying certain users as “wholesale clients.” This issue transpired as a result of some users being wrongly classified as “wholesale customers.” The problem occurred because the company was mistakingly referring to certain users as “wholesale clients,” which was caused by a misunderstanding.

This incident caused a flurry of responses from users on social media, and the next day, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) announced that it would be conducting a “targeted review” of Binance’s local derivatives operations in response to the public outcry that it had generated. This review was in direct response to the public outcry that this incident had generated. This evaluation was an immediate reaction to the backlash that had been caused by this episode in the public’s eye. This assessment was an instant response to the backlash that had been produced by this incident in the eyes of the public.

The “categorization of retail customers and wholesale clients” of Binance Australia Derivatives will be one of the topics that will be examined as part of the assessment that will take place on the 24th of February, according to a statement that was released by a representative for the regulator. This will be one of the topics that will be examined as part of the evaluation that will take place. On February 24th, as part of the evaluation that will take place on that day, this will be one of the subjects that will be reviewed and discussed in depth. The evaluation will be carried out on February 15, which is the day after Valentine’s Day in the Gregorian calendar.

Source

Tagged : / / / / / /

Father of two facing the dire prospect of losing his family forever

by Blockchain News

After surreptitiously accumulating up $180,000 in debt as a result of his crypto trading activities, a man who admits to being addicted to cryptocurrency trading and who is also a father of two faces the terrifying potential of losing his family for ever.

Reddit user “u/Leather Opposite2135” posted his account on the forum r/relationship advice on February 21. In the post, the user indicated that he began experimenting with trading cryptocurrencies around the year 2021.

Fast forward another two years, and we find him living on the street now, having been booted out of the house by his wife and owing at least $180,000 in debt.

“At first, it was nothing more than a hobby,” said Leather. Since it deals with technology, I thought that aspect of it to be rather fascinating. Joined a number of online communities, including Discord, and after some time, saw a few individuals engaging in bitcoin trading. Afterward, I was instantly hooked.

After just one year, he had already “burned” a total of $50,000 by trading cryptocurrencies, with the majority of the monies lost coming from his software company.

“Fast ahead another year, and it got very awful,” said Leather, adding that his addiction had begun to take root as he began to support his trading via other methods, such as personal loans and credit cards. “Skip forward another year and it became really bad,” added Leather.

“I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but I found all kinds of methods to finance it, including acquiring personal loans, credit cards, and lying about all of it,” the speaker says. “I’m sure you’ve heard it before.”

“I gambled on my phone when I went to the restroom, while the kids were asleep, and on my computer when I wasn’t busy working,” the gambler said. “When I wasn’t busy working, I was gambling on my phone.”

Leather said that around three weeks ago he finally told his wife the truth about the debt they owed. His wife did not react well to the news and threatened to divorce him and seize control of the home they shared together.

Since then, he has cut himself off from the cryptocurrency market, given his wife management of their trading accounts, and has been meeting weekly with a gambling addiction counselor. However, he admits that it was initially difficult for him to break the addiction to gambling.

“Emotionally, the first two weeks were a mess for me. I was all over the place. I had to quit something cold turkey that I spent at least ten hours a day doing. While all this was going on, a still little voice on my shoulder kept encouraging me to go look at some charts.

Although Leather Opposite2135 has since removed the original post from Reddit, it is not the first nor the last tale to draw light on the potential consequences of being addicted to trading cryptocurrencies.

Alongside the treatment of addiction to alcohol and narcotics as well as mental health issues, rehabilitation clinics all over the globe have started offering treatment for compulsive behaviors like cryptocurrency trading addiction.

“In a manner similar to gambling, many of them will claim that it interferes with their day-to-day lives, that they spend a great deal of time thinking about it, and that as a consequence, they may also be suffering financial difficulty.”

Dr. Hronis pointed out that addiction to cryptocurrency trading is comparable to that of online gambling since both include a “easy of accessibility” that may be “very harmful for people.”

It is possible to see a person going about their typical day-to-day activities, such as going to work, spending time with family and friends, participating in hobbies, and so on, while at the same time trading alongside those activities. This indicates that a person’s addiction may genuinely progress to a significant level before anybody else in that person’s life becomes aware of it.

“Considering how recently cryptocurrency trading has emerged, I believe that therapy is still playing catch-up to some degree. “While the broad concepts of treating an addiction may undoubtedly be applied here, there are peculiarities with crypto trading that would benefit from being better understood in order to better advise clinical therapies,” Dr. Hronis noted. “There is a lot of room for improvement in this area.”

Source

Tagged : / / / / / /

Interactive Brokers Launches Crypto Trading Services for Institutional Clients

by Blockchain News

On February 14, the global brokerage business Interactive Brokers, which has its headquarters in the United States, made the announcement that it will be launching its cryptocurrency trading services in Hong Kong for institutional customers. In conjunction with OSL Digital Securities, a digital asset brokerage and trading platform for professional investors that is regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission, the cryptocurrency trading services have now been made available to the public.

Residents in Hong Kong who have investable assets totaling more than HK$8 million ($1 million) or institutions with investable assets totaling more than HK$40 million ($6 million) may now trade cryptocurrencies on the Interactive Brokers platform alongside other asset classes.

Previously, in order for investors to trade cryptocurrencies and other asset classes, they were required to utilize a wide range of trading platforms provided by a wide variety of brokers and exchanges. When utilizing the Interactive Broker platform, however, investors are able to trade cryptocurrencies and monitor their balances via a single platform that provides a consolidated picture of all their accounts.

In addition to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether, clients of Interactive Brokers are able to trade stocks, options, futures, bonds, event contracts, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds all from a single screen. Centralized cash management is used by these clients (ETH).

The introduction of trading services for cryptocurrencies takes place at a pivotal point in the development of the regulated digital asset market in Hong Kong. In January, Paul Chan, the finance secretary for Hong Kong, announced that the Hong Kong government is open to working with cryptocurrencies and fintech firms in 2023. Paul Chan also claimed that the Hong Kong government is open to working with fintech businesses in 2023. The official went on to say that many different corporate groups want either to expand their operations in Hong Kong or to list their companies on the local markets.

Legislators in Hong Kong reached a consensus on new legislation in December 2022 to establish a licensing system for businesses that provide services linked to virtual assets. This legislation was adopted. The goal of the newly proposed regulatory framework is to provide cryptocurrency exchanges with an equivalent degree of market acceptability to that which is already in place for conventional financial institutions.

Source

Tagged : / / / / / /

The Bitcoin price surge has led to a market FOMO among small BTC addresses

by Blockchain News

Fear of missing out (FOMO) was prevalent in the market during the second week of January as a result of the rise in price of Bitcoin (BTC) over $20,000, particularly among holders of a modest amount of BTC.

After January 13, there was a large increase in the number of Bitcoin addresses that held 0.1 Bitcoin or less.

Since the price of bitcoin spiked on January 13, a total of 39.8 million new Bitcoin addresses have been created, according to data that was recently provided by the cryptocurrency analytics company Santiment.

In 2023, a regrowing investor confidence may be inferred from the growth in the number of Bitcoin addresses holding just tiny sums. The construction of new addresses has been increasing at a faster pace as of 2023, despite the fact that the growth of such tiny addresses was very constrained and halted dramatically when the FTX collapsed in November 2022.

The latest surge of Bitcoin addresses for amounts less than one bitcoin is the greatest it has been since November 2022, when BTC reached its cycle low of about $16,000. As a result of the price drop, smaller dealers were able to purchase Bitcoin at a more favourable price. The present increase may be due to a rising optimistic feeling in the market, where, in addition to Bitcoin, other altcoins have also hit multimonth highs, while the total crypto market rose over 30%. This is the market where the majority of the altcoins have outperformed Bitcoin.

In the first week of February, the positive momentum that Bitcoin had been riding into the month continued, as the cryptocurrency reached a new high of over $24,000. However, the $24,000 barrier proved to be too much for the market to maintain, and at the time this article was written, the price was trading about $23,000. According to the opinions of market analysts, February may not be as positive as January was.

In light of the uncertainty surrounding the potential impact of forthcoming macroeconomic data from the United States on market mood, market professionals have issued a warning that the recent upward trend in crypto and stocks may reverse course this month. They ascribed the size of the likely future downward trend to the Federal Reserve’s rises in interest rates, which have been taking place recently.

Source

Tagged : / / / /

Kazakhstan Seeks to Improve Cryptocurrency Trading Framework

by Blockchain News

Kazakhstan, which is home to one of the most significant Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations in the world, has released a consultation paper in an effort to gauge the level of interest shown by the general public in proposed amendments that would improve the regulatory framework for cryptocurrency trading.

The Astana Financial Services Authority (AFSA), a Kazakh regulator, developed the guidelines that are outlined in the policy document that was made public on January 27. The Astana International Financial Centre has a regulatory framework in place for its Digital Asset Trading Facility (DATF) that goes back to 2018, and the AFSA pointed out that the changes aim to make some upgrades to the framework.

The research conducted by AFSA revealed “contradictions, ineffective rules, and ambiguous definitions within the regime,” which were among the issues that were brought to light as a result of the continued monitoring of cryptocurrency exchanges. It suggested implementing risk reduction strategies across several fronts, including as governance, illegal behaviour, the safety of customers’ assets, and settlement.

Regarding the reorganisation of the DATF framework, the report suggested three different options: maintaining the framework in its current form, building an independent DATF framework, and treating crypto exchanges as a multilateral trading facility.

The AFSA is of the opinion that the policy proposals will result in a number of changes, one of which will be the reduction of risks associated with cryptographic operations and the sector as a whole. In addition, the upgrades will address aspects of the present framework that are contradictory and imprecise, and they will do so. The end result, as is anticipated by AFSA, will be the establishment of a favourable framework for cryptocurrency exchanges while simultaneously promoting innovation.

The policy paper indicates that the proposed measures will have a favourable effect on the cryptocurrency trading industry, stating that “this will collectively help to create more of a clear, convenient, efficient, detailed and balanced AIFC DATF framework with high standards for consumer protection, without hindering development of crypto exchanges.”

In a concluding note, the paper disclosed that the review of the DATF framework is in line with the initiative known as “AFSA’s Strategy for 2022,” which identifies the creation of a “Digital Assets framework: Crypto exchanges, STO and DASP” as one of three primary goals for the development of key regulations.

On the other hand, Kazakhstan’s central bank recommended launching an in-house central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2023, with a phased expansion of functionality and introduction into commercial operation until the end of 2025. This recommendation is at the opposite end of the spectrum from the previous one.

Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao made the announcement in October 2022 that the CBDC of Kazakhstan will be merged with BNB Chain, a blockchain that was constructed by the cryptocurrency exchange.

Source

Tagged : / / / / / /

Insider Trading and Cryptocurrency

by Blockchain News

Particularly in light of the recent conviction of an ex-Coinbase manager’s brother for insider trading, the problem of insider trading has emerged as one of the most pressing concerns in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

It was thought that the allegations of insider trading using cryptocurrencies were the first of their kind; however, a new set of wallet addresses with a transaction history that is related to Binance listings has now sparked suspicions.

The director of Coinbase, Conor Grogan, turned to Twitter in order to draw attention to the transactional behaviour of a few anonymous wallets over the course of the previous 18 months.

It is believed that the anonymous wallets purchased a number of unlisted tokens on Binance in the minutes leading up to the announcement of their listing and then dumped them immediately after the announcement.

The first case of this kind occurred with Rar tokens, and it included one of these wallets purchasing $900,000 worth of Rari just before offering them for sale and then selling them minutes later.

Another wallet beginning with 0x20 participated in the purchase of about 78,000 ERN between June 17 and June 21 and then sold them immediately after the listing notice.

A transaction known as a “token dump” occurred with the TORN token when one of the wallets that were mentioned purchased hundreds of thousands of these tokens and then sold them immediately after their listing announcement.

A similar trend was seen before the RAMP token was listed on Binance. Over the course of a few days, one of these wallets beginning with 0xaf purchased $500,000 worth of RAMP. Minutes after the listing announcement, the wallet sent the tokens to Binance.

The transaction resulted in a profit for the owner of $100,000.

The owner of the wallet dumped the freshly listed token on the market in the same manner as before, resulting in another $100,000 profit from Binance’s GNO listing.

The token dump that occurred shortly after Binance’s debut of the cryptocurrency resulted in these wallets making hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit.

Due to the correctness of the trade, it may be deduced that the owner of the wallet has access to confidential information about these postings.

Grogan hypothesised that this may have been the work of a “rogue employee related to the listings team who would have knowledge on fresh asset releases or a trader who discovered some kind of API or staging /test trade exchange breach.”

Source

Tagged : / / / / /

Crypto Adoption Among Women on the Rise

by Blockchain News

According to a recent poll, conventional asset classes have not been successful in getting more women into the investment space. However, crypto seems to have been successful in bringing women on board. The findings of the poll indicate that there has been a notable increase in the number of women who possess cryptocurrency. According to the data, the percentage of people who owned their home rose from 29% in the third quarter of 2022 to 34% in the most recent quarter.

The team at eToro believes that this indicates that cryptocurrency is “succeeding where conventional financial markets have sometimes failed,” and one way that it is doing this is by attracting a greater number of women.

During the last three months of 2022, the rate of crypto adoption among women skyrocketed, whereas the rate of crypto ownership among males climbed by just one percent during the same time period. The percentage of worldwide investors that own cryptocurrency increased from 36% to 39% from the previous quarter, despite the fact that cryptocurrency was regarded as the asset class that performed the poorest over the course of the previous year.

In addition to being pushed by the participation of women, the data was also affected by the participation of elderly investors who bought the dip.

The percentage of retail investors aged 35–44 and 45–54 who own cryptocurrency increased by 5 percent apiece, which suggests that older investors are also acquiring crypto.

Regarding the question of why more investors are getting involved in cryptocurrency, 37% of those who took part in the survey said they are seizing the opportunity to make high returns, while 34% of those who took part in the survey said they believe in the power of blockchain and think cryptocurrency is a transformative asset class.

Retail investors aren’t the only ones who are showing their faith in blockchain technology by making investments; corporations are beginning to do the same thing.

The results of a poll conducted by Casper Labs on January 12 revealed that of the 603 companies that took part in the study, 90% had already used blockchain technology in some form.

Source

Tagged : / / / / / /

Why Bitcoin’s Price Rebound Could Signify a Market Bottom

by Blockchain News

During the third week of January, the price of one Bitcoin (BTC) soared beyond $21,000, reaching a new high point not seen in the cryptocurrency market for four months. This encouraged investors.

The comeback in the price of bitcoin in January has resulted in the greatest amount of investor confidence witnessed in the market since July.

The trading crowd mood has reached its greatest level in the previous six months, according to statistics provided by the crypto analytics company Santiment, and it has reached its second highest level of bullishness in the past 14 months.

Based on the data, it seems that traders are seeing the recent price recovery of Bitcoin as a potential precursor to a more significant price increase in the near future.

The feelings that investors have in general regarding a certain asset or financial market are referred to as the “crowd sentiment” or “investor sentiment.”

It is a term that refers to the sentiment of a market or the psychology of the players in that market, which is indicated by activity and changes in the price of the item that is being traded in that market.

The chart that is above demonstrates that there have been three significant upticks in investor sentiment since 2021.

The first significant increase in sentiment occurred in November 2021, which was immediately followed by a jump in the price of bitcoin to a new all-time high of $68,789.

The second significant increase occurred in July 2022, when the United States Federal Reserve began dropping signals about the possibility of an inflation reduction. This was immediately followed by a more modest price increase.

Despite the fact that the price increase after the jump in crowd feelings in July 2022 was not particularly big due to the adverse attitude prevalent across the market, traders did purchase the dip at $19,000.

The most recent uptick in public mood occurred in 2022, after a very harsh winter.

Analysts in the market say that the recent price increase in bitcoin might indicate that the market has reached its bottom.

Since 2015, the time it takes to get from the bottom to the top and from the top to the bottom has stayed the same at 152 weeks and 52 weeks, respectively, according to an independent market analyst named HornHairs.

Bitcoin denoted in $BTC

2015-2017 bull market: 1064 days

2017-2018 bear market: 364 days

2018-2021 bull market: 1064 days

2021-current bottom point of the market: 364 days

If we merely make a carbon duplicate of the cycle period again, there are days remaining till we reach the top: 1001 days pic.twitter.com/KoNZxJRuy5 — HornHairs (@CryptoHornHairs), an account on Twitter. The 12th of January, 2023 When looking at Bitcoin’s price behaviour over a longer period of time, it is startling to see how similar the run-up to the peak and bottom of the previous cycles were.

Even more fascinating is the possibility that the cycle spanning 2020 and 2021 may follow a pattern of a similar kind.

Source

Tagged : / / / / /
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 27,147.27 1.19%
Ethereum (ETH) $ 1,901.17 1.74%
Litecoin (LTC) $ 94.40 0.09%
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 114.43 0.80%