The cryptocurrency market was flooded with news throughout the recent weeks. It seems that the sun is once again shining on Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency didn’t slow down, even in light of the bill that was placed in the American Congress and intended to ban cryptocurrencies.
As we saw in previous years, the Consensus conference and the other conferences around it brought with them a new spirit. The smell of FOMO is once again in the air. The IEO phenomenon which raised the prices on the market has already began to fall off the headlines. An official from the SEC, however, clarified that exchanges which issued IEOs may actually be exposed to legal risks for which they will have to be held accountable. The statement is the opening shot of the regulatory war against IEOs, which is likely to end up as the ICO phenomenon.
However, the news of Fidelity’s entry, alongside the removal of Facebook’s advertising barriers on the market and the entry of huge retail and institutional interest, has awakened the sleep market and has brought a wave that reminds of the tsunami of 2017.
The Binance hack still takes some of the headlines, and the move that froze deposits and withdrawals from the exchange stopped new money from coming in. it also restricted the usage of stable coins on the exchange, which has led USDT to rise above $1 at a certain point. Additionally, there is a situation in which users who wish to realize their crypto to fiat are limited. It’s reasonable to assume that the reopening of the exchange will have an effect on the market as well.
The Tether saga is also echoing and the rumors that USDT is not fully backed, together with Bitcoin’s uptrend have added to the increase in Bitcoin’s demand, which continues to grow, alongside the steadily increasing hash power. It nears a new all-time high as Bitmain mining machinery has run out of stock according to their official website. Meanwhile, the network fees are also increasing and start at around 88 sat/B.
Ethereum and Ripple are also featured in this week’s news. Their development efforts continue as Ethereum is handling its scalability problem, promising to solve it in the next version called Ethereum 2.0, supposedly launching in the next 18-24 months. Ripple, on the other hand, continues to collaborate with Coinbase and has recently seen support for trading for New York State residents.
It’s also worth noting the continuing high volume of Bitcoin futures contracts on CME and the fact that Bakkt will soon launch user acceptance testing for its own Bitcoin futures contracts.
To sum it up, we are almost half way through 2019 and it is safe to say that the cryptocurrency market has woken up and it has officially changed its direction. Alongside the parabolic movement of Bitcoin, we can also see the market for altcoins shrinking in dominance compared to BTC, but continues to rise against the USD. This is a behavior that we recognize from the past and it also attracts new investors who are looking to enjoy the Altcoin party. So, it’s also possible that another altcoin season is underway.
Billions at Risk? Binance Says No Withdrawals for 7 Days Following the 7000 BTC Hack. The world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance suspended withdrawals and deposits for 7 days after an attack. Hackers were able to gain access to a large number of API keys, as well as 2FA codes, resulting in the theft of 7000 BTC worth about $40 million at the time of the attack.
Did Binance Really Get Hacked? These Conspiracies Might Prove Otherwise. Following the Binance hack, different conspiracies began taking place. Some of them stemmed from the fact that the exchange has very strict KYC procedures and should have been able to identify the hackers as the funds were moved in one single transaction worth 7000 BTC.
That Was Quick: Bitfinex CTO Confirms Raising $1 Billion in a Private Sale. The popular cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex has managed to raise $1 billion in a private sale. According to the CTO, a lot of the money came from large investors putting over $100 million each. The announcement came shortly after Bitfinex was alleged in the coverup of $850 million of losses.
Bakkt to Introduce User Acceptance Testing for Bitcoin Futures in July. Bitcoin futures contract trading platform Bakkt has announced that it will begin user acceptance testing for its futures contracts in July. It revealed two types of contracts with 1 day and 1 month settlement terms.
Bitcoin Comes to Whole Foods, Major Retailers in Coup for Digital Currency. Amazon-owned retailer Whole Foods, as well as others such as Starbucks and Nordstorm, have announced that they now accept Bitcoin, as well as three other cryptocurrencies.
Microsoft Launches Decentralized Identity Tool on Bitcoin Blockchain. The tech giant Microsoft has recently announced that it is launching an identity tool based on decentralized infrastructure. The project will enable users to have full control over their personal information and the way it is handled by third parties.
Joseph Lubin on Ethereum 2.0: ETH to become 1,000 Times More Scalable Within 24 Months. The co-founder of Ethereum, Joseph Lubin, has said that the network will become about 1,000 times more scalable within the next 18 to 24 months. The development which will bring this enhanced scalability is called Ethereum 2.0.
This week we have a chart analysis of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and BNB– click here for the full price analysis.
