Traders’ sentiment about Ether (ETH) has noticeably improved as the price rallied 7.5% from Oct. 2 to Oct. 6, but the price recapturing the $1,350 level was not compelling enough to trigger any bullish activity from derivatives traders. Ether price is still 32% below the $2,000 level last seen on Aug. 14 and the network’s average transaction fee stood near $2 after the Merge. The most significant upgrade on the Ethereum chain happened on Sept. 15, switching from energy-intensive mining technology to a set of validators required to deposit 32 ETH in staking. Although necessary to implement future sharding or …

The website of crypto exchange OKX was blocked in Russia by the state media monitoring service Roskomnadzor on Oct. 4. The agency told the TASS news agency that the website was blocked “the request of the Prosecutor General's Office for the dissemination of unreliable socially significant information of a financial nature.” Roskomnadzor told local news outlet RBC that OKX had “published information related to the activities of financial pyramids, as well as information on the provision of financial services by persons who do not have the right to provide them” under Russian law. Although the website is blocked in Russia, …

In September, cryptocurrency exchange FTX US secured the winning bid for the assets of embattled crypto brokerage firm Voyager Digital with a bid of approximately $1.4 billion. The bid was made up of the fair market value of Voyager’s crypto holdings “at a to-be-determined date in the future.” According to Voyager, at current market prices, the fair value of its holdings was estimated around $1.3 billion, and the deal included an “additional consideration,” estimated to be worth approximately $111 million. Since then, new details on the case have emerged, with court filings showing that the cash paid for Voyager Digital …

Traders who use the Ethereum network are familiar with the ERC-20 technical standard and have most likely traded and invested in tokens that utilize it. After all, its practicality, transparency and flexibility have made it the industry norm for Ethereum-based projects. As such, many decentralized applications (DApps), crypto wallets and exchanges natively support ERC-20 tokens. However, there’s one problem: Ether (ETH) and ERC-20 do not exactly follow the same rules, as Ether was created way before ERC-20 was implemented as a technical standard. So, why does wrapped ETH matter? Briefly put, ERC-20 tokens can only be traded with other ERC-20 …

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, filed a complaint against Digitex LLC and its founder and CEO Adam Todd for failing to register the cryptocurrency futures exchange and manipulating the price of its DGTX token. According to a Sept. 30 court filing in the Southern District of Florida, Todd allegedly pumped up the price of DGTX tokens in an effort to inflate Digitex’s holdings. The U.S. regulator claimed the Digitex CEO used different corporate entities as part of a scheme to launch and operate an illegal digital asset derivatives trading platform, in violation of the Commodity Exchange …

On Sept. 30, NFT Steez, a bi-weekly Twitter Spaces hosted by Alyssa Expósito and Ray Salmond, met with Mashiat Mutmainnah to discuss how regenerative finance (ReFi) can provide more accessibility and inclusivity to blockchain technology. As a "mission-driven movement," Mutmainnah explains that ReFi enables users to redefine their relationship with the current financial system and their relationship with finance and wealth. Currently, in many countries, millions of people lack basic, equitable access to the financial services that would allow them to meet their daily needs. What if there were newer models that could sustainably alleviate this? According to Mutmainnah, ReFi …

Bitcoin's (BTC) spot trading below $20,000 is seeing a new “capitulation” event encompassing an entire year’s worth of buyers, research reveals. In one of its Quicktake market updates on Sep. 29, on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant flagged intense selling by a large number of recent hodlers. 2021 bull market coins "have been sold aggressively" As BTC/USD lingers near levels barely seen since 2020, it is not just miners feeling the pinch. Analyzing Bitcoin’s Exchange Inflow Spent Output Ages Bands (SOAB), CryptoQuant contributor Edris showed that those who bought between April 2021 and April 2022 have been selling coins en masse — …

The United States equities markets have been under a firm bear grip for a large part of the year. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite have declined for three quarters in a row, a first since 2009. There was no respite in selling in September and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is on track to record its worst September since 2002. These figures outline the kind of carnage that exists in the equities market. Compared to these disappointing figures, Bitcoin (BTC) and select altcoins have not given up much ground in September. This is the first sign that selling …

Voyager Digital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July after its exposure to the toxic Three Arrows Capital led to its ultimate downfall. This week, rumblings of a Voyager Digital auction surfaced, with Cointelegraph breaking the story on the afternoon of Sept. 26 after a reputable source confirmed the parties involved. A few hours later, a winner was announced — crypto exchange FTX US. But, not everyone is convinced that Voyager’s depositors will be taken care of. This week’s Crypto Biz chronicles the bidders involved in the Voyager Digital auction. We also document the resignation of a disgruntled crypto boss …

Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has registered with New Zealand's Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and opened local offices in the country. In a Sept. 29 tweet, Binance said it was registered as a financial service provider in New Zealand, allowing residents access to services including spot trading, nonfungible tokens, and staking. The move to the crypto-friendly Pacific nation followed regulators in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kazakhstan, Italy giving the green light for Binance to open an offshoot. “New Zealand is an exciting market with a strong history of fintech innovation,” said Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. New Zealand! We are kiwis. …

Bitcoin's (BTC) long-term profitability has declined to levels last seen during the previous bear market in December 2018. According to data shared by crypto analytic firm Glassnode, BTC holders are selling their tokens at an average loss of 42%. The Glassnode data indicate that long-term holders of the top cryptocurrency selling their tokens have a cost basis of $32,000, meaning the average buying price for these holders selling their stack is above $30,000. The current market downturn added to the declining profitability can be attributed to several macroeconomic factors. The BTC market still has a heavy correlation with the stock …

111 days have passed since Bitcoin (BTC) posted a close above $25,000 and this led some investors to feel less sure that the asset had found a confirmed bottom. At the moment, global financial markets remain uneasy due to the tension in Ukraine increasing after this week’s Nord Stream gas pipeline incident. The Bank of England's emergency intervention in government bond markets on Sept. 28 also shed some light on how extremely fragile fund managers and financial institutions are right now. The movement marked a stark shift from the previous intention to tighten economies as inflationary pressures mounted. Currently, the …