Following the decentralized finance (DeFi) boom of 2020, decentralized exchanges (DEXs) solidified their place in the ecosystems of both cryptocurrency and finance. Since DEXs are not as heavily regulated as centralized exchanges, users can list any token they want. With DEXs, high-frequency traders can make trades on coins before they hit major exchanges. Plus, decentralized exchanges are noncustodial, which implies that creators cannot pull an exit fraud — in theory. As such, high-frequency trading firms that used to broker unique trading transactions with cryptocurrency exchange operators have turned to decentralized exchanges to conduct business. What is high-frequency trading in crypto? …

Gaming retailer GameStop is partnering with United States crypto exchange FTX US to bring more customers to crypto and work together on online marketing initiatives. In a Sept. 7 statement, the gaming retailer noted that the new partnership will introduce GameStop’s customers into the FTX ecosystem, including its marketplaces for digital assets, while also seeing the retailer become FTX’s “preferred retail partner in the United States.” The partnership will also see certain GameStop retail stores carrying FTX gift cards. As of Aug. 31, there are 2,970 GameStop stores across the United States. In its Q2 earnings call, GameStop CEO Matt …

Bitcoin (BTC) crashed below $19,000 on Sept. 6, driving the price to its lowest level in 80 days. The movement not only completely erased the entirety of the 32% gains accrued from July until Aug. 15, it also wiped out $246 million worth of leverage long (buy) futures contracts. Bitcoin price is down for the year but it’s important to also compare its price action against other assets. Oil prices are currently down 23.5% since July, Palantir Technologies (PLTR) has dropped 36.4% in 30 days and Moderna (MRNA), a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, is down 30.4% in the same period. …

After trading near the $20,000 level for several days, Bitcoin (BTC) turned down sharply and dropped below $19,000 on Sept. 6. The fall was not limited to the cryptocurrency markets as the United States equities markets also closed lower on Sept. 6. Risky assets have been facing selling pressure in the past few days as investors are worried that the Federal Reserve could continue with its aggressive tightening policy. The CME FedWatch Tool shows that the probability for a 75 basis point rate hike in the September meeting has risen to 80% from 69% a week back. This extended the …

Eight years ago, in 2014, the crypto world was rocked by the crippling hack of Mt. Gox, a popular Bitcoin (BTC) exchange, which was forced to shut down after miscreants were able to make away with approximately 850,000 BTC, worth more than $16 billion at today’s exchange rates. At the time of the incident, the Tokyo-based exchange was the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading ecosystem, processing over 70% of the crypto market’s daily Bitcoin trading volume. However, due to its lack of quality security protocols, hackers were able to make their way with the crypto assets of over 24,000 customers, which …

A Celsius Network co-founder has moved in court to declare the entirety of his equity stake in the embattled crypto company as “worthless." In a Sept. 5 document to the United States Bankruptcy Court, law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP filed a declaration on behalf of Celsius Co-Founder Daniel Leon, confirming his status as a substantial shareholder, and declaring that his 32,600 common shares are now considered worthless. #CelsiusNetwork #CelsiusBankruptcy Here’s a new one — a declaration of “wothlessness” was just filed by Daniel Leon , one of the cofounders. The Declaration was filed by K&E. https://t.co/OHldovdhBZ — David Adler …

An $860 surprise price correction on Sept. 6 took Bitcoin (BTC) from $19,820 to $18,960 in less than two hours. The movement caused $74 million in Bitcoin futures liquidations at derivatives exchanges, the largest in almost three weeks. The current $18,733 level is the lowest since July 13 and it marks a 24% correction from the rally to $25,000 on Aug. 15. It is worth highlighting that a 2% pump toward $20,200 happened in the early hours of Sept. 6, but the move was quickly subdued and Bitcoin resumed trading near $19,800 within the hour. Ether’s (ETH) price action was …

The cryptocurrency markets have been quiet over the weekend. The sideways price action continues on Sept. 5 and there is unlikely to be any fresh triggers from the United States equities markets which are closed for Labor Day. However, the bullish picture for cryptocurrencies looks clouded as the energy crisis in Europe sent the euro to a two-decade low versus the U.S. dollar. Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index (DXY) which has an inverse correlation with the equities markets and cryptocurrencies soared above 110 for the first time since June 2002. A positive sign among all the mayhem is that Bitcoin …

While Ethereum devs promised no downtime during The Merge, one of the most anticipated Ethereum upgrades, members of the crypto community decided to take proactive measures to ensure the safety of investor funds. In this effort, crypto exchange FTX announced to halt all Ether (ETH) trades on various blockchains until the September upgrade concludes. The Merge upgrade will permanently transition the Ethereum blockchain from proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism — aimed at reducing energy consumption and introducing sharding capabilities. According to Ethereum developers, the Merge is designed to transition to PoS with zero downtime owing to the …

Bitcoin trading data from 157 exchanges reportedly did not match up to what companies claimed. According to an Aug. 26 report from Forbes, Javier Pax of the news outlet’s digital asset arm said there was a mismatch between the Bitcoin (BTC) trading data reported by crypto exchanges and the actual numbers. The Forbes contributor found that a group of small exchanges had BTC trading volumes roughly 95% less than those reported, while those operating “with little or no regulatory oversight” — including Binance and Bybit — claimed to have more than double the analyzed volume: $217 billion as opposed to …

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 315,000 jobs in August, down from the July increase of 526,000 jobs. The report was just below the Dow Jones estimate of 318,000 jobs and the slowest monthly gain since April 2021. The S&P 500 rose in response to the report, but later erased its gains, indicating that bears continue to sell on rallies. That may be because the U.S. dollar index (DXY), which had retreated from its Sept.1 20-year high, recovered part of its losses. The bears will have to pull the DXY lower to boost prices of stocks and the cryptocurrency markets as both …

It took a few years, but government crackdowns on “insider trading” involving digital assets have finally arrived. It’s about time! Insider trading occurs often in our securities markets, so it was only a matter of time before crypto and other digital assets would be exploited improperly by miscreants for financial gain. On June 1, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York announced a criminal indictment against a former product manager of the OpenSea marketplace, Nathaniel Chastain. He is charged with using the confidential information about which nonfungible tokens were going to be featured on OpenSea’s homepage to …