India’s Directorate of Enforcement (ED) announced Friday that it has frozen the financial accounts of Bengaluru-based financial services company Yellow Tune Technologies, some of which were held by Flipvolt crypto exchange, the Indian branch of Singaporean Vauld. The move is linked to an ongoing investigation into money laundering by China-linked instant loan companies. This is the second time this week the agency has taken action in the crypto sphere in connection with that case. The financial watchdog announced it was freezing Yellow Tune’s bank balances, payment gateway balances and balances in the Flipvolt cryptocurrency exchange for a total of 3.7 …

Bitcoin (BTC) could not overcome the barrier at $25,000 on Aug. 11 even though it had two catalysts in the form of a "favorable" Consumer Price Index print and news that BlackRock — the world's largest asset manager, overseeing over $10 trillion in total assets — had launched a spot Bitcoin investment product. In comparison, Ether (ETH) has managed to hold on to its recent gains on news that the Goerli testnet had successfully activated proof-of-stake, clearing the path for Ethereum’s mainnet transition planned for Sept. 15 or Sept. 16. Data from Santiment shows that Ether whale transactions have increased …

An ascending triangle formation has driven the total crypto market capitalization toward the $1.2 trillion level. The issue with this 7-week-long setup is the diminishing volatility, which could last until late August. From there, the pattern can break either way, but Tether and futures markets data show bulls lacking enough conviction to catalyze an upside break. Investors cautiously await further macroeconomic data on the state of the economy as the United States Federal Reserve (FED) raises interest rates and places its asset purchase program on hold. On Aug. 12, the United Kingdom posted a gross domestic product (GDP) contraction of …

Digital asset investment firm Paradigm has announced the launch of spreads trading in partnership with crypto exchange FTX. In a Friday blog post, Paradigm said under the FTX partnership users would be able to utilize “one-click” trading with “no leg risk” for the spread between spot, perpetuals and fixed maturity futures on Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX), ApeCoin (APE), Dogecoin (DOGE), Chainlink (LINK) and Litecoin (LTC). FTX will provide “guaranteed atomic execution and clearing of both legs” for the trades. According to Paradigm CEO Anand Gomes, the arrangement was aimed at drawing in new crypto investors interested …

Major American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase saw its long-term issuer credit rating downgraded from BB+ to BB status by rating agency S&P Global following its latest earnings report this year. The agency confirmed the downgrade in a note on Aug. 11, pointing toward Coinbase’s weaker performance in the second quarter of 2022 as a driving factor. Intensified competitive risk in the cryptocurrency exchange sector was also highlighted, with Coinbase losing market share to competitors this year. “The negative outlook reflects uncertainties about the duration of the crypto market downturn and the company's ability to operate efficiently by managing operating expenses prudently.” …

Major Brazilian payment application PicPay is moving into cryptocurrencies by integrating a crypto exchange service allowing users to buy Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). The firm officially announced on Wednesday that PicPay clients can now buy, sell and store two major cryptocurrencies, BTC or ETH, directly on its app. PicPay pointed out that its choice was due to the real use cases provided by these digital assets, including security and many other benefits. The firm stated: “Blockchain technology, which is behind coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum, is already used in the real estate sector, the insurance industry and even the …

Ether's (ETH) impressive 85% gain in the past thirty days will have surprised even the most bullish investors and it makes the $800 range seen from mid-July seem like ages ago. Bulls now hope to turn $1,900 to support, but derivatives metrics tell a completely different story and the data suggests that professional traders remain highly skeptical. It's important to remember that the leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), gained 28% in the same period. Thus, there should be no doubt that the Ether bull run was driven by the "Merge" expectation, a transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus network. "Goerli" was …

India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED), the agency responsible for financial crimes, is looking at cryptocurrency exchanges suspected of processing transactions that sent more than 10 billion rupees, or about $130 million, from firms under investigation to international wallets. At least ten crypto exchanges are allegedly involved, according to an official who spoke to The Economic Times, and bank accounts of exchange WazirX have been frozen, the newspaper reported. Transactions of up to 1 billion rupees, or $1.3 million, were allegedly made in the names of people with no connections to the money by companies investigation in a case involving instant loans. …

Cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform dYdX said it blocked some users’ accounts with funds linked to Tornado Cash, including mistakenly suspending some that never directly engaged with the controversial mixer. In a Wednesday blog post, dYdX said it had “unbanned certain accounts” that the derivatives platform had blocked in response to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the United States Treasury Department adding Tornado Cash to its list of Specially Designated Nationals, or SDNs. According to dYdX, its compliance provider flagged many accounts believed to be linked to Tornado Cash which the platform subsequently blocked — despite the fact some …

While many believe that the Philippines can become a new crypto hub, that dream may be shattered in the meantime as the country’s central bank announced a 3-year hiatus from accepting new virtual asset service provider (VASP) applications. According to a memorandum signed by Chuchi Fonacier, a financial supervision official at the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), they aim to balance the promotion of innovation in finance and managing the risks associated with virtual assets (VAs). She wrote: “The Bangko Sentral recognizes that as VAs offer opportunities to promote greater access to financial services at reduced costs, they also pose …

Bitcoin (BTC) has been posting higher lows for the past eight weeks, but during this time, BTC has not been able to flip the $24,000 resistance to support on at least three different opportunities. This is precisely why the $475 million Bitcoin options expiry on Aug. 12 might be a game changer for bulls. Considering the current regulatory pressures in play, there seems to be a good enough rationale for avoiding bullish bets, especially after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission pressed charges against a former Coinbase manager on illegal securities trading on July 21. The additional impact from the …

On Thursday, cryptocurrency exchange Hotbit said it "suspended trading, deposit, withdrawal and funding functions," with no timeframe for resumption. In explaining the decision, Hotbit stated: "A former Hotbit management employee who left in April this year was, unbeknownst to Hotbit, involved in a project in 2021 that law enforcement authorities now think is suspected of violating criminal laws. As a result, a number of Hotbit senior managers have been subpoenaed by law enforcement since the end of July and are assisting in the investigation. Furthermore, law enforcement has frozen some funds of Hotbit, which has prevented Hotbit from running normally." …