The first cryptocurrency soared above $42,000, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) postponed the decision on the spot Ethereum-ETF, the developers of Tornado Cash began collecting donations and other events of the past week.
Bitcoin returned to above $42,000
The first cryptocurrency started the week below $42,000. On Tuesday, January 23, the asset’s quotes fell below the $40,000 mark. On the night of Saturday, January 27, digital gold crossed the $42,000 mark.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $42,400.
Binance exchange BTC/USDT hourly chart. Data: TradingView.
Most of the top 10 digital assets by capitalization finished the week in the “red zone”. However, Bitcoin (+1.6%), Solana (+4.8%) and Avalanche (+7%) showed growth.
Data: CoinGecko.
The total capitalization of the cryptocurrency market is $1.71 trillion. Bitcoin dominance index – 52.4%.
SEC delays decision on BlackRock's Ethereum spot ETF
SEC delays decision on BlackRock spot Ethereum ETF until March 10. The head of the department, Gary Gensler, urged not to create a stir around the tool, citing the “limited” registration of a similar product based on Bitcoin.
The official explained that the January decision was limited to one cryptocurrency and “should not be construed as anything other than that.”
“What we did with the Bitcoin ETF is for this one commodity that is not a security,” he explained.
The Commission justified the postponement of the decision on the BlackRock proposal by the need to “have sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the issues raised therein.”
Changpeng Zhao offered the court bail of $4.5 billion to leave for the UAE
In December 2023, the court rejected the request of ex-Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) to return home to the UAE, despite the proposed bail of $4.5 billion.
CZ planned to leave on January 4 for several weeks because he was awaiting “hospitalization and surgery” for a loved one.
The valuation of the proposed collateral was calculated based on Binance's latest funding round, which brought the company's equity to $4.5 billion..
Judge Richard Jones held a closed hearing on the matter but rejected Zhao's request. The authorities first refused to allow CZ to leave in early December.. He will remain in the United States until a meeting scheduled for February 23, 2024.
“The defendant has enormous wealth and property abroad and has no ties to the United States.. His family lives in the UAE and it appears [CZ] has a privileged status. Under these circumstances, the court finds that the defendant has not proven his intention to return,” Johnson wrote in the order.
What to discuss with friends?
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“Privacy is not a crime”: Tornado Cash developers have started collecting donations
Tornado Cash co-founders Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev organized the JusticeDAO fund to raise funds for lawyers.
“2024 will define my whole life. Honestly, I'm scared. But I also hope that the community cares about us with passion.. Please donate to my defense,” Storm wrote.
The initiative was supported by former NSA and CIA employee Edward Snowden, saying that “confidentiality is not a crime.”
Coinbase chief lawyer Paul Grewal also drew attention to the problem. According to him, the exchange team proposed amendments to the US Treasury bill on cryptomixers.
“We don’t see a regulatory gap here. Exchanges like ours are already required to investigate and report suspicious digital asset commingling activity associated with our platform. Why does the Treasury now need us to report non-suspicious activity?” Grewal said..
In addition, according to a Coinbase lawyer, the department's rules do not include a minimum threshold of funds sent, after which it is necessary to initiate an investigation. This approach will simply lead to mass reports of unsuspicious transactions, he believes.
At the same time, the US Congress stated that the Treasury’s proposal to track cryptomixers is “a waste of time,” Grewal emphasized.
CommEX allows all users to post P2P advertisements
Since January 25, the CommEX cryptocurrency exchange has allowed all users to post ads on the P2P marketplace.
Previously, this opportunity was only available to holders of merchant status with a large trading volume. Other clients could only search for suitable advertisements and purchase cryptocurrencies.
To ensure the security of P2P trading, CommEX has established a number of requirements: users must undergo identity verification, enable two-factor authentication and link a Telegram bot.
In addition, the advertiser must have at least 20 successfully completed transactions with more than 10 unique trading partners. The percentage of order execution over the last 30 days must exceed 80%.
Merchant status holders retain their benefits: an icon that distinguishes the user from other traders in the order book, as well as the ability to quickly resolve issues with the support service and exemption from the T+1 rule.
According to estimates from CommEX representatives, since the beginning of 2023, the volume of transactions concluded on their P2P platform has exceeded 40 million USDT.
Also on ForkLog:
OpenAI has updated ChatGPT and reduced the subscription price. Ukrainian politician Vitaly Kim declared Bitcoin. Terraform Labs filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Nexo demanded $3 billion in damages from the Bulgarian authorities.
Alameda dropped its lawsuit against Grayscale, appointment to Kraken and other crypto industry events
Peter Schiff allowed Bitcoin to rise to $10 million, but with a condition
Euro Pacific Capital President and critic of the first cryptocurrency Peter Schiff admitted that by 2031 the price of Bitcoin could reach $10 million under a very hypothetical scenario.
According to him, this will happen if the US dollar follows the path of the “German paper mark”. This was the unofficial name for the money introduced in the country with the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, replacing the previous mark backed by gold.
In the early 1920s, the paper mark became worthless as a result of hyperinflation. During these years, enterprises paid wages several times a day so that workers had time to make purchases before the next price increase. The money supply grew at such a speed that the state did not have time to print banknotes, attracted private traders for this, reduced quality requirements and resorted to other tricks. The highest denomination banknote was 100 trillion marks.. In 1924, during the monetary reform, the old money was exchanged at the rate of 1 trillion for 1 rent mark.
Hyperinflation in Germany is the third highest in recent history after Zimbabwe at the beginning of the 21st century and Hungary during World War II. Presumably, Schiff thus made it clear how incredible he considered the described scenario.
Initially, his comment concerned a comparison of the profitability of Bitcoin and gold. According to Schiff, cryptocurrency supporters, no matter how much the price of an asset falls, still claim its superiority over the precious metal.
“For example, even if Bitcoin falls to $100 in 2031 and gold rises to $10,000, they will argue that the cryptocurrency has increased 100 times in the last 20 years, but the precious metal has only increased five times,” he said.
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