The Incrypted team has prepared a digest of the main events in the cryptocurrency industry this week. In it we will tell you how many bitcoins Microstrategy bought in January, when the Dencun update for Ethereum will be released and what restrictions the NBU is going to introduce.
Main news About Bitcoin
- Bitcoin rate rose above $47,000
On February 9, 2024, the price of Bitcoin surpassed $47,000. Amid high volatility, the volume of liquidations exceeded $134 million, of which $100 million were short positions.
Bitcoin BTC- Experts noted an increase in trading on the Bitcoin network
Monthly trading volume on the Bitcoin network reaches its highest in more than 17 months. In January, this figure amounted to more than $1.2 trillion.
- Bitcoin mining difficulty has once again updated ATH
The difficulty of mining the first cryptocurrency has updated its historical maximum and reached 75.50 T. Since the last date of change, the indicator has increased by 7.33.
- Ark Invest CEO says Bitcoin is superior to gold as a hedge asset
Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood believes Bitcoin is superior to gold as a risk hedge. In her opinion, it helps protect savings from economic uncertainty.
About Ethereum
- Ethereum rate exceeded $2500
On February 9, the crypto-asset market saw an increase not only in Bitcoin, but also in Ethereum. The cryptocurrency surpassed the $2,500 mark. In just one day, the index of fear and greed increased by six points, reaching 72.
Ethereum ETH- The Dencun update was successfully deployed to the Holesky testnet
On February 7, 2024, the Dencun update incorporating proto-dunksharding (EIP-4844) was successfully deployed to the Holesky testnet. Subsequently, it should be launched on the Ethereum mainnet.
Note that the Dencun update is planned to be deployed on the main network approximately on March 13, 2024. This information was confirmed by developer Tim Beiko.
- The trader earned $1.2 million from the growth of the token on the Ethereum network
The price of the Pandora token on the Ethereum network has exceeded $8,600 since listing on decentralized exchanges. The asset’s steady growth brought the trader about $1.2 million in profit in two days, Lookonchain analysts report.
- The Ethereum network has a new ERC-404 standard
Trading volume of ERC-404 standard tokens on decentralized exchanges and NFT platforms reached $105 million. Traders’ interest in ERC-404 was sparked by the launch of the Replicants collection. It is noteworthy that the Binance crypto exchange has already added a new standard to its Web3 Wallet.
- SEC postpones consideration of application for spot Ethereum-ETF from Invesco and Galaxy Digital
US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Postpones Decision on Invesco/Galaxy Digital Spot Ethereum ETF. The deadline for this case will be July 2024.
- Ethereum’s share in staking reached 25% of the total supply
The amount of Ethereum staked has reached 25% of the total supply. The value of these assets is estimated at $73 billion.
According to available information, the total number of coins staked is 30.1 million ETH. These assets were placed by 942,023 individual validators.
Binance News
- Binance database put up for sale on the darknet. The exchange denies the leak
An unknown attacker claimed to have gained access to the Binance database of verified users. The crypto exchange denied the leak, noting that all data is protected.
- Media: Indian authorities refused to allow Binance to unblock online resources
Indian authorities refused to lift the block on the online resources of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange. The government of the country does not want to make concessions and give the company time to adapt, the media note.
- Binance co-founder denies rumors of information leak before Ronin listing
Binance co-founder Yi He commented on the fall in the price of the Ronin (RON) token after listing. She denied rumors of a potential information leak and said that the exchange would review the token placement process.
- Media: the regulator of Uzbekistan will go to court to collect a fine from Binance
The National Agency for Prospective Projects (NAPP) of Uzbekistan intends to go to court to collect a fine from the Binance crypto exchange. In January, it fined the company 102 million soums (about $8,300 at the time of writing) for operating without a license.
- Binance Presents Reserve Audit Report
Binance conducted another audit of reserves stored on the exchange. As of February 7, 2024, the trading platform controls 609,477 BTC and 4.35 million ETH. The crypto exchange confirmed that client assets are backed by reserves by more than 100%.
- Crypto exchange Binance has stopped the withdrawal of B-tokens on the BNB Beacon Chain network
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has stopped the withdrawal of B-tokens (BEP-2) on the BNB Beacon Chain network. This is due to the gradual shutdown of the blockchain, which is scheduled to stop in April 2024.
- Binance has published a report on the crypto market for January 2024
Crypto exchange Binance presented a report on the state and key trends of the crypto market for January 2024. According to analysts, it showed stability with a slight increase in capitalization of 0.4%, which indicates the beginning of consolidation.
Fraud and hacks
- Fraudsters stole $26 million worth of company funds using deepfake
In Hong Kong, an employee of one of the companies transferred almost $26 million of corporate funds to scammers after a video conference with fake management. He sent using 15 transactions. The specialist realized that he had become a victim of scammers only after he contacted the central office.
- A teacher at a crypto academy defrauded students of $1.2 million
Crypto trading course teacher Brian Sewell deceived his students. He defrauded 15 students of about $1.2 million, but lost all the funds due to a hacked crypto wallet.
- Investor lost $236,000 in cryptocurrencies due to phishing scam
An unknown crypto investor became the victim of a phishing attack, PeckShield reported.. He lost $236,000 worth of liquid staking stETH tokens.
- Haru Invest management detained in South Korea on charges of stealing $826 million
The South Korean prosecutor’s office announced the detention of three leaders of the cryptocurrency platform Haru Invest. They are accused of stealing cryptocurrencies worth 1.1 trillion Korean won (about $826 million at the time of writing).
- Kansas banker accused of stealing $47 million to buy cryptocurrencies
Former Heartland Tri-State Bank CEO Shane Haynes was accused of stealing more than $47 million in client funds.. The man used them to invest in cryptocurrency.
In January, MicroStrategy bought 850 BTC
MicroStrategy published financial report for the fourth quarter of 2023. Also, the company’s former CEO Michael Saylor shared data on the company’s investments in Bitcoin.. In January, the company purchased an additional 850 BTC. As a result, MicroStrategy’s unrealized profit reached $2.2 billion.
There was a failure in the Solana network
On February 6, 2024, the Solana team reported problems with the blockchain. One of the Laine validators added that the network is experiencing a decrease in performance. To solve the problem, the developers released an update and restarted the cluster. Solana was down for about 5 hours.
The NBU announced the development of measures to limit transfers between cards
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) is developing measures to limit transfers between cards. This was stated by NBU representative Ekaterina Rozhkova.
It is reported that the restrictions may affect both transfers between cards and some operations with self-service terminals. P2P transactions of crypto exchange clients could potentially be subject to restrictions, lawyers noted in a conversation with Incrypted.
$800 million worth of tokens are expected to be unlocked in February
In February 2024, tokens worth a total of $800 million will be unlocked, according to TokenUnlocks. Most of it comes from Aptos (APT) and Avalanche (AVAX). Note that a sharp increase in the circulating supply of an asset can have a significant impact on its exchange rate.
Coinbase: Blockchain technology could save US residents $74 billion
Coinbase presented a new report on the state of the crypto market. Experts say that thanks to blockchain technology, US residents could save at least $74 billion in 2022 on credit card transaction fees.
Montenegro court approves Do Kwon’s appeal
On February 7, 2024, the Court of Appeal of Montenegro accepted the complaint of the lawyers of ex-CEO of Terraform Labs Do Kwon, thereby canceling the extradition decision. The case was referred for retrial.
BlackRock is ready to increase the share of Bitcoin in its portfolio
Financial giant BlackRock is ready to increase the share of the first cryptocurrency in its portfolio. This was announced by the company’s chief investment officer for global fixed income, Rick Rieder.
According to him, Bitcoin now makes up only a small part of the total funds managed by the company. However, the situation may change along with a change in society’s attitude towards this asset, notes Reeder.
OpenAI is looking for investors for a $7 trillion project
OpenAI is in talks with investors to launch semiconductor production. The preliminary estimate of the project is $5-7 trillion. It aims to eliminate the shortage of components needed to develop new AI-based systems.
Other news
- Bitcoin supporter Nayib Bukele wins presidential election in El Salvador;
- The organizers of Super Bowl LVIII refused to advertise cryptocurrencies;
- Facebook and Instagram may allow advertising of Bitcoin ETFs;
- Donald Trump spoke about the threat from artificial intelligence;
- SEC delays consideration of Invesco and Galaxy Digital’s Ethereum spot ETF application;
- In Spain, cryptocurrencies will be seized to pay taxes;
- dYdX presented a roadmap for 2024;
- Solana Mobile received over 60,000 pre-orders for the new smartphone;
- The court ordered Ripple Labs to provide financial statements to the SEC;
- TVL EigenLayer grew by more than $1.5 billion per day;
- The XMR token sank by more than 15% amid news of delisting on Binance;
- A stablecoin was launched in a Polish city;
- BlackRock’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Ranks Among Top 5 ETPs by Capital Inflows;
- Thailand has abolished VAT for cryptocurrency transfers;
- Media: US Congress is close to passing a law on stablecoins;
- The head of ENS did not rule out the possibility of launching an L2 network;
- Spot Bitcoin ETFs from BlackRock and Fidelity outperform GBTC in terms of liquidity;
- Bernstein predicted an increase in shares of Bitcoin miners ahead of the halving.
What’s up with Incrypted? Articles and interviews
The editors have prepared material about the NEAR Wallet wallet. We figured out what this project is and how to mine HOT tokens:
Nikita Tipikin-HolovkoA review of BitTorrent Chain and the BTT token has appeared in the “Beginners” section. Their holders will have access to events, as well as exclusive gifts and secret bonuses:
Sergey KhukharkinAirdrops and token sales
New instructions for airdrops:
- Overlay;
- Artela Network;
- Meteora;
- ZetaChain;
- Partisia Airdrop Campaign;
- Clusters;
- LogX Trading Activity;
- Wormfare Zealy Campaign.
Updates:
- Taiko New Galxe Quest;
- Starknet – Quest with Loot Survivor.
Upcoming token sales:
- Powerloom Selling Node NFT.
Besides…
- We have collected for you in one material key investments in the field of blockchain, crypto assets and AI.
- We regularly update the Incrypted crypto calendar, in which you will find a lot of interesting events and announcements.