The Incrypted team has prepared for you a digest about the most important events in the crypto industry this week. In it we will talk about the Starknet airdrop, the growth of AI tokens, a new report from Pantera Capital and 5.7 million hryvnia from Binance for educational initiatives for Ukrainians.
Top News Bitcoin News
- Open interest in Bitcoin futures reaches its highest since November 2021
Open interest (OI) in Bitcoin futures trading on exchanges reached $24.12 billion. The last time such demand was observed was in November 2021, according to CoinGlass.
Notably, since the beginning of 2024, OI has grown by more than 30%. The increase in figures occurred against the backdrop of a jump in the price of the first cryptocurrency above $52,000.
Bitcoin BTC- Almost $1 billion worth of bitcoins were withdrawn from Coinbase in one day
On February 19, 2024, a massive movement of bitcoins was recorded on the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange. CryptoQuant analysts reported the withdrawal of more than 18,000 BTC worth almost $1 billion.
The exact reasons for the transfer are unknown. Presumably, bitcoins were withdrawn to further provide liquidity in the over-the-counter market or for self-storage.
- Michael Saylor is not going to sell Bitcoin
MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor is not going to sell bitcoins to the company. The entrepreneur added that Bitcoin is “an exit strategy and the strongest asset.”
Previously, the founder of MicroStrategy said that the demand for Bitcoin products is 10 times greater than the supply.
Dmitriy Yurchenko- ECB representatives called Bitcoin a slow and inconvenient asset
The European Central Bank (ECB) published a new article on Bitcoin, in which it criticized the first cryptocurrency. According to the regulator, after the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States, the asset became a “victim of manipulation and fraud.”
- Donald Trump commented on his position regarding Bitcoin
US presidential candidate Donald Trump admitted that Bitcoin is becoming increasingly popular. He also supported the idea of regulating this asset.
Ethereum News
- Ethereum tested $3,000 for the first time since April 2022
On February 20, 2024, the Ethereum price crossed the $3,000 mark. This is a new high for April 2022, according to TradingView. At the time of publication, the cryptocurrency is trading near $3040.
Ethereum ETH- Vitalik Buterin spoke about the advantages of Verkle Trees for Ethereum
Ethereum project co-founder Vitalik Buterin spoke about his attitude to Verkle Trees technology. According to him, it will have a positive impact on Ethereum staking and the operation of the network as a whole.
- Expert says Ethereum is superior to Bitcoin as a deflationary asset
Cryptocurrency expert Greg Magadini considers Ethereum more promising than Bitcoin. He noted that the asset is characterized by a high rate of supply reduction.
Ethereum Could Become a Major Tool for Institutional Adoption, According to Bernstein Report. Analysts believe that the likelihood of a spot Ethereum ETF being approved before May 2024 is about 50%.
- Ethereum ICO participant “woke up” after more than 8 years of inactivity
Another Ethereum ICO participant transferred 1732 ETH to another address. At the time of writing, this amounts to approximately $5.1 million.. Keith received 3465 ETH in July 2015 at a price of $0.31.
- Vitalik Buterin explained the difference between L1 and L2
Ethereum project co-founder Vitalik Buterin spoke about the difference between L1 and L2 blockchains. According to him, the concept of simplifying the first layer at the expense of the second is no longer so effective.
It is noteworthy that this is not the first time Buterin has discussed the difference between the first and second layers. Previously, he proposed his vision of the classification of L2 solutions.
- The Ethereum Foundation announced the opening of a round of grants
The Ethereum Foundation has announced a new round of grants with Aztec, Polygon, Scroll, Taiko and zkSync. Each partner contributed $150,000.
Cryptocurrency ETFs
- South Korea will consider launching spot Bitcoin ETFs
South Korea’s ruling party plans to include the issue of approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the election campaign. According to experts, this will allow the votes of a young audience to be received.
- Capital inflows into Bitcoin ETFs are driven by outflows from gold-based ETPs
ETC Group expert said Bitcoin could surpass gold as a hedge asset. He pointed out that the ETP based on the latter has been showing a net outflow of funds since the beginning of 2024.
- 21Shares announced tougher competition in the spot Bitcoin ETF market
The spot Bitcoin ETF market has yet to gain traction and will end up with only three to five service providers.. This opinion was expressed by the head of 21Shares Ophelia Snyder.
- VanEck Bitcoin ETF Daily Trading Volume Up 2,200%
VanEck reported significant growth in trading volume on spot Bitcoin ETF. On February 20, 2024, this figure increased by 2200%.
Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas said the fund’s improvement was the result of numerous individual trades rather than the actions of one large investor.
- CIO Valkyrie denies the possibility of imminent approval of spot Ethereum-ETFs
Valkyrie Chief Investment Officer Stephen McClurg urged not to expect the launch of spot Ethereum-ETFs in the near future. In his opinion, the SEC will not rush to make a decision on new crypto funds.
- Cumulative trading volume for spot Bitcoin ETFs exceeds $50 billion
Total trading volume for spot Bitcoin ETFs exceeds $50 billion, according to SoSo Value. It took investment products six weeks to reach this mark.
Hackers and hacks
- FixedFloat lost $26 million as a result of hacking
Decentralized crypto exchange FixedFloat was hacked and lost $26 million in crypto assets. The project team confirmed the incident.
Initially, they were talking about damage of 1700 ETH. Cyvers experts later clarified that the attacker also withdrew 409 BTC.
- Australian police officer accused of stealing more than 81 BTC
Australia’s National Anti-Corruption Commission has accused federal police officer William Whitley of stealing 81.62 BTC from a Trezor wallet.. On February 16, 2024, Whitley appeared in court but pleaded not guilty.
- North Korean hackers use AI for cyberattacks
North Korean hackers are using a variety of AI tools to carry out sophisticated cyberattacks on government, military and financial institutions, as well as crypto projects, the Financial Times reports.
This information was previously confirmed by the developers of the AI bot ChatGPT. According to them, the attackers used the application to collect data and write malicious code.
- Fake Rabbit Wallet app found in App Store
A fake Rabby Wallet app was discovered in the App Store. Journalists learned that it was created by a company called Solution Development. One of the users wrote that he was deceived in the amount of about $5,000.
- FBI and Europol uncovered LockBit ransomware distribution scheme
The FBI, Europol and the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) conducted a joint operation to stop the spread of the LockBit ransomware. Law enforcement officers detained two defendants and froze about 200 crypto wallets.
- Crypto crime in Hong Kong has almost tripled since 2021
From 2021 to 2023, the number of crimes in Hong Kong involving crypto assets increased from 1,397 to 3,415. The total damage from these cases is estimated at 4.39 billion yuan (about $611 million).
- Hong Kong woman lost $2.1 million due to crypto fraud
Financial manager from Hong Kong lost 17.8 million Hong Kong dollars ($2.1 million) as a result of a crypto scam. A 57-year-old woman invested in gold and cryptocurrencies through a fraudulent platform.
- Sky Mavis co-founder suffered $9.7 million hacker attack
Sky Mavis co-founder Jeffrey Tsirlin suffered from a hacker attack. 3,248 ETH worth about $9.7 million were stolen from his cryptocurrency wallets.
Regulation of cryptocurrencies
- South Korean authorities plan to postpone bill on taxation of crypto assets
South Korean authorities plan to postpone the bill on taxation of crypto assets to 2027. The ruling party noted that before this it is necessary to adopt the second part of the sectoral bill.
- UK to pass stablecoin legislation in next 6 months
The UK government is seeking to approve new rules for regulating stablecoins, reports Bloomberg.
Analysts at Elliptic believe that fiat-backed assets and their issuers will be regulated in accordance with existing payment laws.
- Turkey is preparing a package of new rules for the crypto industry
Turkey is preparing a new package of regulations for the cryptocurrency industry, which are designed to protect consumers while supporting innovation.
- Crypto company Lejilex sues SEC
Texas-based cryptocurrency company Lejilex and the Crypto Freedom Alliance of Texas (CFAT) have filed a lawsuit against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Both organizations said the regulator exceeded its powers. They asked a judge to rule that digital assets traded on exchanges are not securities.
The STRK token was listed on cryptocurrency exchanges
On February 20, 2024 at 14:00, the Starknet team opened the STRK token hallmark. At the same time, the asset was listed on several cryptocurrency exchanges.
It is noteworthy that after the announcement of the airdrop, the number of Starknet users fell sharply. Presumably, the decrease in activity is due to community dissatisfaction regarding the criteria for receiving awards. We previously reported that an unknown user received 1.43 million STRK tokens as part of an airdrop from Starknet.
After criticism from the community, the Starknet project team has changed the schedule for unlocking assets. From April 15, only 64 million STRK will enter the market every month, and from March 15, 2025 – 127 million STRK.
Note that the Incrypted team discussed the listing of STRK live:
Optimism distributed more than 10 million tokens to airdrop participants
The Optimism Protocol team announced the fourth distribution of OP tokens to active network participants. More than 10 million OPs were allocated for the airdrop, which were distributed among 22,998 unique addresses.
Let us remind you that the first airdrop from Optimism took place in the summer of 2022, and the second in February 2023. The team also distributed 48 million tokens in September 2023. In total, the protocol administration planned to allocate 19% of the entire OP proposal to distributions.
The court found Binance guilty. The exchange will pay a fine of $4.3 billion
Federal Judge Richard Jones approves plea agreement for cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The company will pay a fine of $4.3 billion.
According to the terms of the agreement, compliance by the Binance exchange must now be monitored for five years.. Monitoring will be carried out by a law firm.
US prosecutors also asked a federal judge to impose additional travel restrictions on the former CEO of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, Changpeng Zhao.
eBay fired 30% of its staff and stopped working on NFTs
eBay has cut the staff of its Web3 division by a third, including some top managers, and suspended work on NFT integration.
In June 2022, eBay acquired the NFT marketplace KnownOrigin. About six months later, she opened several job openings for Web3 specialist positions.
According to NFTgators, after the crypto winter, the company’s interest in the new sector faded. Sources of the publication claim that a wave of layoffs swept through the company, which primarily affected the Web3 division.
The Trust Wallet team has launched a simplified version of the crypto wallet
The Trust Wallet team presented a simplified version of the crypto wallet called Trust Wallet SWIFT.
The company said in a statement that SWIFT is an account abstraction-based wallet designed to solve problems faced by newcomers to Web3.
AI-related tokens rise on Nvidia earnings report
Nvidia has published its financial results for the fourth quarter and 2023 as a whole.. During the specified period of time, it earned $22.1 billion, which is $1.7 billion more than the predicted value.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company was able to achieve such results thanks to the release of chipsets with built-in AI. Amid the publication of the Nvidia report, the rate of some AI tokens also increased. Individual assets added 10-20% in value.
Binance allocated 5.7 million hryvnia for educational initiatives for Ukrainians
A division of the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, Binance Charity, together with the non-profit organization Superhumans Foundation announced the allocation of 5.7 million hryvnia to launch educational initiatives.
It is known that the project is aimed at helping veterans and citizens of Ukraine affected by the war. Brief retelling
Airdrops
Guides:
- Masa Tokensale On Coinlist;
- Linea Park;
- Backpack;
- Ambit Finance;
- Lava Network;
- Agni – Campaign;
- StarkNet DeFi Spring – Week 1;
- Axiom;
- Ethena;
- DOP – Galxe Campaign;
- Holograph x Polygon Labs;
- Blaze Testnet Form.
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.