News Updates August 25, 2022

1. Bitcoin Price Could Avoid Another Drop if it Closes Above One Key Level. 

Bitcoin is struggling to gain pace above $21,500 against the US Dollar. BTC must clear the $22,500 resistance zone to avoid a fresh decline in the near term.

Bitcoin is struggling to gain pace above the $21,500 and $21,600 levels.
The price is now trading above the $21,500 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average.
There is a key bearish trend line forming with resistance near $22,000 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair.
The pair could start a decent increase if there is a close above the $22,000 resistance zone.
Bitcoin Price Faces Hurdles
Bitcoin price started a minor upside correction from the $21,000 support zone. BTC was able to slowly move higher above the $21,250 and $21,500 levels.

The price even broke the $21,650 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average. There was a clear move above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $24,416 swing high to $20,797 low. However, the bulls struggled to gain strength for a push towards the $22,000 resistance.

The next major resistance could be near the $22,650 zone. It is close to the 50% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $24,416 swing high to $20,797 low. Any more gains might send the price towards the $24,000 resistance zone.

2. Analyst Says Bitcoin (BTC) Weakening, but Crypto Markets Can Rally This Week After Fed Meeting.

A popular analyst is considering how the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy meeting will impact both Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader economy.

The anonymous host of InvestAnswers first tells his 444,000 YouTube subscribers that all eyes will be on Chairman Jerome Powell during the Fed’s three-day Wyoming retreat, noting that markets will probably rally if interest rates don’t go up again.

 
“We have to really be cognizant of the fact that Jerome Powell is in Jackson Hole at the economic conference. He will provide some much desired clarity on the market and the central bank’s pathway.

It’s likely to be the most important catalyst for the week for equities and cryptos alike. Remember, if we get a hint of dovishness, the market will rally.”

The analyst thinks the Fed can only raise rates by a total of 1% or risk causing irreparable damage to the economy.

“Last time I read the Fed minutes, it had so much 

wishy-washy stuff in it, that basically it could interpret that the Fed will slow down their rate hikes. But don’t get overly excited. We are still in very restrictive territory.

But my thesis remains: there’s no more than 100 basis points left in the budget, and if they go beyond that, it’s financial armageddon.”

The InvestAnswers host next presents a Bitcoin channels chart dating back to mid-June. He observes how BTC was trending upward within the range until falling hard last week, flashing a double bottom.

“This is the channel you saw me sharing many times over the past six weeks. From the bottom, in, out, beautiful range rider all the way up in the ascending channel.

We crashed through it last week. I said it has to support, if not it could be ugly. We did crash through, but we fell down to a very interesting level. We had that visit above $25,000 and then straight down.

These are daily red candles and you can see the number of red days we’ve had. But what’s very important is the level of support around $20,750.”

3. South Korea Says 75% Of Illegal FX Transactions Are Crypto-Related.

South Korea is home to a considerable amount of cryptocurrency owners. The East Asian country has witnessed a rapid surge in cryptocurrency adoption rate, as the industry gets more mainstream. Notwithstanding, recent data suggests some of these crypto transactions might be going towards illegal deals.

South Korean authorities reported four illicit crypto-related deals of up to $1.1B
According to a Bloomberg report, the rate of illegal crypto-related transactions appears to have surged in recent times. Citing government data, Bloomberg noted that most illegal forex transactions in South Korea this year are crypto-related. In addition, the data suggests that they contribute to almost 75% of all illicit Forex transactions in 2022 so far.

Per Bloomberg, the South Korean prosecutor’s office recently received reports of four illicit crypto-related transactions. The transactions have a combined value of 1.5 trillion won ($1.1 billion).
This figure represents 70 times the entire illicit cryptocurrency-related FX transactions the country recorded in 2020. Additionally, it is almost double the value of 827 billion won witnessed in all of 2021.

Furthermore, besides the four illicit FX transactions, South Korea is also investigating related cases of $3.4B of abnormal transactions. The transactions allegedly have  links to illicit crypto-related deals. Additionally, the authorities allege that two major banks in the country facilitated the transactions.

4. Japan might be lowering tax burdens on crypto startups in 2023
The country discussed the necessity of reducing the tax requirements on crypto initiatives to prevent start-ups from leaving Japan.

The Japanese Government indicated a possibility of reducing the tax burdens on crypto startups with the 2023 tax reform to prevent startups from leaving the county to set up their businesses.

Rakuten Group President Hiroshi Mikitani spoke at the Government’s Digital Society Initiative Conference in April and brutally self-criticized by saying:

“Most people go to Singapore because it’s stupid to start a business in Japan,”
Mikitani’s words must have taken their toll on the Japanese Government since the country’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida referred to 2022 as “the first year of creating startups” and revealed his intentions to support the emergence of startups in Japan.

Prime Minister Kishida also noted that the Government would plan a new implementation process to create a nourishing environment for startups and formulate a five-year plan dedicated to this topic by the year-end.

5. US politician’s failure to report husband’s crypto trades branded “disturbing”

US Republican representative Lauren Boebert neglected to file transaction reports for eight cryptocurrency trades made last year by her husband, according to her annual financial statement.

The trades, ranging in value from $1,000 to $15,000 and involving an unknown crypto, were made by Jayson Boebert last May using the Robinhood app.

However, despite the US House of Representatives requiring trades like these to be reported within 45 days under the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 (STOCK), Boebert failed to do so.

According to Kedric Payne, vice president of the Campaign Legal Center, Boebert’s failure to report the trades is “disturbing.”

“There’s a huge red flag that all these assets were obtained in one year, but no reporting on it,” said Payne (via The Colorado Sun). “And it’s not even reported accurately in that annual report. Those things should be transactions, not just listings of assets.”

Members of Congress who fail to file within 45 days could be subject to a $200 fine but, as detailed by Business Insider earlier this year, this punishment is often waived by the House Ethics Committee.

 *Congress considering all-out trading ban for US politicians*

Congress is currently mulling a number of measures that would ban many US politicians from trading stocks altogether.

Calls for stricter measures grew louder after it was revealed that 71 members of Congress failed to adhere to STOCK Act laws, with excuses ranging from ignorance of the law to clerical foul-ups and accounting snafus.

Lauren Boebert also failed to disclose any crypto, stock, or brokerage assets in her 2020 personal financial filing. This caused her problems when it was revealed that her husband had been paid nearly $1 million for consulting work for an oil and gas company in Colorado.

6. Amendments to US commercial code differentiate crypto and ‘electronic money’

The updated guidelines seek to clarify the terms of crypto assets lending and specify the status of CBDCs.

 *A joint committee of the United States's*

Uniform Law Commission (ULC) and the American Law Institute (ALI) finalized amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), regulating the specifics of digital asset transactions and crypto-as-collateral secured financings. 

The amendments are “recommended for enactment in all the States,” although each case of final implementation may vary depending on the State. 

A final draft of the ULC-ALI Emerging Technologies Committee’s amendments to the UCC was approved during a meeting on July 8–13. The key updates for the crypto industry appeared in Articles 3 and 9, the new Article 12 contains a set of relevant details as well.

 *Optimism fading? Regulatory discussion on stablecoins postponed until fall* 

Electronic money” is included in the revised category of “money” and signifies fiat digital currencies. Thus, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) could be considered “electronic money” under the new guidelines, while cryptocurrencies could not.

As analysts at JD Supra emphasized, in a practical sense this differentiation means that “perfection of a security interest in CBDC can only be achieved via the lender’s ‘control’ of the CBDC.” The amendments also specify that in order to be first-priority perfected in cryptocurrency collateral, a lender will have to acquire its borrower’s private key and transfer the crypto to a wallet the lender (or custodian) solely controls.

The ETC was formed within the framework of the ULC in 2019 to address legal questions of cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and other emerging digital assets. The UCC is a set of model laws adopted in their entirety by nearly all U.S. states to facilitate interstate trade. Therefore, the changes are likely to be accepted throughout the country eventually.

In March 2022 the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a bill to adopt the new version of Chapter 12 of the UCC which will govern transfers of digital assets.

7. Brazil’s Senate Seeking to Hire Crypto and Blockchain Experts to Advise It on Policy

The Brazilian Senate wants to recruit experts with advanced knowledge of cryptoassets and blockchain technology – likely in a bid to help it better form legislation for the nation’s fledgeling crypto industry.

In an official post from the Senate, the hiring managers wrote that candidates must possess “specific knowledge” of both “cryptoassets and blockchain.” The notice explained that as well as “general knowledge” about the technology, candidates would need to prove they have a specific understanding of smart contracts, blockchain technology, and “algorithms,” as well as knowledge of economic, business, and consumer law. They will also need to be well-briefed on relevant regulations in the sector.

The Senate indicated that it would seek to make two hires in this field, and that the successful candidates would be offered the title of “legislative consultant to the Senate.” The hires will provide “legislative and budgetary advice” as well as “economic” and “IT” “analysis.”

The media outlet Exame reported that the hires will also work as advisors to both Senate committees and the National Congress (the lower parliamentary house) on the subjects of “blockchain technology, cryptoassets and other topics related to the economic and legal sectors.

Candidates must be graduates of recognized higher educational institutions, although the Senate is willing to accept applications from all degree holders, regardless what candidates majored in. They will be tested on their knowledge in an examination that will be held nationwide in state capitals and the deadline for applications is September 21.

Brazil’s Senate has taken the initiative on crypto regulation, and some of its members were the architects of an ambitious bill that seeks to regulate crypto exchanges and brokers – in addition to providing a legal framework for crypto miners to work within. 

The bill has since been approved. Critics, however, have claimed that the draft law was hurried and incomplete – and claimed that it was lacking in key areas.

The Senate responded by stating that there would be “room for improvement” at a later date and suggested that further regulatory measures will be forthcoming.

8. Report: East African Single Currency Unlikely to Be Introduced by 2024

There are growing doubts about the regional economic bloc known as the East African Community’s ability to successfully launch a single currency by 2024, a report has said. One of the reasons for this is member states’ delays in meeting targets as set out in the roadmap.

 *Attainment of Single Regional Currency a Top Priority for the EAC*

Central banks from an African economic union, the East African Community (EAC) are reportedly unsure if plans to introduce a single currency for the region by the year 2024 will be realized. The central banks cite some member states’ failure to meet targets as set out in the roadmap as one of the reasons why the single currency is unlikely to take off as planned.

As per a report in the East African, members of the six-nation East African Community hope that the envisaged common currency will help reduce the costs associated with converting currencies. There are also hopes the single currency, whose attainment is one of the EAC’s priorities for the period between 2022 and 2026, will eliminate the exchange rate volatility that comes with cross-border trading.

Meanwhile, in a communique reportedly released on August 22, the EAC confirmed that delays and other challenges meant the regional bloc cannot have a single currency by 2024 as planned.

“The Committee noted that there have been delays in realising targets set out in the EAMU [East African Monetary Union] roadmap and that there are several challenges that could further impede the timely implementation of EAMU protocol. Therefore, the Committee pledged to work with the EAC Secretariat and other stakeholders in the EAC integration process to fast-track pending activities of the EAMU roadmap,” the EAC communique explained.

 *Harmonization of Monetary and Forex Policies* 

Still, despite its acknowledgement that the process to establish a single regional currency has been beset by challenges, the EAC nonetheless claimed that partner states’ central banks had achieved some progress.

According to the East African report, some of the central banks’ achievements include the creation of the East African Monetary Union (EAMU) as well as the harmonization of forex and monetary policies.

Other achievements are said to be the harmonization of regulatory regimes, the improvement of cybersecurity frameworks, and the application of measures which strengthen payment systems.

9. Crypto adoption in Ireland down over 16% in the last year

Adults in Ireland have become slightly less interested in crypto with a drop in ownership from 12% to 10% in the last year.

The number of crypto investors in Ireland has decreased slightly in the past year, or so it appears, according to recent data from Finder.com. 

The report revealed that cryptocurrency adoption in the island nation has dropped by approximately 16.6% within the last year. Of the surveyed adult Irish internet users, 10% own cryptocurrency, as opposed to 12% in 2021.

Finder’s crypto specialist James Edwards commented that such a small decrease is actually a positive shock given the state of the bear market.

Edwards says the data suggests that despite the selloffs, the low drop in holders signals both hodlers and even more purchasing at discounted rates.

The survey also highlighted the dominance of Irish male investors over female investors, with 72% of surveyed holders being men. This gender gap is in line with the reality of the entire crypto space, which is highly male-dominated.

This is slowly changing as the space continues to integrate with various global industries. According to the BTCM Investor Study Report of 2021, the numbe of women investors that entered the space increased by 126%. 

Irish investors are most keen on Bitcoin (BTC) at 35% ownership among local users. This is followed by Dogecoin (DOGE) (26%) and Ether (ETH) (23%). 

 *Dogecoin launches new update to improve security and efficiency*

Generally, Ireland has been a friendly jurisdiction for cryptocurrency companies. In fact, in October 2021, Binance established three subsidiaries in Ireland and a fourth in November. 

The crypto exchange Gemini received its virtual assets provider license in Ireland on July 20 of this year. Kraken and Ripple are two other crypto-centric companies that have chosen Ireland for their European headquarters.