News updates February 26, 2022
1. ECB Wants Quick Action on Crypto Regulation Following Russian Sanctions
The European parliament earlier today postponed a vote on a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.
Speaking to the press following a meeting of the EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Council, ECB President Christine Lagarde says it's "critically important" for the so-called MiCA legislation to be pushed through as soon as possible.
* The Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation has been worked on for several years to provide a structure for broadly regulating the burgeoning cryptocurrency market. A vote on its passage was supposed to take place on Feb. 28, but was suspended indefinitely today on criticism that wording in the bill could overly restrict or even ban the energy-intensive proof-of-work process that secures the Bitcoin (BTC) network, among others.
* While there's been lots of speculation on how Russia might make use of cryptocurrency networks to assist in evading stringent financial sanctions imposed by the EU and U.S., many legal and blockchain experts aren't convinced it's possible.
- The ECB's Lagarde: "There are always criminal ways to try to circumvent a prohibition, which is why it's so critically important that MiCA is pushed through as quickly as possible so we have a regulatory framework."
2. China outlaws crypto fundraising, offenders could face jail sentences
China has criminalized raising funds using crypto–the country’s top court said in a new interpretation of national law.
Under new legal interpretation from China’s Supreme People’s Court, raising funds using cryptocurrency is deemed as an illegal activity in the country, according to South China Morning Post.
The new ban adds to tightening regulations targeting financial scams in the country which became infamous for its crackdown on cryptocurrencies over the years.
Jail sentence penalties
Repercussions for crypto fundraising are contingent on the value of the amount raised, according to the interpretation by the Supreme People’s Court published on Thursday.
The amendment which comes into force from March 1, states that Chinese courts can now officially issue jail sentences to offenders–ranging from below three years to over ten years in prison.
The court categorized fundraising that tops 100,000 yuan ($15,800) as a “large amount”.
If fundraising involves an “extremely huge” sum of 50 million yuan, a loss of at least 25 million yuan, or includes 5,000 people, which is categorized as “extremely serious”–one could end up behind bars for over a decade.
The fresh legal interpretation is aimed at “punishing illegal fundraising crimes in accordance with the law and maintaining national financial security and stability,” and falls in line with Beijing’s aggressive efforts to root out crypto in the country–packing it under the umbrella of financial scams and money laundering.
The amendment doesn’t come as a shock
Last September, China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), published a memo criminalizing practically all cryptocurrency activity–from crypto transactions to mining.
Although Beijing’s crackdown on crypto started years ago, last year’s bans on crypto mining in China, which started rolling out in the summer, saw Bitcoin suffer its biggest mining difficulty drop of almost 28% in July, as miners started migrating their operations out of the country.
The mining ban saw the Bitcoin hash rate drop by nearly 50%, however, the computing power that’s securing the network recovered in the following months.
The result: the US now accounts for more than 35% of the Bitcoin network hash rate, according to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index.
To conclude, Bitcoin recorded a new hash rate all-time high of 248.1 exahashes per second (EH/s) earlier this month–leveraging stronger than ever resilience against attacks on the network.
3. US Justice Department Indicts BitConnect Founder
Satish Kumbhani already faced SEC charges for his role in the "global Ponzi scheme."
The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that a federal grand jury charged BitConnect founder Satish Kumbhani with defrauding investors of some $2.4 billion through its lending scheme.
Kumbhani was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit price manipulation, operating an unlicensed money transmitter and conspiracy to launder funds internationally for "orchestrating a global Ponzi scheme" according to a DOJ press release, which alleged he traded cryptocurrencies using his investors' funds, and repaid earlier investors with the funds he received from later investors.
Kumbhani was already sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in late 2021 on similar charges, alongside BitConnect promoter Glenn Arcaro. Arcaro pleaded guilty to a similar BitConnect-related charge filed by the DOJ last September.
U.S. Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite Jr. said cryptocurrencies are continuing to be used in international crimes in a statement.
The department is committed to protecting victims, preserving market integrity, and strengthening its global partnerships to hold accountable criminals engaging in cryptocurrency fraud. We thank our partners around the world for their continued efforts," he said.
In a statement, IRS-Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Ryan Korner said malicious actors were increasingly using crypto.
As cryptocurrency gains popularity and attracts investors worldwide, alleged fraudsters like Kumbhani are utilizing increasingly complex schemes to defraud investors, oftentimes stealing millions of dollars,” he said. “However, make no mistake, our agency will continue our long tradition of following the money, whether physical or digital, to expose criminal schemes and hold the fraudsters accountable for their illegal acts of trickery and deceit.”
BitConnect collapsed in dramatic fashion in 2018, shuttering its exchange and lending platforms within a week after receiving cease-and-desist orders from U.S. state regulators. The company attempted to continue raising proceeds through an initial coin offering (ICO).
Regulators in the U.S. and other nations have arrested or sought information from a number of BitConnect promoters in the four years since its collapse.
4. Front-running, flash bots and keeping things fair in the crypto market
We can’t allow failures of the past to come creeping back into the DeFi future — let’s stop the flash bots dead in their tracks.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) has the opportunity to democratize access to financial markets that have typically only been open to the rich and powerful. But, DeFi will only survive and continue to grow if we take steps to ensure things are safe, private and fair for both retail and institutional investors. When faced with predatory market behaviors such as miner extractable value (MEV) and front-running attacks it opens up old wounds to a “Flash Boys” era of traditional finance.
DeFi can and should do better by not allowing the failures of the past to come creeping back into the future. Fortunately, by implementing cryptographic mechanisms that integrate transactional privacy into public blockchains, information can be proven with things such as an order book without being revealed. This seemingly magical mathematical tactic not only shields transactions from the aforementioned behavior but also allows for auditability, all while still preserving the privacy of individual or institutional accounts. This approach will foster a more accessible DeFi industry and provide a more equitable and liquid market for all.
In crypto, these specialized arbitrage bots will usurp human traders on exchanges by algorithmically predicting their moves and squeezing in their trades before a person can modify their position. These bots also often get priority in the upcoming block validation by paying higher fees that are calculated against the return on the trade. These bots will know in a fraction of a second what trades to make to optimize their profit.
Another phenomenon that enables scenarios like front-running is miner extractable value. MEV is just a fancy new way to describe how miners can extract value by deliberately prioritizing or ordering transactions to their benefit. When the miners are working against the best interests of the blockchain, their ability to use MEV undermines one of the key value propositions of decentralization and that is censorship resistance.
This malicious behavior incentivizes bad actors to come up with and implement numerous predatory actions that can undermine the security of an entire network. Further, most consensus mechanisms fail to punish MEV attacks which, in turn, gives miners the freedom to exploit them.
On a blockchain native decentralized exchange (DEX), when you combine the presence of Flash Bots together with MEV, the threat and resulting costs for the average human user compounds. If there is ever going to be mainstream adoption of crypto and DeFi, then the market environment needs to become less hostile to retail consumers. Working on cryptographic methods to protect against these types of malicious behaviors is something the industry needs to prioritize.
Fortunately, Flash Bot front-running and MEV attacks can be minimized on blockchains and their native DEXs with privacy-centric designs that utilize zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) to mask transactions without compromising network security. ZKP technology is quickly becoming scalable enough to support such use cases as blind bidding, where the trade transaction is submitted, proven and verified on a DEX without revealing details such as trade size and time. This mechanism prevents a Flash Bot from being able to look up the trade on an order book and instantly front-run it with a better bid or ask.
A similar mechanism can be implemented to prevent MEV as well, but instead, the transaction is submitted, proven and verified on a blockchain without having to reveal its details to miners. This is the magic of ZKP that can be used to allow protocol rules to be implemented that see what (and how) transactions take place through cryptographic proofs. All of this is without revealing more information than is needed to verify the transaction under any existing protocol rules that said transactions must meet.
5. Pantera Capital Explains Why Bitcoin Could Rally Soon
“Tax Day” and the consequences of the Fed’s policies could boost bitcoin’s price in the near future, Pantera Capital forecasted.
Despite the recent turbulence in the cryptocurrency market, Pantera Capital envisioned a surge in bitcoin’s price in the following weeks. According to the investment firm, ‘Tax Day’ could be one of the propellers. Moreover, the cryptocurrency industry might soon separate from traditional financial markets and start trading independently, the company added.
Light in The Tunnel
Bitcoin’s last several months have been quite bearish. While many proponents expected to see it trading at $100,000 by the end of 2021, it finished the year below $50K, and the start of the new year meant more drops.
February 24th was another negative trading day as the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine led to significant price slumps for the asset. Today, though, BTC has recovered most losses and stands just shy of $39,000.
In its report, dubbed “The Next Mega-Trade,” Pantera Capital outlined its reasons why bitcoin could resume its bull run soon. One of them is the approaching “Tax Day,” which this year is on April 18th.
The company reminded that in 2013, 2017, 2020, and 2021 (previous big run-ups), bitcoin’s price soared significantly 35 days prior to the event. However, each time the asset lost some ground around that day as investors were selling some holdings to cover taxes.
Crypto Could Gain Independence From Financial Markets
Pantera Capital also touched upon Fed’s policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company called the mass printing of fiat currencies, the manipulation of Treasuries, and mortgage of bonds a “clearly wrong” mix.
It further blamed the American central bank for the rising inflation and the economic turmoil inside US borders. Pantera Capital said there is a bubble that will burst, following which the Fed will have to raise interest rates even higher. According to CEO Dan Morehead, this sounds like good news for the digital asset universe.
6. MANA Technical Analysis: Buyers Struggle To Recreate Bullish Cycle
MANA coin price shows a bullish reversal from $2.45 and creates a symmetrical triangle pattern as the rally approaches the long-coming resistance trendline.
The MANA coin price shows lower price rejection from the $2.5 mark, resulting in a support trendline and a symmetrical triangle pattern. However, the bull cycle struggles to outshine the sellers at $2.85, which questions the possibility of a bullish rally approaching the resistance trendline?
MANA price action creates a morning star pattern
The Stochastic RSI shows a bullish crossover in the daily chart
The 24-hour trading volume in the MANA token is $1.02 Billion, indicating a 30% fall.
Past Performance of MANA
With the recent rejection from the long-coming resistance trendline, the MANA coin price retraces 25% to the $2.5 mark. However, the bulls resurface to hold the $2.5 level and bring a short reversal. This generates a weak support trendline that completes a symmetrical triangle pattern in the daily chart.
MANA Technical Analysis
The MANA coin price shows a bullish reversal within a triangle pattern but struggles to overcome the $2.85 barrier. Hence, a selling opportunity with the breakout of support trendline is possible.
The MANA price shows a higher price rejection from the 50-day EMA and falls below the 100-day EMA. Hence, a retracement to the 200-day EMA is possible, which will break below the support trendline.
After the bullish crossover in the oversold territory, the Stochastic RSI indicator shows sharp linear growth in the K and D lines. However, the lines must overcome the previous failed bullish cycle peak to generate a bullish signal.
The RSI Indicator slope shows a gradual rise that struggles to surpass the halfway mark after the sharp fall from the overbought zone. Moreover, the RSI slope fails to reach the 14-day average.
In short, the MANA technical analysis shows a weak bullish reversal that may shortly break below the support trendline.
Upcoming Trend
The MANA coin price struggles to surpass the $2.85 mark and fails to withstand the selling pressure resulting in the long wick formation. Hence, the bears are resurfacing after the 5.83% overnight growth. That is why sellers can shortly find a trendline breakout entry with the target of $2.40.
7. Solana price analysis: SOL/USD shows stable dynamics at $91.7
*Solana price analysis is bullish today.
* The strongest resistance is present at $116.
* Solana trading price is $91.7 as of writing time.
The Solana price analysis shows stabilizing signs as the market shows positive potential. The bulls have not been sitting idly by, they have made plans for Solana, which have been carried out elegantly by them, and SOL now experiences a new bullish period for the next few days. However, the bears have not given up and appear to hinder the progress of bulls.
The market shows the price of Solana spike today to the $94 mark but declined soon after to $31.7. Solana continues a slight negative movement. SOL currently trades at $91.7; SOL has been down 3.61% in the last 24 hours with a trading volume of $2,915,056,975 and a live market cap of $29,391,645,754. SOL currently ranks at #8 in the cryptocurrency rankings.
SOL/USD 4-hour price analysis: Recent developments
The Solana price analysis has led us to believe that the present condition of the market appears to have shown bearish potential as the price moves downwards. Moreover, the market has significantly maintained a bullish trend, tiring out the bulls in the past few hours. As a result, the upper limit of the Bollinger’s band rests at $96.1, serving as the strongest resistance for SOL. Conversely, the lower limit of the Bollinger’s band is present at $80.2, serving as a support point for SOL.
The SOL/USD price travels over the Moving Average curve, indicating the market following a bullish movement. So, we can see the market has started opening its volatility today. As a result, the Solana price has more room to move towards positivity. In addition, the SOL/USD price seems to move towards the Moving Average curve, signifying a possible reversal movement, which could give bears the opportunity that they desperately need.
The Solana price analysis reveals that the Relative Strength Index (RSI) score is 55 making the cryptocurrency stable, falling in the upper neutral region. Furthermore, the RSI score moves slightly downwards, indicating the selling activity exceeding the buying activity while moving towards stable dynamics.
Solana price analysis for 24-hours: SOL market closes
The Solana price analysis had maintained a bearish movement in the last few days. However, with the volatility decreasing, the bulls have seized the opportunity and taken over the market. Moreover, as the volatility closes, it makes the value of the cryptocurrency less volatile to change. As a result, the upper limit of the Bollinger’s band rests at $116.1, serving as the most substantial resistance for SOL. Contrariwise, the lower limit of the Bollinger’s band rests at $77, serving as the strongest support for SOL.
The SOL/USD price appears to be crossing over the Moving Average curve, displaying bullish momentum. However, the price can be traced upward, indicating massive bullish activity.
The Relative Strength Index (RSI) score appears to be 43, showing the cryptocurrency’s stability. It falls in the lower-neutral region. However, the RSI score follows a linear path marking its entrance into stability. The constant RSI score indicates selling activity equaling the buying activity.
Solana Price Analysis Conclusion
The Solana price analysis enters the bullish zone, showing massive potential for further bullish activity. However, as the volatility decreases, the bulls gain a significant chance to conserve their trend.
Disclaimer. The information provided is not trading advice. Cryptopolitan.com holds no liability for any investments made based on the information provided on this page. We strongly recommend independent research and/or consultation with a qualified professional before making any investment decisions.
