News updates January 22, 2022
1. Bitcoin Extends Slide, Has Fallen More Than 50% From Record High
Bitcoin’s decline since hitting the record has wiped out more than $600 billion in market value, and over $1 trillion has been lost from the aggregate crypto market. While there have been much larger percentage drawdowns for both Bitcoin and the aggregate market, this marks the second-largest ever decline in dollar terms for both, according to Bespoke Investment Group.
2. Iran to Pilot ‘National Cryptocurrency,’ Considers Blockchain Tech for Stock Market
The Central Bank of Iran soon plans to launch the pilot phase of its digital currency project, an official unveiled. The Islamic Republic hopes to a join a growing club of nations that want to take advantage of having a sovereign coin, while it also seeks to implement blockchain technology in other areas.
Iran to Begin State-Backed Digital Currency Trials
The monetary authority of Iran intends to pilot its central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the near future, a high-ranking representative of the financial regulator said, quoted by the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA). The news comes in the fourth year since the initial announcement of the project.
According to a statement by Mehran Moharamian, deputy governor for IT at the Central Bank of Iran, the CBI sees digital currencies as a solution for resolving certain inconsistencies and decentralizing resources. Other countries have already begun to benefit from CBDCs, he noted.
Moharamian did not provide specific details about the start of the pilot phase. Authorities in Tehran tasked the country’s Informatics Services Corporation with developing a “national cryptocurrency” in 2018. The CBI arm is operating the country’s banking automation and payment services network.
Later, the company explained that the Iranian digital currency has been designed using the Hyperledger Fabric platform, a blockchain framework implementation and one of Hyperledger’s projects hosted by the Linux Foundation.
3. Indonesian Religious Organization Issues Decree Forbidding Use of Crypto by Country's Muslim Population
Indonesia’s Tarjih Council and the Central Executive Tajdid of Muhammadiyah have issued a fatwa (decree) stipulating the illegality of cryptocurrency use or investment by the country’s Muslims. The fatwa points to the volatility as well as the lack of state backing as reasons why Muslims must avoid investing or using cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrencies Thought to Be Too Volatile
The Indonesian Islamic organization Tarjih Council and the Central Executive Tajdid of Muhammadiyah has issued a fatwa against the use of cryptocurrency in the Asian country. The fatwa, which comes a few months after another Islamic organization discouraged the use of cryptocurrencies, explains to Muslims the illegality and harmfulness of using cryptocurrencies.
Tarjih’s fatwa stipulates that cryptocurrency is illegal both as an investment tool and as a medium of exchange,” a statement on the Islamic organization’s website explained.
As explained in a CNBC Indonesia report, the Islamic organization points to the volatility of cryptocurrencies as one of the reasons for issuing the fatwa. The organization argues that since cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are not backed by an asset and are thought to be obscure, they are therefore not lawful for use by Indonesia’s Muslims.
4. These Are the Crypto Economy's 10 Most Expensive Assets per Unit in 2022
A lot has changed in regard to the prices of various crypto assets throughout 2021, as today’s top crypto assets look a lot different than they did 12 months ago. Moreover, the most valuable cryptocurrencies in terms of U.S. dollars per unit have also changed, and the top ten most expensive coins have shifted. The following is a look at the top ten most expensive crypto assets in 2022, in terms of USD per unit
The Top Ten Most Expensive Crypto Assets in 2022
At the time of writing, the top four most expensive digital currencies today are worth 5-digits in value against the U.S. dollar. For instance, the price of bitcoin (BTC) is around $38K per unit, and BTC, WBTC, and Huobi BTC (HBTC) are the top three most expensive crypto assets.
Of course, HBTC and WBTC are tokenized forms of bitcoin, which means — give or take a few percentages — they are all roughly the same price per token. Meanwhile, the fourth-most expensive crypto-asset, which is also 5-digits in USD value, is the token yearn finance (YFI).
5. Bank of Russia to Monitor Banks’ Dealings With Crypto Exchangers
The Central Bank of Russia has started to examine the operations of Russian banks with cryptocurrency exchangers, according to local media. Transactions between individuals through these platforms are of particular interest as the regulator believes these carry risks of financial losses and fraud.
Central Bank Asks Russian Banks for Details on Crypto-Related Transactions
In late December, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) sent commercial banks a new reporting form for transactions, seeking information about money transfers related to crypto exchange websites. These are mostly payments between private individuals, including transactions with cards and wallets registered in the name of dummy persons.
6. Union Bank of the Philippines gears up for its crypto trading
According to the report of Bloomberg, the bank will now use Metaco’s crypto-security system for managing cryptocurrency operations.
Union Bank of the Philippines’ crypto-security system
In fact, the bank has made several initiatives in delving into the crypto market. It includes establishing blockchain payments with Visa and releasing its own stablecoin PHX in 2019.
The bank’s stablecoin also targets “to provide rural banks on its network with easy access to remittances and payments”.
Speaking of Metaco, it is a custody specialist that has been equipping banks in Switzerland, such as GazpromBank and BBVA, for providing the back-end crypto custody since 2018.
On the other hand, the report mentioned that the Philippine Central Bank Governor Benjamin Diokno has cautioned investors against Bitcoin and other digital coins which are “very vulnerable”.
7. The government official added that he thought Bulgaria was unlikely to become a major hub for crypto miners, many of whom many are reportedly considering leaving Kazakhstan.
Assen Vassilev, Bulgaria’s deputy prime minister for EU Funds and minister of Finance, said the EU member nation is exploring options for rolling out a crypto payment mechanism.
According to a Friday Bloomberg report, Vassilev said the government was in discussion with the Bulgarian National Bank as well as industry players to explore crypto payments “in the short to medium term.” However, he added that Bulgaria was unlikely to become a major hub for crypto miners — many are reportedly considering leaving Kazakhstan amid political turmoil and disruptions to the internet.
8. Bitcoin Plunged to $35K: $680M Liquidated in 12 Hours
The liquidations skyrocketed to nearly $700 million on a 12-hour scale as bitcoin and the rest of the market kept dumping
The recent market correction doesn’t seem to be a one-day thing, as the entire crypto space is covered in red once more. Consequently, over-leveraged traders continue to get liquidated with almost $700 million in hours.
CryptoPotato reported yesterday’s market crash in which bitcoin dumped by $5,000 in a day to a six-month low at $38,000. The altcoins had it even worse, with ETH losing the coveted $3,000 price point.
This enhanced volatility caused about $700 million worth of liquidations on a 24-hour scale.
While the bulls were expecting some sort of brief recovery today, the landscape has only worsened.
Bitcoin sat around $38,000 for a while before another dump drove it to its lowest price position since the end of July at around $35,000.
As with yesterday, the situation with the altcoins is even worse. Double-digit price drops are evident almost everywhere.
Ethereum is down by 12% to $2,500, Binance Coin (-16%), Solana (-17%), and many others. Terra is among the worst performers, with a 25% dump to below $60. Shiba Inu’s plummet is somewhat similar.
As a result, the liquidations are on the rise again. Data from Coinglass (formerly Bybt) shows that more than $680 million were liquidated in the past 12 hours. On a daily scale, the number is close to $1 billion.
In total, 270,000 traders have been liquidated in this timeframe, with the largest single order happening on Bitmex and was worst more than $9 million
