News Updates July 22, 2022
1. Crypto expert identifies Bitcoin resistance level to break before hitting $28k.
Bitcoin (BTC) is attempting to sustain its price above $20,000, and investors are monitoring the asset if it will slip below the crucial level as the number one ranked cryptocurrency continues to lead the recovery of the market.
Analysis shows that Bitcoin has indicated signs of multiple bullish targets after briefly touching the $24,000 level following weeks of consolidating between $20,000 and $23,000 over. By press time, the flagship crypto was trading at $23,600, having made gains of almost 4% in the last 24 hours.
In this line, crypto trading expert Michaël van de Poppe believes that based on the recent price movement, Bitcoin is still facing a critical resistance at $23,800. In a tweet posted on July 22, Poppe notes that if the asset manages to get clear of the $23,800 level, investors can look forward to $28,000. “Bitcoin is facing crucial resistance again. If that breaks at $23.8K, I’m assuming we’ll continue and then $28K is on the tables, but we also have a clear breakout above the 200-Week MA confirmed,” he said.
2. Commercial Bank International is the First UAE Bank to Enter Metaverse.
Commercial Bank International (CBI) claims to be the first bank from the UAE to step its foot in the metaverse.
UAE's CBI Bank Enters Decentraland
According to a local media report from today, Commercial Bank International (CBI) is the first ever bank in the UAE to open a virtual Metaverse location in Decentraland, a metaverse platform based on Ethereum.
The Bank's customers can now explore and interact in the virtual lounge and access services built on augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and blockchain. This showcases how CBI is committed to supporting the "strategic vision and aspiration of the UAE towards digitization and innovation."
Commenting on the planned launch of CBI's Metaverse location, Ali Sultan Rakkad Al Amri, the CEO of CBI, said:
"We are proud to be the first ever bank in the UAE and among the first innovative banks in the Middle East region to bring the Metaverse experience to our customers and people, which we believe is a strong testament to our strong support and belief in the country's vision in being a leader in innovation worldwide."
The move aligns with the UAE's strong commitment to building a metaverse economy that embraces the use of blockchain technology, virtual assets, artificial intelligence, and mixed reality technologies.
3. FIFA Applies For Metaverse Trademark Ahead Of World Cup.
On Wednesday, a trademark attorney, Mike Kondoudis, revealed on Twitter that on July 14, FIFA applied to trademark several aspects of World Cup 2026 to digitize them in the metaverse. This is worth noting as the organization has already made serious headway for the upcoming 2022 World Cup, scheduled to be held in November in Qatar, through several partnerships with blockchain and crypto firms. The fact that FIFA is planning so far ahead for the next world cup tournament, which is happening four years later, indicates that the football organization is highly driven towards its Web3 expansion efforts.
Virtual Retail Stores For World Cup 2026
According to the application filed, the organization is planning on retailing the digital versions of these items through virtual retail stores. These items include virtual clothing and accessories like headwear, eyewear, and sports gear. As of now, the exact plans of the organization with these products are unknown. Besides virtual retail stores, the application also seeks to trademark virtual stock trading, crypto and virtual crypto exchanges, financial and monetary services, and more. These further emphasize FIFA’s intention to incorporate its core financial services into the metaverse. The inclusion of the different payment management services, virtual stock trading, exchanges, and their respective management could also indicate that the company is keen to continue its expansion into the blockchain ecosystem.
4. Korean Investigators Raid Home Of Terra Co-Founder As Investigation Of Terra Collapse Heats Up
In a report today, Bloomberg has confirmed that investigators included the home of Terra Co-founder Daniel Shin and the offices of his payment app Chai Corp. in the raid on Wednesday that saw prosecutors seize records of several crypto exchanges.
According to the report, investigators also went through two other firms affiliated with Shin as part of their latest investigative efforts into the Terra debacle in May.
It is worth noting that Korean authorities launched an investigation into the Terra collapse as they suspect that the firm may have defrauded investors and Terraform Labs Founder Do Kwon may be guilty of tax evasion.
As part of their efforts, on Wednesday, investigators carried out a raid on several crypto exchanges. As reported by The Crypto Basic, investigators seized records in their search for evidence that could point to wrongdoing on the part of Kwon, Terraform Labs, and affiliated firms.
Notably, in June, Kwon, on his part, had granted an interview with the Wall Street Journal, where he denied any wrongdoing. “There is a difference between failing and running a fraud,” Kwon said, explaining that he took each action with the conviction that Terra USD (UST) would thrive and made no attempt to deceive investors.
Despite these statements, it is worth noting that authorities discovered a shell company allegedly used by Terra to launder funds. The firm, Flexi Corporation, allegedly received proceeds from OTC sales made by Terra.
Notably, Kwon and Terraform Labs are also under investigation in the US. The US SEC believes Terra may have breached investor protection rules in how they marketed the UST stablecoin.
It is worth noting that South Korea and US prosecutors met on July 6 to enhance communications in investigating the Terra ecosystem collapse.
At the time of writing, Kwon and Shin are believed to be in Singapore. Despite the investigations and allegations, Kwon has gone on to launch Terra 2.0. Notably, following the Terra ecosystem collapse due to the de-pegging of the UST token in May, about $40 billion of investor funds were wiped off the markets.
5. US Congressman Says SEC Is Overstepping Bounds When It Comes to Regulating Crypto Assets
A US Representative says the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has become power hungry when it comes to regulating crypto assets.
In a recent Congressional meeting, Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota says the SEC is unfairly cracking down on crypto firms that are not within its jurisdiction.
The Daily Hodl
US Congressman Says SEC Is Overstepping Bounds When It Comes to Regulating Crypto Assets
Daily Hodl Staff July 21, 2022
A US Representative says the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has become power hungry when it comes to regulating crypto assets.
In a recent Congressional meeting, Representative Tom Emmer of Minnesota says the SEC is unfairly cracking down on crypto firms that are not within its jurisdiction.
“Chair [Gary] Gensler’s political regime, carried out by its division of enforcement, has been characterized by a focus on using enforcement to expand SEC jurisdiction at the expense of [using] public resources, public investment in our country, and public trust in our markets.
It seems clear to everyone, except maybe those at the Commission, that the SEC is not regulating in good faith. Although many sectors of the industry have grappled with the SEC’s politicization of regulation over the last 14 months, it can be seen most clearly when it comes to the digital asset industry.”
6. My Big Coin Founder Convicted of Defrauding Investors of More Than $6M
Randall Crater was found guilty of peddling a cryptocurrency scam.
A federal jury has convicted Randall Crater, the founder of My Big Coin, of wire fraud and money laundering for selling fraudulent virtual currency, the U.S. Justice Department said Thursday.
Crater’s firm offered virtual payment services through a fraudulent digital currency known as “My Big Coins,” which were marketed to investors between 2014 and 2017, according to court documents and trial evidence.
Crater and his associates falsely claimed the coins were a functioning cryptocurrency backed by $300 million in gold, oil and other assets. They also falsely told investors the company had a partnership with MasterCard (MA) and that the crypto could be easily exchanged for fiat currency or other virtual currencies.
Over the course of the scheme, Crater misappropriated over $6 million of investor funds for his own purposes, including spending hundreds of thousands of dollar on antiques, artwork and jewelry, according to the Justice Department.
In 2018, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged Crater and My Big Coin with commodity fraud and also filed civil charges against the company’s CEO and two of Crater’s associates.
Crater was convicted of four counts of wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison for each count, and up to three counts of money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years for each count.
Crater is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 27.
7. CVI Launched Impermanent Loss Protection System.
Crypto Volatility Index (CVI) launched the alpha version of Armadillo, which now included further features and flexible pricing options. With the help of the CVI, customers can protect themselves against market volatility and impermanent loss.
Also, it will help to acquire a specific coverage matching their applicable pair and quantity and indicate the duration of coverage like 14 days, 30 days, or 60 days.
Protection For Impermanent Loss
The CVI team has created a toolkit of decentralized risk management solutions that are applicable and pertinent. This toolbox has just added Armadillo, which appears to be one of the most promising solutions for liquidity providers. The Armadillo (impermanent loss protection) had a cap on the number of premiums a user could buy in the beta version that the CVI team initially released.
With the new version, users will be protected from any impermanent losses incurred on the particular asset and over the given date ranges during the coverage period. By doing this, consumers can safeguard themselves against any impermanent losses while maximizing any returns or advantages connected with supplying liquidity.
In essence, impermanent loss protection is set up as an insurance policy represented by an NFT that indicates the coverage value, suitable time range, and the necessary token pairings. If a user experiences an impermanent loss and it meets the necessary requirements the money is automatically and securely returned to their wallet.
8. SEC lists nine crypto tokens as securities following Coinbase insider trading charges
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has listed nine cryptocurrencies on Coinbase that it says are securities. This was contained within a complaint arresting and charging a former Coinbase employee with wire fraud.
The assets were: AMP, RLY, DDX, XYO, RGT, LCX, POWR, DFX, KROM. They were each mentioned in connection with alleged insider trading.
"Our message with these charges is clear: fraud is fraud is fraud, whether it occurs on the blockchain or on Wall Street,” wrote the SEC in its complaint.
This is one of few examples from the SEC where it has named specific cryptocurrencies as securities; it has provided little clarity over the years.
Initially, former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said that bitcoin was not a security. Then former SEC director of corporation finance William Hinman said that ether did not exhibit properties of a security. Current SEC Chairman Gary Gensler more recently undermined that latter view, saying bitcoin was the only token that he felt comfortable calling a commodity. The SEC has also sued Ripple for allegedly selling unregistered securities, referring to the token XRP.
The complaint today implies that the SEC is largely keeping with the view that the majority of cryptocurrencies are securities.
Coinbase responded to the SEC filing with a blog post of its own. It said today that laws in the US are not keeping up with the digital world and need fixing.
"Crypto assets that are securities need an updated rulebook to help guide safe and efficient practices. Crypto assets that are not securities need the certainty of being outside those rules. Anything short of that will have the effect of entrenching incumbent technologies at the expense of innovation and ultimately, consumers," said Coinbase.
It has submitted a petition to the SEC that it should develope rules for what it describes as "digital asset securities."
9. Three Arrows Capital Founders Say Terra, GBTC Trades Led to Fund Blowup: Report
“What we failed to realize was that luna was capable of falling to effectively zero,” Three Arrows Capital co-founder Su Zhu said.
Trades involving the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), Terra’s luna (LUNA) and terraUSD (UST) tokens eventually led to the blowup of beleaguered crypto fund Three Arrows Capital, its founders told Bloomberg.
The fund's founders Kyle Davies and Su Zhu had previously confirmed they took on some $200 million in losses related to LUNA and the now-imploded algorithmic stablecoin UST. Prices of the two tokens entered a death spiral in mid-May and fell to nearly zero in the following weeks.
“What we failed to realize was that luna was capable of falling to effective zero in a matter of days and that this would catalyze a credit squeeze across the industry that would put significant pressure on all of our illiquid positions,” Zhu explained. He added that Three Arrows Capital, popularly referred to as 3AC, had failed to flag risks related to Terra.
LUNA lost nearly all of its value over the course of a week in mid-May, while ecosystem algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD (UST) fell to a few pennies after losing its intended peg with the U.S. dollar.
