News updates June 15, 2022
1. FED Hike Rate In Focus! Here’s How Crypto Market is Reacting
Everyone in the crypto domain believes that things will only grow worse and thus will mark the end of all bull runs. Let’s investigate why with Chico Crypto, who is giving us insight into the upcoming turmoil.
Following the celsius news, everyone is now discussing the inflation-fed FOMC meeting scheduled for this week.
2. BTC Slipped 10% To Hit $20,000 While ETH Gets Down 15%
BTC slipped 10% to hit a $20,000 while ETH gets down by 15% and the market slide continues so let’s read more today in our latest Bitcoin news today.
The crypto market downturn continues as BTC slipped 10% to a new low of $20,000 and ETH recording a new 52-week low. The leading cryptocurrency by market cap slipped to a new 52-week low of $20,184 as per the data from CoinGecko. The top cryptocurrency lost a third of its value over the past week amid the rising inflation rates and the anticipated rate hike from the US FED.
The market cap of BTC tumbled from $1.27 trillion to under $386 billion today and ETH as the second biggest cryptocurrency decreased by 15% and it is now trading at $1029. With a current market cap of $128.79 billion, ETH lost about 80% of its value since its ATH of $4891 which was recorded in November 2021. The main reasons behind today’s bearish actions are the upcoming federal rate hike to control the inflation which increased the crypto fund outflow and reduced the DEFI activity.
3. Celsius reportedly seeks advice from lawyers on restructuring
Crypto lending platform Celsius Network (CEL) has onboarded restructuring lawyers from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to find potential solutions to the firm's financial woes.
The firm is reportedly looking for other strategic alternatives, such as a financial restructuring, apart from its attempts to solve its current problems. The report also noted that Celsius is trying to find investors who would be able to provide financing options for the crypto lending company.
Citing extreme market conditions, Celsius paused withdrawals from its platform on Monday. Amid the withdrawal freeze, the firm has unstaked around $247 million in Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) from liquidity protocol Aave and sent it to the FTX exchange. Apart from its wBTC, the firm has also sent $74.5 million in Ether (ETH) to FTX.
4. After Terra and Celsius, Crypto Market Now Might Be Hit With Three Arrows
The major crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) is rumored to be insolvent, with reports suggesting the firm has already faced massive liquidations and on-chain data indicating large sales of ethereum (ETH) staked on staking provider Lido in the past week.
5. 2.5 Billion TRX Removed from Binance by Tron to Prevent USDD De-Peg
In a recent tweet, TRON DAO Reserve, which manages stablecoin USDD, says it is withdrawing 2.5 billion TRX out of Binance to "safeguard the overall blockchain industry and crypto market."
6. US SEC Launches Probe into Insider Trading Safeguards of Crypto Exchanges
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly launched a string of inquiries into the activities of numerous crypto exchanges, striving to determine whether the businesses have adequate safeguards in place to prevent insider trading.
7. EU commissioner reiterates need for 'regulating all crypto-assets'
Mairead McGuinness said that she planned to discuss a compromise through the MiCA proposal currently under review in the EU.
Mairead McGuinness, the Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union at the European Commission, is moving forward with a discussion on regulating cryptocurrencies amid three major events in the space.
In written remarks for a speech in Brussels on Tuesday, McGuinness said the Celsius Network's recent suspension of withdrawals, as well as the crash of Terra (originally LUNA, now LUNA Classic, or LUNC), show the need for crypto-asset regulation in the European Union. She added that ongoing concerns about crypto potentially being used to circumvent sanctions on Russia were also a factor.
Regulating all crypto-assets — whether they're unbacked crypto-assets or so-called "stablecoins — and crypto-asset service providers is necessary,” said McGuinness. “Sanctions implementation could be facilitated if our framework on crypto was in place, and if all crypto-asset service providers were regulated entities and subject to effective supervision in the European Union.”
The EU commissioner added that she planned to discuss a "political compromise" under the French government through the Markets in Crypto Assets, or MiCA, proposal currently being reviewed by the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Council:
Under the MiCA draft proposal, all crypto firms providing services within the European Union would likely be subject to the same rules. Initially, the measure was idelayed due to concerns about a potential ban on proof-of-work cryptocurrencies but went out of committee in March.
*EU commissioner calls for global coordination on crypto regulation*
In addition to its work on regulating digital assets within the EU, the commission will on Thursday close a consultation launched in April for financial services specialists to weigh in on the potential rollout of a central bank digital currency. McGuinness said in May the EU commission would "stand ready" to introduce legislation behind a digital euro.
8. New South Korean Regulatory Chief Promises More ‘Fairness’ for Crypto Investors
The South Korean government and financial regulators appear keen to ensure that May’s Terra ecosystem crash – an event they have dubbed the “terra/LUNA incident” – will become a watershed moment for the crypto sector, with a slew of new regulations incoming. The new head of a leading regulatory body led those vowing to implement changes, calling for the creation of a system that provides investors with more “fairness.”
Chief among the new regulations will be the imminent launch of a new government-appointed regulatory body that will be charged with policing the crypto sector. As reported, this body has been tentatively named Digital Assets Committee (literal English translation), and could launch in the next two weeks.
The body will – unlike most other financial regulators that also deal with traditional finance-related issues – be devoted entirely to the policing of the crypto market. It will also be charged with forming policy for the industry.
Also in attendance was the newly appointed head of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Lee Bok-hyeon, who has already vowed to make crypto regulation one of his chief priorities.
However, Lee also echoed sentiments expressed by the ruling party, claiming that while regulators and politicians needed to help create a “reasonable regulatory system,” the industry needed to be given the power to “self-regulate.” The FSS chief called for the “active participation of private sector experts,” claiming that the industry’s role in regulation needed to be “emphasized.”
The five exchanges claimed that they would not allow a “repeat” of the “confusion among investors” that occurred in the wake of the crash, when each platform took its own decision to delist the LUNAC (formerly LUNA) token at different times – leading to market chaos.
Meanwhile, the People’s Power Party also expressed its intention to speed up the rollout of new legislation. Seong Il-jong, the party’s policy committee chairman, was quoted as stating that the party was now working on the “Blockchain Basic Act” (literal translation) in a bid to “support the Industry 4.0 era.”
The FSS chief and other officials at the meeting also confirmed that the Financial Services Commission (FSC)’s own probe into the LUNAC issuer Terraform Labs and the crash itself was still ongoing.
Much may hinge on whether financial regulators can establish whether they could consider LUNA to be a security. Under existing South Korean law, securities can be regulated under the terms of the Capital Markets Act, the Chosun Ilbo reported. Tokens that are not classified as securities cannot be policed by either the FSC or the FSS.
