News updates March 30, 2022
- Bitcoin Reaches Historic Moment Indicating Bullish Sentiment. The number of bitcoin addresses with a non-zero balance for the first time exceeded 40 million, confirming the growing interest in the cryptocurrency asset. According to the analytical platform IntoTheBlock, on March 25, 40.25 million addresses were registered in the Bitcoin network. This is a historical maximum for the entire existence of the cryptocurrency.
2. Kyrgyzstan MP Recommends Legalizing Cryptocurrency. parliament Karim Khanjeza on Wednesday has recommended the Kyrgyzstan government to introduce its own cryptocurrency and legalize it for the people. He believes the booming cryptocurrency market will offer technological advancement opportunities in the country and recommends creating a crypto hub in Kyrgyzstan. The country has seen rapid adoption of cryptocurrencies and crypto mining in recent years.
3. Regulators concerned about retail investors’ involvement with “complex crypto products:
The federal agency is compelling its members to educate its clients about the rewards and risks attached to each investment choice.
Retail investors’ involvement in crypto and traditional finance within the past few years has grown to new heights, which is now giving regulators a cause for concern.
FINRA urges members to educate retail investors:
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According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the majority of retail investors don’t understand the many complex investment products that are on the market and their associated risks.
This has forced the brokerage firm regulator to issue a notice to all of its members about acting in the best interests of their clients.
The regulator has compelled its members to comply with the Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) act which requires brokers to act in the clients’ best interest.
In essence, brokerage firms might have to start explaining the nature of some of their products to their customers alongside their potential rewards and risks.
Beyond that, the regulator is also considering broader rules for these investment products. It is currently seeking stakeholders’ opinions on whether the current regulatory framework is sufficient to protect investors — a move that many predicts is preceding a new set of rules that would be guiding “complex products.”
Crypto investment products are being targeted:
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One area that could be affected is crypto with its complex offerings. In the warning note, FINRA describes a complex product as.
A product with features that may make it difficult for a retail investor to understand the essential characteristics of the product and its risks (including the payout structure and how the product may perform in different market and economic conditions).
This definition covers several investment vehicles, including defined outcome ETFs, volatility-linked ETPs, structured products. In addition, mutual funds and ETFs that offer strategies employing cryptocurrency futures are also on the list. Thus, those offering crypto ETFs may have to operate under stricter rules.
The features of these products are such that they may be difficult for a retail investor to understand the essential characteristics of the products and their risks and, therefore, are complex.”
It added that the risk becomes much higher when a retail investor accesses these products without the assistance of a professional.
Notably, FINRA isn’t the only government agency concerned with the various financial products on the market, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has, at different times, been critical of these products and urging investors to carry out their research before investing.
4. Bitcoin Approaching Resistance at $48K-$51K, Support at $45K:
Bitcoin (BTC) is testing resistance at the 200-day moving average, which could trigger a brief pullback.
The cryptocurrency was trading at about $47,300 at press time and is roughly flat over the past 24 hours
Upside momentum is starting to fade on intraday charts, which could keep buyers on the sidelines into the Asia trading day. Still, lower support at around $45,000 could stabilize pullbacks.
The relative strength index (RSI) on the daily chart is overbought for the first time in five months, which means sellers could return at the $48,000-$51,000 resistance zone – a 50% reversal of the prior downtrend.
Further, BTC is two days away from registering a countertrend sell signal, according the DeMark indicators, similar to what occurred last August. At that stage, short-term buyers will likely defend support, especially because momentum signals turned positive on the weekly chart.
5. $540 Million Worth of 'Sleeping Bitcoins' From 2014 Move — BTC Possibly Linked to Cryptsy Theft:
On March 29, blockchain parsers caught a sequence of 11 transactions totaling 11,325 bitcoin moving from unknown wallets created in 2014, to a great number of recipient addresses. Furthermore, the stash of bitcoin worth $540 million today is possibly linked to the Cryptsy theft, according to onchain analytics.
11,325 Bitcoins Move From Dormant 2014 Addresses, Assets May Be Linked to Cryptsy Theft:
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A whole lot of bitcoin stemming from wallets created in 2014 moved on Tuesday and the funds may be tied to the Cryptsy theft. The now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange led by Paul Vernon lost millions of dollars worth of digital assets years ago at the end of 2015.
More recently at the end of January 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it had indicted Vernon for allegedly stealing over $1 million from digital currency wallets. The DOJ said Vernon, otherwise known as ‘Big Vern,’ stole from accounts between May 2013 and May 2015 and proceeded to deposit the stolen funds into his own bank account
The funds that moved on March 29, 2022, derive from BTC wallets that were created on July 29, 2014. All 11,325 bitcoin were processed at block height 729,587, and the action was caught by Btcparser.com, and Whale Alert. “The massive amount of activated dormant [bitcoin] in the previous posts are possibly linked to the Cryptsy hack/theft,” Whale Alert tweeted on Tuesday. Onchain analysis further shows the 11,325 bitcoin may have originated from Cryptsy, according to clustering from oxt.me data as well.
Fed Seizure Speculation Rises, ‘Big Vern’s’ Whereabouts Are Still Unknown:
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The stash of bitcoin sat idle for more than seven years, and some people suspect the crypto may be in the hands of the U.S. government. The speculation derives from the recent Bitfinex hack coins that moved this year, coupled with the coincidental and recent DOJ indictment of ‘Big Vern.’ However, unlike the Bitfinex hack coins that consolidated into a single address, the transfers processed at block height 729,587 were sent to a wide range of addresses.
For instance, this account sent 1,000 BTC to 59 different recipients. This address sent 1,325 BTC to 78 recipient addresses on Tuesday afternoon around 6:30 p.m. (UTC). At the time of transfer, the 11,325 bitcoin was worth $540 million using today’s BTC exchange rates. Even though the DOJ indicted Vernon, the former Cryptsy CEO is still on the run and no one knows where he is located.
In 2016, the Miami New Times ran an investigative report that said Vernon and his girlfriend dipped off to China. That was according to Vernon’s wife at the time, and following that report, Vernon allegedly spoke with the Miami New Times in an exclusive interview. According to ‘Big Vern’ before the alleged interview, 13,000 bitcoin was stolen from the exchange. The exchange also said it lost 300,000 litecoin (LTC) as well.
We shut down the website and file bankruptcy, letting users file claims via the bankruptcy process and letting the court make the disbursements,” Cryptsy’s announcement said at the time. “Or, somebody else comes in to purchase and run Cryptsy while also making good on requested withdrawals.”
None of the aforementioned promises came to fruition and the 11,325 bitcoin that moved on Tuesday afternoon may be linked to the 13,000 BTC stolen from Cryptsy customers.
6. U.S. oil and gas companies are using unspent energy for bitcoin mining
Amid global warming concerns, oil and gas companies are increasingly under pressure from governments to foster a faster transition to clean energy.
The U.S oil and gas companies have come up with the idea of recapturing and reusing the natural gas that otherwise is wasted in a process called ‘flaring’ -when the gas is burned to reduce over-pressurizing of equipment- represents a new business and income stream, whereas for crypto miners it is a reliable source of energy to power their on-site servers. The winning also seems to be for the environment as well.
7. Crypto To Play A Massive Role In Reshaping The Finance Industry, Report Reveals
According to a survey report released by StarkWave, a greater number of Americans believe that cryptocurrency is the future of Finance. Based on the report, 53% of the sampled respondents agreed that crypto will play a major role in reshaping the finance sector in the future. The report also revealed that the most positive response came from respondents aged between 25 and 34 years.
The report also indicated that the majority of the respondents recognize technology associated with cryptocurrencies such as blockchain. According to the survey, 40% of the participants recognize terms like “Binance” and “NFT”.
The research by StarWave showed that more people have started believing in cryptocurrencies.
8. The Biggest Risks In DeFi & How Can Users Avoid Them
The growth of DeFi is extraordinary, but not all that surprising to adherents given the numerous lucrative opportunities for investors in the sector. There are hundreds of different ways to earn money in DeFi, through lending and trading, providing liquidity to asset pools, staking to secure networks, yield farming, and more. These opportunities are real, but as with any fast-growing and lucrative new sector, the risks are just as great as the rewards. DeFi is nothing new in that regard, attracting a whole host of scammers looking to seize the funds of honest investors using an assortment of nefarious tricks and techniques.
One of the main dangers of DeFi lies in the smart contracts themselves. Smart contracts are written using open-source code that anyone can inspect for the purpose of transparency. However, that means technically-savvy attackers are also free to inspect the code, and if they happen across any vulnerabilities there’s nothing to stop them from taking advantage to steal funds from other users.
9. Crypto Firms Are Fleeing U.K Ahead of FCA’s March 31st Deadline
On Thursday, March 31, U.K’s top financial regulator – Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – shall be ending its Temporary Registration Regime (TRR) for crypto businesses. Thus, companies that follow the registration criteria won’t be allowed to continue their operations.
