News Updates November 05, 2022
1. Vitalik Buterin Releases Updated Ethereum Roadmap With A New Phase To Fix Censorship Concerns.
In a tweet today, Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin released an updated Ethereum roadmap with a few big changes.
Developers highlight key milestones in the roadmap with check marks.
First, he noted that now “The Verge” is not just about developing “Verkle trees,” which will allow users to verify the footprint of transactions in a single proof, but about “verification.” Consequently, the endgame for that phase is a fully SNARKed Ethereum which will greatly improve user anonymity and still allow users to trace and verify transactions. It is a method used by privacy coins.
SNARK stands for “Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge.”
Secondly, the Ethereum founder reveals that developers have added an entirely new phase to the roadmap called “The Scourge.” Buterin asserts that this stage will allow for greater neutrality in transaction inclusion by fixing MEV issues.
It is worth noting that post-Merge, there has been a flurry of centralization and censorship concerns. Most recently, users pointed out that Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) compliant MEV relays produced over 50% of Ethereum blocks, increasing the risks of censorship.
Finally, Buterin highlighted a push toward single-slot finality as a key milestone in the second stage of The Merge.
In January, Buterin asserted that Ethereum was halfway through its development, and in July, he disclosed that The Merge would take the network to 55% of its potential. However, with the addition of the scourge, it is no longer clear where things stand.
2. Bitcoin (BTC) Shows Strength As Price Breaks $21,300; Here Are Levels To Watch.
The price of Bitcoin has surpassed the expectations of many holding out for the price to continue in its downtrend as many traders looked trapped with no sign of Bitcoin (BTC) going lower as the price of Bitcoin eyes $22,500. The crypto market has seen some relief across all assets, with Bitcoin (BTC) leading the way, rallying and dragging the market. (Data from Binance)
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Analysis On The Weekly Chart
Many altcoins have continued to produce over 200% gains over the past 7 days of breaking out of their range-bound movement, as many believe more hope is returning to the crypto space.
The beginning of the week appeared skeptical, but things are starting to shape up and look more promising for some altcoins, such as BAND, which rallied over 100% in less than 24 hours, demonstrating the price action and volume for buy orders. The price of BTC has shown strength breaking above $21,200 and holding up pretty well.
After dropping from its high of $25,000 in recent months with so much hype for BTC, the price of BTC has failed to replicate this movement to that shaw price actions by them.
The price of BTC saw its price trade at a high on the weekly chart; the price swiftly bounced from this region as the price rebounded to a region of $21,000, as the price found itself trading in a range.
3. IS THE BITCOIN PRICE STILL CORRELATED WITH FINANCIAL MARKETS?
The economy is still recovering from the COVID-19 outbreak as new problems arise. We are now in a time of rampant inflation with central banks trying to remedy that by raising interest rates.
The U.S. CPI data (consumer price index), released on October 13, came in higher than expected (8.2% year-over-year), negatively impacting the bitcoin price. But inflation is not the only issue, the global economy is also struggling with the energy crisis, affecting Europe more than the U.S., due to its strong dependency on Russian natural gas and raw material.
If we look at the main currencies, the dollar index looks strong, compared to others. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 75 basis points in November, and the Bank of England raised interest rates by the same amount. This policy of quantitative tightening aims to reduce the money supply and mitigate price pressure. It is likely to continue into next year and beyond. However, a global recession and risk of stagflation is still very strong, so no country may feel safe from central bank monetary policy.
BITCOIN CORRELATION WITH THE ECONOMY
Bitcoin has shown not to be immune from this global turmoil. Although the price in its early stage was independent of traditional finance, correlation began to show in 2016.
The idea of bitcoin as a “digital gold” became popular because both shared the scarcity and difficulty of extraction (mining), as well as fulfilled the role of being a store of value. Since many view bitcoin as a risk asset, its correlation with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 became visible — no different than traditional stocks.
At the time of writing, bitcoin’s 40-day price correlation with gold reached 0.50 (after being around zero in August).
4. SEC Issues Subpoenas to Influencers of a $7Billion Crypto Project
In a recent development, the SEC has sent subpoenas to influencers promoting a crypto project which boasts a market cap of $7 Billion.
The U.S. SEC has been a nightmare to many in the crypto space as they have relentlessly pursued actions against numerous crypto projects, founders, and influencers.
As per latest reports, it seems like many HEX influencers have been subpoenaed by the government body. Eric Wall, a famous crypto evangelist first broke the news on Twitter, where he shared the official documents sent by the SEC.
Eric Wall X @ercwl
"GUYS. IT’S HAPPENING. Hexicans influencers are getting subpoenad by the SEC over HEX, PulseChain and PulseX. The HEX information channels are filled with information about how to shred your digital evidence"
Former SEC Lawyer Voices His Opinion
The Hexican community was quick enough to dismiss these as FUD, but allegedly, an ex-SEC lawyer by the Twitter handle Marc_Fagel opined the letters circulating on Twitter to be genuine.
“There’s nothing about the subpoena to indicate it’s not legitimate. It looks exactly like the hundreds I signed while there”
Since its inception in the year 2019, HEX cryptocurrency has increased by 948,00%. The average return on the HEX project has been 38%, making it seem like a successful venture. HEX made it quite clear on its official website that they don’t run any Ponzi schemes.
HEX is basically an ERC20 crypto launched on top of the Ethereum blockchain. It is projected to be a store of value, a crypto savings of sorts. The HEX crypto holders had an average of 38% return & this directly challenges the U.S. banks where the annual interest rate is not more than 2%.
This is a developing story and will be updated as it progresses.
5. Crypto’s Rapid Growth Pushed Canada to Speed up Regulations
The Canadian authorities have started consultations with shareholders to determine what regulations to impose on the crypto industry.
The Canadian government will begin consultations on cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and CBDCs.
The ruling body maintained that such assets should function under strict supervision since they could facilitate illicit operations and pose “a challenge to democratic institutions.”
Crypto is Among the Budget’s Priorities
As disclosed in its mini-budget 2022, Canada’s federal government will aim to impose rules on the local cryptocurrency sector. The officials started a series of consultations with shareholders to discuss the pros and cons of digital assets, stablecoins, and CBDCs.
Canada’s authorities argued that this is a vital step since the digitalization of money has transformed the global financial system. They also believe cryptocurrencies could fuel criminal affairs and are used by wrongdoers to bypass sanctions:
“In the last several months, digital assets and cryptocurrencies have been used to avoid global sanctions and fund illegal activities, both in Canada and around the world.
In order to help address these challenges in Canada, Budget 2022 announced the government’s intention to launch a financial sector legislative review focused on the digitalization of money and maintaining financial sector stability and security.”
