News Updates October 07 & 08, 2022
1. CZ Says Community Trusts Binance, as BNB Dropped by Less Than 5% Following BNBChain Hack.
Binance has positioned itself as one of the largest and most trustworthy entities in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The firm has seen a massive expansion since its inception, building a solid community on its BNBChain network.
Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has reiterated his confidence in the community’s trust in Binance despite the hack a BNBChain-linked bridge recently suffered. According to CZ, BNB dipped by less than 5% after the hack.
CZ’s comments emerged following the hack, as CNBC hosted the 45-year-old Chinese-Canadian business executive on its Squawk Box show Friday. CZ was asked to share his outlook on BNB as it concerns his bullishness on the token, especially considering recent realities. Additionally, he was allowed to share more insight into the token’s utilities.
“BNB has many utility values: you can use it to pay for fees on the BNBChain blockchain network; you can use it to buy airplane tickets, buy food; and you can use it to raise money for your entrepreneur projects; you can use it to sell or buy NFTs,” CZ noted, as he sought to highlight several use cases for BNB.
He further said:
“You can see that even with such a hack that happened overnight, the BNB price dropped less than 5%. So that shows that the confidence on the community that holds BNB are (sic) extremely strong,” CZ added.
2. Crypto Price Today 8th Oct: Market Trapped In Uncertainty.
Crypto Price Today 8th Oct:— Earlier today, the crypto market was painted in red following the recent sell-off. However, by the press time, the Bitcoin price is currently trading at $19498 and is down by only 0.15%. A type candle in the daily candle reflects uncertainty today among the market participants.
Even major altcoins continue to follow Bitcoin and have offset their intraday losses. The Ethereum price is down 0.3% and currently trades at $1326
Some major cryptocurrencies such as Solana(SOL) dropped 0.3%, Avalanche(AVAX) fell 0.22% and Cardano(ADA) witnessed 0.18% gains.
Furthermore, Uniswap(UNI) token is one of the top losers registering a 2.36% loss, and currently trades at $6.63
However, in the last 24th, the XRP price has maintained a gain of 5.89% as whales show their strong interest.
3. Bitcoin Price Analysis: Pain Below 19701.
Bitcoin (BTC/USD) extended its recent soft tone early in the Asian session as the pair traded below the 19701.62 area, representing the 50% retracement of the appreciating range from 18923.81 to 20479.43. Strong Stops were elected below the 19518.06 area during BTC/USD’s recent sharp depreciation, a level that represents the 61.8% retracement of the same appreciating range. Selling pressure reversed around the 19325 area, and BTC/USD glided higher to the 19648.35 area. Upside retracement levels in recent depreciating ranges include the 20476, 21024, 21703, and 21805 areas. Following recent selling pressure, BTC/USD bears are eyeing a greater risk of a test of June lows. Following the recent sharp decline, the 20433 area has emerged as an area of consistent technical resistance and is technically related to selling pressure that commenced around the all-time high of 69000.
Below current price activity, traders continue to anticipate large Stops below the 17803, 17701, 16966, and 16503 areas, significant technical levels related to historical upside pressure around the 3858 and 9819 areas. Additional significant technical areas on the downside include the 16990.14, 14500.15, and 10432.73 areas. Above recent price activity, upside retracement levels in the depreciating range from 31549.21 to 17567.45 include the 26208, 28249, and 28557 areas.
Additional upside price objectives and areas of potential selling pressure include the 25552, 26323, 26411, 26901, 27126, 27455, 28426, and 29669 areas. Traders are observing that the 50-bar MA (4-hourly) is bearishly indicating below the 200-bar MA (4-hourly) and above the 100-bar MA (4-hourly). Also, the 50-bar MA (hourly) is bearishly indicating below the 100-bar MA (hourly) and above the 200-bar MA (hourly).
Price activity is nearest the 50-bar MA (4-hourly) at 19682.08 and the 200-bar MA (Hourly) at 19688.14.
4. Dow Jones is now officially more volatile than Bitcoin.
In recent months, Bitcoin (BTC) has traded in tandem with stocks, with both asset classes battling prevailing macroeconomic factors led by skyrocketing inflation and interest rate hikes. However, Bitcoin’s volatility appears to cool down compared to traditional stocks as the flagship crypto shows signs of decoupling from equities.
In particular, as of October 7, the Dow Jones index that tracks the 30 largest industrial stocks was more volatile than Bitcoin, data shared ZeroHedge indicates.
Bitcoin’s latest achievement highlights the asset’s maturing nature considering it has been classified among the most volatile investments. Notably, proponents have maintained that once Bitcoin matures, characterized by increased adoption, the asset will be less volatile and trade like traditional assets.
Bitcoin’s historical volatility
Overall, Bitcoin has historically been marred by volatility, but traditional financial markets are usually much more stable. However, the shift in volatility can be attributed to Bitcoin’s retreat from the all-time highs that have seen the asset consolidate around $20,000 for weeks.
5. Is Bitcoin an inflation hedge? Why BTC hasn’t faired well with peak inflation
Bitcoin’s status as an inflation hedge has come under scrutiny in the current market, but experts point toward the exceptional market conditions.
Bitcoin has been projected as many things since its inception in 2009. However, the most talked about aspects have been a fungible form of future money and an inflation hedge.
The last Bitcoin (BTC $19,492) halving cycle (a block reward halving event that happens approximately every four years) coincided with the raging COVID-19 pandemic, which solidified many people’s belief in the nascent tech as a true hedge against inflation and worldly disorders. One year down the line, however, BTC has lost 75% of its market capitalization and not many would agree with the inflation hedge theory.
During the last year’s bull cycle the likes of Microstrategy, Tesla and numerous other public companies doubled down on Bitcoin’s inflation hedge aspect by adding Bitcoin to their company treasuries. Microstrategy started buying BTC when the price of the top cryptocurrency was trading in the sub-$10,000 price range and continued its purchases until the market reached the top with BTC price near $69,0000.
The decision looked very lucrative in the beginning as the BTC price was touching new highs every month and many in the crypto community hailed Microstrategy CEO as the crusader for Bitcoin’s “inflation hedge” case. However, the sentiment in the community changed quickly with the advent of the bear market, which only got worse with soaring inflation caused by various geo-political issues like the war in Ukraine and subsequent food supply and energy crises.
At present, inflation rates have touched new highs across the world and many countries are struggling to avoid a recession. Bitcoin, like most other assets, is struggling to remain a lucrative investment option, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it has completely failed as an inflation hedge, some say.
Kasper Vandeloock, CEO at quantitative crypto trading firm Musca Capital, believes that BTC is still among the strongest performing asset despite the downturn, but it depends on how one frames it.
6. The ranking of countries with the most stringent crypto regulations.
Experts at Forex Suggest analyzed the crypto regulatory landscape around the world to reveal where there are the most stringent regulations.
Countries with the most stringent crypto regulations
In 2021, crypto experienced exponential growth that led the total market capitalization to peak at over $3 trillion in November.
This fact has certainly put the world of cryptocurrencies, which still appears to be as poorly regulated and regulated as the world of traditional finance, at the center of political and regulatory institutions and organizations.
Today there are more than 16,000 individual cryptocurrencies in circulation, led by Bitcoin.
Total daily trading volumes are now estimated at over $200 billion across more than 400 platforms.
Despite a market crash that has cut volumes and capitalization in half, digital assets are increasing their adoption, especially in certain less developed countries with high inflation rates.
The year 2021 has also been a year of profound transformation for digital assets, and this has led to an increasing focus on passing stricter regulations to prevent the sort of Wild West, which has led to a growing number of frauds and scams thanks precisely to cryptocurrencies.
And in this context, the research carried out by the analytical firm Forex Suggest, which analyzed the various regulations on digital assets in the different countries that are the most restrictive and strict, takes on a certain relevance and interest.
The picture that emerges is one of a regulatory landscape that is still too divided and varied, one that still needs to be fine-tuned in order to really be able to effectively counter what are still the many fraudulent and criminal acts.
The ranking was compiled by following certain parameters related to the various rules adopted in the cryptocurrency market among the various countries surveyed.
According to the findings of the research, 7 countries, namely Australia, Japan, South Korea, Norway, Denmark, the United Kingdom and the United States would be the only ones to have reached the maximum expected score.
7. US Officials Charge California Resident With Using Bitcoin to Launder $5.3M in Drug Proceeds
Federal officials alleged that John Khuu sold fake drugs for cryptocurrency, making over $5 million in the process.
U.S. officials charged California resident John Khuu with conspiracy to commit money laundering and the unlawful importation of a controlled substance on Friday, alleging he sold counterfeit drugs for bitcoin.
Khuu was arrested in August 2022, after grand juries in Texas and California returned the indictments in May and August, respectively, a press release said.
According to one of the indictments, Khuu allegedly created vendor accounts on different dark web marketplaces to sell the fake pills and other controlled substances beginning in January 2020. Customers "usually" used bitcoin (BTC) to purchase these drugs, though the indictment suggested other cryptocurrencies may also have been used.
Khuu also allegedly used a network of financial institutions to launder the funds, including Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo. The indictment alleged he created a number of fake accounts at these banks.
The indictment went on to describe several transactions Khuu allegedly conducted as part of his efforts to convert bitcoin into cash. All told, he allegedly conducted just under 500 transactions tied to the sale of about 620 BTC.
Khuu waived his right to a detention hearing, according to another court filing released on Oct. 6.
