News Updates October 21 & 22, 2022
1. Twitter Expanding Tweet Tiles Trial Into NFTs.
Social media giant Twitter is expanding its trial of Tweet Tiles, which were previously tested with major medial outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian, to non-fungible tokens (NFTs). A selection of NFT marketplaces has been selected for the functionality which allows tweets to feature an interactive customizable widget.
“OpenSea, Rarible, Magic Eden, Dapper Labs and GuardianLink’s Jump.trade marketplaces have been selected for the pilot. As a result, the featured partners will be able to display colorful NFTs directly within tweets for the first time. The format allows for a larger picture of the NFT to be displayed alongside metadata such as the title and creator,” blockchain and NFT solutions provider GuardianLink, the entity behind the digital product, said in a statement.
Should the pilot prove to be successful, it could be rolled out to all of Twitter’s users, providing NFT collectors with a new way to share their digital collectibles, the company said.
“Twitter’s decision to expand its Tweet Tiles pilot to NFT marketplaces follows its introduction of NFT avatars for users who connect their web wallet to verify ownership,” according to GuardianLink.
Tweet Tiles allow developers to extend and enhance the Twitter user experience, as “the ability to embed NFTs, complete with pertinent information and a direct marketplace link, will drive sales and support discovery of new and trending collections. The Tweet Tiles pilot is currently in operation across iOS and Web for the five NFT marketplaces featured,” the firm said.
2. UK Minister Proposes Measures to Regulate Crypto Ads, Ban Unauthorized Providers
Andrew Griffith introduced the acts as amendments to an existing financial-services and markets bill.
The U.K. government has introduced measures that would regulate crypto ads and ban unauthorized crypto providers from offering services.
Amendments introduced by Financial Services and City Minister Andrew Griffith to his own bill on Friday have been welcomed by an industry that has called for proposals to extend beyond stablecoins, which are digital assets pegged to relatively stable assets like the U.S. dollar.
The measures amend existing laws to "clarify that the powers relating to financial promotion and regulated activities can be relied on to regulate crypto assets and activities relating to crypto assets," said an explanatory note put forth by Griffith and published Friday, as an amendment to the Financial Services and Markets Bill. Under the U.K. laws dating back to 2000, it is prohibited to carry out regulated financial activities without permission.
The measures seem likely to find favor with an industry that has been crying out for more regulatory certainty, like that offered by the European Union with its Markets in Crypto Assets regulation (MiCA).
"The amendments enable the Treasury and FCA [Financial Conduct Authority] to introduce a full regulatory regime for crypto, a hugely positive step," Nicholas Taylor, head of public policy at crypto exchange Luno, told CoinDesk in an emailed statement. Luno is owned by the Digital Currency Group, which is also CoinDesk's parent company.
Andrew Jackson of fintech industry group Innovate Finance also drew attention to the lack of legal clarity surrounding crypto at a hearing on the bill Wednesday.
3. Global recession may last until near 2024 Bitcoin halving — Elon Musk
Bitcoin (BTC) may spend the time until its next block subsidy halving battling recession, Elon Musk suggested.
In a tweet on Oct. 21, the Tesla CEO revealed his belief that the world would only exit recession in Spring 2024.
Musk: Recession will probably stay until Q2, 2024
After the United States entered a technical recession with its Q3 GDP data, debate continues over how much worse the scenario could get.
For Musk, while long predicting the U.S. economy would enter recession, the likelihood of a global downturn lingering is now real.
Asked on Twitter how long he considered a recession to last, the world’s richest man was noncommittal, but erred on the side of years rather than months.
“Just guessing, but probably until spring of ‘24,” he wrote, having also said that “it sure would be nice to have one year without a horrible global event.”
Musk’s latest prognosis appeared particularly painful for crypto commentators.
Still sensitive to macro market moves, BTC/USD dipped below $19,000 on the day, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed.
Reactions to Musk digested the idea that it might take until Bitcoin’s next halving for price performance to see a significant trend change. The halving is currently scheduled to occur on May 1, 2024.
“If true, half of CT will be in a mental asylum,” on-chain analytics resource Material Indicators commented.
4. Bitcoin will shoot over $100K in 2023 before 'largest bear market' — trader
New all-time highs are closer than many might think, says Credible Crypto, but so is a brutal bear market unlike any other.
Bitcoin (BTC $19,154) will top $100,000 next year but a record-breaking bear market will follow, a popular trader believes.
In a Twitter discussion on Oct. 22, Credible Crypto endorsed a theory that Bitcoin’s next halving will also see macro lows of just $10,000.
BTC bulls need only wait a year for $100,000
With consensus calling for Q4 2022 to match the end of the 2018 Bitcoin bear market, few are in the mood to call a trend change.
While a bold prediction from LookIntoBitcoin creator Philip Swift recently gave the current bear market just months to live, most commentators continue to target new lows.
For Credible Crypto, however, the really interesting territory lies further ahead — but 2023 will constitute a major turning point.
After setting new all-time highs (ATHs) of at least $100,000, BTC/USD will come down from its “blow-off top” in a way never seen before, he believes.
The next bear market will bottom out even lower than this year’s $17,600, giving buyers a chance to enter the market at as low as $10,000 as late as 2025.
“Agreed, probably in 2025 methinks,” Credible Crypto replied to the original prediction put forward by fellow trader and analyst Mr. Parabullic.
“First, new ATH in 2023- blow-off top 5th wave above 100k- followed by the largest bear market we have seen yet that is worse than the current one in both time and price- taking us to the 10-14k that everyone is waiting for now.”
Another active social media trader, Crypto Tony, found it harder to agree, calling for a macro low early next quarter, followed by a new uptrend.
From $10,000 Bitcoin to $2 million Bitcoin
Elsewhere, others have given levels between $10,000 and $16,000 as likely floor prices in the coming months.
5. Bitcoin Price Analysis: 19231 Focal Point - 23 October 2022
Bitcoin (BTC/USD) experienced additional downside pressure early in the Asian session as the pair remained unable to sustain a break above the 19231.51 area, representing the 76.4% retracement of the historical appreciating range from 3858 to 69000. Bearish technical sentiment intensified when BTC/USD recently failed to sustain a break of the 19914.56 area during a recent move higher, representing the 38.2% retracement of the depreciating range from 22800 to 18131. The recent series of lower peaks has intensified BTC/USD’s downside risks with larger Stops accumulating below the 17803, 17701, 16966, and 16503 areas, significant technical levels related to historical upside pressure around the 3858 and 9819 levels. Additional significant technical areas on the downside include the 16990.14, 14500.15, and 10432.73 areas.
Following the ongoing negative sentiment, the 20433 area has emerged as an area of consistent technical resistance that is technically related to selling pressure that commenced around the all-time high of 69000. Additional upside price objectives and areas of potential selling pressure include the 21574, 22433, 23496, 24577, and 25214 areas. Traders are observing that the 50-bar MA (4-hourly) is bearishly indicating below the 100-bar MA (4-hourly) and below the 200-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 19255.71 and the 200-bar MA (Hourly) at 19249.72.
6. Bid of OpenSea’s Ex-Employee to Have NFT Wire Fraud Case Dismissed Fails
Judge Furman ruled that the argument that NFTs can’t be considered “property” is invalid due to a Supreme Court decision on a 1987 case against a WSJ columnist.
According to a report, the court recently rejected a request submitted by Nathaniel Chastain, a former OpenSea head of product, to have the indictment against him dismissed. Chastain is accused of insider trading—a practice that generated more than $1.7 million in the crypto sector throughout 2021—and wire fraud.
Court Rejects Chastain’s Request to Dismiss Indictment
Nathaniel Chastain, the former head of product at OpenSea, was accused earlier this year of insider trading. Allegedly, Chastain used his foreknowledge of which NFTs would be placed on the front page of the marketplace for personal gain. He would purchase the token beforehand, and sell them after they got posted for a hefty profit.
On June 15th, 2022, the Department of Justice announced Chastain’s arrest. Two months later, the legal team of OpenSea’s ex-employee filed a motion to dismiss the case. The crux of the argument revolved around the notion that the indictment is based on “ill-founded applications of criminal law,” due to the nature of NFTs.
The court finally responded this Friday. While the presiding Judge Furman found some validity in certain arguments made by the motion, he refused to sustain it. The accusation of insider trading was removed from the indictment, but the court states that there are grounds to convict Chastain of wire fraud.
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Chastain’s Argument Explained
The request to dismiss charges against Chastain contained three main arguments. The first argument stated that Chastain can’t be accused of insider trading since he was dealing with NFT and not securities or commodities. They also requested the accusation of insider trading be removed as it “serves no legitimate prosecutorial purpose.”
This point led to the warning that ruling in favor of the prosecution could set a dangerous precedent. The request argues that “permitting the government to expand the scope of the wire fraud statute to reach such ethereal and intangible interests would serve to overextend the already farreaching fraud statutes” Considering that the regulators have been probing the broader NFT sector throughout 2022, and have recently started investigating Yuga Labs, the concerns expressed in the document are likely shared by many within the sector.
The final point was meant to dismiss the charges of wire fraud. The motion argued that the accusation can only be brought pertaining to property while NFTs weren’t truly property since they have no definable market value—as defined by the US Supreme Court. Judge Furman strongly disagrees with this argument.
Furman cited the Supreme Court ruling in the Carpenter v. United States, 484 U.S. 19 (1987) case. This ruling concluded the prosecution of a Wall Street Journal columnist, Rober Foster Winans, who stood accused of mail fraud and insider trading. Winans was notifying a broker about the stocks that were to be featured in upcoming columns.
This case set the precedent for what is to be considered “property” in similar cases, and, according to Furman, it renders Chastain’s arguments about NFTs not being property moot. Finally, the court suggested the term “insider trading” be removed from the indictment but ruled the case against OpenSea’s former head of product could proceed.
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Do you think this ruling might set a precedent for the legal treatment of NFTs in the US? Let us know in the comments.
Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird's US Private Equity division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.
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7. Gate.io users at risk as scammers fake giveaway on hacked Twitter account
The fake website is actively promoting a fake giveaway of 500,000 USDT while asking users to connect their wallets (such as MetaMask) to claim the rewards.
Hackers took over the official Twitter account of crypto exchange Gate.io, putting over 1 million users at risk of losing funds to an ongoing fraudulent Tether (
USDT $1.00) giveaway.
Social media platform Twitter serves as the most effective medium to reach the crypto community. As a result, the trend of hacking into official Twitter handles of verified accounts to promote scams is on the rise.
Hackers of unknown origin took over Gate.io’s Twitter account and changed the website URL from Gate.io to gąte.com (https://xn--gte-ipa.com/) — a fraudulent website impersonating the exchange.
The fake website is actively promoting a fake giveaway of 500,000 USDT while asking users to connect their wallets (such as MetaMask) to claim the rewards. Once a user connects their wallet to the fake website, the hackers will gain access to their existing funds and end up draining the assets.
8. It Takes 2 Minutes to Create a New ERC-20 Crypto and Scam Newbies.
A new Token Generator dAapp allows anyone with enough ETH to spin up a new token without writing code.
This can make it easy for scammers to create new tokens and add them to DEX liqudity pools.
It is important to research a project thoroughly before investing.
A platform called SmartContracts Tools has a Token Generator dApp to create a new Ethereum or BNB crypto token in under a minute.
The dApp lives on the Ethereum, BSC, and Polygon networks and uses unique smart contracts to help users build their own tokens.
How to create a new token using SmartContracts
The platform requires you to connect a MetaMask wallet with enough ETH, MATIC, or BNB to pay for a contract deployment to launch a token. The token can have optional features like a supply cap, deflationary properties, and the ability to be burned or minted.
The user must specify the token type and the blockchain it will be deployed on. They can choose the ERC20 token type for Ethereum and Polygon or BEP20 for Binance Smart Chain.
