News Updates September 05, 2022
1. How Crypto-Friendly Is Britain’s New Prime Minister Liz Truss?
Will Britain's new prime minister Liz Truss fulfill the last government's promise to turn the island into a crypto hub?
Following a wave of scandals, Boris Johnson stepped down from the British premiership today and figuratively handed the keys to number 10 Downing Street to his former Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.
Truss officially takes office tomorrow, having beaten former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak in the leadership race.
While she hasn’t said much about crypto, her general beliefs about private enterprise indicate that she may take a hands-off approach to regulation.
Back in 2018, when Truss was Chief Secretary to the Treasury, she tweeted: “We should welcome cryptocurrencies in a way that doesn't constrain their potential. Liberate free enterprise areas by removing regulations that restrict prosperity.”
Shortly after the resignation of British PM Theresa May in 2019, Truss supported Johnson’s leadership campaign and he duly appointed her Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade.
While serving in these roles, Truss launched a digital trade network in 2020 and said at the time that she wanted to “create great opportunities in areas such as blockchain.”
She further elaborated: “We want to achieve a world-leading data and digital agreement, underwriting data flows but also dealing with issues like blockchain and artificial intelligence, thereby making sure that we and the US are leading the world and able to share these economic opportunities.”
2. A Whale Sent Over 200K Bitcoin (BTC) To Exchanges; Is It Michael Saylor?
Crypto Twitter uncovers a whale that sent over 200K Bitcoin (BTC) to exchanges, with rumors suggesting it’s Saylor’s MicroStrategy with an intention to sell.
A prominent Crypto influencer (CryptoVinco) took to Twitter Monday to disclose an interesting transaction on the BTC blockchain. According to a screenshot of the transaction, one of the largest BTC whale addresses appears to have sent its BTC holdings to exchanges in July.
Holders often send their coins to exchanges when they intend to sell off their holdings. This practice seems to be indicating that possibility. Notwithstanding, a more interesting fact is the assertion that this whale address could very well be Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy’s BTC address.
One of the biggest #Bitcoin whales with over 200K+ $BTC sent ALL of their coins to exchanges.
I’m 99% certain this is Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin address, and they’re planning to sell everything.
When he soon sells, expect a bloodbath to the likes we’ve never seen ever before.” CryptoVinco said, as he shared a screenshot of the blockchain transactions.
BTC is currently changing hands at $19,800 as of press time. The asset has plummeted below the support at $20k, but it has avoided a free fall to lower lows. If this address is confirmed to belong to MicroStrategy, the bearish sentiment ensuing is enough to give the bears full control of the markets.
3. Bitcoin Trades Marginally as It Holds Above $19,540 Support
Bitcoin (BTC) is in a downtrend, trading marginally above the $19,540 support. Since August 28, the cryptocurrency has settled between $19,540 and $20,500.
Over the past week, bitcoin has not traded above these price levels. Today, Bitcoin is trading at $19,748 and is approaching the lower price range. The downtrend will continue if sellers break the support at $19,540.
This would send Bitcoin to the lows of $18,638 or 18,912. Bearish momentum could extend to the low of $17,605. The largest cryptocurrency could see a rally if the initial resistances at $20,500 and $21,000 are broken. The BTC price will continue to rise to the upper resistance of $24,000 if the buyers are successful. Today, the price movement is insignificant because there are small indecisive candles called doji.
*Bitcoin indicator reading*
Bitcoin is at the 35 level of the Relative Strength Index for period 14, it is in the downward zone and approaching the oversold area. The other price indicator shows that Bitcoin is below the 20% range of the daily stochastic. This means that the current selling pressure has reached bearish exhaustion. The 21-day line SMA and the 50-day line SMA are sloping south, indicating a downtrend.
* Key Resistance Zones: $30,000, $35,000, $40,000.....
* Key Support Zones: $25,000, $20,000, $15,000.....
*What is the next direction for BTC?*
The downtrend has reached bearish exhaustion as Bitcoin consolidates above $19,540 support. Meanwhile, the August 20 downtrend has a candlestick body testing the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level. The retracement suggests that BTC will fall but reverse at the 1,272 Fibonacci extension level or $19,668.
4. New hire in Saudi Central Bank to work on crypto regulations: report
Saudi Arabia’s central bank has appointed Mohsen AlZahrani, a former managing director at consultancy firm Accenture, to head its virtual assets and central bank digital currency (CBDC) initiative, Bloomberg reported.
See related article: Governments pushing for CBDCs smell blood in Terra Classic’s struggles
* With the United Arab Emirates aiming to be a global crypto hub, Saudi Arabia is looking to have formal regulations for the asset class despite reservations regarding its speculative nature, according to unidentified sources Bloomberg quoted in its report.
* AlZahrani reports to Ziad Bander Alyousef, Saudi Central Bank’s deputy governor for development and technology, and together with a team in Riyadh, they are engaging with some of the largest cryptocurrency companies on regulations, Bloomberg reported.
* Binance Holdings Ltd. has hired people for Saudi Arabia, as it recognizes potential in the region if current restrictions are relaxed, the report said.
* Saudi Arabian regulators had issued a statement in 2018 clarifying that cryptocurrency trading is illegal in the kingdom due to “their negative consequences and high risks on the traders as they are out of government supervision.”
* Meanwhile, Emirati state Dubai announced in July its plans to be one of the top 10 cities globally in the metaverse economy, creating 40,000 virtual jobs and adding US$4 billion to the city’s economy in five years.
- Already, crypto companies like Binance, FTX, Crypto.com and Bybit have received approvals to set up bases in Dubai.
5. UK Agency Warns Crypto Exchanges to Report Any Sanctions’ Breaches
Crypto exchanges are now required to report and freeze accounts suspected of evading Russian sanctions or potentially face criminal charges.
The United Kingdom Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) of Her Majesty’s Treasury ruled that cryptocurrency exchanges must report any suspected cryptocurrencies that may be used to evade Russian sanctions.
In an August announcement, the OFSI stated that exchanges must report the suspected breach to the agency and freeze the assets or face criminal charges or financial penalties.
The sanctions agency added that “any other payment instruments” and assets that are “used to obtain funds, goods or services,” including cryptocurrencies, would fall under the definition of a sanction’s breach if used with such intent.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) also said in March that financial firms and crypto exchanges “are expected to play their part in ensuring that sanctions are complied with,” while giving strict guidelines on how to best ensure that sanctions against Russia are upheld.
The first round of sanctions against Russia was announced on February 24 after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
The OFSI said that entities involved with destabilizing or undermining the sovereignty of Ukraine and supporting the Russian government were subject to “freezing of funds and economic resources,” according to the updated financial sanctions notice.
6. Australian Federal Police Set Up Crypto Unit
The Australian Federal Police (AFP), the country's principal law enforcement agency, has opened a new unit that is specifically focused on tackling cryptocurrency-related criminal activities, according to a report by the Australian Financial Review.
Stefan Jerga, the man who is in charge of the confiscation of criminal assets at the agency, claims that there has been a significant uptick in the number of cryptocurrency-related crimes. Hence, the AFP decided to set up a dedicated team. In August, Australian authorities confiscated millions of dollars worth of crypto and other assets in Canberra after investigating a major money laundering case. They were assisted by their American counterparts within the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (the "J5").
The AFP's criminal confiscation command, which was established back in 2020, has managed to confiscate $600 million, which is far ahead of schedule. The task force was originally supposed to reach that target by 2025. The AFP has so far confiscated $35 million in boats, aircraft, artwork and crypto.
Cryptocurrency platforms are required to hand over information on the assets of suspects who were found in possession of drugs or other illegal items. Australia conducted its first-ever Bitcoin auction back in May 2016 after confiscating crime proceeds.
7. Bank of Russia agrees to legalize crypto for cross-border payments: Report
Historically opposed to the idea of using crypto as a payment method, the Bank of Russia has reportedly agreed to allow cross-border payments in crypto due to geopolitical changes.
The Bank of Russia, the country’s central bank, has reportedly admitted that cross-border payments in crypto are inevitable in the current geopolitical conditions.
The Russian central bank has been rethinking the approach to regulating crypto and agreed with the finance ministry to legalize crypto for cross-border payments, the local news agency TASS reported on Monday.
Deputy finance minister Alexei Moiseev reportedly said that the Bank of Russia and the finance ministry expect to legitimize cross-border payments in crypto soon.
Moiseev outlined the importance of enabling local crypto services in Russia, noting that many Russians rely on foreign platforms to open a crypto wallet. “It is necessary to do this in Russia, involving entities supervised by the central bank, which are obliged to comply with Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer requirements,” the official stated.
Russian lawmakers have been historically opposed to the idea of using cryptocurrencies as a payment method. In 2020, Russia adopted a major crypto law, “On Digital Financial Assets,” which officially prohibited the use of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) for payment purposes. The Bank of Russia has been skeptical about the idea of cryptocurrency payments because it wanted to protect the Russian ruble as the only legal tender in the country.
The idea of crypto payments for national trades in Russia surfaced in late 2021. Then, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was “still premature” to use crypto for trades of energy resources like oil and gas.
The situation has apparently changed amid Western economic sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In May, the Minister of Industry and Trade declared that Russia would legalize crypto payments “sooner or later.” Bank of Russia governor Elvira Nabiullina also later suggested that crypto can be used for cross-border payments, but only if crypto doesn’t get into Russia’s domestic financial system.
*Russian PM takes cue from Iran’s crypto payment permit for imports*
According to Moiseev, the central bank has reconsidered its approach to regulating the industry, “given that the situation has changed.” He added that the planned infrastructure is “too rigid” for the use of cryptocurrencies in cross-border settlements. “Which we certainly must legalize somehow,” he concluded.
8. Bitcoin mining hash rate spikes 60% despite plummeting revenue per terra hash
The Bitcoin hash rate continues trending upwards even though revenue per terra hash carries on falling.
The Bitcoin mining hash rate spiked as high as 298.5134 EH/s on September 4, marking a +60% spike in 24 hours.
Founder of fintech research firm Quantum Economics, Mati Greenspan, commented that the surging hash rate posted a new all-time high for the leading cryptocurrency.
Far from being an outlier, an analysis of the hash rate on a yearly time frame showed an uptrend of higher highs — despite a drop-off in June following the Terra implosion and subsequent liquidity crisis.
Throughout this period, Bitcoin’s price has been trending downwards, adding further weight to the argument that hash rate and price are uncorrelated.
9. Bitcoin declared ‘dead’ by media 461 times, yet new data hints at another scenario
Questions concerning Bitcoin (BTC) continue to be raised as the flagship digital asset battles to maintain support above the price barrier of $20,000 in the current bear market environment, characterized by rising inflation, an increase in interest rates, and uncertainty among investors.
In this line, Bitcoin has been called “dead” a total of 461 times by various members of the media, according to data from 99Bitcoins, the cryptocurrency’s official obituary.
However, with all that being said, the records reveal that Bitcoin has been proclaimed dead 21 times so far in 2022, as of September 5; in contrast, BTC was declared dead a total of 47 times in the whole of 2021.
Currently, Bitcoin is trading at $19,719, down 0.2% in the last 24 hours and down 0.5% over the previous seven days, with a total market worth of $376 billion, according to CoinMarketCap statistics.
