Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | August 10, 2023

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Aug 10 2023

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Markets360

Crypto Market Update

Written by Van

Waters Criticizes PayPal's Stablecoin; Calls for Federal Oversight

Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters has criticized PayPal for launching its stablecoin, PYUSD, without waiting for federal regulatory approval. She emphasized the need for federal oversight and supervision of stablecoin issuers, stating that stablecoins introduce a new type of currency that requires federal regulations.

Waters also criticized a Republican bill that allows state-regulated stablecoins like PYUSD while excluding oversight by the Federal Reserve. However, the House Financial Services Committee Chair, Rep.

Patrick McHenry, expressed approval of PayPal's stablecoin, suggesting that stablecoins could become a foundational element of the payment system under a well-defined regulatory framework.

France's AMF Adjusts Crypto Regulations to Align with MiCA

France's regulatory authority for financial markets, the AMF, is changing its crypto regulations to align with Europe's MiCA directive. The new regulations, set to come into effect by January 2024, include stricter registration protocols for digital asset service providers.

The AMF will focus on managing conflicts of interest, enhancing disclosure requirements, and mandating the separation of client and platform assets. Existing providers will be grandfathered in, but new registrations will need to comply with the updated guidelines.

The MiCA directive has faced criticism for not regulating decentralized finance (DeFi) and imposing transaction limits on stablecoins. Société Générale's SG Forge division has been granted a DASP license by the AMF for its crypto services.

FTX Debtors Oppose UCC's Plan; Aim to Relaunch FTX 2.0

The FTX debtors, led by chief restructuring officer John J. Ray III, criticize the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (UCC) over their pursuit of asset control. The UCC's plan to invest $2.6 billion of cash reserves in short-term Treasuries is strongly opposed by FTX.

Disputes have arisen due to insufficient consultation and fund depletion, with the Securities Exchange Commission expressing dissatisfaction with the UCC's behavior. FTX has reclaimed $7 billion of liquid assets out of $8.7 billion owed to customers.

FTX debtors have unveiled a strategy for the relaunch of FTX 2.0, while FTX seeks dismissal of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings involving FTX Dubai.

SEC Appeals XRP Ruling; Ripple Trial Set for 2024

The US SEC has filed a motion to appeal the ruling which classified XRP as a security, focusing on whether XRP sales were conducted wrongfully. Ripple's CEO and chairman are set for trial in 2024. Meanwhile, the Bank for International Settlements has formed a task force with Ripple, Mastercard, and SWIFT to enhance cross-border payments and meet the G20's targets.

India Plans Crypto-Enabled National Web Browser; Offers Prize

The Indian government is developing a national web browser that will include the option to digitally sign documents using crypto tokens. The project is part of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's initiative to create an indigenous web browser.

The competition to develop the browser includes a prize of 34 million Indian rupees ($411,000) for the winner.

PancakeSwap Expands to Ethereum's Arbitrum One; Lowers Fees

PancakeSwap, the second-largest decentralized exchange (DEX), has expanded to Ethereum Layer 2 scaling network Arbitrum One. This move will help users benefit from lower gas fees and faster transactions.

PancakeSwap will initially offer swap and liquidity provisioning features, followed by its farm feature and initial farm offering (IFO) platform in the coming weeks. The DEX's expansion to Arbitrum One is aimed at providing greater capital efficiency to liquidity providers.

This marks PancakeSwap's sixth blockchain expansion, as it continues to focus on Ethereum scaling networks.

Base Blockchain Thrives but Sees Lower Inflows

Base has seen a thriving ecosystem since its testnet in February, with over $160 million in total value bridged and 133,300 holders minting nearly 31 million NFTs. Its mission is to onboard millions of builders and billion users onchain.

However, inflows to Coinbase's new Base blockchain were lower than expected on the first day after its launch, with just over $10 million bridged to the new blockchain. This is potentially due to investors already bridging to Base before the official launch. Coinbase is working to draw users to the network through events and incentives such as free non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Binance's BNB Chain to Undergo Security Upgrades

Binance's BNB Chain is undergoing two hard forks in August 2023 to enhance security and compatibility with other EVM blockchains. The Plato upgrade introduced fast finality, reducing the possibility of blockchain reorganization.

The upcoming Hertz hard fork aims to align BNB Chain with the latest developments in EVM chains like Ethereum's Berlin and London forks. These upgrades enhance blockchain security, improve transaction finality, and ensure compatibility for smooth ecosystem growth.

Binance Labs Invests in Curve DAO; Strengthens Partnership

Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, has committed to investing $5 million in Curve DAO tokens. This comes as part of a collaboration that will see Curve Finance deploy to the Binance-backed BNB Chain.

The investment is part of recent OTC deals done by Curve founder Michael Egorov with figures in the crypto space such as Huobi's co-founder Jun Du and Tron's founder Justin Sun.

Bitpanda Clarifies $73 Million Asset Transfer; Reassures Users

Bitpanda, a leading European cryptocurrency exchange, has addressed concerns about a $73 million transfer of assets, including SHIB, LINK, CHZ, and ETH. The exchange clarified that the transfers were internal and assured users that their assets remain safe and secure.

Bitpanda recently laid off 730 employees due to unfavorable market conditions but remains a prominent player in the industry.

Bitpanda, a widely used exchange in Europe, has experienced a large transfer of assets, with assets such as SHIB, LINK, CHZ, and ETH worth more than $73 million transferred to address: 0x2E...9103. The Telegram administrator stated that this is an internal transfer and user…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 10, 2023

Cryptocurrency Market Unmoved by Slight Inflation Increase

Cryptocurrency prices remained stable despite a slight increase in inflation, with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rising to 3.2% in July. Bitcoin and Ethereum experienced minimal gains in response to the CPI report.

As the Federal Reserve aims for a soft landing and aims to control inflation without causing a recession, the impact of the CPI report on crypto markets is diminishing. The Fed will consider the July CPI report in its upcoming meeting in September.

However, higher interest rates have affected crypto prices and stocks as investors shift towards safer assets. The Fed's target inflation rate is 2%, which is not expected to be achieved before 2025.

Riot Platforms Reports Mixed Q2 Earnings; Targets Growth

Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms (RIOT) reported mixed earnings in its Q2 earnings release. While adjusted earnings per share beat estimates, revenue fell short of expectations. Quarterly revenue was driven by a 27% increase in bitcoin production, offset by lower bitcoin prices. Riot expects to benefit from industry consolidation and aims to reach a total self-mining hash rate capacity of 12.5 EH/s in Q4 2022.

USDT and USDC Comparison Reveals Trading Preferences

According to data from IntoTheBlock, USDT has a larger number of total addresses and active users compared to USDC. However, USDC has a higher transaction volume and average transaction size. This suggests that USDC is preferred by larger traders and institutional entities, while USDT is favored among retail users. USDT also has a higher market cap and ranks higher in the cryptocurrency sector.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of stablecoins, everyone is aware of the two dominant players: $USDT and $USDC. Both are vital components for the industry, but are you aware of where they differ? The following infographic illustrates some key insights:

Scale and Adoption: USDT… pic.twitter.com/kXKJoOx6Po
— IntoTheBlock (@intotheblock) August 8, 2023

Solana Cuts Saga Phone Price to Boost Adoption

Cryptocurrency platform Solana has reduced the price of its Saga phone from $1,000 to $599 due to underwhelming sales. While exact sales figures are not public, on-chain data suggests that there have been around 2,200 unique owners of Saga phones.

The price reduction aims to attract more users to the Solana ecosystem, although some early adopters have expressed disappointment at the lower price after paying a premium. Solana emphasizes its commitment to the Web3 mobile experience and highlights features like exclusive NFTs and continuous additions to the Solana App Store.

Maker's Founder Proposes SPK Token Airdrop for Spark Users

Rune Christensen, founder of Maker, has proposed a "pre-farming airdrop" of governance token SPK for users of lending dapp Spark Protocol. The proposal outlines the token emission schedule, with a total supply of 2 billion tokens to be distributed over 10 years.

Christensen aims to incentivize users to borrow from Spark Protocol to become eligible for the airdrop. Since the proposal, deposits in Spark have increased significantly, and the protocol's total value locked has grown 7.4 times.

Spark Protocol is part of Maker's Endgame plan to increase Dai supply to over 100 billion within three years.

Top Altcoin Gainers and Losers

Gainers:

XDC Network XDC (+10.39%)

Rollbit Coin RLB (+8.87%)

Rocket Pool RPL (+8.15%)

Losers:

FLEX FLEX (-5.32%)

Hedera Hashgraph HBAR (-4.70%)

Kaspa KAS (-4.23%)

NFT Market Map

Y00ts to Migrate to Ethereum; NFT Projects Follow Suit

Y00ts, the second most traded NFT collection on Polygon, will migrate to Ethereum. The migration date has not been disclosed, but the project will return the grant provided by Polygon for NFT ecosystem growth. Another NFT project, DeGods, also founder by Y00ts creator Rohun Vora, announced a Season III collection and a move to Ethereum. This follows the recent migration of CyberKongz away from Polygon.

Amazon Prime Offers Free In-Game NFTs; Fuels Marketplace Rumors

Amazon Prime subscribers can now claim free in-game NFTs from popular blockchain games such as Mojo Melee and Blankos Block Party. This move by Amazon is seen as a major endorsement of blockchain technology and could help revive the struggling blockchain game industry. Rumors of an Amazon NFT marketplace have also surfaced.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.

Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | August 10, 2023

Crypto Market Update

Table of Contents:

Banking and Regulatory Updates

Country-Specific Developments

Crypto Exchanges and Platforms

Market Trends and Analysis

Product Launches and Corporate Strategy

NFT News