Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | August 22, 2023

Crypto Market Update

Written by Van

Table of Contents

Banking and Regulatory Updates

• Sam Bankman-Fried Faces Fraud Charges, Trial Scheduled
• Balancer Reports Critical Vulnerability in V2 Pools
• Coinbase Acquires Stake in Circle, Expands USDC Integration
• Ethereum Layer 2 Solutions Gain Traction Amid Bear Market
• U.S. SEC Charges Titan Crypto Fund for False Claims

Crypto Exchanges and Platforms

• THORChain Introduces Interest-Free Lending Feature
• Top Cryptocurrencies Experience Downturn, Binance Rumors Spread
• Shiba Inu's Price Drops, Potential for Bullish Comeback
• Mysterious Bitcoin Wallet Becomes Third-Largest Holder
• Base Surpasses Ethereum in Transactions, Attracts Investors

Country-Specific Developments

• Thailand Warns Facebook Over Crypto Scams
• Indian Cryptocurrency Exchange CoinDCX Cuts Staff Amid Bear Market and Tax Policies

Technology and Innovation

• World Mobile Partners with SingularityNET for AI Integration
• Phantom Introduces Sign In With Solana Feature
• Maple Finance Raises $5 Million, Expands in Asia-Pacific
• Mantle Stakes 40,000 ETH on Lido Following Vote
• StarkWare Open-Sources STARK Prover for Ethereum Scaling
• Camino Network Completes Security Audit, Fixes Vulnerabilities

Gaming and NFTs

• Steam Bans Crypto Games, Developers Find Workarounds
• Blur Dominates Ethereum NFT Trading Volume

Sam Bankman-Fried Faces Fraud Charges, Trial Scheduled

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX, has pleaded not guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges after allegedly using more than $100 million in stolen customer funds for political donations. His bail was revoked due to accusations of witness tampering. Bankman-Fried's trial is scheduled for October 3.

Balancer Reports Critical Vulnerability in V2 Pools

The decentralized exchange Balancer has reported a "critical vulnerability" in some of its V2 pools, with 4% of total-value-locked still at risk. Balancer has mitigated 80% of the threat but advises users to migrate to safe pools or withdraw their funds. This is not the first time Balancer has reported vulnerable pools.

Coinbase Acquires Stake in Circle, Expands USDC Integration

Coinbase is acquiring a minority stake in Circle Internet Financial and bringing the USDC stablecoin fully in-house. Six additional blockchains will integrate with USDC, expanding the number of supported blockchains to 15. The move comes as PayPal enters the stablecoin market with its own PYUSD token.

Ethereum Layer 2 Solutions Gain Traction Amid Bear Market

Ethereum layer 2 solutions such as Optimism, Arbitrum, and Base have gained traction and shown healthy fundamentals during the bear market, according to IntoTheBlock. Coinbase's Base, built on the OP Stack, briefly surpassed Optimism in daily transactions after launching. 

The number of transactions between the Ethereum mainnet and layer-2 solutions reached its second-largest value ever during the period when Arbitrum airdropped $1.7 billion worth of ARB tokens.

U.S. SEC Charges Titan Crypto Fund for False Claims

The U.S. SEC has charged Titan Crypto Fund, a New York-based firm, for making false claims about its performance. Titan allegedly advertised annualized performance results as high as 2,700%, violating SEC marketing regulations. The company has agreed to pay an $850,000 civil penalty, reimburse affected customers, and received a cease-and-desist order, censure, and disgorgement of $192,454.  

THORChain Introduces Interest-Free Lending Feature

THORChain, a liquidity network, has introduced a lending feature that allows users to secure loans in USD equivalent stablecoin, TOR, using their native Bitcoin and Ethereum assets. The lending process is straightforward and interest-free, encouraging borrowers to hold onto their loans for longer periods. 

THORChain's lending system eliminates the risk of liquidations and offers flexibility in repayments. The platform plans to expand to support other assets in the future.

Top Cryptocurrencies Experience Downturn, Binance Rumors Spread

Bitcoin and Ether, along with the top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies, experienced a downturn today, reflecting a significant change in crypto price across the market. BNB also fell to its 14 month-low of $205 following reports of the termination of the exchange's partnership with its UK payments partner, a move that has further impacted crypto coin prices. 

Shortly after that, the community started to spread rumors that Binance was selling BTC to support BNB price. Bitcoin price remained stagnant on August 22, hovering around $25,826 and showing no signs of recovery despite being oversold. However, some analysts believe that Bitcoin could stage a comeback and reach $26,500 or more in the near future, citing heavily oversold signals and a potential "V-shape recovery."

Shiba Inu's Price Drops, Potential for Bullish Comeback

Shiba Inu's price has dropped to its monthly low, with only 12% of holders currently in profit, which is clearly visible in the cryptocurrency charts. The price decline triggered by a double top formation has caused SHIB to trade below its moving averages, but a bullish comeback and positive news about the Shibarium and SHIB ecosystem could potentially boost the price in the short term. The general market trend may also impact SHIB's price movements.

Mysterious Bitcoin Wallet Becomes Third-Largest Holder

In just over three months, a mysterious Bitcoin wallet has become the third-largest holder of Bitcoin in the world, accumulating 118,000 BTC worth $3.08 billion. Speculation about the owner ranges from a crypto exchange to BlackRock. The surge in the wallet's holdings has sparked theories and garnered attention in the crypto community.  

Glassnode's recent on-chain report revealed that 88.3% of short-term Bitcoin holders, equivalent to 2.26 million BTC, are currently experiencing unrealized losses. In contrast, long-term holders remain unresponsive, aligning with typical behavior patterns during bear market periods. Bitcoin's drop to $26,000 caused it to fall below significant technical indicators, including the 200-day SMA. 

This market movement was attributed to derivative deleveraging and speculation regarding BlackRock's potential BTC accumulation before the ETF launch. 

Base Surpasses Ethereum in Transactions, Attracts Investors

Base, the layer 2 blockchain backed by Coinbase, has achieved a record high of 15.88 transactions per second (TPS), surpassing Ethereum, whose market cap continues to be a significant indicator of its influence in the crypto space. Arbitrum and Optimism are also left behind. Investor interest has increased due to friend.tech, a social market where users can buy and sell shares in public figures. 

The total value locked on Base has also risen to $188 million, with BaseSwap and Stargate receiving the majority of traffic. Other protocols, including Synthetix and Arkham Intelligence, are looking to deploy on Base. Since its mainnet launch, Base has recorded over 11.5 million transactions.

Thailand Warns Facebook Over Crypto Scams

Thailand's Ministry of Digital Economy and Society has warned Meta's Facebook to crack down on fraudulent crypto investment ads or face expulsion from the country. Over 200,000 people have been affected by these scams, according to the ministry. The minister in charge has requested a court order to shut down Facebook if it does not comply.

Indian Cryptocurrency Exchange CoinDCX Cuts Staff Amid Bear Market and Tax Policies

Indian cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX is cutting 12% of its staff due to the bear market and the country's tax policies. The exchange is laying off 71 employees, affecting several teams. India has imposed taxes on crypto profits and a controversial 1% tax on all transactions since February 2022. 

The tax regime, along with the global bear market, has severely impacted trading volumes and revenue for crypto exchanges in India. CoinDCX stated that it made the difficult decision to resize teams in order to steer the business towards profitable and sustainable growth.

World Mobile Partners with SingularityNET for AI Integration

World Mobile and SingularityNET have partnered to develop a credit rating system and customer support using artificial intelligence (AI). SingularityNET's AI technology will be integrated into World Mobile's blockchain network, allowing for automated answers to common questions and scalability into new territories. World Mobile aims to provide financial services to underserved populations.

Phantom Introduces Sign In With Solana Feature

Wallet service provider Phantom has introduced a new feature, Sign In With Solana (SIWS), which allows applications to authenticate users using a Solana address. This one-click sign-in method aims to improve the user experience and security by streamlining the authentication process. It replaces the traditional "connect" and "signMessage" flow with a single-click "signIn" method. 

The responsibility for message construction is shifted from applications to the wallet, allowing Phantom to scrutinize elements and ensure legitimacy. The feature also aims to prevent instances of fraudulent transactions and breaches.

Maple Finance Raises $5 Million, Expands in Asia-Pacific

Maple Finance, a blockchain-based credit marketplace, has raised $5 million in a funding round led by BlockTower Capital and Tioga Capital, and plans to expand into the Asia-Pacific region. The company will use the funds to scale its technology and forge partnerships in countries including Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea. 

Maple Finance also announced that it has resumed using the Solana network for its cash management offering after halting operations following the collapse of FTX.

Mantle Stakes 40,000 ETH on Lido Following Vote

Layer 2 network Mantle has staked 40,000 ETH on staking protocol Lido, worth $66 million, after a governance vote. The majority of Mantle's treasury is held in its native token, and community members now have the right to decide strategies relating to the treasury. Mantle recently rolled out its mainnet technology stack for scaling Ethereum and has $37 million in total value locked.

StarkWare Open-Sources STARK Prover for Ethereum Scaling

Blockchain technology company StarkWare has fulfilled its promise to open-source its STARK prover, a core technology used in the Starknet zk-rollup. The move is part of Ethereum's scaling roadmap, which aims to move transaction execution off the mainnet onto rollups to save blockspace. 

StarkWare's open-sourcing of the prover allows for code review, bug detection, and transparency. The company claims to have the most decentralized rollup stack.

Camino Network Completes Security Audit, Fixes Vulnerabilities

Blockchain travel ecosystem Camino Network has completed a security audit by cybersecurity firm Hexens, identifying and fixing nine minor vulnerabilities in its codebase. The public and permissioned Web3 blockchain is backed by major travel industry players and aims to transform the sector by enabling the creation of decentralized applications powered by smart contracts. 

Hexens has been contracted by Camino Network to provide ongoing security support, and the ecosystem has also introduced a KYC/KYB process to ensure only verified organizations and individuals can deploy smart contracts. A bug bounty program has also been launched.

Top Altcoin Gainers and Losers

Gainers:

FTX Token FTT (+2.61%)

Unus Sed Leo LEO (+2.31%)

SHIBA INU SHIB (+0.75%)

Losers:

Rollbit Coin RLB (-14.26%)

Frax Share FXS (-5.97%)

Kava KAVA (-4.98%)

NFT Market Map

Steam Bans Crypto Games, Developers Find Workarounds

Valve's Steam PC gaming marketplace has banned blockchain-based games with cryptocurrency or NFT elements. However, some developers have found ways to launch such games on the popular platform by removing the crypto and NFT aspects or redirecting players to third-party websites. 

Steam's restrictions on crypto and NFT games have led to controversy and divided opinions in the gaming industry. Other platforms, such as Epic Games and Google's Play Store, have taken a more open but regulated approach to blockchain games.

Blur Dominates Ethereum NFT Trading Volume

Blur is dominating the trading volume of NFTs on Ethereum, accounting for nearly 60%. Its popularity surged after a token airdrop event in February, causing OpenSea's volume to drop. Despite a decline in general interest, Blur's daily transaction volume still exceeds OpenSea's. 

Interest in NFTs has been decreasing overall, with market capitalization falling by 46% and daily sales volume dropping by 98% since February. Blue-chip NFTs like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks have also seen significant declines in value.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.