Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | July 25, 2023

Crypto Market Update

Written by Van

Table of Contents:

Blockchain Developments and Tokenization

• Avalanche Foundation's Bold Tokenization Initiative

Crypto Exchange News

• KuCoin Addresses Layoff Rumors Amid Declining Profits
• Binance to Fully Service Japanese Users Post SEBC Acquisition

Regulatory and Privacy Issues

• Worldcoin's Biometric Data Approach Stirs Controversy
• Terra Co-founders Under Scrutiny as Arkham Intel Offers Bounty

Security Concerns and Attacks

• Rise in Phishing Attacks on Crypto Holders: Apple Users Beware
• Era Lend Loses Millions in Reentrancy Attack on zkSync Layer 2
• Cryptocurrency Payment Processor Alphapo Loses $60 Million in Hack

Market Trends and Investor Activity

• Crypto Market Correction: Major Investor Sell-Offs and XRP Rally
• Bitcoin's Dominance Wanes Following Ripple Ruling, Sparking Altcoin Interest
• Dogecoin Surges Amid Twitter Speculation and Elon Musk's Endorsement
• Bitcoin's 2023 Rally: A Deep Dive into Whale Movements
• Hamster Races Trigger Animal-Themed Token Frenzy on Social Media

Country-Specific Developments

• Russia to Launch Digital Ruble CBDC for Payments in August

Blockchain Network Updates and Concerns

• Ethereum Co-founder Warns Against Expanding Consensus Layer
• Aurory Expands Gaming Ecosystem to Ethereum's Arbitrum Network

NFT and DeFi Developments

• Rising Demand for Cardano NFTs and DeFi Despite ADA Price Drop
• Ducati Debuts NFT Collection on XRP Ledger
• Sky Mavis and CyberKongz Partnership Brings Rewards for Axie Holders

Avalanche Foundation's Bold Tokenization Initiative

The Avalanche Foundation has allocated up to $50m to purchase tokenised assets minted on the Avalanche blockchain. The programme, called Avalanche Vista, aims to support and demonstrate the value of tokenising asset classes including equity, credit, and real estate. 

Tokenisation offers advantages such as increased liquidity, fractional ownership, reduced transaction costs, enhanced transparency, and access to a global market of investors.

KuCoin Addresses Layoff Rumors Amid Declining Profits

Crypto exchange KuCoin has stated that it may adjust its personnel but denies plans for major layoffs, despite rumors suggesting a 30% reduction due to declining profits. The exchange has faced legal action and implemented identity checks, impacting its earnings. 

Binance to Fully Service Japanese Users Post SEBC Acquisition

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announced that the exchange will offer full services for Japanese users in August, following its acquisition of regulated Japanese exchange Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC) in November 2022. Binance had previously received warnings from Japan's Financial Services Agency for operating without necessary permissions.

Worldcoin's Biometric Data Approach Stirs Controversy

Worldcoin's launch has prompted regulatory scrutiny and community backlash due to privacy concerns. Critics argue that the project's reliance on biometric data poses security risks. The WLD token's price has also crashed by over 25%. Community members have raised doubts about its tokenomics and alleged backdoor deals. 

Terra Co-founders Under Scrutiny as Arkham Intel Offers Bounty

The Arkham Intel Exchange approved a $5,000 bounty for information on Terra co-founder Do Kwon and Terra wallets. The platform aims to deanonymize the blockchain and has accepted its first submission. Terra has faced controversy, including the depegging of its stablecoin during the 2022 crypto market crash. 

Kwon was arrested in Montenegro and sentenced to four months in prison for using forged travel documents. Co-founder Shin Hyun-seong is also under scrutiny for alleged illicit profits. 

Rise in Phishing Attacks on Crypto Holders: Apple Users Beware

A recent phishing attack targeting cryptocurrency holders using Apple devices has been uncovered. The attack involves a malicious program on the Apple App Store that replicates normal applications and gains control over accounts by adding the attacker's number to the trusted two-factor authentication list. 

Vulnerabilities in iOS and macOS platforms further increase the risk. Both slowMist and Kaspersky advise users to update their devices. MetaMask had previously warned about the use of Apple iCloud backups as a phishing tool. Phishing attacks on crypto users have surged by 40% year-over-year. 

Era Lend Loses Millions in Reentrancy Attack on zkSync Layer 2

Decentralized lending protocol Era Lend lost $3.4 million in a reentrancy attack on the zkSync Layer 2 network. The hacker exploited a read-only reentrancy vulnerability, allowing repeated calls within a transaction to drain funds. 

The attack was made possible by a faulty price oracle and another decentralized exchange called SyncSwap. Era Lend has contained the attack and advised users to refrain from depositing USDC while borrowing operations have been temporarily halted.

Cryptocurrency Payment Processor Alphapo Loses $60 Million in Hack

In a recent attack on cryptocurrency payment processor Alphapo, hackers stole over $60 million in Ethereum, Tron, and Bitcoin. The initial estimate of $23 million was revised after an additional $37 million was discovered. The attack is suspected to be the work of the Lazarus group. Alphapo processed transactions for popular online gambling platforms. 

Crypto Market Correction: Major Investor Sell-Offs and XRP Rally

In the recent cryptocurrency market correction, major investors panicked and sold off their holdings, particularly in Ethereum (ETH) and Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC). One Ethereum investor sold nearly 4,000 ETH for $7.3 million, while another dumped 7,115 ETH for $13.12 million. 

Meanwhile, XRP whales began accumulating the asset following Ripple's legal victory, leading to renewed investor interest and the reintroduction of XRP trading on several platforms. 

Bitcoin's Dominance Wanes Following Ripple Ruling, Sparking Altcoin Interest

Bitcoin's market dominance has dropped by 8% following a favorable Ripple ruling, leading to an altcoin rally. Altcoins like XRP, Polygon, Solana, and Stellar Lumens have seen increased interest. However, while volumes have risen, it's too early to consider this a sustainable rally, with buying pressures dropping and thin liquidity. 

The XRP token has gained 45% in the past two weeks. The Korean market has shown significant interest in XRP, and the overall long-term outlook for Bitcoin has improved. 

Dogecoin Surges Amid Twitter Speculation and Elon Musk's Endorsement

Dogecoin (DOGE) once surged 10% to over 7.7 cents amid speculation that it will have a larger role on the rebranded Twitter platform, X. Trading volumes reached $2.3 billion, primarily from UpBit. 

However, futures traders lost nearly $10 million betting on DOGE's price movements. Elon Musk's interest in the meme coin and Tesla's acceptance of DOGE payments further fueled speculation. 

Bitcoin's 2023 Rally: A Deep Dive into Whale Movements

Glassnode's report on Bitcoin whale movements reveals that the 2023 rally was mainly influenced by short-term holding whale activity. The dominance of whales on the market has decreased to 46% from 63% in 2021. Whale wallet balances decreased by 255k BTC after May 30, with the largest monthly loss of 148k BTC. 

Short-term owner dominance reached 82%, indicating that recent trading activity is driven by short-term whales. This suggests that whale holdings significantly impact Bitcoin's market price. 

Hamster Races Trigger Animal-Themed Token Frenzy on Social Media

Animal race betting projects and their respective tokens, including hamsters, snails, rabbits, horses and rats, have emerged on social media. Hamsters, the first of its kind, saw its native token soar by over 780% after launching the world's first live-streamed hamster race. However, the HAMS token has since dropped 72%. 

Russia to Launch Digital Ruble CBDC for Payments in August

Russia will launch its digital ruble central bank digital currency (CBDC) for payments from 1 August. The Bank of Russia will manage the infrastructure and assets, and the currency will be used for payments and transfers, but not investments. Adoption will be optional, said the central bank's head, Elvira Nabiullina.

Ethereum Co-founder Warns Against Expanding Consensus Layer

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has expressed concerns about extending Ethereum's consensus layer beyond its current purposes in a recent blog post. 

Buterin warns that expanding the consensus mechanism could introduce systemic risks to the network and suggests maintaining Ethereum's minimalism to avoid potential harm. He advises developers to find alternative strategies to support system improvements and security goals.

Top Altcoin Gainers and Losers

Gainers:

FLEX FLEX (+22.70%)

Maker MKR (+8.76%)

Dogecoin DOGE (+7.04%)

Losers:

Casper CSPR (-6.93%)

Compound COMP (-4.70%)

Kaspa KAS (-3.96%)

NFT Market Map

Aurory Expands Gaming Ecosystem to Ethereum's Arbitrum Network

NFT-based game franchise Aurory is expanding its offerings from the Solana blockchain to the Ethereum scaling network Arbitrum. The move is being labelled as an expansion rather than a migration, with the goal being to open new on-ramps into the game and tap into other crypto communities.

Rising Demand for Cardano NFTs and DeFi Despite ADA Price Drop

Demand for Cardano's NFTs, particularly Cardano Apes, has driven prices up, with one selling for $20,000. Cardano also dominated Q2 2023 DeFi growth, despite a 27% QoQ decrease in ADA's price. The Mithril network is nearing its mainnet release, with a beta version set to be available soon.

Ducati Debuts NFT Collection on XRP Ledger

Ducati has launched its first NFT collection and partnered with XRP Ledger for the launch. The free collection, featuring Ducati logos used on motorcycles since 1946, will be released on July 26. Users who buy from the first collection will have access to subsequent projects. Ducati was acquired by Audi through Italian subsidiary Lamborghini and all belong to Volkswagen Group.

Sky Mavis and CyberKongz Partnership Brings Rewards for Axie Holders

Axie Infinity creator Sky Mavis has partnered with NFT collection CyberKongz to reward players with digital assets. CyberKongz will release a new NFT collection called Genkai with some tokens minted on Sky Mavis's Ronin chain. 

Holders of rarer Mystic Axie tokens will receive free Genkai NFTs. CyberKongz has seen a decline in sales volume and value in the bear market. The Genkai NFTs will be available on both Ronin and Ethereum Mainnet.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.