Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | May 28, 2023

Crypto Market Update

Written by Van

Table of Contents:

Banking and Regulatory Updates

• Biden and McCarthy Reach Agreement to Raise US Debt Ceiling
• XRP Accumulation Surges as Ripple vs SEC Case Nears End

Crypto Market Developments

• Bitcoin and Altcoins Surge, Ethereum Whale Activity Raises Eyebrows
• Crypto Skeptic Peter Schiff Ventures into NFTs, Gains Community Support

Crypto Security and Governance

• Tornado Cash Governance Regained After Attacker's Takeover
• Stargate Introduces Safety Measures after Multichain Incident
• DeFi's Jimbos Protocol Loses $7.5M Ether in Latest Attack

Country-Specific Developments

• Hong Kong Police Launch CyberDefender for Metaverse Safety Education
• Binance Acquires Sakura Exchange, Prepares for Launch as Binance Japan

Crypto Exchanges and Platforms

• Sei Network to Combat Sybil Attacks for Airdrop with BotBasher

Biden and McCarthy Reach Agreement to Raise US Debt Ceiling

US President Biden and House majority leader Kevin McCarthy have reached an "agreement in principle" to raise the US debt ceiling, averting a potential default. The details of the deal are not yet available, but it includes a cap on non-defense discretionary spending for one year and a 1% increase in 2025. The agreement will now go to the House of Representatives and Senate for approval. Failure to raise the debt limit could have led to a catastrophic default. Some analysts believe raising the debt ceiling could result in increased capital inflow into Bitcoin.

XRP Accumulation Surges as Ripple vs SEC Case Nears End

Whales have been accumulating XRP as the Ripple vs SEC case nears its end, with over 52 million XRP purchased in the past three weeks. Despite this, XRP's price has seen a decline, and its network growth and development activity have also fallen. However, Ripple's acquisition of Bitstamp signals its plans for international expansion in crypto-friendly markets.

Bitcoin and Altcoins Surge, Ethereum Whale Activity Raises Eyebrows

Bitcoin and altcoins rebounded over the weekend, with Bitcoin surging above $27,000 and some altcoins gaining by over 5%, such as MATIC and TRX. An Ethereum holder, inactive for eight years, has transferred 8,000 Ether ($14.7 million) to a new address, sparking speculation about their intentions. This is the second significant dormant Ethereum whale to resurface in recent weeks, leading to discussions about their potential impact on the market. Traders are monitoring these activities closely, as they could potentially trigger large sell-offs and price movements. 

Crypto Skeptic Peter Schiff Ventures into NFTs, Gains Community Support

Peter Schiff, a well-known crypto skeptic, surprised the crypto world by venturing into NFTs and digital assets. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) welcomed his conversion. Schiff plans to release an NFT art collection on the Bitcoin blockchain, collaborating with an artist to create Ordinals. The move suggests an acknowledgment of crypto's value, and the recent surge in Ordinals' popularity is due to the Taproot upgrade. The crypto community, including CZ and Anthony Pompliano, reacted positively to Schiff's unexpected pivot.

Tornado Cash Governance Regained After Attacker's Takeover

Tornado Cash's governance token holders have regained control over the protocol after an attacker presented a proposal to restore governance control. The attacker had previously stolen 483,000 Tornado Cash tokens and converted most of them into ETH. The protocol was not impacted by the governance takeover, which saw the attacker manipulate the governance structure to seize control over previously vested governance tokens.

Stargate Introduces Safety Measures after Multichain Incident

Stargate has introduced a proposal and voting system to mitigate risk and safeguard ecosystem integrity following the recent "force majeure" incident impacting Multichain and concerns surrounding anyUSDC on Fantom. The proposal includes ceasing STG emissions on Fantom pools, isolating Fantom pools from other pools, and exploring alternative bridging options. 96.55% of the Stargate community has voted in favor of the proposal. Binance has temporarily halted deposits for bridged tokens associated with Multichain. Whitelisting current LPs is highlighted as important.

DeFi's Jimbos Protocol Loses $7.5M Ether in Latest Attack

Decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Jimbos Protocol suffered an attack resulting in the loss of 4,000 Ether, worth approximately $7.5 million, due to a lack of slippage control on liquidity conversions. The attack resulted in the price of the underlying token, Jimbo (JIMBO), plummeting by 40%. DeFi protocols continue to grapple with the challenge of safeguarding against potential vulnerabilities and unauthorized access.

Hong Kong Police Launch CyberDefender for Metaverse Safety Education

Hong Kong Police Force's cybersecurity unit has launched CyberDefender, a new metaverse platform to educate the public about the potential dangers associated with Web3 and the metaverse. The platform was launched after a significant rise in virtual asset crime was reported in Hong Kong during Q1 2023.

Binance Acquires Sakura Exchange, Prepares for Launch as Binance Japan

Binance has acquired regulated crypto exchange Sakura Exchange Bitcoin and will reopen it as Binance Japan in the coming weeks. Users of the exchange's global platform will have to register with the new entity and undergo a new identity verification process to comply with local requirements. Binance has ceased derivative services in Japan but plans to work with regulators to provide them in a fully compliant manner.

Sei Network to Combat Sybil Attacks for Airdrop with BotBasher

Sei Network (SEI) is introducing new Sybil attack protection technology for its highly anticipated airdrop in 2023. Users must pass identity checks on the BotBasher platform by Humanode to prove they are humans and not bots. SEI tokens will be distributed to participants of its incentivized testnet. Sei Network aims to achieve fast transaction finality and high throughput on its sector-specific Layer 1 blockchain.

Top Altcoin Gainers and Losers

Gainers:

Render Token RNDR (+15.40%)

NEO NEO (+13.53%)

Huobi Token HT (+13.38%)

Losers:

Pepe PEPE (-14.62%)

GMX GMX (-11.85%)

Sui SUI (-9.55%)

NFT Market Map

Peter Schiff, a critic of Bitcoin, is venturing into Bitcoin-based NFTs with an art project called "Golden Triumph." The project involves prints corresponding to unique Ordinals inscribed on the Bitcoin blockchain, showcasing the growing influence of Bitcoin Ordinals and NFTs. Auctions for the project will be held on June 9th.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.