Bitcoin miners face two additional difficulty adjustments before the network’s halving event, which is rapidly approaching, with less than 4,300 blocks remaining. Data indicates the total hashrate has recovered from a minor dip, suggesting miners might see a decrease in difficulty at the next adjustment, set for on or around March 28, 2024. With the […]
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Uniswap V4 Catalyst: UNI Token Primed For Growth As New Chain Launch Loom
Uniswap, one of the world’s largest decentralized exchanges (DEX), is poised for significant growth with the upcoming launch of its V4 upgrade. This anticipated update will introduce custom Automated Market Maker (AMM) functionality directly on top of Uniswap, eliminating the need for separate AMM designs.
In addition, Uniswap’s governance token, UNI, has seen notable growth, with a 6.8% increase in the last 24 hours and an 8% increase in the previous 30 days, bringing the UNI token to .318.
However, while these developments favor the exchange and investors, decentralized finance (DeFi) researcher DeFi Ignas has raised concerns regarding the launch and its potential impact on critical features.
The Ultimate DeFi Liquidity Solution With Uniswap V4?
According to DeFi Ignas’ latest analysis on X (formerly Twitter), Uniswap V4 represents a significant transformation from a protocol to a platform. Like the Apple Store’s impact on the iPhone, Uniswap V4 will consolidate all pools into a single framework, reducing creation costs by 99% and enabling more cost-effective multi-pool swaps.
The introduction of the “Hooks” system is particularly noteworthy. These hooks act as plugins or extensions, allowing for customized code execution during crucial events within a pool.
The 13 available hooks enable various functionalities, including on-chain limit orders, time-weighted average market making, liquidity depositing into lending protocols, auto compound liquidity provider (LP) fees, and know-your-customer (KYC) integration.
Introducing hooks leads DeFi Ignas to believe that the launch of Uniswap V4 will allow developers to experiment and launch their protocols while leveraging Uniswap’s liquidity.
According to the researcher, this has the potential to attract even more liquidity from other decentralized exchanges and establish Uniswap as the dominant liquidity layer for all DeFi activities, from trading to lending.
Yet, while unified liquidity may benefit users by increasing market efficiency, it raises concerns about potential market concentration and stifling of competition.
UNI Token Gains Momentum
Uniswap’s V4 liquidity sourcing could concentrate liquidity within the platform, potentially making it the go-to liquidity layer for DeFi. According to DeFi Ignas, this dominance, coupled with Uniswap’s operating license that prohibits forking until 2027, raises questions about market competition and the potential impact on decentralized finance.
In addition, reports suggest that Uniswap Labs has sent takedown notices to gateways of the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) – a decentralized and distributed protocol designed to facilitate the storage and sharing of files on a peer-to-peer network – adding another layer of concern about decentralized access and censorship resistance.
Regarding the potential upside of Uniswap V4 acting as a catalyst for the exchange’s token, the research went on to suggest that while UNI’s value “accrual” for retail investors has been relatively modest, the introduction of Uniswap V4 and its hooks opens up new possibilities.
In this sense, DeFi Ignas believes the UNI token could function as a platform/ecosystem token, benefiting from third-party decentralized applications (dApps) developed using Uniswap’s hooks, expanding the token’s use cases and potentially attracting more investors.
Additionally, there is speculation that Uniswap may solidify its dominance and liquidity by launching its chain, potentially as a layer-two (L2) solution, which could further boost the valuation of the UNI token.
As the upgrade deadline for Uniswap approaches, the impact of the exchange’s upgrade on the UNI token remains uncertain. However, there has been a noticeable growth in the token’s value over the past few weeks.
After reaching a 17-month high of .260 in January, the token experienced a correction but has since broken out of that pattern. As the upgrade deadline draws near, it is yet to be determined whether the token can consolidate its gains and regain previous levels.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
Why October Is An Important Month For The Crypto Industry As Key SEC Decisions Loom
As October approaches, the crypto community will have their eyes set on the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), as it has some key decisions to make that could invariably affect the crypto industry and everyone in it.
SEC Appeal Incoming?
The SEC is expected to decide whether or not to appeal the ruling in its case against asset manager Grayscale, with the deadline for an appeal being October 13 (45 days from the court’s ruling).
On August 29, Grayscale secured a landmark victory against the SEC as the District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled that the regulator failed to provide a valid reason for denying Grayscale’s application and ordered that the SEC review the application once again.
Following the decision, a spokesperson for the agency stated that they would review the decision before determining their next steps.
If the SEC chooses to appeal, it can do so at the US Supreme Court by filing a petition for a “writ of certiorari,” which is a document asking the Supreme Court to review the case, or it can ask for an “en banc” review where all the judges of the DC Court of Appeals will further review the case.
An appeal by the SEC will undoubtedly dampen the mood in the crypto community as it could prolong the wait for a Spot Bitcoin ETF.
However, suppose the Commission chooses not to appeal, it will become law that the spot and futures market are correlated, and the SEC’s argument that the spot market is more susceptible to fraud and manipulation will no longer stick.
Pending ETF Applications
The second deadline for several pending spot Bitcoin ETF applications is in October. The SEC must decide (approve, deny, or delay) on these applications. Some notable dates include October 16 and 17. The former is the second deadline for a decision on the Bitwise Bitcoin ETP Trust.
Meanwhile, October 17 is the second deadline for the SEC to decide on the iShares Bitcoin Fund, VanEck Bitcoin Trust, Wisdomtree Bitcoin Trust, Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, and Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust.
It is expected that the SEC will again choose to delay its decision on these applications, with the next deadline for a decision coming next year.
If the SEC continues to stretch its decision on these applications, the earliest a final response can come is on January 10, 2024, the final deadline for the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF.
There should, however, be some positives to take from October as the SEC is expected to allow the launch of the pending Ethereum futures ETF applications, with Volatility Shares projected to launch theirs on October 12 and others coming subsequently.
Featured image from Hotcore
Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon Denied Bail by Montenegrin High Court; Extradition Requests Loom
A Montenegrin high court judge has reportedly invalidated the bail application of Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs. Kwon was detained for providing false identification while boarding a flight to Dubai alongside a companion on March 23, 2023.
Terraform Labs Co-Founder’s Bail Request Invalidated by Montenegrin High Court
For the past 62 days, Do Kwon has remained incarcerated in Montenegro’s capital after being apprehended at Podgorica airport. Kwon, along with his accomplice Han Chong-joon, allegedly attempted to depart from Montenegro for Dubai.
However, their plans were thwarted when Kwon was discovered carrying forged identification documents. Montenegro’s interior minister, Filip Adzic, confirmed the arrest and subsequent detention of Kwon in Podgorica.
Ever since then, Kwon has found himself trapped within the confines of Montenegro’s prisons, and jails with distressing reports about the treatment of inmates and the dire state of prison infrastructure in the country.
At the start of May, a glimmer of hope emerged as Kwon and Chong-joon were granted permission by the lower court in Montenegro to secure their release by posting bail amounting to 0,500. However, the optimism was short-lived as news surfaced on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, revealing that a higher court had decisively annulled the lower court’s bail ruling.
On Wednesday morning, Bloomberg reporters received the news directly from Marija Rakovic, a court spokeswoman. Apart from Kwon’s ongoing legal woes in Podgorica, the co-founder of Terraform Labs also faces extradition requests from both the United States and South Korea. A report released in late March revealed that Montenegro had allegedly decided to withhold Kwon’s extradition until he had undergone a trial and received proper legal proceedings.
“The basic court should now make another decision, taking into account what the high court ruled,” Rakovic informed Bloomberg during their conversation on Wednesday. This development comes in the wake of a Seoul court granting permission for the confiscation of Kwon’s assets, valued at 6 million.
Additionally, there are suspicions that the co-founder of Terraform Labs may have stashed away 0 million in a Swiss bank account. Much like Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced co-founder of FTX, Kwon appears to have had ample financial resources to fund his costly legal defenses thus far.
What are your thoughts on the judicial decisions surrounding Do Kwon’s case and the extradition requests he faces? Share your opinions and perspective in the comments section below.
Fears of Bearish Correction Loom as Bitcoin OTC Deals Plunge
Bitcoin faces the prospects of undergoing a massive downside correction as on-chain data shows a plunge in its over-the-counter deals.
According to data fetched by CryptoQuant, the total amount of Bitcoin tokens flowing out of Coinbase Pro’s addresses to their newly-created custodial cold wallets has decreased ever since BTC/USD crossed above ,000.
Coinbase Pro Bitcoin Outflow chart. Source: CryptoQuant
As CryptoQuant’s CEO Ki-Young Ju noted earlier, these wallets hold Bitcoin for major crypto-enabled firms like Genesis Trading (which buys Bitcoin for Grayscale Investments, one of the largest crypto accumulators) and Ruffer Investment (which bought around 0 million worth of BTC last year).
That allows the data analytics portal to equate large BTC transfers from Coinbase Pro to new wallets as OTC transactions.
Retail Involvement High
The statements appeared as Bitcoin logged another all-time high on Thursday, hitting ,321 ahead of New Year’s eve. Its latest rally came on the backs of a devaluing US dollar and prospects of new institutional investments into the cryptocurrency space, especially after Skybridge Capital’s big reveal that it holds Bitcoin worth 2 million.
The news also coincided with a recovery in stablecoin inflows into all cryptocurrency exchanges from their December 13 low. A CryptoQuant metric earlier this week showed that the total number of stablecoin counts increased from 20,000 (BTC price: ,270) to 30,590 (,000).
Bitcoin rally pauses after hitting ,000. Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
That showed that the rally to ,000 was majorly retail-driven, which further increased Bitcoin’s potential to correct lower in the coming sessions. Small and medium-capital traders tend to sell the cryptocurrency at its local top while investors with a long-term outlook use those dips to purchase it.
With OTC deals going down, it might be possible that institutions are waiting for the next Bitcoin correction to accumulate more of its units.
“We haven’t had significant Coinbase outflows since k, tokens transferred is decreasing, and the fund flow ratio for all exchanges is increasing,” explained Mr. Ju. “Still possible that institutional investors would join anytime soon, but we might face a correction if it continues like this.”
The 2021 Bitcoin Forecast
Many analysts agree that Bitcoin’s rally has become overheated enough to undergo a price correction. Nevertheless, that has not changed their perspective about a bullish 2021 ahead as long as the Federal Reserve stays on its indefinite monetary stimulus plans to aid the US economy through the coronavirus pandemic.
David Grider, the lead digital strategist at Fundstrat, said in a note that he expects the Bitcoin price to touch ,000 within the next 12 months. He further noted that the cryptocurrency might face many bumps on its way upward, led by potential regulatory actions or mere profit-taking.
“We wouldn’t view these events as long-term negatives for Bitcoin, but if such events unfold, they may negatively impact broader market sentiment and prices,” Grider explained.
Ethereum Devs Reconsider Difficulty Bomb Timing as Hard Forks Loom
Developers may punt a network feature two years down the road to avoid complicating ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake PoS.
CryptScout #BitFeed RSS – Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency News 24/7
Chinese Bitcoin Mining Centers Fear Electricity Cuts as Compliance Issues Loom
Having banned the exchanges where cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are traded, the Chinese government is now cracking down on the plants where such currencies are mined.
The Yingjiang Administration Bureau for Industry and Commerce, which enforces enterprises and consumer protection laws, issued a notification to the Bitcoin mining facilities operating in China’s Yunnan province. The bureau sought the said businesses to register themselves with their Power Supply Bureau. In case of non-compliance, it warned them with power cuts, threatening the very core on which their mining operations are based.
#btc mining facilities in Yunnan province are facing another round of compliance check. Failure to do so will result in power cutoff from the grid. pic.twitter.com/S8udtDrbvX
— Red Li (@redtheminer) November 12, 2018
The notification surfaced after big mining facilities were found to be using the state-sponsored cheap electricity to mine cryptocurrencies. The authorities found that a majority of these low-level but high income-based businesses were functioning in the grey areas of the law. They were receiving an unlimited supply of electricity without a check, even though they didn’t have an official business name.
The Power Lies Within
China accounts for the world’s highest computing power devoted to the crypto mining operations. It has made the country headquarters to some of the biggest crypto mining firms, such as Beijing-based Bitmain. These companies not only make crypto mining hardware but they also operate large mining pools – where groups of miners bring their machines together to improve their chances of finding the next block.
Cheap or subsidized electricity is the main advantage for Bitcoin mining companies in China. In the coal-abundant Yunnan province, for instance, the authorities offer companies the power at a subsidized rate of only 4 USD per kilowatt-hour. This is way less than the electricity tariffs in European countries and the US. It allows crypto mining firms to reap enormous benefits, a process that so far has gone unchecked due to the youth of the industry.
Reports indicate that miners also reached out to local hydro-power stations for an even cheaper electricity slab. There is a possibility that many mining firms enjoyed mining cryptos at the electricity rate of just a few cents per kilowatt-hour – again, in a legal grey area. The Yingjian administration notification also ordered such power plants to stop providing cheaper electricity to their local mining facilities.
Compliance Looming
As a part of regulatory reform, the Yingjian administration decided to impose new legal parameters on the local Bitcoin mining businesses. The office now wants them to register them with their real names, undergo tax inspection, show their source of funding, and even guarantee the power supply they require every month.
The notice from Yingjiang regulator referred to a case from the Xingjiang region where a mining company was told to shut operations from November 5, citing non-compliance. A letter of guarantee – translated from Chinese – from the mining company read:
“Our company will obtain a real name as per the norms of the Public Securities Department for higher standard execution. In the meantime, not only will we stop our mining operations, but we would also make sure not to offer any of our services to our customers.”
Image from Shutterstock
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Loom Blockchain Based Zombie Battleground Makes 250k Kickstarter Goal
Through a Kickstarter campaign, a group of developers are creating the first mobile blockchain-based game launched on top of the Loom network.
First mobile Blockchain based Game
Those who were fans of Magic the Gathering and other similar card-based adventure games may have already heard about Loom Network Zombie Battleground on Kickstarter. The game was added to the crowdsource funding sight in mid-June with a 0,000 goal which had to be made by mid-August. Now with still a month to go until its deadline the game has been fully funded and is ready to start handing out contributor bonuses.
Loom Network tweeted out a round of congratulatory applause to its contributors for making the first mobile game to run entirely on a blockchain network happen.
0k FUNDING GOAL REACHED!
Zombie Battleground will be the FIRST mobile game to run ENTIRELY on the blockchain.
If you've been slackin' — you STILL have time to join the Zombie Revolution
See you on the Battleground, champ!https://t.co/E9lrSVW4jt
— Loom Network (@loomnetwork) July 4, 2018
As the game has completed its goal early contributors to its Kickstarter campaign will see benefits from their support as early as next month. While the game will continue to distribute releases throughout 2018 with the goal of making a full release of the game with full features in May of 2019.
Zombie Battleground is based on the tradition of trading and collectible card games that saw their height of popularity in the nineties. Being blockchain based allows players to literally own their digital cards. The ability to buy, sell and trade cards in order to create perfect decks, according to the creators, is what separates their game from other online CCGs.
Blockchain Allows Gamers to Own their Digital Assets.
Using blockchain technology has given developers of the game the ability to add in features like provable scarcity for unique cards that users can buy and sell in the gaming marketplace just as one would with something like baseball cards in the real world. Developers of the game believe that by using the blockchain they have created a groundbreaking game that will disrupt the future of online gaming.
The developing team of more than fifty people who are spread around the world have been working under the guidance of game director Roy Shapiro who describes the game as “easily learned but very had to master”. Co-founder James Dufy expressed his thanks in a video on the Kickstarter site, acknowledging that online gamers have shown they want to own their digital assets by supporting Zombie Battleground.
Even though the game has made its initial Kickstarter goal, prospective contributors are still welcome to visit the site and get involved as Loom network has created new stretch goals that will add more cards and features to the games full release.
Featured Image From Shutterstock
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Dark Days Loom For Thailand’s ICO Industry, but Individual Crypto Tax Waived
Battle lines are being drawn across Asia with nations deciding whether to embrace blockchain and cryptocurrencies or suppress them. China and India have made their positions clear with a series of crackdowns on the industry while South Korea is finally taking a more positive outlook and may even allow initial coin offerings once again. Thailand, once seen as a hub of tech investment, is poised to douse the flames of growth for this embryonic industry.
Crippling Crypto Crackdown Impending
Thailand is currently in the grips of a military dictatorship that has little desire to relinquish power. Four years after seizing control the junta still rules with an iron fist and this latest clampdown seems to be fueled by ignorance of technology rather than other motives. On Monday this week the Royal Gazette initiated a new law to ban initial coin offerings, define digital assets, determine administration fees for token trading and, most perturbing, introduce heavy taxation on gains from crypto trading.
Industry leaders and innovators are deeply concerned that this latest clampdown will hamper start-ups and technological advancement within the Kingdom. According to local media the law has threatened lengthy jail terms for entities offering crypto trading that do not register with the SEC within 90 days.
Duenden Nikomborirak, of the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), said the new tax measures were “not favorable for the Thai digital economy and tech start-ups.” She warned that the policy would drive Thai entrepreneurs and investors to Singapore, where there are no taxes on ICOs or trading. Managing director of CLSA Securities (Thailand), Prinn Panitchpakdi, added that the Finance Ministry’s tax measures would likely kill the Thai ICO market even before it had a chance to become established.
Thai blockchain and fintech startups are already getting hammered with three lots of taxes; 15% capital gains tax, 7% VAT, and a further 20% corporate income tax. This makes it virtually impossible to launch a new blockchain or crytpocurrency project within the country.
Govt U-Turn on Personal VAT
Capital gains taxes of 15% will soon be extended to the public that want to trade cryptocurrencies. The country’s largest exchange, BX Thailand, said that according to the decree, customers need to collect and allocate their income and capital gain tax and send this to the Revenue Department, the VAT will be collected on trades whether they gain or lose.
The latest news announced today is that the Revenue Department will waive the 7% VAT for people trading in cryptocurrencies on exchange markets approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However individuals will still have to pay a 15% capital gains tax, also known as a withholding tax, on income earned in a transaction. This is still likely to drive many away to an emerging number of tax free, low commission exchanges in other Asian nations.
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