Bitcoin broke through the $20,000 level, Elon Musk closed the deal to buy Twitter, the Telegram team launched the Fragment platform for selling usernames, and other events from the past week.
Bitcoin Breaks Through the $20,000 Level
On 25 October the price of Bitcoin breached the $20,000 level after a prolonged period of extremely low volatility. The next day the quotes tested the $21,000 mark but failed to hold and began to correct.
At the time of writing, the premier cryptocurrency was trading near $20,650.
Over the week, nearly all top-10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation ended in the green, with the exception of XRP. The price of the latter fell by 1%.
Dogecoin posted the strongest momentum — amid Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition, the cryptocurrency rose by almost 95%. The asset surpassed the $0.10 mark for the first time since May 2022, overtaking Cardano in terms of market capitalisation.
The aggregate cryptocurrency market capitalisation rose again above $1 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance index fell to 37.5%.
Telegram Team Launches Fragment Marketplace for Selling Usernames
The Telegram team launched Fragment, a marketplace for selling account identifiers (usernames). It is implemented on The Open Network — the native TON token acts as the settlement medium.
Auction for the most valuable usernames has already begun, with some valued at more than $100 000.
Elon Musk Closes Twitter Purchase
On 28 October, Tesla founder Elon Musk closed the deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion. Instead of an official confirmation he posted the phrase “The bird is free.” The day before, the billionaire shared a video in which he enters the company’s headquarters with a sink in his hands.
The previous Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal and its chief financial officer Ned Segal left the headquarters.
Parallelly, Twitter developers announced a new feature displaying NFTs in posts with the ability to view details, as well as the buying and selling of the token via a dedicated button.
Apple Restricts NFT Use in Apps
The tech giant Apple obliged developers to exclude the use of NFTs that do not provide for the ability to charge in-app transaction fees (up to 30%), and redirect users to external resources.
National Bank of Kazakhstan to Test BNB Chain for its CBDC
The National Bank of Kazakhstan intends to test BNB Chain from Binance for launching a national digital currency, according to Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. Earlier in October the company obtained a licence to operate a digital asset platform and provide custody services at the Astana International Financial Centre.
This week Binance also unveiled a blockchain oracle service. Binance Oracle will connect decentralised applications on BNB Chain with data from the real world. So far, the service is already used by ten dapps of the ecosystem.
Sam Bankman-Fried Assessed the Damage from API Key Compromise and Considered a FTX Stablecoin
As a result of a phishing attack on the algorithmic trading platform 3Commas and the compromise of a number of FTX API keys, user losses exceeded $6 million, according to CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
Journalist Colin Wu reported that the API leak issue affected a Coinbase Pro user. The day before, X-explore analysts identified the problem on Binance.US and Bittrex.
This week Bankman-Fried also said that the exchange is working on its own stablecoin. He clarified that the company prioritises launching a stablecoin through a partnership with a third party. The executive did not disclose details.
What to Discuss with Friends?
- The Mango Markets attacker earned another $100 000 on the Mango Inu meme token.
- The former head of Bithumb faced a prison sentence threat.
- In the United States, two Chinese spies were accused of bribing a government official with bitcoins.
- Losses of Meta’s metaverse-focused division rose to $3.7 billion.
Core Scientific on the Brink of Bankruptcy, and Mining Difficulty Reaches a New High
The publicly traded mining company and blockchain hosting provider Core Scientific could exhaust its cash reserves by year-end. It has $26.6 million and 24 BTC (~$495,000) left.
Liquidity problems stem from the decline in Bitcoin’s price, higher electricity costs, rising hash rate and involvement in Celsius Network’s bankruptcy proceedings.
As a result of another recalculation on 24 October, Bitcoin mining difficulty rose by 3.44%, to a new high of 36.84 T. The average hash rate remained above 260 EH/s.
NEAR Foundation Ends Support for USN, and Huobi for HUSD
The NEAR Foundation’s USN stablecoin will terminate operations due to multiple risks, including insufficient collateral. Under the USN Protection Programme, $40 million has been allocated, enabling users to swap NEAR’s stablecoin for USDT and other assets over the course of a year.
From 28 October, the cryptocurrency exchange Huobi ceased support for HUSD, removing the coin from listing. All users will be credited USDT at 1:1.
Turkish Central Bank to Consider Launching CBDC in 2023
The Turkish President’s 2023 programme includes a plan to prepare for the launch of a digital lira. The project is tasked to the central bank, the Ministry of Finance and the Scientific-Technical Research Institute. The central bank will conduct research and development, and testing in cooperation with lending institutions.
Blockchain.com and BitOasis Introduce Debit Cards
Blockchain.com launched a debit card in partnership with Visa, offering 1% cashback in cryptocurrency. The product is available to US residents, but will roll out in other countries in 2023.
Based in the UAE, the BitOasis cryptocurrency exchange announced plans to issue its own debit card in partnership with Mastercard. It will be linked to accounts. Launch is expected in 2023.
Arthur Hayes Considers China Returning to Crypto via Hong Kong
Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes allowed for the possibility of China returning to the digital-asset industry with the help of Hong Kong.
In his view, reports that the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) plans to ease crypto trading rules for retail investors confirm Beijing’s attempt to re-enter the digital asset markets.
Earlier, South China Morning Post journalists reported that the SFC may permit retail investors to directly invest in “virtual assets.”
Also on ForkLog:
- Freeway paused withdrawals.
- Changpeng Zhao discussed progress in finding the BSC Token Hub bridge hacker.
- In Moldova, cryptocurrency mining was banned due to an energy crisis.
- Expert predicted growth of the cryptocurrency market capitalisation to $300 trillion.
What Else to Read?
In new educational cards, they explained the features of the Sui blockchain and how Diem’s work is used in it.
In traditional digests, they summarised the main events of the week in cyber security and artificial intelligence.
The cryptocurrency industry is attracting more institutional players. This is reflected in new investments in infrastructure and the growing attention that companies devote to Bitcoin as an asset class. The most important events of recent weeks are in ForkLog’s review.
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