Bitcoin’s price surged to $60,000, mining difficulty reached a new peak, MicroStrategy expanded its reserves by 18,300 BTC, the Russian State Duma announced plans to regulate crypto trading by November, among other events of the week.
Bitcoin Stabilizes Near $60,000
On September 13, the leading cryptocurrency rapidly approached $60,000.
By the week’s end, the asset’s price remained near this level, marking a weekly increase of over 10%.
The flagship’s trend positively influenced the market overall. Among the top capitalized assets, BNB, XRP, and DOGE showed comparable growth over the period. TON, rounding out the top 10, rebounded by 20% to around $5.6.
The total market capitalization approached $2.2 trillion, with Bitcoin’s dominance index at 54.2%.
Binance Reports Surplus Asset Coverage
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance released another Proof-of-Reserves audit, confirming surplus client fund coverage.
As of September 1, the platform held 647,106 BTC and 4,651,360 ETH. User deposits in major cryptocurrencies were 605,690 BTC and 4,486,359 ETH, with coverage reaching 106.84% and 103.68%, respectively.
The company was the first among centralized exchanges to launch the Proof-of-Reserves initiative in November 2022, using zk-SNARK zero-knowledge proof technology for verification.
SEC’s Crypto Startup Penalties Hit Record $4.7 Billion
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) collected a record $4.7 billion in penalties related to digital assets in the 2024 fiscal year, a 3018% increase.
This was primarily due to the settlement with Terraform Labs and its former CEO Do Kwon for $4.47 billion.
In the 2024 fiscal year, the Commission initiated 11 cases compared to 30 the previous year.
The total amount collected by the SEC during this period exceeded the combined total for 2013-2023.
MTS Uncovers Hundreds of Illegal Mining Farms in Russia
Since the beginning of 2024, MTS specialists have identified over a hundred illegal mining farms in Russia within client service areas. This was reported by Pavel Fedosov, head of the corporation’s IoT center, as per TASS.
MTC’s platform can detect meters transmitting understated readings and specific network sections using big data and AI. The system analyzes energy consumption to find characteristic signs of theft.
The North Caucasus and Irkutsk region lead among Russian regions in the number of illegal cryptocurrency mining farms.
Topics to Discuss with Friends
- Bernstein identified a factor for Bitcoin’s rise to $90,000.
- Leaked Chainalysis video revealed a method for tracking XMR.
- The Block: Uniswap is losing ground in the “DEX war.”
- Binance announced Launchpool farming and listing of Hamster Kombat.
TON Community: DOGS Conducts Largest Meme-TGE in Crypto History
DOGS conducted the largest meme-TGE in crypto industry history, according to TON Community.
According to provided statistics:
- 53 million users accessed the DOGS app;
- 42.2 million were eligible for the airdrop;
- 17 million users claimed DOGS;
- the token has 4.5 million unique holders.
In the past two weeks, the number of daily active TON users exceeded 1.1 million several times, with daily transactions reaching 14.4 million, claims the TON Community team. The spread of DOGS played a key role in the activity surge.
Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Reaches New High
Following the latest recalculation, the mining difficulty of the leading cryptocurrency increased by 3.58%, setting a new record at 92.67 T.
The average hashrate since the previous adjustment reached a record 662.34 EH/s, with the block interval reduced to 9 minutes 40 seconds.
Telegram Responds Promptly to EU Authorities’ Requests
Messenger Telegram has begun promptly processing and responding to legal requests from European authorities, reports Liberation, citing law enforcement.
According to available information, Telegram responded to requests from the French National Police and Gendarmerie’s Juvenile Affairs Office in several criminal investigations, providing information that could identify suspects, particularly in crimes against children.
“The door is indeed opening,” confirmed the Paris prosecutor’s office.
Coinbase Launches Wrapped Bitcoin
On September 12, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase launched Coinbase Wrapped BTC (cbBTC), a wrapped version of Bitcoin (1:1) as an ERC20 token.
“With cbBTC, we continue to expand economic freedom by providing users with more ways to use their Bitcoin,” the company clarified.
According to the statement, the leading cryptocurrency “plays an important role in attracting users” to digital assets. At launch, cbBTC operates on the Base and Ethereum networks, with plans to expand further.
MicroStrategy Acquires 18,300 BTC for $1.1 Billion
MicroStrategy has purchased an additional 18,300 BTC for ~$1.11 billion (at $60,408 per coin), announced the company’s founder, Michael Saylor.
As of September 12, MicroStrategy holds 244,800 BTC, acquired for approximately $9.45 billion (~$38,585 per coin). At the time of writing, these assets are valued at $14.15 billion.
According to Saylor, since the beginning of the quarter, the return from holding the leading cryptocurrency has been 4.4%, and 17% since the start of the year.
Aksakov: Crypto Trading in Russia to be Regulated by November
By November, the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance will prepare the necessary “subordinate” documents defining the parties involved in the process of cryptocurrency trading within the EPR framework, said Anatoly Aksakov, head of the State Duma’s Financial Market Committee, to Parliamentary Newspaper.
“[Trading] will primarily be conducted by credit organizations. Banks are already actively engaged in this. In principle, cryptocurrency is already used for export and import payments, with volumes measured in billions of dollars,” he added.
Consumer Group Compares Tether to FTX Over Lack of Reserve Audit
Consumer advocacy group Consumers’ Research released a report accusing Tether of lacking transparency regarding its U.S. dollar reserves.
The group claims that the USDT issuer has yet to conduct a full independent audit of the stablecoin’s backing, despite numerous promises.
The report draws a parallel to the situation that led to the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research.
What Else to Read?
This week, ForkLog explored the Fractal Bitcoin scaling project as the mainnet of the solution went live.
Web3 entrepreneur Vladimir Menaskopom introduced readers to the first part of a material on tokenomics.
The traditional digest compiled the week’s main cybersecurity events.
ForkLog also presented a review of the most important business news from the crypto industry participants.