Weekly Summary: US Inflation Slows and Hamster Kombat Disputes

The leading cryptocurrency fell below the $60,000 mark, US inflation continued to slow, Bitcoin mining difficulty decreased by 4.19%, journalists uncovered issues with Hamster Kombat, and other events of the past week.

Bitcoin Price Drops Below $60,000

The leading cryptocurrency started the week at $58,400 but broke through the $61,000 mark by Tuesday, August 13. By Friday, August 16, digital gold had plummeted below $57,000 before beginning to recover.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $59,900.

Most digital assets in the top 10 by market capitalization ended the week in the “green zone.” Exceptions were Solana (-1.9%), Dogecoin (-1.7%), and Bitcoin (-0.7%).

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization is $2.2 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance index is 57.1%.

US Inflation Continues to Slow

In July, annual inflation in the US was 2.9%, down from 3% the previous month. The figure was better than market expectations, which had anticipated maintaining the previous growth rate.

On a monthly basis, the consumer price index rose by 0.2% after a 0.1% decline in June. The result matched the consensus forecast.

The index excluding food and energy prices increased by 0.2% from the previous month and by 3.2% compared to July last year. In the previous report, the values were 0.1% and 3.3%, respectively. 

Analysts had expected annual rates to decrease to 3.2% and monthly rates to strengthen to 0.2%.

Prices for services excluding housing and energy rose by 0.21% after declines of 0.05% and 0.04% in the previous two months. The Fed noted the importance of this metric in analyzing the inflation trajectory. The rates did not exceed the average values typical for 2022 and 2023.

Another important indicator for monetary authorities, the rental rate, increased by 0.36% compared to 0.27% in June — below the average for the past two years.

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty Decreases by 4.19%

Following the latest recalculation, the difficulty of mining the leading cryptocurrency decreased by 4.19% to 86.87 T. 

The average hash rate for the period since the previous change was 740.3 EH/s, with the interval between blocks being eight minutes and 24 seconds.

According to Glassnode, the smoothed 7-day moving average of computing power reached 622.4 EH/s.

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Journalists Uncover Corporate Issues at Hamster Kombat

The team behind the clicker game Hamster Kombat refused to share profits with investor AD.RU, according to Anton Gorshkov, CEO of the IT holding.

He stated that AD.RU invested $600,000 in the Arenum portal, allegedly co-founded by Hamster Kombat’s Eduard Gurinovich, and helped attract over $1 million more. Gorshkov noted that the holding owns 25% of the company, yet it has not shared profits with investors.

When the clicker game, supposedly created with Arenum’s resources, gained popularity, Gurinovich claimed the project was not connected to AD.RU.

“In June, I suggested to Gurinovich that we meet to discuss our position in the project or our exit from it. The meeting took place in a rather strange atmosphere. At first, he said, ‘Don’t worry, by autumn there will be enough money for everyone.’ Then suddenly: ‘You have no relation to the project. Yes, we used the team, but the name is different.’ Meanwhile, AD.RU had been involved in the project for over four years, not only with money but also in developing mechanics later applied in Hamster Kombat,” Gorshkov noted.

He revealed that AD.RU sent Gurinovich a pre-trial claim and intends to resolve the issue legally. However, the holding is not the only corporate problem for Hamster Kombat.

In August, the game’s marketing director, Nikita Anufriev, left the team. He stated that he was promised “25% of the revenue, shares, or team tokens.”

Anufriev claimed he promoted Hamster Kombat globally and facilitated partnerships, including with several DAOs that invested $450,000 in the project and supported the game in over 200 blogs.

“Opinion leaders and everyone involved in the project are convinced that without active support from influencers, the project would not have achieved such success. Instead of gratitude for a ready-made business and tens of millions of dollars in advertising revenue, the founders decided to return early investors their investments, which opinion leaders and any reasonable person would consider insulting, so they went public to express their dissatisfaction. It seems the situation inside and around the project is heating up,” he said.

The former marketing director of Hamster Kombat declined to disclose details of his exit from the project but suggested it might happen soon “if nothing changes” and “for the safety of users, influencers, and investors.”

IMF Proposes Global 85% Energy Tariff Increase for Bitcoin Miners

Increasing electricity costs for miners worldwide by 85% through taxation could significantly reduce carbon emissions, according to experts from the IMF.

Shafik Hebous from the Fiscal Affairs Department and climate policy economist Nate Vernon-Lin noted that cryptocurrency mining and data centers could account for up to 3.5% of global energy consumption by 2025. This is equivalent to Japan’s current level — the fifth-largest consumer in the world.

The IMF estimates that by 2027, these activities could generate up to 450 million tons of carbon emissions, or 1.2% of the global total.

Also on ForkLog:

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• A trader made a 104-fold profit on the meme token SUNDOG.
• A user paid $89,000 to transfer $2,200 in Ethereum.

Robert Kiyosaki Criticizes the Fed and Urges Bitcoin Purchases

Author of the bestseller “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and entrepreneur Robert Kiyosaki criticized the Fed and once again urged buying gold, silver, and the leading cryptocurrency.

“Why do people turn to the Fed for help? The Fed is the problem. […] The Fed consists of PhD holders, like my poor dad. Highly educated poor people,” he wrote.

According to Kiyosaki, his rich dad often said that PhD stands for “poor, helpless, and desperate”.

“The Fed cannot save you. It’s time to save yourself. Buy more gold, silver, Bitcoin, and stop listening to highly educated poor people,” the investor added.

What Else to Read?

This week, ForkLog explained how to build a DAO efficiently and quickly.

In the traditional digest, we compiled the main events of the week in cybersecurity.

The most important news from crypto industry participants was published in a separate digest.