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Cryptocurrency versus the SEC: A fight for fair digital investing
Exploring the conflict between the SEC and major cryptocurrency corporations and the fight for investor protection in digital currency markets.
Bitcoin, Coinbase, Binance and more are all fighting for their lives as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission does everything in its power to eradicate the current cryptocurrency system in the United States and replace it with one it deems more “fair” to the American public.
Since its start in 2009, cryptocurrency, or digital currency, has taken the world by storm and caught the attention of millions of investors who have an interest in digitizing their assets. At first glance, this seems convenient to many, but as SEC chairman Gary Gensler has been arguing, the system is so deeply flawed that the American public doesn’t even realize the risks it is taking.
This argument is not to say that the burden of responsibility is largely on the public and their ability to understand and invest their money wisely, but more so to point out how powerless investors are to crypto exchange platforms. Without change to the very infrastructure of these platforms, there is no hope for a successful and fair digital currency world. Read More
Blockchain Gaming Reigns Supreme Amidst Regulatory Turmoil: DappRadar
Regulatory heat on the crypto industry intensified in the previous quarter. Facing the brunt are several sectors, including the DeFi and NFT, that demonstrated a troubling state. The blockchain gaming sector, on the other hand, appears to have remained unshaken in the face of the turmoil.
According to a DappRadar report, the gaming category continues to lead as the most dominant, commanding 37% in the whole decentralized applications (dApp) market. The figure is still down from a 45% market dominance in the previous quarter.
Data also revealed an uptick of nearly 8% in daily Unique Active Wallets (dUAW) engaging with dapps on-chain from Q1, which may be interpreted as an encouraging sign of market recovery.
DappRadar noted,
“Despite the regulatory turbulence that pervaded the landscape, the digital asset market still thrived, as reflected by the growth of active engagement.” Read More
AntChain Integrates Zero-Knowledge Proof for Enhanced Privacy and Verification in Web3.0 Era
Ant Group's AntChain has announced a new architecture upgrade for its privacy collaboration platform, AntChain FAIR, introducing Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) as a core technology for verifiable computation. This extends trustworthy data transfer to the verification of computation processes, data attributes, and identities.
ZKP is a cryptographic technique that enables one party (the prover) to demonstrate to another party (the verifier) that they are aware of a value or hold specific knowledge without disclosing any specifics about the information or value itself.
ZKP is seen as one of the most crucial technologies for the next five years in the Web 3.0 era. It allows a prover to convince a verifier of the truth of a statement without revealing any additional useful information.
The integration of Ant's AI security detection platform "Yijian" and Ant's privacy computing platform "Yinyu" is seen as a significant future trend. Large-scale AI model training requires a lot of data, and these data need to go through privacy computing to ensure safety and reliability. Read More
Bitcoin forks BCH, BSV and XEC soared last month, but are the gains organic and sustainable?
Bitcoin forks, BCH, BSV and XEC rallied over the last 30 days while KAS and FLEX led among altcoin gainers in June, but data questions the sustainability of their rallies.
The start of June saw negative price action across the cryptocurrency market after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) brought fresh lawsuits against the world’s largest exchanges, Binance and Coinbase.
However, the sentiment quickly turned bullish after a crucial exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposal was filed by the world’s largest asset management firm, BlackRock, on June 16. A wave of ETF fillings and institutional trading interest in digital assets followed BlackRock’s ETF filling.
The launch of EDX Markets — backed by Wall Street giants Fidelity Investments, Citadel Securities and Charles Schwab — on June 20 fueled a particular sector of the market, that being Bitcoin forks like Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV and other proof-of-work (PoW) cryptocurrencies like Kaspa (KAS).
The exchange debuted with Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin and BCH. The inclusion of BCH catalyzed an uptrend across other Bitcoin forks.
Among the top gainers in June, three Bitcoin forks populated the list, followed by Kaspa and FLEX Coin (FLEX). FLEX benefited from its integration with Open Exchange (OPNX), which is backed by the co-founders of the bankrupt Three Arrows Capital fund. Read More
A democratic society values a free-flowing media ecosystem. A healthy media ecosystem is one of the characteristics of a democratic society. Mass media outlets such as newspapers and cable TV networks were prominent in the past. Today, the internet and social media platforms allow for greater communication across society.
Journalism, investigative correspondents, and even freelance writers are essential to that ecosystem. High-quality reporting revealing brutal truths and users' scope and exposure on social media to either create or access information are forces that can drive genuine societal change. And even keep the power structures in check.
Despite the positive aspects mentioned above, harmful practices and negative external forces related to the media ecosystem often eclipse them. These issues are usually easy to recognize once they’re identified. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge them and spread awareness about their potential risks.
Doing so will help you make informed decisions about how you use media and how it can impact your life and the lives of others. The following are a few issues pervasive in many digital news sites, forums, and social media platforms. Read More
Markethive Media has embraced blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, building an ecosystem that belongs to “we the people,” eliminating many of the issues plagued by media outlets today. With its meritocratic culture, dynamic social media interface, and growing community, Markethive is enhancing and bringing the platform into the future internet with new technology and interfaces, but still in keeping with the human touch.
Wasn’t Crypto Supposed To Be For Retail Investors?
As retail investors leave crypto in droves, is institutional money coming in to quietly buy the cream of the cryptocurrencies?
Sell And Perhaps Get In Lower?
Bitcoin is at a critical juncture. A narrative going around social media platforms such as Twitter suggests that with the backdrop of the SEC enforcement actions against Coinbase and Binance, the liquidity and investor interest that would normally propel the next bitcoin bull market just isn’t there.
Bitcoin is going sideways and downwards, and certain influencers and analysts believe that the latest rejection from the $31,000 price level is the start of a fairly large pullback that could be in the range of 30% for Bitcoin and up to 50% for the altcoins.
In this sort of very uncertain environment, weak hands are going to sell and even stronger hands might be thinking to do the same thing with a view to improving their position a lot lower down.
Fickle Retail Money Vs Institutional Know-How:
So we perhaps have the perfect scenario for an institutional takeover of cryptocurrencies that have been in the hands of retail investors ever since they came onto the scene. Read More
UK FCA shuts down 26 crypto ATMs following coordinated investigation
The FCA and other law enforcement agencies investigated 36 crypto ATM locations using powers under money laundering regulations.
The United Kingdom’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), “disrupted” 26 of the 34 cryptocurrency ATMs it visited and inspected since the start of 2023.
On Feb. 14, the FCA gave an ultimatum to all crypto ATM operators in the U.K. — comply with regulations or wind down illegal operations. Following the warning, the FCA and other law enforcement agencies investigated 36 crypto ATM locations using powers under money laundering regulations.
Speaking against the use of all crypto ATMs, Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, stated:
“If you use a crypto ATM in the U.K., you are using a machine that is operating illegally and you may be handing your money over to criminals.”
Smart further clarified that victims of scams involving the crypto or Bitcoin ATMs “will not be protected” by the government or the operator of the machines. Out of the lot, 18 locations were inspected in May and June, just as the FCA publicly announced the commencement of the inspection drive. Read More
Connext founder proposes ‘Sovereign Bridged Token’ standard after Multichain incident
EIP-7281 will allow token issuers to list official bridges and limit the rate at which they can mint tokens, potentially limiting losses from bridge hacks.
An Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) made on July 7 seeks to standardize how tokens are bridged between networks. The “Sovereign Bridged Token” standard, or EIP-7281, allows token issuers to create canonical bridges across multiple networks.
The proposal was co-authored by Arjun Bhuptani, founder of the Connext bridging protocol. In a July 7 social media post, Bhuptani claimed the protocol would help prevent issues like the July 6 Multichain incident, which some experts have described as a hack.
According to the proposal’s discussion page, it allows token issuers to designate a list of canonical bridges. Only bridges added to this list could mint an official version of the issuer’s token. Issuers can also limit the number of tokens a bridge is allowed to mint. These parameters can be changed at virtually any time by the issuer. Read More
10 tips for blockchain-based data providers seeking to scale
Blockchain-based data providers are faced with a golden opportunity — if they’re able to scale their infrastructure to handle the demand.
Each year, the amount of data generated across the globe is growing exponentially. From the explosion in the use of digital tools in the workplace to the ever-growing use of Internet of Things devices, social media, online gaming, e-commerce and other digital platforms, each day sees the creation of a massive amount of data that needs to be stored securely and efficiently.
Blockchain technology provides a decentralized, immutable, secure solution, making it an ideal option for multiple industries. But first, blockchain-based data providers need to prove they can scale to meet the exploding demand. By leveraging smart partnerships and building new solutions that are compatible with what’s already in the market (and familiar), the blockchain industry can lead the way in addressing an issue in genuine need of a solution. Below, 10 members of Cointelegraph Innovation Circle share tips to help blockchain-based data providers scale to meet the ever-growing demands of the broader data storage space. Read More
Disclaimer: These articles are provided for informational purposes only. They are not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other advice.
