Bitcoin Whale's $3 Billion Secret and Coinbase's New Alliance with Circle
Bitcoin Developer-Wright Drama, XRP's Stunted Growth & Shibarium's Revival
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Mysterious Bitcoin Whale Accumulates Over $3 Billion Worth of BTC
A mysterious entity has rapidly accumulated over $3 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) in less than three months, making it the third-largest BTC address in the world. The wallet has not sold any coins since its inception and has been picking up BTC in varying amounts. Speculation about the owner of the wallet ranges from a crypto exchange moving funds to the theory that BlackRock is the "prime suspect." However, these theories lack solid evidence. The current largest Bitcoin wallets are reportedly owned by Binance and Bitfinex.
Coinbase Acquires a Stake in Stablecoin Operator Circle
Coinbase is acquiring a minority stake in Circle Internet Financial and dissolving their Centre Consortium partnership. Circle will bring the issuance and governance of the USDC stablecoin fully in-house. Additionally, six new blockchains will integrate with USDC, bringing the total to 15. The specific blockchains have not been identified, but Circle previously mentioned plans to add Polkadot, Near, Optimism, and Cosmos in 2023. This move comes as PayPal introduces its own stablecoin, PYUSD, potentially challenging the dominance of USDT and USDC.
Bitcoin Developers Say Craig Wright May Be Admitting That He Stole 80,000 Bitcoin from Mt. Gox
Bitcoin developers are claiming that Craig Wright, who has filed a lawsuit against them, may be admitting to stealing 80,000 Bitcoin from the Mt. Gox exchange. The defense argues that Wright lacks documentation proving ownership of the missing Bitcoin and accuses him of fabricating the limited documents provided to the court. They have filed a preliminary issue application seeking to have the claim struck out as fraudulent. If the court sides with the Bitcoin Core developers, Wright's company must prove ownership of the digital assets before the case can continue.
SEC-Ripple Lawsuit Cost XRP 3 Years of Adoption
The SEC lawsuit against Ripple has hindered the adoption of XRP in the United States for nearly three years, according to pro-XRP lawyer John E Deaton. He highlighted how Ripple and XRP were gaining traction in cross-border payments and suggested that Coinbase and other companies may have shown interest in Ripple if not for the lawsuit. Deaton argued that the lawsuit was used as a weapon and claimed that evidence from the past three years supports this. He concluded that the lawsuit has significantly impacted XRP's adoption, despite its success outside the US.
Shiba Inu Plans Shibarium's Public Restart Days After Botched Launch
Shiba Inu developers are working towards reopening the Shibarium network after a failed launch. The network experienced issues and a faulty bridge, causing transactions to be stalled for eleven hours. The developers have made improvements and implemented fail-safes to prevent future outages. Shibarium is an Ethereum layer-2 network that uses SHIB tokens and aims to position Shiba Inu as a serious blockchain project. The network saw success during a testing period with millions of wallets and transactions. Validators are now being allowed to take initial steps for the reopening.
Terra Money Website Frozen to Prevent More Phishing Scams
Layer 1 blockchain Terra has temporarily shut down its website in order to protect users from ongoing phishing scams on the platform. Terra advised all users to avoid engaging with any sites under the aforementioned domain until the foundation posts an official “all-clear” notice from this account. The freeze comes shortly after Terra website was compromised over the weekend by hackers who attempted to scam users via phishing attacks.
Bitcoin Looks Most Oversold Since Covid Crash, Key Indicator Suggests
Bitcoin's 14-day relative strength index (RSI) has dropped below 30, indicating extreme oversold conditions. This is the lowest RSI reading since the Covid-induced crash in March 2020. However, it is important to note that oversold readings do not necessarily indicate an impending bullish reversal. Instead, it suggests that prices have dropped too quickly relative to their recent average. Analysts believe that bitcoin's trend has shifted bearish, with a potential decline to $24,700.
SEC Charges Financial Advisor for Illegally Promoting a 2,700% Return on Crypto Investments
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged investment advisor Titan Global Capital Management for misleading clients by promoting annualized returns of up to 2,700% for its Titan Crypto strategy. The SEC alleges that Titan's marketing failed to disclose that the projections assumed constant performance for the entire year based on the strategy's first three weeks. Titan has agreed to pay an $850,000 civil penalty and nearly $200,000 in disgorgement and prejudgment interest as part of a settlement with the SEC.
ZK-proof Web3 Infrastructure Developer Gets Backing from Binance Labs
Binance Labs has invested $2.2 million in Delphinus Lab, a developer of zero-knowledge proof (ZK-proof) Web3 infrastructure. Delphinus Lab has created the first open-source virtual machine, zkWASM, that supports ZK computation and application software development kits. The investment will support the development of Delphinus Lab's application rollup platform, zkWASM Hub, which provides automated proving and batching services for Web3 applications.
South Korean City to Seize Crypto from Thousands of Tax Evaders
The South Korean city of Cheongju plans to confiscate cryptocurrency from local tax evaders. The city administration has requested seven South Korean crypto exchanges, including Upbit and Bithumb, to inquire into the crypto assets of 8,520 users who owe at least 1 million won ($750) in local taxes. Once the inquiry is complete, the authorities will seize the cryptocurrency from the tax delinquents.
Oman Launches $370M Crypto Mining Center
Oman has launched a new crypto mining center in the Salalah Free Zone, with a cost of $370 million. The center, operated by Exahertz International in collaboration with Moonwalk International, will have 15,000 machines by October 2023. Currently, it operates with 2,000 machines and consumes 11 megawatts of power. This mining facility is part of Oman's plan to digitalize its economy and reduce its dependence on oil exports.
As always, stay tuned for more updates in crypto!