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Solana's price is up 40% this week due to easing FTX-dump fears and growing Bitcoin ETF buzz, while SOL/USD technicals hint at more upside. The price of Solana (SOL) has soared 40% this week to establish a new 2023 high at around $58.  That is Solana's best weekly performance since January 2023. Many factors have contributed to the gains, including a general cryptocurrency market uptrend led by Bitcoin ETF euphoria and growing appetite for risk overall. Solana (SOL) weekly price chart. Source: TradingView FTX-dump fears fails to shake Solana bulls Solana's rise coincides with the daily selling of 250,000-750,000 SOL tokens by FTX bankruptcy estate in the last two weeks. FTX has been selling between 250k-700k $SOL every day for the last 2 weeks while price has either been going up or sideways. so far its been getting absorbed like a champ and at current rate their unlocked tokens should be depleted within a week. once this seller is gone i can… pic.twitter.com/AtnTqz3uxG...

The capital will be dedicated to supporting Web3 startups in Asia. Vietnamese Web3 coalition Ninety Eight, creator of the Coin98 decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem , has launched a $25 million ecosystem fund dedicated to accelerating Web3 startups in Asia. According to the Nov. 7 announcement, the fund will provide financial and strategic support for selected startups. In addition, startups can use the firm's existing Viction layer-1 blockchain infrastructure for low-gas fee transactions and enhanced security.  Another key aspect of the Ninety Eight Ecosystem Fund is its native token, $C98, designed initially as a wallet token. The $C98 token allows users to store, send, receive, and manage crypto assets, as well as connect to decentralized applications on over 40 blockchains. Its namesake DeFi platform provides users access to cross-chain swaps, staking, and yield farming. "To ensure the efficient deployment of the Ecosystem Fund, we have entrusted Arche Fund, a ventu...

According to blockchain security analysts, the developers of the Safereum project suddenly sold more than 700 ETH worth of its native token, sending the price of SAFEREUM plunging more than 90%. The crypto community has been left fearing the worst after seeing huge sums of liquidity drained from the cryptocurrency project Safereum just hours after its team had finalized a massive $600,000 fundraising. According to blockchain security firm CertiK and other analysts, the developers of Safereum — using the token deployment address “safereum.eth” — unlocked the supply of the token and dumped more than 600 Ether (ETH) worth of its holdings, causing the price of the Safereum (SAFEREUM) token to plunge more than 94%. #CertiKSkynetAlert We can confirm that @Safereumio has conducted an exit scam for ~$1.3m Eth: 0xb504035a11E672e12a099F32B1672b9C4a78b22f safereum.eth unlocked Safereum token s and sold. Additionally ~$597k was raised for the project’s SAFEPAD token .https://t.co/aAxjcEmdcH ...

41% of respondents said they prefer not to hold virtual assets or cryptocurrencies — up 12 percentage points from an earlier study. Public attitude toward cryptocurrency in Hong Kong has taken a dive following the JPEX crypto exchange scandal, according to the initial findings of a new survey. The survey, conducted by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s business school, was to understand how public attitudes toward virtual assets may have been impacted by the JPEX scandal . The survey was launched on Sept. 28, around 11 days after the allegations toward JPEX were made public, with its results compared against a similar survey conducted between April and May. While the survey period is set to end on Oct. 20, the results so far found that 41% of respondents would prefer not to hold virtual assets — up 12 percentage points from a study conducted in May. Only 20% of respondents now want to hold virtual assets in the future, down five percentage points from the earlier...

Bitcoin is consolidating at the top of its range and this is inspiring traders' confidence in a variety of altcoins. United States 10-year Treasury yields soared above 4.8% on Oct. 3, their highest level since 2007. DoubleLine Capital CEO Jeffrey Gundlach said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that the spread between the 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields has narrowed from 109 basis points a few months ago to 35 basis points. He cautioned that this “should put everyone on recession warning.” Arthur Hayes, former CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, warned in a recent X thread that the government will have to print money to save the bond market as a faster bear steepener — a condition where long-term interest rates rise more quickly than short-term rates — will cause firms to collapse. Some investors believe that this could trigger a cryptocurrency bull market. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 It also looks like the institutional investors have started to warm up ...

The Miss Universe Organization said that there is no Miss Universe cryptocurrency or blockchain offering involved with the Miss Universe or Miss Universe Philippines. The Miss Universe Organization has denied any association with the Miss Universe Coin project announced at the Philippine Blockchain Week (PBW) event held earlier this month. PBW said that they are in contact with all involved parties and will post an update soon. Earlier this month, a project called Miss Universe Coin was announced at PBW. Donald Lim, the founder of the organization managing the PBW, said during the event that the PBW will “launch the Miss Universe Coin.” However, weeks after the announcement, the official organization behind Miss Universe has denied any association with the coin project and called it a fraud.  Official announcement published on the Miss Universe Facebook page. Source: Facebook On Sept. 22, the Miss Universe official Facebook page announced that the Miss Universe Organization and JK...

FTX's decision was undertaken as a proactive measure aimed at preventing the occurrence of any potential future incidents or additional harm following the recent hack. Following the recent Kroll cybersecurity breach , FTX Derivatives Exchange, a financially distressed cryptocurrency trading company, has opted to temporarily suspend accounts of impacted users accessing its claims portal. FTX's decision which was posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) was undertaken as a proactive measure aimed at preventing the occurrence of any potential future incidents or additional harm following the recent hack. The exchange is dedicated to offering more comprehensive information in the subsequent stages. In response to Kroll’s cybersecurity incident, FTX has taken the precautionary measure of temporarily freezing affected user accounts within the customer claims portal. We thank you for your patience, and will provide additional information regarding next steps in due course. — FTX (@F...

Bitcoin remains stuck in a tight range, but select altcoins such as SHIB, UNI, OKB and HBAR are attracting buyers. Bitcoin (BTC) continued its boring price action over the weekend, indicating that the bulls and the bears are not waging large bets as they are uncertain about the next directional move. Nevertheless, traders should continue to keep a close watch because a period of consolidation is usually followed by an increase in volatility .  Although it is difficult to predict the direction of the breakout with certainty, some analysts point to the Bitcoin whales increasing their exposure as a positive sign. On-chain analyst Cole Garner believes the bull move could continue till September when the summer seasonality kicks in and the shakeout happens. Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360 Bitcoin rose sharply in the first few months of the year but the major altcoins struggled to keep pace. That could change as the current consolidation in the largest cryptocurrency is giv...

Revolut’s suspension of cryptocurrency services in the United States will affect 1% of their total global user base, the firm said. Cryptocurrency-friendly trading neobank Revolut is wrapping up its crypto services in the United States amid the ongoing regulatory uncertainty. Soon after announcing a partial delisting of certain digital assets from its platform, Revolut took a decision to suspend all crypto services for U.S. users, the firm said in a statement to Cointelegraph on Aug. 4. Together with its U.S. banking partner, Revolut will be working to suspend access to crypto through its platform starting from Sept. 2, 2023. The firm then will completely shut down crypto services on Revolut on Oct. 3, a spokesperson for the online bank said, adding: “The access to cryptocurrencies through Revolut will be fully disabled and US customers will no longer be able to buy, sell, or hold any cryptocurrencies.” The Revolut representative emphasized that the decision to leave the U.S. marke...

Bitcoin bears are closing in on a rare win, as they have the advantage in this week’s $600 million BTC options expiry. This week’s Bitcoin (BTC)  options expiry on Friday, July 21, could solidify the $30,000 resistance level and give the bears the upper hand for the first time since the 21% rally between June 14 and June 21. Bitcoin options expiries coincide with volatility A review of Bitcoin’s recent price action shows that three out of the last four BTC options expiries triggered significant price movements, making it crucial for traders to pay close attention to these events. Bitcoin/USD price index, 4-hour. Source: TradingView Notably, Bitcoin’s price has consistently shown strong reactions following the weekly 8:00 am UTC options expiry. While causation cannot be established, the magnitude of these price swings warrants extreme caution leading up to the weekly expiry on July 21. Bitcoin bears benefit from stricter regulations While this week’s options expiry could give bears ...

The weakness in the U.S. Dollar Index bodes well for Bitcoin and altcoins in the near term. Bitcoin has been struggling to rise and sustain above the $31,000 level for the past few days, but Standard Chartered has painted a bullish picture for this year and the next. In a report, the bank said that Bitcoin (BTC) could reach $50,000 this year and stretch the rally to $120,000 by the end of next year. Large investors seem to be taking a bullish stance and are making the most of the stagnant Bitcoin prices. Behavioral analytics platform Santiment shows that sharks and whales, entities holding between 10 and 10,000 Bitcoin, have increased their hoarding by 71,000 Bitcoin since mid-June. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 While the long term looks bullish, macroeconomic indicators hold the key in the short term. The United States equities market is likely to be influenced by second-quarter earnings and the inflation data due to be released on July 12. That is likely ...

The politician and business magnate has his eyes set on Binance CEO CZ taking the reins of the future crypto industry. During a panel at Collision 2023 in Toronto, Anthony Scaramucci, founder of Skybridge Capital and former White House communications director, stated that disgraced crypto executive Sam Bankman-Fried “really hurt the industry in the United States from a regulatory perspective." Scaramucci continued: “He embarrassed the politicians; he gave a lot of money to them. They spent a lot of time with him, Gary Gensler spent a lot of time with him. And then they had this huge situation that happened. And that was very embarrassing. And so now the pendulum has swung too far to over-regulation in this ridiculous prosecutorial oversight." When asked for his opinion concerning the crypto regulatory environment in Canada compared to the U.S., Scaramucci stated that “Canada actually learned from the United States and set it up the way we used to do things in the United St...

The nonfungible token platform was launched in partnership with Near Protocol. On June 20, Škoda India, the Indian subsidiary of Czech automobile conglomerate Škoda Auto, launch ed a Web3 and nonfungible token (NFT) experience in partnership with Near Protocol. Dubbed “Škodaverse India," developers say the platform will possess low gas fees, interoperable NFTs for multi platform usage, and eco-friendly, scalable NFTs. The firm wrote:  “Škodaverse India will also unlock bespoke utilities and experiences for NFT holders which will be revealed along with the first drop details. All NFTs will be minted on carbon-neutral blockchains, aligning with our sustainable vision." The debut Škoda NFT collection is scheduled to launch “soon," with no fixed date or offer price. Users will be able to mint the NFT whenever it is dropped through the addition of funds to their wallets.  Benefits for NFT holders, as listed by developers, include owning a unique digital asset represent...

The attacker took advantage of the lack of slippage control of liquidity conversions to steal the funds. Adding to the existing number of protocol hacks in the crypto industry, Jimbos Protocol has not escaped the sights of the attackers as it has suffered an attack resulting in a loss of a large amount of funds. According to PeckShield, a blockchain security unit, Jimbos Protocol, the liquidity protocol of the Arbitrum system, was hacked on the morning of May 28. The attack resulted in the loss of 4,000 ETH, equivalent to approximately $7.5 million. Specifically, the attacker took advantage of the lack of slippage control of liquidity conversions. The protocol's liquidity is invested in a price range that doesn't need to be equal, creating a loophole where attackers can reverse swap orders for their own gain. Despite being launched less than 20 days ago, the Jimbos Protocol aimed to address liquidity and volatile token prices through a new testing approach. However, it appear...

Crypto traders expecting a price reversal could use this options strategy to get positioned in Bitcoin. Bitcoin’s price broke below its 55-day resistance at $27,000 on May 12, down 12.3% in 30 days. But more importantly, it decoupled from the S&P 500 Index, which is basically flat from 30 days ago and 15% below its all-time high. Bitcoin price in USD (right) vs. S&P 500 futures (left), 12-hour. Source: TradingView As the chart indicates, for some reason, Bitcoin (BTC) investors believe that the favorable macroeconomic trends for risk markets were overshadowed by the increasing risk perception of the cryptocurrency sector. Financial crisis could fuel Bitcoin’s price increase For starters, there’s the impending United States government debt ceiling crisis, which, according to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, could cause an “economic and financial catastrophe." The increased risk of default should, in theory, be beneficial for scarce assets, as investors seek shelter f...

The pension fund had invested twice in the now-bankrupt crypto exchange, once during the peak of the bull run in 2021 and again in early 2022. The Onatario Teachers’ Pension Plan has decided to steer its investment away from cryptocurrencies.  The decision comes after the OTPP — which manages over $190 billion in assets  — lost the entirety of its $95 million investment in crypto exchange FTX after it went bust in November 2022. OTPP was one of the many backers of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange and had invested twice: Once during the bull market in 2021 and again during exchange’s Series C funding round in early 2022. OTPP chief executive Jo Taylor said in an interview with the Financial Times that it’d be unwise for the pension fund to rush into another crypto investment . Taylor said that they are still processing what happened with the exchange, and they would be much more cautious before invest ing in emerging assets like digital currencies. The pension fund is responsible f...

U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken received its virtual asset service provider authorization from the Central Bank of Ireland. Payward Europe Solutions, an Irish subsidiary of Kraken registered in Dublin, was awarded virtual asset service provider (VASP) authorization from the Central Bank of Ireland on April 18. We’re pleased to announce that Kraken has successfully registered with the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP), affirming our commitment to helping drive crypto adoption in Europe Learn more https://t.co/mowesdqEGj pic.twitter.com/C2ScvDhpa1 — Kraken Exchange (@krakenfx) April 18, 2023 The VASP authorization comes at a critical time for Kraken. The European Union is scheduled to conduct its final vote on the long-awaited Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation. The MiCA legislation is expected to pass after preliminary voting showed overwhelming nonpartisan support. If it does, the resulting changes will require any company...