- Bitcoin slides under $39K, leading some traders to forecast a weekend ‘oversold bounce’
March 4 saw another day of seesaw price action for Bitcoin (BTC) and the wider cryptocurrency market as the global economic fallout from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine weighs heavily on a majority of the world’s financial markets.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after holding $41,000 in the early trading hours on March 4, a wave of selling in the afternoon dropped the price of BTC below $39,100.
Here’s a look at what several analysts have to say about the outlook for BTC moving forward as the world faces a period of increased economic uncertainty.
- Dozens of Tokens Tumble as Prolific Developer Andre Cronje Calls It Quits
Prices for dozens of tokens are plunging on the news that prolific developer Andre Cronje is calling it quits – including prices for many that only have tenuous links to the DeFi maven.
On Sunday, frequent collaborator Anton Nell announced on Twitter that he and Cronje were “closing the chapter” on developing in decentralized finance.
Andre and I have decided that we are closing the chapter of contibuting to the defi/crypto space.
There are around ~25 apps and services that we are terminating on 03 April 2022.
1/3
— Anton Nell (@AntonNellCrypto) March 6, 2022
Many observers assumed such an announcement was imminent, as Cronje deleted his Twitter account and updated his Linkedin to reflect that he was no longer an advisor to the Fantom Foundation last week.
- Crypto donations to Ukraine top $37M, eBay eyes crypto payments and South Korea allocates $187M to the metaverse
Cointelegraph compiled data this week for crypto donations sent to the Ukrainian government, military and charities amid the country’s ongoing conflict with Russia. By Monday, total crypto donations to the Ukrainian government and charities linked to it had reached $37 million.
The “Reserve fund of Ukraine” backed by local crypto exchange Kuna appeared to be the largest recipient, garnering roughly $13 million worth of BTC, ETH, USDT and other assets. Next in line was charity organization Come Back Alive, which pulled in $7.2 million. The group says its aiding the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ resistance efforts.
- US hedge fund Citadel plans to start making markets in crypto soon
Citadel, a US hedge fund and asset management company, plans to start making markets in crypto in the coming months, the Chief Executive Officer and founder, Ken Griffin, said, in an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday.
“To the extent that we’re trying to help institutions and investors solve their portfolio allocation problems, we have to give serious consideration to being a market maker in crypto,” Griffin said.
He added: “It’s fair to assume that over the months to come, you will see us engage in making markets in cryptocurrencies.”
Citadel manages assets of over $30 billion.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2037096/business-economy
- Visa, Mastercard Join PayPal in Suspending Russian Operations
Visa, Mastercard and PayPal are all suspending operations in Russia, the companies announced Saturday, citing the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Visa will begin working to discontinue transactions in Russia, but it will take a few days, according to a press statement. Mastercard said it would suspend all its network services in Russia, which sent military forces into Ukraine at the end of February.
“Once complete, all transactions initiated with Visa cards issued in Russia will no longer work outside the country and any Visa cards issued by financial institutions outside of Russia will no longer work within the Russian Federation,” said Visa’s statement, which was attributed to global communications vice president Andy Gerlt.
- Auctioneer willing to sell $70M artwork for BTC or ETH
A leading U.S. auction house, Phillips is auctioning a Baqueirat collection in May. Accepted payment options include Bitcoin and Ether.
In further signs of crypto adoption among the art world, a leading United States auction house will accept crypto as payment for a series of paintings. A Jean-Michel Basquiat collection is up for auction by Phillips, with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) listed as payment options.
The showstopper 16-foot painting, Untitled, 1982, is “estimated in the region of $70 million” (roughly 1650 BTC or 25,513 ETH). It will go under the hammer in New York on May 18th.
Scott Nussbaum, Senior International Specialist, 20th Century & Contemporary Art from Phillips told Cointelegraph that buyers “are interested in the option of cryptocurrency as a method of payment for traditional artworks.”
Given that “the beauty of Basquiat is his ability to inspire both seasoned and new collectors,” extending “the option for buyers to pay in cryptocurrency,” is a deft move. Ultimately, Nussbaum explains, accepting cryptocurrency as payment for other works “will only continue to increase.”
https://cointelegraph.com/news/auctioneer-willing-to-sell-70m-artwork-for-btc-or-eth
- Fed Chairman Says U.S. Might Need More Crypto Regulation. Here’s What That Means for Investors
The U.S. government keeps laying more groundwork for potential future cryptocurrency regulation.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spoke in July about the Fed’s interest in regulating stablecoins and the potential for a central bank digital currency (CBDC), while testifying before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services.
Stablecoins (Tether and USD Coin, for example) are a category of cryptocurrencies that peg their value to an existing fiat currency, like the U.S. dollar. That helps stabilize their value, so they’re better suited for digital payments — unlike more volatile digital assets like Bitcoin. Ideally, these coins are underwritten by a reserve of the currency they’re tied to, but today there’s little official regulation enforcing that.
Powell compared them to money market funds or bank deposits, which have a strong regulatory framework in the United States. “That doesn’t exist for stablecoins,” he said. “And if they’re going to be a significant part of the payments universe — which we don’t think crypto assets will be, but stablecoins might be — then we need an appropriate regulatory framework, which frankly we don’t have.”
https://time.com/nextadvisor/investing/cryptocurrency/more-federal-regulation-coming-for-crypto/
- Crypto Exchange FTX Sets Up European Unit
Two years after the launch of FTX.US, cryptocurrency exchange FTX has established a European equivalent licensed in Cyprus.
The European domain of FTX’s platform (ftx.com/eu) has won approval from the Cyprus financial market regulator, CySEC, the exchange announced Monday.
FTX Europe will offer products and services across the European Economic Area through an unidentified investment firm licensed to operate across the region.
The division is headquartered in Switzerland, with an additional base in Cyprus.
FTX Europe will seemingly be the crypto exchange’s European equivalent of FTX.US, which was launched to American users in 2020 and now boasts an $8 billion valuation following a $400 million fundraise in January.
https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/03/07/crypto-exchange-ftx-sets-up-european-unit/
- Russian national will use sales of her burning passport NFT to support Ukraine
Olive Allen, a Russian national and artist who has lived in the United States for more than 11 years, has burned her mother country’s passport in the hopes of raising awareness and funds related to the military conflict in Ukraine.
Speaking to Cointelegraph on Friday, Allen described herself as “a child of new Russia” and said the country would always be a part of her identity, but she had chosen to cut ties with it based on its recent actions in the Ukraine. Standing in front of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in New York City, Allen burned her Russian passport — which she said was the only copy she had — and planned to auction the video as a nonfungible token (NFT), with the proceeds going to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
“I do not consider Putin’s Russia my home,” said Allen. “Our country has such an immense potential, but the government has been f—ing people over for eternity.”
- Fantom Foundation Responds To Andre Conje’s Departure
Fantom Foundation has responded to the news of Andre Conje exiting crypto. The announcement which came early on Sunday saw Anton Nell and Andre Conje announce their departure from crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) and any contribution thereof. This had sent shocked the community as it came seemingly out of nowhere, leaving many questioning the fate of the blockchain.
Fantom Foundation had been quick to respond and address these concerns, assuring the community that the departure would not adversely harm the development of the project in any way. The foundation explained that Conje’s contribution to crypto had been immense but that Fantom was not a “one-man team” meaning that the exit of a single dev would not derail the project in any way.
https://bitcoinist.com/fantom-foundation-responds-to-conjes-departure/
