- Bitcoin, Not Ether, Builds Crypto Market Dominance Ahead of Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade
Ethereum’s highly anticipated Shanghai upgrade, also called the Shanghai-Capella hard fork, is set to occur Wednesday, after which users will have access to the $31 billion worth of ether (ETH) staked in the blockchain since December 2020.
The upgrade has been widely hailed as long-term bullish for Ethereum’s native token. Still, bitcoin (BTC), not ether, is outperforming the broader crypto market and becoming more dominant as the upgrade approaches.
Bitcoin’s dominance rate, which measures the largest cryptocurrency’s share of total market valuation, rose to 48.5% early Tuesday, the highest since July 2021, according to data tracked by charting platform TradingView. The metric has risen by 15% this year.
- Solana Leads Crypto Market Rebound, Jumps 10% Overnight
Solana (SOL) has enjoyed a hefty price surge, outperforming the rest of what is already a bullish market.
SOL has increased by over 10.1% in the past day, reaching a monthly peak of $22.50, per CoinGecko data. The swift rise up also left nearly $2.7 million in liquidated, with more than 92% of that figure made up of blown short positions, according to Coinglass.
Solana is a speedy, proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain network launched in March 2020 by Solana Labs. Like many other popular layer-1 networks, developers can build out various decentralized finance (DeFi) apps and non-fungible token (NFT) projects on the network.
Another factor prompting excitement around Solana is the release of Saga, an Android smartphone powered by the Solana blockchain, on April 13. The phone is expected to let users mint their own NFTs from anywhere and access the wider Solana-based ecosystem of apps and projects.
https://decrypt.co/125937/solana-leads-crypto-market-rebound-jumps-overnight
- Biggest Movers: DOGE, SHIB Consolidate to Start the Week
Dogecoin (DOGE) moved marginally higher on Monday, as prices began to settle following recent volatility.
Last Monday saw the meme coin jump by nearly 30%, hitting a four-month high in the process.
Since then, prices have fallen lower, with the meme coin hitting a bottom of $0.08204 earlier in today’s session.
Biggest Movers: DOGE, SHIB Consolidate to Start the Week
DOGE/USD has gone on to reach a peak of $0.08383 on Monday, which came as the relative strength index (RSI) moved closer to a ceiling at 55.00.
At the time of writing, the index is tracking at 52.83, which comes after bulls rejected a breakout below a floor at 51.00.
Should the RSI move towards the 55.00 mark, there is a good chance that DOGE will be trading above $0.0850.
https://news.bitcoin.com/biggest-movers-doge-shib-consolidate-to-start-the-week/
- Bankrupt Crypto Exchange FTX Bleeds $30M in Legal Fees in a Single Month
Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX paid more than $30 million in February legal fees and adviser compensation, according to bankruptcy court filings.
The fees were incurred by a half-dozen firms, including Sullivan & Cromwell, Landis Rath & Cobb, AlixPartners, Perella Weinberg Partners, Alvarez & Marsal North America, and FTX CEO John Ray III’s Owl Hill Advisory.
The six firms reportedly billed more than 35,400 hours of work in February, The Block reported.
Sullivan & Cromwell, the largest biller, charged FTX $13.5 million for 12,127 hours of work, listing an additional $82,000 in expenses.
Other firms that billed FTX in February include Alvarez & Marsal, which charged the exchange $12 million for 17,000 hours of work and $229,000 in expenses, and Landis Rath & Cobb, which billed $583,000 in compensation and $11,000 in reimbursements for 874 hours of work.
https://www.binance.com/en/news/flash/7496645
- Bitcoin mining firm Bitmain reportedly fined for tax violations in China
Bitmain has reportedly failed to pay personal income taxes in accordance with China’s laws on the administration of tax collection.
Beijing-based cryptocurrency mining firm Bitmain has reportedly violated tax regulations in China, with local authorities imposing major fines.
Bitmain Technologies has been slapped with a tax penalty from the Beijing Municipal Office of the State Administration of Taxation, the local news agency Sina Finance reported on April 11.
The authority fined Bitmain about 25 million Chinese yuan ($3.7 million), the report notes, citing details from China’s data registry of private and public companies, Qichacha.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-mining-firm-bitmain-reportedly-fined-for-tax-violations
- Bitcoin Shorts Take on 87% of Futures Liquidations as BTC Crosses $30K
Strength in bitcoin (BTC) pushed the asset over the crucial $30,000 level for the first time since June 2022, causing heavy losses to traders betting on a decline.
Over 87% of all future trades that were liquidated in the past 24 hours were short, or bets against a rise in prices. Losses from these trades amounted to some $145 million in the process. Crypto exchange Huobi saw over $45 million in liquidations on its platform, followed by counterparts Binance and OKX at $35 million each.
The largest single liquidation order happened on Huobi, a bitcoin/tether trade valued at $11 million.
- MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Bet Now in Profit Amid Latest Rally
American software company MicroStrategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin (BTC) reserves, is now in profit on its cryptocurrency bet.
In its April 5 filing with the SEC, MicroStrategy said that during the period between March 24 and April 4 the company and its subsidiaries purchased about 1,045 Bitcoin for approximately $29.3 million.
This took MicroStrategy’s overall tally to about 140,000 Bitcoin acquired at an aggregate purchase price of approximately $4.17 billion and an average purchase price of approximately $29,803 per coin.
With the leading cryptocurrency soaring 6.2% over the past 24 hours, and now trading hands at $30,108, this means that MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin holdings are now worth more than $4.2 billion.
MicroStrategy didn’t immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.
https://decrypt.co/125941/microstrategy-bitcoin-bet-now-profit-latest-rally
- Report: Crypto Exchange Binance in New Partnership that Seeks to Deepen Crypto Adoption in Africa
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance said it has partnered with the video streaming service Showmax in a collaboration that seeks to deepen crypto adoption in Africa. According to a Business Day report, about 500 Nigerian Binance users enrolling to become active participants in Web3 will be rewarded with a month-long video streaming subscription.
Remarking on the crypto exchange’s latest campaign to bring crypto to the masses, Binance’s Emmanuel Ebanehita said:
We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Showmax to provide an incredible opportunity for our new users to be active participants in Web3. This promotion comes at a time where many Africans are eagerly embracing the underlying technology behind crypto.
- Winklevoss Twins Lent Their Crypto Platform Gemini $100M: Bloomberg
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss recently lent their Gemini cryptocurrency exchange $100 million to support the business amid the market downturn, Bloomberg reported.
The brothers provided the loan after trying to get outside investment for Gemini, Bloomberg said, citing anonymous sources.
A Gemini spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.
The $100 million figure stands out in part because that equals the amount Gemini agreed to give some of its customers as part of the Genesis bankruptcy case. Genesis, which, like CoinDesk, is owned by Digital Currency Group (DCG), froze withdrawals in the aftermath of FTX’s collapse last year, a decision that locked up money for customers of Gemini’s Earn yield product. As part of a February settlement DCG reached with creditors, Gemini said it would contribute up to $100 million to Earn users.
It’s not clear if the $100 million loan and $100 million Earn commitment are related.
https://www.binance.com/en/news/flash/7496633
- South Korean crypto exchange GDAC hacked for nearly $14M
South Korean crypto exchange GDAC has been hacked for approximately $13.9 million worth of crypto. The exchange has halted all deposits and withdrawals and is performing emergency server maintenance in response to the attack, according to an April 10 announcement from GDAC CEO Han Seunghwan.
According to the announcement, the attacker gained control of some of the exchange’s hot wallets on the morning of April 9 and, at 7 am Korean Standard Time, began moving crypto into wallets under the attacker’s control. Around 61 Bitcoin BTC tickers down $30,075, 350.5 Ether ETH tickers down $1,916, 10 million of the WEMIX gaming currency, and $220,000 worth of Tether USDT tickers down $1.00 was stolen in the attack. This totals around $13.9 million worth of crypto at April 10 prices.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/south-korean-crypto-exchange-gdac-hacked-for-nearly-14m
