The recent surge in Bitcoin’s price has sparked what industry experts are calling “The Great Accumulation Race” for the cryptocurrency. Several major investment firms, including Fidelity, Invesco, WisdomTree, and Valkyrie, have applied for a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). This renewed optimism for an approved Bitcoin ETF has led to increased interest and investment in Bitcoin.
Crypto exchange Binance.US has announced that it has resolved issues with U.S. dollar withdrawals after working with its banking partners. However, the exchange warned customers that this relief may be temporary. Binance.US had previously suspended dollar deposits and warned of an upcoming pause in fiat withdrawal channels due to ongoing regulatory battles with the SEC. The exchange has advised customers who have experienced failed withdrawal attempts to resubmit their requests. Any remaining USD balances in customer accounts will be converted to Tether at a later date.
Atomic Wallet, a decentralized wallet provider, has released a full “event statement” about a recent hack that has resulted in potential losses of up to $100 million. The statement outlined four possible causes of the exploit, including a virus on user devices, an infrastructure breach, a man-in-the-middle attack, or malware code injection. Atomic Wallet stated that less than 0.1% of its app users were affected by the hack, but many are questioning this figure.
Lawmakers in the United Kingdom are moving forward with legislation that could help regulate the adoption of cryptocurrencies in the country. The Financial Services and Markets Bill, which was introduced to the U.K. Parliament in July 2022, aims to maintain the country’s position in the financial world following Brexit by granting regulatory authority on digital assets. The bill has undergone a third reading in the House of Lords and will proceed to consider any additional amendments before being signed into law.
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Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, stated that the board sees payment stablecoins as a form of money and believes there should be a robust federal role in overseeing their operation. This view contrasts with that of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who has suggested that stablecoins may require registration and regulation with the SEC. Gensler has also consistently stated that all cryptocurrencies, except Bitcoin, are securities.
In terms of cryptocurrency prices, Bitcoin is currently priced at $30,697, Ether at $1,896, and XRP at $0.49. The total market cap is $1.19 trillion. Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, the biggest gainers of the week include Bitcoin Cash, Pepe, and Bitcoin SV, while the biggest losers include KuCoin Token, Quant, and BitTorrent(New).
In other news, a popular trader predicts that Bitcoin will reach new all-time highs in 2023, with October being the favored month for this milestone. The trader believes that Bitcoin has the potential for a “parabolic advance” and expects monthly moves of more than $10,000. However, he also warns of potential risks and urges caution.
On the regulatory front, Prime Trust, a crypto custodian, has been ordered to cease business operations due to its “critically deficient” financial condition. The company has been unable to honor customer withdrawals since June 21. The move comes shortly after its subsidiary, Banq, filed for bankruptcy protection. Additionally, Apple has removed a malicious app from its App Store that claimed to be the Trezor crypto hardware wallet. However, other copycat apps still remain on the platform.
Twitter has suspended the account of an AI-powered bot called “Explain This Bob” after Elon Musk alleged it was a “scam crypto account.” The bot, which used OpenAI’s GPT-4 model to provide responses to tweets, had amassed over 400,000 followers before its suspension. The bot was associated with the ERC-20 memecoin, Bob Token.
In conclusion, the cryptocurrency market is experiencing significant developments and challenges. The renewed optimism for a Bitcoin ETF has led to increased interest in the cryptocurrency. Regulatory measures are being proposed and implemented to support the adoption of crypto in various countries. However, issues such as hacks and fraudulent apps continue to pose risks to investors and users.
