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Showing posts from August, 2024

Where to watch and predictions for the Copa América 2024 – 06/07

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  With a draw against Colombia in the last round of the Copa América group stage, Brazil will face Uruguay in the quarterfinals. The match will be on Saturday (6), at 10 pm, and promises to be one of the most disputed games. Historically, Brazil has the advantage over Uruguay. However, in the Copa América, the balance is clear. In 26 games, both teams have nine wins each, in addition to eight draws. Uruguay arrives at the quarterfinals with a perfect campaign in the group stage, leading Group C with nine points. The team has shown an efficient attack, with nine goals scored and one conceded. On the other hand, Brazil had an uneven group stage, finishing second with five points. The team scored five goals and conceded two. Want to know more about the best bets for this match? Keep reading. Uruguay vs Brazil Predictions for the 2024 Copa America Check out the best odds to bet on so far: Instant Casino is offering 1.95 for Uruguay to qualify for the next round TG Casino is paying 1.95 if

Bitcoin crash a great buying opportunity? VanEck

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  Since June, Bitcoin’s price has been on a remarkable downward trend, with the asset falling below $54,000 today. In its monthly development, Bitcoin has lost 21.7%, ending its “longest winning streak” ever. Despite the latest moves, investment firm VanEck remains bullish on the largest cryptocurrency on the market while the price of Bitcoin is retreating due to the latest developments involving the German government and Mt. Gox. At the time of publication, the price of Bitcoin was quoted at US$ 55,504.34 with a drop of 3.8% in the last 24 hours. In a recent move amid Bitcoin’s sharp decline, the cryptocurrency market has seen over $665 million in liquidations in the past 24 hours. This move comes as the largest cryptocurrency is facing heavy selling pressure as defunct exchange Mt Gox makes payments to its creditors. Investment firm VanEck has termed Bitcoin’s recent plunge as a “July 4th discount.” The financial giant sees the asset’s current pullback as an opportunity for investors

Analyst points out which cryptocurrency will be most affected by Mt. Gox; It’s not Bitcoin

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  Amid the imminent release of crypto assets from users affected by the bankruptcy of the Mt. Gox exchange, analyst Peter Chung warns of a severe impact on the price of one cryptocurrency in particular. Contrary to what many might imagine, Bitcoin is not the most vulnerable cryptocurrency in this situation. Mt. Gox, which was one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges until its bankruptcy in 2014, is set to distribute billions of dollars worth of BTC and BCH to its creditors. The distribution is estimated to include 142,000 BTC and 143,000 BCH, as well as 69 billion Japanese yen (JPY), totaling over $9 billion. The funds are scheduled to be released between July 1 and October 31, 2024. According to Peter Chung, director of research at Presto Labs, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is particularly vulnerable to massive selling pressure. Chung predicts that “100% of Bitcoin Cash will be sold in the short term,” which should result in a sharp drop in price. BCH’s investor base is considered wea

Report suggests US economy peaks in second quarter; Details

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  A recently released report suggested that the US economy will peak in the second quarter of 2024. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s weekly market report, shared on July 12, highlighted macroeconomic data that indicates a slowdown in the US economy. The document mentioned several points related to data on manufacturing, unemployment and domestic demand as a basis for the main argument. “That said, the macro data has been providing plenty of evidence that the US economy has slowed (ISM manufacturing, unemployment, domestic demand, etc.), which we acknowledge. In fact, we think it’s very likely that the economy peaked in 2Q24 – one reason we think the Fed will cut rates starting September 18 (this month is too early and there’s no meeting in August),” he said. Furthermore, the report also highlighted that the June CPI print released this week (-0.1% MoM or 3.0% YoY) “came in below the median forecasts of +0.1% and 3.1%, which may support a more dovish bias from the Fed.” US CPI Data: J

XRP Prediction 2028: Will the Cryptocurrency Price Hit $250?

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  An XRP price prediction for 2028 has been revealed recently. Will XRP price hit a staggering $250? Despite the price drops and fluctuations, an analyst has shared an epic price prediction for Ripple’s native cryptocurrency, XRP. In a post shared on July 11 on the X app, cryptocurrency expert known as The Great Mattsby highlighted in his analysis that the XRP token is poised for a potential rally that will drive the cryptocurrency’s price to reach $250 in the coming years. The expert based his analysis on technical indicators and XRP’s historical performance. “$XRP at $250 by 2028?? So $XRP at ±60000% aligns with the math of this green angle, which has also been a very important support and resistance angle in the past (highlighted). Proof that it’s not impossible,” the analyst wrote. The crypto expert also noted that “XRP has one of the tightest monthly Bollinger Band squeezes in its history and in all crypto right now. The last time it squeezed like this, it shot up 60,000%.” At the

Charles Hoskinson and the Need for Decentralization After the Trump Assassination Attempt

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  Cardano cryptocurrency platform co-founder Charles Hoskinson recently shared his thoughts on a troubling incident: the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. Hoskinson proposes that decentralization, one of the pillars of cryptocurrencies, could be a lasting solution to avoid such threats. Yesterday’s incident, in which Trump was nearly hit by bullets that grazed his right ear, illustrates the urgency of this need. Trump’s sudden movement prevented more serious consequences. However, the attack resulted in one fatality and two injuries, in addition to the death of the shooter himself during the intervention. Hoskinson said that while the attack was shocking, it was not entirely surprising given the volatile political environment in the United States. He said political discourse has evolved from legitimate disagreements to a mindset in which disagreements are seen as destructive threats. “It’s very sad that people would wish death upon those they disagree with,” he said, highlighting

German Government Sells 100% of Its Bitcoins, Arkham Intelligence Confirms

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  Friday, July 12, 2024 – The German government has completed the sale of all its Bitcoins today, according to recent information provided by Arkham Intelligence. This move ends a period marked by intense sales that generated significant volatility in the cryptocurrency market. At the beginning of the year, Germany was in possession of approximately 50,000 BTC from seizures related to the piracy website Movie2k. Efforts to liquidate these assets have accelerated in recent months. The assets have shrunk from nearly 50,000 BTC to 0 BTC in a three-week period. Recent transfer activity has been intense, with the German government making significant moves since the beginning of the week. Arkham Intelligence has been monitoring these transactions, noting that the latest batch of Bitcoins has been moved to well-known platforms such as Kraken, Coinbase and Bitstamp, as well as being distributed among highly influential trading desks. The German government’s complete sale of Bitcoins marks a si

OKEx Announces Malta as USDC/EUR Hub, Ends Nigeria to Comply with Regulation

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  Global cryptocurrency exchange OKEx has announced that it has selected Malta as its MiCA hub in the European Union. The move is part of a strategy to offer euro (EUR) trading pairs and USDC stablecoins. In addition, the company intends to offer services such as buying, selling, converting, and staking to qualified residents in the region. OKEx chose Malta because of its high regulatory standards and innovative approach to blockchain and cryptocurrencies. In addition, OKEx’s existing infrastructure on the Mediterranean island and its local team were key factors. “We established our MiCA hub in Malta because it will enable us to provide world-class products to a diverse range of customers across Europe,” said Erald Ghoos, General Manager Designate of OKX Europe. Ghoos further highlighted that the new regulatory standards aim to protect users and support the sustainable development of the cryptocurrency industry, allowing the company to deepen its hiring and investment in Europe. OKEx’s

Polygon Labs Launches New Zero-Knowledge Proof System

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  Polygon Labs recently announced a significant update to its zero-knowledge proof system, introducing Plonky3. This new version promises to be more flexible than the previous one, Plonky2, which was released in 2022. Zero-knowledge proof systems are essential for ensuring the security of multi-layer distributed networks. This is because they create proofs that summarize off-chain transactions and feed that information back into base blockchains like Ethereum. According to Polygon, these systems ensure that transactions occur correctly and that the blockchain state is updated accurately. Plonky3, now available as open-source software under the MIT and Apache licenses, represents a significant improvement over its predecessor. While Plonky2 focused on speed by optimizing hardware, Plonky3 presents itself as an open-source tool that allows developers to build their own virtual machines using zero-knowledge encryption. This flexibility gives developers the ability to optimize for speed, p

Solana-Based Memecoin Shows Bullish Sign; Cryptocurrency Up 67%

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  A cryptocurrency analyst recently shared a rather bullish sentiment regarding a memecoin built on the Solana (SOL) blockchain. The meme cryptocurrency in question is PONKE (PONKE), which has been seeing significant gains in recent days. The expert and trader known by the pseudonym Bluntz noted that the memecoin PONKE is currently demonstrating a significant high achieved after breaking out of an ascending channel. With this, the cryptocurrency then aimed to turn its upper limit of the ascending channel into a support level. In an analysis recently shared on social media platform, X, the expert shared PONKE price action, suggesting that the cryptocurrency may be entering a bullish phase. “So many meme charts are now putting up structures we saw in sol shitters that 100x’d earlier in the cycle that I’ve mentally marked them as extremely bullish. my portfolio is starting to look like noah’s ark again,” he wrote. At the time of publication, PONKE’s price is trading at $0.6736, up 0.5% ov

Reddit MtGox Study Indicates HODL Trend Among Bitcoin Users

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  A recent survey conducted on the MtGox Reddit forum has shed light on users’ intentions to sell their bitcoins after receiving the promised compensation from the platform. The survey asked members about the percentage of bitcoins they intend to liquidate immediately upon receipt. A total of 467 members participated in the poll, and the predominant answer, with 55% of the votes, came from 260 users who stated that they had no intention of selling their bitcoins. This hesitation to sell contrasts sharply with the stance of 88 members, or 18% of voters, who said they would sell all of their bitcoins. In addition, 68 participants, or about 15% of the total, indicated that they would sell between 1% and 25% of their holdings, and 26 people, or about 6%, plan to sell between 25% and 50% of their bitcoins. The main objective of the survey was to understand the potential selling pressure that could emanate from members affected by the Mt. Gox situation. The exchange, which suffered one of th

SEC Approves Grayscale Mini Ethereum Spot ETF and Bitwise Announces Competitive Fees

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  According to recent sources, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted approval to the Grayscale Mini Ethereum Spot ETF, marking a new development in the cryptocurrency ETF market. This event brings the total number of approved Ethereum Spot ETFs to ten, including the newly added ones from Proshares and Grayscale. While Grayscale is celebrating this new milestone, final approval to begin trading these ETFs is still pending. Bloomberg analysts, who specialize in ETFs, project that the necessary authorization to begin trading could be issued by July 23. Meanwhile, Bitwise, another giant in the crypto ETF space, made strategic moves by updating its S-1 form, in which it set a new management fee of just 0.20%. This update comes moments after the SEC announced the approval of Ethereum Spot ETFs from other companies, including Bitwise itself. The market is still awaiting definitions on compensation policies from other significant companies in the sector, such a

Sensitive data of more than 6,000 Web3 users stolen – BitcoinBlog.de – the blog for Bitcoin and other virtual currencies

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The Berlin-based identity start-up Fractal ID was recently hacked: the data of more than 6,000 customers was stolen. That’s a shame, because Fractal ID actually offers an exciting product for decentralized finance. On July 14th of this year, there must have been a stir in Fractal ID’s Berlin office. At 7 a.m., the systems sounded the alarm because they had detected unusual activity on a server. Shortly afterwards, it was clear that it was an attack. The engineers switched off the subsystem to reduce the damage. But for 6,300 users, about 0.5 percent of all Fractal ID customers, it was already too late. The hackers stole sensitive data. Exactly which data varies from user to user. In the best case, only the name, wallet and email address; in the worst case, the entire program, including postal address and ID scan. A nightmare. The incident is believed to be a result of a hack in September 2022, in which an “operator” — a customer or service provider of Fractal ID — was infected with mal

How can AI detect Bitcoin money laundering?

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  A recent study reveals how artificial intelligence (AI) can be a crucial ally in identifying suspicious activity with cryptocurrencies, especially in Bitcoin. Conducted by the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab in collaboration with blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, the report details how advanced deep learning techniques are being employed to uncover money laundering schemes on this global platform. Elliptic and MIT-IBM’s innovative approach leverages AI’s ability to analyze vast amounts of data in record time. The study focuses on tracking illicit transactions, identifying characteristic patterns of money laundering. Furthermore, it is possible to reveal the wallets involved in these criminal practices. By exploiting Bitcoin’s decentralized blockchain, the team was able to differentiate between legitimate and illegal transactions. Furthermore, the company managed to establish connections between the latter to uncover possible money laundering schemes. According to Elliptic, this initiative is

Ferrari announces expansion of cryptocurrency payments

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  Lorena is a journalist who has been writing about Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, blockchain and Web3 for over four years, currently working as editor-in-chief of CriptoFácil. She has a degree in Social Communication/Journalism from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and is currently studying for a postgraduate degree in Digital Journalism Production at PUC-Minas. Lorena is passionate about technology, innovation and the financial freedom that cryptocurrencies promote.

Swiss tech firm launches Bitcoin wallet

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  Proton, the Swiss technology company that creates online privacy-preserving tools, has launched yet another one. According to its official announcement, the company has launched a wallet specifically for Bitcoin (BTC) transactions. The new product is called Proton Wallet and will join the suite of tools that includes ProtonVPN and the popular ProtonMail. The wallet has a self-custody mode, meaning users will be able to store their own private keys. This new product will be integrated with ProtonMail and will allow users to send Bitcoins as easily as sending an email. Users will be able to access the wallet by subscribing to one of the plans created by the company. Bitcoin Wallet Details Proton will leverage its existing infrastructure to make its Bitcoin wallet more user-friendly. In this way, users will be able to use Proton Wallet to make a BTC transaction via email addresses. This method eliminates the need for wallet addresses and transforms the customer’s address into the Bitcoi

Arthur Hayes Makes Millions from Investments in Pendle Tokens

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  Arthur Hayes, the renowned founder of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, achieved an impressive profit of $4,916,006 with his investment in Pendle (PENDLE) tokens. This innovative project focuses on the tokenization and trading of future returns, capturing the attention of investors with its unique proposition. Hayes’ interest in Pendle tokens is not new. According to data obtained by Chinese reporter Colin Wu, a wallet linked to Hayes carried out a significant transaction just eight hours ago, exchanging $510,545 in USDC stablecoins for 98,560 PENDLE tokens through market maker Wintermute. This investment is just one part of a series of acquisitions by Hayes, which began in June 2023 when he acquired 100,000 tokens from an undisclosed source. Since then, Hayes has continued to grow his portfolio, purchasing an additional 1.2 million tokens through Binance between September 2023 and March 2024. Prior to the most recent trade, Hayes had already acquired an additional 57,000 Pendle tokens

Ledger Unveils Latest Hardware Wallet Amid Product Overhaul

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  Cryptocurrency security firm Ledger has unveiled its newest hardware device, the Ledger Flex. The company launched the hardware wallet during the Bitcoin 2024 conference held in Nashville, Tennessee. The Ledger Flex, like the previously launched Ledger Stax, uses the company’s patented E-Ink touchscreen technology. The device promises to make navigation easier for users without compromising security. “After a decade of setting the standard for security and self-custody in crypto and digital assets, I’m proud to say we’re raising the bar again,” said Pascal Gauthier, President and CEO of Ledger. Hardware wallets are “cold storage” devices that rarely, if ever, connect to the internet. These devices are considered one of the safest options for storing cryptocurrencies, especially in the long term. Ledger announces new cryptocurrency wallet Founded in 2014, Ledger is a retail-focused brand. The company has sold over six million hardware wallets. It also protects the keys to over 20% of

Ethereum ETFs approved for trading – starting today! – BitcoinBlog.de – the blog for Bitcoin and other virtual currencies

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  First it goes slowly, then very quickly: Surprisingly, the CBOE in Chicago has listed five Ethereum ETFs for trading. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) is opening trading in five Ethereum spot ETFs starting today. These are the ETFs from VanEck, Invesco, Franklin Templeton, Fidelity and 21Shares, which track the spot price of Ethereum and are backed by Ether. This move followed a surprise approval of the ETFs by the SEC at the end of May, which was not quite as clear as with the Bitcoin ETFs. Therefore, the exact day of start of trading was unclear. At the beginning of July, the SEC delayed the approval by sending the “S-1” forms back to the ETF issuers. Now, however, the final step appears to have been completed and trading on the CBOE, the world’s largest options exchange, can begin today when the exchange opens to U.S. customers. The price of Ethereum remained surprisingly calm in the face of this news. Ethereum continued its price increase, which it had already started on