Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Crypto Giant Bittrex Files for Bankruptcy: A Fall from Grace

The 21st centurys digital gold, cryptocurrency, has seen several dramatic transformations. But even in this financial Wild West, the recent collapse of Seattle-based Bittrex Inc., a giant in the crypto exchange industry, has shocked the world.　　Indicting Bittrex for running an unregistered securities exchange, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dealt the company a severe blow three weeks ago. Bittrex is now looking for bankruptcy protection, a shocking decline for a company that was previously regarded as a leader in the cryptocurrency sector.　　Bittrexs abrupt cessation of U.S. operations on April 30 shocked users and industry insiders alike. However, the company reassured its international clientele that the bankruptcy filing wouldnt touch Bittrex Global, its Liechtenstein-based arm catering to customers outside the United States.　　As per the bankruptcy petition lodged in Wilmington, Delaware court, both the assets and liabilities of Bittrex fall within the range of $500 million to $1 billion. And for those who didnt have the chance to withdraw funds before the April cut-off？ Bittrex assures that their crypto assets are “safe and secure”.　　In an interesting twist, Bittrex plans to petition the bankruptcy court for a limited re-opening of U.S. customer accounts, intending to return their crypto assets.　　The crypto industry has

2023-05-09Exposure

NFT traders sell BAYC below floor price to buy PEPE

Some traders recently sold part of Bored Ape Yacht Collection (BAYC) NFT at a discounted price to invest in meme coin which is trending right now – PEPE.　　Recently, this meme coin has been one of the best-performing assets in the crypto market, as its price surged over 600% in the past two weeks before cooling off in the last 24 hours.　　TRANSFER FROM NFT TO PEPE　　Popular Twitter user Cirrus revealed recently that some traders sold 14 BAYC NFTs below the floor price over the weekend. They used 672 ETH (worth over $1.2 million at the time) from the sale to buy PEPE.　　The crypto community has been somewhat divided on that move, with some suggesting that trading with meme coins at the moment could be quite profitable. Others believe that the hype surrounding the token has reached such a high level that an upcoming crash seems inevitable.　　Cirrus has previously stated that people are likely to sell their digital artwork below the floor price to join PEPEs ecosystem.　　As Cafebitcoin reported last week, crypto whales have also turned their attention to meme coins. One such holder swapped $590,000 worth of WBTC, $90,000 worth of CULT, $235,000 worth of UNI, and $37,000 worth of ETH

2023-05-09Deep Dive

The number of Ethereum deposits spiked as PEPE investors took profits

Last Friday, active deposits on the Ethereum network hit an 18-month high, rising to over 20,000 addresses, marking the highest level since November 2021.　　Amount of active Ethereum deposits　　So what is driving this spike？　　Blockchain analytics platform Santiment tweeted that investors taking profits in PEPE could be responsible for the increase in the number of active addresses.　　ETHEREUM GAS FEES AND DEPOSIT INCREASE　　The number of active Ethereum deposits has been growing since early May, coinciding with the meme coin craze. And with erratic tokens like PEPE, swapping them for a large and stable coin like ETH might be a smart move.　　PEPE TRANSACTIONS INCREASE GAS　　Since its launch in April, more than 410,000 PEPE transactions have been completed on Uniswap. And according to one Twitter users calculations, these transactions burned a total of about 5,300 ETH in gas fees.　　Furthermore, the number of gas fees burned by PEPE transactions started to grow faster since May 1, along with Ethereum deposits.　　Since then, ERC-20 tokens have been listed on Binance and KuCoin. This could further fuel the PEPE craze and cause more gas fees to be burned, even if the coin meme is unable to sustain its dizzying gains.　　Those who are not interested in meme coins may feel

2023-05-09Deep Dive

SHIB burning rate skyrocketed as billions of Shiba Inu were burned in the past week

According to the analytics website Shibburn, SHIB Army has burned millions worth of this meme in the past week.　　In the past 24 hours, the number of SHIBs locked in dead wallets has also increased, causing the burning rate to increase significantly.　　Recent Shibburn data shows that over the past 24-hour period, various members of the Shiba Inu community (both institutions and individuals) have succeeded in burning a total of 12,825,901 meme coins.　　Most of this money was burned in one transaction, burning 10,455,764 SHIB. In addition, two transactions, each burning 1,000,000 SHIB, took place before that transaction.　　Last week, the rate of burning Shiba Inu increased many times over. On May 1, the gain reached 1,400%. On May 3, a 30,940% spike to a total of 2,005,265,274 Shiba Inu was burned.　　Whales, meanwhile, amassed nearly 10.3 trillion Shiba Inu in the last week, according to a report provided by on-chain data aggregator IntoTheBlock.

2023-05-09Deep Dive

Ripple’s Legal Brawl With SEC Could Cost About $200M

During a fireside chat at the Dubai Fintech Summit, Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, shared that the legal battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could have cost the company around $200 million had they gone through with defending themselves. This information was revealed in the context of a discussion about cryptocurrency regulation in the United States.　　According to a statement made by Garlinghouse, the United States is falling behind other nations in terms of regulating cryptocurrencies. He also alleged that the U.S. government is prioritizing politics over policy. However, he commended the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the European Union (EU) for their advancements in establishing cryptocurrency regulations. Garlinghouse made these remarks during a fireside chat at the Dubai Fintech Summit.　　The Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation for Europe is currently undergoing due processes for its official launch. According to WikiBIT, the MiCA bill appears to be the most sophisticated and comprehensive set of rules for crypto markets currently available. However, the law has not yet come into effect for crypto businesses and the exact date of implementation remains uncertain.　　Ripple CEO Urges the U.S. to Define Crypto Regulation　　In his recent statements, Garlinghouse has advised crypto entrepreneurs not to

2023-05-09Deep Dive

New York Proposes "Landmark" Crypto Law For Strongest US Regulations

New York State Attorney General Letitia James has proposed “the strongest and most comprehensive set of cryptocurrency regulations in the United States.” The “Crypto Regulation, Protection, Transparency, and Oversight (CRPTO) Act,” a proposed piece of legislation, seeks to safeguard consumers, investors, and the general economy while bringing law and order to the multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency industry.　　The proposed measure intends to promote transparency, remove conflicts of interest, and provide adequate investor safeguards in conformity with current financial sector legislation. It would prohibit people from holding the same businesses, such as brokerages and tokens, and independent public audits of cryptocurrency exchanges would be necessary to remove conflicts of interest.　　The proposal would also broaden the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) regulatory power over digital assets and increase investor safety by enacting and codifying “know-your-customer” (KYC) standards. Furthermore, according to federal law, the term “stablecoin” may not be used to describe or advertise digital assets that are not 1:1 backed by US money or other high-quality liquid assets.　　Furthermore, under the federal Electronic Fund Transfer Act, bitcoin platforms would be obligated to perform consumer obligations comparable to banks, including paying out to clients who have been victims of fraud. The bill would give

2023-05-08Deep Dive

Coinbase ambitiously aims to be a crypto bank.

Sharing with the investment community, Mr. Asheesh Birla, former Director of RippleNet, said that Coinbase has ambitions to surpass the status of an ordinary exchange. Specifically, billionaire Brian Armstrongs company wants to be a crypto bank.　　According to Birla, Coinbase can attract investors by building a crypto-economy system. In it, people can access digital assets more transparently and easily. To do this, Coinbase will have a skillful way of dealing with US authorities and an international banking network.　　Coinbase has ambitions to become a crypto bank. Coinbase has ambitions to become a crypto bank.　　According to Coinbases Q1/2023 financial report, interest income and custody fees make up the majority of the companys revenue. Asheesh Birla emphasized that the interest in depositing stablecoin USDC alone helped Coinbase earn $199 million, or 18% of total revenue.　　Besides, Coinbase also makes more money from large institutions instead of retail investors. Statistics show that revenue from institutional investors increased by 67% over the same period last year.　　From the two factors above, experts assess how the Coinbase exchange is more and more like a bank.

2023-05-08Deep Dive

Breaking News May 8: Binance suddenly stopped supporting Bitcoin withdrawals

Recently, the Bitcoin Blockchain network was overloaded, causing Binance, the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, to stop withdrawing Bitcoin from the exchange.　　Binance stops supporting Bitcoin withdrawals　　Around 9:30 p.m. on the evening of May 7 (GMT +8), the Binance exchange suddenly announced blocking the feature of withdrawing Bitcoin from the platform. According to Binance, this decision came from the Bitcoin Blockchain being overloaded, not the exchanges own problem.　　“We are temporarily closing the Bitcoin withdrawal portal because the Bitcoin network is experiencing congestion. The Binance team is working on fixing the issue and will reopen the withdrawal portal as soon as possible,” posted on Binances official Twitter channel.　　Binance exchange temporarily closed the Bitcoin withdrawal gate.　　After about 2 hours, the congestion was resolved and the withdrawal gate was opened. However, experts assess that this may not be a problem unique to the Bitcoin Blockchain network as Binance explains. In fact, not long before the time of congestion, Binance was trading a very large amount of Bitcoin.　　Specifically, according to CryptoQuant Alert, there were 10,035.46 Bitcoins put on the exchange (about 290 million USD), and 117,459 Bitcoins withdrawn from the exchange (about 3.372 billion USD). It is not excluded that the migration comes from Binance changing

2023-05-08Deep Dive

What is special about the SEC's Wells Notice that makes many crypto companies afraid?

In this article, WikiBit will introduce Wells Notice, the SECs secret weapon that makes crypto companies “fear”.　　What is Wells Notice？ What does it mean to investors？　　The Wells Notice is an official notice from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), indicating that the regulator is considering taking enforcement action against an individual or entity. Wells Notice is sent by the SEC after it completes an investigation and discovers evidence of a possible violation of securities laws.　　Wells Notice is named for Mr. John Wells, a senior adviser to the SEC from 1972 to 1976. Mr. Wells helped create the processes used by the SEC. These processes are legal actions to combat personal and business financial misconduct.　　Wells Notice, the SECs official notice that 1 individual or organization is accused of violating securities laws.　　When a business receives a Wells Notice, the price of the companys stock and other securities can plummet as investors worry about regulatory actions by the SEC. They may decide to stop investing in the business, which will cause economic damage.　　To deal with Wells Notice, individuals and organizations will have to worry about paying fines or worse, sanctions imposed by the SEC. Depending on the severity of the violations, the

2023-05-08Deep Dive

Binance Lifts Block on Bitcoin Withdrawals After Processing Fees Surge

Binance, the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, recently lifted the block on Bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals after several hours of delay. The halt, which occurred on Monday, was due to a surge in processing fees and high volumes of pending transactions. This caused the exchange to raise the fees to ensure that mining pools would pick up the backlog of transactions.　　Bitcoin suffered a slight dip, down about 1% to $28,162, after the block was put in place, but it quickly recovered as the situation resolved. Binance said that it had not anticipated the recent surge in Bitcoin (BTC) network gas fees, leading to a backlog of transactions.　　Gas fees are the payments made to crypto miners whose computing power processes transactions on the blockchain. During times of high network congestion, the gas fee required to process transactions may be large, particularly if the withdrawal amount is significant.　　Joshua Chu, the group chief risk officer at blockchain technology group XBE, Coinllectibles, and Marvion, commented on the situation, stating that more information is needed to understand what led to the large withdrawals.　　Binance suspended deposits and withdrawals in March due to technical issues, and it denied that there had been large outflows from the platform during this

2023-05-08Deep Dive

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