Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Finland Intends to Donate Confiscated Bitcoin to Aid Ukraine (Report)

The Finish government will reportedly donate some of its seized bitcoin holdings to support Ukraines efforts in its war with Russia. Over the years, the Scandinavian country has confiscated nearly $77 million worth of BTC from bad actors.　　Finland to Join the Conflict by BTC Donations　　Despite its on and off moments, the Russia-Ukraine war seems nowhere near its end. Unlike most conflicts in the past, the two sides confront each other without the direct military help of allies. However, Ukraine keeps receiving support in the form of finance, weapons, medical and food supplies from numerous EU nations and the USA.　　Digital assets have also been an essential feature in the war as crypto-related companies, individuals, and governments sent donations in bitcoin and altcoins to the invaded country. The latest such support will reportedly come from Finland.　　The nations ruling body has launched several operations against drug lords, traffickers, and other criminals over the past years. As a result, it seized nearly $77 million worth of bitcoin, and the government is willing to donate a portion of that amount to Ukraine.　　“Of course, no universal money is earmarked that way. But here, as if mentally, this money from bitcoins is earmarked so that it can

2022-04-29Deep Dive

Crypto Exchange Exec Charged for Helping Pongyong Access Military Secrets

South Korea arrested two citizens on the charge of stealing military secrets for a North Korean spy, who paid them with cryptocurrency. One of the two is a crypto exchange executive who has received $600,000 since working for the agent last year. South Korea is yet to catch the North Korean spy, who – the authorities believe – is operating overseas.　　Infiltrating South Koreas Military Department　　According to South Korean police and prosecution officials, the head of the exchange, surnamed Lee, contacted the purported spy in July 2021 and helped them gather military secrets. The two, who allegedly met online at a cryptocurrency community six years ago, had failed to hack into the countrys military communication system.　　Therefore, the 38-year-old executive recruited a 29-year-old military captain, directing him to take pictures of military data through a camera disguised as a watch and sending him a “Poison Tap” USB computer hacking device. South Korean authorities said the captain had given the login information of the Korean Joint Command and Control System to Lee and the agent, though revealing no details regarding the stolen data.　　The military captain allegedly was paid about $38,000 in cryptocurrency for his contributory efforts. The two South Koreans were arrested earlier

2022-04-29Deep Dive

Ethereum price analysis: ETH continues to retrace, finds resistance at $2,950

Ethereum price analysis is bullish today.　　ETH/USD continued higher overnight.　　Next resistance at $2,950 is currently tested.　　Ethereum price analysis is bearish today as we have seen a strong push higher continue and test of downside quickly rejected. Therefore, ETH/USD will likely soon break past the $2,950 next resistance and look to set another lower high later in the week.　　The market has moved in the green over the last 24 hours. The leaders, Bitcoin and Ethereum, gained 3.47 and 3.05 percent, while the rest of the altcoins followed closely. Ethereum price movement in the last 24 hours: Ethereum continued to retrace　　ETH/USD traded in a range of $2,842.66 to $2,939.98, indicating a moderate amount of volatility over the last 24 hours. Trading volume has declined by 24.97 percent, totaling $16.14 billion, while the total market cap trades around $346.43 billion, resulting in a dominance of 19.31 percent.ETH/USD 4-hour chart: ETH looks to break past $2,950　　On the 4-hour chart, we can see the Ethereum price action continuing to advance as the retracement is not yet finished.　　ETH/USD 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView　　Ethereum price action has seen further downside tested so far this week. After the last lower swing high was set around $3,040 on 26 April 2022,

2022-04-29Deep Dive

Bitcoin rejects $40K as US dollar strength hits 20-year high

Bitcoin (BTC) made a fresh bid to crack $40,000 on April 28 as Wall Street trading opened to twenty-year highs for U.S. dollar strength.DXY now in “parabolic rally”　　Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting highs of $39,883 on Bitstamp before momentum waned, sending the pair $800 lower hours later.　　Traders had predicted what they saw as a relief bounce, with the implication that the subsequent rejection would spark continuation of the downtrend.　　On the day, caution was advised.　　“BTC Currently consolidating in this falling wedge. In case of a breakout Id be targetting $42K. Its good to wait for confirmation first if you decide to take the trade imo,” popular Twitter account Daan Crypto Trades argued.　　“Only a strong break and reclaim of $40.6k would make me look at higher targets,” fellow trader Crypto Ed added.“Charts: mostly pointing lower. Liquidity: a squeeze to the upside to hunt the shorts.” 　　With limited movement on Bitcoin itself, however, attention was fully focused on the dollar, which continued to outdo itself as the U.S. dollar currency index (DXY) hit its highest levels since 2002.　　“The parabolic rally by DXY does not bode well for risk-on assets like stocks and Bitcoin. Until the rally cools off,

2022-04-28Deep Dive

US Dollar Will Remain Global Reserve Currency, Says It 'Has Great Inertia'

Process to Change Role of Dollar Very Slow　　The former governor of the Chinese central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan, insisted in a recent interview that “unless there is [a] change in the global landscape” the U.S. dollar will remain the global reserve and payment currency. While he admitted that digital currencies could potentially become alternatives to the dollar, the former governor claimed that any process to change the role of the dollar is likely to be “very slow.”　　In his remarks while being interviewed by CGTN, Xiaochuan, however, suggested that policy “mistakes” by the U.S. government might potentially have a bearing on the dollars continued dominance. Xiaochuan, who is now the vice-chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia, points to the use of the dollar as a sanctioning tool as one such mistake. Xiaochuan explained:　　For example, if we rely too much on the dollar system to impose financial sanctions, of course, if you impose sanctions, people will hide from you, and your role in payment and reserves will inevitably decline.　　Still, the former governor cautions that using the dollar system to impose sanctions just like other factors will not lead to the sudden waning of the currencys dominance. He said when looked at from

2022-04-28Deep Dive

ApeCoin (APE) Is Now The Biggest Metaverse Token, Edging AXS, MANA, SAND

The metaverse is a new type of digital reality that incorporates elements of social networking, augmented reality, blockchain technology, and cryptocurrencies.　　Cryptocurrency might be a perplexing subject to grasp. Many people believe the industry is untrustworthy and view investing as a gamble.　　Nevertheless, this fast expanding industry uses vast sums of money. Large investments may yield large returns, and 2018 has been a banner year for practically every major cryptocurrency and its supporters.　　Among the major cryptocurrencies, ApeCoin (APE) is making significant progress in the sphere of the metaverse. ApeCoin rose higher on Wednesday morning, increasing 7% to $19.10, taking its seven-day gain to almost 22%.　　This comes less than a week after Yuga Labs, creator of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, announced the opening of its Otherside Metaverse on Saturday.ApeCoin Beats MANA, SAND, AXS　　Since then, APE has surpassed Decentraland‘s MANA, The Sandbox’s SAND, and Axie Infinitys AXS to become the largest metaverse token by market valuation.　　This is a significant step forward for the BAYC NFT collection in light of recent controversy surrounding its legal cases.　　The BAYC collection is one of the most renowned in history. There are 10,000 Bored Ape NFTs, according to the NFT market OpenSea.Crypto total market cap at $1.78 trillion

2022-04-28Deep Dive

Deutsche Bank Predicts Major US Recession Next Year

Major US Recession Incoming, According to Deutsche Banks Economists　　Deutsche Bank has predicted a deeper downturn than its previous forecast for the U.S. economy in a report to clients, published Tuesday.　　The banks economists, including David Folkerts-Landau, group chief economist and head of research, explained in the report why the coming recession will be worse than expected. They described:　　We will get a major recession, but our strongly held view is that the sooner and the more aggressively the Fed acts, the less longer-term damage to the economy there will be.　　The report explains that it will take a long time before inflation falls back to the Feds goal of 2%. The authors warned that the central bank will likely engage in the most aggressive monetary tightening since the 1980s, which “will push the economy into a significant recession by late next year.”　　The Deutsche Bank economists detailed: “We assume conservatively that a Fed funds rate moving well into the 5% to 6% range will be sufficient to do the job this time … This is partly because the monetary-tightening process will be bolstered by Fed balance-sheet reduction.”　　Several other major investment banks, however, are less pessimistic than Deutsche Bank.　　Goldman Sachs recently estimated there is a

2022-04-28Deep Dive

Standard Chartered buys virtual plot in The Sandbox to begin metaverse expansion

Standard Chartered is the latest global bank to enter the burgeoning metaverse space via a partnership between its Hong Kong subsidiary and The Sandbox, according to a press statement released on April 25.　　According to the statement, the bank became the first bank to acquire “virtual land at The Sandbox metaverses Mega City district.” 　　StanChart said the purchase is geared towards creating a:　　“Metaverse experience [that] actively engages its clients, partners, staff, and the tech community, to explore co-creation opportunities in this new and exciting space.”　　The acquisition was led by SC Ventures, Standard Chartered Groups innovation, fintech investment, and ventures arm.　　Speaking on the development, the head of Standard Chartereds SC Ventures, Alex Manson, said: 　　For the past few years, we have been building business models in crypto, digital assets and see the rise of the metaverse as a critical milestone in the Web3.0 evolution.　　This view was also echoed by Mary Huen, CEO of the lenders Hong Kong unit, who said:　　The metaverse is a vision for the next phase in the internets evolution, bringing new possibilities and unique experiences through the use of immersive technologies. Our involvement in the metaverse allows us to reimagine our relationship with existing and potential clients on this

2022-04-28Deep Dive

New Report: Blockchain Hackers Stole $1.3 Billion In Q1 2022

Despite the drop in bitcoin prices at the beginning of the year, thieves did not take a break. Hackers and scammers made millions of dollars from attacks on numerous crypto projects and ecosystems.　　According to the Atlas VPN teams new research, blockchain hackers stole approximately $1.3 billion in 78 hack events in the first quarter of 2022. Furthermore, hacks on the Ethereum and Solana ecosystems resulted in over $1 billion in losses in this quarter alone.　　Blockchain Hackers Eating Good　　The figures come from Slowmist Hacked, which compiles information about publicly acknowledged attacks on blockchain projects. The conversion rate of a particular cryptocurrency at the time of a hack or scam occurrence was used to quantify monetary losses　　During the first quarter of 2022, the Ethereum ecosystem was hacked 18 times, resulting in a loss of almost $636 million. The most significant attack of the quarter occurred at the end of March, when the Axie Infinity sidechain Ronin Network was hacked. The theft totaled $610 million, with 173,600 Ethereum and 25.5 million USDC.　　In the first quarter of 2022, the Solana ecosystem was hacked five times, resulting in a loss of $397 million. Wormhole, a communication link between Solana and other DeFi networks, was hacked

2022-04-28Deep Dive

Buenos Aires Considers Allowing Locals to Pay Taxes in Crypto

The mayor of Buenos Aires – Horacio Rodriguez Larreta – indicated that the city will soon start digitizing its administration processes, while blockchain technology will play a key role. Additionally, the political leader hinted that residents could be allowed to pay their taxes in crypto assets instead.　　Buenos Aires Embracing Crypto　　The latest megalopolis that might dive deep into the cryptocurrency universe is Argentinas capital – Buenos Aires. In a recent interview, its mayor – Horacio Rodriguez Larreta – presented a 12-step plan called “Buenos Aires +,” which will aim to transform the city into a digital hub.　　An important part of the agenda is “the self-sovereign digital identity, which is one of the most innovative tools that are being given in the world so that citizens have their digital identification.” Through an application, locals will be able to authenticate their identity, which will enable them to have access to all their information in one place – their phones.　　Vaccination certificates, test results, civil registry documents, and birth certificates are some of the examples of documents that should go digital by the end of 2022.　　The mayor noted that the successful outcome of the initiative requires enhanced security. For that purpose, the authorities intend to

2022-04-28Deep Dive

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