After 66 agonizing days, Bitcoin (BTC) price finally broke above the $20,000 psychological resistance on Jan. 14. At the same time, the current $400 billion market capitalization gives BTC a position in the top-20 global tradable assets, surpassing giants like Walmart (WMT), Mastercard (MA) and Meta Platforms (META). From one side, Bitcoin bulls have reasons to celebrate after its price recovered 34% from the $15,500 low on Nov. 21, but bears still have the upper hand on a larger time frame since BTC is down 52% in 12 months. However, two events are expected to determine traditional finance investors' fate. …

Bitcoin (BTC) hit new two-month highs overnight into Jan. 19 as suspicions over the market’s validity gained momentum. Concern over BTC liquidity"exploit" Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it consolidated above $21,000 after hitting $21,455 on Bitstamp. That marked the pair’s highest point yet in 2023, the latest accomplishment in a bullish recovery unchallenged since the FTX debacle. Amid widespread mistrust of the move, however, fresh warnings arose as Bitcoin continued to defy predictions of a major retracement. Analyzing order book composition for BTC/USD on largest exchange Binance, Material Indicators expressed surprise that those bidding Bitcoin …

The Central Bank of Iran is reportedly cooperating with the Russian government to jointly issue a new cryptocurrency backed by gold. Iran is working with Russia to create a “token of the Persian Gulf region” that would serve as a payment method in foreign trade, Russia’s news agency Vedomosti reported on Jan. 15. The token is projected to be issued in the form of a stablecoin backed by gold, according to Alexander Brazhnikov, executive director of the Russian Association of Crypto Industry and Blockchain (RACIB). The stablecoin aims to enable cross-border transactions instead of fiat currencies like the United States’ …

The City of London has teamed up with a variety of trade associations to form the UK Forum for Digital Currencies, an alliance that will advocate for “better policies, practice and regulation around digital currencies,” according to a statement released by the five members. Besides the City of London Corporation, the city’s municipal governing body, members of the forum include the Digital Pound Foundation, the Payments Association, CityUK and UK Finance. The latter three organizations are national financial and professional advocacy groups that have previously been engaged in crypto research and advocacy. The forum members will collaborate on an industry-wide …

Major crypto exchange Binance initially pushed back against a Bloomberg report that its Binance-Peg BUSD stablecoin “doesn’t always appear to have been completely backed by BUSD”. In a Jan. 10 blog post, Binance said the basis for the report — later amended to clarify the difference between a pegged and backed stablecoin — was a “timing mismatch in backing Binance-Peg BUSD with BUSD”. The news outlet reported that the Binance-peg BUSD was often undercollateralized between 2020 and 2021 based on an analysis from ChainArgo co-founder Jonathan Reiter, a gap that sometimes exceeded $1 billion. However, according to the exchange, its …

As one of the world’s pioneers in adopting its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), Nigeria declares its readiness to accept the existence of private stablecoins as well. The necessity to create a legal framework for stablecoins is marked in the latest central bank strategy paper. Published under the headline “Nigeria Payments System Vision 2025”, the 83-page report from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) considers the development of a regulatory framework for the potential implementation of a stablecoin. According to the document, there is a need to develop a framework, given that stablecoins are likely to become a successful …

A secure cryptocurrency wallet is crucial for those investing in the growing cryptocurrency market. Technically, crypto wallets are pieces of software that enable users to send and receive digital currencies, like Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC). Cryptocurrency wallets are typically used to store multiple coins and tokens at once. However, most wallets only support a limited number of digital currencies. These wallets can come in the form of hardware (much like a flash drive) that can be connected to the internet as needed or digital storage (like a banking app) that can be accessed on a device. To …

Hong Kong authorities are looking for new designs for a central bank digital currency (CBDC), now proposing to issue a CBDC in the form of a stablecoin backed by the government. Wu Jiezhuang, a member of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, believes that turning the Hong Kong digital dollar (e-HKD) into a stablecoin would provide benefits for the adoption of new technologies like Web3. The option of developing e-HKD into a stablecoin has the potential to address the risks associated with virtual assets in Web3 effectively, Wu Jiezhuang said in an interview with China Blockchain …

Judge Martin Glenn, who is presiding over the Celsius bankruptcy case, ruled on Jan. 4 that the funds in the Celsius interest-bearing Earn program belong to Celsius under the terms of the program’s terms of use. The funds reportedly amount to more than $4 billion. “The issue of ownership of the assets in the Earn Accounts is a contract law issue,” Judge Martin wrote, citing the latest version of the Earn program’s terms of use that stated lending platform Celsius held “all right and title to such Eligible Digital Assets, including ownership rights.” Related: Core Scientific shuts down 37K mining …

Is USD Coin safe? Despite the fact that the USD Coin is subject to regulatory oversight, investors must weigh the pros and cons of investing in stablecoins before committing any funds. Comparing USDC with USDT, USDC is subject to regulations as it is audited from time to time, and Circle is fully transparent about its operations. However, investing in the cryptocurrency market, even in stablecoins, has its own cons. For instance, the price of the USD Coin will never appreciate as it is pegged to the U.S. dollar. This disadvantage is offset by the provision that USDC can be lent …

The app that produces stablecoin Vader Protocol US Dollar (USDV) will be shut down, according to a Dec. 29 announcement from its developers. We are sunsetting Vader Protocol: https://t.co/C3AKHo9URj Existing $VADER and $USDV holders, please visit the webapp to redeem the treasury: https://t.co/SnRlvpXnaQ For all technical issues related to the claim, please check in at the <vader> channel on Discord. — Vader (@VaderProtocol) December 29, 2022 Vader protocol was an algorithmic stablecoin network similar to the failed Terra network. It was supposed to encourage arbitrages to keep USDV always equal to $1. When Terra assets depegged in May from the …

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appealed to the country’s presidency of the G20 group of the world’s largest economies as a pulpit to call for the development of a global regulatory framework for crypto assets. In its latest financial stability report, released Dec. 29, the bank again expressed its concerns about the burgeoning crypto ecosystem and suggested parts of it could be banned. The report was generally upbeat about current conditions in the country, despite “strong global headwinds,” saying, “the Indian economy and domestic financial system remain resilient.” The tone changed drastically in its discussion of crypto, however, …