Category: Cryptocurrency

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Telegram has rolled out a new feature allowing users to purchase channel advertisements using Toncoin, as announced over the weekend. This update is part of the messaging app’s latest initiative for user monetization, wherein 50% of the revenue generated from ads displayed in public Telegram channels will be distributed to their respective owners.

According to Telegram, users can now promote their channels by spending as little as “a handful” of Toncoins. Users will have the flexibility to select the specific channels for placing their TON-powered ads, as mentioned in the announcement.

Moreover, channel owners will have the capability to withdraw their earnings without incurring fees. The withdrawal service is expected to be available in the coming weeks on Telegram’s Fragment exchange, according to the announcement.

Telegram justified its choice of the TON Blockchain due to its low fees, high transaction speeds, and impressive processing capacity. The TON Blockchain reportedly achieved a remarkable 100,000 transactions per second during a test conducted last November.

Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, hinted at this update on his channel last month. Despite Telegram channels amassing over 1 trillion monthly views, Durov revealed that only 10% of channels have utilized Telegram ads for monetization thus far.

Durov emphasized the potential for a positive feedback loop, wherein content creators can either cash out their Toncoins or reinvest them in promoting and enhancing their channels.

As of the time of publication, the price of Toncoin has risen by 2.32% in the past 24 hours, reaching $5.24.

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According to a note from TD Cowen, House Republicans’ efforts to pass an anti-central bank digital currency (CBDC) bill could disrupt bipartisan backing for a stablecoin bill. The CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, introduced by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, aims to prevent the Federal Reserve from directly issuing a CBDC to individuals. Despite the bill’s advancement from the House Financial Services Committee in September, it faced significant criticism from Democrats.

House conservatives are reportedly considering voting for the CBDC bill alongside a long-awaited stablecoin bill, although this strategy isn’t led by Rep. Emmer. TD Cowen’s Washington Research Group, led by Jaret Seiberg, expressed concerns that tying a ban on a digital dollar to stablecoin legislation could jeopardize bipartisan support. Democrats generally see value in exploring a central bank cryptocurrency.

Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, and its chair, Patrick McHenry, have engaged in lengthy discussions to find common ground on regulating stablecoins. Although the bill cleared the committee, disagreements persist, particularly regarding the primary regulator for stablecoin issuers.

TD Cowen emphasized that while it’s premature to declare the stablecoin bill in jeopardy, passing any legislation remains challenging. Any developments complicating the stablecoin bill further narrow the path to enactment.

While the central bank has explored the idea of issuing a CBDC, Fed Chair Powell clarified that the Fed is far from making recommendations or adopting a CBDC without congressional approval.

Additionally, the Heritage Foundation has pressed for the passage of a CBDC bill, warning lawmakers that their score on the Heritage Action Scorecard could suffer if they don’t cosponsor the legislation. Sen. Ted Cruz has introduced a bill to ban CBDCs, supported by the Heritage Foundation and the Blockchain Association, among others.

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After experiencing record outflows of nearly $1 billion just a week prior, crypto-based investment products made a significant turnaround, with approximately $900 million in net inflows reported, according to data from CoinShares.

CoinShares analyst James Butterfill disclosed that crypto-based investment vehicles collectively saw a remarkable rebound last week, accumulating $862 million in net inflows. This resurgence follows a challenging period when funds managed by prominent asset managers like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale witnessed record outflows totaling $942 million.

Driven by bitcoin’s price surging above $70,000 for a significant portion of last week, the combined assets under management for all crypto funds tracked by CoinShares soared to $97.9 billion.

Bitcoin-Related Funds Remain Dominant

Bitcoin-related funds continue to attract the bulk of investor activity. Both BlackRock and Fidelity’s spot bitcoin ETFs recorded inflows exceeding $600 million each during the past week. However, Grayscale’s spot bitcoin ETF experienced outflows amounting to $960 million, reducing its assets under management to approximately $35 billion.

An Exceptional Performance by Ark Invest 21 Shares

One standout performer last week was the Ark Invest 21 Shares spot bitcoin fund, which witnessed over $300 million in net inflows. This marks a substantial increase compared to the previous week when the fund attracted only $30 million in capital inflow. With its assets under management now exceeding $3 billion, the fund demonstrated exceptional growth.

Overall, the rebound in net inflows suggests renewed investor confidence in crypto-based investment products, particularly amidst the backdrop of Bitcoin’s impressive price performance.

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Binance Holdings Ltd. has recently formed a board of directors, a significant move amidst a period marked by changes and challenges, as reported by Bloomberg News.

The board comprises seven members, including CEO Richard Teng and three other company executives: Heina Chen, Jinkai He, and Lilai Wang. Additionally, three external members join the board: Gabriel Abed, Arnaud Ventura, and Xin Wang, according to Bloomberg’s coverage.

Gabriel Abed, formerly the Ambassador of Barbados to the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, resigned from his position two months ago. Arnaud Ventura is an entrepreneur who has founded multiple companies, including PlaNet Finance. Xin Wang serves as the CEO at Bayview Acquisition Corp. and offers advisory services to financial institutions regarding mergers and acquisitions, as detailed on her LinkedIn profile.

Although Binance did not provide immediate comment on this development, the company did publish the board of directors on its website. However, the timing of this release remains unclear.

This announcement comes after Binance faced legal issues late last year, pleading guilty to various charges, including money laundering, conducting an unlicensed money-transmitting business, and violating sanctions. Former CEO Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ, pleaded guilty to anti-money laundering and sanctions violations, agreed to a $50 million fine, and stepped down from his position. CZ’s sentencing is scheduled for April 30th.

Following CZ’s resignation, Binance appointed Richard Teng as its new CEO. Teng previously served as Binance’s Global Head of Regional Markets, bringing his extensive experience to the forefront of the exchange’s leadership.

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Stablecoin issuer Tether has expanded its Bitcoin portfolio significantly in the first quarter of 2024, acquiring an additional 8,888 bitcoins. This brings Tether’s total Bitcoin holdings to approximately 75,354 BTC, valued at over $5.2 billion. This milestone coincides with Bitcoin’s recent surge to an all-time high, currently trading around $69,500.

While Tether has not publicly disclosed its Bitcoin addresses, it was confirmed by The Block last year that Tether holds one Bitcoin address, which has been consistently accumulating bitcoins since September 2022. With the latest purchase in Q1, Tether has ascended to the rank of the seventh-largest Bitcoin holder, up from its previous position of 11 earlier this year.

When reached for comment, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino confirmed the acquisition of 8,888 bitcoins throughout the first quarter. Ardoino explained that the purchase was spread out over the quarter and settled by the end, with one significant purchase observed on March 31.

Tether’s Bitcoin Strategy

Tether first disclosed its Bitcoin holdings in May 2023, announcing plans to allocate up to 15% of its profits quarterly towards Bitcoin purchases, shifting away from U.S. government debt and towards cryptocurrencies.

In addition to direct investments in Bitcoin, Tether has ventured into Bitcoin mining and energy production. The company has also expanded into the AI sector, aiming to lead in the development of open-source, multimodal AI models to drive innovation and accessibility within AI technology.

Tether’s core business remains the operation of the USDT stablecoin, which has enabled the accumulation of $5.4 billion in excess reserves as of December 31, 2023, according to its fourth-quarter attestation report. With a total USDT supply exceeding 109 billion, Tether remains the largest stablecoin issuer in the market, as reported by The Block’s Data Dashboard.

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BNB experienced a notable 12% rise in value over the past week, reaching a nearly two-week high of $620 by March 29. This surge, while impressive, prompts speculation about whether BNB has hit its peak or if it’s poised for further growth. Compared to its competitor Ether, which saw a 5% increase over the same period, BNB’s surge narrowed the valuation gap between the two. However, insights from on-chain BNB Chain data suggest that the recent rally might have pushed the limits too far.

Factors Influencing BNB’s Price

Market analysts observe a correlation between the crypto market’s upward trajectory and inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). However, the week ending March 23 marked a setback as these ETFs experienced a net outflow of $890 million for the first time since their introduction in January. Despite this, recent data indicates a reduction in outflows from the Grayscale GBTC fund, with only $104 million exiting the fund by March 28.

In early March, BNB’s price surged by 61.7%, reaching a peak of $645 and a market capitalization of $96.4 billion. Yet, momentum slowed afterward. For context, BNB reached an all-time high valuation of $116 billion in November 2021. Notably, the total value locked (TVL) on BNB Chain, representing deposits in the network’s smart contracts, peaked at $15.7 billion but has since fallen to $7.1 billion, marking a 55% decrease.

Contextualizing BNB Chain’s Performance

Considering the overall decline in the crypto market, particularly in decentralized finance (DeFi) since late 2021, it’s important to contextualize BNB Chain’s TVL decline. The total market data for all tracked blockchains has decreased from nearly $205 billion to $155 billion, indicating a 25% drop. Hence, a thorough analysis of BNB Chain’s TVL, especially concerning competitors like Ethereum and Solana, is necessary.

Activity on BNB Chain

TVL isn’t the sole indicator of a blockchain’s success. Numerous decentralized applications (DApps) on the BNB Chain, spanning nonfungible token (NFT) marketplaces, gaming platforms, decentralized betting systems, collectible platforms, and social networks, operate without necessitating significant deposits. In the past week, nearly 2 million active addresses engaged with DApps on the BNB Chain, showcasing significant activity levels comparable to Ethereum’s most active layer-2 networks.

Forecasting Future Trends

Predicting cryptocurrency trends is challenging, but examining derivative metrics such as the demand for leverage in BNB perpetual futures contracts provides insights into market sentiment. While the demand for leveraged long positions has stabilized, with the 8-hour funding rate holding around 0.03%, optimism remains despite BNB’s price struggle with the $620 level. Typically, a positive funding rate above 1.2% per week indicates bullish market sentiment.

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On Thursday, the price of Dogecoin (DOGE) soared to its peak since December 2021, hitting 22 cents. This surge was fueled by heightened trading volumes and speculation regarding its potential integration into the social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk. Various posts from prominent members of the Dogecoin community on X speculated about the token’s potential adoption on the platform, especially considering a new payment branch acquiring additional licenses in the United States. This speculation contributed to bullish sentiment and trading interest in DOGE.

The token’s price tends to react to developments related to payments at companies owned by Elon Musk, such as X or Tesla. Elon Musk’s previous endorsements of Dogecoin have also influenced its price movements.

Trading volume for DOGE surged to $7 billion in the past 24 hours, up from an average of $3 billion earlier in the week. Futures tracking the token also saw open interest rise to nearly $2 billion across crypto exchanges, indicating increased bets on price volatility.

While speculation about DOGE’s usage on X has been ongoing since Musk acquired the company in 2021, there has been no official confirmation regarding whether DOGE will be accepted as a payment option on the platform. However, Musk’s previous statements and endorsements have fueled speculation about the potential integration of DOGE into X’s payment services.

Overall, the surge in DOGE’s price and trading activity reflects the continued influence of social media speculation and Elon Musk’s involvement in the token’s market dynamics.

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During a panel discussion at the recent BUIDL Asia summit in Seoul, the issue of racist meme coins and how to handle them was debated among panelists. These meme coins, containing offensive terms and themes, have become increasingly prevalent in the crypto space in recent months, raising concerns within the community.

Austin Federa, the head of strategy at the Solana Foundation, offered his perspective on the matter. He argued that while users should have the ability to reveal content if they choose to, the core network should remain permissionless. Federa likened the situation to the internet, where it’s impractical to expect internet service providers (ISPs) to filter out offensive content. Similarly, in the crypto space, wallet developers can implement block lists to filter out certain tokens, but the core network should remain decentralized and permissionless.

On the other hand, Marc Zeller, founder of the Aave Chan Initiative, highlighted the legal obligations in some jurisdictions, such as France, where ISPs are required to block certain content. Zeller acknowledged the cultural differences in approaches to censorship and emphasized the importance of censorship resistance in the blockchain ethos.

Federa also mentioned the legal obligations faced by validators and nodes, citing instances where the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on certain crypto transactions. However, he noted that addressing racist meme coins should be kept in perspective, as they represent a small fraction of the overall crypto market.

In summary, while there are differing views on how to address offensive meme coins, the discussion at the BUIDL Asia summit highlighted the complexities involved and the importance of balancing censorship resistance with legal obligations and community standards.

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Google has introduced new functionality allowing users to search blockchain data on various networks, including Bitcoin, Arbitrum, Avalanche, Optimism, Polygon, and Fantom. This expansion enables users to search for wallet addresses and view their balances directly within Google search results.

When users type in wallet addresses, Google displays the remaining token balance in the wallet for each supported network, along with the timestamp indicating the last time the balance was updated. It’s important to note that balances only show the native token for each network, and the displayed balance reflects the state of the wallet as of the last external transaction. Updates to balances are not instantaneous.

This recent update builds upon Google’s previous support for Ethereum wallet balance searches, which began last May. Initially, Google enabled users to search for specific public addresses on the Ethereum network and view the wallet balance directly in the search results. Additionally, earlier this month, Google started showing search results for wallet balances when users searched for Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains. ENS provides readable domain names for Ethereum wallet addresses, facilitating easier identification and navigation within the Ethereum ecosystem.

Google’s expansion of wallet address search functionality reflects the growing interest in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. By providing users with easy access to blockchain data directly through its search engine, Google is helping to enhance accessibility and transparency within the crypto space.

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Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior has approved the establishment of a cryptocurrency industry association, marking a significant step toward regulating the burgeoning sector.

The local cryptocurrency industry working group, which was formed last year to pave the way for the creation of the association, announced on Friday that it had received government approval for its application.

The working group is now tasked with finalizing all necessary preparations and officially establishing the cryptocurrency industry association by the end of June, as stipulated by government regulations.

Comprising 22 cryptocurrency firms, including prominent exchanges like MaiCoin and BitoPro, the working group has excluded ACE Exchange from its ranks due to ongoing investigations into alleged misconduct by its former executives.

Moving Towards Self-Regulation

While Taiwan currently mandates that cryptocurrency service providers adhere to anti-money laundering laws introduced by the Financial Supervisory Commission in July 2021, the sector largely operates without comprehensive regulation.

In September 2023, the FSC issued guidelines prioritizing customer protection for cryptocurrency firms. With the formation of an industry association, these firms aim to develop self-regulatory measures aligned with the FSC’s guidelines.

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