Author: Max Bauer

Bybit, a leading cryptocurrency trading platform, has announced it will cease all services for French nationals and residents due to recent regulatory changes imposed by French authorities. In a statement released today, Bybit outlined the following key changes effective from August 2, 2024, at 08:00 UTC: Starting August 13, 2024, at 08:00 UTC:

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase published its second quarter earnings report. Coinbase beats earnings, $1.45B in revenue vs $1.39B. Cryptocurrency markets are poised for a significant surge in activity following a notable rebound in prices this year, according to industry experts. FactSet, a leading financial data and software company, projects a 146% increase in total trading volume, expected to reach $226.5 billion. This surge is largely driven by institutional customers, with analysts forecasting a 228% rise in institutional trading volume to $256 billion. Meanwhile, retail trading volume is anticipated to grow by 175%, reaching $38.6 billion.Transaction revenue is projected to soar by…

A Montenegrin appeals court has upheld a ruling to extradite Do Kwon, the founder of Terraform Labs, to his native South Korea, rejecting a bid to extradite him to the United States. This decision concludes a protracted legal saga involving the cryptocurrency mogul, who was arrested in Montenegro last year. The legal battle saw multiple rulings from various Montenegrin courts regarding whether Kwon should be extradited to the U.S. or South Korea, both of which had requested his extradition. The Montenegrin Appeals Court declared on Thursday that its decision is legally binding, although the exact timing of Kwon’s extradition remains…

Bitcoin miners experienced a significant revenue surge in July, alleviating the pressure to liquidate their reserves, according to a report by CryptoQuant. The report highlighted a nearly 50% increase in miners’ daily revenue since the beginning of the month. By July 29, the hash rate reached 604 exahashes per second (EH/s), marking a 6% rise since July 9. “Miners’ daily revenue is currently around $32 million, compared to the year-to-date low of $22 million in early July. Higher revenues support the recovery in the network hash rate,” the report stated. The uptick in revenue has resulted in reduced Bitcoin sales…

A recent survey conducted by Ernst & Young indicates a significant interest in digital assets among both institutional and retail investors. The survey revealed that 94% of institutional investors and 83% of retail investors are long-term believers in digital assets, with many planning to increase their allocation to digital asset-related products. Over the past year, the digital asset landscape has evolved with the approval of registered assets like exchange-traded products (ETPs), the development and passage of related legislation, increased investment allocations, and a growing interest in tokenized assets worldwide. Among retail investors, 72% view digital assets as a core part…

As expected, the FED left interest rates unchanged. At 2:30 p.m. today, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will take the stage for a news conference, poised to address recent developments in labor costs and their implications for monetary policy. In an unexpected twist, U.S. labor costs have come in weaker than anticipated for the last quarter. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, compensation costs for all civilian workers—encompassing both private and government sectors—rose by 0.9% during the three months ending in June. This figure falls short of the 1% growth projected by economists surveyed by FactSet and represents a…

Microsoft has experienced remarkable success in reselling OpenAI’s artificial intelligence to its cloud customers, a central component of its strategy to develop a new multibillion-dollar revenue stream. Recent data reveal which customers are significantly contributing to this burgeoning business. TikTok, for example, was reportedly spending nearly $20 million per month to purchase OpenAI’s models through Microsoft as of March, according to an individual with access to internal financial documents. This expenditure accounted for nearly 25% of Microsoft’s total revenue from this segment. At that time, the business was on track to generate $1 billion annually, equivalent to approximately $83 million…

Cryptocurrency analysis firm Blofin has released its latest perspectives in anticipation of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Blofin’s analysis suggests that the baseline scenario for the economy is a gradual decline in both inflation and growth, with recession risks not being significantly high. This outlook contrasts with the recent broad pullback observed in commodities and risk assets such as stocks, which indicates a rise in risk-averse trading at the macro level. The market’s near-term focus will be on economic growth and potential “grey rhino” events—highly probable but neglected threats. According to Blofin, significant price changes in BTC are…

In a recent analysis, Derek Halpenny of Mitsubishi UFJ stated that even if the Federal Reserve hints at an imminent decision on rate cuts, the dollar is unlikely to continue its downward trend. Halpenny pointed out that recent price trends indicate a decoupling between U.S. bond yields and exchange rates. Additionally, fragile risk appetite is bolstering demand for safe-haven assets like the dollar. Halpenny emphasized that any depreciation of the dollar resulting from signals of rate cuts would likely be short-lived. This is especially true given that the money market has already fully digested the possibility of a rate cut…

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, delivered a keynote speech at EDCON 2024, shedding light on Ethereum’s trajectory over the next ten years. He emphasized that the platform’s primary focus will be on the development of robust applications. Currently, Ethereum has seen significant success with several applications, including Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Decentralized Identity (DID) via Ethereum Name Service (ENS), Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO), and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT). In his speech, Buterin also highlighted several innovative projects: the prediction market Polymarket, the social media aggregator Firefly, the wallet Daimo, and the voting tool Rarimo. Buterin proposed several forward-thinking ideas to enhance security…