Author: Andrei Ionescu

As global financial markets experience a significant downturn, attention is increasingly focused on the U.S. Federal Reserve. The Fed, which recently maintained interest rates at 5.25% to 5.5%, is now facing calls for an emergency rate cut following a worse-than-expected U.S. jobs report and various macroeconomic pressures. U.S. indices fell approximately 2.4% at the latest update, with bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, experiencing a dramatic drop of over 8%. This decline in the cryptocurrency market represents the largest single-day downturn since January 2022. Jeremy Siegel, professor emeritus of finance at the Wharton School of Business and chief economist…

Yassamin Ansari, a Phoenix City Council member with strong ties to the cryptocurrency industry, is narrowly leading in the Arizona congressional primary despite facing significant opposition from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). With approximately 67 votes separating her from her rival, Raquel Terán, Ansari’s lead is shrinking as additional votes are tallied. The race in Arizona’s 3rd Congressional District has become a closely watched contest due to the substantial financial support Ansari received from crypto-related political action committees (PACs). Ansari’s campaign benefited from around $1.4 million in crypto PAC spending, which either supported her candidacy or targeted Terán. Despite this, the…

In a bid to enhance the growth of the USDC ecosystem and cater to its users’ diverse trading needs, OKX has announced the introduction of several new USDC trading pairs. Starting from 6:00 am to 8:30 am UTC on August 8, 2024, OKX will launch spot trading for the following USDC pairs: BAT/USDCBAL/USDCMOVR/USDCPERP/USDCALPHA/USDCWBTC/USDCFORTH/USDCACA/USDCKP3R/USDCGHST/USDCOXT/USDCBNT/USDCCELR/USDCALCX/USDC This expansion reflects OKX’s commitment to providing its users with a broader range of trading opportunities and supporting the evolving needs of the cryptocurrency market. OKX is the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by daily trading volume. Its millions of users from over 100 countries can buy, sell,…

Cryptocurrency-related stocks experienced a sharp decline on Monday as escalating geopolitical tensions and concerns over the global economy triggered a significant drop in Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) prices. Coinbase (COIN), a major cryptocurrency exchange, saw its stock plunge by more than 9% in pre-market trading in the U.S. Software company MicroStrategy, known for its substantial bitcoin holdings, experienced a 13% drop. CoinShares, a crypto asset manager based in Sweden, fell by 7.5%. The downturn in cryptocurrency prices followed disappointing U.S. economic data. The Labor Department reported job figures that fell short of expectations and a higher-than-anticipated unemployment rate. Additionally,…

As generative artificial intelligence (AI) projects proliferate, the race for computational power, particularly GPUs, has intensified. The scarcity of these resources is increasingly leading to resource exclusivity, potentially concentrating AI development in the hands of a few major tech corporations. This centralization poses significant ethical and practical challenges for the broader AI ecosystem, particularly for non-MAANG companies (Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google), which may struggle to access the necessary computational resources. Mark Rydon, Co-Founder and Head of Strategy at Aethir, a decentralized cloud computing network, warns that the future of AI could be dominated by a small number of…

Bitcoin (BTC) extended its decline during Asian trading hours on Monday, plummeting below $50,000 before partially rebounding to nearly $53,000. Despite the recovery, the cryptocurrency remains at its lowest level since mid-February. Bitcoin’s price dipped as low as $49,112, according to data from TradingView. Ethereum (ETH), the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, also faced significant losses, falling to $2,060 its lowest point since January 3. The CoinDesk 20 index, which tracks some of the most liquid non-stablecoin tokens, experienced a sharp decline of nearly 20%. Ether’s nearly 25% drop marks the worst single-day decline for the token since May…

In a notable development for the cryptocurrency market, the number of new Ethereum wallet addresses has plummeted to its lowest level of 2024. This decline follows the recent debut of spot ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on U.S. stock exchanges. Data from The Block reveals that the seven-day moving average of new Ethereum wallets has sunk to figures not seen since December 2023. Despite this, the current levels are still above many of the figures recorded throughout last year. The decrease in new wallet creation is accompanied by a drop in the average number of active addresses and transactions on the…

Bitcoin’s price has dropped over 4% in the past 24 hours, falling below the $60,000 mark to $59,370. This decline comes amidst growing concerns about a potential recession in the United States. However, a maturing Wyckoff reaccumulation pattern suggests that a retest of $74,000 could be on the horizon in the coming weeks, bolstered by increasing expectations of multiple Federal Reserve rate cuts by the end of 2024. Key Technical Analysis: Wyckoff Reaccumulation Pattern The Wyckoff reaccumulation pattern, a technical setup often seen after a prolonged uptrend, identifies phases of consolidation and accumulation. Bitcoin appears to be in the “Test”…

Investors and market makers in the decentralized exchange ZKX, built on the Starknet platform, were taken by surprise by the protocol’s abrupt closure. This unexpected shutdown, which follows a recent token generation event (TGE) and significant venture capital (VC) funding, has led to allegations of a potential “rug pull” from blockchain sleuth ZachXBT and others. However, ZKX founder Eduard Jubany Tur defended the decision, citing economic impracticality as the reason for halting operations. Tur acknowledged in an initial announcement that the TGE did not meet expectations, contributing to financial difficulties. “The TGE didn’t meet expectations, and the resulting losses have…

Ripple, a prominent payments network, announced plans to allocate $10 million to a tokenized version of U.S. Treasury bills (T-bills) on the XRP Ledger, marking the first time such an offering will be available on the platform. This initiative is part of a broader fund that Ripple intends to dedicate to tokenized T-bills provided by the tokenization platform OpenEden and other issuers. According to a Thursday release, OpenEden will issue these short-term U.S. government debt instruments as TBILL tokens. The assets backing these tokens will be invested in short-dated U.S. Treasuries and reverse repurchase agreements (repos) collateralized by U.S. Treasuries.…