Come every Saturday Hodler’s digest will help you keep track of every important news that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and more – a week on Cointelegraph in one link.
Breaking news this week
The President of Ukraine signed the law on the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrency regulation received the approval of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. A bill called “On Virtual Assets” was signed by the president, opening the door for state oversight of the domestic cryptocurrency industry.
The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine stated: “The signing of this law by the president is another important step towards bringing the crypto sector out of the shadows and launching a legal virtual asset market in Ukraine.”
Among other things, the bill specifies that the National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine will govern the industry at several levels, such as licensing related to digital assets.
The European Parliament voted against the PoW ban, which brought huge relief to the crypto industry
A major European Union (EU) regulatory bill known as “Crypto Asset Markets” (MiCA) has moved ahead, leaving behind language that would essentially ban proof-of-work (PoW) crypto assets in the region.
An extensive bill related to the regulation of cryptocurrencies in the EU, MiCA has put forward two drafts for discussion: one option that will effectively ban PoW mining and related cryptocurrencies, and the other contains more favorable language regarding the technology. In short, the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs voted in favor of the option not to ban PoW. The bill will now go through further approval procedures.
Official: Binance receives a license to operate in Dubai
It has been a busy week for cryptocurrency exchanges, which have received regulatory approval in many jurisdictions. Binance received a license in Dubai and Bahrain. FTX has also been licensed in Dubai.
Thanks to the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license acquired in the region, Binance is now able to open an office in Dubai, in addition to other rights recently granted by the license. In addition, Binance received a virtual asset exchange (VAX) license in Dubai. FTX also said it received the Dubai VAX this week.
ApeCoin Announcement Raises BAYC Floor Price Nearly ATH Before Correction
Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT holders can receive a significant amount in ApeCoin (APE), a new governance and utility token for the project. APE is an ERC-20 token.
If they do so within 90 days of March 17 (12:30 UTC), BAYC holders can claim 10,000 APEs, which totaled $72,000 at the time of Cointelegraph’s coverage in the article cited above. FTX, Gemini and other exchanges plan to list APE.
BAYC NFT volume and prices have caused a storm around the APE token news. Among other details being reported, the token will have a supply of 1 billion.
Diem Team Members Raise $200 Million to Launch Diem-Based Blockchain
Avery Ching and Mo Sheikh, two former heads of the Meta crypto division, are creating a layer 1 blockchain, some of its roots based on Move, the programming language of the Diem project. Known as Aptos, the project led by Ching and Sheik recently announced a $200 million funding round with names like Coinbase Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. Aptos plans to launch its mainnet in the second half of 2022.
Published earlier in 2022, Diem’s stablecoin, which became Facebook’s Meta, essentially ended its journey when Silvergate Capital Corporation bought the core elements of the project (intellectual property, etc.) from Meta.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at the level $41,727Ether (ETH) to $2936 and XRP on $0.79. The total market capitalization is $1.87 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, ApeCoin is in the top three altcoin growth of the week. (Monkey) by 1338.31%, Aave (AABE) by 38.53% and TORchain (RUNE) by 37.67%.
Anchor Protocol is the top three losing altcoins of the week. (ANC) by -19.20%, Stacks (STH) by -9.20% and Kadena (KDA) by -9.18%.
For more information on cryptocurrency prices, be sure to check out Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotes
“If you’re an avid crypto trader like me, I’m sure you’ve got the idea of who will inherit your cryptocurrency.”
Jitu KatariaCEO of Digital Financial Exchange (DIFX)
“Orange pill is your neighbor, your favorite store, bar, cinema, start sharing your companions. It’s easy for them to learn from a well-known face like yours. Be that little pebble you throw into the lake and it will create ripples that will benefit future generations.”
Paco de la Indiabitcoiner and runner
“We hope that when the government conducts this study [as established by the executive order], […] they will come to the conclusion that we will not compete with China – an authoritarian dictatorship – by also acting as an authoritarian dictatorship. Instead, we will give our private sector the ability to offer competitive solutions.”
Jake Chervinskyhead of policy at the Blockchain Association, in relation to US central bank digital currency.
“The Creator is where power begins, and that’s where power must stay.”
Darryl McDanielsfounding member of Run-DMC
“My office has received a lot of advice from crypto and blockchain companies that SEC Chairman @GaryGensler’s briefings on “requests” to the crypto community are burdensome, don’t seem particularly… voluntary… and stifle innovation.”
Tom EmmerUS congressman
“There is no doubt that blockchain gaming is a revolutionary concept, but at the moment I don’t think it will be enough to support me financially. […] I think I will have the courage to leave my job to go into blockchain gaming once the P2E ecosystem is mature and sustainable.”
Jesus Daval Jr.filipino gamer
“With proper research and understanding, it will be much easier for regulators to regulate DeFi and prevent malicious behavior compared to legacy financial infrastructure.”
Eric Chenco-founder and CEO of Injective Labs
“You should never define any technology by its worst use. […] Cryptocurrency is more than ransomware, just like money is more than money laundering.”
Richie TorresUS representative
week prediction
Bitcoin to Face New ‘Milestone’ in 2022 as New Forecast Predicts BTC Price ‘in Millions’
Last week, the largest cryptocurrency asset, bitcoin, traded both below $38,000 and above $41,000 over a seven-day period, according to Cointelegraph’s BTC price index.
Based on global conditions, Bloomberg Intelligence’s Mike McGlone and former BitMEX chief Arthur Hayes see Bitcoin eventually coming out on top.
McGlone believes that the current situation can help BTC. “Faced with #FederalReserve, inflation and war, 2022 could be poised for a return of risky assets and will be another milestone in the maturation of #Bitcoin,” McGlone tweeted.
Meanwhile, Hayes sees bitcoin gaining a value of over $1 million per coin based on events currently unfolding, although he noted a ten-year time horizon where BTC first suffers from a price decline.
FOOD of the week
Blockchain Forensic Company Finds Millions in Sanctioned Cryptocurrency Wallet
Analyst firm Elliptic has discovered a cryptocurrency wallet that may be of particular interest and could potentially be linked to well-known Russians under sanctions. The contents of the wallet are estimated to be in the millions of dollars, although details have not been released.
“It is unrealistic that oligarchs can completely circumvent sanctions by converting all their wealth into crypto,” Elliptic co-founder Tom Robinson told Bloomberg. “Cryptocurrency is easy to track. Cryptocurrency can and will be used to circumvent sanctions, but it is not a panacea.”
Millions of crypto addresses have been linked to Russia-related crimes, with hundreds of digital asset services facilitating anonymous crypto exchange through the Russian ruble based on Elliptic investigations.
The RBI seems to want to ban cryptocurrencies, but not for the reasons you might think
According to a statement released this week, India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has expressed its desire to ban crypto assets. The RBI fears that the introduction of cryptocurrencies could undermine the use and dominance of the rupee, India’s national currency, and cause other problems.
“Historically, private currencies have led to volatility and therefore have been turned into fiat currencies over the centuries,” the RBI said in a statement. “A retrograde step back to a private currency cannot be done simply because technology allows it. […] without regard to the disturbances it causes in the legal, social and economic fabric of society.”
‘Out of luck’: Agave and Hundred Finance DeFi protocols used for $11 million
Decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions Hundred Finance and Agave were exploited by an $11 million worth of attacker who managed to exploit the Ether Contracted (WETH) feature on Gnosis Chain, a stable payment platform. Simply put, the attacker was able to withdraw more funds by constantly borrowing against the same collateral they were depositing.
The amount of $11 million was stolen using a number of different crypto assets, including the aforementioned wETH, as well as BTC (WBTC), Chainlink (LINK) and USD Coin (USDC). Agave and Hundred Finance suspended their protocols at the same time amid the investigation.
The best features of Cointelegraph
You don’t have to be mad at the NFT
If you’ve never been mad at JPEG files, you don’t need to be mad at JPEG files that people might own.
‘We don’t like our money’: The story of CFA and bitcoin in Africa
African crypto experts and entrepreneurs explain why the CFA franc is an inconvenient currency and why Bitcoin is making waves as a substitute.
The Central Bank of Russia goes to war: cryptocurrency friend or foe?
Politicians in Moscow are trying to rethink their approach to digital currency as one of several defenses to an increasingly isolated economy.