🔴 Big news for crypto banks
Cryptobanks can join the central banking system, Huobi’s stablecoin will shortly lose its link, and Bitcoin now has over 1 billion unique wallet addresses. These stories and more this week in crypto.
Sudden Crypto Crash Takes Bitcoin Below 21,000
Bitcoin fell to its lowest level in three weeks, falling below $21,000 amid a sudden selloff across the broader crypto market. It is not clear what caused the fall in crypto prices, as the move comes just days after Bitcoin crossed the $25,000 mark for the first time since June.
The central banking system can embrace cryptobanks
The Federal Reserve has provided guidance for innovative financial institutions to access their main accounts and participate in the global payments system. This apparently moves the US Federal Reserve closer to giving crypto-neobanks unfettered access to the central banking system, eliminating the need for them to do business through intermediaries.
Huobi’s abandoned Stablecoin became unstable
HUSD had serious trouble maintaining its dollar parity, as the cryptocurrency lost more than 10% compared to its intended fixed value of $1 only to find its way back to parity within one day. HUSD was launched by cryptocurrency exchange Huobi back in 2018, but in a statement, a community manager claimed that Huobi had left HUSD back in April.
SEC sues Dragonchain for $16.5 million
The SEC is suing startup founder John Joseph Roets and his Dragonchain project – for raising millions of dollars through unregistered securities offerings. Dragonchain was originally developed as Disney’s private blockchain platform. The SEC alleges that the presale and initial coin offering of Dragon tokens were unregistered securities that allegedly raised about $14 million from more than 5,000 investors.
FTX was warned to stop misleading consumers
The FDIC has issued letters to five crypto companies demanding they stop making false claims about deposit insurance. FTX US, Cryptonews.com, Cryptosec.info, SmartAsset.com and FDICCrypto.com were all contacted by the agency. The regulator said in a press release that these companies made representations that falsely suggested certain crypto-related products were FDIC-insured.
Buenos Aires will run Ethereum nodes
The city of Buenos Aires will start running its own Ethereum validator nodes in 2023. The nodes and the designated hardware will be distributed in partnership with private companies. The aim of the project is to explore the network in an attempt to better regulate crypto-assets in the future.
Coinbase Warns of Ethereum Merger
Leading cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase is preparing users for the Ethereum network switch to proof-of-stake known as The Merge. The exchange will temporarily stop ETH and ERC-20 token deposits and withdrawals as a precautionary measure during the merger which has a target date of September 15. Coinbase assured users that their assets will be safe and secure during this period.
Bitcoin tops 1 billion wallet addresses
Bitcoin now has over 1 billion unique wallet addresses, leaving Ethereum’s 158 million as a distant second in terms of network participation. The latest data from on-chain analyst Glassnode showed that Litecoin is close behind Ethereum with 148 million unique addresses. Both Ethereum and Litecoin have seen some stagnation in 2022.
That’s what happened this week in crypto, see you next week.
