Strengthens
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, the best performer for the week was Loopring, which rose 45.35%.
- India’s central bank launched a pilot program for its digital currency on Tuesday, allowing select banks to use it to settle secondary market transactions in government securities. Banks traded 2.75 billion rupees of bonds on the first day using the new form of currency. The e-rupee will be tested for retail use within a month in some locations, the Central Bank of India said, according to an article published by Bloomberg.
- Supporters of the Cosmos blockchain are betting that a revamp of the popular crypto protocol will boost the value of its original token amid the current bear market for digital assets. Like the recently upgraded Ethereum Blockchain, Cosmos uses proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism to verify transactions, meaning users, or so-called validators, can stake their Atom tokens to secure the network.
Weaknesses
- Of the cryptocurrencies tracked by CoinMarketCap, Aptos was the worst performer for the week, down 11.92%.
- A group of Core Scientific convertible bondholders has applied to Moelis & Co. to facilitate debt talks with a struggling Bitcoin miner, according to people with knowledge of the situation. Core Scientific has said it will not make late October and early November payments due on any of the debt. These creditors may accelerate payment, sue the company for non-payment or take other actions that could result in default under a pair of convertible notes due 2025.
- Robinhood Markets reported on Wednesday that its crypto transaction revenue fell to $51 million during the third quarter, down 12% compared to the previous quarter and below analysts’ estimates of $56.1 million. Other companies have also suffered from a sharp drop in crypto prices, as the industry continues to be hit by the collapse of major blockchain platforms, fraud and layoffs, Bloomberg writes.
Possibilities
- Hong Kong laid out a master plan to become a top Asian crypto hub offering legalized retail and exchange-traded funds of digital assets, part of a wider push to restore the city’s credentials as a financial center. A consultation will begin on how the retail segment “can be given an appropriate degree of access” to tokens. The city invited global crypto exchanges to explore opportunities, adding that work towards a new licensing regime for virtual assets is intensifying.
- A parabolic rise in the meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin over the past week is fueling speculation that other so-called altcoins may also gain speculative tailwinds. The coin represented by an image of a Shiba Inu climbed to nearly $0.15 from about $0.06 during the period, an advance that percentage-wise far outstrips the performance of top token Bitcoin.
- The crypto bulls are back with the Bitcoin edge towards the higher end of the monthly trading range. Smaller tokens such as Polygon, Litecoin and Solana also outperformed the digital asset benchmark.
Threats
- Bitcoin miner Argo Blockchain warned it could be forced to shut down after a $27 million share sale appeared to have collapsed, sending the stock to its biggest plunge since its 2018 IPO. Shares fell as much as 73% in London on Monday and has fallen around 90% this year as a slump in cryptocurrency prices rocked the mining industry.
- The IRS’s criminal investigation unit seized about $7 billion in cryptocurrency in 2022, double the amount from the previous year, an agency official said Tuesday. The investigative unit identified $32 billion in fraud this year, three times the amount from the previous year, said Jim Lee, the IRS chief of criminal investigations, writes Bloomberg.
- Hackers inflicted more pain on the cryptocurrency sector by looting $28 million from derivatives exchange Deribit. An internet-connected wallet was compromised on Tuesday, Deribit said on Twitter. Deribit, one of the largest derivatives exchanges in crypto, is the latest victim in an increasingly long list of security incidents at crypto projects and protocols, writes Bloomberg.
