Digital Assets Newsletter 61
- Cryptocurrencies play a signficant role in the Ukraine-Russia conflict
- Bitcoin dropped to $34k before recovering back to $41k
- Swiss crypto-bank SEBA acquires license to operate in the UAE
- Austrian hacker likely responsible for theft of $11bn worth of Ether
- European parliament postpones key vote on crypto regulations
Ukraine-Russia
Ukraine Asks Exchanges to Freeze Russian, Belarusian Crypto Accounts
A Ukraine born company answers the call; U.S.-based KrakenFX explains why it won’t. Binance also says it won’t freeze the accounts.
Amitoj Singh
Crypto Donations to Ukraine Jumps to $20M
FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried, Chain.com CEO Deepak Thapliyal made significant donations to the humanitarian effort.
Sam Reynolds
Russian Financiers Could Turn To Crypto To Sidestep Sanctions
Using cryptocurrencies instead of US dollars would be a violation of sanction agreements, legal experts say.
Stephen
Cash Transactions Are Almost Dead In Ukraine As Bitcoin, Ether, USDT Come To The Rescue
Ukrainians are turning to cryptocurrencies for day-to-day cash transactions in the wake of the armed conflicts with Russia. Donations have
Aliyu Pokima
Ruble-Bitcoin (RUB/BTC) volumes hit a 9-month high as Russian banks raise interest rates 20% | Finbold
In the wake of the West’s sanctions imposed on Russia, the amount of ruble-denominated crypto trading volumes have begun to surge as a result.
Jordan Major
Bitcoin Mining in Russia Largely Unaffected Amid Ukraine Invasion - Decrypt
Russia ranks third in Bitcoin mining, providing over 11% of the blockchain network’s hashpower. Its share is remaining steady.
Jeff Benson
Business
Swiss Crypto Bank SEBA Gets License to Operate in UAE Financial Center – Emerging Markets Bitcoin News
The Financial Service Permission (FSP) license allows SEBA Bank to conduct regulated services in the financial center.
Emerging Markets
Exclusive: Austrian Programmer And Ex Crypto CEO Likely Stole $11 Billion Of Ether
Who hacked The DAO in 2016, diverting 3.6 million ether? We identify the apparent hacker — he denies it — by following a complicated trail of crypto transactions and using a previously undisclosed privacy-cracking forensics tool.
Laura Shin
Coinbase made $2.2 billion in revenue from transaction fees in Q4
US-based crypto exchange Coinbase has reported record earnings of $2.5 billion far outperforming market expectations, however, the share price still slumped in after-hours trading.
Tom Mitchelhill
Crypto platform Amber Group hits $3 billion valuation in latest raise
Crypto trading firm Amber Group has announced a $200 million raise led by Temasek, the Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund.
Ryan Weeks
Hack VC Debuts $200M Early-Stage Fund Targeting Crypto, Web3 Startups - Blockworks
Funding will go toward Web3 and blockchain startups in the belief these technologies will form the “second half of the internet,” Hack said.
Stephen
South Korea Will Invest $187M in A National Metaverse Initiative.
The South Korea government will provide $186.7 million to the development of a Metaverse platform in which it expects companies
Patrick
Intel Unveils New Bitcoin Mining Chip and 3,600-Watt Mining Rig - Decrypt
Intel unveiled its new energy efficient BMZ1 blockchain accelerator chips and a 3,600-watt mining rig at this year’s ISSCC conference.
Tim Hakki
Yearn Finance Deployed to Ethereum’s L2 Arbitrum
Yearn Finance has gone live on the largest Ethereum layer 2 platform - Arbitrium.
David Marsanic
Seller ‘rugs’ $30M CryptoPunks collection minutes before Sotheby’s auction
An NFT auction hosted by Sotheby’s, has been canceled last minute after an anonymous collector decided not to sell their $30m collection of 104 CryptoPunks.
Tom Mitchelhill
Markets
Crypto Charts 58
BTC is expected to move up to $41′700 with a move above $39′800 confirming this move higher ETH is expected to accelerate up through $2′850 if $2′160 isn’t reached Bitcoin Last time we said: ’We were looking for a sell-off and the market obliged. The question now is whether we
Matthew Clark
Bitcoin (BTC) Creates Higher Low After Long Lower Wick - BeInCrypto
Bitcoin (BTC) has broken out from a short-term diagonal resistance level and appears to be in the first steps of creating a bullish structure.
Valdrin Tahiri
Over $450M In Liquidations - Bitcoin, Ether, Cardano, XRP Lose Billions Amid Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine
On Thursday, reports of President Putin giving an Invasion order on Eastern Ukraine weighed down heavily on cryptocurrencies, triggering
Newton Gitonga
#Bitcoin supply held for at least 6 months has reached a new all-time high of 76.9%, surpassing the previous high set in October 2015. pic.twitter.com/fv8uu3uZph
— TXMC (@TXMCtrades) February 22, 2022
Regulations
The crypto oasis: How the UAE became the Middle East’s digital asset champion
The nation has a patchwork of largely crypto-friendly, region-specific rules that can finally get standardized.
David Attlee
European Parliament Postpones Vote on Crypto Regulations Indefinitely
A leaked draft has drawn criticism for including a provision that sought to ban the use of cryptocurrencies that rely on proof-of-work.
Sandali Handagama
California Lawmaker Introduces Bill for State To Accept Crypto Payments - The Daily Hodl
A California lawmaker is introducing a state Senate bill seeking to allow Golden State citizens to pay for government services with crypto assets.
Daily Hodl Staff
Brazilian Senate Committee Approves Bill Regulating Crypto Transactions
The project, introduced by Senator Flávio Arns, has to be voted on by the Senate plenary and then, if approved, by the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies.
Paulo Alves
Opinions
Apolitical Crypto Networks in Times of Sanction and War
If blackballed from the global financial system, will Russia turn to bitcoin?
David Z Morris
One of the reasons I’m bullish on #Bitcoin is because it’s decentralized.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 25, 2022
The Left hates Bitcoin because they can’t control it. #CPAC2022 pic.twitter.com/D4PYNacNBZ