Bitcoin a top 3 asset 🥉, Celsius moves $781M in stETH 💸, Amazon is hiring AI engineers 🤖
Daily Crypto, Blockchain & Web3 Update 2023-05-16
CRYPTOCURRENCY
Why is Litecoin price up today? (4 min read)
Litecoin's entry into the nonfungible token (NFT) sector has boosted retail traders' appetite for LTC tokens.
The price of Litecoin crept higher on May 15 as the market assessed its entry into the thriving nonfungible token (NFT) mania.
LTC price rallied by more than 6.5% on May 15 to around $87.50, emerging as one of the best performers among the top-ranking crypto assets like Bitcoin and Ether. LTC price is up 115% when measured from its market low of $40.25 in June 2022.
$28,000 Bitcoin is in the cards, but it won’t happen without a struggle (4 min read)
Professional Bitcoin traders displayed strength after the BTC price corrected to $25,830, favoring further bullish momentum.
Bitcoin’s price declined for eight consecutive days through May 13, totaling a 9.4% correction. The last time such a losing streak happened was on June 14, 2022, after the Celsius lending platform halted withdrawals and FUD — fear, uncertainty and doubt — emerged from United States software firm MicroStrategy’s loan being liquidated at $21,000.
Bitcoin a top 3 asset in the event of US debt default: Survey (2 min read)
Bitcoin would be a more popular safe haven than the U.S. dollar, the Japanese yen or the Swiss franc, according to a new survey.
Major cryptocurrency Bitcoin could become a top three asset in the event of a theoretical debt default in the United States, according to a new survey.
More than 50% of finance professionals will buy gold if the U.S. government fails to avoid a debt default. U.S. Treasurys would be second, with Bitcoin the third most popular alternative for retail investors.
G7 pushes accelerating global implementation of ‘travel rule’ for crypto assets (2 min read)
Group of 7 members met in Japan, where they discussed CBDCs and crypto regulation, with an eye toward quickly implementing the “Travel Rule” for crypto assets.
The G7 committee recently met in Niigata, Japan to discuss, among other topics, the global financial implications for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and the laws governing the transfer of cryptocurrency assets.
In a communique summarizing the discussions, the committee reiterated its support for developing CBDCs with the caveat that further investigation was needed to ensure they are grounded in “transparency, the rule of law, sound economic governance, cyber security and data protection”.
This Bitcoin options strategy allows early bird traders to prepare for BTC’s next breakout (5 min read)
Crypto traders expecting a price reversal could use this options strategy to get positioned in Bitcoin.
Options trading presents opportunities for investors to profit from increased volatility or obtain protection from sharp price drops, and these complex investment strategies, involving more than one instrument, are known as “option structures."
Traders can use the “risk reversal” option strategy to hedge losses from unexpected price swings. The investor benefits from being long on the call option but pays for those by selling the put. Basically, this setup eliminates the risk of the stock trading sideways and comes with limited risk if the asset trades down.
Bitcoin offers ‘good signs’ as analysts retain $40K BTC price target (3 min read)
Bitcoin is showing the strength it needs for a continuation higher, says Michaël van de Poppe, after key trend lines are preserved.
Bitcoin saw five-day highs on May 15 as a rebound continued after the Wall Street open. Bitcoin on Bitstamp held strength on hourly timeframes after a weekly close just below the $27,000 mark. With United States equities in a tight range on the day, crypto analysts looked for cues over where markets might go next.
For Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, the outlook was good. “Bitcoin breaks upwards and tests $27,600. Good signs,” he summarized.
Celsius moves $781M in stETH just as Lido withdrawals open (2 min read)
It appears that embattled crypto lender Celsius is wasting no time in shifting its Ethereum staking tokens from liquid staking platform Lido, which has just enabled withdrawals.
On May 15, a transaction was identified on Celsius wallets for 428,015 stETH (Lido staked Ether) to the Lido staked Ethereum wallet. The whopping stash was worth $781 million at the time of transfer, which some believe is in preparation for withdrawal.
Lido currently accounts for 29% of all staked Ether-6.27 million ETH, valued at around $11.3 billion.
Sink or swim at $27K? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week (9 min read)
Bitcoin bulls and bears battle for control of a key area on the BTC chart, with network fundamentals due new all-time highs.
Bitcoin price weekly close offers mixed signals
Litecoin leads Bitcoin, altcoin “continuation”
Flood of Fed speakers culminates with Chair Powell
BTC mining difficulty set to resume all-time highs
Sentiment flush accompanies market cooling
Apple’s new headset could put a rocket under metaverse tokens (3 min read)
Metaverse tokens surged earlier this year amid rumors about Apple's new virtual reality headset, will this time be different?
Apple is scheduled to release its highly-anticipated mixed-reality headset in the coming weeks, a development that some believe could breathe fresh life into the metaverse industry.
In January, the native tokens of blockchain-based metaverse projects Decentraland and Sandbox witnessedsignificant surges in price, due partly to swirling rumors about Apple’s venture into mixed reality.
EU finance ministers approve MiCA crypto regulation (1 min read)
The Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the European Union — comprising finance ministers of all member states — has given the green light to the highly-anticipated Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation after a vote on May 16.
Finance ministers from 27 member states voted in favor of the MiCA bill, and amendments to several regulations and directives relating to the new legislation.
Two more pieces of legislation, including regulation on information accompanying transfers of funds and certain crypto assets, were also adopted by the European Parliament in conjunction with MiCA’s adoption.
US strips Ethereum dev Virgil Griffith of export privileges for 10 years (2 min read)
The United States Department of Commerce has imposed a 10-year export privilege ban on Virgil Griffith, an Ethereum developer serving a five-year prison sentence. The ban restricts him from enjoying export privileges until April 12, 2032.
The export privilege ban affects his ability to participate in international trade and business. On April 12, 2022, Virgil Griffith was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for breaching the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). Griffith was found guilty of unauthorized export of services to North Korea and circumventing U.S. sanctions imposed on the country.
BLOCKCHAIN
Secret Service owns crypto, loves blockchain and has an NFT collection: Reddit AMA (2 min read)
The United States Secret Service owns crypto, has its own NFT collection and has praised blockchain technology’s ability to fight financial crime, Reddit users learned during a recent ask-me-anything (AMA).
On May 15, representatives from the United States Secret Service San Francisco Field Office and the Bay Area Regional Enforcement Allied Computer Team (REACT) opened themselves to questioning from members of the subreddit r/cryptocurrency.
While some regulators still see crypto as a tool for fraudsters and scammers, the REACT taskforce applauded the public and transparent nature of blockchains as an “amazing opportunity” for crime fighters to track the flow of money.
Samsung to research South Korea’s CBDC for offline payments (2 min read)
Tech giant Samsung Electronics has reportedly partnered with South Korea’s central bank to conduct research on central bank digital currency (CBDC) for offline payments.
On May 15, the Bank of Korea (BOK) and Samsung signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for research on offline CBDCs, according to local media KBS World. The collaboration will have both parties researching the offline capabilities of the CBDC issued by the central bank.
BUSINESS
Tether boasts of its financial stability after strong profits, money moved out of banks (3 min read)
Stablecoin operator Tether Holdings pulled over $4.5 billion out of banks in the first quarter of 2023, causing a “substantial reduction” in counterparty risk, the company reported in a post touting its latest attestation by BDO Italia.
Tether’s market capitalization grew from $66 billion to over $82 billion in the first quarter, while Tether shed over 90% of its bank deposits, bringing it down from $5.3 billion to $481 million. Tether said the remaining bank deposits are spread out among several banks, referring to its competitors that suffered losses after recent bank failures.
Simultaneously, Tether boosted its United States Treasury bills to a new high of over $53 billion, or 64% of its reserves.
ChatGPT creator OpenAI is releasing an open-source AI model: Report (1 min read)
An open-source artificial intelligence (AI) model is reportedly being prepared for public release by OpenAI, the firm behind the AI chatbot ChatGPT.
In a May 16 report in The Information citing a person with knowledge of the plan, OpenAI is undertaking the move as pressure mounts from competing open-sourced AI models, such as those leaked from Meta in February.
The timeline of when the model would be released was not reported.
Amazon is hiring AI engineers to build a ChatGPT-like search interface (2 min read)
Amazon is preparing to develop and implement a new “search” functionality for its online web store featuring a ChatGPT-like interface.
A pair of job postings first spotted by Bloomberg spell out the company’s plans, which state in unambiguous language that Amazon intends to reinvent its long-standing search feature.
In a job listing for a “Sr Technical Program Manager,” the company states:
“We are working on a new AI-first initiative to re-architect and reinvent the way we do search through the use of extremely large scale next-generation deep learning techniques.”
Amazon implements AI to enhance logistics and delivery speeds (2 min read)
Amazon is prioritizing using artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance delivery speed by reducing the distance between products and customers.
Speaking to CNBC on May 15, Stefano Perego, vice president of customer fulfillment and global operations services for North America and Europe at Amazon, said that artificial intelligence plays a role in various aspects of Amazon’s operations. This includes using AI for transportation, such as mapping and route planning, and considering factors like weather conditions. Additionally, AI assists customers in finding the desired products when searching on Amazon.
Currently, Amazon is prioritizing AI to optimize its inventory.