Coinbase š£ Pepe a āhate symbol', Pepeās market capš»$1B in 5 days, Milady NFT š„ after Elon Musk tw
Daily Crypto, Blockchain & Web3 Update 2023-05-11
CRYPTOCURRENCY
Hereās why crypto prices are down (2 min read)
The first news article explains why Bitcoin has been trading in a narrow range near $28,000. The standoff between markets and policymakers as United States Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell publicly stated that interest rates are unlikely to come down this year.
Pechman explains why the Fed raised interest rates above 5% and the apparent disconnection between the 3.4% unemployment rate and the 42 million North Americans who are SNAP recipients (on food stamps).
Ethereum derivatives flirting with bearishness: Mind the $1,820 support (4 min read)
The failed rally above $2,000 on May 6 has proven that ETH bulls are nowhere near comfortable adding leveraged longs.
Not even the memecoin frenzy that boosted Ethereum network demand was able to instill confidence in investors. The average Ethereum transaction fee skyrocketed to $27.70 on May 6, the highest in 12 months, according to BitInfoCharts data. As reported by Cointelegraph, one of the main drivers behind the increase was the insatiable demand for Pepe (PEPE), among other memecoins.
Ethereum validators earn a record $46M as staking rewards rate surges (1 min read)
Validators earned $46 million in the first week of May due to an increase in the staking rewards rate, which is a metric for validatorsā annualized yield. According to data, validators earned 24,997 Ether in the week, representing a 40% increase over the previous weekās income of $33 million, when 18,339 ETH were distributed as rewards.
The recent trading craze of a new memecoin called PepeĀ (PEPE)Ā is the reason behind the increased rewards for validators. In the past week, the average fees on the Ethereum network have exceeded 100 gwei, marking the highest level since May 2022. As gas fees go up, users are paying more than $30 per transaction. This means validators are earning more from fees and rewards for processing transactions.
Bitcoin trading up 80% at DBS Bank due to crypto crashes in 2022, says exec (3 min read)
Singapore megabank DBS is among the few companies worldwide that reaped major benefits from massive crypto industry collapses in 2022.
DBS Digital Exchange, DBS Bankās institutional crypto trading platform, saw a significant increase in Bitcoin trading volumes last year. DBS Digital Exchange CEO Lionel Lim shared that the amount of Bitcoin held by DBS for its clients more than doubled in 2021 compared to the previous year.
āBitcoin trading volumes grew 80% at the digital exchange during the same period,ā Lim said in an interview with Cointelegraph on May 8.
BLOCKCHAIN
Pepeās market cap sinks $1B in 5 days, some whales are still buying (4 min read)
The market cap of new memecoin Pepe (PEPE) has fallen $1.1 billion from its May 6 peak, though on-chain data shows itās still being bought by some crypto whales.Ā
A May 8 report penned by researchers from crypto fintech firm Matrixport attributed Pepeās sharp decline in price to traders selling large chunks of their holdings to new retail investors following the memecoinās listing on Binance, the worldās largest crypto exchange by daily trading volume.
Crypto payments integration: Breaking barriers and boosting profits (6 min read)
Cryptocurrency payment gateways can have a significant impact on a companyās operations. By accepting Bitcoin payments, companies can expand into new regions without having to search for local providers. Processing fees are also lower, saving companies a lot of money on commissions. Additionally, crypto payment providers donāt require rolling reserves, eliminating the risk of chargebacks and associated fraud.
Integrating a crypto payment gateway is simple for those unfamiliar with blockchain technology too.
IRS claiming $44B from FTX bankruptcy: Report (2 min read)
The United States Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have filed 45 claims worth $44 billion against bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its subsidiaries.
In what appears to be a tax bill for FTX's sister company Alameda Research LLC that circulatedĀ online on May 10, the IRS assessed the firm $20.4 billion due in partnership taxes and payroll taxes. The assessment appears to match the IRSĀ claim found on the website of Krollās Restructuring Administration practice, FTX's claims agent.
Milady NFT floor price surges after Elon Musk tweet (2 min read)
On May 10, American business magnate Elon Musk tweeted a meme created using imagery from the Milady nonfungible tokens (NFT) collection. Shortly thereafter, the floor price of Milady NFTs spiked from 3.8 Ether to as high as 7.3 ETH before falling to 5.69 ETH apiece at the time of publication.
Created in 2021 by digital arts collective Remilia, Milady is a collection of 10,000 anime profile picture NFTs āinspired by street style tribes.ā Artist Charlotte Fang founded the Remilia decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and helped design the series.
NFTs
ParaSpace team clashes with CEO over alleged whereabouts of protocol funds (3 min read)
Protocol developers demand that CEO and chief technology officer Yubo Ruan step down, while Ruan has accused the development team of an āillegal takeover.ā
On May 10, nonfungible token (NFT) financialization protocol ParaSpace published several alleged irregularities tying its CEO, founder and chief technology officer Yubo Ruan to the mismanagement of funds equaling 2,909 Ether recovered through a white hat interception that occurred on March 18. Ruan denied any wrongdoing, writing: āManufacturing claims with the intent to take over and force me to step down as CEO. This is highly problematic and the legal team has taken action.āĀ
BUSINESS
To catch a scammer: Kraken builds fake crypto account to ābaitā fraudsters (3 min read)
United States crypto exchange Kraken has provided a novel method for flagging nefarious wallets ā building a fake crypto account on the exchange to āscam baitā bad actors.
Tweeting on May 10, popular streamer Kitboga ā whose content revolves around annoying scammersā revealed that Kraken had built him a ācustom environmentā that he used to frustrate a scammer impersonating President Joe Biden. KitbotĀ had previously had a run-in with the fraudster around a year ago.
In the accompanying video clip, Kitboga can be seen with around $450,000 worth of Bitcoin in his Kraken-built fake crypto account.
Coinbase calls Pepe a āhate symbol,ā prompting calls to boycott the exchange (2 min read)
An email sent out to Coinbase customers describing the Pepe meme as a āhate symbolā co-opted by alt-right groups has drawn significant ire from the PEPE memecoin community.Ā
Prominent crypto influencer Borovik.eth shared a screenshot of the email newsletter from May 10 to his 96,000 followers, which cites a 2016 decision from the Anti-Defamation League to place the frog-themed character in its database of online hate symbols.
Fans and holders of the frog-themed memecoin were outraged at the description of the token, sparking calls for Coinbase to issue an apology, and users to start deleting their accounts with the crypto exchange.
Robinhoodās Q1 crypto revenue drops 30% from the previous year (1 min read)
First quarter results are in for cryptocurrency and stock trading app Robinhood, with the company reporting a 30% year-on-year revenue drop for its crypto trading business.
Released May 10, Robinhoodās Q1 2023 earnings revealed $38 million in crypto trading revenues over the period, down from $54 million in Q1 2022.
Robinhoodās total revenue, however, increased year-on-year, with Q1 2023 bringing in $441 million, compared to 2022ās first quarter net revenue of $299 million ā an increase of around 47.5%.
$176M of Do Kwon's assets are frozen: Report (1 min read)
On May 10, local news outlet Hankyung reported that Do Kwon, co-founder and former CEO of Terraform Labs, had over 233.3 billion Korean won ($176 million) in personal assets frozen as part of ongoing criminal proceedings.
Chief Judge Yun Chan-Young of the 12th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court has prohibited the sales of Do Kwon's Galleria Foret apartment complex in Seoul, a novel officetel and a series of imported cars. The order also bans the disposition of Kwon's financial assets, such as securities, bank deposits and cryptocurrency stored in personal accounts on virtual currency exchanges.
According to South Korean law, suspects may be prohibited from disposing of the proceeds or property obtained from a crime until a conviction is confirmed.