Bitcoin
Bitcoin rises, but is still below US$70,000
Key Takeaways
- The price of bitcoin fell last week ahead of inflation and Federal Reserve news, but has not recovered as much as other risk assets.
- US presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden continue to show that encryption is a notable election issue.
- Terraform Labs has agreed to a $4.5 billion settlement with the SEC.
- Binance founder Changepeng Zhao was considered one of the 25 richest people in the world.
- This week, crypto analysts are closely watching the price of bitcoin to see if the recent volatility is over.
The past week has been a wild ride for the price of bitcoin (Bitcoin).
The price of bitcoin fell below $67,000 on Tuesday ahead of May inflation data and the Federal Reserve meeting. Bitcoin regained some ground on Wednesday before falling again on Friday. While other risk assets such as stocks have rallied on cooler-than-expected inflation data, bitcoin has failed to recoup losses.
Despite bitcoin’s performance last week, crypto is having a moment in the US presidential election campaign. Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump met with bitcoin miners last week and a leaked email showed that members of President Joe Biden’s administration will meet with members of the crypto community.
Elsewhere, Terraform Labs agreed to a massive $4.5 billion deal with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) About 2022 TerraUSD stablecoin debacleand an investigative report concluded that Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao is one of the 25 richest people in the world.
Growth of Crypto as a US Presidential Election Issue
Former President Donald Trump has changed his stance on cryptocurrencies during the current election cycle, now actively courting the crypto community to gain an edge over rivals Joe Biden and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
After meeting with bitcoin miners at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump urged cryptocurrency enthusiasts on his Truth Social platform to “vote for Trump,” positioning himself as a defender against what he calls “hate from Biden to Bitcoin.”
This new approach follows Trump’s previous strong criticism of cryptocurrencies during his presidency, where he labeled them as highly volatile and unregulated assets that facilitate illegal activities. Now, however, the Trump campaign has announced plans to accept cryptocurrency donations, with the aim of mobilizing a “crypto army” to ensure his electoral victory.
On the other side of the aisle, the Biden administration’s approach to Bitcoin and crypto has been criticized, especially with a recent veto on legislation supporting the custody of cryptocurrencies by financial institutions and proposed taxes in Bitcoin mining. According to a report from The Block, Biden is also expected to start accepting campaign contributions via cryptography.
People on Biden’s side will participate in a roundtable discussion on Bitcoin and blockchain next month, according to Bitcoin Magazine.
Terraform Labs Agrees to $4.5 Billion SEC Settlement
Last Wednesday, a court filing revealed that Terraform Labs consented to a nearly $4.5 billion settlement to resolve an SEC lawsuit. The filing asked for court approval of the deal, which would end a legal battle over the company’s role in the dramatic failure of TerraUSD in May 2022, which led to an estimated $40 billion loss for investors.
The settlement comprises about $3.5 billion in restitution, more than $460 million in prejudgment interest and $420 million as a civil penalty. Former CEO Do Kwon will also personally contribute more than $200 million to Terraform’s bankruptcy estate and is barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company.
This agreement, originally reached before a hearing on May 29, aims to impose substantial financial remedies and facilitate rapid recovery for investors. The SEC highlighted that these penalties are intended to prevent future fraudulent activities in the cryptocurrency market. Terraform Labs declared bankruptcy earlier this year, shortly before his SEC trial, where he was found guilty of defrauding investors.
Binance founder Changpeng Zhao is estimated to be the 24th richest person in the world
Since his arrest, Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao has seen a significant increase in his net worth.
Forbes now estimates that Zhao’s fortune is $61 billion, making him the 24th richest person in the world.
This increase comes from its 90% stake in Binance, valued at US$33 billion. Zhao stepped down as the company’s CEO in November 2023 as a result of a judicial agreement with the US Department of Justice. Despite the company’s legal challenges and a $4.3 billion fine, Zhao’s personal financial impact was limited to a $50 million fine. Since then, Binance has continued to grow, with its market share rising from 38% to 42% before Zhao’s departure.
A big boost to Zhao’s wealth comes from his holdings in Binance Coin (BNB). Forbes estimates that he owns around 94 million tokens, which represents 64% of all BNB tokens. Despite Binance’s legal troubles, BNB rose 100% in 2024, reaching a market cap of $110 billion.
Binance’s 2017 initial coin offering was undersubscribed and forensic analysis indicates that Zhao and Binance retained a significant portion of the unsold tokens. BNB currently trades heavily on the Binance platform, and the token’s performance has continued to add billions to Zhao’s net worth even as he serves his sentence.
What to expect from the markets this week
All eyes are on the price of bitcoin this week as digital asset investment products, which include US-based bitcoin ETFs, have experienced more than $600 million in outflows amid the bitcoin price crash in last week, according to CoinShares.
Despite the price drop, the notorious bitcoin bulls on MicroStrategy (MSTR) announced another $500 million convertible note offering for the purpose of buying more bitcoin before upgrading the offering to $700 million later in the week.
Although bitcoin has traded in a relatively narrow range this month, the crypto asset has been outperformed by several bitcoin mining stocks, as noted by a JPMorgan report. This is believed to be a response to Core Scientific (CORZ) deal with CoreWeave related to artificial intelligence.
SEC approval of spot ether ETFs also now appears to be a question of “when” rather than “if.” SEC Chairman Gary Gensler indicated at a Senate hearing last week that the matter will be resolved over the summer. Furthermore, Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas gives a 50% chance that approval will occur by July 2. Prediction Market Polymarket puts the odds of trading a spot ether ETF by July 4th at 75%.
Bitcoin
RIOT, MARA and CLSK shares at risk
Bitcoin (BTC) Mining stocks like Riot Platforms (RIOT), Marathon Digital (MARA) and CleanSpark (CLSK) retreated in pre-market trading as BTC retreated.
RIOT, MARA and CLSK all fell more than 2%, while other crypto-related stocks such as MicroStrategy (MSTR) and Coinbase (COIN) fell 1.5%.
Bitcoin sell-off continues
Crypto-linked stocks retreated as Bitcoin resumed its downtrend on Wednesday. After rising to $63,750 on Monday, BTC is hovering at $60,0000 and it is unclear whether it will recover.
More importantly, Bitcoin is dangerously close to the crucial support at $58,273, which is the 200-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA). The next support level for Bitcoin is $56,426, representing its lowest level in May.
Bitcoin Price Chart
If Bitcoin drops below this price, it will be a sign that the bears have prevailed, which could take it to the $50,000 level, if not below.
This decline happened after a whale deposited nearly 2,000 Bitcoins to Binance in two separate transactions. While this isn’t always the case, deposits to exchanges often happen when holders are exiting their positions.
The whales’ action coincided with a period in which the German government continues to sell off its Bitcoin holdings. It transferred $52 million worth of coins to exchanges on Tuesday.
As a result, data from CoinGlass shows that the volume of Bitcoin balances on exchanges has started to increase. The volume rose to 2.49 million on Tuesday, from last month’s low of 2.47 million.
Bitcoin balances on exchanges
Bitcoin Mining Companies at Risk
If the Bitcoin sell-off continues, it will put Bitcoin mining companies like Marathon, CleanSpark, and Riot Platforms at risk. These companies have tended to have a close correlation with Bitcoin in the past.
This drop is happening a few months after the halving event, reducing the amount of Bitcoins that miners receive.
To compensate for this drop, most of these companies have added their mining equipment. CleanSpark has reached a hash rate of 20 EH/swhich helped her mine 445 coins in June after mining 417 coins the previous month. She did this after purchasing 5 mining sites in Georgia.
Digital Marathon mined 590 coins in June, down 40% from the same month in 2023 and flat from May.
Riot Platforms, on the other hand, focused on acquiring Bitfarms, a company that mined 189 coins in June.
Bitcoin
Michael Saylor Issues Statement on Bitcoin Amid Crypto Market Sell-Off by U.Today
U.Today – Amid an ongoing sell-off in the cryptocurrency market, Michael Saylor, a prominent advocate and president of MicroStrategy, made a statement on X (Twitter) that reverberated across the crypto space: “Just Bitcoin.”
This two-word tweet comes as the cryptocurrency market faces significant sell-offs as the price of Bitcoin plummets.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, began its decline in Tuesday’s trading session, hitting $63,223 at one point before falling further.
Losses deepened on Wednesday as investors considered remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, with Bitcoin hitting intraday lows of $59,509. At the time of writing, BTC is down 2.85% over the past 24 hours to $60,274.
According to data from CoinGlass, the sell-off has resulted in a significant amount of cryptocurrencies being liquidated in the past 24 hours, totaling over $166 million. However, this has not deterred Saylor’s confidence in Bitcoin, as he reiterates his longing for the crypto asset in his tweet.
Cryptocurrency market crashes
Cryptocurrencies fell on Tuesday after Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank needs to see more progress on inflation before cutting interest rates, which are now at 5.25%-5.50%. Powell revealed at a monetary symposium in Sintra, Portugal, that the United States is moving closer to a disinflationary path.
“We want to be more confident that inflation is moving sustainably downward toward 2% before we begin the process of tapering or easing policy,” Powell said.
Market losses deepened after Wednesday’s economic releases that indicated the labor market is cooling. Recent data showed weaker-than-expected private payroll growth in June, but weekly jobless claims were higher than economists had forecast. The latest figures come ahead of the highly anticipated June nonfarm payrolls report on Friday.
As the cryptocurrency market goes through a period of uncertainty, the coming days and weeks will be crucial in determining the direction of BTC’s price.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin and Ethereum in GTA 6? Still rumors — for now
Rumors that the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6 will use cryptocurrency that has been circulating for more than a year now—and they’re spinning again.
On Wednesday, a pseudonymous Crypto Twitter influencer named Gordon — apparently named after Gordon Gekko from the iconic 1987 film “Wall Street” —shared to his nearly 500,000 followers that “GTA 6 will allow cryptocurrency payments” and that “so far only Bitcoin, EthereumIt is USDT [are] confirmed.”
But in reality, no cryptocurrency has been confirmed for Grand Theft Auto 6, despite ongoing chatter about the rumors. Rockstar Games and parent company Take-Two have made no such announcements this week on the subject, nor have they made any prior announcements, and official trailers and announcements have made no mention of cryptocurrency being included.
However, the tweet — which also included a fake trailer for the game — quickly went viral, with over 500,000 views as of this writing in a matter of hours. When Twitter users asked Gordon for his sources, he would jokingly respond that his “uncle works there” or say that previous reports on the matter were “old” at this point.
But really, nothing has changed since then. DecipherGG’s reported in previous rumors in May 2023, not even since the first official trailer — which initially leaked with “BUY BTC” stamped on itApparently by the leaker in question—premiered last December.
DecipherGG reached out to Rockstar Games for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Could Grand Theft Auto 6 implement a crypto element when it releases in 2025? It’s certainly possible, and if so, it would be a transformative moment for cryptocurrency adoption by the traditional gaming industry.
Take-Two Interactive has explored the space before, acquiring casual gaming giant Zynga in early 2022, when Take-Two founder and CEO Strauss Zelnick suggested there were “Web3 opportunities” that they could explore better as a team. Zynga has launched its first blockchain game on Ethereum, called Sugartownbut Take-Two has yet to get involved with other brands.
Rockstar Games, on the other hand, prohibited the use of cryptocurrency or NFTs on player-run Grand Theft Auto 5 servers in late 2022, following a rise in the use of NFTs to represent unique player-owned assets on modded game servers.
And given Grand Theft Auto’s satirical tone, the game may be more likely to criticize cryptocurrency and poke fun at caricatures of crypto fans and NFTs, for example, rather than trying to launch its own on-chain currency. But that’s all speculation at this point, as there are relatively few official details about GTA 6.
For now, at least, don’t believe the hype. While Rockstar Games hasn’t officially closed the door on cryptocurrency usage in Grand Theft Auto 6, it hasn’t confirmed anything about it either. However, it’s sure to remain a hot topic in the long run leading up to release, which is currently scheduled for fall 2025.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
Bitcoin
Crypto President Trump’s ‘Lesser’ Regulation Will Bless Coinbase’s Bitcoin Leverage, Expert Says – Coinbase Glb (NASDAQ:COIN)
Chris SenyekChief Investment Strategist at Wolfe Researchrecently expressed his opinion on the potential impact of a Donald Trump win the 2024 elections in the cryptocurrency market.
What happened: Senyek suggested that a Trump presidency could ease cryptocurrency regulations, benefiting companies like Coinbase Global Inc. COIN due to its importance Bitcoin BTC/USD Leverage.
“Trump would be less harsh on crypto regulation, and Coinbase would be a big beneficiary of that given its influence on bitcoin,” Senyek said during CNBC’s “Last Call” on Tuesday.
See too: Enhance Your Retirement Portfolio: The Benefits of Adding Cryptocurrency
Why does this matter?:Senyek’s comments come in the context of the former president Donald Trump‘s reported plans to participate at the Bitcoin 2024 convention, which could reinforce his image as a “Crypto President”.
Trump’s potential participation in the Bitcoin 2024 convention, a major event on the cryptocurrency calendar, could have significant implications for the industry.
Pratik KalaHead of Research in DigitalX Limitedhe has predicted a Trump victory in the upcoming elections, but warns that immediate cryptocurrency-friendly regulations may not be a priority.
A recent report by 10x Search explore the recent rise in Bitcoin price and its potential connection to Trump’s strong position in the 2024 election race. The report, titled “Is the Bitcoin Trump Pump Sustainable?”, highlights a 4% spike in Bitcoin’s price following the news that the president Joe Biden will remain in the race despite a poor performance in the presidential debate.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading 2.10% lower at $60,860.66, according to Benzinga Pro.
Read next:
Image created using photos from Shutterstock
This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari
News and market data brought to you by Benzinga’s APIs
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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