Litecoin’s value has plummeted by 36% since peaking on April 1st. The crypto asset hasn’t been generating much buzz on social forums either, as per latest data.
Meanwhile, a certain cohort of small LTC holders have been quietly exiting the market. However, this has ignited interest in a potential bullish reversal shortly.
According to Santiment’s findings, there has been a sudden liquidation of 45.2k net wallets holding between 0.1-1 LTC which suggests that small traders are losing confidence and capitulating on Litecoin.
This exodus of small-scale holders, often dubbed “small fish,” could be a significant indicator of a potential bullish turnaround, as such behavior historically precedes price rebounds in established assets like Litecoin.
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Articles by Chayanika Deka
Bitcoin Leads with $543M in Inflows Amid Powell’s Jackson Hole Comments
1 day agoDigital asset investment products attracted $533 million in inflows last week, the biggest in over a month, following Jerome Powell’s hint at the Jackson Hole Symposium that an interest rate cut might occur in September.
While trading volumes were lower than in recent weeks, these products still totaled $9 billion for the past seven days.
According to CoinShares’ latest edition of Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly Report, Bitcoin dominated the market, drawing in $543 million in inflows. A major portion of this figure was found to have occurred on Friday after Powell’s dovish remarks, which essentially highlighted Bitcoin’s sensitivity to interest rate expectations.
Short-Bitcoin ETFs also saw $1.7 million in weekly inflows, as per the European digital asset investment firm’s
Stablecoins Hit Record Market Cap of Nearly $170 Billion After Year of Growth
2 days agoStablecoins have reached an all-time high market cap of $169.57 billion following nearly a year of uninterrupted growth.
Leading assets such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC have seen a significant resurgence this year, in addition to a newcomer.
Stablecoin Market Cap Surge
Data compiled by DefiLlama revealed that this is the highest market cap for stablecoins, surpassing the previous peak of $167 billion established in March 2022, which later declined to $135 billion by year’s end.
Weighing on the latest milestone, crypto analyst Patrick Scott said that this new peak indicates a fresh influx of capital into the crypto market, suggesting renewed interest and confidence in the space.
“And just like that, we’re at a new all-time high. The total stablecoin market cap,
Binance Prevents $2.4 Billion in Potential Losses from Scams in 2024
3 days agoBinance announced that it has prevented over $2.4 billion in losses from potential scams and fraudulent activities that could have impacted more than 1.2 million users from January to July 2024 owing to its risk management measures.
According to the official press release shared with CryptoPotato, Binance employs an internal risk engine that provides 24/7 real-time monitoring using a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and manual reviews.
Binance’s Internal Risk Engine
This system enables the crypto exchange to accurately detect and address suspicious transactions promptly, protecting users across various sectors such as P2P trading, payments, and crypto network withdrawals. The risk engine integrates multiple layers of controls to manage and mitigate risk
Hex Founder Richard Heart’s Bid to Dismiss SEC Fraud Lawsuit Fails
3 days agoThe US Securities and Exchange Commission has contested Hex founder Richard Heart’s attempt to dismiss its $1 billion securities fraud lawsuit, asserting its jurisdiction over the case.
In its opposition brief, filed in a New York federal court on August 22 but dated July 8, the SEC contended that Heart’s motion to dismiss fails to address the well-supported allegations in the complaint and ignores relevant legal standards.
Heart had previously argued in his dismissal motion that the regulator lacks authority because he resided abroad and had no presence in the US during the relevant period.
SEC Alleges Misuse of Funds and Challenges Heart’s Defense
According to the official SEC document, from December 2019 to November 2020, Heart marketed Hex as a crypto asset security,
Confusion Over CZ’s Transfer: Former Binance CEO Still Serving Sentence
4 days agoFormer Binance CEO Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao has been transferred from FCI Lompoc II to the RRM Long Beach halfway house in California, sparking confusion among X users who mistakenly believed he had been released.
Despite the change in his location, CZ remains incarcerated.
The RRM Long Beach facility, categorized as a ‘residential reentry management (RRM) field office,’ is designed to assist inmates nearing their release but does not equate to a full release. InmateAID – which is a Federal inmate communications provider – describes this facility as one with voluntary compliance requirements rather than a high-security environment, though strict house rules must be followed.
The misinterpretation of CZ’s transfer has been compounded by a previous mix-up about his release date.
Dencun’s Aftermath: Ethereum Layer 2s See Surge in Failed Transactions
4 days agoThe Dencun upgrade in March 2024 was a significant milestone for Ethereum, but it also brought about unforeseen challenges, particularly for Layer 2 networks.
Christine Kim, a researcher at Galaxy, highlighted that this upgrade inadvertently led to an increase in transaction failures across these networks.
Ethereum’s Layer 2 Networks Face Challenges
Kim’s August 21 analysis, titled “150 Days After Dencun,” revealed that since the fee-reducing upgrade, there has been a notable rise in failed transactions and bot activity on Layer 2 networks.
The report highlighted that after the activation of EIP-4844, Ethereum L2’s daily transactions more than doubled, growing by 6.65 million within 150 days. However, this increase in transaction activity has also been accompanied by a
CEO Richard Teng Reveals Binance’s Hiring Push: 700-Strong Compliance Team by 2024
5 days agoBinance plans to hire 1,000 new employees this year, with a substantial focus on compliance roles. A large portion of these hires is specifically aimed at expanding the company’s compliance team from its current 500 members to 700 by the end of 2024.
CEO Richard Teng, who is currently in the US for discussions with monitors and officials, shared these hiring targets in an interview with Bloomberg News in New York on Wednesday.
Focus on Compliance
Bloomberg’s report revealed that Binance is estimated to allocate over $200 million this year solely for regulatory compliance, including expenditures related to the US plea agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and other agencies.
The 55-year-old exec disclosed plans that Binance has seen a surge in requests from law
McDonald’s Instagram Hacked to Promote Solana-Based Scam Meme Coin ‘Grimace’
6 days agoMcDonald’s Instagram page was reportedly hacked on August 21, leading to a significant scam involving a Solana-based meme coin.
The perpetrators exploited the fast-food chain’s social media account to promote a fraudulent token named “Grimace,” referencing one of McDonald’s fictional characters featured in its advertisements.
Bubblemaps’ findings reveal that the hacker acquired 75% of the Grimace token’s total supply using the Solana meme coin deployer pump.fun. The attacker leveraged multiple addresses to purchase the token simultaneously and then distributed the accumulated supply across approximately 100 different wallets.
The hackers reportedly siphoned over $700,000 in Solana during the scheme. Screenshots from X revealed that the McDonald’s Instagram page was altered
Terraform Labs’ Future Hinges on Upcoming Chapter 11 Reorganization Hearing
6 days agoTerraform Labs (TFL) – the bankrupt cryptocurrency firm co-founded by Do Kwon – is set to face a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization hearing on September 19.
The hearing will be crucial in shaping the company’s future as it navigates the aftermath of the Terra ecosystem’s dramatic collapse in 2022, which triggered extensive legal and financial challenges.
Fallout from TerraUSD and LUNA Collapse
The court’s ruling will essentially decide if Terraform Labs can successfully restructure and potentially recover from bankruptcy or if it will be compelled to liquidate its assets and shut down operations permanently.
Terraform Labs is the company behind the Terra blockchain, which is known for its ill-fated algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) and LUNA. On May 9, 2022, UST began
TON Blockchain Sees 7x Surge in Active Addresses Since July 2021
7 days agoThe TON blockchain recorded yet another milestone as the number of active addresses on the project’s Masterchain has surged to an all-time high of 946 daily.
According to CryptoQuant’s latest analysis, this marks a more than sevenfold increase since July 2021, highlighting the growing popularity and adoption of the network.
New Milestone for TON
While 946 active addresses might initially seem modest, it’s crucial to understand that the TON architecture is designed with multiple “workchains” that handle the bulk of data, leaving the Masterchain primarily responsible for message routing and transaction coordination.
This increase in active addresses has several implications, as per the analyst’s findings. Firstly, their growth indicates a surge in network activity, with more
TeraWulf Reports 21% Drop in Bitcoin Mining but Revenue Surpasses Estimates in Q2
10 days agoTeraWulf’s second-quarter earnings report, released earlier in August, demonstrated mixed performance.
While the company produced less BTC than in the same period in 2023, its revenue increased modestly compared to the estimated figures.
TeraWulf’s Q2 Results
The report revealed that TeraWulf mined 699 BTC across its Lake Mariner and Nautilus Cryptomine facilities, a 21% decrease from the same period last year.
The firm’s revenue for the quarter, on the other hand, was $35.6 million, marginally exceeding the estimated $35.4 million. Despite this, TeraWulf posted a loss of $0.03 per share, worse than the estimated $0.02 loss per share.
It also witnessed a dramatic 243% rise in the cost of mining Bitcoin, with expenses climbing from $6,688 per Bitcoin in Q2 2023 to $22,954
Masked Intruders Escape with $2M in Crypto: Thai Police Launched Investigation
10 days agoPolice are actively searching for four Chinese nationals believed to have broken into a luxury home in Pathum Thani, one of the central provinces of Thailand, and forced the resident to transfer $2 million (70 million baht) in crypto assets.
The break-in took place around 2 AM on Wednesday in Tambon Ban Mai in the Muang district.
Crypto Heist
According to police reports, six residents, including three men and three women, occupied the house at the time of the incident. Ke Jibao, a 35-year-old Chinese businessman, reported that he and his wife were asleep when the four masked suspects, armed with guns and knives, entered the property.
The intruders reportedly restrained Ke, his wife, and a maid, tying their hands and feet. They then coerced him into contacting a relative in
This Canadian Crypto Exchange Gambled Away $9.5 Million of Users’ Bitcoin and Ether
11 days agoThe British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) has determined that the cryptocurrency trading platform ezBtc and its founder, David Smillie, defrauded investors of approximately $9.5 million, equivalent to 13 million Canadian dollars, in crypto assets.
The BCSC’s investigation uncovered that ezBtc and Smillie engaged in misleading and deceptive practices, misappropriating funds intended for customer accounts.
Crypto Funds Diverted for Gambling
According to the official press release shared by the Canadian regulatory agency, ezBtc began accepting customer deposits in December 2016 and ceased operations permanently around September 2019. During this period, customers deposited over 2,300 BTC and more than 600 ETH into their ezBtc accounts.
Despite claims that all crypto
Bitcoin Miner Core Scientific Upsizes Senior Notes Offering to $400M
13 days agoTexas-based Bitcoin mining company Core Scientific has announced the pricing of its increased offering of $400 million in 3.00% convertible senior notes due in 2029. The initial size of the offering was $350 million, which has been upsized due to favorable market conditions.
Scheduled to settle on August 19, 2024, the notes will be issued privately to qualified institutional buyers. The initial buyers will be granted an option to acquire an additional $60 million in notes.
Core Scientific Launches $400M Senior Notes Offering
According to the official press release, these unsecured notes, accruing interest semi-annually, will mature on September 1, 2029, unless previously converted, redeemed, or repurchased.
“Core Scientific will settle conversions by paying or delivering,
Investor Sentiment Uncertain, Yet Bitcoin’s HODLing Trends Resurface During Market Decline
14 days agoAs the market navigates the largest downturn of this cycle, investor sentiment in the digital asset market remains uncertain.
Beneath the surface, however, Glassnode has found that there are clear signs of a resurgence in HODLing and accumulation.
Signs of Accumulation
Glassnode’s analysis of the on-chain investor response to these volatile market conditions indicates a growing inclination towards HODLing. Since bitcoin’s price reached an all-time high in March, the market experienced a prolonged phase of supply distribution involving wallets of varying sizes.
Over the past few weeks, however, this trend has started to reverse, notably among the largest wallets, often linked to ETFs. This cohort of investors seems to be transitioning back to a phase of accumulation.
BTC
Coinbase Blasts SEC’s Arbitrary Approach to DEX Compliance
14 days agoCoinbase submitted its third comment letter highlighting significant flaws in the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) cost-benefit analysis of the proposed rule. The letter argued that the agency has failed to assess the rule’s economic impact on efficiency, competition, and capital formation.
Despite acknowledging a lack of critical information on decentralized exchange (DEX) operations and compliance costs, Coinbase said the SEC has proposed vague benefits that may not materialize, especially if DEXs are driven out of the US market.
SEC Rulemaking Under Fire
The author of the letter and Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, stated that the SEC should withdraw the proposal and redo it after conducting thorough research.
The crypto exchange’s letter also
Ethereum Leads Market Recovery with $155M Inflows Amid Recent Downturn
15 days agoEthereum has seen the greatest advantage from the recent market downturn as investors appeared to have viewed the price weakness as a buying opportunity.
In fact, data suggests that Ethereum has managed to attract $155 million in inflows over the past week. According to CoinShares, the latest round of inflows boosted its year-to-date total inflows to $862 million, the highest since 2021, primarily fueled by the recent introduction of US spot-based ETFs.
Inflows Rebound
Besides Ethereum, the positive sentiment is evident for other crypto assets as well. Bitcoin, for one, saw a significant increase in inflows toward the end despite initial outflows at the start of the week, bringing the weekly total to $13 million.
On the other hand, short Bitcoin ETPs recorded their largest
Marathon Digital Eyes Bitcoin Acquisition with $250M Convertible Notes Offering
16 days agoBitcoin mining firm Marathon Digital Holdings has announced plans for a $250 million offering of convertible senior notes due in 2031. The latest private offering is targeted at “qualified institutional buyers.”
The firm aims to use the proceeds for the acquisition of Bitcoin as well as corporate growth.
The company also has the option to increase the offering by an additional $37.5 million, depending on market conditions. These notes, which will be unsecured and senior obligations of the company, are set to mature in 2031 with interest payments starting in 2025.
Expanding Bitcoin Holdings
According to the official press release, Marathon intends to use the proceeds from this offering to acquire additional Bitcoin and for other corporate purposes, such as strategic
Bitcoin Mining Firm Bitfarms Faces $27 Million Net Loss in Q2 2024
16 days agoToronto-based Bitcoin mining company Bitfarms reported a total revenue of $42 million, marking a 16% decline quarter-over-quarter.
This decrease is attributed to the reduction in block rewards resulting from the BTC halving event on April 19, 2024.
Q2 Financial Result
Bitfarms reported a net loss of $27 million, or $0.07 per share, which includes a $1 million non-cash expense for revaluing warrant liabilities from financing activities in 2021 and 2023. This compares to a net loss of $6 million, or $0.02 per share, in Q1 2024, which included a $9 million non-cash gain from revaluing warrant liabilities.
According to the official press release, the company generated 614 BTC in the second quarter of 2024 with an average direct production cost of $30,600 per BTC, up from
Binance Labs Boosts Solana Restaking Ecosystem with Solayer Investment
17 days agoBinance’s venture capital and incubation arm – Binance Labs – announced investing in the Solana-based restaking network, Solayer.
Solayer plans to deploy the new capital infusion from Binance Labs to grow its team, onboard additional protocols into its ecosystem, and solidify its role as a crucial part of the Solana blockchain.
According to the official press release, the team will also prioritize researching ways to mitigate Solana’s network congestion through the use of restaking infrastructure.
Solayer is preparing to launch a full system soon, which will enable stakers to use SOL to secure Solana, while dApps will be able to secure network bandwidth and transaction throughput. Additionally, the platform will target general asset restaking to secure external AVS
Binance Secured Over $73M in Stolen Funds from Hacks in 2024
17 days agoBinance has announced that its security team has successfully recovered or frozen more than $73 million in user funds from external hacks as of July 31 this year.
This latest figure exceeds the roughly $55 million recovered in all of 2023.
Binance’s 2024 Security Efforts
As per the official press release shared with CryptoPotato, Binance asserted working closely with the public sector to ensure affected users receive the necessary assistance. About 80% of these recoveries and freezes are linked to external hacks, exploits, and thefts, while the remaining 20% involve scams that occur outside the Binance platform.
Jimmy Su, Chief Security Officer at Binance, said,
“Binance has cultivated a crypto user-focused culture that defines every aspect of our operations. This
Donald Trump Jr. Sets Sights on Banking Reform with Upcoming DeFi Project
18 days agoFormer President Donald Trump, now a presidential candidate, has made Bitcoin a central focus of his campaign, promising to make the US a global crypto leader.
Building on his father’s recent pivot toward crypto, Donald Trump Jr. is developing a new decentralized finance (DeFi) platform to address banking access inequality.
Trump Jr Targets the Debanked
On August 8, in a Q&A session hosted on Locals, Trump Jr., the eldest son of presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump, revealed that he’s working on a crypto platform to challenge the banks rather than launch a meme coin. He didn’t elaborate further but highlighted that the platform would target the banking sector.
“What we want to do is take on a lot of the banking world. I think there has been a lot of
USDT Issuer Tether to Expand Workforce to 200 Employees by Mid-2025
18 days agoStablecoin issuer Tether intends to double its workforce within the next year to strengthen areas such as compliance. By mid-2025, the company behind the USDT stablecoin anticipates expanding its headcount to approximately 200 employees, according to Chief Executive Officer Paolo Ardoino.
Tether also plans to increase staffing in its finance department, which oversees the $118 billion in assets backing USDT.
Tether’s Workforce Expansion
With a relatively small team, Tether has grown into a financial giant, raking in a net operating profit of $1.3 billion in the second quarter of 2024, fueled by its leading stablecoin. In comparison, major crypto exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase employ large workforces.
Commenting on the same, Ardoino told Bloomberg in an interview on
OKX to Deactivate Accounts Linked to Sanctioned Entities, Including Tornado Cash and Garantex
19 days agoOKX is all set to deactivate accounts involved with sanctioned entities, including crypto mixer Tornado Cash and Moscow-based crypto exchange Garantex.
On August 9th, OKX CEO Star Xu highlighted the platform’s strict adherence to compliance with international sanctions and clarified that such users will not be able to open accounts on the platform.
OKX Enforces Strict Compliance
For those who have already opened accounts, any transactions involving deposits from or withdrawals to sanctioned entities, such as Garantex and Tornado Cash, will activate the platform’s compliance risk controls and terminate their accounts.
In a post on X, the exec reassured users that while sanctions are crucial for regulatory adherence, they largely do not impact the average user, who need not
Bitcoin Forms Bullish Ascending Flag Pattern, Predicting Potential Breakout
20 days agoBitcoin briefly tumbled below $50,000 earlier this week as the market saw the sharpest correction since the FTX crisis. The subsequent recovery, though, pushed the asset’s price above $57,000.
Despite the chaos in the broader market, bitcoin’s technical charts show a bullish flag, while on-chain data reveals rising buying pressure, reinforcing the bullish outlook.
Strong Bullish Forecast
According to the latest post by CryptoQuant, a promising bullish signal for BTC has emerged with the crypto asset forming an ascending flag pattern on technical charts since March this year. This classic pattern often precedes significant upward movements, suggesting that bitcoin might experience a breakout in the coming months.
Supporting this technical analysis, CryptoQuant’s Onchain
XRP Whale Holdings Hit All-Time High Amid Ripple v SEC Lawsuit Update
20 days agoXRP has decoupled from the broader crypto market, outperforming all top assets in terms of daily gains. While the rest of the market struggles, XRP experienced a sharp price increase of nearly 20% in the past day, reaching $0.64 on Thursday before slightly retracing to $0.61.
As a result of the continued uptrend, XRP has managed to post an impressive 42% in monthly gains. This bullish trend is backed by a certain group of whale wallets that have accumulated a significant stash of tokens, thereby clinching a new record.
XRP’s Bullish Signs
XRP’s market cap soared by 23% within the past 24 hours. According to Santiment’s latest findings, this rapid growth has coincided with a notable accumulation by whales, as wallets holding between 1 million to 10 million tokens on the XRP
Bitcoin Wallet From Satoshi Era Awakens After 11 Years, Transfers $14M
21 days agoAfter 11 years of dormancy, a Bitcoin wallet belonging to a miner, dating back to the Satoshi era in 2010, has come back to life.
This entity suddenly became active on August 7 and transferred 250 BTC, worth approximately $13.95 million, to five new wallets.
Historic Bitcoin Wallet From 2010 Awaken
According to the latest update by popular on-chain tracker Lookonchain, the wallet originally earned 250 BTC through mining in May 2010 when Bitcoin was hovering below the $1 mark. Notably, the entity sits on an unrealized profit (at least for now) of over $14 million in 2024.
The latest transfer saw the earnings being distributed across five separate wallets, with amounts ranging from 10 BTC to 60 BTC each. The unexpected activation of this long-dormant address has sparked
Crypto Investment Products Saw Outflows of $528M Weekly as US Recession Fears Grow: CoinShares
23 days agoEthereum investment products experienced net outflows of $146 million globally last week, largely due to $169.4 million in outflows from US spot Ethereum ETFs. This figure masks $430 million in net inflows into new Ethereum ETFs, overshadowed by $603 million in outflows from Grayscale’s ETHE fund.
Additionally, there were minor outflows observed in European ETPs, according to CoinShares’ report.
Bitcoin experienced massive outflows of $400 million, marking the first time in five weeks of inflows. On the other hand, short-Bitcoin saw its first notable inflows since June, amounting to $1.8 million. Solana faced weekly outflows of $2.8 million, while XRP and Litecoin recorded modest inflows of $0.4 million and $0.2 million during the same period, respectively.
Blockchain
BitClout Founder Al-Naji Faces Charges Over $257 Million Fraud Scheme
25 days agoThe US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged Nader Al-Naji with orchestrating a multi-million-dollar fraudulent crypto asset scheme involving the social media platform BitClout and its native token BTCLT.
The securities regulator’s complaint revealed that Al-Naji raised over $257 million through unregistered offers and sales of BTCLT in November 2020. In the process, the exec allegedly misled investors by claiming the funds would not be used for his or other BitClout employees’ compensation.
However, the complaint accuses Al-Naji of spending over $7 million of these funds on personal expenses, including renting a mansion in Beverly Hills and giving lavish cash gifts to family members.
According to the complaint released