The capital moved from Bitcoin has mainly benefited Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency Ether. Despite the capital turnover, Bitcoin’s saving behavior continues to predominate.

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) currently remains sideways between USD 53,000 and USD 58,000. At the same time, some of the capital that users invest has been moving to other cryptocurrencies. This capital turnover in Bitcoin has primarily benefited Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency Ether (ETH), according to Glassnode.

Glassnode’s weekly report on the cryptocurrency market indicates that the overall situation remains bullish for Bitcoin. Furthermore, the saving (hodling) behavior of the pioneering cryptocurrency continues to be predominant. However, some of the capital that users invest in BTC has had a turnover, mainly moving to ETH.

The latest movements of BTC point to price support around USD 53,000 (right in the zone of USD 1 trillion total market capitalization), according to the firm’s estimates. However, the Bitcoin moved above that price (just over 3% of the supply) has generated resistance to breaking the mark of USD 60,000 per unit again.

The Movement of Bitcoin Has Benefited Ether and Dogecoin

The said capital turnover is due to the movement of funds in these ranges. “ETH has been the main recipient of a good part of this capital turnover. Additionally, it has shown extraordinary price performance in the last three weeks,” according to the report. These moves have also benefited the meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin, which peaked above USD 0.7 per unit.

The firm uses a graph to show the correlation between a larger amount of old BTC spent and the increase in the price of ETH. In recent days, Ethereum’s cryptocurrency exceeded USD 4,000 for the first time in its history.

The researchers note that ETH metrics support the price behavior of the last few weeks. This is particularly the case with a new all-time high of 1.63 million transactions in a single day. In that way, the cryptocurrency exceeds the all-time high of 2017 by more than 22%.

The Bullish Scenario Is Still Ongoing for the First Cryptocurrency

There has been a slight increase in the movement of Bitcoin in recent weeks to the benefit of ETH. However, the saving of BTC is still the trend in the medium and long term, according to the researchers.

Bitcoin owners keep their holdings of this cryptocurrency and those of ETH in store. They are waiting to capitalize on higher prices during this bullish run. The behavior of massive withdrawals from exchanges like Coinbase seems to coincide with that attitude of investors.

Analyst and metrics creator Willy Woo foresees a return of the capital that users have invested in altcoins towards Bitcoin. His estimates indicate that the main cryptocurrency on the market is currently below the value that it should be. Furthermore, that flow of capital from altcoins to BTC would make it return to the bullish path to reach new all-time highs.

By Willmen Blanco

The goal is to support the implementation of cyber sanctions undertaken by OFAC. The bitcoin addresses will be under constant vigilance by the Treasury Department.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), of the United States Department of the Treasury, posted a call for tools to train a team of researchers to closely watch bitcoin addresses.

The announcement appeared on May 4 on an official page, stating that the group of researchers will come from OFAC’s Office of Global Goals (OGT) to put into analysis and track Bitcoin transactions.

The post also states that the sole intention is to gather address information that the OGT could enlist on OFAC’s blacklist, known as the Specially Designated Citizens and Blocked Persons (SDN) list.

The SDN is a sanction and embargo measure of the United States of America Government, which normally aims at those who consider terrorists, officials, and beneficiaries of authoritarian regimes and international criminals related to narco-crimes.

OFAC, based in Washington, DC, hopes these tools will serve to bring more support to the implementation of cyber sanctions. They are intending to create several tools to corroborate the information and make it sufficient to meet the legal requirements to become evidence.

The tools should bring address pooling, wallet explorer, user behavior analysis, transaction flow mapping, and graphing exchange rate, and help gather vital market data. In addition, they must have a license and grant access to five users each. The deadline for the call is May 25, 2021, at 2:00 pm EST.

Bitcoin Blockchain Analysis is a Tool for Research Entities

OFAC already has some bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies addresses on its blacklist. Some addresses with cryptocurrencies linked to a hacker organization are facing charges that include stealing more than USD 500 million.

Among the coins they stole were bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), dogecoin (DOGE), and XRP, among others. Twenty addresses from several blockchains became blacklisted.

Blockchain analysis tools are frequently used as tools by US investigative entities. They have reportedly even been successful in helping to solve some investigations. Such is the recent case of a bitcoin mixer operator who got caught for alleged money laundering in Los Angeles, California.

OFAC is wary of the role of cryptocurrencies in countries subject to US sanctions. An example of this is the relation between North Korea’s prolific bank and exchange hacking program, Venezuela’s Petro, as well as calls by the Iranian president to create a cryptocurrency that the US cannot touch. This situation makes many American authorities remain suspicious of the entire industry.

Despite periodic cryptocurrency-specific portfolio designations, OFAC has limited its direct engagement with cryptocurrencies and other branches of the United States of America government. Authorities have struggled to adapt to this new environment because they still feel more confident by using traditional financial systems.

Eric Lorber, the Vice President of the Financial Integrity Network and Main Director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, assured that the authorities have been working hard to achieve many goals in this new field.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Cybercriminals executed the crime through the Twitter account of an Argentine senator. These criminals promoted a supposed 5,000 BTC giveaway.

After the appearance of billionaire Elon Musk on the legendary American program Saturday Night Live (SNL), scammers took advantage of various verified Twitter accounts in which they promoted false gifts, managing to steal USD 100,000 in cryptocurrencies.

Among the crypto assets that the hackers acquired due to the scam are bitcoin (BTC), ether, Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency and, Musk’s favorite, dogecoin.The scammers made at least $ 40,840 worth of BTC; $ 13,758 in ETH and $ 42,457 in DOGE.

The tactic used by the cybercriminals on this occasion was to access verified Twitter accounts and change the names of those accounts also to “SNL”, using the fact that Musk was going to play a role in the tv show. The scammers left the existing Twitter identifiers and the proper biographies.

The criminals then proceeded to send messages asking their possible victims for small amounts of cryptocurrencies, to verify their addresses and, in turn, guarantee a profit 10 times greater than the current inversion.

Among the accounts that the criminals stole was that of the Argentine senator, Jorge Taiana. The account is currently active but the sweepstakes posts, as well as the profile picture, were removed.

The Criminals Promoted a 5,000 BTC Giveaway in the Name of The Tesla CEO

This kind of scam has been going on for a long time, people lose millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies daily, and there are still no real signs of concern from Twitter. It is not the first time that criminals take advantage of the image of Elon Musk to scam through the microblogging social network.

In 2020, the official Twitter accounts of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), were hacked, as well as that of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, that of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, that of the former president of the United States, Barack Obama, to offer 5,000 BTC.

It is important to consider that a magnate like Elon Musk or Bill Gates will hardly give away bitcoin or money through social networks. So those “gifts” are often a scam that usually relates to other criminal procedures, like phishing.

This is a technique that consists of impersonating an authority, company, or someone else, to trick the victim and force them to reveal their confidential information.

The Cryptocurrency Boom Meme

Like Dogecoin, other meme cryptocurrencies have experienced a big momentum in recent days. Such is the case of Australian Safe Shepherd (ASS), which in the last day had an increase in its value with 1,143%, which is still a very low price and adheres to the increase in market volume with more than 3,000%, according to CoinMarketCap.

Dogelon Mars (ELON) also joined this list, a token that grew almost 500% in price. Users also talk about Shiba Inu, the main competitor of Dogecoin that multiplied by seven its value after finding a spot in the exchanges Binance, KuCoin, and Huobi.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The measure would face its implementation to set a reduced capital flight in the country. It appears to be related to formal protocols in the nation since trading, in general, is unauthorized.

Iran would have banned transactions with bitcoin and cryptocurrencies that go through its mining and extraction procedures outside the country. Press reports indicate that the central bank is up to apply these new measures to restrict operations of this nature in the Persian nation.

“The central bank stated that according to the Cabinet decision, trades in digital currencies mined abroad is forbidden and only currencies mined within the country can be traded,” reported Iran International channel which is an entity with operations in London.

The measure intends to minimize capital flight due to the loss of value of the rial, the national currency. However, it would be a governmental formalism since bitcoin trading is unauthorized in the nation.

The situation is whether trading with cryptocurrencies mined in Iran would receive authorization to be exchanged on local exchanges, it remains unclear to the date. It is relevant to remember that Bitcoin mining is officially legal inside the country, but cryptocurrencies must find their purchases by miners to the Central Bank of Iran (CBI).

The bank’s decision was a matter of discussion to lawyer Fatemeh Fannizadeh, who posted a series of messages on Twitter. In one of them, the analyst highlighted that what Iran would seek is to export cryptocurrencies mined in its territory more aggressively and encourage local mining.

The specialist explained through his tweets is that he doesn’t think it applies on an individual level. He said that Instead of a total ban, the measure would allow banks and currency exchange houses to use Iranian cryptocurrencies for international transfers.

Iran Uses Bitcoin to Keep a Stable Economy

Iran has shown an ambiguous position regarding digital currencies. First of all, mining is a legal activity since 2019, but exchanges or payments in establishments with bitcoin are not allowed.

Receiving sanctions from the United States of America and not being connected to the SWIFT interbank transaction system would make Iran turn to digital assets as an alternative to evade economic blockages. The government even recently allowed banks to pay for imports with the main cryptocurrency.

Neither the central bank nor the Iranian government have explained how they would manage to keep cryptocurrencies mined abroad out of the country, something that goes against the fungibility of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

 How Bitcoin Mining in Iran Works

Bitcoin mining in Iran is legal and requires the issuance of an operating license. Without this authorization, clandestine farms are under risk of being closed and confiscated, as has happened in the past. Non-legalized miners seek to gain more advantage of subsidized electric power that is available to the general population.

According to the Center for Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge, Iran is the sixth country with the highest processing capacity on the Bitcoin network with 3.82%. The ranking is led by China, the United States, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia.

By: Jenson Nuñez

This ETF will not offer direct or indirect exposure to any specific cryptocurrency. The ETF is already listed on the London Stock Exchange.

After entering the US ETF market and listing on Nasdaq, investment manager VanEck has extended its borders by bringing an ETF of bitcoin and cryptocurrency companies to the European market. Since May 6, it has already been listed on the London Stock Exchange, and it is the first of its kind to reach the European region.

The release appeared through a press release. This press release shows in detail that the ETF, which bears the name VanEck Vector Digital Assets Equity UCITS ETF, trades through the monitoring of the MVIS Global Digital Assets Equity Index. This index also has companies in the field of digital assets, including companies aiming at the cryptocurrency environment.

For a company to appear in the Global Digital Assets Equity Index, it must receive at least 50% of its gross income in digital assets, which may also add crypto assets.

An ETF or listed investment fund, allows investors to set positions on assets, such as in this case, through a set of shares of the same category gathered under a single value.

In this case, DAGB, the name of the VanEck ETF ticker, is traded through the performance of around 26 companies in the digital asset area, including mining companies such as Riot Blockchain, and exchanges such as Coinbase Global and Huobi Technology. Others are not exclusively linked to cryptocurrencies, such as NVIDIA, a video card manufacturer.

Digital Assets and Their Great Momentum

It is also important to consider that this ETF is indexed against companies in the digital asset category, as well as for cryptocurrencies, ETF does not fix a position within its price against the price of any crypto active.

Digital assets have gained fantastic fame around the world in recent years. As a combination with cryptocurrencies, which have seen a solid increase, companies that provide the necessary infrastructure that open doors to the exchange of digital assets and back-end processes also represent a vast benefit.

For investors who are not able or do not want to invest directly in individual cryptocurrencies, this ETF shows greater chances to invest in digital asset companies in a diversified way and to benefit from the positive development of the sector. These ETFs allow investors to gain direct access to markets in the field of cryptocurrencies, but, also, with much more controlled volatility than investing in the asset itself.

Bitcoin Companies ETF that Appear Listed on Nasdaq

Although VanEck is the first to bring an ETF from the cryptocurrencies and assets category to Europe, it already saw the light in the United States stock market last April when DAPP (US version of DAGB) began to appear on the Nasdaq stock market.

As with the launch of the VanEck ETF for the European region, its trade will take effect through the MVIS Global Digital Assets Equity Index, and it won’t include direct exposure on the price of any cryptocurrency, nor on derivatives or initial offerings. (ICO).

By: Jenson Nuñez

Geometric Energy Corporation and SpaceX are about to launch a cargo spaceship arranged with DOGE to the moon. The companies would use DOGE to seal trades in upcoming missions to the moon and Mars.

Elon Musk called the cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE) a “joke” on Saturday Night Live (SNL), and at the same time, his aerospace development company, SpaceX, negotiated a mission with that coin as a method of payment.

The Canadian company Geometric Energy Corporation (GEC) will launch a load on the DOGE-1 to the Moon mission, as it was announced this Sunday, May 9, through a press release.

GEC negotiated with SpaceX using the cryptocurrency based on a meme, which has risen more than 1,000% this year with the support of Elon Musk himself on his social networks. However, the press release is unclear about the amount of the negotiation.

The press release states that the agreement includes contributions between Geometric Space Corporation (GSC) and SpaceX to release a 40 kg cube of instruments for a lunar mission on a spaceship called Falcon 9 rocket, during the beginning of 2022.

Cryptocurrencies are the Future of the Space Sector

The company added in its statement that the payload will acquire lunar spatial intelligence from onboard sensors and cameras with integrated networks that will make communication easier and computer systems to ensure the success of the mission.

Samuel Reid, CEO of GEC, valued the negotiation with cryptocurrency and the future of the aerospace sector. and said that having negotiated with DOGE for an agreement of this kind, Geometric Energy Corporation and SpaceX have solidified DOGE as a unit of account for the lunar business in the space sector,”

For his part, SpaceX Vice President of Sales Tom Ochinero said that a mission like this one will demonstrate how the application of cryptocurrency can be useful even beyond Earth orbit and lay the foundation for interplanetary commerce.

Finally, the statement establishes that the negotiation had also shown the speed, security, and reliability of DOGE. The two companies will use this cryptocurrency in future negotiations. With that mission, the text says, a precedent is set for future missions to the Moon and a planet like Mars.

Musk is the Main Promoter of Dogecoin

During DOGE’s current bull run, Elon Musk has been one of its main promoters. His comments or the simple mention of the cryptocurrency on each of his social networks creates a massive and positive impact on the price of the cryptocurrency, which has already exceeded the capitalization of some banks.

This weekend, the billionaire and founder of Tesla referred to DOGE as “a joke” during his guest appearance in Saturday Night Live, a comedic live show aired in North America. The mention of Musk on one of the most popular comedy shows on American television caused a crash that drove the price of the coin below $ 0.50 again.

However, the next day the news broke about SpaceX’s plans and Musk resumed his bullish stance on cryptocurrency. As of this writing, DOGE has risen more than 6% in 24 hours and is currently struggling to stay above the half dollar.

By: Jenson Nuñez