New Scandal Shakes Binance

Audy Castañeda
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Binance France and Binance Holdings Limited are being sued over alleged misleading commercial practices and fraudulent concealment.

This end of the year is undoubtedly one of the most incredible periods for Binance. After the scandal related to its proof of reserves, another case arrives that plunges the crypto platform into an unprecedented crisis.

In fact, a group of fifteen French investors has decided to sue Binance France and the parent company Binance Holdings Limited. The charges against the exchange are the alleged use of deceptive practices and fraudulent concealment.

Fifteen French Investors File Complaint Against Binance

A group of fifteen French investors decided to sue Binance France and its parent company Binance Holdings Limited in court. The plaintiffs accuse the exchange of practices that are less than suspicious. The complaint was made public on December 14. In essence, the exchange would have violated the rules in force on French soil.

Advertising and distribution of crypto services without prior registration by government authorities is a violation. This is exactly what Binance allegedly did, according to the plaintiffs.

Since May 2022, Binance has had the approval of the AMF, but the facts denounced are after this date. With its French license, the platform could enable crypto asset custody and cryptocurrency trading.

In support of their complaint, the plaintiffs use screenshots to justify Binance’s activities on the internet, prior to obtaining the license.

In fact, the plaintiffs claim approximately 2.4 million euros from the platform. They would have lost this sum after the collapse of TerraUSD (UST), a token that Binance announced was backed by the dollar.

Binance’s Reaction

The exchange refuted the charges in a blog post answering a few questions. The crypto platform denies any promotional activity before obtaining the license.

Since the accusations are also related to the Telegram group, the platform believes that the forum concerns all users in the world and not only French ones. In addition, Binance specifies that entry to Telegram groups is voluntary and that each user can create one if they wish.

Binance also responded to questions about the publicity of the Terra stablecoin in the country. The company noted that its communication presents staking with Binance as “safe, and not the underlying tokens.” The exchange also noted that it always includes market risk warnings for crypto products, and has further strengthened its descriptions. Meanwhile, it is difficult to say how far this case will go, but the next few days will be decisive.

It is worth remembering a series of dramatic events in May 2022 that led to an unprecedented drop in the price of the LUNA token, and its associated stablecoin, TerraUSD (UST), which was designed to maintain algorithmic parity with the US dollar, but instead plunged below $0.30.

By Audy Castaneda

Bitcoin’s Big Forecast for 2023

Audy Castañeda
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0
<strong>Bitcoin’s Big Forecast for 2023</strong>

The Bitcoin forecast for the next year 2023 is presented, including where the most important cryptocurrency is headed in the next 12 months.

The Bitcoin course has experienced a rather difficult time in the last 12 months. The bear market began at the end of 2021 and continued for much of 2022. That meant a long crypto winter in 2022. But 2023 is right around the corner and there are many signs that give great hope for a Bitcoin explosion in the coming year.

The bitcoin price has suffered heavy losses in the past 12 months, losing more than 75% of its value since its all-time high. This all-time high was still over $68,000 in November 2021. However, at the beginning of the year, it was only $48,000. So in the last 12 months, it’s over 65%.

Why Could 2023 Be a Better Year for Bitcoin?

The course of Bitcoin did not have a particularly good time in 2022. With a bear market lasting more than 2 years in recent years, many investors assume that 2023 should also be a year of stable or even lower low prices. Nevertheless, this time they could be wrong.

There are many reasons why we could see significant increases in the price of Bitcoin in 2023:

Firstly, the second year of the bear market in the last cycle was very positive, at least in some moments. The Bitcoin price rose from $3,500 in early 2019 to $10,500 in the summer of this year.

Secondly, the FTX crisis has caused a sharp fall in prices and triggered a crisis of confidence in the market. But the crisis could also have a cleansing effect on the market. From this initial position, a growing and healthy market can again develop.

Thirdly, FIAT currencies strengthened again last year due to increases in key US interest rates for the dollar. Stocks, commodities, and also cryptocurrencies – everything has suffered in value compared to the US dollar. But the ever-rising interest rate policy could end in 2023. Then the price of Bitcoin should adjust upwards.

What is the Bitcoin Forecast for 2023?

The Bitcoin forecast for the next year 2023 looks quite positive, due to the abovementioned factors. The market could well move in a bullish direction again in the coming year.

Therefore, the price of Bitcoin could well rise above $30,000 or even above $40,000, ideally towards $50,000. However, just like in 2019, there could be a consolidation in the second half of the year. year. Thus, one could assume a Bitcoin forecast by the end of 2023 of $20,000 to $27,000.

Although there could still be a short-term drop towards $10,000, the price of Bitcoin should rise again in the next 12 months, as this Bitcoin 2023 forecast shows. Therefore, an investment at these low prices could be worth it.

By Audy Castaneda

Square Enix Invests in Gaming Firm NFT, Beeple Talks the Future of NFT Art

Audy Castañeda
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<strong>Square Enix Invests in Gaming Firm NFT, Beeple Talks the Future of NFT Art</strong>

These are some recent news about NFTs.

Japanese NFT-supported gaming giant Square Enix has invested 7 billion yen ($52.7 million) in in-game developer Gumi to create “high-quality” mobile games, Blockchain games, and a Metaverse initiative, among other things.

Meanwhile, Michael Winkelmann, the highly successful digital artist also known as Beeple, believes that all physical art in the future will one day have an NFT attached to it.

Square Enix and Partnership with Gumi

According to a translation of a press release by the company, the partnership will help Gumi leverage certain Square Enix intellectual property, while it has also been hinted that the duo could team up for a marketplace focused on NFT games.

“We are already considering the establishment of a platform dedicated to Blockchain gaming and an NFT marketplace, etc. Through the collaboration between the two companies, we will provide a one-stop service from the development and distribution of Blockchain games to the sale and distribution of tokens and NFTs.”

The company also outlined plans to work on a series of NFT games that will likely have Metaverse integrations. The Japanese company has outlined a quirky new term called “Wow and Earn” which essentially refers to games built from a world-famous IP that is integrated with Blockchain-based Play-to-Earn (P2E) features.

“In the future, by considering the use of powerful content that everyone recognizes, we will move away from the highly speculative Blockchain games of the past and create value while enjoying fun and excitement. We strongly recognize that there is a need for game users around the world to create a Blockchain game that realizes ‘Wow and Earn,’” the statement read.

Gumi also stated that it is “working day and night” to develop its arm of the Metaverse-focused business as it looks to add another source of revenue outside of mobile gaming.

Gumi previously worked with Square Enix on a couple of mobile games as part of the Final Fantasy Brave Exvius series, and both firms are partners in the Oasys Blockchain gaming project, which is building its own network designed exclusively for P2E gaming.

Beeple Describes the Future of NFTs and Art

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal on December 23, Beeple suggested that NFTs will greatly help the art industry by providing superior methods of tracking provenance and storing verifiable authentic data.

“I think all paintings will eventually have NFTs attached just because, again, it’s a better system than just handing you a piece of paper,” he said, adding the following:

“If you had a standardization around ‘this is a painting,’ you could have all the provenance in the metadata of that NFT. You could have [that data on] where that painting was shown. So it’s all there and searchable in a database.”

As such, he believes that NFTs will eventually help build a standardized art database that “everyone trusts.”

By Audy Castaneda

The Ethereum Energy Consumption Was Reduced by 99.9%

Audy Castañeda
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<strong>The Ethereum Energy Consumption Was Reduced by 99.9%</strong>

Last September The Merge took place, considered more of an energy revolution since it allows the reduction of the electricity consumption of the Blockchain.

Last September, The Merge took place, one of the crucial milestones in the development of the Ethereum ecosystem. Enabled the transition from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS). This implies, among other things, a change in the model used to validate transactions. For many, The Merge is more of an energy revolution than anything else. This is because it allows the reduction of the electricity consumption of the chain of blocks.

Ethereum More Environmentally Friendly

Long criticized for its excessive energy consumption, the Ethereum network has managed to establish a less greedy model, thanks to the Merge, which operated last September. In the past, energy consumption ranged from 46.31 terawatt hours (TWh) to 93.98 TWh per year. This finding is the result of data provided by ConsenSys, a software company specializing in Ethereum.

Now, this consumption is reduced by 99.9%, allowing the Vitalik Buterin network to achieve its goal. The same goes for the carbon footprint of the Blockchain. We learn that these figures are also better than what was expected in the short term by the team behind The Merge.

After The Merge

Immediately after The Merge, there was a sharp drop in network consumption. As a result, the carbon footprint is currently 0.1 million tons of CO2 (MtCO2) per year. Specifically, compared to Blockchain transactions, the energy consumption is 0.03-kilowatt hours (kWh) and the carbon footprint is 0.01 kg CO2. According to analysts, this corresponds to the electricity consumed to watch two hours of videos on YouTube.

Ethereum thus positions at the forefront of an era of adaptation to new requirements for environmental protection.

Despite this successful transition from Ethereum to PoS, concerns remain. After The Merge, 46.15% of the nodes for storing data, processing transactions, and adding new Blockchain blocks are assigned to only two addresses. This makes community members say that the network is less decentralized than before.

It should be remembered that last May, Vijay Boyapati, author of the book “The bullish case for Bitcoin”. used ideological arguments, considering that decentralization would be affected. He also added the following:

“Proof of stake does not replace the current politically motivated financial system. It is a politically motivated financial system, wrapped in a thin layer of cryptography.”

In his opinion, “proof of work is the only way to separate money and State.”

Some expert concerns revolve around the Proof of Stake feature, which would give privileges to those who get in first, and, since only capital is needed, anyone with enough money will have more decision-making power. With PoS, according to some of its detractors, this happens because it is money that produces more money, Ethereum would then resemble the fiat system.

By Audy Castaneda

Bitcoin Volatility Drops to Record Low as Hash Rate Tanks

Audy Castañeda
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<strong>Bitcoin Volatility Drops to Record Low as Hash Rate Tanks</strong>

Volatility spiked again towards the end of that year following the last washout on Dec. 15, when BTC fell to $3,200.

On-chain analysis indicates that Bitcoin market volatility is at its lowest period. Crypto analysts have been monitoring BTC’s historical volatility levels and have bottomed out.

The last time volatility plummeted to levels close to current ones was in late 2018. This was a bear market similar to current conditions, with cryptocurrency prices plummeting during that year.

Will Clemente, Co-Founder of @ReflexivityRes, tweeted that “Bitcoin’s volatility is at an all-time low.”

Other analysts also confirmed the new Bitcoin volatility low. The asset has traded between $15,700 and just over $18,000 over the past six weeks. With most of the world in a holiday period, market activity is unlikely to pick up until next month.

It was noted that a rally has previously followed periods of such low volatility. “Every time volatility fell below the ‘1’ value, it was followed by a bullish rally with one exception: October 2018,” one analyst said.

Coiner-Yadox, Bybit Affiliate , tweeted that “Bitcoin volatility is lower than 2018 just before the 6k break.”

Bitcoin Hash Rate Plummets

Volatility is not the only metric that has taken a dive for Bitcoin. The hash rate of the network is also dropping considerably; however, the two are not necessarily connected.

According to Blockchain.com, hash rates dropped to 229 TH/s (terahashes per second) on December 25. This represents a 16% decline from the all-time high in early November.

The recent drop was blamed on Texas miners shutting down due to severe weather conditions and demand on power grids. There have been concerns about another liquidation of distressed miners, but it has yet to materialize.

Dennnis Porter, CEO & Co-Founder of @SatoshiActFund, tweeted that “Over 30% of the #Bitcoin hashrate has gone offline due to extreme weather in Texas, and yet the global #Bitcoin network continues to work perfectly. Now imagine if Amazon or Google tried turning off 1/3rd of their data centers.”

BTC Price Outlook

Bitcoin prices have done very little over the weekend, hovering around $16,800 for the Christmas holidays.

However, BTC rose to a five-day high of $16,895 during the Asian trading session on Monday morning. There hasn’t been any real momentum since the asset fell below $17K on Dec 16, it has flattened ever since.

The crypto market capitalization is currently at $846 billion, which is pretty close to the highs after the 2017 bull market. With a 72.5% drop, most analysts agree that the markets are close. bottoming out for this bearish cycle.

By Audy Castaneda

Coinbase (COIN): Annus Horribilis

Audy Castañeda
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0
<strong>Coinbase (COIN): Annus Horribilis</strong>

Coinbase did not shine in the market for various reasons in 2022.

Coinbase, the company founded ten years ago by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam in San Francisco, has been listed under the title COIN on Wall Street since April 2021. The stock represents the most important stock exchange in the United States of America, and one of the largest in the world by market capitalization.

Coinbase is part of a small circle of publicly traded companies in the crypto world. The others are Block Inc. (formerly Square) and cryptocurrency mining companies Core Scientific and Riot Blockchain.

Bad news never comes alone, and aside from critical market issues and the Terra Luna, Three Arrows Capital, and FTX scandals, Coinbase did not shine in the market for various reasons.

The swap has been sued by the Supreme Court of the United States, in addition to already having two pending lawsuits that are heading to the final stage.

This and the downgrade of some investment banks caused the stock to fall on the stock market, reaching new lows.

Projections on Coinbase Shares (COIN) on the Stock Market

COIN is down 87% year to date to record a new low, since its inception in April last year.

On December 21, 2021, one share changed hands for $268.15 but, as we write, it is trading at $33 each.

The Bank of America has downgraded the exchange-related stock (Coinbase Global) from Buy to Neutral.

According to the analysts of the historic US investment bank, in a note, the choice was based on the reduction of risks in the short/medium term. They further added the following:

“We’re confident COIN won’t be another FTX (only $15 million in deposits on the FTX platform, according to a Coinbase blog post, and $5 billion in cash on hand as of September 30), but that doesn’t make them immune to broader spillovers. within the cryptocurrency ecosystem.”

Bank of America recognized, in the drastic drop in user confidence in the crypto world, the lack of clear regulation, as well as the danger of contagion from Extension FTP that is still around in the sector, as the main causes of the collapse.

Japanist Analysts Also Concerned with COIN

On the other side of the world, the rising sun was no different, and the title also generated discontent among Japanese analysts.

Mizuho is among the banks critical of COIN but has maintained its Neutral rating despite the sector’s daily volumes declining to the point of being below yearly averages by almost 40%, making it clear that:

“Consumers are exhausted and no longer interested in the asset class. After several months of stock losses against the 30 largest cryptocurrency exchanges, the FTX debacle has offered a bit of a respite for COIN, which has posted modest capital gains over the past week. But should investors rejoice? In our opinion, no, as other exchanges like Binance have gained significantly more shares.”

This is the comment in an official document of the Japanese institute, Mizuho.

By Audy Castaneda

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