Meta got Sued by FTC Over VR Fitness App Purchase and a Violation of Antitrust Policies

Jenson Nunez
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Meta got Sued by FTC Over VR Fitness App Purchase and a Violation of Antitrust Policies

The FTC has filed a legal complaint against Meta, highlighting a violation of antitrust policies. Supernatural is a famous VR fitness app that features music tracks from prominent artists. Meta also released its Q2 2022 financial results, and its Reality Labs division lost at least $2.8 billion this quarter.

The Federal Trade Commission currently intends to block social media giant Meta from purchasing the VR fitness app named Supernatural.

The FTC said Meta already has a significant role at each level of the virtual reality sector and highlights the Oculus Quest, its app store, one of the best-selling apps of all time, as evidence of its current dominion.

As a result, it does not desire CEO Mark Zuckerberg to purchase Supernatural to pave its way to reach market dominance. FTC Bureau of Competition Deputy Director John Newman explained that, Instead of competing on the merits, Meta is trying to make its way to the top by purchasing resources.

According to FTC, Meta already owns a best-selling virtual reality fitness app, so it had the power to compete with Within’s popular Supernatural app. But Meta desires to acquire its market position instead of earning it with hard work. This action is an illegal procedure, and the FTC will stand in favor of more appropriate behavior.

Supernatural is a dedicated virtual reality app that brings a VR experience for working out, including music works with major artists like Coldplay, Katy Perry, and Lady Gaga. The complaint highlights that acquiring an app such as Supernatural, Meta would reduce the competition and goes against antitrust policies.

Metaverse Division Reality Labs Observed a $2.8B Loss.

Meta also revealed its second quarter financial results for 2022. Like the quarters before, the results present that VR and metaverse strategies represent a challenge for the entity. The company has already lost $2.8 billion this quarter from its Reality Labs division and $5.7 billion this year.

The company also hopes that the third-quarter Reality Labs income could be lower than the second quarter, which is not a good prediction. Still, the entity continues to use its resources to improve the metaverse.

Meta does not Receive Major impacts by Losses

Meta leads many parallel efforts closely linked to the metaverse and NFTs. Earlier this month, Meta enacted an NFT showcase feature on Facebook profiles. The crypto winter does not seem to have discouraged this project either, as it has confirmed that, during this time, it will still have NFTs.

Many big tech entities are trying to make their way to the metaverse; these entities are working hard to get on top. In the past year, many patents got filed, which is a sign that the metaverse will face promising improvements.

Big Tech in the Metaverse

The colonization of the metaverse is a reality. The metaverse is an integrated network of 3D virtual reality spaces, an immersive environment that, according to many tech experts, would become the next big stage of the internet. Patent applications include everything from hardware and software created to represent items found in the real world but emulated in a virtual world by 3D projections.

By: Jenson Nuñez

According to the IMF, Stablecoins Put Crypto Markets at Risk of Further Collapses

Alexander Salazar
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According to the IMF, Stablecoins Put Crypto Markets at Risk of Further Collapses

Tobias Adrian stated there might be further sell-offs in crypto markets and flaws in some digital asset offerings. The IMF recently said a dramatic sell-off had led crypto assets to suffer huge losses and algorithmic stablecoins to fail.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently said that crypto markets might experience growing selling pressure and more flaws in cryptocurrency offerings.

Tobias Adrian, director of Monetary Markets of the IMF, stated that there might be more sell-offs in both crypto asset and risky asset markets. He added that there might be more flaws in some digital asset offerings, particularly in some algorithmic stablecoins.

Likewise, Adrian expressed that the price of cryptocurrencies would drop even more in the case of a recession.

The economist thinks that more fiat-backed stablecoins might experience a collapse. In May, the crash of TerraUSD (UST), an algorithmic stablecoin, triggered a bearish crypto market.

Referring to Tether (USDT), Adrian explained there was some vulnerability since stablecoins are not one-to-one backed. Furthermore, he said that somewhat risky assets back some fiat-backed stablecoins, highlighting that cash does not fully support some leading stablecoins.

Unlike the 2008 financial crisis, losses have not spread to the traditional financial system, although crypto markets have crashed.

The growth of digital assets might pose a threat to the traditional market, according to the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB). The IMF called for more regulation on cryptocurrencies, like in January when it warned El Salvador to remove BTC as legal tender.

The IMF Says Cryptocurrencies Do Not Affect the Traditional Financial System

Tobias Adrian recently expressed that he is less concerned about a new shadow-banking incident. He said the assets hidden off the balance sheet collapsed and exposed the banking system to billions in losses and liquidity problems in 2008.

Adrian explained that financial institutions suffered much exposure to shadow banks in the 2008 crisis. However, he stresses that this exposure now occurs through crypto assets.

The IMF singled out crypto assets in its latest global economic outlook report. They said a dramatic sell-off had led crypto assets to suffer huge losses and algorithmic stablecoins and cryptocurrency hedge funds to fail. However, they pointed out that the effects on the traditional financial system have been insignificant.

The IMF lowered its expectations for global economic growth this year due to growing inflation and continuous increases in interest rates.

However, Adrian considers that more regulations are necessary to protect investors and the financial system. Therefore, there should be a global regulatory approach to avoid cross-border regulatory arbitrage.

Tobias Adrian noted that there are 40,000 digital currencies in the market, which makes regulating them difficult. However, he believes controlling entry points like exchanges and wallet providers is concrete and doable.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at around USD 23,030 and accumulated an 8.1% gain over the last 24 hours. Its daily trading volume is above USD 58.72 billion, while its market capitalization is about USD 440.06 billion, according to CoinGecko.

By Alexander Salazar

Bitcoin (BTC) Records Largest Inflows since November 2021

Audy Castañeda
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Bitcoin (BTC) Records Largest Inflows since November 2021

According to a CoinShares report, Bitcoin inflows are on the rise this month. BTC inflows account for 58% of the total inflows in the crypto sector.

Inflows to digital asset investment products totaled $30 million last week. In contrast, the previous week, inflows reached $343 million, according to a new report from CoinShares.

According to such a report, last week’s $343 million inflows were the largest inflows since November 2021.

According to CoinShares, $30 million was reported as inflows to digital asset investment products last week. This brings total inflows since the beginning of the month to $394 million. Meanwhile, total assets under management (AuM) have returned to their early June 2022 value of $30 billion.

Bitcoin and Alternative Currencies

Bitcoin saw inflows totaling $19 million last week. By contrast, inflows the previous week reached $206 million. This represented the largest week of inflows since May 2022 for the largest cryptocurrency.

Additionally, the report noted that last week’s results generated inflows of $221.5 million so far this month. Meanwhile, inflows so far this year have totaled $241.3 million.

It is worth noting that the year-to-date inflows for Bitcoin represent 58% of the total year-to-date inflows for all assets. The latter reached $415 million, according to data from CoinShares.

Last week, the Short-Bitcoin product saw inflows of $0.6 million. However, the asset’s AuM fell 9% from its July 13 high of $145 million to $133 million. This occurred due to the positive price action of Bitcoin.

Regarding Ethereum, in contrast, CoinShares said that its total inflows last week amounted to $8.1 million. The largest altcoin recorded $120 million in inflows in the previous week.

According to the report, this represented the largest week of inflows since June 2021 and “implied a turning point in sentiment after a recent 11-week run of outflows.” CoinShares said that with the upcoming Merge update, investor interest in Ethereum is gradually returning.

The performance of altcoin last week put its total month-to-date inflows at $137 million. This represented a 35% share of the total $393.5 million recorded in inflows this month for all assets analyzed in the report.

So far, a low of $1,367 has been reached in June. The low was combined with an all-time low of 29 in the weekly RSI. Since then, the indicator has been increasing and has moved outside of its oversold territory. While this is a bullish sign, the RSI is still below 50. If the upward movement continues, the closest resistance area would be at $2,400, created by the 0.382 Fib retracement resistance level.

The Swiss Love Cryptocurrencies

The report shows that the majority of entries during the period under review came from Switzerland.

Last week, $16 million of the total $30 million recorded as inflows into digital asset investment products came from Switzerland. In the previous week, inflows from Switzerland totaled $356 million.

With inflows accounted for $577 million since the beginning of this year, Switzerland remains “a favored region for digital asset investors.” The United States and Germany lagged behind with small inflows of $9 million and $5 million, respectively.

By Audy Castaneda

Bitcoin (BTC) Climbs Back above $23,000 after Recent Drop

Audy Castañeda
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Bitcoin (BTC) Climbs Back above $23,000 after Recent Drop

Bitcoin has broken out of a short-term and long-term descending resistance line. The daily RSI has bounced off its ascending support trend line. BTC has support and resistance at $21,600 and $29,370.

Bitcoin (BTC) has broken through a short-term resistance level, while its daily RSI has returned to bullish territory.

Bitcoin had been trading below a descending resistance line since early April. This move lower led to a long-term low of $17.622 on June 18.

Bitcoin has been moving mostly higher ever since and broke out of the line on July 18. Although the price initially fell, it managed to recover significantly on July 27 and created a large bullish candle. In turn, this validated the $21,600 area as support.

More importantly, the daily RSI bounced off its ascending support line (green icon) and moved above 50 once again. This is considered a bullish sign and means that the bullish structure is intact as long as the RSI is trading above the ascending support line.

If the up move continues, the nearest resistance area would likely be found at $29.370, created by the 0.382 Fibonacci retracement resistance level.

Short term break

The six-hour chart supports the daily time frame finding and shows a break of a shorter-term descending resistance line. Subsequently, BTC managed to move above the 0.618 Fibonacci retracement resistance level at $22,960.

Finally, the 6-hour RSI broke a descending resistance line and moved above 50, which are considered signs of an uptrend.

BTC Wave Count Analysis

The most likely short-term wave count suggests that Bitcoin has completed wave two (yellow) of a five-wave uptrend. Within the pattern, the count of subwaves (black) formed a complex W-X-Y corrective pattern, in which the W and Y waves had an exact 1:1 ratio.

The surge on July 27 is probably the start of wave three of the same move. The sub-wave count is shown in black.

As of July 27, Bitcoin was trading inside a strong support area at $21,000, created by the 0.5 Fib retracement level and a horizontal support area.

It previously drifted below it on July 26 before retrieving it the next day. Its validation as support would be a strong signal that the short-term correction is complete.

Bubble Alert – Bitcoin Today

At the time of writing, Bitcoin rises +0.78% to 21,377.84 USD/BTC. Its price is up +0.78% intraday today, trading at $23,148.91.

Here are some more stats to consider:

                                Evolution of Bitcoin in 2021 = +59.71%.

                                Evolution of Bitcoin in 2022 = -50.91%.

                                Evolution of Bitcoin in June 2022 = -39.05%.

                                Evolution of Bitcoin in 1 week = -0.39%.

                                Evolution of Bitcoin in 1 year = -42.22%.

After all, is it profitable to be a Bitcoin miner at the current price?

Decrypt published an interesting article that explores beyond the headline number and spoke with the CEO of mining company CleanSpark (CLSK) on the subject.

The JPMorgan report emphasized that cost-cutting can reduce pressure on miners to sell their Bitcoin holdings. The report also attributed the lower production costs to a “strong effort” by miners to maintain profitability by deploying more efficient mining equipment. Related to the latter idea, the report casts doubt on the assumption that a significant number of lower-efficiency miners have gone offline.

It is worth considering that the war in Ukraine has disrupted energy markets. And because miners without power contracts face higher fees in the current environment, and the price of Bitcoin has fallen substantially, there is likely to be a marginal loss in total network hash rate at the low-efficiency endpoint. . For example, at Bitcoin prices below $24,000, popular Bitmain S9 miners are likely to be unprofitable when paying more than $0.04/KWh for electricity.

All in all, the best advice is to conduct your own research before making investment decisions.

By Audy Castaneda

Coinbase Is under Investigation by the SEC for Listing Allegedly Unregistered Securities

Alexander Salazar
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Coinbase Is under Investigation by the SEC for Listing Allegedly Unregistered Securities

Paul Grewal has filed a petition with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to establish clear rules concerning digital asset securities. He stated that the DOJ and the SEC are analyzing the same evidence but have different opinions on the assets involved.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly investigating Coinbase, alleging that the firm listed unregistered securities on its platform.

In this regard, the regulatory agency has taken action against the exchange on previous occasions. In 2021, they intended to sue Coinbase over another securities-related product called Coinbase Lend.

On July 21st, the SEC also charged one of the former employees of Coinbase with violating its insider trading rules. Before the platform offered some tokens, he leaked classified information to help his brother and a friend.

Jim Cramer, the TV investment guru, said he had waited for this SEC investigation into Coinbase for years. He commented that no one could do whatever they wanted with securities in the United States.

The SEC Investigates the Exchange for Listing Allegedly Unregistered Securities

According to Bloomberg, the SEC alleged in this investigation that nine tokens listed on Coinbase platforms are securities. These crypto assets are AMP, RLY, DDX, XYO, RGT, LCX, POWR, DFX, and KROM.

The SEC has increased its scrutiny of Coinbase since the platform expanded the number of tokens in which it offers transactions. Two people said they did not want anyone to know their names, as the investigation has not yet become public knowledge.

However, Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer of Coinbase, has officially denied these allegations, claiming that the exchange does not list securities. He also requested the SEC to establish clear rules concerning digital asset securities.

Grewal reiterated that the SEC has already reviewed its rigorous due diligence process to keep securities off its platform. Besides, he stated that they look forward to working with the SEC on that matter.

Faryar Shirzad, the CPO of Coinbase, said that they requested the SEC to develop a workable regulatory framework. They want formal procedures and a public notice and comment process to guide digital asset securities, not a secretly-developed arbitrary app or guidance.

Coinbase Objects to the Investigation against It by the SEC

Shirzad says that Coinbase agrees with Commissioner Pham but completely disagrees with the decision by the SEC. The agency brought these securities fraud charges and the substance of the accusations.

Paul Grewal stated that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the SEC are analyzing the same evidence. However, he pointed out that only the latter considers the crypto assets involved in the insider trading case to be securities.

Grewal explained that they had cooperated with the DOJ and the SEC in this investigation. He said the Department of Justice reviewed the same facts and chose not to file securities fraud charges.

Therefore, Coinbase disagrees with the SEC in that nine digital assets listed on its platform are securities. He said they have a rigorous process to analyze and review each digital asset before offering it on its exchange.

By Alexander Salazar

How to invest in Web3? Learn about the Five Best Stocks to Buy

Audy Castañeda
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How to invest in Web3? Learn about the Five Best Stocks to Buy

There are several factors to consider. That is, which companies should investors watch? What differentiates them from their competitors?

The first iteration of the Internet, in its most disorganized style, was called Web 1.0. The dotcom boom of the 2000s is considered Web 2.0. The third improved version of this would imply a greater degree of freedom, more power, and more privacy for regular users through the use of Blockchain technology. This latter one is known as Web3.

Big Tech and Web3 Applications

Web3 applications are still in the early days of conceptualization. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that big technology companies (Big Tech) need to innovate. Some tech firms have already declared their interest in Blockchain technology, and others are experimenting with things like AI and virtual reality.

Some Big Tech are still on the sidelines. However, increased competition and technological advancement are likely to force them to take a stand. This provides more motivation to invest in Web3 stocks.

Top 5 Web3 Actions

There are many Web3 business opportunities worth considering. With a view to making your decision easier, we will now look at 5 Web3 actions that tick all the preliminary boxes.

All of the companies on the list have earned a good degree of public support from the crypto community. However, It is important to do your own research in order to make sensible and responsible decisions.

  1. Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN): It is directly involved in Web3.0 in a pretty obvious way. On the one hand, of course, it indirectly supports many of the developing Blockchain companies by helping to sell their native tokens.

Coinbase shares can be traded like any other public company. While Coinbase shares have fallen in recent months, much of its popularity is intrinsically tied to the allure of cryptocurrencies. This is an important detail to consider before making your investment decision.

  • Apple Inc. (AAPL): It has been involved in some of the most exciting technological innovations of the last few decades. Naturally, its price fluctuates significantly over a period of time. However, Apple stock has, in many ways, been the flagship when it comes to this type of investment. It’s hard to imagine Web3 without Apple’s involvement in some significant capacity.
  • International Business Machines Corporation (IBM): In terms of overall value, IBM remains one of the largest companies in the world, along with Microsoft, Amazon, and Google. The company’s history, as well as its plans, help make it a great prospect for the future. IBM may well retain its status as one of the world’s leading companies even as Web3 becomes a reality.
  • NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA): It hopes to greatly increase automation. This may appear to have potentially harmful effects on workers in the short term. After all, it would mean that machines will perform more and more tasks. However, there is certainly a silver lining to all of this. Experimental enthusiasts believe this will lead to a high degree of decentralization in Web3. In the best-case scenario, the use of AI will help to replace various third-party intermediaries in the crypto ecosystem and elsewhere.
  • Unity Software Inc. (U): While it’s true that Unity’s share price has fallen over the past year, the same can be said for some of its direct competitors. Still, there are reasons to be optimistic about having this on your list of Web3 actions to consider.

There is no doubt that Web3 will become an important part of our lives in the future, and there are several major companies working on related initiatives.

By Audy Castaneda

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