Thursday, 11th August 2022

The Daily Spin. Thinflation Thursday Edition. Okay folks we’ve got a lot to get through today so let’s go with our round-up of curated news and opinions (likely biased) from the world of Blockchain, keeping you informed of the most trending, in-the-know, and controversial topics…don’t miss our upcoming events, some world headlines and a thought leadership section and remember to stay curious, inspired, and clinically sane…

Ongoings at Coinweb

Monthly Coinweb Fireside Chat Meetup will be on the 16th of August.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1124800338390598/

The Lightpaper summary video with 3D animations has been released! Check it out and don’t forget to watch it all in one go (8mins), smash that like and subscribe bell! Drop a comment and say hi!!
https://youtu.be/Vj5itrRAgQA

On the Radar
Cardano Vasil Hard Fork (still waiting)
https://dailyhodl.com/2022/07/31/cardanos-vasil-hard-fork-delayed-for-several-more-weeks-as-ada-sees-green-week/

Korea Blockchain Week, Aug 7 (Seoul)

Toby Gilbert on-stage (Aug 12) @
Play-2-Earn Expo Asia, Aug 10-13 (Bangkok)
https://coinweb.io/events/play-2-earn-expo-asia-10-13th-august-2022/

Ethereum Goerli Merge, Aug 11
https://hackmd.io/@benjaminion/BkxQTpqpi9

Coinweb Fireside Chat: The Bear Has Awoken, Aug 16 (Bangkok)

Coinfest Asia, Aug 25 (Bali)
Techsauce Summit, Aug 25-26 (Bangkok)
AEternity Universe 2, Sep 15 (Unstrut)
Token2049, Sep 28-29 (Singapore)

On the Block (chain)
Curve Finance Front-end UI Compromised - DO NOT Interact
https://cryptoslate.com/curve-finance-front-end-ui-compromised-in-dns-hack-users-advised-not-to-interact/

Pantera Capital CEO ($5.1bn hedge fund) calls new rally and ETH+ALTs set to outperform
https://dailyhodl.com/2022/08/09/5100000000-crypto-hedge-fund-ceo-says-new-rally-incoming-ethereum-and-altcoins-set-to-outperform/

Ark Invest Founder Cathie Wood Bullish on Blackrock Entry
https://dailyhodl.com/2022/08/09/cathie-wood-of-ark-invest-says-blackrocks-entrance-to-crypto-could-more-than-double-price-of-bitcoin/

Binance to Cease off-chain transfers for WazirX
https://cryptoslate.com/binance-to-cease-off-chain-transfers-for-wazirx/

Alex Mashinsky Under Fire as Creditors Implicate Him
https://cryptoslate.com/celsius-ceo-under-fire-as-committee-of-creditors-dfpi-implicate-him/

Yet Another BitMEX Exec Pleads Guilty to Violating Bank Secrecy Act
https://cryptoslate.com/another-bitmex-executive-pleads-guilty-to-violating-bank-secrecy-act/

Circle Says Freezing Wallets Went Against its Beliefs of an Open Internet
https://cryptoslate.com/circle-says-freezing-wallets-went-against-its-beliefs-of-an-open-internet/

Circle to Fully Support ETH-POS Exclusively
https://cryptoslate.com/circle-to-fully-and-solely-support-ethereum-pos/

CommerceBlock CEO Slams US Treasury Departments Crackdown on Tornado
https://cryptoslate.com/commerceblock-ceo-slams-us-treasury-departments-crackdown-on-tornado-cash-says-it-makes-little-sense/

Competitive Landscape
NEAR Protocol Opens Doors to JavaScript Devs with SDK Release
https://cryptoslate.com/near-protocol-opens-doors-to-javascript-developers-with-sdk-release/

FTXPay Integrates with Reddit’s Arbitrum Nova Powered Community Points System
https://news.bitcoin.com/ftx-pay-integrates-with-reddits-arbitrum-nova-powered-community-points-system/?utm_source=OneSignalPush&utm_medium=notification&utm_campaign=PushNotifications

Polygon’s Dragoma P2E Rug Scores Over $1m
https://cryptoslate.com/over-1m-lost-to-polygon-based-dragoma-rug-pull/

ErgoDEX Rebrands to Spectrum in Anticipation of Cardano Mainnet Release
https://cryptoslate.com/ergodex-rebrands-to-spectrum-in-anticipation-of-cardano-mainnet-release/

Eleet Games to Launch New Games and NFTs on Tezos
https://alexablockchain.com/eleet-games-to-launch-new-games-and-associated-nfts-on-tezos/

Hodlnaut is Latest CeFi Downed, Freezes Withdrawals and Suspends MAS Licence Application
https://cryptoslate.com/singapore-based-lending-platform-hodlnaut-freezes-withdrawals-suspends-mas-license-application/

KQuasars Launches New Astrophysical NFT Collection
https://news.bitcoin.com/kquasars-launches-new-astrophysical-nft-collection/?utm_source=OneSignalPush&utm_medium=notification&utm_campaign=PushNotifications

Theta Labs signs MOU with Samsung, along with 5 other non-blockchain service providers to Build Galaxy NFT Ecosystem
https://news.bitcoin.com/report-samsung-signs-mou-to-build-galaxy-nft-ecosystem/?utm_source=OneSignalPush&utm_medium=notification&utm_campaign=PushNotifications
https://cryptoslate.com/ergodex-rebrands-to-spectrum-in-anticipation-of-cardano-mainnet-release/

World
U.S. Inflation Data Comes in Lower than Expected at 8.5%
https://www.ft.com/content/9d0cc752-9e65-45aa-8fc2-de0999cf632d

Thailand Plans to Tighten Crypto Oversight, Giving BoT More Powers to Regulate Digital Assets
https://news.bitcoin.com/thailand-plans-to-tighten-crypto-oversight-giving-central-bank-more-powers-to-regulate-digital-assets/?utm_source=OneSignalPush&utm_medium=notification&utm_campaign=PushNotifications

China’s Cyberspace Administration Issues Warning on Promotional Cryptocurrency Materials
https://cryptoslate.com/chinas-cyberspace-administration-issues-warning-on-promotional-cryptocurrency-material/

U.S. Vows to Aggressively Pursue Crypto Mixers Following Tornado Cash Sanctions
https://cryptoslate.com/us-vows-to-aggressively-pursue-crypto-mixers-following-tornado-cash-sanctions/

Iran Places First Official Import Order with Cryptocurrency worth $10m
https://news.bitcoin.com/iran-places-first-official-import-order-with-cryptocurrency-worth-10-million/?utm_source=OneSignalPush&utm_medium=notification&utm_campaign=PushNotifications

Over 70,000 Ripple Holders Join Class Action Lawsuit Against SEC
https://cryptoslate.com/over-70k-ripple-holders-join-class-action-lawsuit-against-sec/

Crypto Firms Raised Over $30bn in H1 2022
https://dailyhodl.com/2022/08/09/crypto-firms-raised-over-30000000000-in-first-six-months-of-2022-despite-bear-winter-analytics-company/

Reserve Bank of Australia to Pilot Digital Currency Use
https://news.bitcoin.com/reserve-bank-of-australia-to-pilot-digital-currency-explore-use-cases/?utm_source=OneSignalPush&utm_medium=notification&utm_campaign=PushNotifications

Thought Leadership
Forbes Asia’s Best Under a Billion 2022
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ardianwibisono/2022/08/09/forbes-asias-best-under-a-billion-2022/?utm_medium=browser_notifications&utm_source=pushly&utm_campaign=2318721&sh=534ba4be1123

How to Use Nansen to Analyze On-Chain Data to Find Your Alpha (18mins)
https://cryptoslate.com/videos/how-to-analyze-on-chain-data-with-nansen-to-find-your-own-alpha-for-trading-and-investing/

GameFi Report - July
https://cryptoslate.com/whats-changed-in-gamefi-in-the-last-month-july-report/

Someone is Using Tornado Cash to Send ETH to Doxxed Addresses
https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/wkdwj8/someone_is_using_tornado_cash_to_send_eth_to/

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https://preview.redd.it/zvt05uwmr0h91.png?width=741&format=png&auto=webp&s=ac60778314f1d55e46af066045287fe11e0003ef

$475M in Bitcoin options expire this week — Are bulls or bears poised to win?

BTC futures data shows bulls are not sure that Bitcoin price will hold above $24,000, but range-bound action could help them profit from Aug. 12’s $475 million options expiry.

Bitcoin (BTC) has been posting higher lows for the past eight weeks, but during this time, BTC has not been able to flip the $24,000 resistance to support on at least three different opportunities. This is precisely why the $475 million Bitcoin options expiry on Aug. 12 might be a game changer for bulls.

Considering the current regulatory pressures in play, there seems to be a good enough rationale for avoiding bullish bets, especially after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission pressed charges against a former Coinbase manager for illegal securities trading on July 21.

The additional impact from the Terra (Luna) — now renamed Terra Classic (LUNC) — ecosystem imploding and subsequent crypto venture capital firm Three Arrows Capital (3AC) registering for bankruptcy continue to weigh on the markets. The latest victim is crypto lending platform Hodlnaut, which suspended user withdrawals on Aug. 8.

For this reason, most traders are holding back their bets above $24,000, but events outside of the crypto market might have also negatively impacted investors' expectations. For example, according to regulatory filings released on Aug. 9, Elon Musk sold $6.9 billion worth of Tesla stock.

Moreover, on Aug. 8, Ark Investment manager CEO Cathie Wood explained that the 1.41 million Coinbase (COIN) shares sold in July were caused by regulatory uncertainty and its potential impact on the crypto exchange's business model.

Most bearish bets are below $23,000

Bitcoin's failure to break below $21,000 on July 27 surprised bears because only 8% of the put (sell) options for Aug. 12 have been placed above $23,000. Thus, Bitcoin bulls are better positioned for the $475 million weekly options expiry.

Bitcoin options aggregate open interest for Aug. 12. Source: CoinGlass

A broader view using the 1.23 call-to-put ratio shows more bullish bets because the call (buy) open interest stands at $262 million against the $212 million put (sell) options. Nevertheless, as Bitcoin currently stands above $23,000, most bearish bets will likely become worthless.

If Bitcoin's price remains above $23,000 at 8:00 am UTC on Aug. 12, only $16 million worth of these put (sell) options will be available. This difference happens because there is no use in the right to sell Bitcoin at $23,000 if it trades above that level on expiry.

Bulls could pocket a $150 million profit

Below are the four most likely scenarios based on the current price action. The number of options contracts available on Aug. 12 for call (bull) and put (bear) instruments varies, depending on the expiry price. The imbalance favoring each side constitutes the theoretical profit:

• Between $21,000 and $22,000: 70 calls vs. 4,200 puts. The net result favors bears by $90 million.
• Between $22,000 and $24,000: 1,600 calls vs. 1,460 puts. The net result is balanced between bulls and bears.
• Between $24,000 and $25,000: 3,700 calls vs. 120 puts. The net result favors bulls by $90 million.
• Between $25,000 and $26,000: 5,900 calls vs. 30 puts. Bulls increase their gains to $150 million.

This crude estimate considers the call options used in bullish bets and the put options exclusively in neutral-to-bearish trades. Even so, this oversimplification disregards more complex investment strategies.

Related: Bitcoin braces for US inflation data as CPI nerves halt BTC price gains

Futures markets show bulls are less inclined to show strength

Bitcoin bears need to pressure the price below $24,000 on Aug. 12 to balance the scales and avoid a potential $150 million loss. However, Bitcoin bulls got $265 million worth of leverage long futures positions liquidated between Aug. 8 and 9, so they are less inclined to push the price higher in the short term.

With that said, the most probable scenario for Aug. 12 is the $22,000 to $24,000 range, providing a balanced outcome between bulls and bears. Considering Bitcoin's negative 50% performance year-to-date, even a small $90 million win for bulls could be regarded as a victory, but that would require sustaining BTC above $24,000.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/475m-in-bitcoin-options-expire-this-week-are-bulls-or-bears-poised-to-win

A 2020-cathalon with events such as breadmaking, sea shanties, social distancing and bitcoin/stock trading.

Optional: dumpster fire extinguishing.

Name some secure & regulated crypto trading platform?

Regulatory agreements that will be the first major regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency industry were reached on Thursday by the European Commission, EU lawmakers and member states on June 30 in Brussels, CNBC reported.

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Negotiations on a regulatory mechanism continued for several hours. The landmark law, known as Markets in Crypto-Assets, or MiCA, will regulate the activities of many players in the crypto market, including exchanges like Cryptex and issuers of so-called stable coins (stablecoins), tokens that must be pegged to existing assets such as the US dollar.

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Under the new rules, stablecoins like tether and USDC Circle will need to maintain sufficient reserves to meet redemption requests in the event of mass withdrawals. The growing too large stablecoin segment is also facing a €200 million per day transaction cap.

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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) will be given the power to ban or restrict the operation of crypto platforms if it is seen that they do not adequately protect investors or threaten market integrity or financial stability.

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The previous proposal would have led to the abandonment of crypto-mining, the energy-intensive process of producing new units of bitcoins and other tokens. However, in March lawmakers voted against it.

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The rules will not affect non-issuer tokens such as Bitcoin, however, tr ading platforms will need to warn consumers of the risk of loss associated with trading digital tokens. NFTs, which represent ownership of digital objects such as works of art, have been excluded from the legislation. The EU Commission has been tasked with determining whether the NFT needs its own regime within 18 months.

The philosophy behind the PoW fork of the Ethereum network

At the end of September, Ethereum will follow its destiny: it will start to be secured by the Proof of Stake technology. This event is called the Merge. What will give value to this upgraded network? What will be the value of the forked network that dissidents will create?

Users make the value of a network because users are buyers and fee payers. Miners are sellers: they invested in expensive graphic cards and mining factories, so they need to sell the ETH that they create. That is why they (and only them) are planning this fork. The official Ethereum network will no longer have miners so its value is expected to be higher.

The network forked by the miners is a desperate attempt to save their investments, not a generous project for the users. The interest of the users is in the official Ethereum network after the Merge. Why would users deal with the forked network, which

• will dump everyday 8 times more newly-created coins onto the users than the official Ethereum network?
• will dump back all the fees that the users pay onto... the users?
• will divert electricity (like Bitcoin) while the planet burns and people struggle to pay their energy bills?
• will likely expose your wallet to replay attacks?
• will become quickly outdated due to the disparition of nearly all developers, the same way Ethereum Classic (the previous fork) has become useless?

Regarding the last point, the developers of applications for Ethereum understand that the PoW fork is not in the interest of anyone but the miners. Very important dApps already published their stance: Chainlink and DeBank and Argent and Circle and Tether will let their systems die on the PoW fork.

^{I will update this list when other projects release their stance in the coming weeks.}