Today in Crypto: Bitget Q3 Report Finds BGB Trading Volume Exceeded $1.3 Billion, US Doctor Pleaded Guilty to Hiring Hitman With BTC, Beluga Raises $4 Million

Today in Crypto: Bitget Q3 Report Finds BGB Trading Volume Exceeded $1.3 Billion, US Doctor Pleaded Guilty to Hiring Hitman With BTC, Beluga Raises $4 Million

Exchange news

  • Bitget released a financial report highlighting the platform’s achievements for Q3 2023, stating that, despite the spot trading and derivative trading volume on centralized exchanges (CEXs) declining by 22% and 23%, respectively, Bitget achieved one of the highest increases in market share of 9.43%. It further reported that the BGB token reached the top 5 CEX tokens by market cap, with a 300% year-to-date price growth; the number of BGB holders overpassed 350,000 in Q3; the trading volume for BGB exceeded $1.3 billion; the exchange unveiled its expansion plans into the Middle East region, and it launched the $100 million fund to support the Web3 ecosystem.

Crime news

  • A Georgia, USA, doctor pleaded guilty to using the dark web to hire a hitman to kill his girlfriend, paying over $16,000 in bitcoin (BTC) for the job. According to the US Attorney’s Office, the order included the victim’s name, address, Facebook account, license plate, and car description, with James Wan (54) stating: “Can take wallet phone and car. Shoot and go. Or take car.” In April 2022, Wan transferred a 50% downpayment of approximately $8,000 in BTC to the dark web marketplace, but that payment was lost, so he followed it up with another one. The administrator confirmed the new address was correct and that the BTC had arrived in the escrow account. A week later, he sent another $8,000 worth of BTC to ensure his escrow account contained the total required to complete the order, followed by $1,200 in May after the BTC price had dropped. FBI agents learned about the order, notified the victim, and provided her protection, the press release said.

Investment news

  • Crypto platform Beluga announced a $4 million seed round from crypto and FinTech investors. The round was led by Fin Capital with participation from AnagramUDHCDispersion CapitalAptos Labs2 Punks CapitalBorderless CapitalKyber Capital186 VenturesW11 CapitalRubik Ventures, and more. Angel investors included Charlie Lee, Founder of Litecoin; Mike Lempres, Former Chief Risk and Legal Officer of Coinbase; Brandon Gath, Head of Kraken Ventures; Akash Garg, Former CTO of MoonPay; Salil Pitroda, Former Blockchain.com Board Observer; Howard Lindzon, Co-Founder of Stocktwits; and Jim Robinson, Co-Founder of RRE VenturesAccording to the press release, in the coming months, Beluga plans to launch more tools to help onboard new users and help them find and use the best crypto products.

Regulation news

  • The use of cryptocurrency by Hamas to fund its strike on Israel is likely to raise red flags in Asian countries that are framing regulations to govern the digital currency, the South China Morning Post reported, citing analysts. “It is a kick on the backside for most governments. All regulatory bodies will take a closer look at crypto regulation. Governments will need to start implementing new rules and regulations,” said Raj Kapoor, founder of India Blockchain Alliance. Some countries may even “bring up the narrative that banning cryptocurrencies is the way forward,” argued Anndy Lian, Singapore-based author of the book NFT: From Zero to Hero. He added that banning crypto would just drive terrorist financing underground and make it harder to trace and stop. “Cryptocurrencies can be traced and tracked, while fiat (currency) such as US dollars cannot.” Terrorist financing underscores the need for harmonizing standards across jurisdictions, analysts opined.

AI news

  • ELONN.AI (ENHANCED_LANGUAGE_ORIENTED_NEURAL_NETWORK), backed by SMART VALOR, a Switzerland-based technology company and the only digital asset exchange listed on Nasdaq in Europe, today announced the first stage of its product roadmap and the app launch. Per an announcement, “in a bold pursuit to disrupt the supremacy of Big Tech in the realm of AI, the founders’ vision is to craft an AI companion, elevating every investment experience with heightened intelligence, safety, and effortless simplicity.” Olga Feldmeier, the Chief Evengelizer of ELONN.AI, said that “we believe that the future of AI is decentralized, open-source and does not belong in walled gardens.” As an initiator, SMART VALOR, has funded the initial development of ELONN.AI for the amount of $14 million, with part of the funding stemming from the company’s initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq First North last year, it said.

Blockchain news

  • Q Development AG, the company supporting the decentralized Q Protocol, which works to strengthen the governance of blockchain-based projects, announced the beginning of stage two of its Saving & Borrowing Incentive Program. Per the press release, the initiative is designed to encourage the use of Q’s Saving and Borrowing platform, which enables users to borrow QUSD stablecoins against collateral such as WBTCDAI, and USDC. Users receive Q tokens for asset bridging when assets are transferred from Ethereum to Q; locking collateral assets into a Q vault; and parking QUSD stablecoins within Q’s Saving Portal. The initiative comprises three phases, each lasting three weeks, with subsequent phases only commencing should a pre-set total value locked (TVL) goal be met. The current phase requires users to lock a total of $500,000 by October 29, it said.

 

 

Source: https://cryptonews.com/news/today-in-crypto-bitget-q3-report-finds-bgb-trading-volume-exceeded-13-billion-us-doctor-pleaded-guilty-to-hiring-hitman-with-btc-beluga-raises-4-million.htm

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

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Massive Volume Pushes Bitcoin Briefly Above $22,500: Here’s Why There’s A Spike In Activity

Massive Volume Pushes Bitcoin Briefly Above $22,500: Here’s Why There’s A Spike In Activity

After being in the red for over a month, the largest digital currency by market capitalization, Bitcoin BTC/USD, has pared some of its losses and is trading up about 12% higher over the past week, making a brief high of $22,527 along with a spurt in volumes on July 8, before settling back to around $21,700 levels.

Experts caution the unexpected price uptick as a “one-off event” that is most likely a reaction to crypto exchange Binance’s decision to eliminate fees on BTC spot trading, and that it in no way signals a price reversal.

No substantial reason for price surge

Anndy Lian, Chief Digital Advisor to the Mongolian Productivity Organization, tells Benzinga the sudden price surge in BTC is unsustainable as there is no catalyst for the move.

“The only piece of good news that is closely linked to the surge would be Binance’s zero fees Bitcoin promotion. There were many people who were trying to gain VIP tiers, which resulted in a massive transaction volume. That volume can be subjected to wash trading and manipulations,” he says, adding that the incident is one-off.

Liquidation of leveraged short positions

Even as the price of BTC surged despite the lack of any significant announcement, Glassnode’s futures shorts liquidations metric reveals a substantial number of liquidations of leveraged short positions – from $10.23 million to $29.42 million between July 6 and 7, which could have exerted bullish pressure to propel BTC above the $22,500 level.

BTC price likely to fall back down

Raj Kapoor, founder and CEO of India Blockchain Alliance says given the crypto’s history of volatility, this uptick is in no way a long-term reversal and that BTC’s price is likely to fall back down.

“The uptick was accelerated when Binance put an offer [of] zero-fee trading for Bitcoin, with plans to eliminate the charges for more tokens in the future.  This was followed up with a stock market rally following the release of the Federal Reserve’s minutes,” Kapoor said.

Experts point out that the crypto market may not have hit the bottom as yet due to fears of a recession, several crypto deals falling apart, surging inflation, geopolitical crises, and rising interest rates. These concerns continue to drive extra short-term volatility in the crypto and stock markets.

Higher currency outflows

Exchange outflows have risen from 20,495 BTC against 18,648 exchange inflows on July 3, according to Glassnode. While on July 7, there were 50,966 BTC in exchange outflows against 43,601 BTC in exchange inflows.

Higher exchange outflows have led to higher buying pressure for BTC, with most of the volumes coming in from the retail segment. Metrics from Santiment, point to a significant downside in the supply held by whales since July 4, indicating that whales have been gradually reducing their positions as the price of BTC climbs higher.

Economic downturn priced in

Sharat Chandra Vice President of Research and Strategy at EarthID, says BTC has begun exhibiting decisive price action as investors have priced in the incoming data about an economic downturn.

“Lack of liquidity coupled with lower trading volume accounts for Bitcoin’s intraday activity. Bitcoin prices will continue to be volatile depending on the incoming data about the impending recession,” Chandra says.

BTC surge with high volumes increases optimism

Jenny Zheng, NFT Business Development Lead at Bybit, tells Benzinga that BTC’s hourly chart gives an optimistic outlook and a 4-hour chart suggests a double bottom formation, signaling a bullish price movement ahead.

“The volumes were only on Binance. This could be because of the removal of Bitcoin spot trading fees on its anniversary. But such action has certainly triggered more buys for Bitcoin on other exchanges too. This is reflected in various communities that I am in,” Zheng says.

 

Original Source: https://uk.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/massive-volume-pushes-bitcoin-briefly-above-22500-heres-why-theres-a-spike-in-activity-2683826

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

j j j

Massive Volume Pushes Bitcoin Briefly Above $22,500: Here’s Why There’s A Spike In Activity

Massive Volume Pushes Bitcoin Briefly Above $22,500: Here’s Why There’s A Spike In Activity

After being in the red for over a month, the largest digital currency by market capitalization, Bitcoin BTC/USD, has pared some of its losses and is trading up about 12% higher over the past week, making a brief high of $22,527 along with a spurt in volumes on July 8, before settling back to around $21,700 levels.

Experts caution the unexpected price uptick as a “one-off event” that is most likely a reaction to crypto exchange Binance’s decision to eliminate fees on BTC spot trading, and that it in no way signals a price reversal.

No substantial reason for price surge

Anndy Lian, Chief Digital Advisor to the Mongolian Productivity Organization, tells Benzinga the sudden price surge in BTC is unsustainable as there is no catalyst for the move.

“The only piece of good news that is closely linked to the surge would be Binance’s zero fees Bitcoin promotion. There were many people who were trying to gain VIP tiers, which resulted in a massive transaction volume. That volume can be subjected to wash trading and manipulations,” he says, adding that the incident is one-off.

Liquidation of leveraged short positions

Even as the price of BTC surged despite the lack of any significant announcement, Glassnode’s futures shorts liquidations metric reveals a substantial number of liquidations of leveraged short positions – from $10.23 million to $29.42 million between July 6 and 7, which could have exerted bullish pressure to propel BTC above the $22,500 level.

BTC price likely to fall back down

Raj Kapoor, founder and CEO of India Blockchain Alliance says given the crypto’s history of volatility, this uptick is in no way a long-term reversal and that BTC’s price is likely to fall back down.

“The uptick was accelerated when Binance put an offer [of] zero-fee trading for Bitcoin, with plans to eliminate the charges for more tokens in the future.  This was followed up with a stock market rally following the release of the Federal Reserve’s minutes,” Kapoor said.

Experts point out that the crypto market may not have hit the bottom as yet due to fears of a recession, several crypto deals falling apart, surging inflation, geopolitical crises, and rising interest rates. These concerns continue to drive extra short-term volatility in the crypto and stock markets.

Higher currency outflows

Exchange outflows have risen from 20,495 BTC against 18,648 exchange inflows on July 3, according to Glassnode. While on July 7, there were 50,966 BTC in exchange outflows against 43,601 BTC in exchange inflows.

Higher exchange outflows have led to higher buying pressure for BTC, with most of the volumes coming in from the retail segment. Metrics from Santiment, point to a significant downside in the supply held by whales since July 4, indicating that whales have been gradually reducing their positions as the price of BTC climbs higher.

Economic downturn priced in

Sharat Chandra Vice President of Research and Strategy at EarthID, says BTC has begun exhibiting decisive price action as investors have priced in the incoming data about an economic downturn.

“Lack of liquidity coupled with lower trading volume accounts for Bitcoin’s intraday activity. Bitcoin prices will continue to be volatile depending on the incoming data about the impending recession,” Chandra says.

BTC surge with high volumes increases optimism

Jenny Zheng, NFT Business Development Lead at Bybit, tells Benzinga that BTC’s hourly chart gives an optimistic outlook and a 4-hour chart suggests a double bottom formation, signaling a bullish price movement ahead.

“The volumes were only on Binance. This could be because of the removal of Bitcoin spot trading fees on its anniversary. But such action has certainly triggered more buys for Bitcoin on other exchanges too. This is reflected in various communities that I am in,” Zheng says.

 

Original Source: https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/22/07/28009285/bitcoin-briefly-above-22-500-experts-remain-wary

Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.

An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.

j j j