Hodler’s Digest, September 1 – 7 – Cointelegraph Magazine

Top 5 stories of the week

Crypto in ‘high fear' as Arthur Hayes advises ‘sub $50K' Bitcoin weekend

Crypto market sentiment has fallen to “high panic” as Bitcoin briefly fell below $56,000, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes predicts another 12% drop below $50,000 over the weekend.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index — which measures market sentiment and trends with a total score out of 100 (indicating extremely positive sentiment) — hit 22 points on September 6, indicating “high fear,” a day before a seven-point low was pinned on “fear.” .

It is the lowest point and price since the index hit 20 on August 8 and entered the “extreme fear” zone for the first time since August 12.

At the time of going to press, bitcoin was down 2.7% in the past 24 hours and had fallen above $58,000 to $55,838, wiping $29.7 billion off its market capitalization, according to Cointelegraph Markets Pro.

It recovered slightly from the low to trade at $56,533.

“BTC is hard,” Hayes said in a Sept. 6 X post. “I'm shooting for under $50k this weekend. I raised her cheek briefly.

Pavel Durov broke his silence for the first time after his arrest

Telegram founder Pavel Durov has broken his silence since his high-profile arrest in France in August.

In a message to his public Telegram channel, the tech entrepreneur said he was surprised by the arrest by French authorities. He said that Telegram has an official representative in the European Union that handles all regulatory and law enforcement questions.

Durov, a French citizen, said there were several ways French authorities could reach him without trying to arrest him and that he was a regular visitor to the French consulate in Dubai.

The Telegram founder added that the company is fully prepared to waive mandates that oppose Telegram's mission of free speech and expression.

We don't do this for money, so we're prepared to leave markets that don't fit our fundamentals. We push to bring good and protect people's basic rights, especially where these rights are violated.

Binance's CEO said CZ has been banned from managing or operating the exchange.

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who is expected to be released in a few weeks by US prison authorities, could be permanently banned from operating or managing crypto exchange Binance as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

According to a September 5 Axios report, Binance CEO Richard Teng CZ has received a lifetime ban from managing or operating the exchange, not just three years as previously reported by several news outlets.

The cryptocurrency exchange has reportedly suspended the former CEO from a management position at the company, although it does not appear to be expressly required by Zhao or Binance's plea agreements.

The CFTC charges Uniswap with illegal derivatives trading

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged decentralized exchange developer Uniswap Labs with illegally offering leveraged cryptocurrency trading to U.S. retail investors, according to a September 4 announcement.

According to the CFTC, Uniswap Labs agreed to settle the lawsuit by paying a $175,000 civil penalty and agreeing to stop violating the Commodity Markets Act (CEA).

The CFTC's Division of Enforcement will “vigorously enforce CEA as digital asset platforms and DeFi ecosystems emerge,” CFTC Enforcement Director Ian McGinley said in a statement. “DeFi operators must be proactive to ensure that transactions comply with the law.”

Summer Mersinger, one of the CFTC's five commissioners, criticized the agency for “executive-driven regulation” in a September 4 statement opposing the CFTC's enforcement action.

“My hope is that one day soon, the Commission will issue a regulation or at least a directive clarifying how DeFi protocols will comply,” Mersinger said. “Unfortunately, today is not that day.”

The former Mt. Gox CEO to launch EllipX crypto exchange in Europe

Defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox former CEO Mark Karpeles will launch a new crypto exchange called Ellipse in September.

Based in Poland, the platform initially plans to expand to European users worldwide. It will start as crypto-only but may later add banking and fiat currency services.

EllipX aims to comply with EU markets in the Crypto-Assets Regulation and promote transparency through regular third-party audits.

In an interview with Cointelegraph at Korea Blockchain Week, Karpels explained that the security and technology surrounding Bitcoin now “allows for secure storage of cryptocurrencies.”

“Exchanges, especially exchanges, haven't changed much in all that time. […] I think the best way is basically to lead by example, to show that the relationship can be built in a completely transparent way.

At Mt. Gox hack, gaining the trust of those affected and paying compensation, Karpeles to Cointelegraph's new exchange for former Mt. Gox announced that it will offer users “at least 50%” of trading fees on EllipX.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) at $53,645, Ether (ETH) at $2,212 and XRP at $0.52. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap is $1.89 trillion.

Among the largest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers for the week were Helium (HNT) at 10.55%, Starknet (STRK) at 9.62% and Bitcoin SV (BSV) at 4.09%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week were Beam (BEAM) at 27.58%, DOGS (DOGS) at 20.92% and Cosmos (ATOM) at 19.93%. Be sure to read Cointelegraph's market analysis for more information on crypto prices.

The most memorable quotes

“One way to think about prediction markets is as a building block that can make other methods faster. […] You take some existing methods, and you do something really fast that encourages you to do the best possible job.

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin

Regardless of the specific results in individual races and indeed the results in the presidential race, we will see the emergence of a pro-Creto Congress.

Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase

“Active address numbers have been in free fall since EEFAs launched in January. What we're seeing now may be a gradual decline in the relevance of wallet address activity data.”

Pav Hundal, lead market analyst at Swyftx

“If we take a guess, we warn that we can expect a 15-20% decline in BTC below $40-50k when rates are cut this month.”

Bitfinex analysts

“The term ‘crypto asset security' is nowhere to be found in any law – it is an invented term with no legal basis. The SEC must stop using it to mislead judges.”

By Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderotti

“BTC Massive Reversal Head and Shoulders Pattern. When this comes out, Bitcoin will hit over $100K. My timeline ATH is $100K in Q4 and Q1 2025.

Elja Boom, crypto analyst

Forecast of the week

BTC Price Misses US Jobs, Bitcoin May Retest $49.5K

Bitcoin hit $57,000 on Wall Street on September 5 as US stocks rallied on macroeconomic data releases.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC price action briefly reversing the slide that began after the previous daily close. Down 2.3% on the day, BTC/USD took some relief from a heady start in US stocks as macro numbers reinforced the prospect of a further rate cut.

Among the layoffs was a large loss of private sector payrolls, with 99,000 compared to the expected 144,000.

“This represents the smallest profit since 2021,” business resource Kobeisi wrote in part in a response to the X letter:

“What's going on in the job market?”

The latest estimates from CME Group's FedWatch Tool continue to cheer markets on the possibility of a more significant rate cut by the US Federal Reserve at its next meeting on September 18.

Additional jobs data on September 4 presented a similar picture, with the job openings and labor turnover survey falling to 7.67 million instead of the expected 8.1 million.

FUD of the week

US prosecutors have linked a former FTX expert to a Chinese bribery scandal.

US prosecutors filed an indictment against Ryan Salameh, the former CEO of FTX Digital Markets, in an effort to unseal accounts linked to FTX and Alameda Research, linking the names of Thai prostitutes to names.

On Sept. 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, U.S. attorneys filed a memorandum opposing Salame's motion to vacate his guilty plea to charges related to campaign finance violations. The former FTX co-CEO withdrew his motion to vacate the case on August 29, but Judge Lewis Kaplan said both sides would appear at trial on September 12.

The prosecution's rebuttal did not mince its words, calling Salame's request “disgraceful and self-serving” and “procedurally flawed and factually and legally unhelpful.” He initially filed the plea after authorities suggested they investigate his partner, Michelle Bond.

Over 600 Bitcoin ATMs Globally Go Offline in 2 Months.

More than 600 Bitcoin ATMs went offline in the first two months of Q3 2024, with the United States recording the highest number of shutdowns. This comes at a time when law enforcement officials are actively seeking out and shutting down Bitcoin ATMs that are frequently involved in fraud.

According to data from Coin ATM Radar, the global Bitcoin ATM network lost 435 and 182 machines in July and August, respectively.

In the year On August 7, a local government committee in Chico, California addressed the regulation of Bitcoin ATMs. Butte County Chief Administrative Officer Andy Pickett, speaking about the initiative to regulate these ATMs, suggested treating them “like a bank.”

Fed Hits Texas Bank, Stops Serving Crypto Firms

The United States Federal Reserve has issued a cease-and-desist order to crypto-friendly United Texas Bank, citing “significant deficiencies” in the bank's risk management systems and its relationship with crypto customers.

In a cease-and-desist order dated Sept. 4, the feds said they investigated United Texas Bank in May and found issues related to its corporate governance structure and the bank's board of directors and senior management.

“The examination identified significant weaknesses related to foreign correspondent bank and virtual currency clients, particularly regarding risk management and compliance with applicable anti-money laundering laws, rules and regulations, including the Bank Secrecy Act,” the feds wrote in the order.

Magazine stories of the week

Help! My parents are addicted to the Pi Network crypto tapper

With no financial investment required, Pi Network users believe they have nothing to lose – but critics say otherwise.

Betrayal in Taiwan Pays Tether, Eastern Crypto Exchange Revives: Asia Express

Taiwan traitors sell military secrets for 8,151 Tether, crypto exchanges are about to open for business in major Asian markets.

Trips: Robbie Yung on Animoka Web3 Investments, Tons and Mokaverse

Animoca CEO Robbie Yung talks about the company's impressive portfolio of investments and how it entered the Web3 industry.

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Cointelegraph magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.