Key takeaways:
- The cryptocurrency sector recovered and showed some calm after Thursday’s crash that was triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- Yat Siu of Animoca Brands believes that BitsCrunch will play an important role in the future of the metaverse
- NGO Founded to Support Ukraine Army Receives Over $5.3M in Crypto Donations
- US Court Fines BitMEX Founders Who Pleaded Guilty to Money Laundering
- Coinbase Forecasts Ethereum Staking Rewards to Increase Significantly After Merger
Terra’s Native Token LUNA Leads Altcoins in Market Rally
The news on Thursday morning that Russia invaded Ukraine sent the market crashing, with many major cryptocurrencies plummeting. Since then, the cryptocurrency sector has rebounded and has maintained the upward trend. Bitcoin (BTC) is up 1.08% in the last 24 hours, attempting to recover $39,000. Ethereum (ETH) has gained 5.80% in the same period and is trading at $2,748 according to CoinMarketCap.
Cardano (ADA), whose price fell sharply to $0.7528 (levels last touched last February), is up 6.42% and is currently changing hands at $0.89. The rise has also seen it reclaim seventh place among the top cryptocurrencies by market cap. Ripple’s native currency, XRP, has maintained double-digit gains, up 11% to 0.767 at press time.
Terra’s LUNA has posted the biggest gain among the top 10 crypto assets, gaining 15.35% to break above the $75 resistance. The token is trading at $75.22, more than 43% higher than last Saturday. Meme coins have also recovered with Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) gaining 6.76% and 4.7%, respectively.
NFT analytics firm BitsCrunch raises $3.6 million in round led by Animoca Brands
Blockchain analytics firm BitsCrunch ad on Thursday that raised $3.6 million through a private token sale in a funding round led by venture capital firm Animoca Brands. The round also saw the participation of various investors from the ecosystem, including Polygon Studios, Coinbase Ventures, and Crypto.com.
The firm said it intends to use the funds raised to expand its team and secure as many major networks as possible. The CEO of the company, Vijay Pravin Maharajan, Told him to Cointelegraph that BitsCrunch already supports NFT on some prominent blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, Polygon, Polkadot, and Avalanche.
The analytics firm provides AI-based tools for developers and investors to use in approximating fair prices for NFTs. They are also used to determine the legitimacy of a collectible (whether a newly minted NFT is a copy of another) and to mark commercial instances of laundering.
Users can also track real-time analytics of their portfolio and the NFT ecosystem.
A co-founder of round lead investor Yat Siu said in a statement that BitsCrunch is well positioned to help investors make the right investment decisions, adding that the company could play an essential role in securing the future world of the metaverse. .
NGO Receives Funds in Cryptocurrencies to Support the Ukrainian Army
Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision on Thursday to invade Ukraine, Come Back Alive, a Ukrainian NGO founded in 2014, has come to help. The NGO has launched a crypto crowdfunding initiative to support the country’s military.
Crypto analytics firm Elliptic noted that around $400,000 in Bitcoin donations were sent to the group in the first few hours. The data from Blockchain.com they show that more than $5.32 million (136.87945318 BTC) have been raised so far.
BitMEX founders admit regulatory violations
The US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, said on Thursday that the founders of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo, had admitted to breaching regulatory requirements, more specifically, the Bank Secrecy Act.
The Law encompasses a number of anti-money laundering provisions that institutions are expected to implement. According to federal prosecutor Damian Williams, the couple broke the law by intentionally ignoring the requirement. to “establish, implement and maintain an anti-money laundering program”.
The founders admitted that they deliberately sold unregulated securities and profited greatly. Williams, the prosecutor, called BitMEX a money laundering scheme for illegal offers to customers in the US.
Specific cases brought before the court included Hayes’s frequent appearances on American television shows with the intention of promoting the exchange to the masses. Delo is said to have given express consent for said individual to trade on the exchange.
After pleading guilty to the charges, the couple will pay a fine of $10 million each and will be lucky enough to avoid a prison sentence of up to five years.
Ethereum validators could receive double current rewards in June, Coinbase estimates
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase recently projected that the upcoming merger between the Ethereum mainnet and Beacon Chain would have a major impact on the rewards received by on-chain validators. Platforms like Coinbase allow investors to stake their Ether into a pool in case they cannot meet the 32 ETH required to operate a validation node.
The exchange said validator rewards would likely go up to between 9 and 12% APR above current levels of 4.3% to 5.4% APR. The reason is that when the merger is complete, Ethereum’s staking returns will include fees (excluding base fees) currently going to miners.
Ethereum merging into the consensus layer has been in talks for a while now. Its arrival is expected as it is believed to enhance the larger smart contract ecosystem by implementing better network speed and scalability performance.
A switch from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism also eliminates the need for miners, which would otherwise mean high energy usage.
