The former product manager of the OpenSea platform knew which of the NFT collections would be advertised on the home page of this site. And was buying them up in advance for resale

Prosecutors have won the first ever U.S. insider trading lawsuit involving digital assets. A former employee of NFT marketplace OpenSea has now been found guilty of using confidential information to make a profit.

A jury found former platform product manager Nathaniel Chastain guilty of fraud and money laundering. In contrast, insider trading litigation centered on securities fraud charges. Then Chastain was charged with wire fraud. This allowed prosecutors to sidestep the issue of classifying NFTs as an asset, not yet spelled out in the law.

Chastain, 32, was responsible for selecting the NFT section of Trending. These are the images that were posted on the front page of OpenSea’s home page. Getting NFTs into that section of the site usually resulted in an immediate jump in their price. According to the charge, OpenSea kept information about the NFT collections secret. Which were chosen to be displayed on the home page. But Chastain, in possession of this information, bought up dozens of the right images in advance. And when he published them in the Trending section, he immediately sold them at several times the purchase price, violating the confidentiality agreement.

The prosecution alleges that Chastain profited over $57,000 in ETH cryptocurrency from the scheme. The defendant himself claims that he never converted the proceeds into dollars. Consequently, he made no profit.

In September 2021, Chastain was asked to resign after his activities became visible both internally. And to outside observers in the crypto community. Who analyzed sales and tracked wallet transfers at the expense of blockchain transparency. The company then introduced a policy prohibiting employees from buying or selling NFTs. As long as they are displayed on the home page of the site.

Our experts note that Chastain was arrested in June 2022. He faces up to 20 years in prison for each count. Although he will likely end up with a much lesser sentence. Sentencing is scheduled for August 22.

Mining company Bitdeer expects to build a 100 MW power plant in Bhutan for carbon-free cryptocurrency mining. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

The investment arm of the Kingdom of Bhutan and mining company Bitdeer Technologies plan to find investors for a $500 million fund.

Fundraising will begin as early as the end of May. The purpose of the fund is to launch a carbon-free Bitcoin mining center. Which uses hydroelectric power, the two companies said in a joint filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to the document, Bitdeer expects to build a 100-megawatt power plant in Bhutan. And its construction will begin in the second quarter and be completed in July-September.

Mining will be the least risky way for Bhutan to take advantage of cryptocurrency opportunities. And for now, the country will only focus on Bitcoin, said Ujjwal Deep Dahal, head of the investment arm of local firm Druk Holding & Investments, in a commentary for Bloomberg. Druk began mining cryptocurrencies as part of an experiment when bitcoin was still worth about $5,000, he said.

The kingdom of Bhutan

The Kingdom of Bhutan is located between China and India. And it has a population of about 800,000 people. The local economy relies heavily on revenues from hydropower. Druk manages public investments in traditional areas. These include stocks, bonds, technology, energy and real estate. It also mines cryptocurrencies and invests in what the company calls a “future-oriented” strategy.

The Bitdeer company is registered in Singapore and is owned by Chinese businessman Jihan Wu. And acts as one of the leading players in the cryptocurrency mining market in terms of aggregate capacity. Wu previously served on the board of directors of Bitmain, a leading manufacturer of mining equipment. And owned the BTC.com mining pool until February 2021.

Bitdeer went public on the NASDAQ exchange through a SPAC deal in April, and its shares trade under the ticker BTDR. The company owns one of the largest cryptocurrency mining centers in Texas. In the United States, rising electricity prices have led to the bankruptcy of several major cryptocurrency players. And on May 2, the presidential administration again raised the issue of imposing a 30% tax on miners.

Executives and investors of Coinbase, the second largest cryptocurrency exchange, are accused of selling $2.9 billion worth of shares. Which they did before the publication of negative information, which influenced the collapse of prices. Crypto-Upvotes expert review

The head of Coinbase, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, Brian Armstrong. As well as its board member Mark Andriessen and other company officials avoided more than $1 billion in losses while using insider information, according to a lawsuit filed by one of the company’s investors.

He estimated that they sold Coinbase (COIN) stock within days of the cryptocurrency platform’s public offering two years ago. In doing so, knowing of “bad news” that would affect the further collapse of quotations.

The company’s board of directors conducted a so-called direct listing. Instead of a typical initial public offering and quickly sold off $2.9 billion worth of stock before Coinbase management disclosed “significant negative information. Which negated the market’s optimism after the company’s first quarterly earnings report. said in a complaint filed in Delaware state court.

“In five weeks, the value of these shares fell by more than $1 billion. And Coinbase’s market capitalization fell by more than $37 billion,” claims Adam Grabski, speaking on behalf of investors. He says he has held Coinbase stock since April 2021.

Armstrong sold $291.8 million worth of Coinbase stock in a direct listing. Says the complaint, and Andrissen’s venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz, sold $118.6 million worth of stock.

“As the most popular and only publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. We are sometimes the subject of bizarre litigation,” Coinbase representatives wrote in a commentary for Bloomberg.

The lawsuit lists the main beneficiaries of the stock sale. Among them are Andreessen Horowitz Group (sold $118.6 million worth of stock) and CEO Brian Armstrong (sold for $291.9 million). As well as COO Emily Choi (sold for $223.9 million), co-founder and board member Fred Ehrsam (sold for $219.4 million) and others.

Union Square Ventures, an investment firm owned by Fred Ehrsam, sold $1.8 billion worth of stock. According to the lawsuit, the company led the Series A funding round for Coinbase. In doing so, it invested $5 million at 20 cents a share, valuing the company at about $20 million. The stock sale was “the largest exit in the firm’s history,” Grabski claims.

Our experts told us how the banking crisis in the U.S. affects the prices of cryptocurrencies. And why they are perceived as an alternative investment asset amid uncertainty.

On Monday, May 1, regulators closed the troubled American bank First Republic. The bank went under the external management of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The collapse of First Republic set another anti-record. This bank was the third largest of the collapsed financial companies since the 2008 crisis.

At the opening of trading on May 2, shares of three more American banks – PacWest Bancorp, Western Alliance and Metropolitan – collapsed by almost 30%. Because of the volatility, exchanges suspended trading in shares of all three financial institutions. At the same time, bitcoin gained 2% in price, rising to $28.5 thousand after its recent fall.

Banking crisis is just starting

The banking crisis has not yet shown itself on the world stage. But the fact that regulators have to figure out how to put out the blazing fire is evident in their comments, according to our experts.

In general, the banking crisis as a crisis of confidence in the banking system helps cryptocurrencies. But it would be too reckless to expect such a straightforward correlation, our experts say. Bitcoin exchange rate, takes into account other factors. For example, regulatory uncertainty, the state of financial stability or problems of stabelcoin issuers. It also takes into account inflation, approaching halving or expiration of Bitcoin futures contracts.

In the last week of April, bitcoin’s price rose on the back of First Republic’s problems. When there was still no news of its final collapse. However, cryptocurrency trading was quite unstable. Because in addition to the impact of the banking crisis on the cryptocurrency rate, investors were guided by the inflation figures. And also on the policy of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed), the possibility of recession and the weakening of the dollar.

First Republic became the fourth U.S. bank to collapse this year. Silvergate and Signature closed in March. Which largely focused on crypto-industry customers. And also Silicon Valley Bank, the collapse of which also hit the rate of the second most capitalized USD Coin (USDC) stabelcoin. If in the case of the first two there was a clearly visible dependence on the crypto market. First Republic Bank seems to have collapsed without any connection to digital assets. According to reports studied by journalists of specialized publications, the bank lacked any cryptocurrency capital.

Linking the U.S. banking crisis to the rise of Bitcoin

The link between the U.S. banking crisis and the rise of Bitcoin is that both events are indicative of the instability of the banking system. And they are alarming for investors. Cryptocurrencies act as an alternative investment asset that is not subject to control by central banks and does not depend on financial institutions. The collapse of banks could increase interest in cryptocurrencies. As many people are looking for safe places to invest in times of economic instability, our experts believe.

As banks face insolvency, their depositors try to withdraw money from their deposits en masse. Any collapse provokes the depositors to withdraw money from other banks as well. Which also run the risk of liquidity shortages. As long as the money is in the bank, the bank actually owns it. Cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, give a tool for owning value with full control of its owner.

However, we should not forget that the cryptocurrency market is also subject to fluctuations and instability. Especially in light of strict regulation by governments and central banks. In addition, cryptocurrencies can be subject to fraud and cyberattacks. And this can cause investors to lose money. Thus, any investment, including cryptocurrencies, should be made after careful risk analysis.

Trading volume were boosted by trend events, such as the rise of “Chinese” coins. And also etherium Arbitrum, led to an increase in cryptocurrency trading activity

In the first quarter of 2023, the total trading volume of the 15 largest exchanges reached $10.8 trillion, with an increase of more than 40% compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. This is stated in the report of the analytical platform TokenInsight.

Changes in trading volume and market share of exchanges. These are parameters that directly indicate the rise or fall of the crypto industry. Bitcoin’s price recovery in the first quarter of the year was the most important factor. Which caused an active increase in trading volume.

Binance still holds the largest market share with 55% of trading volume. This is despite a slight decline in its share – it was 60% in the fourth quarter of 2022. OKX and Bybit, as at the end of last year, occupy the second and third places, respectively.

Spot trading volume on the top ten exchanges totaled $2.4 trillion between January and March, up 16% from the previous period. Derivatives trading volume on the top 10 exchanges totaled $7.8 trillion, up 30%.

In addition to the rise in the price of Bitcoin, many trending events occurred in the first quarter. For example, the growth of “Chinese” coins and the Arbitrum Airdrop (ARB). This led to increased activity in derivatives trading, according to our experts.

Binance, OKX and Bybit exchanges collectively accounted for 85% of the cryptocurrency derivatives market in the first quarter of this year.

The report also noted that most native crypto exchanges’ tokens closed the first quarter with an increase in price. Only LEO Token (LEO) from Bitfinex and HT from Huobi fell in price.

The only exchange token that outperformed Bitcoin and Ethereum in growth was BGB (Bitget exchange). And it was up 120%. The token Gate (GT) of the exchange Gate.io and OKB (OKB) from OKX rose in price by more than 50%.

In addition, our experts note that in early April it became known. That the monthly trading volume on decentralized exchanges renewed the maximum since May 2022. Rapid growth of cryptocurrency trading on DEX platforms began in March amid the bankruptcies of U.S. banks.

Crypto-Upvotes experts told about profitable trading strategies for the medium and long term

The crypto market switched to a bearish trend in the short term on the horizon of a couple of weeks. Bitcoin failed to consolidate above $30,000. And following the largest cryptocurrency, other crypto-assets also went to the decrease. Crypto-Upvotes experts believe that now the best strategy will be to wait for optimal conditions to increase positions in selected digital assets. The overall picture remains generally positive. And we should expect an uptrend in the medium to long term.

Buying Bitcoin is worth considering in case its rate drops below $26.5K. The price of the first cryptocurrency in the coming week may show high volatility ahead of the Fed meeting on the key rate. Our experts consider a comfortable level for increasing positions in BTC at $25.5-26 thousand.

The same approach applies to Ethereum or BNB. Both cryptocurrencies quite well worked off the bullish trend in previous weeks. And now the pullback in the medium term has expectedly begun. This means that it is not worth to enter these assets now. It’s more effective to wait and buy when their rates reach the support level of $1700 and $300 correspondingly.

Also in the medium term, on the horizon of several months, all cryptocurrencies mentioned above are likely to show growth. And the main wave of the bullish cycle will start in the second half of the year ahead of the bitcoin halving in the spring of 2024.

Halving is the code’s embedded halving of miners’ rewards for a found block in the bitcoin blockchain. On May 11, 2020, the network’s reward dropped to 6.25 BTC. The next reduction to 3.125 BTC is expected in April-May 2024.

Other trusted cryptocurrencies from our Crypto-Upvotes experts

In addition to the cryptocurrencies mentioned above. It is also worth following the movement of cryptocurrencies from “second-tier” networks. These are such as Cosmos (ATOM) and Arbitrum (ARB).

The Cosmos interconnect ecosystem continues to be successfully filled with liquidity. And interest in products from this ecosystem is clearly growing. The potential in ATOM, (the Cosmos blockchain cryptocurrency) suggests that there is a 3-5x growth opportunity here by the end of 2023.

As for Arbitrum, it is an asset that can now be considered for purchase. The coin’s price already takes into account the negative effects of the blockchain management scandals. That said, the total locked-in value in Arbitrum’s smart contracts continues to rise. And that’s a good sign for long-term investors.

Disclaimer:

Crypto-Upvotes does not provide investment advice. This material is published for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is a volatile asset that can lead to financial losses.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) will issue a circular to banks to clarify account opening rules for cryptocurrency companies.

The Hong Kong regulator will explain how banks should conduct customer due diligence (CDD). The announcement was made by HKMA Deputy Executive Director Arthur Yuen.

Although the Hong Kong authorities actively support the development of the crypto-business. Then this industry is experiencing difficulties with access to banking services. But it is necessary for companies to store fiat assets, pay staff and pay suppliers.

The authority reviewed reports from industry participants that there may be difficulties with the account opening process and banks may reject applications. The HKMA then decided to explain to banks the rules for vetting customers. The regulator expects that crypto-service providers will be able to successfully open accounts using simple procedures.

The HKMA actively discussed the issue with banks and reminded them that there are no legal requirements. That prohibit Hong Kong banks from providing services to virtual asset (VA) related entities. The department also advised banks to avoid unnecessary processes. And refrain from adopting a “one-size-fits-all” approach to rejecting account applications.

On April 28, the HKMA and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) will co-host a roundtable discussion for the banking industry and crypto-service providers. This is done to exchange views on account opening and other information.

Our experts note that as of June 1, a new regime will come into effect in the region. According to which all cryptocurrencies operating in Hong Kong or with local investors must obtain an SFC license. Many major crypto exchanges, such as Huobi, OKX and Bitget, have already applied for a license. Or have announced the establishment of a local licensed unit.

Our experts told us what factors affect the Bitcoin price. And what dynamics can be expected from it in May

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies historically have not maintained the classic “sell in may and go away” trend. Only four times in the last ten years has Bitcoin fallen in May. And the average decline has been lower than the increase in May of other years. This suggests that it is not statistically correct to expect cryptocurrency prices to fall in May. However, this does not mean that the market cannot decline.

At the beginning of the month, we are waiting for the Fed meeting, which will decide on the interest rate and further steps to change monetary policy (MP). Market expectations lay another 0.25% hike and a pause in rate hikes thereafter.

Some analysts believe the Fed could begin loosening monetary policy. Especially in view of recession risks and developing problems in the banking sector. At the same time, if by the results of the FRS meeting on May 3 the Open Market Committee will not designate the prospect of transition to easing of the monetary policy. It will create pressure on both stock markets and cryptocurrencies.

Our experts do not expect crypto-asset prices to rise significantly in May. And continue to wait for major bull events in the crypto market in the third and fourth quarters of this year. An ideal scenario in May would be Bitcoin’s correction to the $25K level. That decline would have provided an opportunity to enter the market at bargain prices in anticipation of further growth.

Fed plans could send signals to investors

The cryptocurrency market continues to be influenced by the dynamics of U.S. stock indices, the dollar index, the actions of the U.S. Federal Reserve. As well as news on the U.S. debt ceiling.

The volume of the U.S. national debt has already reached too much. And the issue of its repayment becomes more and more urgent. This could lead to a change in U.S. economic policy, including the Fed’s monetary policy.

The Fed meeting could be a key moment for the cryptocurrency market. As Jerome Powell’s speech will affect both the dollar exchange rate and the demand for cryptocurrencies. A rate hike, which is likely during the meeting, has already been factored in by the market. But further Fed plans could give new signals to investors. The trading price regime could be adjusted after Powell’s speech. And assessment of the latest news on US GDP and government debt. To account for changes in economic policy and make a decision to buy or sell cryptocurrency.

According to the latest CME Group data, there is an 82.8% chance of a rate hike to 5.25% at the May meeting. On April 27, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis released GDP data. The U.S. economy grew 1.1% year on year in the first quarter against the previous value of 2.6%. Economists had expected growth of 2.0%. The economic growth slowdown may change Jerome Powell’s rhetoric and the Fed will end its rate hike cycle at the June 14 meeting to prevent a recession.

BTC/USD is trading at $28+k. We might predict a trading price range of $26.5-31k for May. Our experts think that the price will stay in that range not only till the Fed meeting. But also for some time and will leave it after June 1, 2023. If suddenly the news background will form in such a way that the buyers will be able to pass the level of $31 th. Then there will be a level of $35k on horizon. Decrease in price below $26.5k will lead to Bitcoin falling to $25k.

Blockchain researchers note the “incredible diligence” of the developers of scam dubious coins. And they note that every day several new cryptocurrencies are released from the address scammer.

One scammer launched 114 scam meme cryptocurrencies in the past 45 days, a blockchain researcher under a nickname ZachXBT reported on Twitter. According to him, each time the funds received as a result of the fraudulent scheme were sent to the same address.

“I suspect that there are even more of them [issued cryptocurrencies]. These are just the ones sent to the same address,” ZachXBT added.

He attached a diagram that shows the “scam tokens” with names. Which refer to famous brands, such as KingKong, BBC, TrumpMind, Arbitreum, Mozilla, SpeechAI, PEPAPIG, are redirected to one address on the Coinbase exchange.

Users on social media noted that the scammers are acting like “criminal geniuses,” sending funds to a large centralized exchange, thereby giving themselves away. ZachXBT suggested that Coinbase had not detected the fraud because the transfers were coming in small amounts.

On April 27, a social network user under the pseudonym Guru also reported another similar case. In doing so, pointing to the address of a cryptocurrency wallet, which allegedly launched 2-5 memcoins daily for almost two years in a row.

“These developers have an incredible work ethic. Make sure you take note of their address on Etherscan. So you don’t fill their pockets with your money. Absolute insanity,” he wrote.

Our experts point out that scammers take advantage of the fact that meme tokens are popular in the cryptocurrency community. And in doing so, despite the fact that they do not bear any practical benefit. For example, new meme coins were launched in mid-April. Which are associated with famous Internet memes – Pepe the frog and Wojak the character. Their value rose by hundreds of percent after the launch. And now dozens of projects are launched every day that use PEPE, etc. in the name. Be careful 99% of these projects will be shut down within days of launch.

Stablecoin USDT from Tether maintains leadership and grows in volume despite criticism and regulatory attention. Crypto Upvotes expert review

Tether is preparing to release its Q1 earnings report. USDT’s market capitalization reached $85 billion and recovered to its all-time high before the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in May 2022.

Since the beginning of the year, the company has issued $15 billion in new USDT. And stablecoin’s market share has grown another 15%. This growth was partly due to the fact that its closest competitors, Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) and Paxos’ BUSD, were struggling. The former suffered after the collapse of Sillicon Valley Bank. The second was banned by U.S. regulators. The outflow of funds from both stablecoins was in the billions of dollars. And investors probably switched from them to USDT. Which proved to be a more “stable” asset in the period of turbulence in the markets.

According to Blockworks Research, Tether has a 63% market share. Which is the highest in the last two years.

Last week, the company issued another 1 billion USDT, though they have yet to go into circulation. According to Tether’s CTO Paolo Ardoino, this batch of USDT will be used for further USDT issuance requests and inter-network conversions. Tether has a long history of issuing USDT before funds are actually received into accounts. Stablecoin is issued in large volumes at once. And the inclusion of coins in circulation is done as requests are received from users or exchanges.

USDT is issued on 13 blockchains, including Solana, Algorand, BNB Chain or Polygon in addition to Ethereum. There are 35 billion tokens issued on Ethereum. But the largest amount of Stablecoin is on the Tron network – 45 billion USDT. It is USDT in TRC20 standard token format that has become the most popular “stablecoin” due to lower commissions and transaction processing speeds compared to other networks.

Geographical advantage of USDT

Tether is registered in the British Virgin Islands, while the issuers of the other “stablecoins” from the first three are registered in the United States. The approach to regulating stablecoins is particularly acute on the agenda of U.S. lawmakers.

Last week, USDT was discussed at a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Congress. Where the main topic was the lack of federal regulations for stablecoin issuers in the US. Representatives from the local crypto business also took part in the hearing. And including, chief issuer strategist behind USDC Circle Dante Diparte. As well as Austin Campbell, former chief risk officer at Paxos, which previously issued BUSD.

Explaining the dominant position of USDT, the invited experts referred to the “advantage of the first project as a stablecoin” Tether. But they also cited the fact that the issuer is registered outside the U.S. among the main advantages.

Speaking to Bloomberg reporters, Henry Elder, head of the American fund Wave Digital Assets, told DeFi. About the fact that among large investors there is a mass shift from USDC to other, less U.S.-oriented stablecoins. And this will continue as long as the United States remains “irrationally hostile” to cryptocurrencies in general and to Stablecoins in particular.

New players in the market of stablecoins are expected

Kai Sheffield, head of cryptocurrency at Visa, said that the company “has an ambitious roadmap for cryptocurrency products”. In doing so, he published a link to a job page for developers. According to him, the introduction of payments in Stablecoin is what the finance company intends to focus on.

Despite the obvious dominance of USDT, the landscape of the “stablecoin” market is changing. The Binance exchange has refocused on the little-known TrueUSD (TUSD) token after it banned BUSD issuance until this year. The leading platform canceled all zero trading fees. But made an exception for Stablecoin TUSD. The token now represents the largest asset by trading volume on centralized exchanges, paired with Bitcoin.

Analysts suggest that TUSD, which has a 9% share of total trading volume on centralized crypto exchanges. In the coming months, it could take the second place in this indicator after Tether.