Here’s a list of the 12 individuals who had the most impact — for better or worse — on the crypto industry this past year.
Economic frailty could soon give Bitcoin a new role in global trade
Aggressive interest rate hikes have wrought havoc on global markets. As a consequence, more countries may embrace Bitcoin in the year ahead.
Ethereum Stalls At $1,200, Why Bears Still Have The Upper Hand
Ethereum is still closely mirroring the price of bitcoin through the bear market and that has seen its price basically stall in the last day in tandem with BTC. ETH’s price is presently resting just above $1,200, and while this would have served as a good bounce-off point for the digital asset, it shows no signs of doing so.
Ethereum Price Stuck At $1,200
Given the current market circumstances, Ethereum at $1,200 presents one of the best prices that the market will see for the digital asset before 2022 runs out. The momentum in the market was already on a decline but the 49% jump in Ethereum’s trading volume in the last day put a perhaps temporary stop to that decline. Short-term indicators pointing towards sell points to this being temporary.
Now, for the lull in price, it can be explained by ETH’s price sitting so close to the 20-day moving average of $1,247. Since there isn’t much movement in the market, it makes sense that the digital asset would only try to maintain its price at just above $1,200 at this time.
Bitcoin’s tight correlation to the stock market has also impacted Ethereum. Although cryptocurrencies did not fall like the stock market following the release of the US GDP data on Thursday, it definitely hindered any growth from taking place in the market.
Why Is ETH Struggling?
Ethereum has received some bad press over the last couple of days. One of the most prominent was when the Paxful peer-to-peer exchange announced that it was delisting Ethereum. CEO Ray Youssef presented the reason as “Integrity over revenue” as the exchange believes that the network was not decentralized.
This stoked fears that had previously subsided following the move to proof of stake. For many, this move made Ethereum much easier to control and Youssef said, “One day you will need permission to use it.”
Given this, the price of ETH has buckled under the pressure of the FUD it created. If bulls are unable to hold the $1,200 support, then it could send the digital asset into free fall, with no significant support until $1,140. The cryptocurrency is already headed for a close below its year-to-date peak but a close below $1,200 would see it start the new year with a very bearish outlook.
ETH is trading at $1,224 at the time of this writing, according to data from Coinmarketcap. It is up 0.64% in the last 24 hours and boasts a market cap of $149.8 billion.
U.S. delays crypto tax reporting rules, as it still can’t define what a ‘broker’ is
Congress passed a law in November 2021 that required the new crypto rules to be issued.
2 executives of crypto exchange AAX arrested in Hong Kong: Report
The former CEO of AAX, Weigao Capital Liang Haoming, and the founder of AAX, Thor Chan, were arrested on Dec. 23.
Crypto Markets Today: Bitcoin Ends Penultimate Week of (Awful) 2022 on Quiet Note
A year of steep declines in crypto markets brought another unwanted element – a dramatic increase in scams including “rug pulls.”
Bridge attacks will still pose major challenge for DeFi in 2023: Security experts
Hackers have stolen over $2.5 billion through vulnerabilities on cross-chain bridges in the past two years.
Binance Failing to Get US Exchange Listings for BNB Is Yellow Flag for Crypto Analysts
Despite being one of the biggest cryptocurrencies, with a market capitalization around $40 billion, Binance’s BNB token has failed to win a listing on any major U.S. crypto exchanges, aside from Binance.US. Some analysts are now looking at whether that’s a yellow flag.
Blockware Customer Accuses Bitcoin Mining Firm of Fraud
Lawsuit seeks at least $250,000 of damages.
Brazil’s Securities Regulator Allows Investment Funds to Invest in Crypto
Assets will have to comply with current regulations approved this week by the country’s outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro.
LastPass attacker stole password vault data, showing Web2’s limitations
LastPass users with weak master passwords may need to change the individual passwords they stored with the service.
Web3 projects would rather get hacked than pay bounty: Finance Redefined
The top 100 DeFi tokens had a volatile yet bearish week with nearly all the tokens trading in red on the weekly charts.
Greed, Lies and FTX: Is Crypto a Force for Good or Evil?
Despite the headlines, the industry still has a lot to offer the world, says the Giving Block’s Pat Duffy.
Former Alameda CEO confirms firm borrowed billions from FTX customer deposits as part of plea deal
According to court documents, Caroline Ellison said she and SBF signed off on “materially misleading financial statements” for Alameda lenders — knowing it was illegal.
Crypto Adds Unsavory Footnote to Dreadful 2022: Year of the Rug Pull
Fraudsters deployed over 117,000 scam tokens from January through Dec. 1, a 41% increase over the full 2021, according to study from Solidus Labs.
2023: The Year of Regulation vs. Decentralization
Crypto regulation remains a dark forest. In the year ahead, the SEC and CFTC will likely push the boundaries of their existing authorities through novel enforcement actions, says attorney Mike Selig.
Crypto Biz: Contagion engulfs Bitcoin miners as bear market continues
With the BTC price plunging more than 76% peak-to-trough, miners are struggling to keep their operations running.
Over $30B of NFT Trading Volume on Ethereum is Wash Trading, Research Suggests
According to a report based on data pulled through Dune Analytics, the shady trades accounted for over half of the total NFT trade volumes in 2022, and nearly 45% of all-time NFT volume.
Mythical Games Sues Former Executives for Secretly Raising $150M for New Firm
The Web3 gaming studio alleges that the former executives, who departed the firm in November, used knowledge gained from raising funds for Mythical to acquire capital for their new firm, Fenix Games.
US election agency approves use of NFTs as campaign fundraising incentive
According to the FEC, DataVault will receive “reasonable compensation” for each NFT issued to contributors as well as track all tokens issued for its own records.