Cryptocurrency companies broke off relations with Silvergate Bank amid rumors about the insolvency of the latter, bitcoin tested levels below $22,000, the Ethereum team approved the preliminary date for the activation of Shanghai in the main network and other events of the outgoing week.
Bitcoin price tested below $22,000
On the night of March 3, the quotes of the first cryptocurrency at the moment fell below $22,000, having lost 4.5% in a day.By the end of the week, the rate has somewhat recovered – at the time of writing, digital gold is trading near $22,420.
At the end of the week, all digital assets from the top 10 by market capitalization were in the “red zone”.The native token of the Polygon project showed the worst dynamics – the price of MATIC decreased by 8.8%.
The total capitalization of the cryptocurrency market amounted to $1.01 trillion.The Bitcoin dominance index remained unchanged at 40.2%.
Coinbase announces BUSD trading halt and terminates partnership with Silvergate Bank along with other major players
From March 13, 2023, the American crypto exchange Coinbase will stop trading in the stablecoin Binance USD (BUSD).BUSD capitalization fell below $10 billion.
Crypto derivatives platform LedgerX, which is part of the FTX Group, announced on February 28 that it had broken off cooperation with Silvergate Bank.The next day, a similar statement was released by Coinbase.
On March 2, the capitalization of Silvergate Capital Corporation collapsed by more than 50% amid
information about the delay in the publication of the annual report for the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).Speculation arose in the community about the bank’s insolvency and a possible buyout of its assets by Wells Fargo.
After that, major industry players supported the initiative to refuse cooperation with Silvergate.
Among them were Circle, Paxos, Crypto.com, Gemini, Bitstamp, Bakkt, CBOE and Galaxy Digital.
Some, like Tether and MicroStrategy, have denied being associated with the company.
The Ethereum team implemented the Shapella hard fork on the Sepolia testnet and approved the preliminary update date on the main network
On February 28, Ethereum developers successfully completed the Shanghai-Capella (Shapella) upgrade on the Sepolia testnet and approved the Goerli upgrade on March 14.
Goerli will be the last testnet before the update is implemented on the mainnet.According to lead developer Tim Beiko, this will happen around mid-April.
This week, the Ethereum team activated the ERC-4337 standard, which implements the concept of account abstraction.ERC-4337 allows you to turn user wallets into smart contract accounts to make Ethereum addresses more convenient and eliminate the key human factor – loss of keys.
Forbes pointed to Binance practices similar to “FTX maneuvers”
At the end of 2022, Binance transferred ~$1.78 billion of collateral from BNB Beacon Chain and BNB Smart Chain-issued USDC stablecoins to wallets of Cumberland, Alameda and other market makers “for undisclosed purposes,” Forbes said.
Binance.US CEO Patrick Hillman noted that moving billions in digital assets between wallets is “normal exchange
business practice.” Company founder Changpeng Zhao said he was very reluctant to take the time to write another FUD article with a lot of accusations, deliberately distorted facts and mentioning his ethnicity as a significant factor.
Later, representatives of the US Senate Banking Committee sent a letter to Binance asking for details on the KYC/AML policy and money laundering control procedures.They accused the platform of evading regulators and dealing with criminals, calling it a “hotbed of illicit financial activity.”
Unity adds blockchain-based SDK tools to its store
Video game development platform Unity has added 13 new Web3-based software developer kits (SDKs) to its Unity Asset Store.
The new Decentralization section includes tools from Algorand, Aptos, Flow, Dapper Labs, Immutable X, MetaMask, Solana, and Tezos.
The functionality will allow game developers to integrate blockchain technologies such as NFTs and metaverses into their products.
The SEC has stepped up pressure on the industry
In December 2022, the SEC sent an investigative summons to Robinhood regarding the platform’s cryptocurrency services shortly after the November collapse of the FTX exchange, according to the online broker’s annual report.
The commission also accused former FTX CTO Nishad Singh of defrauding the platform’s customers, setting up “a series of fictitious transfers within a group of firms, and creating false documentation for auditors.”
According to the documents, Singh developed the platform code that allowed sister company Alameda Research to use FTX user funds.
This week’s hearing in the case showed that Alameda’s total borrowings from the exchange
amounted to $9.3 billion.At the same time, FTX assets are estimated at $2.2 billion, of which only $694 million is liquid.
At a meeting on March 2, the court noted the ambiguity of the SEC’s position regarding the sale of Voyager Digital assets to the Binance.US exchange and demanded an explanation from the agency.
Exchanges have suspended deposits and withdrawals of the hryvnia for Ukrainian users
On March 2, cryptocurrency platforms announced a temporary suspension of operations through hryvnia bank cards.Binance and Kuna said that this happened against the backdrop of an intensified fight against illegal gambling by the authorities.
In a comment to ForkLog UA, Binance representatives noted that the P2P service of the platform continues to work.
Trezor to speed up hardware wallet production and Trust Wallet adds Ledger support
Hardware wallet maker Trezor has taken control of the silicon chips for its flagship Model T product.The move aims to streamline device manufacturing to reduce the delivery cycle from two years to months.
The Trust Wallet team has implemented support for Ledger hardware wallets through a browser extension.
What to discuss with friends?
– Bybit has suspended bank transfers in US dollars due to problems on the partner’s side.
– A free educational course on cryptocurrencies has started in Ukraine.
– A video of Colombia’s “number one bitcoin scammer” went viral on TikTok.
– $284,000 in cryptocurrency was stolen from a Russian blogger in Bali.
Jack Dorsey’s alternative to Twitter has appeared in the App Store.His company TBD launched the LN division
Bluesky, a decentralized alternative to Twitter backed by Twitter co-founder and ex-CEO Jack Dorsey, has hit the iOS App Store.The app is available in beta for testing by invitation only.
According to the media, since February 17, it has been downloaded about 2,000 times.
Block’s bitcoin-focused subsidiary, TBD, has announced the launch of a Lightning Network ecosystem development arm called c=.
Bitzlato warned about AML tags on bitcoins withdrawn from the platform
From March 1, users of the Bitzlato crypto exchange platform, whose infrastructure was arrested by the French prosecutor’s office, were able to start partial withdrawals.
According to Anton Shkurenko, who now holds the position of a freelance consultant at Bitzlato, up to 50% of the balance in bitcoin has become available to clients, but more than half of the users want to leave their funds and wait for the launch of the P2P platform.
At the moment, all assets on Bitzlato are marked by AML services as high-risk.
The UAE will launch a free economic zone for cryptocurrency companies
The government of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), one of the emirates of the UAE, plans to create a free zone for companies in the digital asset industry.According to the statement, RAK Digital Assets Oasis will become a hub for unregulated activities of industry participants.
The structure will begin accepting applications in the second quarter of 2023.
Also on ForkLog:
– Brad Garlinghouse predicted the exit of crypto companies from the US.
– Binance has planned to hire 500 employees by mid-2023.
– The LaunchZone token depreciated by 82% as a result of the hack.
– Robinhood has launched an iOS version of the cryptocurrency wallet for all users.
What else to read?
In the traditional analytical report, they talked about the outflow of Ethereum and Bitcoin from centralized platforms, the confrontation between OpenSea and Blur, improving market sentiment and the potential for further market recovery.
In a new exclusive material, we figured out why the collapse of FTX is compared to the crisis of 2008: we remembered what preceded the collapse on Wall Street, how events unfolded in 2008 and 2022, and also compared the reaction of regulators and the consequences for direct participants.
The controversial project Ordinals is rapidly gaining popularity, causing heated discussions in the community.We explained how the protocol affects the blockchain of the first cryptocurrency.
On the last day of February, ForkLog prepared a traditional calendar of important events for the next month.
Traditional digests collected the main events of the week in the fields of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.
The cryptocurrency industry is attracting an increasing number of institutional players.This is evidenced by new investments in infrastructure, and the increasing attention that companies are showing to bitcoin as an asset class.The most important events of recent weeks are in the ForkLog review..
