It seems that all that was required to kick off the ‘Crypto Winter’ was the onset of summer and as we progress into summer months, the price points and trading volumes of almost all cryptocurrencies are showing steady growth, breaking their slumber of the bear market. Let’s see the main highlight of this week’s cryptocurrency and blockchain market.
Price points
Bitcoin – As bitcoin continues its bull run by spiking up to $9,000 mark on May 30, it did dip in the month end and started June at a price point of over $8,500. As of press time, BTC was at $8,736.47.
Ethereum – Similar to Bitcoin ETHUSD nosedived after hitting the $290 level, dropping to 250 USD after it maintained the price range for some time. As of press time, Ethereum was at $271.78
Ripple – Over the past few days, XRP has been on a bullish trend that placed the price above the $0.46 level on May 30. While the Bears temporarily lost their control and Ripple price increased, a big bearish candle emerged suddenly and the price decline. So, will XRP bearish trend continue?, as of press time, XRP was at $0.44
Bitcoin Cash – On May 29, BCH rallied up to $483 and thereafter dropped to $401.73, showing a bearing trend. Though June brought back its value, as of press time, BCH was at $445.50.
Bitcoin is flying high
The data shows that bitcoin’s weekly trading volumes rallied over the past two weeks, recording a new high of around 219 million South-Korean won ($185,000)
China’s Center for Information and Industry Development (CCID) releases its 12th edition of crypto rankings on May 23, and EOS retains its top spot, while bitcoin it at 12th place, rising three places from the last edition. The top five cryptocurrencies in this edition were EOS, tron, ether, steem, and ontology.
The parent company of EOS, Block.one had partnered with Tether, a blockchain tech company in order to launch the latter’s stablecoin (USDT) on the EOS blockchain (EOSIO). Reportedly the Tether EOS and its delegated proof-of-stake design are well-suited for peer-to-peer microtransactions.
Regulatory Updates
Warning their citizens – The central bank of Malawi, Africa issues warning against cryptocurrency, stating that crypto such as Bitcoin (BTC), and any crypto-related activities are not legal in the country. The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) stated that cryptocurrencies are not legal tender in Malawi, adding that they do not represent a substitute to the Malawi kwacha (MWK), local fiat currency.
Taking things as they come – The Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA)
illustrates a cautious approach towards cryptocurrency-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in comments at the finance committee of the upper house of the National Diet.
Dubbed as DefendCrypto fund, the fund is aimed at legally challenging the U.S. SEC, so as to get regulatory clarity from the major U.S. financial watchdog.
Notable launches or Collaborations
Taotao launches a trading service – Taotao, a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, owned 40% by the Internet giant Yahoo! Japan’s YJFX, will be launched its trading service on May 30. Taotao initially will be offering bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH). The platform will also avail margin trading in litecoin (LTC), XRP and bitcoin cash (BCH), addition to BTC and ETH.
In addition to this, Telegram Open Network (TON) gets one of its first decentralized applications with Button Wallet this week. Recently, opened to beta development, the secretive project and Button wallet collectively published a blog post elaborating about the collaboration.
EY provides blockchain solution to track wine – Big Four audit firm Ernst & Young (EY) plans to provide its proprietary blockchain solution to a major new platform, that will aid consumers across Asia to ascertain the quality, provenance, and authenticity of imported European wines.
Test of City N – The Russian state of Nizhny Novgorod tests “City N,” a blockchain-based application that will aid monitoring public administration tasks. Reportedly, by utilizing the application the state residents could file their taxes on the blockchain-based Vostok platform. Further, City N will include several features such as the ability to verify the identity of Nizhny Novgorod residents and to track expenditures residents have paid to the state’s budget via the online portal of public services Gosuslugi.
Virtual car sold for $110,600 – A virtual racing car in the upcoming blockchain-based game F1 Delta Time gets sold for 415.9 ether (ETH) or $110,600 at the time of sale, as per an announcement on the game’s website. The said virtual car will surely be one-of-a-kind as the auction page promises to never release more.
Bitfinex shuts its services temporarily – Cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex announced a temporarily shut down its services via a tweet published on May 31. As per the tweet, the exchange has temporarily paused deposits and withdrawals “due to the outrage of one of [their] network providers.” Since such an announcement alarms users, the firm offers some relief and added that “Funds are safe in cold storage. The situation should be restored ASAP (ETA 3/4h). Apologies for the inconvenience.”
Paolo Ardoino, CTO for Bitfinex further tweeted links to the exchange’s hot wallets in order to ensure everyone that there are no outgoing tokens and that user funds were secure.
BCH endured a double spend – Bitcoin cash (BCH) network experienced a hard fork on May 15, which brought some troubles for the network. As per a report released by the research arm of cryptocurrency, derivatives exchange BitMex on May 24, the network experienced two-block chain reorganization, resulting in a 3,392 BCH (about $1.35 million at press time) double spend.
