Popular DeFi privacy protocol Tornado Cash has announced a fully open-source user interface for Tornado Cash Classic, allowing contributors to check out the code and suggest improvements via the platform’s GitHub.
UI vulnerabilities have been a major focus for the Tornado community and, according to a Medium post, the move is part of its efforts to prioritise a fully transparent and decentralised ecosystem:
We personally grew fond of the black and green floating astronaut associated with the protocol. However, you should know our credo by now: we will always lean towards more decentralisation.
Tornado Medium post
What is Tornado Cash?
Tornado Cash essentially works by allowing users to mix their crypto tokens in a pool of fellow users’ crypto, making it practically impossible to track.
In December last year, the protocol announced its integration with Arbitrum, a layer 2 solution that leverages optimistic rollups for Ethereum dApps to ensure faster speeds, lower fees and transaction privacy.
In April, Tornado Cash started blocking US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) addresses, stating that “maintaining financial privacy is essential to preserving our freedom, [though] it should not come at the cost of non-compliance”.
The protocol has long been a popular platform for users seeking anonymity and decentralisation. The current price of Tornado Cash (TORN) is US$20.40, as per data from CoinMarketCap, with a 24-hour trading volume of US$6.2 million.
Sri Lanka is in the throes of mass protests over an economic crisis that this week saw its President, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, flee the country on a military jet.
The CBSL issued a short media release to remind the public that, amid the country’s economic collapse, virtual currencies (VCs) remain “largely unregulated digital representations of value that are issued by private entities and can be electronically traded”.
Inflation Hits 54%, Interest Rates 15.5%
With Sri Lanka’s inflation level topping 54 percent last month, the CBSL raised interest rates to 15.5 percent with an immense knock-on effect on the cost of living for the country’s 22 million population.
[Digital currencies] are considered unregulated financial instruments and have no regulatory oversight or safeguards relating to their usage in Sri Lanka … The public is therefore warned of the possible exposure to significant financial, operational, legal and security-related risks as well as customer protection concerns posed to the users by investments in VCs.
Central Bank of Sri Lanka
On July 9, hundreds of protesters breached the president’s Colombo residence, reportedly seizing 17.8 million rupees (approximately US$50,000) in cash and fully utilising all facilities in the residence.
As the situation in Sri Lanka continues to spiral, CBSL’s media release also warned the public to be wary of various VC schemes and scams offered through all forms of media.
Crypto Opposition Around the Globe
Several other nations around the world also remain anti-crypto, notably Russia and Zambia. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (CBR) was seeking to ban crypto investments in late 2021, according to a report by Reuters. The CBR also barred mutual funds from investing in digital currency during this same period.
More recently, Zambia’s central bank was revealed to be in the process of researching central bank digital currencies, with aspirations to implement a CBDC by the end of the fourth quarter. This followed government-issued warnings about crypto earlier in the year. Despite wanting to explore CBDCs, the Zambian government maintains an anti-crypto stance.
California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) has announced it is “actively investigating” crypto lenders offering crypto interest accounts.
Multiple US-based lenders face investigation after indefinitely halting transfers and withdrawals between user accounts.
Targeted Companies Fail to Disclose Deposit-Related Risks
While none of these lending companies has been named, the regulator has hinted that those offering interest-bearing crypto-asset accounts, and service providers that have failed to adequately disclose deposit-related risks, will be a focus:
The Department warns California consumers and investors that many crypto-interest account providers may not have adequately disclosed risks customers face when they deposit crypto assets onto these platforms.
California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation
In the months leading up to the regulator’s decision, several prominent crypto lenders – notably Celsius – have frozen withdrawals and transfers. Behind these freezes is the liquidity crisis kickstarted by the recent and intense market downturn, which saw bitcoin fall below US$20,000 multiple times in June alone.
The California regulator’s decision to mount its investigation also comes after public comments from politicians and other regulators cautioning consumers over the risks of crypto lending.
Crypto Lenders a Hot Topic
Crypto lenders have been the talk of the town in recent times. Last month, crypto services business Nexo sought to purchase “qualifying” assets from rival crypto lender Celsius. This followed perceptions of Celsius’ impending insolvency as it froze user withdrawals and transfers over “extreme market conditions”.
Earlier this month, crypto lender BlockFi signed a contract with FTX US, a division of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange. The partnership would see FTX increase its credit facility with BlockFi and provide an opportunity for FTX to potentially acquire the struggling lender. BlockFi co-founder Zac Prince stated that the deal was valued at up to US$680 million, with an additional US$400 million revolving credit facility.
Despite 2022 being a “bear market of historic proportions” and waning institutional interest, on-chain analytics firm Glassnode has revealed that the total number of unique Bitcoin addresses now exceeds 1 billion:
📈 #Bitcoin$BTC Total Number of Addresses Ever Created just went above 1,000,000,000.
In its latest report, Glassnode notes that one of the main outcomes of a lengthy bear market is the redistribution of wealth among those who remain. This typically occurs in two distinct phases:
Post All-Time High Phase (“Phase 1”) – short-term investors and speculators “gradually come to terms with the bear market reality and exit into a depreciating price trend”. In addition, some try to counter-trade any ongoing relief rallies.
Bottom Discovery Phase (“Phase 2”) – characterised by “diminishing profitability and an extended period of financial pain”, which creates declining demand and further capitulation.
Mirroring the previous cycle, the report notes that the current 2022 market displays a clear pattern of redistribution around US$30,000 (Phase 1), and then as bitcoin gradually declined, US$20,000 represented a “significant trigger point for both investor capitulation, and new buyers, thus being a node for coins changing hands” (Phase 2):
The report further notes that as bitcoin plummeted below US$30,000, even those with “diamond hands”, namely HODLers and well-capitalised miners, were selling at an average loss of 33 percent:
Bitcoin Losses for Long-Term Holders. Source: Glassnode (Live Chart)
While volumes have declined on both the retail and institutional fronts, it notes that on average, long-term holders are 14 percent in the red:
Bitcoin Losses/Gains for Long-Term Holders: Source: Glassnode (Live Chart)
Notwithstanding weak price action and significant macro headwinds, “shrimps”, defined as addresses holding less than one bitcoin, have been scooping up coins at a record rate:
JUST IN☢️: Bitcoiners holding less than 1 BTC UTXOs have scooped up 60,460 bitcoin per month; "the most aggressive rate in history" – [Glassnode via Reuters ]
At the same time, the Lightning Network capacity just hit an all-time high of 4,200 BTC, offering some welcome good news against a rather pessimistic backdrop.
Soon to enter its 70th year, seemingly ageless lifestyle brand Playboy is building on its Web3 presence to launch what it calls the MetaMansion in collaboration with NFT-based metaverse gaming platform The Sandbox.
Anybunny home? 🐰👀🏘 We're teaming up with none other than…. @playboy! 👯♀️
This new, virtual version of the Playboy mansion will feature a host of gaming, social and programmed events, along with future NFT collectibles.
Rabbitars Lose Their Bounce
The MetaMansion is an extension of Playboy’s Rabbitars NFT project, 11,953 tokenised bunny avatars that sold for just over US$800 apiece in October 2021. In a sign of these straitened crypto times, the floor price of Rabbitar NFTs on OpenSea is down 74.25 percent since launch.
In better news for the ageing brand, The Sandbox has stated that users will be able to snap up NFT land plots neighbouring the MetaMansion later this quarter. These should be in hot demand considering someone coughed up US$450,000 to be rapper Snoop Dogg’s virtual neighbour in The Sandbox-based Snoopverse last December.
Sebastien Borget, chief operations officer and co-founder of The Sandbox, endorsed the platform’s new collaborator with the following warm words:
Playboy is emblematic for its charm, lifestyle, and entertainment content that has transcended generations and [it] has already stepped into Web3 with early success.
Sebastien Borget, chief operations officer and co-founder, The Sandbox
Sandbox Up, SAND Down
The Sandbox has formed a procession of mainstream partnerships with various other popular figures and brands, including the Care Bears, Warner Music, the Walking Dead, Snoop Dogg, Deadmau5, Atari, the Smurfs and Adidas.
That said, the price of its token (SAND) is down 86.8 percent since its all-time high of US$8.40 in late November 2021. It would appear that both The Sandbox and Playboy remain undeterred, launching the MetaMansion in the depths of the current crypto bear market.
Let’s take a closer look at today’s altcoins showing breakout signals. We’ll explain what the coin is, then dive into the trading charts and provide some analysis to help you decide.
1. Avalanche (AVAX)
Avalanche AVAX is the fastest smart contracts platform in the blockchain industry, as measured by time-to-finality, and has the most validators securing its activity of any proof-of-stake protocol. Avalanche is also low-cost, and green. Any smart contract-enabled application can outperform its competition on Avalanche.
AVAX is the native token of Avalanche. It is a hard-capped, scarce asset that is used to pay for fees, secure the platform through staking, and provide a basic unit of account between the multiple subnets created on Avalanche.
AVAX Price Analysis
At the time of writing, AVAX is ranked the 16th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$17.88. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
AVAX‘s gains in Q2 ended with an almost 80% retracement as the rest of the altcoin market dropped from early last month. Bulls stepped in near the 62.8% retracement of Q2’s move, creating a consolidation that ended with the bullish impulse to resistance near $25.30.
With the 9, 18 and 40 EMAs stacked bullish and a bullish higher-timeframe trend, it’s reasonable to anticipate retracement to possible support before further bullish expansion.
Near the 40 EMA, a broad zone from $18.35 to $17.00 could see interest from bulls before further expansion. Bears might capitalise on any sharp moves down in Bitcoin, aiming for possible support near the 75% retracement, at $16.10, and potentially lower to a higher-timeframe support zone between $15.60 and $14.32.
If the higher-timeframe recovery trend resumes and the current resistance near $23.64 breaks, the wicks near $27.14 and the new monthly highs may see profit-taking.
2. Voyager Token (VGX)
Voyager Token VGX is a cryptocurrency broker that provides investors with a trusted and secure access point to crypto asset trading. Voyager is built to serve both retail and institutional investors with a nigh-instant solution for trading crypto assets. The native token of the brokerage, Voyager Token VGX, is used to reward users within the Voyager ecosystem. VGX also generates interest when held in the Voyager app, and offers cashback rewards and other services exclusive to Voyager users.
VGX Price Analysis
At the time of writing, VGX is ranked the 116th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$0.8333. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
VGX set a high near $2.30 in Q1 before retracing nearly 83% to find a low near $0.4584. The price consolidated around this level before the strong bullish impulse during the past several weeks.
Probable resistance near $0.9771 is slowing the bullish advance down. However, another leg might target the last swing high at $1.24 and relatively equal highs at $1.36. Resistance near $1.55 could cap the move before the second swing high. Beyond these levels, little stands in the bulls’ way before reaching the swing high near $1.84.
A retracement before a move higher might find support in the daily gap near $0.7064, just above the monthly open. Relatively equal lows near $0.6295 could also provide support. A run-on stop at $0.5709 and $0.5084 might find support in the gap beginning near $0.4859 or a high-timeframe level near $0.4215.
3. Aave (AAVE)
AAVE is a decentralised finance protocol that allows people to lend and borrow crypto. Lenders earn interest by depositing digital assets into specially created liquidity pools. Borrowers can then use their crypto as collateral to take out a flash loan using this liquidity. AAVE provides holders with discounted fees on the platform, and it also serves as a governance token, giving owners a say in the future development of the protocol.
AAVE Price Analysis
At the time of writing, AAVE is ranked the 44th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is US$76.70. Let’s take a look at the chart below for price analysis:
AAVE‘s strong downtrend that began during early April has retraced most of its Q2 move, recently sweeping lows near $66.25.
A sweep of the relatively equal lows near $62.87 into possible support around $58.12, combined with bullish market conditions, could be the catalyst that begins to form a bottom. If this level fails, bulls might buy the monthly gap’s low near $50.45.
The swing high near $82.10 may form resistance to any sudden pumps as holders unload some of their position. A more substantial move might sweep relatively swing highs into probable resistance near $96.82, potentially reaching up to the new monthly highs near $110 and $123.
These coins have high liquidity on Binance Exchange, so that could help with trading on AUD/USDT/BTC pairs. And if you’re looking at buying and HODLing cryptos, then Swyftx Exchange is an easy-to-use popular choice in Australia.
The marketplace is running on both the Ethereum mainnet and layer-2 scaling solution Loopring and is hosting various artwork projects, with plans to branch into video games.
Another Start for GameStop
GameStop entered a partnership with Immutable X in February to guarantee future funding (in the form of IMX tokens) for its marketplace. A potential US$150 million in IMX has been negotiated but can only be accessed by GameStop once it reaches certain milestones.
For now, artworks are the only products on the marketplace; however, GameStop is set on the NFT gaming space and plans to bring NFTs to video games. The partnership with Immutable X has created a US$100 million token ‘grant’ fund in hopes of attracting game developers to the marketplace.
GameStop Now a Fully Fledged Crypto Player
In May 2021, GameStop announced development plans for an NFT platform on Ethereum and a new token ($GME). This move accelerated its evolution from a simple retail chain into the crypto industry proper.
Almost exactly a year later, GameStop launched its crypto and NFT wallet, branching further into the digital assets sector. It came in the form of an Ethereum-based browser extension, downloadable from the Chrome Web Store. The wallet is self-custodial and designed with the most recent marketplace addition in mind:
1/ You can swap tokens directly in your GameStop Wallet – you don’t have to go anywhere, or give up control of your assets to an exchange.
You can swap ETH and ERC20 tokens for one another, on Layer 1 using the 0x API, and on Layer 2 using the Loopring DEX. pic.twitter.com/yyXJcAP2Nu
The team at DeFi protocol Yam Finance has successfully blocked an attempt to wipe out the project’s treasury, worth US$3.1 million. The would-be attacker had introduced a governance proposal that would have transferred control of Yam Finance’s reserves to the hacker’s wallet.
According to a preliminary report issued by Yam DAO, the attack was launched on July 7 but was only detected two days later:
Earlier today, there was a governance attack on the DAO that has been thwarted.
An unverified contract was deployed and governance proposal submitted via internal transactions to make it harder to notice.
The attacker submitted a governance proposal via internal transactions, thus making it difficult for community members to notice it. The malicious proposal included an unverified contract designed to transfer control of the platform’s reserves to a wallet address controlled by the attacker. If the exploit had succeeded, the attacker would have been able to drain Yam’s treasury.
Attacker Puts Up Native Tokens to Reach Quorum
Shortly after the proposal was created, the attacker voted on the proposal using 224,739 YAM (native tokens) – a number sufficient to reach a quorum. However, the team at Yam was able to cancel the proposal using their privileges, thus blocking the attack.
After the native token took a tumble, the YAM community voted on a “Redemption Proposal” that would have allowed token holders to redeem YAM tokens from the treasury for about US$0.25 each. The proposal was passed on July 8, with 54.14 percent of voters supporting it. Three days later, the team at Yam suggested a re-vote be taken to allow more time for discussion:
As some of you may have noticed, there was a snapshot vote recently that proposes to make the treasury redeemable at a pro-rata rate.
This vote passed by a narrow margin and people complained that they didn't even know it was happening
While Ukraine (12.7 percent), Russia (11.9%), Venezuela (10.3) and Singapore (9.4) topped the list, the most surprising result was that Kenya (8.5) was the highest-ranking African country, edging out South Africa (7.1) and Nigeria (6.3):
The result for Nigeria is also significant in that out of a population of 211 million, just over 13 million were owners of digital currencies in 2021.
Crypto Awareness Still Low in Australia
By comparison, a recent study conducted by research firm Roy Morgan found that over a million Australians owned some form of crypto, out of a total population of almost 26 million. Another survey published in December last year found that only one in 10 Australians even knew what a cryptocurrency was.
UNCTAD acknowledged in its findings that cryptocurrencies have grown in popularity in some Third World countries because they are “an attractive channel through which to send remittances”.
UNCTAD also found that middle-income individuals from hyperinflation-hit developing countries either own or hold cryptocurrencies because they are seen “as a way to protect household savings”.
A recent study by MLIV Pulse has revealed that 60 percent of Wall Street investors surveyed believe that bitcoin is more likely to drop to US$10,000 than rise to US$30,000.
Investor Sentiment Remains Negative
According to 950 institutional investors, 60 percent believe that bitcoin’s value will more likely be cut in half than rise by 50 percent to reach US$30,000. This notably bearish bias is likely the product of both macro and crypto-specific factors.
MLIV Pulse Survey. Source: Bloomberg
Aside from troubles experienced by crypto lenders such as BlockFi and Celsius, and in addition to U$2 trillion being shed from the sector’s market capitalisation since November 2021, tighter monetary conditions have driven investors to seek refuge in less risky assets.
As one venture capitalist noted:
It’s very easy to be fearful right now, not only in crypto, but generally in the world.
Jared Madfes, partner, Tribe Capital
Madfes suggested that people’s expectations of a further collapse in bitcoin’s price reflected the “inherent fear in the market”.
Crypto Anxiety Pervasive
Interestingly, it wasn’t just notoriously conservative institutional investors who expressed doubts about the industry. Close to a quarter of retail investors described cryptocurrencies as “worthless”, although a similar amount believed they were “the future”:
MLIV Pulse Survey. Source: Bloomberg
One other conspicuous finding was that retail investors were twice as likely to be seen as Bitcoin maximalists. And it’s little wonder that venture capitalists prefer other cryptos over Bitcoin, particularly when one considers the exponential returns available with initial coin offerings (ICOs), premines and discounted tokens.
Kevin O’ Leary, an experienced investor of Shark Tank fame, believes that crypto is yet to see see the bottom as there hasn’t been a “panic event”, typical of most other asset classes:
Wrong or right? Nobody knows, but either way it would be prudent to expect the unexpected.
