Category: Crypto News

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Crypto News Market Analysis Trading

Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index Showing Extreme Fear

The Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index is the lowest that it has been for the past year – reaching a point of 10 indicating extreme fear in the market.

This indicator shows the current sentiment of the Bitcoin market into a simple meter from 0 to 100. Zero means ‘Extreme Fear’, while 100 means ‘Extreme Greed’.

From Greed To Fear

The lowest it has ever been was back in August 2019, hitting a point of 5. Just earlier this month however, it was at 73, indicating a rating of greed, coming down slightly from extreme greed highs of 95/100 earlier this year.

Tools like the Fear and Greed Index can help traders gauge market sentiment and react to ever-changing patterns and trends.

Triggering Trading Emotions

GREED – People tend to get greedy when the market is rising which results in huge FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). The general pattern emerges as more and more buyers come into the market, it eventually tops out and a correction follows after a period of too much greed.

FEAR – When the market turns and more and more traders sell, FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) sets in and this cascades downwards. When this bottoms out, some traders then see this as a buying opportunity and the cycle changes and repeats.

Warren Buffet’s Famous Saying

The investment godfather Warren Buffet was famous for the following quote.

We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.

Warren Buffet

This advice from Warren Buffet suggests that we could use the Fear and Greed Index indicator as a tool to assist us when we are trading and investing cryptocurrencies.

Categories
Crypto News DeFi Hackers Scams

DeFi100 Goes Down, Claiming They Were Hacked And Haven’t Rug-Pulled

Question mark neaon photo
Question mark neaon photo https://unsplash.com/photos/8xAA0f9yQnE

DEFI100 (D100), a DeFi project dealing with virtual assets, has gone down.

At the time of writing, visitors to the DeFi project’s website are being displayed a “404 – Not Found” message.

Error "404 - not found" on Defi100.org
Error “404 – Not Found” on Defi100.org

It is not clear whether D100 has gone down as a result of a hack, or if instead the project has done a so-called rug pull – that is, an exit scam by intentionally becoming unavailable, disappearing with all of the funds.

$32 Million USD Estimated Vanished

Similar to other times where DeFi projects were messed with, the bad actors accompanied their misdeeds with a little taunting. An analyst know as CryptoWhale on Twitter has shared the news, speculating $32 million USD in investor funds have been siphoned off.

The team behind D100 claims instead they have been hacked, with the malicious actors leaving a message (which has been taken down).

They have also publicly stated that the rumours of rug-pulling are utterly false and they are trying to bring the project back up and running.

It is worth remembering that this is not the first time a DeFi project is suffering this kind of situation. However these claims are being treated with great suspicion by Twitter users, with some arguing this is just a cover-up before maybe an even bigger heist is pulled off.

DYOR Reminder

Whether the project stole the funds or just suffered an attack by anonymous bad actors, the website remains down and the price of D100 has plummeted by over 50 percent, currently being traded around $0.08 AUD.

The same analyst who broke the news also reminded everyone to be wary of shady projects with anonymous devs, especially in periods of bear market – which might encourage malicious players to take their bags and go home. As always, Do Your Own Research.

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Bitcoin Crypto News

BTC Price Now vs 2013 and 2017 Graphs Shows Positive Correlation

Last week Bitcoin had its worst sell-off since March 2020, and the global crypto market has suffered great losses along with it. Over 250 billion was erased from the market as selling panic took over.

While many were panicking and considering this as the end of the bull run, some we’re taking a closer look at the data and compared todays BTC price with 2013 and 2017 and the results showed a positive correlation.

BTC Now vs 2013

BTC current graph compared to 2013 [source]

The graph above shows a positive correlation for the BTC price now vs back in 2013. Back in 2013, BTC corrected up to 50% before rocketing to another all-time high just over US$1,000.

This data might suggest that this a normal cycle for BTC, as the market corrects, then resets and resumes into the final phase of the bull run. At least thats what happened in both 2013 and 2017.

BTC Now vs 2017

BTC current graph vs 2017 [source]

The graph above also shows a positive correlation for the BTC price now vs back in 2017. Back in 2017, BTC corrected up to 50% before rocketing to another all-time high just over US$17,000.

If Bitcoin follows the same pattern as 2017 then BTC may be on track to retake its uptrend run and surge somewhere between US$70k – $120k.

As we previously reported, this is the 10th time BTC has dropped by over 30% since 2017. So newcomers should be aware that this market is still volatile and drops like this are “normal” for this market.

ETH vs BTC

Another interesting take is between ETH and BTC that shows a positive correlation across the same price period. If ETH continues on this pattern it would also retake its bull run.

ETH 2016 vs BTC 2011 [source]

This isn’t the End of the Bull Run, Says Top Analyst

Experts in the crypto field don’t believe the bull run has exhausted, whatsoever. During a podcast with Peter McCormack, top analyst Willy Woo talked about the current situation with Bitcoin, saying it might take time to recover from this crash before taking off to prices over $100k.

“I think it’ll take a bit of time to recover, just from the sheer amount of coins that we dumped out. I think ultimately, if you look at the network health, this is a good thing.”

Willy Woo

Woo referred to several indicators that are showing price positivity for BTC. He noted that this is not the end of the bull run rather an “unwind” necessary for the network’s health, referring to the NVT ratio, which shows network activity in relation to market cap.

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Bitcoin Bitcoin Mining China Crypto News

Déjà vu – China Crackdown on Bitcoin Trading and Mining

China’s State Council Calls for Crackdown on Bitcoin Trading and Mining

It seems like history is repeating itself once again as the Chinese authorities have reiterated plans to crack down on Bitcoin trading and mining activities in the country.

Upon the news, the price of Bitcoin dropped by 10 percent below $40,000 USD late on Friday and is still on the decline as we reported in the reasons why Bitcoin crashed.

This isn’t the first time China has caused FUD with Bitcoin, they did almost exactly the same thing back in 2013 causing the Bitcoin price to drop from $1k to $400. China then did the same thing again in 2018 causing the Bitcoin price to drop from $20k to $6k.

China FUD since 2017

China Ban Bitcoin Mining Operations

Following the report shared by the Chinese journalist, the State Council of China, and Vice Premier Liu, He is looking to step up regulatory measures to protect the financial systems while also preventing individual financial risks. This was discussed in their 51st meeting of the “State Council Financial Stability and Development Committee” of May 21. 

This is the first time that the highest level of the Chinese government has clearly proposed a blow to the mining industry.

Crypto reporter, Colin Wu

As part of the measures, the State Council intensified their call to crackdown Bitcoin trading and mining in the country and “and resolutely prevent the transmission of individual risks to the social field.”

China houses the majority of Bitcoin’s global hashrate. Over 65 percent of Bitcoin mining activities are observed in the country, and so, some people are curious about how the Chinese ban on BTC mining will affect the overall network health.

Monthly share of global Bitcoin hashrate. Source: CBECI

On the other hand, some believe the development will propel more Bitcoin mining activities in the United States with clean energy.

We reported that China was clamping down on Bitcoin mining operations back in March, forcing F2Pool to sell off their BTC.

Categories
Bitcoin Crypto News Google

Cryptocurrency Hits New All-Time High on Google Search Trends

Cryptocurrency Hits New All-Time High on Google Search Trends

Search interest in cryptocurrencies around the world has reached another record high, according to Google Trends data.

This follows the recent downwards volatility in the market, which resulted in a significant decrease in the market capitalization of global cryptocurrencies.

Global Search Result Shows Investors Are Worried

The increase in search interest for cryptocurrencies was probably triggered by the recent decrease in many cryptocurrencies this week. The queries on Google showed that many people are worried about the current volatility of the market. For instance, recent data shared by Google Trend confirmed that questions on “What happened to cryptocurrency today” around the world increased by over 850 percent. 

At the same time, searches for “should I sell my crypto” in the United States increased by over 400 percent.

What’s even more surprising is that many people are interested in knowing how Bitcoin uses energy and environmentally friendly digital currencies. Searches for “how does Bitcoin use energy” surged by over 1,050 percent in the United States over the past week. 

This is coming after Tesla announced it has suspended accepting Bitcoin payments for its electric vehicles.

Did Tesla’s Announcement Affect The Bitcoin Market?

As recently as May 12, the founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, informed that the company has stopped accepting payments in Bitcoin due to the “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal.” Shortly after the announcement, Bitcoin began dropping gradually below the $50,000 USD mark the next day. At some point, some claimed that Tesla’s announcement contributed to the hit on Bitcoin’s price on Wednesday. 

Bitcoin price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Bitcoin is yet to reclaim the $50,000 USD mark. At the time of writing, it was trading at $37,227 USD on CoinMarketCap, with a market capitalization of over $697 billion USD. 

Categories
Crypto News Cryptocurrency Tax Institutions Regulation

Biden’s New Crypto Tax Proposal For Businesses To Report Crypto Transactions Over $10k

On Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden provided details on how the administration plans to generate an additional $700 billion USD in revenue from tax collection. Businesses will need to report on cryptocurrency transactions over $10,000.

According to a recent report released by the Biden administration, the U.S. will upgrade the capabilities of the IRS in effectively stifling tax evasion and bring some standardisation to the laws regarding cryptocurrency reporting for businesses.

As the crypto market reached $2 trillion USD earlier this year, which seems to be turning some heads until the recent crash, more attention has been given to crypto.

Some proposed measures are aimed at cryptocurrency, including a requirement that crypto exchanges report gross receipts and purchases. It also calls for businesses receiving crypto to report on transactions larger than $10,000 from 2023 — a standard that already exists for cash transactions.

This is good news in a bad week for crypto. The U.S. government essentially just admitted crypto is here to stay, and now they are making policies and laws to help with the regulation thereof.

More Power To The IRS

The IRS will be provided with additional resources in order to combat advanced methods of tax evasion, since “Cryptocurrency already poses a significant detection problem by facilitating illegal activity broadly including tax evasion,”. The IRS will also be allowed to access more information through “Financial institutions would add information about total account outflows and inflows to existing reporting on bank accounts” and “The reporting regime would also cover foreign financial institutions and crypto asset exchanges and custodians.”

The IRS still relies on Individualand Business File Systems that date back to the 1960s—the oldest in the federal government. The result is decades upon decades of tax administration built upon a system that is written in a programming language that is no longer taught, and where
new functions are added in a patchwork rather than integrated manner

The American Families Plan Tax Compliance Agenda

The Biden administration wants to give the I.R.S. $80 billion over the next decade for technological upgrades and to increase staff with specialised expertise in the required areas. The report also states that the IRS’s outdated technology currently combats around 1.4 billion cyberattacks yearly and is in need of dire upgrades. These upgrades aren’t just for catching the baddies, this work can also “help avoid unnecessary, costly and burdensome audits of compliant taxpayers.”

Standards For CBDC’s

The Fed admits that Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and crypto are changing the world, and it is important to understand and be ready for these changes in the financial system. They have also acknowledged they are experimenting with a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), but it will not replace current forms of settlement.

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Binance Crypto News Market Analysis Ontology Swyftx Trading

ONG Surges +500% In a Week as Ontology Introducing ONT staking with 90% APY

Ontology (ONG) has been trending upwards recently, unlike most of the other coins which have been going downwards. The Cryptocurrency ONG just went up +500% in a week by breaking a Rising wedge pattern with strong buying volume and surges over +800% in 30 days.

What is Ontology?

Ontology is a high-performance, open-source blockchain specializing in digital identity and data. Ontology’s infrastructure supports robust cross-chain collaboration and Layer 2 scalability, offering businesses the flexibility to design a blockchain that suits their needs. Ontology adopts a dual-token model, with both ONT and ONG as utility tokens. Ontology decouples ONT and ONG to alleviate the risk of turbulent fluctuations of the native “asset” value on the gas fee.

ONG Price Analysis

At the time of writing, ONG is ranked 126th cryptocurrency globally and the current price is $1.80 AUD. This is a +500% increase since 15th May 2021 (7 days ago) as shown in the chart below.

Source: TradingView

After looking at the above 1-day candle chart, we can clearly see that ONG broke out from the rising wedge pattern on the ONG/USDT pair. The first resistance was on the $1.10 AUD price levels which ONG broke with a strong bullish trend & buying volume and is now heading towards the next resistance. ONG could continue the uptrend whereas many other altcoins are bearish this week due to Bitcoin’s recent crash.

“A rising wedge is a technical indicator, suggesting a reversal pattern frequently seen in bear markets. This pattern shows up in charts when the price moves upward with pivot highs and lows converging toward a single point known as the apex. […] This pattern has a familiar look to a bear flag.” – Larry Swing on Investopedia [source]

What do the Technical Indicators say?

The ONG TradingView indicators (on the 1-day window) mainly indicate ONG as a buy, except the Oscillators which indicate ONG as a sell.

Why did ONG Breakout?

General market sentiment seems to suggest cryptos are in the middle of the bull run season, which could have contributed to the recent breakout. Another reason for this sudden pump in price could be whales secretly buying ONG for the next Altcoins rally. It could also have contributed to some of the recent news from Ontology introducing $ONT staking with >90% APY.

While ONT is the network’s “primary token,” ONG is used for on-chain services like transactions or paying for the deployment of smart contracts.
ONG tokens are also released to ONT token holders in amounts relative to their holding ratio to encourage ONT staking.

Where to Buy or Trade ONG?

Ontology ONG has high liquidity on Binance exchange so that would help for trading ONG/BTC or ONG/USDT pairs. However, if you’re just looking at buying some quick and HODLing then Swyftx exchange is a popular choice in Australia.

Categories
Australia Crypto News Regulation

Australia’s Fintech Senate To Provide Final Report in October 2021

The Senate Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre will provide the third and final report in October 2021, as Senators push for a more crypto-friendly Australia.

Senate Pushing for A Crypto-friendlier Australia

On Wednesday, the Senate released a Third issues Paper where it will guide submitters to examine a handful of topics related to technology and finance, and what could be possibly stopping the country to become a hub in those fields.

Chaired by Senator Andrew Bragg, the Senate is calling submitters to address important topics like how Blockchain and cryptocurrencies can promote investment in the country and bolster Australian economic growth.

Another essential topic would be what type of laws are restraining new investment in Australia. Senator Bragg has called out on how corporate laws are holding back investment in the country, which has led the Committee to lay down specific subjects for submitters like:

  1. The impact of corporate law restraining new investment in Australia
  2. The policy environment facing neo-banks
  3. Barriers to the adoption of new technologies in the financial sector

Australia is “Well Poised” To Become a Leader in Fintech

The Australian government is keen to establish the nation as a crypto-friendly economy. However, experts in the field believe the government is taking a slow pace compared to other countries which have already adopted blockchain and established crypto regulations to boost their economies.

During the Blockchain Australia Week, several important personalities in the local community shared their concerns about Australia having the potential to become a leader in financial technology, but instead falling behind global competitors.

A major concern for the local community is the lack of a regulatory body, which many CEOs of local crypto-companies have already said it’s hurting the industry, and driven away potential offshore investors.

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Coinbase Crypto News

Coinbase Pro Announces Listing of Solana (SOL), Trading Starts Monday

Coinbase Pro Announces Listing of Solana (SOL), Trading Starts Monday

Major cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase Pro announced Thursday it’s listing the native digital currency of Solana blockchain, SOL trading is expected to commence next week. 

Solana Bags Coinbase Pro Listing

Coinbase Pro opened an inbound transfer for the cryptocurrency on Thursday, meaning users can start depositing SOL to the exchange head of trading date. If all liquidity conditions for SOL are met, Coinbase Pro will commence the trading at precisely 9 AM PT on Monday. 

The exchange will support the following trading pairs for the coin.

  • SOL-USD
  • SOL-BTC
  • SOL-EUR 
  • SOL-GBP
  • SOL-USDT

The Solana blockchain is a decentralized network aiming to address the issue of scalability by combining proof of history and proof of stake consensus models. The network reportedly processes about 50,000 transactions per second while still maintaining its decentralized property. 

SOL listing on Coinbase Pro is coming some days after the CEO Brian Armstrong said they would accelerate the time it takes to analyze and list new coins for trading on their platform. This followed their announcement to list Dogecoin (DOGE), with Armstrong adding that “the proliferation of alternative coins, including Dogecoin and Binance Coin, is a challenge because competitors support them, and Coinbase doesn’t.”

Coinbase Pro said they would issue a separate report when SOL lists on its exchange Coinbase.com and mobile apps.  

SOL Price Update

Over the past few days, SOL has been trending on Twitter. At the time of writing, SOL was trading at $47.96 USD on CoinMarketCap, which is about $10 USD below its all-time high of $58.30 USD. The circulating supply of SOL accounts for over $13.1 billion in market capitalization.

Solana Price Chart. Source: CoinMarketCap
Categories
Binance Crypto News Hackers

Flashloan Exploit On Binance’s PancakeBunny Leads to $45 Million USD Drained

An economic exploit on PancakeBunny’s decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol was used on Wednesday which saw the attacker drain $45 million USD from the ecosystem.

How Did The Attack Happen?

According to the post-mortem analysis of the attack published by bunny, the attacker:

  • The exploiter staged (and exited) the attack using PancakeSwap (PCS)
  • By exploiting a difference in PCS pricing, the hacker intentionally manipulated the price of USDT/BNB and Bunny/BNB, acquiring a huge amount of Bunny through the use of Flash Loans.
  • The exploiter dumped all the Bunny in the market (Ethereum), causing the price of Bunny to plummet
  • The exploiter then exited the attack by paying back the remaining BNB (by having exploited the price difference from before) on PCS.

Flash loans allow anyone to borrow an unlimited supply of funds without providing any collateral as long as they pay back the sum in the same transaction.

Bunny price plummets after the executed exploit [poocoin]

The attack pumped the price of BUNNY from $150 to $240 before plummeting to $0 in just 30 minutes. No vaults were compromised in the event, with the main issue being the driven down price affecting all investors.

Moreover, we are committed to providing a solution by which we can restore the value lost by our community and restore their confidence in the project.

Bunny Finance

Increased Attacks On DeFi

In April, crypto data aggregator Messari reported that flash loans had become the most popular attack vector in the DeFi ecosystem, accounting for roughly half of the $285 million worth of DeFi exploits identified on the Ethereum DeFi-market since 2019.

Attacks on other DeFi protocols: