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It will be "another tough year" for crypto in the wake of the FTX scandal, suggests the former Meta executive turned Bitcoin Lightning Network advocate. Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto will need until at least 2024 to "recover from the abuse of unscrupulous players," says one of the industry's best-known names. In a blog post released on Dec. 30, David Marcus, CEO and founder of Bitcoin firm Lightspark, disappointed bulls with his outlook for the coming years. Marcus: "Crypto winter" will likely last until 2025 Less than two months after the FTX meltdown, the repercussions continue to unsettle sentiment and price performance alike. For Marcus, famous for his crypto role at Meta and before that PayPal, bad actors have a lot to answer for, and their specter will remain with the crypto industry beyond 2023. While mentioning FTX only once, he referenced what he called "unscrupulous players" dragging out market underperformance even beyond next year. ...

Hedge funds and debt investors have already purchased some of the claims. Instead of waiting for a lengthy bankruptcy process, some investors, who have claims on FTX exchange, Celsius Network, BlockFi and Voyager Digital, are looking to pass on their claims to others.  Data from crypto claims trading startup Xclaim shows that there are at least hundreds of investors who have been affected by the recent collapses of crypto platforms FTX, Celsius, BlockFi and Voyager who do not want to wait for the lengthy bankruptcy process that doesn’t guarantee that they will even be able to get something. The investors have listed their claims for sale to get something out of it even though they might incur some losses in the process. At the time of writing, almost ten thousand claims were listed, with 9,072 claims on Celsius Network, 93 claims on Voyager, 67 claims on FTX and 23 claims on BlockFi. Matt Sedigh, the founder of Xclaim, said in an interview with the mainstream media outlet Wall Str...

Join Our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage Nexo is the largest lending company in the decentralized finance ecosystem and potentially an enabler for the mass adoption of crypto. As lending is a crucial component of every financial ecosystem, Nexo could lend an important hand in bringing crypto to the mainstream. It’s no wonder, therefore, that investors are increasingly considering adding the coin to their portfolio, positive for the coin’s performance in the future. Today, we’ll take a look at the fundamentals that make Nexo so special, understand where it stands on the technical front as well as predict where it might land over the years.   Fundamentals of Nexo Nexo is a lending company that issues cryptocurrency-backed loans in the Defi space. Users can deposit their crypto tokens as collateral in exchange for fiat or stablecoins.   Users can also earn interest on their crypto holdings, as Nexo offers high-interest ra...

Platforms like STEPN and Sweatcoin have done a lot to popularize the idea of “move-to-earn” in the cryptocurrency space. Move-to-earn essentially means that users can earn cryptocurrency by completing movement-based challenges/competitions. The idea and its early implementation has been hailed as r evolution ary, in that it encourages individuals to adopt a more active lifestyle by offering monetizable rewards. But platforms like STEPN and Sweatcoin have big limitations that have and continue to prevent them from gaining greater mainstream adoption. Both are focused on steps and recordable movement, which means that users essentially only get rewarded for walking, jogging and running. That’s not much good for people who prefer working out in a gym. Meanwhile, STEPN has erected big barriers to participation – users must purchase expensive non-fungible token (NFT) trainers in order to start earning. Enter FightOut, the next evolution of a move-...

The recent movement of funds from Alameda wallets just days after Sam Bankman Fried was released on bail raised many eyebrows about the timing. The crypto wallets associated with now-bankrupt trading firm Alameda Research, the sister company of FTX, were seen transferring out funds just days after the former CEO Sam Bankman Fried was released on a $250 million bond. The transfer of funds from Alameda wallet s raised community curiosity, but more than that, the way in which these funds were transferred grabbed the community ’s attention. The Alameda wallet was found to be swapping bits of ERC20s for ETH/USDT, and then the Ether (ETH) and USDT (USDT) were funneled through instant exchangers and mixers. For example, a wallet address that starts with 0x64e9 received over 600 ETH from wallet s that belong to Alameda, part of it was swapped to USDT while the other part of the transaction was sent to ChangeNow. On-chain analyst ZachXBT noted that the Alameda wallet was eventually swappin...

The Bitcoin price prediction is showing positive signs, and it is likely to accelerate further higher in the near term. Bitcoin Prediction Statistics Data: Bitcoin price now – $16,833 Bitcoin market cap – $323.9 billion Bitcoin circulating supply – 19.2 million Bitcoin total supply – 19.2 million Bitcoin Coinmarketcap ranking – #1 BTC/USD Long-term Trend: Bearish (Daily Chart) Key levels: Resistance Levels: $20,000, $22,000, $24,000 Support Levels: $14,000, $12,000, $10,000 BTC/USD is attempting an upside break above $17,000 and it could start a steady recovery if it clears the $17,000 and $17,200 resistance levels. The king coin is likely to cross above the 9-day and 21-day moving averages. Bitcoin Price Prediction: Where Could Bitcoin Price Go Next? At the moment, the Bitcoin price is likely to move towards the upper boundary of the channel as the price could establish a new bullish signal. At the moment, one could say that the long-term ou...

By the end of this year bitcoin will have 13 consecutive years of recorded market value under its belt. Seven of those years saw Santa rallies all the way up until New Year’s Eve, and five of the 13 years saw bearish returns from Dec. 1 to Dec. 31. There’s still six more days left until the end of 2022, but current market action seems to point toward negative returns this month. 13 Years of Bitcoin Prices in December 2022 wasn’t the greatest year for bitcoin (BTC) in terms of market value measured in fiat. At the start of the year, BTC was trading for roughly $46K per unit and since then, the price has tumbled 63% since the first of Jan. 2022. According to records, the first recorded nominal value of bitcoin in U.S. dollars was on Oct. 5, 2009 and it was selling for $0.00764 per BTC on New Liberty Standard (NLS). At that rate, whoever was buying bitcoins at that time via NLS could get around 1,309.03 BTC for $1. In Dec. 2010, bitcoin (BTC) jumped 42.85% higher du...

The European Central Bank (ECB) has published a new report on the progress of its investigation into the possible launch of a digital euro. The research will continue next year with the regulator planning to make a decision whether to proceed to the realization of the project in the fall of 2023. ECB to Develop Rules for Digital Euro Distribution Through Intermediaries The eurozone’s central bank has released a second report on the advance of the investigation phase of its project to issue a digital version of the common European currency. The document presents a set of design and distribution options, recently endorsed by its Governing Council, and defines the roles of the ECB and market participants in the digital euro ecosystem. Just like banknotes today, a digital euro would be a liability on the balance sheet of the Eurosystem, the monetary authority of the eurozone consisting of the ECB and the national central banks of the member states. Therefore, the Eurosystem must be in f...

Source: Vchalup/Adobe Intelligence chiefs south of the DMZ have warned that North Korea’s crypto hacking campaigns will likely intensify in the year ahead. Per YTN, the South Korean National Intelligence Service (NIS) has recently established a National Cybersecurity Cooperation Center – along with private security providers. The center will be tasked with responding to North Korean cyber threats. The center, the NIS said, comprises “nine government agencies and five private IT security companies.” The NIS claimed that while the North has traditionally targeted South Korean crypto exchanges, it is now shifting its focus to individuals. It will also target the decentralized finance (DeFi) space, the NIS said. The NIS stated that in 2023, Pyongyang-based attackers would “focus on hacking DeFi services,” as these are in a regulatory “blind spot” in the South. Seoul has blamed Pyongyang for multiple attacks on South Korea-b...

Despite a challenging year for the crypto industry, nearly 40% of respondents indicated a plan to purchase cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in 2023. Despite the gloom of the ongoing cryptocurrency winter, coupled with failures of crypto giants like FTX, the community appears to remain bullish about crypto, according to a new survey. Crypto markets saw a massive sell-off in 2022, with the total market cap plummeting nearly 70% since Bitcoin (BTC) reached its all-time highs at $69,000 in November 2021. But this didn’t prevent investors from buying more cryptocurrency, as 41% of respondents said they purchased crypto in 2022 in an online survey by Blockchain.com. Released on Dec. 22, the survey has polled more than 40,000 people globally who visited Blockchain.com Explorer website, which is one of the world’s largest crypto websites in terms of traffic. The study is titled “Crypto Confidence: A Survey on Investor Sentiment” and was conducted between Nov. 28 and Dec. 9, 2022. According to Su...

Pods secured a $5.6M investment to create Structured Products for crypto assets. The financing had investors such as IOSG, Tomahawk, Republic, Framework Ventures, 4RC, Alexia Ventures, and more. “At Pods, we are proud of what we have achieved and thrilled to continue building the future of Defi. I am honored to announce that we have completed a $5.6 million seed round. The Pods team is excited about this next stage of building world-class structured products for crypto assets.” — Rafaella Baraldo, Founder and CEO of Pods. “We have talked to hundreds of stakeholders to understand their needs and improve our platform according to their feedback. Recently Pods did four  security audits  on its Pods Yield product, two of them with OpenZeppelin in November and December 2022. We are not only generating results but have developed a range of products dedicated to assisting DeFi protocols to diversify their treasury into low-risk strategies, making their treasury strategy more resilient” Pods a...

Alongside Bitcoin [BTC], the mining industry witnessed a massive plummet this year. The depleting price of BTC caused strain on the miners as they were pocketing limited rewards. During this time, miners went on a selling spree. BTC miners seemed to be officially done “hodling.” Back in November, the BTC network encountered the most aggressive selling in about 7 years. The miner selling pressure recorded a surge of 400 percent within three weeks. In addition to this, over the last couple of days, several mining giants were filing for bankruptcy. Core Scientific was the latest to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Amidst this, the mining profitability continued to remain quite low. Source As seen in the chart, Bitcoin mining profitability was at its lowest throughout November. Furthermore, BTC’s price wasn’t doing any better either. The world’s largest crypto asset was back in the $16K zone. At press time, Bitcoin was trading for $16,876 with no ma...

According to a new study, out of the estimated 55.3 million cryptocurrency holders that are spread among 33 African countries, three countries — Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya — account for approximately 36.14 million or nearly two-thirds of this total. In contrast, the study found that Seychelles, which is home to several cryptocurrency exchanges, has approximately 1,000 cryptocurrency holders. Nigeria Dominates The findings of the latest study undertaken by the Moroccan think tank Policy Center for the New South (PCNS), suggest that Nigeria has by far the largest number of cryptocurrency holders (40.5%) among the 33 African countries that were surveyed. The study findings also show South Africa as the next highest-ranked African country with an estimated 7.71 million cryptocurrency holders. Kenya’s estimated 6 million crypto holders mean it is the third highest-ranked African country. In addition to having the highest number of crypto holders among the surveyed states, the three...

Join Our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage The Filecoin price prediction shows that FIL is likely to cross above the 9-day and 21-day moving averages. Filecoin Prediction Statistics Data: Filecoin price now – $2.99 Filecoin market cap – $1 billion Filecoin circulating supply – 344.4 million Filecoin total supply – 344.4 million Filecoin Coinmarketcap ranking – #36 FIL/USD Market Key Levels: Resistance levels: $4.5, $5.0, $5.5 Support levels: $2.0, $1.5, $1.0 FILUSD – Daily Chart FIL/USD peaks at $3.11 today, after which the coin begins to consolidate within the channel. Meanwhile, the price not staying above $3.0 may ruin the long-term technical picture of the coin. However, Filecoin will have to cross above the 9-day moving average in other to guide against the downward pressure while the closest support expects the coin at $2.5, which could be a daily low. Filecoin Price Prediction: FIL/USD Likely to...

AFKDAO Jedi Program, AFKDAO is a groundbreaking DeFi infrastructure for utility NFTs featuring the decentralized NFT asset management protocol. Are you a guru at playing all kinds of games? Do you dream of building up your own gaming community with your own scholars, and access more real monetary privileges? Welcome to the AFK Jedi Temple! As AFKDAO announced its Jedi Program. What Are The Benefits? Join AFK Jedi Temple and become a Jedi apprentice so you can: Play and earn real money with NFTs at ABSOLUTELY 0 cost Get the privilege qualifying for Initial Scholarship Offering  to build your own scholarship program with lucrative yield Get limited early-bird opportunities with NFT games Refer NFT purchase and earn from sales commission Have chance to get free ‘Jedi Badge’ (Worth $1000) Jedi Badge Benefits:  https://bit.ly/35Uz1lv How To Join? To get yourself qualified for Jedi apprentice: Invite at least 20 verified members to AFKDAO Discord Complete a Jedi-competency quiz: https://bit....

A viral video making rounds on Twitter showed two police officers searching a suspect’s car and coming across pieces of paper, one of which contained seed phrases. While self-custody is considered the ultimate way to secure one’s funds, many fail to acknowledge the risks associated with physically storing seed phrase s. A search conducted by the State Police agency for Nevada ended up making a suspect ’s seed phrase public after being picked up by the body cam. A viral video making rounds on Twitter showed two police officers searching a suspect ’s car and coming across pieces of paper. It turns out, the suspect was a strong believer in self-custody as unfolding the pieces of paper revealed the suspect ’s seed phrase , which was hand-written — a popular method to prevent online compromises. Nevada State Police body cam records suspect's seed phrase. Source: Twitter As the incident got recorded by one of the officer’s body camera, the suspect’s seed phrase has now become public i...

Shiba inu rose for a third consecutive session on Monday, as the meme coin continued to move away from last week’s lows. Today’s surge comes as the global cryptocurrency market cap was largely unchanged, and is down 0.01% as of writing. Monero was another notable mover to start the week, as it too rose in back-to-back sessions. Shiba Inu (SHIB) Shiba inu (SHIB) was in the green to start the week, as the meme coin rose for a third consecutive session. Following a low of $0.00000848 on Sunday, SHIB/USD surged to an intraday high of $0.00000875 earlier today. The move saw the token continue to climb away from last week’s low of $0.00000800, which was its weakest point since June. SHIB/USD – Daily Chart Looking at the chart, SHIB has somewhat retreated from earlier highs, as price uncertainty increased, as the coin edged closer to a key resistance level. As of writing, shiba inu is trading at $0.000008684, which is below today’s top, and below a cei...