The US Federal Reserve System (FRS) for the first time since March 2022 kept the key rate, Binance.US avoided an asset freeze, the damage from the Atomic Wallet hack exceeded $100 million and other events of the outgoing week.
Bitcoin bounces back after falling amid Fed rate hold
On June 13, the US Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics published a report on consumer prices. The value of the index turned out to be lower than analysts’ forecast – growth in annual terms in May slowed down from 4.9% to 4%.
On June 14, for the first time since March 2022, the Fed kept the range of the key rate at the level of 5-5.25% per annum. The decision coincided with market expectations. On the back of the news, Bitcoin temporarily fell below $25,000 and then recovered to $26,000.
At the time of writing, the first cryptocurrency is trading at $26,500. Over the past week, the asset has risen in price by 2.9%.
Over the past week, BNB added more than others (+4.7%). The price of XRP fell the most (-3.7%).
The total capitalization of the cryptocurrency market is $1.1 trillion. The Bitcoin dominance index is 49.6%.
What’s up with Binance?
On June 13, Binance.US disputed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) emergency request to freeze the exchange’s assets, calling it “draconian and overly onerous.”
On June 14, the court ordered the regulator and the trading platform to reach an agreement to ensure the protection of client funds with the possibility of continuing the company’s business as usual.
On June 17, the parties entered into a deal to limit the access of employees of the parent exchange to the assets of Binance.US clients. The agreement was approved by the court.
This week, Binance withdrew its registration in Cyprus to focus on interacting with fewer regulators in Europe. The platform request is under review by the regulator.
Binance also announced it was pulling out of the Netherlands as it was unable to obtain a local VA service provider license.
Since February 2022, Binance’s French branch has been under preliminary investigation for alleged illegal provision of crypto-currency services and non-compliance with anti-money laundering obligations, according to Le Monde.
Michael Saylor predicted a multiple growth of bitcoin due to regulation
MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor said the SEC’s statements and actions set the stage for Bitcoin’s next bull run. In his opinion, most of the regulator’s claims relate to tokens that have signs of securities.
“The public is beginning to realize the near future of bitcoin. The next logical step for the cryptocurrency is to grow tenfold, and then again by the same amount, ”Saylor said.
Bill to fire Gary Gensler submitted to Congress
House Republican Majority Leader Tom Emmer and his fellow party member Warren Davidson introduced a bill to fire SEC head Gary Gensler and restructure the agency.
According to Emmer, the proposed “SEC Stabilization Act” would end Gensler’s “continued abuses” that were made possible in the Commission’s current structure.
What to discuss with friends?
- Chatbots answered the question about the future of bitcoin.
- Cryptobot earned $3 after raising a $200 million flash loan.
- The number of subscribers of subreddits of Bitcoin and Ethereum has reached a record.
Bitcoin mining difficulty rises to new high
As a result of the next recalculation on June 14, the difficulty of mining the first cryptocurrency increased by 2.18%. The indicator updated its high at 52.35 T.
On June 12th, the bitcoin network hashrate (smoothed by the seven-day moving average) hit a record high of 393.9 EH/s.
Former SEC employee urged to withdraw assets from crypto platforms
Former SEC lawyer John Reed Stark predicted a long struggle between cryptocurrency exchanges against the regulator and urged clients of trading platforms to “stop using them now.”
The specialist explained that his position is based on the lack of registration [у операторов бирж] with the SEC, indicating a lack of oversight. Stark cited crypto exchanges’ problems with record keeping and their non-compliance with order flow requirements.
Damage from Atomic Wallet hack exceeded $100 million
Elliptic analysts reported that users of the non-custodial Atomic Wallet lost more than $100 million in reported losses.
The company monitors over 5,500 cryptocurrency wallets that are believed to have been compromised in the attack. The measures taken by Elliptic allowed to freeze assets worth more than $1 million.
Also on ForkLog:
- Keith sold $2.3 million worth of BNB after two years of inactivity.
- Apple has threatened to remove the Damus decentralized social network app.
- The payments arm of Prime Trust has filed for bankruptcy.
- The court has allowed Bittrex to withdraw funds for US customers.
BNB Chain Team Rolls Out Luban Update
BNB Chain developers have successfully activated a network upgrade called Luban, which has improved the security and reliability of transactions.
The upgrade included three improvement proposals: BEP-126, BEP-174, BEP-221. The most significant was the first one, which implemented the first part of the FastFinality mechanism to speed up the finalization of the block.
Bakkt to delist SOL, MATIC and ADA
US institutional platform Bakkt will delist Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), and Cardano (ADA) tokens due to “regulatory uncertainty.”
The company will take the necessary security measures until there is “clearness regarding eligibility to offer a broader list of coins.”
What else to read?
The traditional digest collected the main events of the week in the field of cybersecurity.
The decentralized finance sector continues to attract increased attention from cryptocurrency investors. ForkLog has collected the most important events and news of recent weeks in a digest.
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