1. Market Wrap: Bitcoin Slides Toward $30K, Looks ‘Fragile’
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before the U.S. Senate, about inflation and the possible rollout of a digital dollar.
Bitcoin prices slid Thursday by the most in 10 days, falling in sync with U.S. stocks, as analysts warned that the market might be primed for a fresh leg down.
“Bitcoin does look fragile,” Lennard Neo, head of research for Stack Funds, wrote in an investor update. “Unless we see a clear break into the positive region, it is difficult to assume the speculative bulls are back.”
Latest prices
Cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin (BTC (-3.42%)) $31631.9, -3.48%
Ether (ETH (-5.25%)) $1923.5, -3.03%
Traditional markets:
S&P 500: 4360, -0.33%
Gold: $1828.4, +0.08%
10-year Treasury yield closed at 1.303%, compared with 1.34% on Wednesday
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, testifying before the U.S. Senate, weighed in on two areas dear to cryptocurrency traders — the prospect for outsize inflation as the economy reopens and the possible, eventual rollout of a digital dollar.
2. Republican Senator Highlights Bitcoin’s Battle in Shedding Criminal Baggage
Sen. Chuck Grassley is using “deeply flawed” estimates of illicit bitcoin activity to call for closer scrutiny of the industry, according to multiple crypto intelligence firms.
A senior Republican U.S. senator’s characterization of bitcoin in illicit transactions highlights the uphill battle crypto faces in breaking the seedier assumptions of its Silk Road past.
Last Thursday, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Senate Judiciary Committee’s top Republican, warned the Biden administration’s acting drug czar that bitcoin is fueling $76 billion in “illegal transactions” every year. He cited researchers who used 2017 data to determine that nearly half of all bitcoin activity is illicit.
“What makes cryptocurrency dangerous is that users have the ability to remain anonymous,” Grassley said in an open letter to the Office of National Drug Control Policy Acting Director Regina LaBelle. He warned this feature “makes it difficult” for investigators to “detect and catch” narcos.
3. Market Opens Betting That Cardano Won’t Release Smart Contracts by Oct. 1
The odds are 63–37 against, according to recent trading levels on Polymarket.
A prediction market opened Thursday allowing participants to bet on whether the Cardano blockchain will release smart contract functionality by Oct. 1.
The market has had a trading volume as of this writing over $157,000. Shares were trading at $0.37 for “yes” and $0.63 for “no.” Whichever answer is correct will be redeemable for $1 in the USDC stablecoin.
More expensive bets are the ones seen as more likely to be correct, so this market currently leans to a prediction that smart contracts will not be live on Cardano when October begins.
4. Square to Create a New Bitcoin Platform for Financial Services
Square CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted that the company would build “an open developer platform” whose name is TBD.
Payments services company Square will create a new business focused on creating an “open developer platform” to make it easier to provide non-custodial, decentralized financial services, the company’s CEO Jack Dorsey announced in a series of tweets Thursday.
Dorsey tweeted that the still-be-named division’s “primary focus” would be Bitcoin.
He wrote that the initiative, which will be led by Mike Brock, would be “completely in the open.” “Open roadmap, open development, and open source,” Dorsey tweeted. Brock heads the company’s strategic development group.
5. PayPal Increases Crypto Payment Limits for US Customers
The company wants to give its customers “more choice and flexibility” in buying cryptocurrency on its platform.
PayPal has raised cryptocurrency limits for its U.S. customers to $100,000 per week without an annual purchase limit, the company said Thursday.
The San Jose, Calif.-based payment services company said on its website the change would “enable our customers to have more choice and flexibility in purchasing cryptocurrency on our platform.”
The company also said it would continue to update its in-app guides and educational materials on digital currencies, including addressing commonly asked questions.
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July 16, 2021
