As Venezuela’s economic conditions deteriorate, there has been a notable increase in crypto remittances by expatriates to support their families back home.
Amid persistent inflation and supply shortages, cryptocurrencies accounted for 9% of the $5.4 billion sent to Venezuela in remittances in 2023, which amounts to $461 million.
This trend of growing remittances has been consistent each year since 2018, apart from a brief dip in 2020, as reported by Chainalysis.
Typically, remittances are processed through services like Western Union, but their high fees and the logistical challenges related to currency availability often render these options impractical for many in developing countries.
Despite possessing the world’s largest proven oil reserves, Venezuela continues to struggle with severe inflation, economic sanctions, supply disruptions, and government corruption.
In an attempt to circumvent U.S. sanctions, the Venezuelan government launched a state-backed cryptocurrency, the Petro,
in 2018. However, this initiative failed to achieve mainstream acceptance due to widespread corruption concerns and its non-recognition as legal tender domestically.
The Petro struggled for six years before being discontinued in 2024.
The government, nonetheless, remains interested in using digital assets to bypass sanctions.
Earlier in the year, there were reports of Venezuela’s plans to use cryptocurrencies in international oil transactions.
READ MORE: Bitcoin Drops Over 2% on July 4 as Key Support Line Faces Retest Since October 2023
Subsequently, Tether, a stablecoin issuer, froze Venezuelan assets in compliance with U.S. sanctions.
Additionally, Venezuela faces severe energy shortages, which have led to new restrictions.
In May 2024, Venezuelan authorities imposed bans on cryptocurrency mining, citing its excessive demand on the national power grid—a grid that has been failing for the last decade.
This anti-mining stance is not new for the Maduro government. In 2023, the closure of mining facilities was prompted by a corruption investigation involving the country’s oil industry and Joselit Ramirez Camacho, the head of its cryptocurrency ministry.
This move reflects ongoing governmental resistance to cryptocurrency operations within the nation.
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Tron founder Justin Sun has announced that his team is developing a gasless stablecoin solution aimed at enabling free peer-to-peer transfers for everyone.
Sun plans to launch the stablecoin solution on the Tron blockchain in the fourth quarter, with subsequent integration on Ethereum and other Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible public chains.
“Transfers can be made without paying any gas tokens, with the fees being entirely covered by the stablecoins themselves,” Sun explained in a July 6 X post.
However, he didn’t provide details on how this mechanism would operate.
Sun believes this gas-free stablecoin could revolutionize the industry for companies aiming to offer stablecoin services:
“I believe that similar services will greatly facilitate large companies in deploying stablecoin services on the blockchain, elevating blockchain mass adoption to a new level.”
Currently, Tron leads the peer-to-peer stablecoin transfer market, consistently processing two to three times the volume of Ethereum, the second-placed blockchain, according to blockchain analytics firm Artemis in a June 27 X post.
Tron hosts over $50 billion of Tether’s $112 billion in value issued across multiple blockchains, as per DefiLlama data.
Tron’s new solution could rival PayPal’s PYUSD, which allows certain US-based users to make cross-border payments for free. Similarly, Circle’s USD Coin on Ethereum layer-2 Base via Coinbase Wallet also facilitates free transfers.
The decision by Circle and cryptocurrency exchange Binance to remove support for USDC on Tron might have spurred Tron to develop its own solution.
Additionally, Tron is exploring the possibility of building a Bitcoin layer-2 solution to support a “wrapped” version of Tether, potentially channeling billions of dollars into the Bitcoin ecosystem.
For now, Tron is utilizing existing cross-chain protocols to bridge USDT and other tokens between Bitcoin and Tron.
With these advancements, Tron aims to enhance its dominance in the stablecoin transfer market and push the boundaries of blockchain technology and adoption.
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Dogecoin (DOGE) experienced a significant sell-off on Thursday as a major holder transferred 400 million DOGE tokens to Binance.
Whale Alert, a platform monitoring large cryptocurrency transactions, reported that an anonymous whale moved approximately $41.08 million worth of DOGE from an undisclosed wallet to Binance, coinciding with the memecoin’s drop below the critical support level of $0.1.
Surprisingly, a few hours later, the whale withdrew 50.4 million DOGE tokens, valued at around $4.8 million.
This sudden reversal suggests a possible change in strategy or sentiment by the investor, opting perhaps to retain a portion of their holdings amidst the volatile market conditions.
At press time, the whale retained 379.8 million DOGE, valued at approximately $37.21 million, according to Blockchair.
Analysis of the transaction history suggests this whale had accumulated around 1 billion DOGE from Binance earlier in the year, indicating a strategic move amidst market fluctuations.
The whale’s move occurred amid broader turmoil in the cryptocurrency market.
DOGE experienced a flash crash to as low as $0.93 following fears of a potential sell-off of around $9 billion worth of Bitcoin by creditors of the infamous Mt. Gox exchange.
Further worsening the bearish sentiment, the German government’s ongoing sale of approximately 50,000 Bitcoins added to the market’s fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD).
Over the past 24 hours, approximately $640 million worth of cryptocurrency assets have been liquidated, according to Coinglass.
Bitcoin led the liquidation figures, followed closely by Ethereum and then Solana. Dogecoin also faced substantial liquidations, sitting in the fifth position with around $11 million worth of positions closing in the red.
Despite these challenges, market analysts view the recent events as indicative of waning confidence in Dogecoin’s short-term profitability.
Some analysts, like Cryptolicca, suggest that DOGE’s price may find support within its current trading range of $0.17 to $0.95 “level 2.”
Notably, according to Intotheblock, Dogecoin has established a significant demand barrier at $0.099, where over 1.14 million addresses collectively hold 11.36 billion DOGE.
Should the price drop further, strong support is anticipated around $0.081, backed by holdings from 1.16 million addresses totaling 23.7 billion DOGE.
Additionally, there has been a notable uptick in DOGE accumulation. Data from IntoTheBlock reveals a steady increase in addresses with positive balances, marking a positive trend for DOGE.
As of June 17, there were approximately 6.48 million addresses with nonzero balances, a significant rise from 4.77 million on the same day in 2023.
This surge in network activity and accumulation of assets bodes well for Dogecoin’s potential upward price movement in the future.
At press time, DOGE was trading at $0.0988, reflecting a 10.78% drop over the past 24 hours.
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Bitfinex Securities, a digital asset platform, has announced that it will refund investors for its unsuccessful Hilton hotel venture at El Salvador’s international airport.
The project, representing El Salvador’s first public offering of digital debt assets, fell short of its initial funding target, garnering only $342,000 against a required $500,000 to proceed.
This amount constituted just 5% of the ambitious $6.25 million total they aimed to raise.
A Bitfinex spokesperson told Cointelegraph, “As per the Relevant Information Document, Bitfinex will be refunding all investors.”
Although the spokesperson indicated that the issuer, Inversiones Laguardia S.A. de C.V., is expected to restructure the offer, no confirmation or detailed plan has yet been provided by Inversiones Laguardia.
Following this setback, Bitfinex has withdrawn the public offering from its platform.
The funds raised were intended to build a Hampton by Hilton hotel, designed to span 4,500 square meters over five levels.
Planned amenities included 80 rooms, a restaurant, working area, swimming pool, gym, and a garden.
READ MORE: $1.19 Billion Lost to Onchain Security Breaches in First Half of 2024
To participate, investors were required to purchase the “HILSV” token with a minimum investment of $1,000 on the Bitcoin layer 2 Liquid Network, promising a 10% coupon over five years.
El Salvador, which has gained attention for its Bitcoin adoption and investment strategy, took a significant step in April 2023 by granting Bitfinex a digital asset service provider license.
This move was part of the country’s broader strategy to tokenize real-world assets. Commenting on the venture, Bitcoin analyst Stacy Herbert remarked that Bitfinex’s initiative marked a “new era of capital markets” on Bitcoin in El Salvador, offering locals new avenues to participate in financial markets.
Additionally, El Salvador continues to push forward with its innovative financial strategies, including plans to establish investment banks tailored for Bitcoin users.
These banks are expected to provide financial services with fewer restrictions than traditional banking institutions, broadening access and opportunities for local and international investors alike.
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In a recent commentary on X, dated July 5, Ki Young Ju, the CEO of onchain analytics firm CryptoQuant, addressed the concerns surrounding government sell-offs of Bitcoin (BTC).
He emphasized the relatively minor impact of these sell-offs on the overall market, advising traders not to react impulsively to such events.
Ki stated, “Don’t let government selling FUD ruin your trades.”
He highlighted that the amount of Bitcoin being offloaded by governments globally is insignificant when compared to the massive inflows the cryptocurrency market has experienced.
Since the onset of the latest bull market, the crypto space has seen nearly $250 billion in inflows, whereas the total potential government sales of BTC amount to less than $10 billion.
Ki further explained, “Govt Bitcoin selling is overestimated,” adding, “$224B has flowed into this market since 2023. Government-seized BTC contributes about $9B to the realized cap.”
This perspective offers a calm contrast to the recent volatile price movements in BTC, which have been influenced by government actions and the ongoing transfers from accounts associated with the defunct exchange Mt. Gox.
READ MORE: Bitcoin Drops Over 2% on July 4 as Key Support Line Faces Retest Since October 2023
The primary sellers in focus are Germany and the United States, with Germany holding approximately 41,200 BTC confiscated from criminal activities, as reported by Arkham, a crypto intelligence agency.
Despite the prevailing nervous market sentiment, as indicated by the Crypto Fear and Greed Index nearing “extreme fear,” Ki believes the panic induced by government actions alone is disproportionate.
He reasoned, “It’s only 4% of the total cumulative realized value since 2023,” reinforcing his earlier statement, “Don’t let govt selling FUD ruin your trades.”
As the market continues to monitor critical support levels, the narrative remains cautious but observant of potential rebounds.
Current evaluations place the supertrend floor at $52,000, with potential scenarios predicting a dip to $45,000, aligning the current downturn with historical trends.
Moreover, established bull market supports such as the 200-day moving average and Bitcoin’s short-term holder cost basis are currently pegged at $58,550 and $64,175, respectively.
On a related note, Bitcoin hit a four-month low of $53,500 on July 5 but saw a modest recovery, trading approximately $3,000 higher the following day, according to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView.
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Bitcoin recently saw a rebound, rising 6.40% on July 6 to a value of $56,975 after experiencing a five-month low the previous day.
This resurgence suggests traders are starting to mitigate the bearish impacts triggered by Mt. Gox’s massive $8 billion BTC reimbursement and recent BTC selloffs conducted by the U.S. and German governments.
Efforts to stabilize market perceptions have been ongoing among leading cryptocurrency analysts.
They seek to diminish concerns surrounding the substantial sell-offs and emphasize Bitcoin’s robust long-term prospects.
Ki Young Ju, the CEO of CryptoQuant, highlighted that the $8 billion in government-controlled BTC represents a small fraction—just 4%—of the $225 billion infused into the Bitcoin market since 2023.
This perspective underlines the market’s capability to handle such disruptions without destabilizing effects.
Furthermore, liquidity concerns related to possible future actions by the German government, which holds about 42,000 BTC, are also being downplayed.
Market analysts reassure that the Bitcoin market is resilient enough to absorb potential impacts if these holdings were to be sold off.
Trader Tardigrade, an independent analyst, drew comparisons between the current market scenario and past significant market events, often referred to as ‘black swan’ events.
He said, “In 2016, 2020, and 2024, $BTC moved in the same pattern.
Besides 2020, $BTC Fakeout was seen below the trendline. After reclaiming above trendline, a Bull Run follows,” suggesting that the current situation could similarly lead to a robust market recovery and an ensuing bullish phase.
READ MORE: Bitcoin Drops Below $58,000 for First Time in Two Months Amid Major Liquidations
Rekt Capital, another analyst, noted that the current sell-offs align with the typical cycles observed post-Bitcoin halving events, which historically lead to a temporary price decline as the market adjusts to reduced supply.
However, this phase is often followed by a price surge driven by decreased supply coupled with heightened demand.
Bitcoin’s rebound was also partly influenced by positive movements in the U.S. stock market, with the S&P 500 hitting a record high in a post-holiday trading session that noted a thin volume.
This spike in equities came despite data indicating a slowdown in U.S. hiring and an increase in the jobless rate, prompting predictions of a potential interest rate cut in September, which is generally favorable for Bitcoin and other higher-risk assets.
The effects of these broader economic indicators were mirrored in the cryptocurrency markets.
For example, on July 5, following the release of U.S. jobs data, Bitcoin ETFs saw an influx of $143.1 million after experiencing outflows in the preceding days.
Additionally, Bitcoin’s futures market showed increased funding rates, although open interest dropped, indicating a phase where less confident investors exit while others increase their stakes, anticipating a price rise.
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Early investors in memecoins like Shiba Inu (SHIB), Bonk (BONK) and Dogecoin (DOGE) made astronomical returns, and Politician Pepe (POLPEPE) presents a similar opportunity for a limited time.
Politician Pepe (POLPEPE), a newly launched Solana memecoin, is poised to explode over 19,000% in a matter of days, as former Shiba Inu (SHIB), Bonk (BONK) and Dogecoin (DOGE) investors pour funds into this new token.
POLPEPE will be listed on KuCoin, one of the largest centralized exchanges in the world, within a few days – and this is a massively bullish development for the token, as millions of new investors will easily be able to buy Politician Pepe.
Currently, Politician Pepe can only be purchased via Solana decentralized exchanges, like Jupiter and Raydium, and early investors stand to make huge returns in the coming days.
To buy POLPEPE on these platforms, users need to connect their Solflare, MetaMask or Phantom wallet, and swap Solana for Politician Pepe by entering its contract address – GmkVAWCUG7MQENXvLaxpYTMBwWsgRyWVnU9eYWQwTUWt – in the receiving field.
POLPEPE currently has a market cap of just under $10,000, with over $4,000 in locked liquidity, meaning it has huge upside potential.
Early investors could make returns similar to those who invested in Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogecoin (DOGE) and Bonk (BONK) before these memecoins went viral and exploded in price.
If this happens, a new wave of memecoin millionaires could be created in a matter of weeks – or potentially even sooner.
On July 4 bitcoin experienced a dip of over 2%, testing a key support line for the first time since October 2023.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView revealed new local lows of $57,885 on Bitstamp following the latest daily close.
This decline was driven by a lack of positive sentiment and consistent selling pressure from spot markets, creating a challenging environment for Bitcoin bulls.
CoinGlass reported that 24-hour Bitcoin long liquidations approached $60 million at the time of writing.
Popular trader Skew noted that BTC/USD had crossed its 200-day moving average (MA) for the first time in ten months.
“So far since trend rejection & reversal around $63.8K spot selling has been the main driver of this trend,” he explained on X.
“So in order for this HTF MA to actually act as a systematic trigger for the market we need to see market demand & reversal signs. Else volatility & momentum pick up to the downside.”
At the time of writing, the 200-day MA was at $58,400, slightly below the spot price after a brief low timeframe bounce.
READ MORE: Bitcoin Drops Below $60,000 Amid Potential $9 Billion Mt. Gox Payout and Whale Activity
Looking at the broader picture, trading suite DecenTrader highlighted a significant amount of long liquidations closer to $50,000 if the price continues to decline.
“If Bitcoin does breakdown then $51k – $52k remains the area where there is a significant amount of 3x, 5x, and 10x longs liquidity. To the upside, the shorts liquidity is at $76k-78k,” it noted.
Charles Edwards, founder of Capriole Investments, pointed to clear factors influencing Bitcoin’s recent downside.
Alongside data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, he observed significant sell-side pressure throughout the year.
The launch of United States spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January had failed to absorb this pressure.
“This is why we haven’t mooned yet. Saylor, Michael Dell, ETFs. It’s all noise,” he told his followers on X.
“When you look at the data of the 4 most important players in Bitcoin, we have net flows equivalent to $24B being dumped on the market in 2024.”
Edwards emphasized that ETFs are not the only demand factor in the current market.
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Ethereum developers have introduced a new Ethereum Improvement Proposal, EIP-7732, aimed at overhauling the block validation process to enhance blockchain speed and efficiency.
EIP-7732 proposes significant changes by dividing block validation into two distinct processes: consensus and execution.
This move is in response to the growing demand for improved efficiency on the Ethereum blockchain, aligning with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s push for faster transaction confirmation times.
A core element of EIP-7732 is the Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (EPBS).
This process divides block creation between the consensus proposer and the execution proposer.
The consensus proposer selects an execution proposer, who then commits to producing a valid block containing essential information, such as a payment or block hash, for the proposer.
To ensure the execution proposer fulfills their commitment, a group of validators known as the Payload Timeliness Committee (PTC) oversees the timely submission of the promised block.
By separating the consensus and execution layers, EIP-7732 aims to reduce the computational load on validators, thereby increasing network efficiency and speed.
Currently, the Ethereum blockchain requires validators to perform both roles within a short timeframe, potentially leading to inefficiencies and delays.
EPBS allows validators to immediately focus on validating consensus while deferring execution validation to a later time without compromising network performance and security.
This proposed solution also includes a trust-free exchange between builders and proposers, ensuring payment and inclusion of valid blocks without the need for middleware.
Vitalik Buterin highlighted the importance of fast transaction confirmation times in a post on June 30, stating, “One of the important properties of a good blockchain user experience is fast transaction confirmation times.”
Following the transaction fee revamp by EIP-1559 and steady block times post-Merge,
Ethereum’s transaction confirmation time has reduced to between five and 20 seconds.
However, some applications require even faster speeds, beyond the current 12-second Gasper consensus mechanism.
EIP-7732 promises faster transaction speeds, but it may necessitate another hard fork with backward-incompatible changes.
As discussions around EIP-7732 continue, the Ethereum community remains hopeful for these proposed improvements.
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An Illinois district court judge has ruled in favor of the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in a crypto Ponzi scheme case, declaring two lesser-known altcoins as commodities.
The scheme involved Sam Ikkurty from Oregon and several of his companies.
Ikkurty defrauded victims by promising “steady returns” of 15% per year from investments in “digital asset commodities,” which included Bitcoin, Ether, Olympus (OHM), and KlimaDAO (KLIMA). The court’s order stated that OHM and KLIMA are also qualified as commodities.
“Those virtual currencies fall into the same general class as Bitcoin, on which there is regulated futures trading,” said the CFTC.
KLIMA is the governance token of KlimaDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization focused on solving “coordination” problems in climate finance. At the time of publication,
KLIMA is trading at $3.55, a sharp decline from its all-time high of $3,777 on October 21, 2021, according to CoinGecko data.
OHM is the governance token of OlympusDAO, an organization aimed at creating a community-owned decentralized reserve currency.
In a July 3 statement, the CFTC explained that Ikkurty assured prospective participants that he invested only in stable crypto assets, using embellished stories of prior successes to gain investors’ trust.
Instead of returning profits, Ikkurty “ran something like a Ponzi scheme,” repeatedly misrepresenting the fund’s performance and failing to disclose that its value had plummeted by over 98.99% in a few months.
The court order revealed that Ikkurty transferred much of the funds to early investors to prevent them from incurring losses, resulting in a $20 million shortfall for investors in the purported carbon offset program.
Additionally, the CFTC noted that Ikkurty had previously lost his entire personal Bitcoin holdings to a hack.
Judge Mary Rowland ordered Ikkurty to pay over $83.7 million in restitution and $36.9 million in disgorgement.
The CFTC initially accused Ikkurty and Ravishankar Avadhanam of fraud and failing to register with the agency in May 2022.
The CFTC stated that the pair used a website, YouTube videos, and other means to solicit more than $44 million from at least 170 people to trade cryptocurrencies, derivatives, and commodity futures contracts.
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