Hodler’s Digest is available every Saturday to help you keep track of every important news story. A week of Cointelegraph news, including the best and worst quotes, highlights on adoption and regulation, top coins, predictions, and more — all in one place.
Top Stories this Week
Russian President grants Edward Snowden citizenship: Report
According to reports, Edward Snowden was granted Russian citizenship by Vladimir Putin. Since 2013, Snowden has been living in Russia as a permanent resident since he revealed secrets about the United States National Security Agency. Snowden, however, favors less government involvement than Putin. Snowden has made multiple comments on crypto and helped to build crypto asset Zcash.
Breaking Interpol issues a ‘Red Notice” for Do Kwon — South Korea’s prosecutors
Interpol, a global criminal police organization, has issued a Red Notice to assist in the arrest and location of Do Kwon (Terraform Labs founder), wherever he might be. In 2022, Terra’s ecosystem was destroyed. Kwon was charged in South Korea with his involvement in Terra. Kwon tweeted that he was not hiding. Although Reuters reports indicate that he may have moved to Singapore, he was believed to still be there. South Korean authorities have taken measures to freeze funds linked to Kwon.
US wins the auction for Voyager Digital assets
This week’s auction to acquire Voyager Digital assets was over. The winner of the auction was crypto exchange FTX US. They beat out CrossTower and Binance. Voyayer’s assets were purchased by the U.S. exchange for $1.4 billion, roughly the amount of the remaining assets. A U.S. bankruptcy judge is expected to approve the deal. Wave Financial participated in the bidding process and has been debating the result.
Judge orders SEC’s Hinman documents to be turned over to Ripple Labors after months of disagreement
Analisa Torres, a U.S. District Court judge, ruled that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission must disclose information about comments made by a former government official which could have an impact on Ripple’s fight to the securities regulator. William Hinman, the former Director of SEC Corporation Finance Division, stated that Bitcoin and Ether were not securities. According to Torres’ ruling, the SEC cannot withhold documents related that speech. Ripple and SEC began their battle in 2020 when Ripple called XRP a security.
Pantera intends to raise $1.25B in a second blockchain fund. Report
Pantera Capital, a crypto-centric hedge fund, is said to be looking for $1.25 Billion to fund a second fund that targets digital asset projects. Pantera CEO Dan Morehead stated that the company wants to provide liquidity for those who are giving up, as we remain bullish for the next 10-20 years.
Win Winners and Losers
Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and XRP (XRP) are at $19,777 at the end of this week. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap stands at $954.03 trillion.
The top three altcoins of the week among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies are Quant (QNT), Terra Classic (LUNC), and Helium (HNT), all at 37.76%.
The top three altcoin losers for the week were Chiliz (CHZ), Lido DAO(LDO), and Cronos (CRO), at -6.31%.
To learn more about crypto prices, please read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotes
“The most important thing about the Ethereum Merge is that it was flawlessly executed. All that was expected to happen happened. All of the things people worried about didn’t happen .”
Eli Ben-Sasson , co-founder Starkware
“I believe the world is just awakening to reality and Ethereum just got way off in fantasyland at exactly the wrong time.”
Cory Klippsten , CEO of Swan Bitcoin
“In DeFi you can’t let one borrower be half a lending pool because people notice that and they question the risk management.”
Sid Powell , CEO and cofounder of Maple Finance
“In the genres we’re hitting there might be approximately 500 million people that can’t believe they’re playing crypto games.”
KieranWarwick , co-founder Illuvium
“People must be able interact with apps, services, content and transactions without having to know that they are using crypto.”
Jeremy Allaire – CEO of Circle
“SMS2FA is better than none, but it’s the most vulnerable 2FA currently in usage.”
Jesse Leclere , security expert at CertiK
“I am writing code in my living-room. […] I’m making zero effort to hide.”
Do Kwon , co-founders of Terra
Week Prediction
Bitcoin prices due to ‘big dump’ after passing 20K, warns
According to Cointelegraph’s BTC Price Index, Bitcoin was largely below $20,000 this week. However, the asset has broken above that level many times. Bitcoin plummeted below $20,000 after soaring past $20,000 on September 30, according to Cointelegraph’s BTC price index. This seems to coincide with the timing of the speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a tweet on Sept. 30, pseudonymous Twitter user “Il Capo of Crypto” predicted that the price action would occur: “Pump up to 20000-20500 prior to Putin’s speech.” Then big dump.”
FUD for the Week
California files an order against Nexo’s interest account. It says it is the 8th state to take action
California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation has ordered Nexo, a crypto lending platform, to stop operating its Earn Interest Products. According to the agency, the product doesn’t meet regulatory approval requirements. According to the DFPI, Nexo effectively frozen the product earlier in 2022 for U.S. customers. Nexo is reportedly facing similar action from New York and Vermont, as well as five other state regulators. Nexo told Cointelegraph it had been working with U.S. regulatory authorities.
MEV Bot Earns $1M, but then loses it all to a hacker within an hour
Maximal Extractable Valu (MEV bot) capitalized on an arbitrage opportunity at decentralized exchange Uniswap Vol 2, making approximately $1 million in Ether profits in a single day. However, the fanfare was short lived as the bot’s code was questionable and made it vulnerable to exploitation. A hacker also took the funds that day.
SEC alleges that fintech and market maker’ companies manipulated the crypto market in token program
Hydrogen Technology Corporation, Moonwalkers Trading Limited and market maker Hydrogen Technology Corporation are facing SEC action for market manipulation. Hydro tokens were distributed via several channels in 2018, including an airdrop. Hydrogen and Moonwalkers allegedly conspired to make Hydro tokens appear more active on the market. They then dumped Hydro tokens in order to reap the profits.
Top Cointelegraph Features
The lessons learned from the ‘Top 10 Cryptos” experiment over 5 years
“Index investing is boring but it can save you from the worst outcomes.”
Don’t let your Bored Apes get in the way
Nonfungible tokens can be used for many important technological purposes, including carrying medical data and streamlining royalties payments. Bored Apes can be a distracting distraction.
Income you have never earned is subject to tax After Ethereum’s Merge, it’s possible.
The IRS didn’t have the right rules to support the Ethereum upgrade. Although it’s unlikely that this will be the same fiasco as the 2017 Bitcoin Fork, there are steps taxpayers can take to prepare for whatever decision the IRS makes.
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