Wintermute is hit with $160M, Kraken CEO leaves, and the US bill seeks to ban algo-stablecoins. Hodler’s Digest Sept. 18-24,

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

Kraken’s Jesse Powell will resign as CEO. However, he will continue to serve as chairman.


Jesse Powell, who spent more than a decade leading crypto exchange Kraken, has decided to hand the reins to Dave Ripley, chief operating officer. Powell isn’t done with Kraken. Powell will be the chair of the organization’s board. According to Bloomberg, Powell stated that “it’s just become more draining on my, and less fun.” In 2016, Ripley joined Kraken’s chief operating officer position.

South Korean ministry recommends the enactment special Metaverse laws


According to plans by the Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea wants to make new laws about the Metaverse in line with the other steps it has made to embrace the digital age. Although the ministry is keen to have proper laws in place for Metaverse, it believes that it would be unwise to adapt existing regulations to accommodate new technology. In the past, South Korea had invested $200 million in metaverse development.



New York judge orders Tethering to Document USDT Support



New York’s court ordered Tether to show proof that USDT stablecoin has been fully backed. This decision is part of a case involving iFinex (Tether’s parent company), which was filed in 2019. The case against iFinex claims that it used unbacked USDT to manipulate crypto markets. Two additional U.S. authorities requested proof of backing previously, and iFinex reportedly provided sufficient documentation.



SEC lawsuit asserts jurisdiction because ETH nodes have been ‘clustered in the US



The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in a case against Ian Balina, recently claimed jurisdictional rights due to the large number of Ethereum nodes reported to be residing in the U.S. While crypto is not borderless, the SEC claims that transactions took place within U.S. borders in this case. This could make certain laws more relevant. This claim is part a larger case against Balina, in which the SEC alleges that Balina failed to register a token sale he helped facilitate.



China is responsible for 84% all blockchain patent applications. But there’s a catch



According to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, 84% of all global blockchain patent applications are from China. President Xi Jinping encouraged patent activity in 2019 when he called for China to concentrate on blockchain technology. China has approved only 19% of the submitted blockchain patents.

Win Winners and Losers

Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and XRP (XRP) are at $18,800 at the end of the week. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap stands at $923.34 trillion.

The top three altcoins that gained the most this week out of 100 are XRP(XRP), Chiliz (CHZ), and Algorand [ALGO] at 29.76%.

The top three altcoin losers for the week were Ravencoin, Toncoin and Terra Classic (LUNC), all at -23.49%.

To learn more about crypto prices, please read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.


Most Memorable Quotes


“Regulation of Bitcoin is always a concern. But BTC is regulated.”

Jamie Coutts , crypto market analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence

“How can a DAO actually own IP [intellectual properties] of the protocol it is supposed regulate?”

David Kappos , partner in Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP


“The Indian government doesn’t want cryptocurrency anymore.” […] The government says, “We like blockchain, but we don’t like cryptocurrency,” but that’s .”
absurd.

AnshulRustaggi , founder and CEO of Totality Corp


“Sharding” is one of the best and most universal methods to solve the so-called “scalability dilemma”.

Martin Hiesboeck , Head of Research for Uphold


“There is a concern that the Fed may tighten too much and the U.S. could actually go into severe recession.”

CK Ziheng – Former global head of valuation risk at Credit Suisse


“Cryptocurrencies can be volatile but no middlemen are taking large commissions or scrutinizing your transactions.”

Alan Austin Managing Director for the Litecoin Foundation


“There is an outside chance that we find a way for us to reach consensus on a stablecoin bills this year.”

Warren Davidson – U.S. Congressman


“People have become more cautious in this space and aren’t sure how to interact Tornado Cash. We’ve seen deposits into similar services go down, at least temporarily. This is because people are asking, ‘What does that mean for me?'”

Jacob Illum Chief Scientist at Chainalysis


“They are decentralized Ponzi schemes.” They are decentralized Ponzi schemes .”

Jamie Dimon , CEO of JPMorgan


Week Prediction



This long-term Bitcoin holder metric is close to the BTC price “bottom zone”



According to Cointelegraph’s BTC Price Index, Bitcoin traded a lot between $18,000-$20,000 this week. According to Cointelegraph’s BTC price index, the number of Bitcoin long-term owners (LTHs), in the red is similar to previous bear market bottoms. This suggests that the digital asset could be on the verge of bottoming. About 30% of Bitcoin’s long-term hodlers were in losses as at Sept. 22. Bitcoin’s 2020- and 2018 bottoms were reached when the percentages of LTHs in red hit 32% and 35%, respectively. LTH losses could increase if the market drops to $10,000 to $14,000.


FUD for the Week



$160M taken from Wintermute


The attack on decentralized finance operations at UK-based firm Wintermute cost the company approximately $160 million. Evgeny Gaevoy, Wintermute CEO, stated that the company has sufficient funds to cover the loss without affecting customers. Gaevoy indicated that he would classify the incident as a white-hat attack, but only if the perpetrator comes forward. According to CertiK, a blockchain security firm, the attack wasn’t a smart contract exploit, but a private key issue. Later reporting revealed that this was not what was originally believed.

BTC mining company Compute North files for bankruptcy


Compute North, a Bitcoin mining hosting company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas. This is the latest victim of crypto bear markets. The firm was also affected by the high cost of energy. Although the company has assets worth between $100 million to $500 million, its debts are approximately $500 million. Compute North partners Marathon Digital, Compass Mining and Compass Mining shouldn’t experience any negative effects from the bankruptcy filing according to comments from both companies. However, additional updates could be forthcoming.



The US stablecoin bill draft would ban new algo stabilitycoins for two years



Bloomberg obtained a draft of an American government bill, which reportedly seeks to ban new algorithmic stablecoin creations for two years. This text seems to ban new stablecoins that are derived from digital assets associated with the same creator. Redeemments can be made for a fixed price. Stablecoins that currently fit the bill’s description will have two years to modify their models.


Top Cointelegraph Features



The blockchain’s most powerful app could save the planet.


Blockchain’s most powerful app is “Putting Paris Agreement carbon markets onto Ethereum and connecting the global carbon accounts, this is blockchain.”



Do you want to quit your job and work for a DAO, making $300K per year? Here’s how.


“The collaboration-maxi natural was a welcome breather of fresh air.”



Market isn’t growing anytime soon, so be prepared for dark times


The global economic environment suggests that markets, including the cryptocurrency market, will continue to face downside. Do not expect a sudden surge to new all time highs in the coming months.


“When crypto is your life, everything becomes a chart.”

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Jon
Opinion writer on 7trade7