PRESIDENT Biden may crackdown on cryptocurrency after the White House issued a statement drawing attention to potential pitfalls of the currency such as ransomware and other cyber threats.
The statement from Joe Biden read: “Cyber threats can affect every American, every business regardless of size, and every community.
“That’s why my administration is marshalling a whole-of-nation effort to confront cyber threats.”
The White House also signaled that the US will gather 30 other countries, including NATO and G7 allies, to discuss responses to cybercrime.
“This month, the United States will bring together 30 countries to accelerate our cooperation in combatting cybercrime, improving law enforcement collaboration, stemming the illicit use of cryptocurrency, and engaging on these issues diplomatically,” it read.
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell also announced Thursday that there are no plans to ban cryptocurrency in the US, and prices soared 10 percent.
Read our cryptocurrency live blog for the latest news and updates…
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WHAT IS POLYGON?
Polygon is an Ethereum token that powers the Polygon Network, which aims to provide faster transactions on the Ethereum blockchain.
It was originally known as the Matic Network when it first launched back in 2017.
Polygon hit its highest ever level on May 18 when it rocketed to $2.4544.
The price has soared by around 9,200% this year – up from $0.01781 on January 1. -
CHINA’S STATEMENT, CONTINUED
Bitcoin, the world’s largest digital currency, and other cryptos cannot be traced by a country’s central bank, making them difficult to regulate.
The crypto crackdown opens the gates for China to introduce its own digital currency, which it is already working on and will allow the central government to monitor transactions.
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CHINA’S STATEMENT
The PBOC said it will “resolutely clamp down on virtual currency speculation, and related financial activities and misbehavior in order to safeguard people’s properties and maintain economic, financial and social order”.
It said that trading of virtual currencies had become “widespread, disrupting economic and financial order, giving rise to money laundering, illegal fund-raising, fraud, pyramid schemes and other illegal and criminal activities.”
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MORE POSITIVES
“El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin has brought concern from officials in developed nations as well as from international NGOs who often describe Bitcoin as having few redeeming public interest attributes.”
Despite the risks, a number of nations have already hinted that they too may soon open doors to crypto and deviate from the cautious approach to the e-currency taken by many of the world’s central banks.
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POSITIVES OF ADOPTING BITCOIN
Maggie Wu, the CEO of blockchain venture capital firm Krypital Group, says challenges in Bitcoin adoption do exist, however told Forbes she’s optimistic about its future.
“I believe that Bitcoin adoption is conceivable, especially in the relatively small developing countries with inadequate monetary systems where the recognition of digital currencies there is relatively high,” she said.
“The blockchain-related infrastructure that can carry digital currencies in most Central and South American countries and regions is not complete, including wallets, exchanges, etc. This is also the direction of our investment focus.”
“We think there is huge potential and value here for fostering crypto adoption throughout the region.”
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LITECOIN VS. BITCOIN
Litecoin, which was established in 2011 by Google engineer Charlie Lee, operates similarly to Bitcoin.
Mr Lee on occasions refers to Litecoin as the “silver to Bitcoin’s gold.”
The two cryptocurrencies act similarly in how their global payment operations are set up. Both are not controlled by financial institutions.
Like most cryptocurrencies, Litecoin uses blockchain technology for processing and recording transactions.
While Litecoin is smaller, it is a quicker and cheaper alternative when compared to Bitcoin.
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CRYPTOCURRENCY EXCHANGE HUOBI STOPS TAKING NEW MAINLAND CUSTOMERS, CONTINUED
China’s regulators intensified a crackdown in September, banning cryptocurrency transactions and mining, clarifying that overseas exchanges are barred from providing services to mainland investors via the internet.
Huobi Global said in a statement it will conduct an orderly exit of its existing mainland clients on the premise that safety of their assets is guaranteed.
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CRYPTOCURRENCY EXCHANGE HUOBI STOPS TAKING NEW MAINLAND CUSTOMERS
Chinese cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global said in September it had stopped taking new mainland customers.
It is ending contracts with mainland clients by the end of the year to comply with local regulations.
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DATING APP SCAMS
Some scam operations have started using dating apps to reel in potential targets.
In some reports, scammers would pose as a long-distance love interest sharing a hot new crypto opportunity.
About 20 percent of the money reportedly lost through dating scams in around the last year involved cryptocurrency.
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BITCOIN SURPASSES 57K
The price of bitcoin surpassed $57,000 on Monday morning, CNBC reported.
It’s up over 30 percent in October, the site reported.
Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency by market value.
The rise in prices could be thanks to hopes that “a bitcoin futures ETF could be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission soon” and due to “excitement after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell clarified that he has no intention to ban bitcoin in the US,” CNBC noted.
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GIVEAWAY SCAMS
Giveaway scams often pose as celebrities or well-known figures and ask victims to send Bitcoin, promising to send back a much larger amount.
Many giveaway scams are marketed over social media, attempting to connect through Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
For instance, victims reported sending more than $2million to scammers impersonating Elon Musk.
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HELIUM ON THE RISE
Helium crypto price predictions have soared and may be the next cryptocurrency to explode in 2022.
Experts have predicted it will be a lucrative investment in the crypto space. as price predictions heated up before the big launch this week because the network connects people through shared hot spots.
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CHINA PREVIOUSLY SHUT DOWN CRYPTO EXCHANGES, PART TWO
While crypto creation and trading have been illegal in China since 2019, further crackdowns this year by Beijing warned banks to halt related transactions and closed much of the country’s vast network of bitcoin miners.
Thursday’s statement by the central bank sent the strongest yet signal that China is closed to crypto.
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CHINA PREVIOUSLY SHUT DOWN CRYPTO EXCHANGES
It’s not Beijing’s first move against digital currency – in 2017, China shut down its local cryptocurrency exchanges.
Despite the war on crypto, Chinese mines power nearly 80 percent of the global trade in cryptocurrencies.
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CHINA’S CRACKDOWN ON CRYPTO IS ‘BIG OPPORTUNITY’ FOR US
China’s crackdown on cryptocurrency transactions “is a big opportunity for the U.S.”, according to Pat Toomey, the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee.
This comes as the US Securities and Exchange Commission lobbied for more regulations when it comes to cryptocurrency.
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SHARES IN CRYPTO FIRMS FALL
Shares of cryptocurrency-related firms Coinbase Global, MicroStrategy Inc, Riot Blockchain, and Marathon Patent Group fell after China’s central bank put a ban on crypto trading and mining.
“It’s been a very volatile week to say the least, so I think going into the last week of September the volatility is likely to continue especially with the end-of-the-quarter window dressing,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.
Investors are also looking for signs of progress on President Joe Biden’s spending and budget bills.
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GOXX’S CREATORS
Speaking to the BBC, the two 30-something German men behind the channel explained that the idea started as a joke.
“We felt that everything keeps getting more expensive these days and building savings is super-hard to achieve with high rents to pay,” they said.
“It seems like most people from our generation see no other chance than throwing a lot of their savings on the crypto market, without having a clue what’s going on there.
“We were joking about whether my hamster would be able to make smarter investment decisions than we humans do.”
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DECISION TUNNELS
The amount to be traded is determined when Goxx runs through one of two “decision tunnels”.
Depending on which tunnel he runs through, the amount he will buy or sell the cryptocurrency changes in 20 euro increments.
All of the data is rigged to a computer that makes the transactions in real-time on Goxx’s behalf.
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CRYPTO-TRADING HAMSTER, CONTINUED
The four-legged financial fiend is not completing transactions himself, of course.
Instead, Goxx’s trading decisions are made inside a camera-rigged “office” attached to his regular cage.
Every day, when he enters the office, a stream is started on Twitch and a tweet is sent out to his followers notifying them that trading has begun.
The hamster then runs on an “intention wheel” that chooses one of 30 different cryptocurrencies to trade.
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A CRYPTO-TRADING HAMSTER OUTPERFORMS MARKET
A hamster in Germany is trading in cryptocurrencies and has consistently been outperforming the S&P 500.
The furry animal, called Mr Goxx, has been busy working since June, thanks to a specially adapted cage.
He determines which currencies to buy or sell by running on his wheel or walking through one of two tunnels.
Mr Goxx started trading on June 12 this year.
The site states that the page is just for fun and does not offer financial advice.
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DYDX PRICE PREDICTIONS
A separate price prediction from DigitalCoin is a little less bullish but forecasts that dYdX could surpass $50 within the remaining months of the year.
It predicts that the price will reach just $32.19 by the end of the year, before finally hitting $51.10 in 2024.
We’ve also revealed price predictions for other cryptocurrencies including Ethereum, Dogecoin, Cardano, Litcoin, Chainlink, and Shiba Inu.
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WILL DYDX REACH $50?
It’s been a wild first few weeks of trading for dYdX and some are wondering what its price will be by the end of 2021.
Will it go as high as $50 by the end of the year? To reach that milestone, the new crypto would have to more than double its price.
While that seems like a tough task, Pick A Crypto thinks dYdX could potentially trade even higher than the $50 mark by the end of the year.
“We think that price could reach somewhere around the $30 to $75 USD mark in the next few months,” it said.
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DYDX CONTINUED
The early success in dYdX lead to Mr Juliano taking a victory lap on Sunday, which outperformed Coinbase in trading volume by 15%.
The surge in trading comes as Chinese users have started to flock to decentralized exchanges and DeFi products, following Beijing’s ban on all cryptocurrency transactions on Friday.
However, Chinese crypto reporter Colin Wu tweeted: “A large number of Chinese users will flood into the DeFi world, and the number of users of MetaMask and dYdX will greatly increase.”
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WHAT IS DYDX?
Originally, dYdX was founded in 2017 by former Coinbase software engineer Antonio Juliano.
The cryptocurrency, which operates as decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, supports the following types of trading: perpetual, margin, and spot.
It also supports lending, borrowing, and uses smart contracts on the blockchain of the major cryptocurrency, Ethereum.