Coinspeaker Crypto Liquidation Hits $120M, Affecting Thousands of Traders

The crypto market has been recovering from recent lows,  but this has not spelled good news for everyone. According to CoinGlass’s Liquidation Heatmap, in the past 24 hours alone, thousands of crypto traders have faced significant losses, with total liquidations surpassing $120 million.

Currently, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (Ether) are trading above $67,000 and $3,100, respectively, after having dropped to as low as $57,000 and $2,800 in April. This earlier market decline was attributed to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and market corrections following the 2024 Bitcoin halving event.

Despite this recovery, a total of 59,032 traders suffered liquidations, bearing the brunt of these market movements.

OKX Takes the Brunt of Market Volatility

Most of the losses came from traders who had taken long positions, hoping for a rise in the value of BTC and Ether. These optimistic traders collectively lost about $87.05 million. In contrast, those holding short positions, betting on the potential decline of these digital assets, saw losses totaling around $28.31 million.

Bitcoin traders lost around $23.15 million in a single day, while those wagering on Ethereum’s price suffered a combined loss of $19.70 million.

Similarly, crypto traders betting on Solana (SOL) faced $8.84 million in losses, while other digital assets saw combined losses of $23.24 million.

CoinGlass’s Liquidation Heatmap also revealed that the largest single liquidation order occurred on the crypto exchange OKX, with the company losing around $4 million in a single order over the past 24 hours.

Over $13 Million Liquidated in an Hour

The crypto market remains volatile, with traders continuing to incur significant losses.

In the last 12 hours alone, nearly 60,000 traders suffered combined losses of $56.33 million, with $14.43 million coming from BTC, $7.14 million from Ether, and $10.23 million from other cryptocurrencies. Over the past four hours, around $29.36 million have been liquidated, with $10.79 million coming from long traders and $18.58 million from short positions.

CoinGlass’s Liquidation Heatmap shows that up to $13.22 million has been wiped out within the last 60 minutes at the time of writing, with the majority of these liquidations – totaling around $12.85 million – coming from short traders.

Not the First

Meanwhile, liquidations have become a common occurrence in the crypto market, with traders frequently losing large sums due to market fluctuations.

For instance, in March, when Bitcoin bounced back from a two-year low and reached its previous all-time high of $69,000, approximately $1 billion was liquidated from the market within 24 hours.

The trend, however, has continued with traders still losing significant sums to the volatile crypto market. On March 14, Bitcoin surged to a new high of $73,000, taking the industry by surprise.

The surge marked the first time the crypto asset reached a new milestone before the just-concluded Bitcoin halving event. The price surge also resulted in another $360 million being wiped out from the market.

This month has been particularly harsh, with millions lost to liquidations. On May 2, a total of $360 million were liquidated. Two weeks later, 71,245 traders suffered another massive liquidation when about $130 million vanished from the market on May 13.

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Crypto Liquidation Hits $120M, Affecting Thousands of Traders

Coinspeaker Over 80% of New Tokens on Binance Decline in First Six Months

Binance, the­ world’s leading crypto exchange­ in terms of trading volume, is encounte­ring a significant challenge. A rece­nt study by crypto researcher Flow indicate­s that more than 80% of tokens added to the­ platform in the last six months have significantly decre­ased in value since the­ir initial offering.

Photo: Flow

According to Flow, out of 31 tokens examine­d, only five managed to maintain their value­. These five toke­ns are Memecoin (MEME), Ordi (ORDI), The­ Jupiter (JUP) token Solana-based Jito (JTO), and the­ uniquely named Dogwifhat (WIF).

New Binance Tokens’ Valuation Overshoots

Anndy Lian, a blockchain expert and author, interprets this bloodbath as a symptom of a challenging market environment. While specific altcoins continue to buck the trend, the overall crypto market lacks the explosive momentum witnessed during previous bull runs. Lian emphasizes that some Binance-listed projects might experience delayed growth, unlike the instant surges seen in the past.

However, a more concerning pattern emerges. These new tokens boast an average fully diluted valuation (FDV) exceeding a staggering $4.2 billion – despite lacking a substantial user base. This inflated valuation significantly restricts their potential for future growth, according to Flow.

“More often than not, tokens launching on Binance are not investment vehicles anymore,” argues Flow. “All their upside potential is already taken away. Instead, they represent exit liquidity for insiders who capitalize on retail lack of access to quality early investment opportunities.”

Meme Coins’ Retail-Led Surge

According to Lian, retail investor enthusiasm is the lifeblood of meme coins, allowing them to operate somewhat independently of the broader altcoin market.

“Since some of them are long-term hodl, many of the retail investors swarmed to meme coin. You can see that from the performance of MEME and WIF. In fact, if you looked the the trading volume. Six of the top trading coins are memes,” said Lian.

Interestingly, Ordi, a token devoid of venture capital backing, emerged as the most profitable, surging over 260% since launch. Dogwifhat, the controversial meme coin, followed closely with a price increase exceeding 117%.

While meme coins might offer a temporary escape from the market doldrums, the Binance token bloodbath serves as a stark reminder for investors to exercise caution.  Exorbitant valuations coupled with a lack of established user bases make many new listings risky bets. 

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Over 80% of New Tokens on Binance Decline in First Six Months

Coinspeaker Notcoin (NOT) Boasts Market Cap of $700M after Listing, Durov Endorses Its Progress

Notcoin (NOT), a gaming token built on Telegram, has garnered interest lately due to its unique way of making money for its community members. Pavel Durov, founder of the popular messaging app Telegram, has shared a few stories about the token’s progress and how it has grown from being just a token to becoming one of the most talked-about coins in the crypto market.

From Mini-Game to Crypto Phenomenon

Pavel revealed that Notcoin initially started its progress as a mini app on Telegram where players could earn game currency by participating in the game. This simple tapping game gained the attention of many as it garnered more than 35 million active users within a few months after it was launched.

The Notcoin community achieved a new feat yesterday, experiencing a notable turnaround as the token was minted on The Open Network (TON) blockchain, and also listed on several crypto exchanges such as Bybit, Binance, Bitget, and OKX, allowing community members who have participated in the game to turn their earnings into real money.

Upon listing, the token had an immediate impact as it managed to become one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by trading volume over the past 24 hours with a market capitalization of over $700 million. NOT price was $0.006795 at the time of writing. This unique feat by the token has caused excitement among followers of the project, who have been closely monitoring the coin’s progress.

Hamster Kombat, another Telegram-based game, said through its X account that the Notcoin listing was epic and the most anticipated and successful listing of the year. In their words:

“Notcoin listing was epic. It was the most anticipated and one of the most successful listings of the year!”

Similar to Hamster’s words DIGITEK a crypto investor with over 45 thousand followers on X, opined that Notcoin has been able to successfully outshine other crypto projects without stressing its users.

#NOTCOİN did what BLOCK, MOJO, BUBBLE, BEYOND, REPUBLIK, PARAM & co couldn't do with all their hype.

Another day to remind you that a project that is intentional will not stress much.Projects like $GMRX, $WEN, $NOT have proven this 👌

Gm. It's time to get back to alphas 🤝

— DIGITEK (@DigiTektrades) May 17, 2024

Telegram’s Ecosystem Fuels Decentralized Innovation

The new achievement by Notcoin offers insight into the future of decentralized applications, as developers can also leverage Telegram and TON blockchain ecosystems to create an innovative and formidable project and turn it into a major success.

Telegram has continued to enable developers to easily build on the platform, allowing them to utilize the available social interaction tools for viral distribution. Similarly, TON gives room for scalability and versatility. Pavel revealed that the platform has been gaining an influx of new mini-apps.

It has also become known that Notcoin plans to donate 1.03 billion NOT to Telegram and its founder.

With Notcoin’s success, it has set itself as the leader of the pack, providing a stage for other apps to follow. The success of the launch and the popularity it garnered afterward is a good foundation for more meteoric growth. The attention the launch has given it will obviously continue to attract gamers and investors to the project. This is also expected to attract more developers to Telegram and TON blockchain.

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Notcoin (NOT) Boasts Market Cap of $700M after Listing, Durov Endorses Its Progress

Coinspeaker Coinbase Research Report Predicts Upside Surprise in Ethereum (ETH)

The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency Ethereum (ETH) has delivered a lackluster performance in comparison to Bitcoin and other altcoins in the market. However, the latest report from Coinbase shows that Ethereum’s long-term positioning remains strong and it could surprise investors on the upside very soon.

The second-largest cryptocurrency by market value has increased by 29% year-to-date, trailing behind its larger counterpart, Bitcoin (BTC), which has surged by 50%. But the Coinbase report mentions that “Ether may have the potential to surprise to the upside in the coming months”.

It also added that as of now, the altcoin doesn’t have any major sources of supply-side overhang such as pressure created by miner selling or token unlocks. Coinbase analyst David Han wrote:

“To the contrary, both staking and layer 2 growth have proven to be meaningful and growing sinks of ETH Liquidity. ETH’s position as the center of decentralized finance (DeFi) is also unlikely to be displaced in our view due to the widespread adoption of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and its layer 2 innovations.”

The EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) is the core processing system of the Ethereum blockchain. It enables developers to create smart contracts and allows nodes to interact with them. Layer 2s are independent blockchains built on top of layer 1s (the base layer), designed to alleviate scaling and data bottlenecks.

Don’t Discard Spot Ethereum ETFs

Furthermore, Coinbase notes that the potential for spot Ethereum ETFs can’t be understated. The crypto exchange believes that the market is underestimating the odds and timings of a potential approval, thereby leaving sufficient space for upside surprises.

The first deadline for the approval of the spot Ethereum ETF stands next week on May 23. However, several market analysts have stated that the chances of such an approval seem to be very slim at this point. Some of the top market analysts also believe that the US spot Ethereum ETFs won’t come until the end of 2025.

“Even if the first deadline of May 23, 2024, encounters a rejection, we think there is a high likelihood that litigation could reverse that decision. In the interim, we believe the structural demand drivers for ETH as well as the technological innovations within its ecosystem will enable it to continue straddling across multiple narratives,” the Coinbase report reads.

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Coinbase Research Report Predicts Upside Surprise in Ethereum (ETH)

Coinspeaker Nigerian Court Refuses Bail for Binance Executive Gambaryan

In a recent development concerning the ongoing legal saga involving Binance executives in Nigeria, a federal high court in the country has refused bail for Tigran Gambaryan. Gambaryan, alongside another Binance executive, was arrested on charges related to money laundering and tax evasion. According to local reports, during a court hearing on Friday, Justice Emeka Nwite, presiding over the case, ruled for the defendant to be retained at the Kuje Correctional Centre on the basis that he could jump bail if granted.

Background: Binance’s Legal Woes in Nigeria

Justice Nwite instead of approving the bail application has ordered an “accelerated trial” for the money laundering and tax evasion charges brought against him. Binance, and another of its executives by the country’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

On February 26, Binance and two of its executives Tigran Gambaryan, a citizen of the United States serving as Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, and Nadeem Anjarwalla, who is a regional manager for Africa were apprehended and detained in the country.

However, Anjarwalla escaped jail on March 22, after weeks of a bureaucratic tussle with the Nigerian EFCC who at the time failed to serve the duo with any complaints.

Gambaryan was then formally served at his first appearance in court in April. The EFCC alleged that Binance and the two executives conducted unlawful activities in the country which resulted in the laundering of more than $35 million.

At that point, the Binance executive refrained from entering a plea. The court set April 8 and 19 for his arraignment, during which he pleaded not guilty to the charges.

 Bail Application and Rejection

A few weeks after the not-guilty plea, Gambaryan lawyer Mark Mordi, SAN, filed for the Binance executive to be released on bail citing procedural fairness and legal rights.

However, the court, upon reviewing the application, raised concerns about flight risk, leading to the rejection of bail. The prosecution argued that Gambaryan, like his colleague, might attempt to flee the country if granted bail.

The attorney representing the plaintiffs urged the court to dismiss the bail, citing reasons such as lack of surety. The lawyer claimed the Binance executive has no competent relation, family, or community within the Nigerian society to stand for him in court.

He also alleged that Gambaryan had on several occasions tried to apply for a new American passport while being detained in prison.

Binance’s Allegations against Nigerian Government

Amidst the legal proceedings, Binance CEO Richard Teng accused the Nigerian government of prolonging the case for the purpose of extorting money from the company. Teng said in a recent blog post that the government officials handling the case had sought the payment of $150 million in crypto to resolve the issue.

“[Our] counsel reported back that he had been presented with a demand for a significant payment in cryptocurrency to be paid in secret within 48 hours to make these issues go away and that our decision was expected by the morning,” Teng said.

However, the Nigerian government refuted the allegation, claiming it is an attempt to sway Nigerians from the heinous financial crimes leveled against it.

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Nigerian Court Refuses Bail for Binance Executive Gambaryan

Coinspeaker Synthetix’s sUSD Stablecoin Loses Its Dollar Peg amid Heavy Sell-Off

Synthetix’s decentralized stablecoin sUSD has seen an unexpected turn of events after it slipped below its intended $1 peg. The stablecoin, issued through the Synthetix DeFi protocol, fell to as low as $0.92 on Thursday before making a partial recovery to $0.96.

sUSD Depeg Caused by Liquidity Issues

The incident was initially identified by Chaos Labs, a risk manager for the Aave lending protocol. According to their analysis, the depeg was triggered when a major liquidity provider withdrew from the sBTC/wBTC liquidity pool on the Curve decentralized exchange. This provider redeemed sUSD via Synthetix’s spot synth redemption and subsequently sold it on Curve, causing a sudden drop in sUSD’s value.

Synthetix, a platform enabling the creation of synthetic assets or Synths, mints sUSD as a loan overcollateralized with various crypto assets to maintain a 1:1 peg with the US dollar. However, the recent activity has exposed weaknesses in this mechanism.

The implementation of SIP-2059 at the end of April was responsible for deprecating non-sUSD spot synths on the Ethereum mainnet. As that ended atomic exchanges for other synths like sETH and sBTC, users were forced to convert the synths into sUSD, increasing the selling pressure on the stablecoin.

Meanwhile, this is not the first time a stablecoin will be experiencing a depeg that stems from liquidity issues. Last October, real estate-backed stablecoin USDR fell to $0.53 per coin, albeit in a similar manner. At the time, the team explained that a redemption rush drained liquid assets such as DAI from its treasury. Company statement about the USDR depeg reads in part:

“Combined with the lack of DAI for redemptions, panic selling ensued, causing a depeg.”

Stablecoins Not ‘Stable’

For stablecoins to retain the meaning of their names, they are intended to always be worth $1 on the open market. However, under certain market conditions, they sometimes lose their peg.

Circle’s USD Coin (USDC), one of the world’s largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, briefly fell to $0.885 per coin on March 11, 2023. That was around the period that several banks in the US went bankrupt. Although USDC regained its peg three days later, Terra’s UST was not so lucky. UST lost its peg in May 2022 and never recovered. It is valued at $0.02219 per coin as of publication.

The depeg situation of Synthetix’s sUSD has once again highlighted the vulnerabilities within DeFi systems and the impacts of liquidity shifts. However, in the meantime, Chaos Labs has recommended that the Aave community should temporarily freeze sUSD reserves on Aave V3 on the Optimism network. This freeze, they claim, would help to mitigate further market impact.

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Synthetix’s sUSD Stablecoin Loses Its Dollar Peg amid Heavy Sell-Off

Coinspeaker Fantom Blockchain Soars with Sonic Upgrade and TVL Surge

The Fantom blockchain’s native token FTM has emerged as one of the top-performing non-meme cryptocurrencies over the past week. However, the surge in its value may not be unconnected to the introduction of Fantom’s latest upgrade, dubbed Sonic.

Over the past seven days, FTM saw its value appreciate by over 9.20% to hit 80.3 cents. In comparison with most other tokens, FTM clearly had one of the best weeks in retrospect, signaling that there may be more than meets the eye about FTM’s recent success.

FTM Token Sees Remarkable Gains amid Network Enhancements

The Fantom Foundation has been actively promoting its Sonic upgrade. As of publication, 25 out of 60 nodes have already completed the transition. However, the full upgrade will only be realized after at least 40 nodes adopt the new software.

The Sonic upgrade is aimed at enhancing the network’s capabilities. A major selling point of the upgrade is that it is set to boost transaction speeds to an impressive 2,000 transactions per second (TPS) with a 1.1-second finality. This marks a major improvement over the current rate of just over 2.5 TPS that on-chain data suggests.

Interestingly, technological advancements brought by Sonic are not the only factors contributing to the performance of FTM. The network’s Total Value Locked (TVL) has also shown remarkable growth. As data from DeFiLlama shows, Fantom’s TVL surged by nearly 83% in just two days. That is, it went from $111 million on May 14 to $203 million on May 16.

It might be worth noting that the TVL jump is an indication that there is a broader trend of increasing TVLs across various decentralized exchanges, lending platforms, yield aggregators, and other decentralized applications (dApps) that operate within the Fantom network. Many of these dApps that support the Fantom blockchain saw between 10% to 20% rises in their TVLs.  That is, within the last week.

Overall, the recent strong performance being displayed by FTM token does not exactly come as a surprise. It is merely an indicator that Fantom’s strategic initiatives may be beginning to bear fruit. With the successful implementation of the Sonic upgrade, Fantom is poised to deliver even greater value and utility to its users.

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Fantom Blockchain Soars with Sonic Upgrade and TVL Surge

Coinspeaker Changpeng Zhao Yet to Serve Prison Time Despite 4-Month Sentence

Crypto exchange Binance’s co-founder and former chief executive Changpeng Zhao, also known as CZ in the crypto industry, has yet to see the inside of a prison cell despite his four-month sentencing announced on April 30. As per a report from Protos, a combination of factors, including the formalities in the justice system, the Fifth Amendment, and the efforts of world-class lawyers, resulted in Zhao not being inside the walls of the prison.

United States District Judge Richard A. Jones sentenced CZ at Seatac, an administrative security federal detention center and prison in Western Washington with a total of 931 inmates. The judgment signed by Judge Jones stated that Zhao “shall surrender for service of sentence as notified by the Probation or Pretrial Services Office.”

CZ pleaded guilty in 2023 to money laundering violations, and Binance paid a hefty $4.3 billion fine to settle with the Department of Justice (DoJ).

Interestingly, as of now, these offices have not yet notified the ex-Binance head and crypto billionaire of the date he must report to the California prison.

Reasons for Changpeng Zhao Not Being in Prison Now

As per US laws, a criminal’s sentence begins once they are either received in custody awaiting transportation to, or voluntarily surrender to, the official detention facility. However, a delay can occur in three cases:

The judge may order the defendant to surrender to the US Marshals, who will be responsible for notifying the criminal of his prison date.

The judge may authorize the Probation or Pretrial Services Office to notify the defendant of their prison entry date.

The judge might allow the defendant to voluntarily report to prison—a case applicable to criminals with short sentences or who possess low flight risk.

Zhao was granted the second option. As he was not sentenced to a multi-year term, US Marshals did not immediately take him into custody. Instead, he awaits notification from the Probation or Pretrial Services Office.

Additionally, the Probation or Pretrial Services Office has to complete an analysis of the criminal before notifying them of the prison date. The analysis includes checking the resources of the facility, the nature and circumstances of the offense, and the offender’s history and characteristics, among other things.

As a result, Zhao is still not inside prison walls because the Probation or Pretrial Services Office hasn’t completed its analysis. The Fifth Amendment guarantees due process for every criminal who may or may not reside in the United States.

Moreover, Protos also reported that Zhao’s defense team, comprising seven lawyers and additional support staff from three prestigious law firms, Latham & Watkins, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, and Davis Wright Tremaine, played a significant role in delaying the commencement of his prison term.

If due process is not followed by the Probation or Pretrial Services Office, Zhao’s legal team can contend for a reduction in the sentencing duration on due process grounds.

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Changpeng Zhao Yet to Serve Prison Time Despite 4-Month Sentence

Coinspeaker Peaq Network Secures $20M in Funding from CoinList Token Launch

Decentralized Layer-1 blockchain peaq Network announced that it has secured $20 million in the largest CoinList funding and token launch in more than two years.

The launch of the PEAQ token was concluded recently and data shows that it was oversubscribed by the community. Precisely, over 14,500 wallets contributed to it, breaking the record for both the largest amount secured and the largest amount contributed in over two years.

peaq Funding to Boost Activities on L1

The network strongly believes that this outlook underscores the enormous support and trust that the community and the broad Web 3.0 ecosystem have in peaq. This disposition is important for the L1 as it heads towards its upcoming mainnet launch. Also, the massive embrace suggests the growing interest in the decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN) niche.

“We are deeply grateful to the community for their faith in peaq’s mission and their continuous support,” Till Wendler, co-founder of peaq said. “The token launch on CoinList was a big step toward becoming truly community-owned, and we’re excited to be moving further in this direction with more community events and initiatives. This is a very strong signal for the DePIN space as a whole.”

The secured fund will contribute to bolstering activities on peaq, making it stronger and more robust as time goes by. For context, peaq plans to utilize the $20 million from the token launch to grow its ecosystem, further develop its Modular DePIN Functions, and ensure network security. They accrued funding will primarily go towards new ecosystem programs like community-facing initiatives that push wider DePIN adoption.

The implementation in peaq’s Modular DePIN Functions will include multi-chain self-sovereign machine identities known as peaq ID, seamless peer-to-peer payments for machines and people known as peaq pay and peaq verify, a three-tiered framework for DePIN data verification amongst others.

According to peaq, there is an upcoming $PEAQ launch for $KREST holders campaign although a specific date was not announced. This is in addition to other opportunities that are likely to come up around the time of mainnet launch.

peaq Registers Huge Growth in Peaqosystem

It was reported that the protocol registered a 20% surge in its ecosystem dubbed the “peaqosystem” in April.

By this percentage, it was concluded that about 25 DePINs had shown support for the protocol even before its official launch. The expectation is that these figures grow in the coming weeks and the secured fund from the CoinList token launch will play a part in making this a reality.

With the CoinList token launch out of the way, the protocol will begin to work on allocations over the next few days.

Meanwhile, CoinList unveiled some key upgrades on its platform a few weeks back. One of these features a reimagined Karma system, which acts as the basis for a reputation-based points setup. It also introduced five Karma Tiers: Rust, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

Noteworthy, the higher the tier, the greater the chances of accessing exclusive token launches and offerings

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Peaq Network Secures $20M in Funding from CoinList Token Launch

Coinspeaker Bitcoin and Ethereum Options Worth $2.1B Set to Expire Today

Today, May 17, marks a significant event in the crypto market as a substantial amount of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (Ether) options contracts, totaling over $2.1 billion, are set to expire.

These contracts, with put/call ratios of 0.63 for Bitcoin and 0.28 for Ethereum, serve as vital indicators of market sentiment and potential price movements.

According to data from Greeks.live, a blockchain derivatives market tool, approximately 18,000 BTC contracts valued at $1.2 billion and around 320,000 Ether options worth $930 million are on the brink of expiration today.

Despite expectations indicated by the Maxpain points of $63,000 for Bitcoin and $3,000 for Ethereum, both cryptocurrencies are presently trading above these thresholds. BTC is currently priced around $66,142.56, with ETH price standing at $3,039.27.

Analyzing Market Dynamics

The week leading up to the options expiry revealed divergent dynamics within the crypto space. Bitcoin ETFs fueled by a surge in demand driven by the meme wave sweeping the US crypto sector recorded substantial inflows.

As of May 16th, the funds experienced a notable daily net inflow of $257.34 million, marking the fourth consecutive occurrence within the week. Among these inflows, BlackRock’s IBIT, the second-largest ETF in terms of asset value, witnessed the largest influx, with $94 million pouring into the ETF alone.

Bitcoin also benefited from the meme frenzy. The crypto asset regained its $65,000 price mark and even surged past the levels on Friday to $66,000.

However, cryptocurrencies outside the meme phenomenon like Ether experienced weakness, with trading volumes showing a persistent decline from previous highs.

Bitcoin Could Hit New Record Milestone

Despite the poor sentiments surrounding the broader crypto market outside BTC, the put/call ratio of 0.63 for the Bitcoin expiring contracts suggests a potential continuation of an upward trajectory for the king coin.

This ratio signifies that more call options (long positions) have been taken by traders compared to put options (short positions), indicating robust optimism among investors who anticipate Bitcoin price to rise further.

With this sentiment prevailing, the expiration of BTC and Ether options today could potentially fuel a positive momentum, positioning the market for a potential bull run.

However, it’s crucial to note that market sentiment is multifaceted and can be influenced by various factors beyond just the put/call ratio, including geopolitical events, regulatory developments, and broader economic trends.

Implications of Expiration

Analysis of market trading structures and volatility trends suggests varying patterns regarding the potential impact of the options contracts expiring today. While Bitcoin appears relatively balanced between long and short positions, Ethereum price weakness has dampened market confidence, leading to a predominance of selling calls as traders seek to hedge against further downside risks.

The shift in implied volatility from a downtrend to a sideways movement across major terms indicates a degree of stability in the market, albeit with limited downward potential in the short term. With sellers currently holding the upper hand, the timing for buyers becomes crucial, prompting attention toward pairs trading strategies, particularly focusing on the ETH-BTC rate.

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Bitcoin and Ethereum Options Worth $2.1B Set to Expire Today

Coinspeaker Hong Kong Launches Pilot Program for Digital Yuan Payments

Chinese authorities are making another push to boost the utility of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) aka digital yuan, e-CNY. As per the latest Bloomberg report, Hong Kong has launched a pilot program allowing digital yuan payments facilitated through some of the top Chinese banks.

As a result, Hong Kong residents will be able to open digital yuan wallets with the Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Via these CBDC wallets, users can make payments directly to merchants in Mainland China.

To set up their digital yuan wallets, Hong Kong residents just need their local phone numbers. Hong Kong is currently conducting this pilot program for e-CNY within the Greater Bay Area and other areas. Furthermore, the users can top up their e-CNY wallets via FPS, a local payments system.

Eddie Yue, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), stated that they will maintain close collaboration with the People’s Bank of China to progressively extend the usage of e-CNY and enhance its functionalities.

The goal is to increase the adoption of the digital yuan among retail merchants in both Hong Kong and mainland China. This initiative marks Hong Kong as the inaugural location outside mainland China where residents can establish e-CNY wallets, as confirmed by the HKMA.

China’s Challenges with Digital Yuan

So far, China has rolled out the digital yuan wallets to more than 260 million users, after piloting e-CNY in a few cities in 2020. However, pushing the adoption of Digital Yuan among users has been an uphill task for Chinese authorities amid competition from existing players like Alipay and WeChat Pay. Furthermore, the Chinese locals are cashing out their CBDCs amid privacy concerns.

Efforts are underway to expand the yuan’s presence in the global payments market. Data monitored by Swift indicates that since last year, the total value of payments conducted in yuan has increased by nearly 1.5 times, albeit from a modest starting point.

The official introduction of the digital yuan project in Hong Kong coincides with the city’s endeavor to cultivate a virtual asset hub. This initiative, launched in 2022, includes the implementation of a licensing framework for cryptocurrency exchanges and the recent listing of exchange-traded funds focused on Bitcoin and Ether tokens.

Last year in 2023, China conducted its first cross-border settlements in e-CNY. In October, PetroChina Co. made a purchase of one million barrels of crude oil using e-CNY, as reported by BI. Additionally, in December, the Bank of China oversaw the first settlement in iron ore amounting to 24 million yuan ($3.3 million) and the inaugural settlement in gold valued at 100 million yuan.

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Hong Kong Launches Pilot Program for Digital Yuan Payments

Coinspeaker Binance Assists Taiwan Authorities in Major Crypto Money Laundering Case

Binance has collaborated with Taiwan authorities to tackle a major money laundering case worth nearly NT$200 million, about $6.5 million.

The case centers around a criminal network that used digital currencies to facilitate money laundering for a scam group, using fake customer conversation records, remittance proof, and Identity verification data to appear real. The Taiwan Ministry of Justice and Tapei Prosecutors office recognizes the complexities of this laundering case and requests assistance from the Binance Financial Crime Compliance team.

The exchange, known for its dedication to providing a secure and transparent system, responded swiftly to the request. Its team provided crucial information, including a deep analysis of the cryptocurrency transactions involved. This prompt action led to the identification and arrest of nine suspects charged with fraud, violations of money laundering, and organized crime. According to a news release by Binance, it stated:

“Upon request, Binance cooperated promptly, establishing a cross-border online meeting with the investigating officers and prosecutors, where Binance’s seasoned FCC teams furnished valuable recommendations based on cryptocurrency flow analyses. This collaboration helped detect potential suspects more effectively.”

Binance’s Collaboration with Regulatory Body

This action by Binance is not the first, as the exchange has assisted law enforcement in different countries, such as the Netherlands and India, with similar investigations. Hence, this effort by its team showcases the exchange’s commitment to fighting cybercrime and being a major protector of the digital asset ecosystem.

The India Financial Intelligence Unit recently confirmed that Biniance has registered with the country’s regulatory body. This marks the exchange’s return to the Indian market after overcoming some regulatory issues.

In addition to overcoming regulatory hurdles in India, the exchange platform recently secured an operating license in Dubai, allowing it to serve retail clients and qualified investors.

Regulatory Crackdown and Legal Troubles

Although Binance has collaborated with countries and authorities to curb crypto crime, the exchange has faced diverse regulations and charges. Last year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged Binance and its founder for evading federal laws and operating illegal assets. Aside from this, Changpeng Zhao, former CEO and founder of Binance, is serving a four-month imprisonment after being sentenced on April 30th for violating the anti-money laundering regulation. CZ pleaded guilty to the case and admitted Binance’s failure to implement necessary compliance controls when he was still serving as the CEO.

Binance is also facing regulatory challenges in Nigeria. The government has banned some exchange services (like peer-to-peer trading) from operating within the country. The government stated that the crypto company has been assisting users of its platform with fraudulent activities such as money laundering.

Thus, despite Binance’s commitment to assist authorities in curbing cybercrime, there is a need for stronger regulation and cooperation between the exchange and regulatory bodies. The Binance Taiwan case is a good instance of how these partnerships can work, setting a pace for other crypto exchange platforms to emulate.

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Binance Assists Taiwan Authorities in Major Crypto Money Laundering Case

Coinspeaker Bitcoin Price to New ATH Is Inevitable as US Congress Supports Banks’ Crypto Adoption

Bitcoin (BTC) price continued with the recent bullish outlook on Friday during the early London session. The flagship coin traded around $66,410 at the time of this writing, thus suggesting the bulls are ready to pump to a new all-time high soon. Moreover, Bitcoin price has consistently closed above the 50 daily Moving Average in the past three days, after being trapped in a crypto correction mode for the past two months.

Bitcoin Whales Anticipate New High Soon

According to on-chain data from market intelligence platform Santiment, there are currently 15,907 Bitcoin wallets holding at least 100 coins. Remarkably, Bitcoin whales hold a whopping 11.79 million coins, amid declining balances on centralized exchanges.

As Coinspeaker explained, the trading volume of US-based spot Bitcoin ETFs has surged in the recent past with notable cash inflows. Furthermore, Grayscale’s GBTC has significantly reduced its daily Bitcoin sell-offs. According to first-quarter earnings reports, 937 financial institutions purchased Bitcoins through the recently approved spot BTC ETFs.

On Thursday, the United States Senate unanimously approved the CRA that overturned SAB 121, which mandated banks from holding clients’ crypto assets. Interestingly both sides of the political spectrum came together on the issue, thus indicating heightened interest and demand for digital assets in the United States.

“The Senate passing a CRA overturning SAB 121 is a win for financial innovation and a clear rebuke of the way the Biden admin and Gary Gensler have persecuted crypto. It also marks the 1st time Congress has passed standalone crypto legislation. We are just getting started,” US Senator from Wyoming, Cynthia Lummis, noted.

According to US House majority whip, Tom Emmer, President Joe Biden is under immense spotlight if he will approve or veto the CRA ahead of the upcoming elections. The US Congress has shown its disapproval of Gary Gensler’s decision to crack down on crypto projects, while other countries are adopting the web3 industry.

I am VERY proud to be one of the first to call out the @SECGov’s gross overreach. I sued the SEC on behalf of individual users and investors on January 1, 2021. Today, the Senate reached a bipartisan supermajority with 60 yes votes on SAB 121 – a resounding rebuke of the SEC’s… https://t.co/thENYFb1IN

— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) May 16, 2024

Midterm BTC Price Targets

Bitcoin price is well bolstered from a technical and fundamental point of view to rally further in the coming months. Less than a month since the fourth Bitcoin halving event and the underlying value has been retesting 2021’s all-time high, thus suggesting a super cycle at hand.

$BTC So far, so good..!!

Bitcoin is still moving within the Bullish Flag pattern.

To confirm the Breakout, #Bitcoin bulls need to clear the $68k resistance level.

Once the Breakout is confirmed, we can expect a new ATH in June. https://t.co/0fXM790tdR pic.twitter.com/bXC3PZjzba

— Captain Faibik (@CryptoFaibik) May 17, 2024

According to a popular crypto analyst alias Captain Faibik, Bitcoin price has been forming a bullish pennant flag pattern. As a result, the crypto analyst believes Bitcoin price will reach $86K soon, which also coincides with the 2.618 daily Fibonacci Extension.

However, the crypto analyst highlighted that Bitcoin price must consistently close above $68K in the coming weeks to validate the bullish uptrend.

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Bitcoin Price to New ATH Is Inevitable as US Congress Supports Banks’ Crypto Adoption

Coinspeaker Chainlink (LINK) Shoots Up 19% Post DTCC Partnership Reveal

Chainlink (LINK) shot up by almost 19% in the past 24 hours following the announcement of its partnership with the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC), a financial market infrastructure company based in the United States.

According to the data from CoinMarketCap, the price of LINK, the fifteenth largest crypto asset by market capitalization, has gone up by 19.24% as of 4:49  a.m. ET on Friday. The trading volume of the digital asset shot up by 224.15%, and its market capitalization stood at $9.72 billion.

LINK skyrocketed from $13.57 to $16.58, outperforming all the cryptocurrencies ranking below it, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), Toncoin (TON), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Shiba Inu (SHIB).

The surge in LINK price can be attributed to the announcement of the partnership between DTCC and the decentralized Oracle network.

Chainlink and DTCC Partnership

As per a report from DTCC, the team of Chainlink and the world’s largest settlement system completed a pilot program that also involved some of the leading banking institutions in the United States and aimed to increase traditional finance fund tokenization.

The pilot program, known as the Smart NAV Pilot program, was initiated to standardize net asset value (NAV) data spread across various blockchain networks while utilizing Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP).

The pilot program revealed that by delivering structured data on-chain and establishing standardized roles and processes, foundational data can be integrated into a variety of on-chain applications. The report stated that these applications include tokenized funds and ‘bulk consumer’ smart contracts, which manage data for multiple funds, while adding:

“This capability can support future industry exploration and can power numerous downstream use cases as well, such as brokerage portfolio applications. Additional benefits include real-time, more automated data dissemination and built-in access to historical data.”

Further, the DTCC pointed out that these capabilities might support numerous downstream applications, such as brokerage services, automated data dissemination, and improved access to historical data for funds.

The crypto community on social media platform X was buzzing with excitement with the new post from “DeFiMinty” stating that the Smart NAV pilot program could be a huge deal for Chainlink. While sharing future projections, the X user with more than 50,000 followers stated that large industries could begin tokenizing real-world assets and cross-chain protocols like CCIP could be used in chain abstraction.

In an extended report, the DTCC stated that it “invited asset managers, service providers, and distributors to a series of collaborative workshops to discuss the pilot and evaluate benefits”.

Notably, the prominent banking institutions that participated in the pilot program include American Century Investments, BNY Mellon, Edward Jones, Franklin Templeton, Invesco, JPMorgan, MFS Investment Management, Mid Atlantic Trust d/b/a American Trust Custody, State Street, and US Bank.

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Chainlink (LINK) Shoots Up 19% Post DTCC Partnership Reveal

Coinspeaker Pink Drainer Shuts Down after Stealing Millions in Crypto

The notorious wallet drainer tool known as Pink Drainer has made a surprise announcement. This follows after several involvement in the theft of millions of dollars in crypto assets. According to a report by on-chain investigator ZachXBT, the developers of the cybercrime service shared their intent to wind down in a Telegram message.

They claimed that the decision to close down was simply because they had reached their goal and it was time for them to retire. They also added that the announcement will be the last message from them as there will be no future comebacks. Part of the statement reads:

“After this message’s publication, we will begin winding down all of our infrastructure. All stored information will be wiped and securely deleted.”

Pink Drainer Exits Leaving a Theft Trail of $85 Million

Pink Drainer has been a go-to vendor for cybercriminals in recent times. It offered a software tool designed to exploit technical vulnerabilities through social engineering tactics and phishing links.

With its tool, bad actors could carry out malicious schemes such as creating convincing phishing sites to deceive users into transactions that ultimately drained their wallets of crypto assets and NFTs.

Pink Drainer was also a part of a larger network of phishing-as-a-service platforms. Like its other counterparts including Monkey Drainer and Inferno Drainer, its developers also earned revenue from fees after taking an agreed percentage of whatever amount of asset is stolen.

Although the announcement has an undertone of sober reflections, it is worth noting that Pink Drainer has been linked to crypto theft worth nothing less than $85 million in the past year alone. According to ScamSniffer data, the use of Pink Drainer negatively impacted over 21,000 victims in the past year.

One of the most notable scams of the infamous wallet drainer happened in March 2024. The scam focused on creditors of bankrupt crypto firms through email phishing, leading to thefts of at least $5 million.

That March incident did not only show the tool’s ability to exploit high-profile vulnerabilities. It also highlighted the level of financial damage that the tool can inflict on any victim.

Implications for Cybersecurity and Future Threats

The shutdown of Pink Drainer is certainly a big win in an ongoing fight against cybercrime. For cybercriminals, the loss of such a prolific tool is poised to disrupt their activities, at least, for now. However, it must be noted that the threat remains, even as alternative phishing-as-a-service platforms continue to exist.

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Pink Drainer Shuts Down after Stealing Millions in Crypto

Coinspeaker Dolce & Gabbana Named in Lawsuit over Metaverse Outfit NFTs Mismanagement Allegations

The US branch of Italian luxury fashion house Dolce & Gabbana has recently faced a lawsuit due to the mismanagement of DGFamily NFTs.

On Thursday, a customer Luke Brow, filed a lawsuit against Dolce & Gabbana USA, on behalf of others who bought digital assets from this NFT project. The plaintiff alleged that the NFTs they purchased for $6,000 lost 97% of their value due to the company’s mishandled delivery.

Notably, the brand sold the NFTs on Ethereum, promising a slate of experiential benefits. The official website states that holders would be granted “access to exclusive drops and collaborations, both digital wearables and physical products, as well as access to an exclusive slate of digital and physical Dolce&Gabbana events”.

The lawsuit claims that Dolce & Gabbana failed to deliver the NFTs and the promised benefits on time. The digital outfits, which arrived 20 days late, “could be used only in a metaverse platform with barely any users”, according to the complaint filed in Manhattan federal court.

As per the recent report by Bloomberg, even after the delayed arrival, NFT holders allegedly had to wait an additional 11 days before they could use them. Brown, who claims a loss of $5,800 on the NFTs he purchased, states that Dolce & Gabbana had not secured approval from the metaverse platform in advance.

“Their standard operating procedure has been to promise products they fail to deliver, before abandoning a project and community they promised to support,” the complaint reads.

Notably, the lawsuit also includes the NFT marketplace UNXD as a party to the legal action. In February 2022, Dolce & Gabbana partnered with UNXD to announce the launch of DGFamily, following the successful launch of its inaugural NFT release, Collezione Genesi, featuring a bespoke, 9-piece luxury collection.

DGFamily peaked at an all-time high of 0.529 ETH on July 16, 2022, but its value began to decline as the NFT craze waned in 2023. Currently, it is trading around 0.024 ETH, marking a drop of over 95% from its peak value.

NFT Market Slowdown

The NFT market, once a vibrant hub commanding millions and attracting multiple celebrities, is now deserted. The latest data reveals that trading volumes have plummeted by a staggering 97% since 2021, while 95% of NFT projects have lost their value entirely.

This situation has not only shaken the once-booming industry to its core but also sparked widespread concern among traders and observers alike.

However, the data from NFT Ora states that the global NFT market cap surpassed $193.84 billion in January this year, signaling a ray of hope for the industry. The market has experienced signs of recovery in 2024 compared to 2023, with estimates suggesting a 41% increase in marketplace value.

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Dolce & Gabbana Named in Lawsuit over Metaverse Outfit NFTs Mismanagement Allegations

Coinspeaker Ripple CLO Stuart Alderoty Hails Senate Decision as Victory against SEC’s Overreach

Ripple Chief Legal Officer (CLO) Stuart Alderoty has heaped praises on the US Senate for choosing to take a stand against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). That is, as it regards an ‘anti-crypto’ rule that the commission recently proposed.

The US SEC had proposed a controversial rule that threatened regulated banking institutions from offering crypto custodial services. However,  the Senate has now overturned the rule after a dozen Democrats and 49 Republicans voted against the SEC’s Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) 121 on Thursday.

While there is yet a possibility that President Joe Biden may veto the Senate’s decision, Alderoty has commended the move, hailing it a win against SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s “unauthorized overreach”.

Finally, something D’s and R’s can agree on: Gensler’s unauthorized overreach when it comes to crypto will not be tolerated. https://t.co/oOdOGOyxmB

— Stuart Alderoty (@s_alderoty) May 16, 2024

SAB 121, Biden’s Influence

The overturned policy, known as SAB 121, sought to mandate banks to include their customers’ cryptocurrency holdings on their balance sheets. However, a huge backlash soon followed as the banking sector, alongside the crypto industry, kicked against the proposal. Their argument bordered on how the rule would complicate things, particularly in the area of custodial services. Not only that, banks also argued that the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies will have a negative effect on their financial statements.

Meanwhile, the Biden-led administration has said that it strongly opposes the Senate’s resolution. According to a statement by the White House, allowing the rule to be removed this way would disrupt the SEC’s ongoing “work to protect investors in crypto-asset markets and to safeguard the broader financial system.”

With this statement, the crypto community and even the banking sector may not sigh in relief just yet.

Growing Bipartisan Support for Crypto Regulation

It might be worth noting that bipartisan efforts in the crypto space are beginning to take form. Alderoty noted this in his post on X, where he shared the importance of bipartisan support in legislative efforts toward crypto.

Recall that the Senate voted 60-38 on the effort to overturn the SAB 121 policy. That reflects that US lawmakers are beginning to find a common ground for a balanced approach to regulating digital assets.

This unity is a game changer and may likely influence future legislation, including the highly-anticipated stablecoin bill, in favor of the crypto industry.

Alderoty is joined by other prominent industry leaders in their approval of the Senate’s decision. For instance, MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor shared a similar sentiment, noting the need to protect the rights of cryptocurrency owners. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, popularly known as “Crypto Mom” also criticized the agency’s inconsistency.

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Ripple CLO Stuart Alderoty Hails Senate Decision as Victory against SEC’s Overreach

Coinspeaker DCF Announces Passage of Proposal for Better Liquidity and Efficiency in Cosmos Network

The Decentralized Cooperation Foundation (DCF) announced the successful passage of Proposal #912, a transformative initiative within the Cosmos network, a leading decentralized network of independent parallel blockchains, aimed at improving liquidity and economic stability.

Proposal #912: Milestone for Cosmos Network

Recently approved by the Cosmos community, Proposal #912 introduces a robust framework for liquid staking. This initiative is designed to allow staked assets to be traded freely through derivative tokens, therefore enhancing the liquidity within the network. The passage of this proposal underscores the community’s commitment to continuous innovation and improvement.

The primary objective of the proposal is to optimize the utilization of staked assets by enabling their liquidity. Traditional staking involves locking up tokens to secure the network, which, while crucial for network security, reduces the liquidity of these assets. Liquid staking, however, allows these staked assets to be utilized in other financial activities, improving their efficiency and liquidity.

Implementation and Initial Phase

Proposal #912 directs the strategic allocation of 188,768 ATOM from the Cosmos Community Pool towards liquid staking on the Stride and Persistence platforms, expected to increase capital efficiency by 18%. This projection is based on the improved utility of staked assets, which can now participate in various financial activities without compromising the network’s security. If this initial phase proves successful, after a three-month pilot, an additional 6% of the ATOM tokens will be allocated, bringing the total to 10%.

The Role of the Inter Stable Token (IST)

Central to Proposal #912 is the strategic and expanded utilization of the Inter Stable Token (IST), integral to enhancing liquidity and maintaining economic stability across the Cosmos network. The proposal specifies the use of liquid-staked assets to mint IST from Inter Protocol with a 500% collateralization ratio, aiming to distribute these tokens across various liquidity pools and swapping half of the IST into USDC. These tokens will be provided to significant platforms like Osmosis, Astroport, Axelar, Shade Protocol, and Quasar Finance, projected to yield an overall estimated increase in efficiency of 18%.

DCF’s Commitment to Decentralization and Innovation

Ric Shreves, President of the Decentralized Cooperation Foundation, says:

“The passage of proposal #912 is a testament to the Cosmos community’s commitment to innovation and decentralized governance. We are proud to support such initiatives that align with our mission to promote blockchain solutions that are accessible, efficient, and equitable.”

Future Outlook

The passing of Proposal #912 highlights the proactive and innovative spirit of the Cosmos community. The successful implementation of this proposal is expected to set an example for future blockchain initiatives, stimulating further innovation within the Cosmos ecosystem. By deepening liquidity and increasing capital efficiency, the proposal strives to generate revenue for the Cosmos Hub community pool and benefit all ecosystem participants.

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DCF Announces Passage of Proposal for Better Liquidity and Efficiency in Cosmos Network

Coinspeaker Blast Network Unveils June 26 for Highly Anticipated BLAST Token Airdrop

Blast, a network built on Ethereum, has announced June 26 as the official launch date for its upcoming airdrop. The layer 2 network, founded in November 2023 by the team behind the NFT marketplace Blur, made the new date known to its community members on X after initially scheduling May for the event. The team acknowledged the effect that such postponement could have on their community and had to apologize, promising to account for it. They stated:

 “We know this is past our initial estimate of May and we’re sorry for the delay. The airdrop allocation will be increased to account for this.”

Blast Gold: Incentivizing Developers and Early Adopters

The forthcoming airdrop will distribute BLAST tokens, which will be allocated to developers and early participants who have supported the network.  According to Blast, there will be two final distributions of Blast Gold points before the eventual token launch.

Ahead of the upcoming airdrop, Blast has initially introduced its third Blast Gold distribution, an addition to the previous two distributions. In this next process, 15 million Gold will be distributed to various dApps.

Blast Gold has similar attributes to traditional airdrop. However, it is not for the general public as it is mainly for creators of decentralized apps (dApps) building on the network; this has caused dApps builders on the network to distribute their awarded gold to users. The points given to developers are aimed at incentivizing the development and growth of the platform; by doing this, they can distribute the points to their users, therefore creating active participation and engagement within the ecosystem.

Mirroring Blur’s Success: Airdrop Strategy and User Engagement

During the airdrop, half of the token will be given to the developers through Blast Gold, while the other half will be shared with early users, including those who bridged funds to the network before the Blast mainnet went live in early February. Participants have been able to bridge over $2.3 billion to earn points ahead of the forthcoming airdrop.

Blast has been able to gather lots of interest and rapid growth since its launch late last year. Its total value locked has now exceeded $2.3 billion, showing the craze behind the token. The project style of airdropping is similar to that of the Blur airdrop in 2023, which resulted in over $800 million BLUR tokens airdropped to users who participated early in the Blur NFT platform. The user incentives style being used by Blast is similar to that of Blur and has worked out well for Blur and its users.

With the way Blast is handling its airdrop, it is obvious it is following in the footsteps of Blur. This has propelled many investors to anticipate seeing their investments grow significantly. Such a model, which has proven to work, could trigger an influx of users and investors into the ecosystem.

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Blast Network Unveils June 26 for Highly Anticipated BLAST Token Airdrop

Coinspeaker DFINITY Foundation Unveils New and Updated Roadmap for Internet Computer (ICP)

The Internet Computer (ICP), a revolutionary blockchain that builds on unlimited data and on-chain computation, has announced a new and updated roadmap to steer the project to the next level of mass adoption. The ICP project, currently valued at about $6.3 billion and a daily average traded volume of around $114 million, has grown to a top-tier web3 ecosystem in the past three years.

According to the latest market data, the ICP network has a total value locked (TVL) of about $87 million from several web3 projects. Some of the decentralized financial (DeFi) projects on the ICP network include Sonic DEX, Gold DAO, and ICPSwap, among others.

New Chapter for the Internet Computer

According to the new Internet Computer roadmap, the DFINITY Foundation will focus its attention and resources on nine key areas to ensure a sustainable future. Among the key areas that the DFINITY foundation intends to put more emphasis on in the coming years include decentralized artificial intelligence (AI), developer experience, on-chain privacy, chain fusion, compute platform, platform decentralization, digital assets, and identity, among others.

“Each focus area is key to the success of the Internet Computer and each milestone marks a significant breakthrough and opens up new opportunities for the blockchain community. This roadmap is not only for the ICP community but for the blockchain industry as a whole. The Internet Computer can bring true decentralization, connect blockchains, grow communities, and solve AI’s trust issue,” the DFINITY team noted.

In the near future, the ICP ecosystem will be able to interact with the Ethereum network through its legendary Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Additionally, the ICP network intends to connect with the Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL) ecosystems.

The ICP network intends to lay much emphasis on smart contract development, which will ultimately help decentralize the underlying blockchain infrastructure. In this regard, the ICP network has committed to building proper privacy on identity authentication protocols.

The Internet Computer has, therefore, made a deliberate decision to educate more web3 developers on the smart contract languages used in its blockchain technology. Furthermore, the ICP network intends to onboard more multichainDeFi platforms with its token standards.

Market Impact

The launch of the new roadmap for the Internet Computer will have a profound impact on the ICP coin amid the ongoing crypto bull market. As of this writing, ICP price hovered around $12.30, up approximately 3 percent in the past seven days.

The unveiled roadmap will ultimately help the ICO coin avoid being labeled as a zombie crypto project.

Moreover, the Web3 industry is fast evolving according to market needs, with real-world assets (RWA) tokenization being the top priority for most institutional investors.

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DFINITY Foundation Unveils New and Updated Roadmap for Internet Computer (ICP)