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Top 5 Stories of The Week
Crypto in ‘extreme fear’ as Arthur Hayes tips ‘sub $50K’ Bitcoin weekend
Crypto market sentiment has fallen back into “extreme fear” as Bitcoin briefly fell below $56,000, while BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes predicts it could sink another 12% to fall under $50,000 over the weekend.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index — which measures market sentiment and trends to give a total possible score of 100 (indicating extremely positive sentiment) — hit a score of 22 on Sept. 6, showing “extreme fear,” a seven-point drop from the day prior that pinned sentiment at “fear.”
It’s the lowest score and price since the index hit 20 on Aug. 8 and the first time it has re-entered the “extreme fear” zone since Aug. 12, when the index hit 25.
At the time of publication, Bitcoin was down 2.7% in the past 24 hours and hit a low of $55,838 after a fall from above $58,000, wiping $29.7 billion from its market capitalization, according to Cointelegraph Markets Pro.
It has since slightly recovered from its low to trade at $56,533.
“BTC is heavy,” Hayes said in a Sept. 6 X post. “I’m gunning for sub $50k this weekend. I took a cheeky short.”
Pavel Durov breaks silence for first time since arrest
Telegram founder Pavel Durov finally broke his silence since his high-profile arrest in France in August.
In a message broadcast to his public Telegram channel, the tech entrepreneur said he was surprised that French authorities arrested him. He said Telegram has an official representative in the European Union who handles all regulatory requests and law enforcement inquiries.
Durov, a French citizen, also stated that the French authorities had multiple avenues to reach him without resorting to arresting him and claimed he was a regular guest at the French Consulate in Dubai.
The Telegram founder added that the company is fully prepared to leave jurisdictions that are hostile to Telegram’s purported mission of free speech and expression:
“We are prepared to leave markets that aren’t compatible with our principles because we are not doing this for money. We are driven by the intention to bring good and defend the basic rights of people, particularly in places where these rights are violated.”
Binance CEO says CZ is banned from managing or operating the exchange
Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, expected to be released by United States prison authorities in a few weeks, could be permanently enjoined from operating or managing the crypto exchange Binance as part of his plea deal with prosecutors.
According to a Sept. 5 Axios report, Binance CEO Richard Teng said CZ received a lifetime ban from managing or operating the exchange, not just three years, as many news outlets previously reported.
The crypto exchange reportedly said the former CEO was barred from a management position at the firm, though it did not appear to be explicitly required by either Zhao’s or Binance’s plea agreements.
CFTC charges Uniswap with illegal derivatives trading
The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) charged decentralized exchange developer Uniswap Labs with illegally offering leveraged cryptocurrency trading to U.S. retail investors, according to a Sept. 4 announcement.
The CFTC said Uniswap Labs agreed to settle the charges by paying a $175,000 civil penalty and by agreeing to cease violating the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).
The CFTC’s enforcement division “will vigorously enforce the CEA as digital asset platforms and DeFi ecosystems evolve,” Ian McGinley, the CFTC’s director of enforcement, said in a statement. “DeFi operators must be vigilant to ensure that transactions comply with the law.”
Summer Mersinger, one of the CFTC’s five commissioners, objected to the CFTC’s handling of the enforcement action in a Sept. 4 statement criticizing the agency for what Mersinger described as “regulation through enforcement.”
“It was my hope that one day soon the commission would consider rulemaking, or at the very least guidance, making clear how DeFi protocols could comply with them,” Mersinger said. “Unfortunately, today is not that day.”
Former Mt. Gox CEO to launch EllipX crypto exchange in Europe
Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox, will launch a new crypto exchange called EllipX in September.
Based in Poland, the platform will initially serve European users with plans to expand globally. It will start as crypto-only but potentially add banking and fiat currency services later.
EllipX aims to comply with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation and promote transparency through regular third-party audits.
In an interview with Cointelegraph at Korea Blockchain Week, Karpeles explained that security and technology around Bitcoin now “allows safe storage of cryptocurrencies,” adding:
“Exchanges, especially exchanges, didn’t change much in all those times. […] I think the best way would be basically to lead by example, to show that connection can be built in a fully transparent way.”
On regaining trust and offering reparations to those affected by the Mt. Gox hack, Karpeles informed Cointelegraph that the new exchange would offer former Mt. Gox users “at least 50%” off trading fees on EllipX.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $53,645, Ether (ETH) at $2,212 and XRP at $0.52. The total market cap is at $1.89 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Helium (HNT) at 10.55%, Starknet (STRK) at 9.62% and Bitcoin SV (BSV) at 4.09%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are Beam (BEAM) at 27.58%, DOGS (DOGS) at 20.92% and Cosmos (ATOM) at 19.93%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotations
“One way to think about prediction markets is as a building block that can make other mechanisms faster. […] You take some existing mechanism, and then you make something much faster that gets incentivized to do as good a job as possible.”
Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum
“We are going to see a pro-crypto Congress emerge, regardless of the particular outcome in individual races and, of course, the outcome in the presidential race.”
Paul Grewal, chief legal officer at Coinbase
“Active address numbers have been in freefall since the ETFs launched in January. It’s possible that what we’re seeing right now is a slow decline in the relevance of wallet address movement data.”
Pav Hundal, lead market analyst at Swyftx
“If we were to speculate, we would caution to expect a 15-20 percent decline when rates are cut this month, with a bottom of $40-50k for BTC.”
“The term ‘crypto asset security’ is nowhere to be found in any statute — it’s a fabricated term with no legal basis. The SEC needs to stop trying to deceive judges by using it.”
Stuart Alderoty, chief legal officer at Ripple
“BTC giant inverse head and shoulder pattern. When this breaks out, Bitcoin will shoot above $100K. My timeline is ATH in Q4 and $100K in Q1 2025.”
Elja Boom, crypto analyst
Prediction of The Week
BTC price rides US jobs miss amid warning Bitcoin could retest $49.5K
Bitcoin tagged $57,000 at the Sept. 5 Wall Street open as United States equities gained on macroeconomic data prints.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed a BTC price action briefly reversing a slide that had begun after the prior daily close. Down 2.3% on the day, BTC/USD took only modest relief from a bounce in U.S. stocks as macro figures reinforced an upcoming interest rate cut.
Among the releases was a wide miss among private-sector payrolls, which rose by 99,000 versus the 144,000 expected.
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“This marks the smallest gain since 2021,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter wrote in part of a response on X, adding:
“What is happening to the labor market?”
The latest estimates from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool saw markets continuing to entertain the possibility of a more significant rate cut by the US Federal Reserve at its next meeting on Sept. 18.
More jobs data on Sept. 4 presented a similar picture, with job openings in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey decreasing to 7.67 million instead of the anticipated 8.1 million.
FUD of The Week
US prosecutors allegedly link ex-FTX exec to Chinese bribery scandal
United States prosecutors in the case against Ryan Salame have allegedly linked the former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO to the names of Thai prostitutes as part of efforts to unfreeze accounts tied to FTX and Alameda Research.
In a Sept. 5 filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, U.S. attorneys filed a memorandum opposing Salame’s motion to vacate his guilty plea as part of charges involving campaign finance violations. The former FTX co-CEO had already withdrawn his petition to vacate the plea on Aug. 29, but Judge Lewis Kaplan said both parties would appear on Sept. 12 to address the matter at a hearing.
The prosecutors’ motion did not mince words, calling Salame’s petition “shameless and self-serving” and “procedurally defective and factually and legally meritless.” He initially filed the petition after authorities suggested they would pursue an investigation into his partner, Michelle Bond.
Over 600 Bitcoin ATMs went offline globally in 2 months
More than 600 Bitcoin ATMs went offline globally in the first two months of Q3 2024, with the United States recording the most shutdowns. This comes at a time when law enforcement authorities are proactively seeking out and closing Bitcoin ATMs that are frequently involved in extortion and scams.
According to data from Coin ATM Radar, the global Bitcoin ATM network lost 435 and 182 machines in July and August.
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On Aug. 7, a local government committee in Chico, California, addressed the regulation of Bitcoin ATMs. Andy Pickett, chief administrative officer for the County of Butte, spoke about the initiative to regulate these ATMs, proposing they be treated “more like a bank.”
Fed hits Texas bank with cease and desist over servicing crypto firms
The United States Federal Reserve has issued a cease and desist order to the crypto-friendly United Texas Bank, citing “significant deficiencies” in the bank’s risk management systems and dealings with crypto clients.
In a Sept. 4 cease and desist order, the Fed said it had examined United Texas Bank in May and found issues with its corporate governance structure and “oversights” by the bank’s board of directors and senior management.
“The Examination identified significant deficiencies related to foreign correspondent banking and virtual currency customers, specifically risk management and compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations relating to anti-money laundering including the Bank Secrecy Act,” the Fed wrote in its order.
Magazine Stories of The Week
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Editorial Staff
Cointelegraph Magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.