A week in review: March 13–19 We've selected the hottest materials of the past week for you to stay up to date with the latest crypto news: | | #1. European Parliament votes against PoW ban, providing huge relief to the crypto industry | | | A significant European Union (EU) regulatory bill known as Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) has moved forward, leaving behind wording that essentially would have barred proof-of-work (PoW) crypto assets in the region. | | | An extensive bill pertaining to crypto regulation in the EU, MiCA had two drafts up for debate — one version that would essentially ban PoW mining and related cryptocurrencies, and another that hosted more favorable language concerning the technology. Long story short, the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs voted for the option that did not ban PoW. The bill will now proceed through further approval processes. | | #2. ApeCoin announcement surges BAYC floor price to near-ATH before correction | | | Owners of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs stand to receive a considerable sum of ApeCoin (APE) — a new governance and utility token for the project. APE is an ERC-20 token. | | | If they do so within 90 days of March 17 (12:30 pm UTC time), BAYC owners can claim 10,000 APE, which totaled $72,000 in value at the time of Cointelegraph's coverage in the article linked above. FTX, Gemini and other exchanges plan on listing APE. | | | Trading volume and pricing for BAYC NFTs saw turbulence surrounding the APE token news. Among other reported details, the token will have a supply of 1 billion. | | #3. Ukraine's president signs law establishing regulatory framework for crypto | | | Crypto regulation has received approval from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The bill, titled "On Virtual Assets," was signed by the president, opening the door to government oversight of the domestic cryptocurrency industry. | | | Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation said: "The signing of this law by the president is another important step towards bringing the crypto sector out of the shadows and launching a legal market for virtual assets in Ukraine." | | | Among other details, the bill specifies that Ukraine's National Securities and Stock Market Commission will govern the industry on multiple levels, such as digital asset-related licensing. | | #4. Prediction of the week. Bitcoin faces new 'milestone' in 2022 as new forecast predicts BTC price 'in the millions' | | | This past week, crypto's largest asset, Bitcoin, traded both below $38,000 and above $41,000 inside the seven-day period, according to Cointelegraph's BTC price index. | | | Based on global conditions, Bloomberg Intelligence's Mike McGlone and former BitMEX brass Arthur Hayes both see Bitcoin ultimately coming out on top. | | | McGlone sees the current landscape as one that may help BTC along. "Facing the #FederalReserve, inflation and war, 2022 may be primed for risk-asset reversion and mark another milestone in #Bitcoin's maturation," McGlone tweeted. | | | Meanwhile, Hayes sees Bitcoin taking on a value of more than $1 million per coin based on the events currently unfolding, although he noted a decade-long time horizon with BTC suffering downward price action first. | | #5. FUD of the week. Blockchain forensics firm finds millions in sanctioned crypto wallet | | | Blockchain analytics outfit Elliptic has come across a crypto wallet that could be of particular interest that could potentially be connected to prominent sanctioned Russians. The wallet's contents total millions of dollars in value, although further specifics were not given. | | | "It's not proving out realistic that oligarchs can completely bypass sanctions by moving all their wealth into crypto," Tom Robinson, Elliptic's co-founder, told Bloomberg. "Crypto is highly traceable. Crypto can and will be used for sanctions evasion, but it's not the silver bullet." | | | Millions of crypto addresses have been traced to crime associated with Russia, with hundreds of digital asset services facilitating anonymous crypto swapping via the Russian ruble, based on Elliptic's sleuthing. | | #6. FUD of the week. 'Unlucky:' Agave and Hundred Finance DeFi protocols exploited for $11M | | | Decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions Hundred Finance and Agave were exploited for $11 million by an attacker who managed to exploit a wrapped Ether (WETH) contract function on Gnosis Chain, a stable payments platform. Put simply, the attacker was able to drain more funds by continually borrowing against the same collateral they were posting. | | | The $11 million sum was stolen via a number of different crypto assets, including the aforementioned wETH, but also wrapped BTC (WBTC), Chainlink (LINK) and USD Coin (USDC). Agave and Hundred Finance both halted their protocols in tandem amid the investigation. | | Be The Satoshi Of Your Neighborhood!
You may not have one whole Bitcoin, but you can have one whole BTC shirt. 👕Check out the Bitcoin Genesis Block Collection at the Cointelegraph Store. | | | |
