A Bitcoin whale made waves this week: For the first time since August, business intelligence firm MicroStrategy purchased 5,445 BTC at approximately US$27,053 each. It now owns an estimated 158,245 BTC in total — currently worth over US$4 billion. Whales can influence the price of Bitcoin through large buy or sell orders and trigger a domino effect, as their action can influence trader sentiment.
In other big news, Crypto.com teams up with PayPal and Paxos: Crypto.com announced this week its collaboration with PayPal and Paxos to establish Crypto.com as a preferred PayPal USD (PYUSD) exchange. Crypto.com has already listed PYUSD on its platform for both retail and institutional users, and is currently the crypto trading platform with the deepest liquidity for PYUSD trading pairs globally. Learn more here.
Market Spotlight
Note: Market prices captured in USD at the time of sending. Explore more on Crypto.com/Price.
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News Snaps
Gensler Gets Backlash
The SEC chairman remained close-lipped on pending crypto ETF applications at his congressional hearing, while receiving backlash regarding his stance from several congressional members. This included Patrick McHenry, who criticized Gensler’s “crusade against the digital assets ecosystem.”
Interest Rates Hold Steady
The US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady last week, but this was interpreted by some market observers as the Fed having toughened its monetary policy stance in order to lower inflation. The interest rate may still be lifted one more time this year to a peak 5.50% to 5.75% range, according to updated quarterly projections released by the Fed.
Citi Launches Its Own Blockchain
Citigroup has introduced Citi Token Services, a private, permissioned blockchain that offers cross-border payments, liquidity, and automated trade finance solutions to institutional clients.
Grayscale’s Next ETF Application
Grayscale Investments, the crypto asset manager, filed for a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks Ethereum futures.
Digital Euro Still Needs Time
According to the European Central Bank (ECB), a digital euro is still two years away, at least. The ECB Governing Council will decide in October whether to pilot the project.
MicroStrategy Whale Gulps Up BTC
For the first time since August, business intelligence firm MicroStrategy purchased 5,445 BTC at approximately US$27,053 each. It now owns around 158,245 BTC in total.
What’s Ahead
Standard Chartered Plans to Tokenize Assets
Zodia Custody — the crypto-focused subsidiary of Standard Chartered — plans to allow its clients to earn yield on their crypto holdings. The yield offering will tokenize real-world assets like US Treasury bills.
Chart of the Week
Ethereum’s average transaction fee has hit its lowest point this year, at US$1.94 (as of Sept. 24). Some market observers interpret this as positive for Ethereum, as the lower fees might help increase network utilization.
NFT Spotlight
It’s a big world out there, and even the most seasoned explorers need more than a backpack for their travels. Take your explorations to the next level with our latest collection — Crypto.com Expedition Gear: Tools of the Trade — dropping on Wednesday, October 4.
This all-new set boasts invaluable ‘Core’ and ‘Elite’ tool NFTs, and one of five unique ‘Core’ tools will be airdropped. The ‘Elite’ tool set features 10 different ‘Elite’ tools with five distinct designs each, with 40,000 available in this drop. These NFTs will enhance your ‘Loaded Lions: Mane City’ experience, turbocharging your progress in building your dream city and decking out your mansion.
The drop includes various perks, as well as early access and rebates for holders of ‘Loaded Lions’, ‘Cyber Cubs’, and ‘Crypto.com Land — The First Frontier’ NFTs.
Need some tools? There’s also these great collections.
Product Picks
DeFi Wallet x QuickSwap
The Crypto.com DeFi Wallet has collaborated with QuickSwap on an exclusive campaign. From September 20 to October 3, users stand to win from the 2,500 USDC prize pool simply by swapping at least 50 USDC via QuickSwap in the DeFi Wallet. Users get more chances with more eligible swaps. Find out more here.
Crypto.com App New Token Listings
Veno Finance (VNO)
Veno Finance is a liquid staking protocol built on Cronos, where users can stake their CRO and receive the auto-compounding, yield-bearing receipt token LCRO. Veno aims to be a one-stop solution for all CRO staking, enabling a liquid form of CRO that is highly secure, with lower staking commission and deep integration across the Cronos ecosystem. VNO is the native token of Veno Finance. It can be utilized across the Cronos ecosystem, including reward participation and boost farming. Users can deposit VNO into different vaults in the Reservoir or Fountain to earn additional yields.
Crypto Level Up
What Is a Rug Pull?
The term ‘rug pull’ originated in the crypto world. It’s a scam where an individual or team creates a project and attracts followers to fund it. The team will then suddenly withdraw most or all of the funds for themselves, rendering the project worthless.
How Does a Rug Pull Function?
A rug pull generally has five steps:
1. Setup. The scammer creates a fraudulent but convincing project, like a new cryptocurrency, NFT, or DeFi platform.
2. Marketing. The scammer and shillers aggressively promote this project across various platforms like Reddit, Telegram, or even YouTube.
3. Buyers Arrive. As the hype builds, unsuspecting enthusiasts buy into the project, boosting the value of its assets or money locked into it.
4. Funds Withdrawn. Once the project has enough capital, the scammer will suddenly withdraw it or execute a function in its smart contract that only benefits them.
5. Project Team Disappears. Occasionally, the social media accounts of the project will be deleted as well, along with all other traces of it.
Find Out More About Rug Pulls and How They Work.
CryptoIRL
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Decoder
Golden Cross
A golden cross is a bullish indicator that refers to an asset’s short-term moving average price crossing its long-term moving average price. A moving average is the average price of an asset over a set period of time. Traders commonly use the 50-period moving average against the 200-period moving average as an indicator of the short- and long-term moving average, respectively.
A golden cross indicates that an asset’s price action has increased over a certain period and market sentiment is positive. A trader may choose to buy more during such an event.
Security Tips
Mark Cuban Loses US$870,000 to Fraudulent Crypto App
In mid-September 2023, American entrepreneur Mark Cuban lost US$870,000 worth of cryptocurrency to a scam. He believed he downloaded a fraudulent version of cryptocurrency wallet app MetaMask, which allowed hackers to syphon the assets stored inside it.
Protect Yourself Using These Three Simple Steps:
1. Beware phishing scams and fake software or websites. Always verify the sender, URL, spelling, and grammar of any communication you receive or website you visit.
2. Ensure that the app you’re downloading is legitimate: Use the Apple App Store or Google Play link on the app’s official website.
3. Store your crypto in a hardware wallet if possible. A hardware wallet is a physical device that keeps your private keys offline and away from hackers.
That’s it for this week’s Snapshot. Want more? Head over to our Insta feed for bite-size crypto lessons.
