2023-11-14 16:24

Copyrighted Image by: Mundo Crypto PR NEW YORK - The Bitcoin network experienced a surge in activity, marking a significant milestone as it recorded a historic number of 505,345 Ordinal inscriptions on Sunday. This peak in inscriptions, which are essentially non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Bitcoin blockchain, ended a period of relative quiet since mid-September. Despite the congestion in the mempool, with over 200,000 transactions awaiting confirmation, fees for high-priority transactions dropped to $4.28 each on Monday. The continued interest in Ordinal inscriptions has pushed their total count past the 40 million mark. Miners were rewarded handsomely for confirming these transactions, earning approximately 2,438 BTC, valued at around $90 million. The excitement around Bitcoin-based NFTs has been mirrored in the performance of ORDI coins over the past week. The cryptocurrency saw an impressive 545% increase against the U.S. dollar, propelling its market capitalization to $434 million and placing it at 112th among the 10,900 cryptocurrencies currently in circulation. This surge in NFT sales on the Bitcoin blockchain is significant, as it follows Ethereum’s lead in the NFT market. Data from cryptoslam.io indicates that Bitcoin's NFT sales climbed to $92.92 million, closely trailing Ethereum's $103 million in NFT sales for the week. Leading the pack was the "$SATS BRC-20 NFTs" collection, which emerged as the top seller. The recent developments highlight a growing trend of diversification within the blockchain space as platforms traditionally focused on cryptocurrency transactions are now expanding into the realm of digital collectibles and art. This shift not only illustrates the evolving nature of blockchain technology but also reflects changing consumer interests and investment strategies within the digital asset community. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bitcoin-network-sees-record-ordinal-inscriptions-ordi-coin-value-soars-93CH-3234061

2023-11-14 15:27

GLOBAL – A recent study by Scam Sniffer has revealed that fraudsters have manipulated Ethereum's Create2 function, resulting in a significant theft of cryptocurrencies. Over the past six months, approximately $60 million has been stolen from nearly 100,000 victims through a method known as "address poisoning." The Create2 function, which was introduced in Ethereum's Constantinople update, allows for the creation of smart contracts with pre-calculated addresses. This feature is designed for more sophisticated interactions and is widely used for deploying decentralized applications (dApps). However, it has also opened up new vulnerabilities that bad actors are exploiting. Scammers are using Create2 to generate new contract addresses with no prior transaction history. Unsuspecting users are tricked into sending assets to these addresses, believing them to be secure. The study highlighted several high-profile incidents, including a single user losing $927,000 and another case where a Binance operator mistakenly transferred $20 million to scammers. Although Binance acted quickly to block the recipient's address, the damage had been done. In response to these security breaches, experts are urging cryptocurrency users to exercise increased caution. They recommend confirming recipient addresses before making transactions, avoiding suspicious links and attachments, and using Bitcoin wallets that offer enhanced security features such as two-factor authentication and address verification. The Scam Sniffer team's findings underscore the growing need for improved security measures within the cryptocurrency space as fraudsters continue to find and exploit loopholes in the system. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/ethereum-exploit-leads-to-60-million-crypto-theft-93CH-3233997

2023-11-14 15:13

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. NEW YORK - BlackRock Inc (NYSE:BLK)., the world's largest asset manager, has highlighted potential risks associated with stablecoins for investors in its proposed iShares Bitcoin ETF. The firm, currently waiting for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) review of its ETF, pointed out that fluctuations in stablecoin prices could impact the performance of the fund. Stablecoins like Tether USD (USDT) and Circle USD (USDC) are designed to maintain a value equivalent to a specific asset or currency, typically the U.S. dollar. However, BlackRock noted that despite their intended price stability, past events have shown that these digital assets can still experience significant price movements, which in turn can affect Bitcoin's value. The concerns stem from incidents involving Tether's operators on February 17, 2021, and October 15, 2021. They faced legal actions due to false claims about their reserves not being fully backed by U.S. dollars. As a result of these legal issues, Tether was ordered to stop engaging with New Yorkers and incurred penalties totaling $61 million. More recently, on March 10, 2023, USDC experienced a deviation from its $1.00 peg when Circle Internet Financial revealed that a portion of its reserves amounting to $3.3 billion had been held at Silicon Valley Bank after it went into FDIC receivership. This incident raised concerns about the stability and reliability of stablecoins. BlackRock has concluded that such indirect exposure to stablecoins could pose significant risks to investors in its Bitcoin ETF due to potential volatility, operational difficulties, possible manipulative practices, and regulatory challenges. The disclosure by BlackRock underscores the complexity and evolving nature of risks in the cryptocurrency market and highlights the need for investor awareness regarding the underlying assets of financial products tied to digital currencies. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/blackrock-flags-stablecoin-exposure-risks-for-bitcoin-etf-93CH-3233967

2023-11-14 15:05

NEW YORK - The global cryptocurrency market displayed mixed signals as altcoins like MATIC, MEME, and BIGTIME trended on CoinMarketCap amid a slight downturn in Bitcoin (BTC) prices. On Monday, the overall cryptocurrency market cap experienced a marginal drop of 0.38%, falling to $1.4 trillion. Despite this decrease, Bitcoin managed to maintain an upward trajectory over the last week and month, with gains of approximately 4.47% and 37%, respectively. Bitcoin's price dipped slightly by 0.49% on Monday, settling at $36,667.05. However, its trading volume saw a significant increase, surging by over 42%. This heightened activity indicates sustained investor interest even as the leading cryptocurrency's price faced a minor setback. In contrast to Bitcoin's modest decline, several altcoins seized the opportunity to make notable gains. MATIC led the charge with an impressive daily high of $0.9512 on Tuesday, eventually closing at $0.9296. This surge pushed its weekly increase to over 79.77%, signaling strong market momentum for the token. The meme-inspired cryptocurrency MEME also witnessed a substantial rise of 71.95%, reaching $0.03721, propelled by the enthusiasm surrounding an ongoing airdrop event that has captured the attention of investors looking for short-term opportunities. Additionally, BIGTIME experienced a daily growth spurt of 17.24%, with its price hitting $0.1807. Despite this positive movement on the day, BIGTIME's monthly performance told a different story, remaining in the red with a decline of around -29%. The trends observed on Tuesday underscore the volatile and dynamic nature of the cryptocurrency market, where investor sentiment can quickly shift from established coins like Bitcoin to emerging altcoins offering the potential for rapid growth. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/cryptocurrency-market-sees-mixed-performance-with-altcoins-trending-93CH-3233962

2023-11-14 14:57

NEW YORK - ATOR Protocol (ATOR), a cryptocurrency operating on the Ethereum platform, experienced a mixed week in the digital asset market. On Monday, ATOR closed the day with a 9.6% drop, settling at $1.64 or 0.00004520 BTC. Despite this daily fall, the protocol managed to secure an overall weekly increase of 11.2%. The broader cryptocurrency market showed varied results recently. While KILT Protocol (KILT), Aidi Finance (AIDI), Zoo Token (ZOOT), CareCoin (CARES), and OmniaVerse (OMNIA) faced declines between 1.7% and 12.5%, Kitty Inu (KITTY) and Hokkaidu Inu (HOKK) enjoyed gains of 1.9% and 1.2%, respectively. ATOR, which was launched on January 9, 2023, has a total token supply of 100 million, with nearly 87 million currently in circulation. The protocol's market capitalization stands at $143 million with a daily trading volume around $2.54 million. Investors interested in ATOR can stay informed through updates from its official Twitter account @atorprotocol and can find more details on its official website. To acquire ATOR or similar cryptocurrencies, investors typically purchase Bitcoin or Ethereum using U.S dollars from exchanges like Gemini, Changelly, or GDAX and then trade for ATOR on listed exchanges. As of today, ATOR's last recorded price was $1.80180905 USD, indicating a decrease of -2.28% over the last 24 hours and it is currently trading on 16 active markets with nearly $2.6 million traded in the last day. The protocol maintains a strong online presence with an official message board on Medium, providing regular updates to its users and stakeholders. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/ator-protocol-sees-mixed-weekly-performance-amid-fluctuating-crypto-market-93CH-3233953

2023-11-14 14:12

NEW YORK - Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly significant role in the analysis of financial markets, including the volatile world of cryptocurrencies. A notable example is the use of AI technologies like Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Bard and ChatGPT to interpret complex data trends, which has become particularly relevant for digital assets such as XRP. Recently, the XRP market experienced a notable price surge following misinformation regarding an ETF application, only for the price to stabilize back to around $0.65. As investors and analysts seek to understand and predict market movements, AI systems like Bard have started to offer insights into potential future prices. According to Bard, the starting price range for XRP in 2024 could be anywhere between $0.50 and $1.80. This forecast takes into account various factors including current and historical prices, market sentiment, regulatory changes, and levels of institutional adoption. The cryptocurrency market is known for its unpredictability, and Bard has pointed out that unforeseen shifts in XRP's price are a possibility. Past price fluctuations, the overall sentiment in the crypto market, government regulations and policies, as well as institutional adoption rates are all influential factors that could affect XRP's trajectory. For instance, when several institutions began using Ripple's services, there was a noticeable increase in XRP's value. The ongoing development of Ripple Payments is another aspect that could potentially impact XRP's valuation in the future. At the time of reporting, XRP was trading at $0.6536. This represents a slight decrease from the previous day and a 5.01% decline over the past week. Additionally, the ongoing legal battle with the SEC remains a pivotal issue that could have significant implications for Ripple and its associated cryptocurrency, influencing investor sentiment and XRP's market performance. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/ais-role-in-crypto-forecasting-highlighted-as-xrp-faces-volatility-93CH-3233929