Nelson Minier, head of over-the-counter (OTC) trading at major cryptocurrency platform Kraken, has stated that the OTC desk’s trades per month have increased by a factor of 20 since the beginning of last year. Minier gave his remarks in an episode of The Block’s podcast, The Scoop, on Aug. 20. Minier further remarked that “Bitcoin and Ether are the big — the whales of our desk,” additionally estimating that Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Monero (XMR), and Tether (USDT) were the top five cryptocurrencies traded by volume. Minier also gave his projections on BTC price, saying: “I don’t …

Bitfinex and Tether have replied to Judge Joel Cohen’s recent ruling in the New York Attorney General (NYAG) ongoing case against companies. Cohen dismissed Bitfinex’s motion to throw out the case due to lack of jurisdiction, so the NYAG will continue to prosecute the companies via the Martin Act. Bitfinex issued its reply in an official blog post on Aug. 20. Tether published the same response on its website, also on Aug. 20. The companies maintain that the NYAG’s claims are meritless and say they will pursue the issues at hand in appeals court. NYAG’s allegations Back in April, the …

With Bitcoin regaining market dominance of over two-thirds of the entire combined cryptocurrency capitalization, discussions regarding market share of prominent altcoins have largely left the dominant cryptocurrency discourse. Here is a different outlook on the market and on how the top cryptocurrencies stack up with the rest. Market dominance flows from alts to BTC since 2018 Market dominance between the top cryptocurrencies by market capitalization has changed over the last year. As of Aug. 19, 2018, as seen in the chart below, the three largest coins comprised 71.95% of the combined cryptocurrency market — an 8% difference to the figures …

Despite exceeding $12,000 several times this month, Bitcoin (BTC) has slumped back to $10,000 in a recent downtrend. The number one cryptocurrency last traded below $10,000 on July 31. $10K still a magnet for Bitcoin price A little earlier this month, experts were optimistic about Bitcoin continuing its rally, citing geopolitical tensions — particularly the ongoing United States-China trade war — as a reason for its possibly continuing success. Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz commented on Aug. 5 about this possibility, saying: “With the yuan over 7.0, an FX war, instability in HKG and the beginnings of capital flight, $Btc …

Bitcoin price charting on a longer timeframe, market structure and the issuance of 1 billion Tether so far this year are making crypto and equities analyst FilbFilb incredibly bullish on BTC/USD in the run up to the 2020 halving. Bitcoin traders split into 3 groups Since correcting from 2019’s all-time high of $13,800 and thrice failing to break above $12,500, crypto investors broke into three camps. The first took the bearish perspective and predicted a pullback to $8,500-$7,500, often citing the CME gap. The second envisioned a lengthy period of consolidation where Bitcoin price would remain pinned between $9,000 and …

The Massachusetts-based crypto market research firm Coin Metrics says that 318 addresses hold at least $1 million worth of Tether (USDT), comprising 80% of the global Tether supply. Bloomberg reported the company’s finding in a report on Aug. 7. Coin Metrics co-founder Nic Carter additionally mentioned that some of the USDT whales include major crypto exchanges, such as Binance and Bitfinex. The report additionally notes that this is staggeringly different from the distribution of Bitcoin (BTC), for which whales apparently hold only around 20% of the total token supply. Moreover, over 20,000 BTC addresses reportedly hold at least $1 million …

American cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex has completed switching Tether (USDT) from the OMNI-based implementation of the stablecoin to the ERC-20 standard on the Ethereum network. Bittrex announced that USDT deposits and withdrawals are now open in a tweet on Aug. 5. The exchange had temporarily suspended USDT deposits and withdrawals while making the switch. “Quicker, cheaper, and more inter-operable transfers” Bittrex initially announced that it would be switching protocols on July 25. With the move, Bittrex is looking to provide its users with faster, cheaper and more inter-operable transfers of USDT. Specifically, the exchange will lower withdrawal fees to 1 USDT. …

The saga continues. Despite everything that's been said about Tether and Bitfinex, defying all the scrutiny and suspicion, they continue to survive as a controversial pillar of the global crypto ecosystem. And in their ongoing legal battle with the New York State Office of the Attorney General (OAG), they continue to fight against the attempt to sue them and their parent company, iFinex. Against all the odds, they're doing a good job of holding their ground. This was underlined most clearly at the end of July, when Justice Joel M. Cohen of the New York Supreme Court (NYSC) ruled to …

The New York Office of the Attorney General (NYAG) has submitted a letter to Justice Joel M. Cohen, arguing that cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and affiliated Stablecoin firm Tether should not be granted a continuing stay of demands. The NYAG submitted its letter on Aug. 1 — the latest chapter in the New York Attorney General’s ongoing case against Bitfinex, parent company iFinex and Tether, in which the state alleges a multimillion loss coverup took place. The motivation for NYAG’s letter The court initially issued a stay of document demands in May at the defendants’ request. This means that the court …

Do token holders really benefit from token burning? While projects themselves gain significant advantages from burning their tokens, the process isn’t a zero-sum game. Token holders also benefit in several ways from the process. It may seem like token burns are designed to give projects an edge, but the reality is that the mechanism is beneficial to both developers and investors. In many cases, burning tokens can help stabilize a coin’s value and curb potential price inflation. The stability gives investors a greater incentive to hold the coins and keeps prices at more favorable rates, which therefore keeps network uptime …

Lawyers for Bitfinex, Tether and parent firm iFinex Inc. have said the respondents have already spent over $500,000 responding to document requests for their ongoing legal battle. The lawyers’ letter — submitted to Justice Joel M. Cohen on July 30 and shared by Altana Digital Currency Fund CIO Alistair Milne via Twitter on the same date — reveals the apparent costliness and complexity of complying with document demands for the state investigation. As previously reported, the case against the respondents began on April 24, when the Office of the New York Attorney General (NY OAG) accused Bitfinex of losing $850 …

Bitcoin (BTC) users can now take advantage of the Lightning Network while sending coins on Blockstream’s Liquid sidechain. Bitcoin’s Lightning Network designed to work across multiple chains Following the debut of support for stablecoin Tether (USDT) on Liquid, Blockstream CEO Adam Back confirmed on Twitter that the technology can also support Lightning payments. Using a combination of Lightning and Liquid allows users to benefit from the speed and low cost of off-chain transfers, along with the specific advantages of Liquid itself. “It's not so widely known but Lightning protocol is designed to work across multiple chains,” Back wrote July 30. …