Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, ado
Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.
Top Stories This Week
Kraken’s Jesse Powell will step down as CEO, stay on as board chair
After more than a decade heading up crypto exchange Kraken as CEO, Jesse Powell has decided to pass the torch to the company’s chief operating officer, Dave Ripley. Powell is not done with Kraken, however. He will become chair of the board for the organization. “It’s just gotten to be more draining on me, less fun,” Powell said, as quoted in by Bloomberg. Ripley joined Kraken as chief operating officer in 2016.
South Korean ministry recommends enactment of special Metaverse laws
In line with other advances South Korea has taken to embrace the digital world, the country wants to create new laws regarding the Metaverse, according to plans from the Ministry of Science and ICT. The ministry wants proper laws in place for the Metaverse, but thinks it’s unwise to form-fit current regulations to new technology. Previous news saw South Korea invest $200 million toward metaverse development in the country.
New York judge orders Tether to document USDT backing
A New York court has ordered that Tether provide proof that its USDT stablecoin is fully backed. The decision is part of a case involving iFinex, Tether’s parent company, which originated in 2019. The case against iFinex alleges that it used the unbacked USDT for crypto market manipulation. Two other U.S. authorities have requested proof of backing on previous occasions, with iFinex reportedly providing sufficient documentation.
SEC lawsuit claims jurisdiction because ETH nodes are ‘clustered’ in the US
As part of a case against crypto YouTuber Ian Balina, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently claimed certain jurisdictional rights based on the high number of Ethereum nodes reportedly residing in the U.S. Although crypto is borderless by nature, the SEC, in this case, is trying to claim that transactions occurred within U.S. boundaries, which could bring certain laws into relevance. The claim is part of a broader case against Balina in which the commission alleges a failure of proper registration for a token sale he facilitated.
China accounts for 84% of all blockchain patent applications, but there’s a catch
Information from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology detailed that 84% of the globe’s blockchain patent applications come from the country. President Xi Jinping stimulated patent activity when, in 2019, he expressed the need for China to focus on blockchain technology. China has only greenlit 19% of submitted blockchain patents, however.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $18,800, Ether (ETH) at $1,296 and XRP at $0.47. The total market cap is at $923.34 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are XRP (XRP) at 40.98%, Chiliz (CHZ) at 31.63% and Algorand (ALGO) at 29.76%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are Ravencoin (RVN) at -23.49%, Toncoin (TON) at -22.90% and Terra Classic (LUNC) at -16.59%.
For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotations
“Regulation is always a concern, but BTC is regulated.”
Jamie Coutts, crypto market analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence
“How does a DAO really own the IP [intellectual property] of the protocol it is supposed to govern?”
David Kappos, partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
“The government in India definitely doesn’t want crypto anymore. […] The government is outright saying, ‘We like blockchain but we don’t like cryptocurrency,’ but it’s kind of ridiculous.”
Anshul Rustaggi, CEO and founder of Totality Corp
“Sharding is indeed one of the most effective and universal ways to solve the so-called ‘scalability trilemma.’”
Martin Hiesboeck, head of research for Uphold
“The concern is that if the Fed tightens too much, the U.S. economy may actually go into a severe recession.”
CK Zheng, former global head of valuation risk for Credit Suisse
“Cryptocurrencies are volatile, but no middlemen are taking a hefty commission or scrutinizing your transactions.”
Alan Austin, managing director for the Litecoin Foundation
“There’s an outside chance we find a way to get to consensus on a stablecoin bill this year.”
Warren Davidson, U.S. congressman
“People are getting more cautious in the space and are not sure how to interact with Tornado Cash, we’ve seen deposits into services providing similar activity go down at least temporarily, because people are measuring like, ’What does this mean for me?’”
Jacob Illum, chief scientist at Chainalysis
“I’m a major…
cointelegraph.com