Join the Rides at Gate.io Spring Carnival & Split $100K；Twitter to Support ETH Tipping；NYSE plans to launch cryptocurrency and NFT trading；Ukraine legalizes Bitcoin

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TA Highlight

The cryptocurrency market showed shaky signs this week.

BTC spot price appears to stagnate during the first three trading days of the week, with prices moving in a standard sideways phase.

After another brief adjustment, BTC spot price entered a correction upward phase on February 14.

In terms of technical patterns, BTC spot price should continue to rise this week and enter an upward cycle. But news of a Fed rate hike hit the cryptocurrency market with a small dive in BTC spot price on the 17th, with the price plummeting by more than $3,000 in a single day.

The drop in the spot price of Bitcoin on the 17th was not as prominent as the market panic compared to the past.

First, the price drop was not accompanied by an increase in trading volume, indicating that the market did not ship a large number of units, and second, the price dive on the 17th stopped at 5:00 am BST on the 18th, making the price drop a relatively short one.

This week, if there is no other news impact, BTC spot price may continue to adjust and then pull up the price trend.

Crypto Alerts

Twitter enables users to give and receive Ethereum tips natively

In September 2021, Twitter enabled Bitcoin payments as the first cryptocurrency payment option available via its tipping jar.

This Wednesday, the social media giant added Ether to its portfolio of tipping jar.

Users looking to receive ETH tips simply need to enable the platform's tipping features and add an Ethereum address to the dedicated section of their profile.

However, an attempt to add an ENS domain name in place of a full alphanumeric address proved unsuccessful, prompting an error box that indicated punctuation was invalid.

When it comes to Bitcoin, tips can be sent through the Lightning Network, which sends payment using the Strike app. Twitter provided no other details pertaining to tipping in ETH, however. For now, tips are only available for users on iOS and Android phones.

According to Twitter, users keep 100% of the tips they receive.

DOGE Tipping on Twitter Is Next Goal of Dogecoin Cofounder Now That Users Can Tip in ETH

The cofounder of the original meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin, Billy Markus, has announced his intention to raise the topic of the Twitter team implementing DOGE tipping following tipping in Bitcoin and Ether every day until his goal is achieved.

The Dogecoin co-creator has tweeted that he intends to post at least one tweet with the #DogeTwitterTipJar hashtag every day to draw the attention of the Twitter team constantly to his goal of advancing the use cases of the OG cryptocurrency.

Markus mentioned that the CEO of Twitter (who took over after Jack Dorsey resigned in late November last year) is on paternity leave, so he is going to just "keep bugging Twitter" as he believes that the "OG cryptocurrency," DOGE, should definitely be used for leaving a tip on Twitter.

CryptoPunks Ethereum NFT Sells for Nearly $24M, Doubling Previous Record

CryptoPunks predate the modern NFT craze by years, and that O.G. status has made the 2017 Ethereum profile picture collection a legend in the space.

Dozens of CryptoPunks have sold for a million dollars’ worth of ETH or more, but today, the collection shattered its previous record with one sale of nearly $24 million.

On Saturday, CryptoPunk #5822 sold for 8,000 ETH, or about $23.7 million worth at the time of sale.

Deepak Thapliyal, CEO of cloud blockchain infrastructure firm Chain, purchased the NFT directly from CryptoPunks developer Larva Labs’ own online marketplace.

The previous top sale for a CryptoPunk was $11.8 million, purchased by DraftKings’ largest shareholder Shalom Meckenzie at a Sotheby’s auction in June 2021.

Meanwhile, the largest on-chain sale through the Larva Labs marketplace came in December, when the pseudonymous 4156 sold his namesake Punk for $10.26 million worth of ETH.

Market Updates

Fidelity enters crypto space with Europe’s cheapest physical Bitcoin ETP

Fidelity International has launched the cheapest physically-backed Bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) in Europe.

The Fidelity Physical Bitcoin ETP (FBTC) is listed on the Deutsche Boerse and Frankfurt Stock Exchange with a total expense ratio (TER) of 0.75%.

The cheapest Bitcoin ETP in Europe is Valour's synthetically-replicated Bitcoin Zero SEK (BTC ZERO SEK) which has a management fee of 0%.

FBTC is set to list on the SIX Swiss Exchange in the coming weeks.

FBTC will be centrally cleared by Eurex Clearing with Fidelity Digital Assets acting as custodian.

Fidelity International said it launched FBTC for institutional and professional clients following a Fidelity Digital Assets survey which found 70% of institutional respondents expect to invest in digital assets in the future.

Fidelity is the latest ETF issuer to enter the rapidly developing digital assets market that found itself with 70% interested institutional investors, according to its Fidelity Digital Assets survey.

Last November, US giant Invesco unveiled the Invesco Physical Bitcoin ETP (BTIC) which is listed on Deutsche Boerse.

Charlie Munger compares crypto to ‘venereal disease,’ warns of inflation danger

‘We’ve got a digital currency already, it’s called a bank account,’ Berkshire and Daily Journal exec says in a Q&A session on Wednesday at the annual meeting for Los Angeles-based newspaper chain Daily Journal Corp, of which he is chairman, the 98-year-old Munger expressed his view that Bitcoin and other cryptos as an illegitimate asset class, claiming its main usefulness is for extortion, kidnappings and tax evasion.

Legendary investor Charlie Munger had more harsh words for cryptocurrency on Wednesday, and called inflation the greatest danger America faces, besides nuclear war.

Munger and Buffet are no strangers to criticizing and downplaying the emergence of cryptocurrency.

Buffett has previously ridiculed Bitcoin for being an asset that “does not create anything”; he’s called it “rat poison squared” and said that it is nothing more than a “delusion that attracts charlatans.”

NYSE Wants to Be Marketplace for NFTs Just Like With Stocks

The New York Stock Exchange filed for a trademark focused on virtual goods and NFTs last week, according to a recent trademark application.

The filing isn't the exchange's first distinct move into this particular area. NYSE minted its first NFTs last year, to celebrate the first trades of a few notable listings: Spotify, Snowflake, Unity, and Cooping, according to their website.

Yet the trademark application filing, dated February 10, is notable as one component refers to an "online marketplace" for NFTs and virtual goods.

The NYSE has previously hinted at a longer-term interest in NFTs.

According to the company's website that explains their first minted NFTs, "we are starting with these six, but we know there will be many more NYSE NFTs to come as we continue to welcome new, innovative companies to our community."

Global Headlines

Ukraine Legalizes Bitcoin, But Not As Legal Tender

Bitcoin is now legal in Ukraine as its parliament approved a bill that caters to the president’s recommendations. However, the country has not made Bitcoin a legal tender.

“The new law is an additional opportunity for business development in our country. Foreign and Ukrainian crypto companies will be able to operate legally, and Ukrainians will have convenient and secure access to the global market for virtual assets,” Mykhaylo Fedorov, Ukrainian minister of digital transformation, said in a statement.

The parliament passed the new Law of Ukraine on Virtual Assets on Thursday with more than 270 votes, according to an official statement. The bill details requirements that Bitcoin service providers such as exchanges should abide by and determines fines for violations of the law’s provisions, in addition to determining that the country’s National Securities Commission regulate the cryptocurrency market.

Ukraine’s Securities Commission will be tasked with issuing permits to Bitcoin and cryptocurrency service providers and carrying out supervision and financial monitoring of the market, the statement said.

Russian ministry wants to legalize Bitcoin mining in specific areas

While the Russian government continues to work out a regulatory regime for digital assets, a federal ministry has made another proposal regarding the crypto mining industry.

The proposal aims to recognize crypto mining as a commercial activity and introduce taxes on its realized profits.

Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development has greenlighted the concept of crypto mining regulation in the country, proposing to allow mining operations in areas with “sustainable surplus in electricity generation,” local news agency Izvestia reported Tuesday.

As part of the proposal, the ministry suggested introducing lower fees for setting up mining farms and data centers in specific Russian regions as well as offering reduced energy rates for such facilities.

The ministry also wants to establish a power use limit for mining by individuals, reportedly proposing to introduce higher energy rates for increased energy spending. The authority is yet to determine a threshold amount for this, the report notes.

Belarus president signs decree to support free circulation of crypto
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has signed a decree affirming the country’s formal support of free circulation of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC).

The document provides a legal basis for Belarus Hi-Tech Park to establish and manage a register of crypto wallet addresses used in illegal activities. The decree document specifically details the process and standards for seizing cryptocurrency from criminals by the government.

According to the document, Belarus’ Council of Ministers is required to adopt appropriate measures to enforce the decree in three months following its publication.

Lukashenko’s latest move in the Belarusian crypto regulation ecosystem reaffirms the country’s commitment to supporting cryptocurrency development, including crypto mining and trading.

In September 2021, Lukashenko called on the government to mine crypto using spare power infrastructure. Previously, Belarus’ largest financial institution, Belarusbank, reportedly launched a crypto exchange service.



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Author: Byron. B & Charles. F & Peter. L (Gate.io Researchers)
* The article only represents the researcher’s views and does not constitute any investment advice.
* Gate.io reserves all rights to this article. Reposting of the article will be permitted provided Gate.io is referenced. In all other cases, legal action will be taken due to copyright infringement.