Daily Flash | Tether Decides Not To Block Tornado Cash Addresses, Ethereum Foundation Confirmed Bellatrix Upgrade Date, Beijing Releases Plans For Metaverse Development

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Today's Headline - Tether Sticks to Decision Not to Bar Tornado Cash Addresses: The Block Report

Tether is upholding its decision not to freeze sanctioned wallet addresses with ties to Tornado Cash because it has not received any requests from US law enforcement or regulators to do so, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Earlier this month, the U.S. agency blacklisted the crypto-mixer Tornado Cash, claiming that North Korean hackers were using the protocol to conduct illicit transactions. The Treasury Dept. specified that the use of the protocol or Ethereum addresses on the protocol would be prohibited.

In Tether’s statement,

"So far, OFAC has not indicated that a stablecoin issuer is expected to freeze secondary market addresses that are published on OFAC’s SDN List or that are operated by persons and entities that have been sanctioned by OFAC.”

Furthermore, Tether said that "unilaterally freezing secondary market addresses could be a highly disruptive and reckless move" on its part.

Meanwhile, the wider crypto industry has been seeking clarity on what kind of actions it must take to comply with the Treasury Department sanctions. Earlier this week, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen requesting answers about how the department plans to enforce these sanctions, considering they focus on computer code rather than specific individuals or companies.

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Chart of the Day - Ethereum Foundation confirms September dates for the Merge

As of this writing,
Bitcoin (BTC) was changing hands at around $21,537, up 1.13% in the past 24 hours,
while Ether (ETH) was trading at $1,673, or up 2.82% during the same period.

Major altcoins were also trading in the green,
notably, Cosmos (ATOM) is up by 9.77%,
while Cardano (ADA) is up by 0.84%,
Solana (SOL) +1.84%,
Polkadot (DOT) +1.75%,
and Avalanche (AVAX) +0.2%.

Notable gainers include:
iExec RLC (RLC) at $1.52 (+19.03%),
Bluzelle (BLZ) at $0.133 (+40.57%),
Ankr Network (ANKR) at $0.0409 (+12.47%).

Notable losers include:
Proton (XPR) at $0.00317 (-9.59%),
Ampleforth Governance Token (FORTH) at $5.05 (-9.81%),
SSV Network (SSV) at $16.20 (-9.90%).

When a substantial amount of liquidations took place last Friday, the fall in the price of the broader crypto market had a knock-on effect on the total capitalization, currently $985 billion, falling back below the $1 trillion mark for the first time since briefly falling below the threshold on August 20.

Bitcoin (BTC) and several major cryptocurrencies have been trading sideways as traders avoid taking large bets before the United States Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, which begins on Aug. 25.

Minutes from last month's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) have suggested that the bank will approve a third consecutive 75-basis point rate hike, although most indicators lately point to an economy slowing but not headed for recession – moderate enough to merit a dovish touch likely to please markets.

The volatility is likely to soar as investors get more clarity on the Fed's stance in the next few days.



If the bulls fail to protect the current support level, the bears will likely attempt to push the price towards the next support zone which is formed between the monthly support level at $19,858 and $18,975, a strong daily support level between Jun. 18 - Jul. 13.

Notably, the 127.2% - 141.4% Fibonacci extension levels (drawn from Aug. 13 - 19) also reinforce the likelihood of the aforementioned support zone.

On the contrary, if the bulls manage to push to price toward the 12-Day EMA ($22,091), which forms a resistance zone with the 23.6% Fibonacci level ($22,330) measured from Mar. 28 - Jun. 18, and hold above $21,515 which is the last price of Sunday trading, then we may see a stronger rebound towards the $23,470 - $24,629 weekly resistance zone.



However, even if the bulls manage to exert enough buying power to push the price above the 12-Day EMA, a major resistance zone ($1,760 - $1,820) formed between the 50% and 61.8% Fibonacci levels measured from Aug. 14 - Aug. 20, reinforced by the 50% Fibonacci level measured from Apr. 3 - Jun. 18, looms ahead.

On the contrary, the next closest support level appears to be the 38.2% Fibonacci level ($1,500) measured from Apr. 3 - Jun. 18, which forms another support zone with a monthly support level of $1,428. If the bears manage to push the price below this zone, the price of ETH will likely plunge towards $1,300 to a possible low of $1,250 in the short term.

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Influencer of the Day - Bitboy vs. Atozy: YouTuber Drops Publicly Filed Lawsuit Because It Went Public: Decrypt Report

YouTube crypto commentator Ben Armstrong, who brands himself as BitBoy Crypto, announced Wednesday that he was dropping his lawsuit against Erling Mengshoel Jr., a.k.a. Atozy, because he never intended it to be made public.

The dispute revolves around a video that Mengshoel posted in November 2021 entitled “This Youtuber Scams His Fans... BitBoy Crypto.” In the video, Mengshoel calls Armstrong "an absolute sleezy dirtbag of a YouTuber" and says he failed to promote failed cryptocurrencies and properly disclose sponsored content.

Bitboy said in a 16-minute prologue to his regular daily livestream show,

"I guess I didn't understand that my name is now so big that if I file a lawsuit, it will be found and made public. Obviously, if [I knew] this would have been public, I wouldn't have done it."

Armstrong's suit was a federal case because it involved claimed impact and losses in excess of $75,000, and because Armstrong and Mengshoel live in different states in the U.S., and all federal lawsuits are a matter of public record.

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Buzzes of Yesterday - #Tornado Cash code reuploaded to Github by University Professor, #Sotheby’s hires NFT specialist, #Nvidia misses Q2 earnings, #Beijing plans metaverse development in specified zones

DeFi

Uniswap Foundation becomes reality after 86M votes in favor to streamline Uniswap's $74M grants program

Celsius Countersues Former Money Manager KeyFi, Accuses Them Of Deceit And Theft

DAO Tooling Startup Mural, Founded by Palantir Alums, Raises $5.6M in Seed Round to help brands deploy DAO treasuries

Johns Hopkins University professor re-uploads Tornado Cash code on GitHub for teaching purposes

NFTs & Metaverse

Neopets brings noughties nostalgia to web3 with metaverse launch

‘India’s TikTok’ Chingari launches the world’s first-ever video NFT marketplace

NFT Exchange SudoRare Suffers $800,000 ‘Rug Pull’ Six Hours After Launch

Sotheby’s hires NFT specialist to join digital art team

Business & Finance

Nvidia misses on Q2 earnings as gaming revenue plunges 33%

China’s Ant Group partners with Malaysian investment bank Kenanga to launch ‘SuperApp’

Governments & Policies

Rep. Emmer Demands an Explanation of OFAC’s Tornado Cash Sanction from Sec. Yellen

South Korea may levy up to 50% ‘gift tax’ on crypto airdrops under current law

Beijing lays out 2-year plan for metaverse development in tech development zones

Australia’s Financial Watchdog Joins Government in Eyeing Fresh Crypto Regulations

Author: Gate.io Researcher Peter L.
This article represents only the researcher's views and does not constitute any investment advice.
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