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Scandalous lobbyist Jack Abramoff is involved in cryptocurrency fraud

The famous American lobbyist Jack Abramoff has added to the list of crimes recognized for him as a fraud with cryptocurrencies, according to several media.

Abramoff pleaded guilty to the prosecution of the San Francisco prosecution and could be sentenced to up to 5 years. He also settled claims with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the unregistered sale of securities cases.

According to the prosecutor's office, Abramoff committed fraud when he attracted small investors to buy tokens of the AML Bitcoin project. He promised that over time, these tokens can be converted into cryptocurrency, which will surpass Bitcoin in terms of security characteristics. It was assumed that anti-money laundering tools, biometric technologies, and other mechanisms to ensure legal compliance would be built into the coin.

Tokens were sold through the NAC Foundation. Its director Rowland Marcus Andrade had previously been charged with electronic communications and money laundering fraud. Abramoff and Andrade claimed that their technology was adopted by the US authorities to track cases of money laundering and terrorist financing. Abramoff promised to take advantage of his influence to advance the interests of the bitcoin community in Congress.

According to the SEC, Andrade tried to raise $ 100 million during the initial coin offer (ICO) from late 2017 to early 2018 and received $ 5.6 million from 2,400 investors.

“We argue that the defendants misled investors for a long time to finance the development of a non-existent technology, and stated that this technology would make digital asset transactions more secure,” the SEC said.

Abramoff agreed to return the illegally received $ 50,000 with a percentage of $ 5,501. Concerning Andrade, the proceedings are ongoing. He refuses to plead guilty.

At the time, Abramoff was one of the most successful lobbyists in the United States, including helping to defend the interests of Naftasib, which helped the Russian authorities to get a loan from the IMF before the default of 1998. In 2006, it became known that he was engaged in illegal lobbying activities, using his connections in the White House and Congress. After that, several amendments were made to the law on lobbying. Based on Abramoff’s life, they made the movie “Jack-Jack” with Kevin Spacey.

Bitcoin hash for the first time since the beginning of May exceeded 126 EH / s

The amount of computing power used to mine bitcoin returns to the level recorded on the eve of the May halving (reduction in the reward of miners).

Recall that before this event, the BTC hash rate reached 137.5 exhaust per second (EH / s). Almost immediately after the halving, the activity of the miners began to decline, as their income decreased from 12.5 to 6.25 BTC for block mining.

Already on May 23, the amount of computing power was not more than 84 EH / s. This is evidenced by the data of the BitinfoCharts service.

At the same time, there is a decrease in the complexity of bitcoin mining.

Researchers at the Glassnode team recorded a record drop in mining difficulty on June 4. This is the seventh negative adjustment of complexity in the history of bitcoin and the fourth drop this year, it amounted to 9.29%.

It has become easier to mine bitcoin, so miners have again increased their computing power. On the night of June 8, the hash rate exceeded 126 EH / s. Now, this figure has reached 126.5 EH / s.

Glassnode analysts also found that now about eight blocks are mined every hour on the Bitcoin network. This is the highest figure since June 2019.

The Bitcoin exchange rate today is just above $ 9,700. The capitalization of the largest cryptocurrency came close to $ 180 billion.

Official cryptocurrency industry regulations go into effect in Canada

On June 1, amendments to Canadian law entered into force that provides for the regulation of cryptocurrency companies as enterprises that provide money transfer services.

The amendments were first published by the Canadian government last July. From now on, cryptocurrency companies providing services to residents of Canada, including foreign ones, must comply with the requirements of the Center for Analysis of Financial Transactions and Reporting (FINTRAC) and register in it. As regulated activities with cryptocurrencies, lawmakers call the exchange and implementation of money transfers.

Founder of the Canadian crypto company Bull Bitcoin and activist of the local Bitcoin Embassy Francis Pulio said on May 31: “Today is my last day as an unregulated virtual currency dealer. The circle closed after 7 years from the moment I began my career in the space of bitcoin with lobbying for this very issue. Overall, I consider this a huge achievement. [New regulation] is not perfect, but it could be worse. Our position is unchanged: Bitcoin is money, it must be regulated like money, no more, no less. That is what we got. ”

According to Pulio, the discussion of regulated cryptocurrencies in Canada took 5 years. The Canadian parliament has proposed the inclusion of crypto companies in the law on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism back in 2014.

In line with the new requirements, transactions with cryptocurrencies worth more than CAD 10,000 will require compliance with reporting and identification requirements. Polio explained that this is the only point that does not allow him to call the amendments "decisive victory."

He also noted that the new regulation applies primarily to crypto companies that work with traditional currencies, such as bitcoin terminal operators. Most industry participants already follow the strict principles of customer identification, as payment partners require them.

Earlier it became known that about 17,000 users of the Canadian QuadrigaCX crypto exchange, which had ceased to exist, applied for a refund after the collapse of the company.

Canaan suffered a $ 5.6 million loss in the first quarter due to falling demand for miners

Canaan, a Chinese mining equipment manufacturer, released financial statements for the first quarter of 2020 this Friday. In the reporting period, the company's net loss amounted to $ 5.6 million. The primary reason was the decrease in demand for miners.

The company's revenue in the first quarter amounted to $ 9.4 million, exceeding the same period last year by 44.6%. At the same time, Canaan expenses reached more than $ 15 million. In order to increase sales, the manufacturer was forced to reduce the price of its devices by more than 2 times.

“In general, the market situation from December last year to January was not very good. The unit price in terms of TH / s has indeed been reduced, ”said Canaan CEO Zhang Nangeng.

In this segment, the company sold miners with a combined processing power of 0.9 million TH / s, which is less than 1% of the current bitcoin hash. Canaan's reserves in traditional currencies and their equivalents decreased from $ 71 million to $ 37.3 million. The company explained this by increasing the volume of short-term investments.

Canaan announced last month that its net loss for the whole of 2019 was $ 178 million. Canaan shares are listed on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. After the publication of the financial report, their price fell 5% to $ 3.80. On IPO, CAN shares were trading at $ 9.

Block.One sued for violation of securities laws during ICO EOS

Crypto Assets Opportunity Fund LLC on Monday filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against the Block.One company behind the development of the EOS cryptocurrency. Its defendants also include its CEO Brendan Blamer, technical director Dan Larimer, former partner Jan Grigg and former adviser Brock Pierce, writes The Block.

According to the plaintiffs, Block.One distributed untrustworthy and misleading information about EOS among investors in an effort to raise billions of dollars through unregistered sale of securities. The plaintiffs call themselves investors of the EOS token sale, during which Block.One managed to raise over $ 4 billion.

“In order to increase the demand and profits from the sale of EOS securities, defendants violated securities laws by making false and misleading statements about EOS, which led to an artificial increase in the value of EOS securities and caused damage to unsuspecting investors” , - the text of the document says.

Pierce, Blamer and Larimer founded Block.One in 2017, intending to launch a blockchain platform with a special focus on decentralization. Later, they conducted the initial placement of EOS coins, originally in the form of ERC20 tokens. Subsequently, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a company claim with a fine of $ 24 million.

The organizers of the new lawsuit appeal to the arguments of the SEC, which really claimed that the company carried out an unregistered sale of securities. According to the document, the defendants “aggressively” promoted EOS among American investors and stated that their blockchain would surpass all existing ones. Presumably, they called their project among potential investors "Ethereum on steroids."

Failing to meet technological expectations and not ensuring sufficient decentralization of the network, Block.One misled investors, claimants say. “Contrary to the defendants' false statements, as it was gradually established during the actions that caused the lawsuit, the EOS blockchain was extremely centralized and did not surpass other blockchains already in operation,” the plaintiffs add.

Study: Miners sell bitcoins a few months after halving

In anticipation of a reduction in the miners' reward (halving), CryptoQuant published a study in which it predicted a stable BTC rate in the coming months.

Tentatively, on May 12, the third halving will take place, the miners' reward for mining the block will decrease from 12.5 to 6.25 BTC. In the expert environment, there is an opinion that almost immediately after the halving we will see a drop in the cost of bitcoin, as miners will begin to sell their coins.

However, researchers from CryptoQuant believe that a sharp drop in the rate of BTC should not be expected. They analyzed the effects of previous miner reward reductions in 2012 and 2014 and concluded that miners did not sell cryptocurrency for several months before and after halving.

Miners traditionally have a huge impact on the market, as they can provoke a collapse of BTC, increasing the sale of coins. This is done to cover the costs associated with the modernization of equipment and payment of electricity.

CryptoQuant analysts studied the behavior of miners in previous years and found that in 2018, when the market was dominated by “bearish” moods, they avoided big sales.

In November 2012, after the first halving, miners did not put pressure on the sale until April 2013, which allowed cryptocurrencies to hold on the market. The pressure intensified in the middle of spring 2013, and after that the coin fell in price.

One of the authors of the report, Mason Young, said:

After the first two halvings, the price of bitcoin did not skyrocket right after the reduction of the miners' award. The price of bitcoin has been rising for several months. If traders want to avoid trading risks, the most important thing is to monitor whether the whales and miners receive cash, rather than expect a short-term price change.

Amun Launches Ethereum Token to Earn Bitcoin Price Drop

Amun, a Swiss fintech company, launched its BTCSHORT (BTCS) ERC20 token on Wednesday, May 6. The new token allows traders to profit from a drop in the price of bitcoin.

This token will complement other Amun exchange-traded products (ETP), which are controlled by a 21Shares subsidiary.

Hani Rashwan, Amun's CEO, said in a comment to CoinDesk that BTCS is structurally designed as a stablecoin based on the ERC20 ethereal standard, which means that it is as easy to acquire as any other token and will be available in the secondary markets starting with Liquid, HitBTC and Bitcoin com.

“The demand for such tokens is huge,” Rashwan said. “Users want to be able to buy such products in a simpler and safer way.”

In a statement, Amun noted that the token was issued before the reduction in the remuneration of miners (halving) on ​​May 11, so that traders can insure themselves against potential market volatility.

According to Rashwan, the token was developed in accordance with 21Shares practice and standards. The company currently supports 11 ETPs on several European stock exchanges, including the Swiss SIX exchange.

The release and burning of BTCS are carried out on the Amun platform with settlements in the stablecoin USDC.

Rashwan said that in the coming weeks, Amun will issue similar tokens for other cryptocurrencies, including for ether (ETH).

HTC introduces mining Monero in its smartphones

The technology company HTC announced its intention to introduce the possibility of mining anonymous cryptocurrency Monero (XMR) into the EXODUS 1S line of smartphones. About it writes The Block.

To implement this initiative, HTC has partnered with ASIC Midas Labs, a chip developer, and manufacturer.

Already in the second quarter of this year, an application called DeMiner will be developed, which will automatically deactivate the mining process at the time of direct use of the smartphone, as well as when the charger is disconnected.

Phil Chen, head of the blockchain business at HTC, noted that DeMiner will help decentralize mining and make it “cost-effective”.

“The world of cryptocurrencies is in jeopardy due to the dominance of the hash rate of giant mining pools. The most effective way to resolve this problem is to make mining accessible to the masses, including using mobile devices. This application makes mining on smartphones cost-effective, which provides incentives to individual network participants and helps to decentralize cryptocurrency, ”Chen stressed.

According to Midas Labs, mining XMR on desktop computers is no longer economically viable. For example, an average laptop can produce XMR, equivalent to about $ 0.06 per day, consuming 65 watts of electricity, which costs about $ 0.156.

“Midas Labs gives EXODUS 1S users the ability to mine at least $ 0.0038 daily at Monero with energy consumption of 50% of production,” said Jri Lee, founder of Midas Labs and professor at Taiwan National University.

Second cryptocurrency fund Andreessen Horowitz raised $ 515 million - $ 65 million more than planned

U.S. venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz raised $ 515 million for its second fund, which focuses on investments in cryptocurrency projects and blockchain startups. Initially, the company planned to raise $ 450 million. Fortune reports.

“Very rarely, new large computer paradigms appear, and we think that blockchain is comparable to the cloud and mobile technologies for the Internet,” said Chris Dixon, one of the fund’s leaders. He added that he expects the soon debut of many new blockchains, including those projects in which Andreessen Horowitz previously invested.

Andreessen Horowitz was one of the first large venture capital companies to actively invest in bitcoin and blockchain. In January 2014, co-founder Mark Andreessen noted the virtues of digital money in an article for The New York Times.

Since then, Andreessen Horowitz has invested in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrency projects such as Maker DAO, Compound, and Celo. The company is also an investor in Coinbase, Protocol Labs, and Anchorage.

Katie Hown, who is the co-director of the company's first crypto fund, which raised $ 350 million in 2018, refused to disclose its performance, noting that the fund is betting on long-term investments.

Binance launches fund to cover margin obligations of insolvent traders

The Binance cryptocurrency exchange this Monday announced the launch of the “official margin risk fund”.

Assets collected in the fund will be used to cover the remaining debt obligations in case of insolvency of the liquidated trader in margin trading.

“Currently, 15% of all interest charges on margin lending will be transferred to the fund,” the exchange writes.

It does not provide any other information, including the methodology for ensuring the transparency of the new instrument.

A similar insurance fund is, for example, at the BitMEX exchange. As of April 26, its size exceeded 35,500 BTC ($ 275 million).

Binance, for its part, supports another fund - the User Asset Security Fund (SAFU). It was launched on July 14, 2018, and is described by the company as an “emergency insurance fund”. It transfers 10% of commissions collected by the exchange, which are stored in a separate cold wallet. The fund's assets were used to cover losses after the theft of 7,000 BTC from the exchange in May 2019.

Miners turned $ 11 into $ 6.7 million by manipulating the stablecoin exchange rate

Malicious miners manipulated the PegNet decentralized stablecoin network, as a result of which their wallet balance grew from $ 11 to $ 6.7 million. However, they failed to withdraw the amount received. This is written by CoinDesk.

On Tuesday morning, four miners took possession of 70% of the computing power of the PegNet network and transmitted data that allowed many times to increase the rate of the pJPY stablecoin tied to the Japanese yen. Then they transferred the assets to dollar-based pUSD stablecoins and tried to liquidate them on cryptocurrency exchanges.

PegNet is a decentralized network based on the Factom protocol, where users can trade stablecoins tied to 32 different assets. In addition to fiat currencies, the platform also provides exchange products such as gold, and other cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ether.

The system uses the data transmitted by the miners to determine the price of stablecoins. 50 data points are added to each block, of which 25, the most differing from the average, are rejected. In this case, the miners, in fact, carried out an attack of 51%, providing 35 data points, as a result of which 15 indicators transmitted by other miners were invalidated as different from the average value. The attack lasted about 20 minutes and, apparently, did not affect other users.

Chairman of Factom Inc. and one of the PegNet organizers, David Johnston, explained that the attackers could not transfer most of the received pUSDs to their own cryptocurrencies of the PEG system, since the protocol does not allow fast conversions.

Subsequently, the attackers contacted PegNet and stated that they were simply trying to "conduct a network penetration test" to identify possible vulnerabilities and warn developers about them. They destroyed the received stablecoins by sending them to the address for burning tokens on the same day.

“I can’t talk about this person’s intentions, only about his actions,” Johnston said. - His actions were aimed at generating pAssets assets and their subsequent destruction. It’s more like a gimmick than an attack, given the short duration and action later. ”

Now the developers intend to review the oracle mechanisms in their network in order to protect it from similar attacks in the future. At the same time, they expect more sophisticated attempts to crack the protocol as the value of the assets stored in it increases. Johnston noted that he could not know for sure whether the attackers managed to exchange some of the illegally obtained pUSD on exchanges.

Previously, the DForce DeFi protocol was attacked, as a result of which $ 25 million was stolen. In this case, the assigned assets were also not distributed in the wider cryptocurrency ecosystem and returned to the developers wallet.

Bitnomial Exchange Received CFTC Permission to Work with Deliverable Bitcoin Futures

The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) allowed the Chicago Bitnomial exchange to act as a specialized contract market (DCM) for trading bitcoin futures and options. Bitnomial intends to work exclusively with delivery contracts that allow its holders to receive payment in bitcoins.

The CFTC said it conducted a technical assessment of the platform before permitting it. Bitnomial said that it is the "first and only start-up exchange" that has received permission to work with both margin and delivery contracts for bitcoin in the United States.

Initial user acceptance testing starts on April 27th. After market stabilization, Bitcoin futures and options will be available for trading on the platform. Also provided for "mini-futures", which will represent part of the standard contract.

Last September, the platform of the operator of the New York Stock Exchange, Bakkt, launched its supplying bitcoin futures, but they could not win the mass interest of traders.

Bitnomial was founded in 2014 and two years later applied for registration as DCM. Thus, the consideration of the application in the CFTC took about four years. The company raised $ 7.5 million in funding from Jump Capital, Coinbase Ventures, DV Chain, RRE Ventures, Digital Currency Group, ValueStream Ventures, Indicator Fund and other investors.

Crypto exchange Binance will launch a blockchain with support for smart contracts

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance will launch a new network that will be compatible with Ethereum. The Binance Smart Chain (BSC) blockchain relies on the Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA) hybrid consensus algorithm and uses Binance Coin (BNB) as a native token.

BSC supports smart contracts and in general, judging by the published technical documentation, it will be similar to the Ethereum blockchain. In particular, decentralized applications (DApp) can be launched in BSC, the popularity of which continues to grow.

“Ethereum is the first smart contract platform to be widely adopted. To be able to take advantage of relatively mature applications and the community, BSC will be compatible with the core Ethereum network, ”the document says.

Cross-platform blockchain

The exchange already uses its own Binance Chain (BC) blockchain, on which its decentralized trading platform Binance DEX is based. However, this network “does not provide sufficient freedom and flexibility for DApp developers”, therefore the exchange launches a new network.

Both blockchains will work in parallel - assets between them can be exchanged. According to Binance, its “decentralized trading platform will remain a liquid platform for the exchange of digital assets for participants in two blockchains. This double-stranded architecture will allow users to issue DApp and digital assets in one blockchain, taking full advantage of the fast trading of another. ”

Why you need a hybrid consensus algorithm

A document published by Binance says that the Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm is harmful to the environment and also requires a large number of participants to maintain network security. The Proof-of-Authority (PoA) algorithm is used in other blockchains (for example, in GoChain) and provides good protection against hacker attacks, however, it has certain problems with decentralization, and its validators are endowed with too much power.

The company considers the Delegated Proof-of-stake (DPoS) algorithm, which is called "Deputy Proof-of-Stake" in the document, to be effective. This algorithm allows network participants to select blockchain validators, which contributes to decentralization and management reliability.

The Proof of Staked Authority hybrid algorithm combines the main advantages of the last two algorithms:

Blocks are produced by a limited set of validators - a total of 21 validators are provided;

Validators alternately issue blocks according to the method used in PoA;

Validators are selected based on their stacks.

PoSA also allows network users to participate in BNB stacking.

“BNB is a token that is used for stacking in BSC. This is an attractive opportunity for all BNB holders who are interested in stacking. They can support the Binance Smart Chain and get a reward for it, ”the document says.

The concept described by Binance has already been criticized by The Block analyst Larry Chermak. In his opinion, the problem with Binance Smart Chain is that this blockchain is controlled by a single company.

“If you think that CZ Changpen Zhao will completely give up control, you simply rave,” writes Chermak.

Coinbase: Americans invest stimulus payments from the state in cryptocurrency

The American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase recorded a sharp increase in the number of deposits by exactly $ 1,200. This week, US authorities also began sending out help receipts to citizens for which they owed this amount.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong shared statistics on his Twitter, but declined to comment.

According to the presented chart, usually at $ 1,200 deposits account for about 0.08% of all platform revenues. A deviation of up to 0.375% this week is statistically significant to reasonably link it to the latest US government support measures.

Relief checks rely on 80 million US adults earning less than $ 75,000 a year. According to Finance Minister Stephen Mnuchin, they should have received direct transfers to their bank accounts by April 15.

Netspend, which processed about $ 1 billion in relief assistance, said it spent mostly on “food, fast food, medicine, and gas.” Some of the funds are cashed at ATMs.

Participants in the crypto community, including Guy Bennett, BitcoinorBust and El Barto, admitted that they really invested the money received in bitcoin. At the current exchange rate, you can purchase about 0.17 BTC for $ 1,200.

BlockWorks Group co-founder Jason Janowitz said his friend first bought Bitcoin for money received from the state. “First, the Fed conducts a marketing campaign for bitcoin, and now it also finances its purchase less than a month before the halving,” he wrote.

Binance Exchange launches Bitcoin options in its mobile application

The Binance cryptocurrency exchange has officially launched bitcoin options on its futures trading platform. This was reported by the exchange in its blog on April 13. So far, options trading is available only in the latest version of the mobile application of the exchange.

Options contracts offer traders the right to buy (call option) or sell (put option) an asset at a specified strike price (strike price). Binance offers an American (rather than European) version of the derivative, in which traders can exercise their right - that is, to execute a contract at the selected strike price - at any time before or on the expiration date (whereas European options are exercised only on the expiration date).

Options are widely used as a hedging instrument. For example, traders buy a put option on the assets that they have available. If the value of these assets begins to decline, the use of a put option will help the trader prevent further losses.

Options are also used for speculative trading. For example, if a trader believes that the price of an asset may rise in the future, he buys a call option. If the price exceeds the strike price, the trader can use his option to buy the asset at a discount.

HTC introduces mining Monero in its smartphones

The technology company HTC announced its intention to introduce the possibility of mining anonymous cryptocurrency Monero (XMR) into the EXODUS 1S line of smartphones. About it writes The Block.

To implement this initiative, HTC has partnered with ASIC Midas Labs, a chip developer, and manufacturer.

Already in the second quarter of this year, an application called DeMiner will be developed, which will automatically deactivate the mining process at the time of direct use of the smartphone, as well as when the charger is disconnected.

Phil Chen, head of the blockchain business at HTC, noted that DeMiner will help decentralize mining and make it “cost-effective”.

“The world of cryptocurrencies is in jeopardy due to the dominance of the hash rate of giant mining pools. The most effective way to resolve this problem is to make mining accessible to the masses, including using mobile devices. This application makes mining on smartphones cost-effective, which provides incentives to individual network participants and helps to decentralize cryptocurrency, ”Chen stressed.

According to Midas Labs, mining XMR on desktop computers is no longer economically viable. For example, an average laptop can produce XXR, equivalent to about $ 0.06 per day, consuming 65 watts of electricity, which costs about $ 0.156.

“Midas Labs gives EXODUS 1S users the ability to mine at least $ 0.0038 daily at Monero with energy consumption of 50% of production,” said Jri Lee, founder of Midas Labs and professor at Taiwan National University.

Study: The largest currencies outperformed bitcoin and ether amid falling stock market

According to a study by The Block analyst Larry Chermak, although the stock market is showing a slight recovery after the S&P 500 lost 35% in just 4 weeks, the situation has not yet stabilized and volatility is still at record levels.

From the peak of the stock market (February 19), out of the 20 largest currencies, only three strengthened against the dollar as of April 6 - the Japanese yen, the Swiss franc and the Hong Kong dollar. The largest currencies with the worst performance are the Russian ruble, the Brazilian real, the South African rand and the Mexican peso. Bitcoin and ether showed worse results compared to the largest currencies for the specified period.

​​The number of bitcoin addresses with one or more coins approached 800,000

As of the beginning of April 2020, the number of addresses with one or more coins in the Bitcoin network came close to 800,000. This is indicated by the data from the Glassnode service.

Analysts say that by the beginning of this month, there were 799,717 wallets with 1 or more bitcoins in the BTC network. At the end of March, this figure was 799,696 addresses, experts say.

The expansion of the Bitcoin ecosystem continues despite the recent collapse in the value of the first cryptocurrency. At the end of February, the total number of wallets with a non-zero balance exceeded 28.7 million.

Since the end of 2017, the network has registered more than 124 million wallets. A new surge in user activity will occur in the case of a more significant rise in the price of cryptocurrency, the researchers say.

As evidence of their forecast, they cite the fact that in the middle of last summer, against the backdrop of a jerk of bitcoin, the number of active addresses in the network jumped to the maximum since November 2017.

ByteTree: miners began selling more bitcoins than they mined

According to ByteTree, amid the crisis in financial markets, miners began selling more bitcoins than they mined. However, BTC finds its customers, which may indicate the beginning of a bullish trend.

Analysts at ByteTree, which tracks the miners' coin-changing stock (MRI) metric, said that over the past three weeks this metric has remained above 100, which coincides with a period of high bitcoin volatility. On March 12, the fall of traditional and cryptocurrency markets began - bitcoin dropped to $ 5,600, and then to $ 4,500. Over the next week, the first cryptocurrency has recovered slightly and is now at $ 6,675.

When the MRI exceeds 100, it means that miners sell more than they mine and use their stocks. Similarly, if the MRI is below 100, then miners accumulate coins, selling less than they mine. As prices gradually rose after a sharp decline, industry participants also began to show increased interest in buying crypto assets. As a result, miners had an incentive to fuel the market by selling accumulated coins.

Mining pools are responsible for the largest deliveries of BTC to exchanges and have a significant impact on prices. Some see the market as a positive signal.

“When the BTC price can rise sharply from local lows, and buyers can buy additional BTC sold by miners, this is considered a sign of strength throughout the market,” said Connor Abendschein, a cryptocurrency analyst at Digital Assets Data.

According to ByteTree founder Charlie Morris on Twitter, miners continued to sell off their stocks on Wednesday.

“Miners sold 2,788 BTC against 1,588 mined coins, flooding the market with bitcoins, but the market accepted them. This is a bullish signal, ”he wrote.

During Asian trading, the first cryptocurrency fell from $ 6,700 to $ 6,500, possibly due to miner sales, but later that day the price recovered. Some analysts are of the opinion that the one-day deviations in net sales of miners are often too small to make a correct judgment about the bullish mood of the market.

“The sales volume of 2,788 BTC on Wednesday was not statistically significant enough to be significant for serious Bitcoin price movements,” said Alexander Blum, chief operating officer of fintech company Two Prime.

However, since miners on average sold more coins during price recovery, this may indicate market strength. In other words, the price rally may have further prospects. However, cryptocurrency remains vulnerable to attacks of dumping risky assets in traditional markets.

Global stocks have recovered over the past couple of days, mainly due to huge monetary and fiscal stimulus from the United States. The spread of coronavirus does not show signs of a slowdown, and markets have yet to experience real economic damage from the pandemic, which could be much larger than projected.

“If you think that an economic crisis is taking place, you are mistaken,” said cryptocurrency skeptic Peter Schiff. “This is a crisis in the healthcare system. This will be followed by an economic crisis that will be triggered by monetary and fiscal stimulus. The crisis will be not only worse than the Great Recession, but also the Great Depression. ”