FTX considers reboot, Ethereum’s fork goes live and OpenAI news

by Arthur · April 15, 2023

Table of Contents

Top stories this week

Ethereum’s Shapella hard fork performed on the mainnet

The Ethereum blockchain’s mainnet, also referred to as the Beacon Chain, implemented the Shapella hard fork on April 12. The upgrade made withdrawals possible for those who have staked the network’s Ether (ETH) assets. In the first hour after the hard fork, a total of 12,859 Ether were unlocked in 4,333 withdrawals, according to Ethereum block explorer beaconchai.in. Almost a day after the upgrade, ETH surpassed the $2000 price point.

FTX has recovered $7.3B in assets, will consider restarting exchange

A comeback for FTX is on the table, according to the bankrupt crypto exchange’s legal team. In an April 12 hearing, FTX’s lawyers said the company had already recovered about $7.3 billion in liquid assets and was considering restarting its crypto exchange operations in the second quarter of 2024, hinting at a restart as early as April. After the news broke, the FTX token (FTT) surged over 112%. Meanwhile in Europe, a Swiss court approved the sale of the firm’s European operations.

OpenAI finds new support from Japan amid global nationwide ban

Japan is interested in potentially using technology from artificial intelligence (AI) outfit OpenAI – creator of chatbot ChatGPT – depending on the solution to issues related to online security and privacy. The interest was expressed by Japan’s Prime Minister Hirokazu Matsuno. Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, aims to work with Japan to build technology for the country. However, OpenAI has faced opposition from several countries. The AI frenzy has also accelerated this week with Amazon, Alibaba and Twitter working on their own AI initiatives.

Twitter launches crypto and stock trading in partnership with eToro

Twitter is reportedly planning to introduce a new feature that will allow users to trade cryptocurrencies and stocks. The feature will allow users to browse market charts for a wider variety of financial instruments, as well as buy or sell crypto and other assets through Twitter’s partner fintech firm, eToro. Musk had previously floated the idea of turning Twitter into a “super app,” giving users access to multiple online services in one place.

Mastercard launches NFT-gated musician accelerator program

Mastercard is one of several traditional financial companies that have ventured into the Web3 arena in recent years. Most recently, on April 12, the company announced its new artist accelerator program with a Web3 twist: The program is NFT-gated and therefore only available to Mastercard Music Pass NFT holders. NFT is a limited edition and free until the end of the month for musicians and fans alike, while the program was created in collaboration with Polygon.

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $30,439Ether (ETH) on $2105 and XRP on $0.52. The total market value is at $1.28 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.

Among the 100 largest cryptocurrencies, this week’s top three altcoin winners are Injective (INJ) at 54.92%, WOO Network (WOO) of 46.91% and Arbitrum (ARB) of 42.04%.

This week’s top three altcoin losers are Enjin Coin (ENJ) at -6.49%, Basic Attention Token (BAT) of -2.89% and BitTorrent New (BTT) of -1.19%.

For more info on crypto prices, be sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most memorable quotes

“If we want a strong US dollar globally, a stable US dollar coin is one way to see that happen.”

Denelle DixonCEO of the Stellar Development Foundation

“Bitcoin is a gambling token and it has no intrinsic value.”

Warren BuffettCEO of Berkshire Hathaway

“There is a very natural tendency to borrow traditional financial industry regulations to apply to crypto. Crypto is different from banks and traditional financial industry.”

Changpeng ZhaoCEO of Binance

“[NFT warranties] will provide a sense of security and trust, which will encourage more non-native crypto users to join the Web3 space with minimal risk.”

George BasiladzeCEO of Wert

“The road to innovation and technological change has never been smooth sailing.”

Paul Chanfinancial secretary in Hong Kong

“There is no difference in privacy or monitoring whether you use your Visa card or a CBDC.”

Aaron Kleinformer Chief Economist of the US Senate Banking Committee

Prediction of the week

Bitcoin prices rise above $31,000 as Ethereum sparks ‘altseason’ call

Bitcoin enjoyed some positive action this week, breaking through the $31,000 price level, according to Cointelegraph’s BTC Price Index. Michaël van de Poppe, CEO and founder of trading company Eight, pointed to some price points of potential interest.

“Bitcoin looks strong but will have some shallow corrections in an uptrend,” he noted via an April 14 tweet. “I have marked $31.7-32K as key resistance point.”

“But $25K was the level everyone wanted to buy. This will probably shift to $28.5K and then nobody will buy. I prefer to focus on $29.7K,” van de Poppe added.

FUD of the week

Hacker earns 1 quadrillion yUSDT after exploiting old Yearn.finance contract

A hacker exploited an old contract from Yearn Finance, creating a huge amount of the stablecoin yUSDT tokens, according to blockchain security firm PeckShield. The hacker exchanged yUSDT for other stablecoins, allowing them to grab $11.6 million worth of stablecoins. At least 1000 Ether ($2 million) has been transferred to the crypto mixer Tornado Cash.

Crypto exchange Bitrue suffers $23 million hack due to hot wallet exploit

Almost $23 million was stolen from centralized crypto exchange Bitrue due to an exploit. The outfit saw its hot wallet hacked, but was able to limit the damage after quickly jumping into action. The amount seized represents less than 5% of funds on the exchange and the outfit has suspended withdrawals while they conduct an investigation, with withdrawals scheduled to resume on April 18. The hack did not affect the platform’s other wallets, according to Bitrue. “All identified users affected by this incident will be compensated in full,” the exchange also noted.

US court issues subpoena to Tron’s Justin Sun, threatens default judgment if no response

A court in the United States has issued a subpoena to Tron founder Justin Sun’s address in Singapore in connection with a civil case from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In March, the SEC filed a civil suit against Sun, the Tron Foundation, the BitTorrent Foundation and Rainberry for “the orchestration of the unregistered offering and sale, manipulative trading and illegal designation” of Tron TRX as a security for crypto assets. Sun will face “judgment by default” if he doesn’t get in touch with SEC attorney Adam Gottlieb within a certain time window.