Bitcoin maximalist Saylor gets sued for tax fraud, volatility expected ahead of Ethereum’s merger

by James · August 31, 2022

The biggest news in the crypto roundup for August 31 includes the US Congress asking 5 crypto exchanges to explain how they fight crypto scams, Michael Saylor being sued for tax fraud in Washington, and Christopher Hamilton being extradited to the US to stand trial for the OneCoin Scam.

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CryptoSlate Top Stories

US Congress Sends 5 Major Crypto Exchanges Letter to Ask How They Fight Crypto Scams

In its effort to bring clearer regulation to the crypto industry, the US Congress has issued a letter to Coinbase, FTX, Binance.US, Kraken and KuCoin detailing the efforts they have taken to identify and combat crypto fraud.

Congress also asked what tools and mechanisms the exchanges have implemented to mitigate the risk of fraudulent activities on their platform. The stock exchanges are expected to have until 12 September to respond to the letter.

Cryptocurrency markets trade choppy as Eurozone inflation hits record 9.1%

Eurozone inflation figures for August rose to a record high of 9.1%, according to data from the European Statistics Office. Accordingly, the European Central Bank (ECB) is expected to raise interest rates aggressively on September 8.

However, the crypto market did not react much to the news. As of press time, Bitcoin was up 0.1%, while Ethereum was up 0.25%

Bitcoin mining difficulty rises over 9%, the highest since January

Glassnode data analyzed by CryptoSlate shows that Bitcoin (BTC) mining difficulty has increased by 9.26%. the highest since January 2022. The data suggests that more miners are joining the network.

Further analysis of Bitcoin’s average hash rate shows an increase of up to 224.7 EH/s (exahashes per second) on August 30th versus 197.7 EH/s observed on August 16th.

Combining the data points, market participants noted that the increase in Bitcoin mining difficulty and hash rate is a result of more miners returning to work after surviving the attack across Europe and North America.

Helium developers suggest migrating to Solana

A recent HIP 70 proposal to the community revealed that Helium developers are trying to migrate to the Solana network to improve network efficiency.

The developers claimed that the migration will open up access to Solana’s developer tools and features that will help Helium solve its data flow and accounting issues.

Reactions from community members indicate that the migration idea may have trouble gaining approval due to Solana’s frequent network outages.

Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy is being sued for tax fraud in Washington

Bitcoin Maxi Michael Saylor and his company MicroStategy will face a lawsuit for alleged tax evasion in Washington.

The case against him alleged that Saylor, who had lived in Washington for over a decade, conspired with his company to help him evade taxes.

British judge decides to extradite Christopher Hamilton to the US for trial on OneCoin fraud

A Brit Christopher Hamilton who was indicted in the $4 billion OneCoin scam in 2014 will be extradited to the US following a UK court ruling

The accused had previously requested to avoid trial in the United States, but District Judge Nicholas Rimmer stated in his ruling that Hamilton must be tried in the United States where his victims are based.

Research highlight

Research: Liquidations, volatility expected ahead of Ethereum’s merger as leverage, open interest and shorts hit record highs

On-chain dataset analyzed by CryptoSlate indicates that the Ethereum merger may come with high volatility.

Using Estimated Leverage Ratios (ELS) according to Glassnode, we observed that the volume of leverage reached an all-time high of 0.28, indicating the potential for high volatility should a large price swing result from the merger.

Funding rates have been very negative since the start of August, which suggests that more short positions are in play.

For open interest. The Ethereum futures market hit an all-time high of 5 million ETH in August, indicating a continued sustained increase in open interest.

Despite market slowdown, US sees 44% increase in retail crypto investors

A survey by Bitstamp showed that the interest and confidence of the Americans has increased significantly, despite the unfavorable market conditions.

61% of US-based respondents made their first investment in Q2 2022, indicating a 44% increase in interest from new investors in Q1.

Respondents indicated high confidence in cryptocurrencies as the confidence rating rose from 61% in Q1 to 73% in Q2 2022.

News from the entire Cryptoverse

FTX to help South Korean city build a crypto exchange

South Korea’s Busan city has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with FTX to provide technical and infrastructure assistance as the city works to build its local crypto exchange.

FTX also hinted at launching its Korea office in Busan to help drive adoption in the city designated as Asia’s blockchain regulatory-free zone.

Ticketmaster partners with Dapper Labs for tickets to NFT events

Ticketmaster announced today that it will continue to issue NFT tickets minted on the Flow blockchain by Dapper Labs. The formal partnership comes six months after the ticketing platform made over 5 million NFTs with Flow.

Users will be able to connect with their wallet to access Ticketmaster’s marketplace where they can easily view and exchange NFT tickets.

Russian cryptofarmer power capacity reaches 85MW

Analysis by Vygon Consulting reveals that cryptocurrency mining farms in Russia’s oil fields consumed 85 megawatts of electricity, representing 23% of all energy generated by burning associated petroleum gas (APG)

The study also indicates that APG miners are still profitable despite the declining market conditions. On average, the miners earn about $6.6 million, which is estimated to amount to $79 million in the next year.