Crypto Flipsider News – Bitcoin (BTC) at $12k; Ethereum (ETH) crashes; Vasil the final stage; Ripple Case Conclusion; US Crypto Framework by DailyCoin

Read in the summary:

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE: ) predicts (BTC) to $12k as markets plunge ahead of Fed rate hike.

• Steep decline sees (ETH) fall to 2-month low – ETHW loses 86%.

• Cardano’s Vasil hard fork enters final phase, ADA risks record decline.

• The SEC and Labs are both filing motions to immediately dismiss the case.

• US Publishes Crypto Framework – ECB Picks Amazon (NASDAQ: ) CBDC Prototype

Goldman Sachs predicts Bitcoin (BTC) at $12k as markets plunge ahead of Fed rate hike

Bitcoin’s (BTC) short release over the weekend proved unsustainable as the crypto market plunged yet again amid fears of another interest rate hike. The US central bank is expected to raise interest rates in response to the recently published inflation report.

Earlier comments by Fed chief Jerome Powell suggest that the rate hike on September 21 could be the highest by the top US bank in four decades.

The fearful sentiment sent the price of BTC down below the $20k support level it had held over the weekend. Bitcoin has fallen in value by 6.5% in the past 24 hours to trade as low as $18,390, a new three-month low.

24-hour Bitcoin (BTC) price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Analyzing the bearish macroeconomic environment, a team of Goldman Sachs economists, led by Jan Hatzius, predicts that the price of Bitcoin could fall to as low as $12,000 if the Fed continues to raise interest rates.

Flip pages:

• The popular pseudonymous cryptoanalyst “Capo”, who predicted the 2022 crypto market crash, has predicted an imminent short-term rally for BTC.

Why you should care

The ongoing Bitcoin crash mirrors that of the broader equity markets, which have endured weekly declines since June 17.

Steep decline sends Ethereum (ETH) to 2-month low – ETHW loses 86%

The recent rally in Ethereum (ETH) has proved unable to fend off the bears, with Ether experiencing its steepest decline in four months, losing 11% of its value in the last 24 hours, and 26% since the day itself the merger.

The steep decline has sent the price of Ether down to $1,287, the lowest point recorded for ETH since mid-July. ETH has since recovered over the past few hours and was trading at $1,322 at the time of writing.

4-day Ethereum (ETH) price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Ethereum’s falling price contributed not insignificantly to the massive portion of $400 million in liquidations suffered by over 40,000 traders in the past 24 hours. Since September 20, the liquidation of ETH-based positions has reached over $163 million, surpassing BTC’s $122 million.

The Proof of Work hard fork of the Ethereum chain, EthereumPoW (ETHW), has fared even worse than Ether since its September 15th merger. After the transition to the network’s mainnet, the price of ETHW has fallen by more than 86%.

4-day EthereumPoW (ETHW) price chart. Source: CoinMarketCap

Flip pages:

• While the projected positive effects of the merger have not been seen in the short term due to prevailing macroeconomic pressures, the upgrade is still expected to yield huge results for Ethereum in the future.

Cardano’s Vasil Hard Fork Enters Final Phase – ADA Risks Record Drop

Charles Hoskinson, CEO of Input Output Global (IOG) and founder of has announced that a hard fork combiner was applied for and accepted. This means that the implementation of the Vasil hard fork has entered its final phase.

According to Hoskinson, an automated process has already begun to upgrade the Cardano network. Hoskinson encouraged the community to upgrade to Daedalus 5.0.0, the latest version of their crypto wallet, which fixes some known issues ahead of the hard fork.

Although the Vasil mainnet hard fork combinator event is scheduled to go live on September 22nd, a number of technical issues have delayed the Plutus V2 cost model from being available at the start of epoch 366 on September 27th.

The positive confirmation of the update has not been able to prevent Cardano (ADA) from crashing, and the value of ADA has fallen 11% in the last 24 hours to as low as $0.4344.

24-hour price chart for Cardano (ADA). Source: CoinMarketCap

Flip pages:

• Veteran trader Peter Brandt highlights that the ADA is showing a bearish continuation pattern, the same pattern that preceded BTC’s 50% crash in the 2018 crypto winter.

• If the ADA completes the pattern, it could fall to a low last seen in January 2021.

Why you should care

The Vasil hard fork will improve Cardano’s throughput and scripting efficiency, while reducing latency in block transfers to increase the network’s capacity.

The SEC and Ripple Labs are both filing motions for the immediate conclusion of the case

The nearly 2-year-old case between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Ripple Labs may be heading toward a conclusion, as both parties involved filed separate motions on September 17, asking for an immediate ruling.

In December 2020, the SEC filed a class action lawsuit against Ripple Labs, alleging that Ripple’s initial coin offering (ICO) for XRP violated US securities laws. Ripple Labs has been in court ever since, insisting that XRP is not a security.

Both parties have now requested a conclusion in the case, claiming that the judge overseeing the case has enough information to make a decision. The SEC’s application for summary judgment argued that an “investment contract” can exist without a contract.

Ripple, for its part, claims that XRP sales and trading did not meet the principles of the “Howey test”. According to Ripple’s filing, the profits on the XRP tokens came from “the market forces of supply and demand.”

Flip pages:

• The SEC and its chairman, Gary Gensler, have been criticized for their approach to crypto companies and crypto assets.

Why you should care

When the court grants the summary judgment, the court ruling will play a significant role in determining what type of cryptocurrencies constitute a security under US securities laws.

US Publishes Crypto Framework – ECB Selects Amazon CBDC Prototype

The White House just released its first-ever framework for regulating the crypto space in the United States. The comprehensive framework, released by the White House, has been built over six months of extensive research across the digital asset sector.

The framework approves the SEC and CFTC’s regulation of the crypto industry, while the Treasury Department will aim to complete a risk assessment for DeFi and NFT by 2023. The framework also refers to the possibility of issuing a digital dollar.

In Europe, the ECB (European Central Bank) announced that it will work with Amazon on the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Other companies on the project include Nexi (BIT:), CaixaBank, Worldline and the European Payments Initiative.

Each company will focus on a specific application area for digital Euro front-end prototypes. Amazon will be tasked with e-commerce payment solutions for the digital euro, but it will not be implemented until the later stages of the digital currency project.

Flip pages:

• The Blockchain Association has labeled The White House’s crypto framework a “missed opportunity” to cement America’s place at the forefront of crypto development and innovation.

Why you should care

The moves being made by governments around the world highlight the possible role crypto could play in the future of finance.

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