Crypto NFT Today: The latest news in blockchain, cryptocurrency and NFT: 20-26 July 2022

by James · July 20, 2022

Welcome to another edition of Crypto NFT Today! If you like cryptocurrency, NFTs and riding emotional roller coasters, this is the place to be.

Is the crypto winter finally thawing? So goundhog NFT his shadow, and did someone buy that shadow for a quarter of a million? And most importantly, are you ready for the crunch? Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

India Proposes Crypto Ban

India’s government informed Parliament on Monday of its intention to ban cryptocurrency in the country. India is the world’s second-largest internet market, suggesting the move could have significant implications for crypto investors’ bottom lines.

Nirmala Sitharaman, the finance minister of India, said on Monday that the Reserve Bank of India has expressed concern about the “destabilizing effect of cryptocurrencies on the monetary and fiscal stability of a country” and has recommended “for the formulation of legislation on this sector.”

The Indian government has been trying to regulate and reign in crypto transactions for several years. On April 1, the country implemented The Finance Act, which taxes cryptocurrency and NFT transactions and profits at a 30% flat income tax rate.

Bitcoin miners are abandoning their positions en masse

Bitcoin miners are abandoning their Bitcoin positions in droves. New data from blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant shows that 14,000 bitcoins, or more than $300 million at today’s prices, were transferred from wallets belonging to miners in a single day. Before the mass exodus, miners have been steadily offloading their cryptos. Over the past few weeks, analysts have seen the biggest decline in Bitcoin positions since January 2021.

This “miner capitulation” is a tactic by miners to sell their previously mined coins to cover ongoing mining expenses.

Has Bitcoin Bottomed Out?

BTC hit the $22,000 mark on Monday and has fluctuated between $21,000 and $22,000 since. The price of the flagship cryptocurrency has risen steadily from its 2022 low of under $19,000 in June.

After Bitcoin’s decline and subsequent stability seen over the past two months, investors and speculators are asking one crucial question: Have cryptos bottomed out?

Bitcoin continues to hover around the highest levels since a mid-June sell-off sent the biggest crypto as low as $18,000 from $30,000, changing hands at less than a third of its all-time high near $69,000 from eight months ago, according to Barron’s.

A better macroeconomic picture could help Bitcoin find its bottom. Fears of a recession are beginning to subside, meaning analysts have a clearer lens through which to view the state of the crypto market.

Lawmakers are pushing for reports on energy use for crypto mining

Democratic lawmakers want more robust energy use reporting on companies that mine crypto.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy want to require more energy use reporting, in an effort to mitigate the impact of cryptomining on climate change.

In a letter to the Biden administration on Friday, Democratic lawmakers said the government must intervene to limit the impact of cryptocurrency mining on climate change. They also said information they collected about energy capacity from seven cryptomining companies was “disturbing,” according to CNBC.

According to the senators and representatives who wrote the letter, the current lack of regulation and reporting requirements on cryptomining limits the authorities from understanding the extent of the damage it is causing to the environment.