By Frank Martin (MoneyAmped.com)
Bitcoin has traded above the $104,000 support level over the past week, indicating that the bulls are back in the market. The renewed investor interest follows comments from Whitehouse crypto czar David Sacks that July will be “a big month for digital assets.”
Alongside Sacks’ comments, here are the other hot crypto stories from June 23rd to 29th.
Ripple to Drop Its Cross-Appeal Against US SEC
Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple, announced on Friday that his crypto company will drop its cross-appeal filed against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The announcement caused the XRP coin to surge 9%, according to data from CoinGecko.
Garlinghouse said the move will enable Ripple to move away from regulatory battles and focus on building its ecosystem. The SEC and Ripple have been in a legal war since 2020, when the agency, under former Chairman Gary Gensler, accused the firm of issuing its XRP tokens as unregistered securities.
ProCap Purchased $386 Million Worth of Bitcoin
ProCap, a financial company owned by crypto enthusiast Anthony Pompliano, bought its first Bitcoin on June 25th, a few days after announcing its plans to conduct an initial public offering before the year ends.
ProCap spent $386 million to acquire 3,724 BTC at an average price of $103,652. With Bitcoin trading at $107,158 as of this writing, the firm’s investment now has an unrealized profit of about $13 million.
Coinbase Claims Helping Secret Service Seize $225 Million From Scammers In June
On Thursday, American crypto exchange Coinbase claimed that it had helped the US Secret Service recover over $225 million from fraudsters this month. The company said the money was stolen through crypto investment scams. The $225 million seizure is the biggest in the Secret Service’s history.
FTX Dismisses 3AC’s $1.5 Billion Claim
Attorneys for fallen crypto trading platform FTX have rejected a recovery claim worth $1.5 billion from 3AC (Three Arrows Capital), arguing that the losses made by the collapsed hedge fund were a result of its risky trading strategy and, therefore, creditors should not be held accountable.
3AC liquidators, on the other hand, argue that FTX’s decision to cash out the hedge fund’s crypto assets worth $1.52 billion in 2022 to handle its liquidity problems contributed to the firm’s collapse; therefore, the exchange should compensate.
Bitcoin Could Hit $165,000, Popular Crypto Analyst Predicts
Bitcoin’s latest price action has made analysts bullish again. With the coin reclaiming the $104,000 key support level and trading inside a bull pennant, popular crypto analyst on X, Jelle, says the new all-time high ($111,223) could be broken soon, allowing BTC to enter a price discovery phase.
If Bitcoin breaks out from the resistance line of the pennant, Jelle is optimistic that the asset could rise 50%, peaking at $165,000.
Fake IT Experts Steal $1M From Multiple NFT Platforms
Onchain sleuth ZachXBT has reported that several hackers who secured information technology jobs in June after posing as legit IT experts siphoned crypto worth $1 million from NFT projects, including ChainSaw and Replicandy, among others. The pseudonymous onchain observer explained that the hackers minted and sold hundreds of NFTs, whose prices then dropped to nearly zero.
Anchorage Criticized for Delisting Three Stablecoins
Crypto trading platform Anchorage Digital has been criticized over the last few days after revealing plans to delist three stablecoins due to “possible regulatory issues.” According to the CEO of Agora, Nick Van Eck, the platform’s move to stop supporting Usual USD, USDC, and Agora USD is unnecessary. Others argue that Anchorage Digital’s delisting plans are intended to benefit Paxos, a stablecoin issuer alleged to have a close relationship with the crypto platform.
Winners and Losers
Three cryptocurrencies with the most gains in the past week, according to CoinGecko’s data, include SEI (28%), Maple Finance (27.4%), and PENGU (24%). On the other hand, the top three losers include TIA (10.73%), Curve DAO Token (10.54%), and KAIA (10.31%).
