Bitcoin Mining Booming + SBF Wants FTX Funds Back

Coinigy Team -

Hello there!

It's another week for upwards trends in the crypto market. But first, we must take a look at all the major headlines from the past week. Price movement in the last seven days has been somewhat rocky. Bitcoin is still holding on to $23k, which is still a positive sign.

However, many top-100 tokens suffered some price drop—but nothing too serious. Always ensure to track your favorite tokens using Coinigy to know the right time to HODL or drop some bags.

Here are the highlights of this week

  • Bitcoin Mining Is Booming Despite Market Headwinds
  • SBF Replies U.S. Prosecutors, Requests Access to FTX Funds
  • From $1.5B to $0, Crypto Payments Platform Wyre Shuts Down
  • European Banks Must Fully Cover Crypto Holdings With Capital, Draft Text Says
  • Japan Embraces Web3 As Global Regulators Grow Wary of Crypto

Bitcoin Mining Is Booming Despite Market Headwinds

Bitcoin mining has never been harder, according to the latest data. The network’s mining difficulty hit a new all-time high of 37.59 trillion hashes after posting a rare increase of over 10% on January 15, the highest leap since last November—the only time in 2022 when mining difficulty increased by a double-digit percentage. Read more.

SBF Replies U.S. Prosecutors, Requests Access to FTX Funds

SBF’s legal team wants the court to grant him access to FTX funds because he was not involved in earlier unauthorized transactions. According to the lawyers, the government investigations into the unauthorized transactions have lasted for close to three weeks and should have shown that SBF’s claim about the transactions was valid. Several Alameda wallets moved funds a few days after SBF was granted bail, prompting rumors that he might be behind the transactions. Here’s the full story.

From $1.5B to $0, Crypto Payments Platform Wyre Shuts Down

Crypto payments and infrastructure provider company Wyre is shutting down, months after Bolt Financial scrapped a $1.5 billion deal to buy the firm. Wyre was first founded in 2013 by Michael Dunworth and Ioannis Giannaros and had raised a total of $29.1 million across nine rounds of funding, data from Crunchbase shows. Some of its investors include Pantera Capital, Stellar Development Foundation, and Amphora Capital. Read the complete story.

European Banks Must Fully Cover Crypto Holdings With Capital, Draft Text Says

Banks will have to treat crypto as among the riskiest class of holdings, according to a leaked document listing the final set of proposed amendments to a 2021 package intended to bring European Union bank capital rules into line with international norms.

The text seen by CoinDesk asks the European Commission to propose a bill by June 2023 and says banks should apply a 1,250% risk weight to crypto exposures until the end of 2024. Read the entire story.

Japan Embraces Web3 As Global Regulators Grow Wary of Crypto

“While many other countries are standing still and shrugging their shoulders in the face of the cold wind, Japan is positioned to play a unique role in the crypto industry.” So reads a proposal by Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party Web3 project team. In other words: Where other nations fear crisis, Japan sees opportunity. Read the full story.

Other highlights worth mentioning

Bitcoin Price Prediction as Bulls Push BTC Above $23,000 – How High Can BTC Go? - Cryptonews

How the Porsche NFT Drop Crashed and Burned - Decrypt

Justin Sun Wants Tron’s TRX to be Adopted as Legal Tender in 5 Countries - BeInCrypto