Category Archives: Bitcoin News

Bank of Russia Rejects Idea of Using Cryptocurrency to Circumvent Sanctions

Bank of Russia believes it is impossible to use cryptocurrency to bypass financial restrictions that were imposed due to the conflict in Ukraine. This is according to Ksenia Yudaeva (first Deputy governor of the central bank), who responded to a proposal from a member the State Duma, which is the lower house in Russian parliament.

Anton Gorelkin is a lawmaker representing the ruling United Russia party. He suggested that Russian entrepreneurs and companies should be permitted to pay in digital currencies. This includes for settlementswith foreign partners. In response to Western sanctions, he believes the establishment of a Russian national cryptocurrency infrastructure is inevitable.

However, officials at the central bank believe that large-scale cryptocurrency transfers by Russian companies would be impossible. Yudaeva, quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency said that regulators in the EU, U.S.A, Japan, Singapore and Japan have begun to implement preventive steps.

She said that digital asset platforms like crypto exchanges have also adopted restrictions which prohibit Russian users from accessing funds. Even though crypto payments aren’t banned in some jurisdictions, authorities are increasing the standards of compliance for crypto service providers with customer identification rules.

The Central Bank of Russia ( CBR) is a strong opponent to the legalization of cryptocurrency. The financial authority proposed banning all crypto-related activities in Russia in January. It stated that bitcoin and other decentralized digital currencies cannot be used to pay for goods or services.

The CBR’s hardline stance has led to it being isolated from other government institutions in Moscow. The federal government approved in February a regulatory plan that was based on the concept of the Finance Ministry. This plan favors strict supervision over prohibition.

The ministry presented a bill entitled “On Digital Currency” that was designed to regulate the country’s cryptocurrency market. It was submitted just days before the Russian army crossed over the Ukrainian border. Alexander Yakubovsky (Russian lawmaker) suggested in mid-March that cryptocurrencies could be used to help Russia regain its global financial access.

Russia May Start Accepting Bitcoin For Oil & Gas Exports

Yesterday’s videotaped news conference was taped by Pavel Zavalny (chair of Russia’s Duma energy committee and President of Russian Gas Society). He reportedly stated in translation that Russia is more open to payment options for ‘friendly’ countries like China or Turkey.

He stated that Bitcoin and the country’s fiat currency were being considered for alternative payment methods to Russia’s energy exports.

He said in translated comments that he had been proposing to China since a long time to change to settlements using national currencies for rublesand the yuan. It will be the lira, rubles and Turkish yen.

The Russian Gas Society President added, “You can also trade bitcoins.”

According to reports, the price of cryptocurrency spiked at the same time as Zavalny’s comments were first reported yesterday.

The energy committee’s head also doubled down on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pledge to demand that ‘unfriendly countries’ pay for gas in Russian rubles. Over concerns that Putin’s announcement might increase pressure on an already stressed energy market, European gas prices shot up.

In comments echoing the warning of the president, Zavalny stated that they should either pay in hard currency (which is gold for us) or as convenient for them, the national currency.

Despite all the recent announcements, it is fair to say that Russianow seems serious about moving away the dollar. The natural gas exporter could possibly convert energy reserves into assets that could be used beyond the dollar system.

It’s not clear, however, if Bitcoin’s relative inability to liquidity could support international trade transactions that large.

Bitcoin retraces the gains from yesterday as buyers turn to sellers today

Yesterday, Bitcoin’s price soared sharply. Pres. Obama’s executive order was the catalyst for Bitcoin’s rise. The executive order from Pres. Priorities include financial stability, responsible innovation, and maintaining the country’s financial edge.

These actions, and even more importantly the non-confrontational language seemed to open up the possibility of greater acceptance for digital currencies. The price moved strongly higher, closing above the 100 hour and 200-hour MAs in this process (see the blue and green lines in chart above).

It did not reach its 100-day MA at $42508 (see the blue line below on the daily chart). This was the goal for trading today. It was not to be.

The price has retraced all gains and is currently at $2700, which is below the $40000 mark. The current price is $39,261

The hourly chart at top of this post shows that the price fell below the 200-hour moving average (green line at $40,282) as well as the 100-hour moving average ($39,467) (blue line in chart above). The current price is $39,251, meaning that the bears have more control than the moving average levels. One attempt was made to push the price higher during the North American session, but sellers opposed the 200-hour moving average and drove the price down.

What’s next?

There are many ups and downs in the price action. This can be seen on both the hourly and daily charts. This is the nature of the beast.

The MAs on an hourly chart will be used to determine the risk/bias. Bearishness is greater below the 200- and 100-hour MAs. This is the current situation.

If you move above these MA, the bias will be in your favor. The focus will return to the 100-day MA at $43,509.

The bears will have the upper hand if this is not the case. They will be able to support themselves with next major support targets just above $37000 (from $37015 – $37169). If you move below this level, the door will open for more selling.

BTC Liquidity Tightens as Bitcoin Held by Exchanges Hits 6-Month Low

According to current statistics, there’s 2.363 million bitcoin, or $100 billion worth, of the leading crypto asset held on exchanges. The current value of the bitcoin ( BTC) held by centralized exchanges equates to 12.36% of BTC ‘s overall $809 billion market capitalization.

While 2.363 million is a significant fraction, it’s 8.88% less than the number of bitcoins held on exchanges on July 25, 2021. Too many crypto market participants, and the fact that there’s less BTC on exchanges means less selling pressure going forward.

Metrics indicate that the last time bitcoin exchange reserves were this low was ten months ago, back in April 2021. Combined statistics from Bituniverse, Peckshield, Etherscan, and Chain.info show that the exchange Coinbase holds the most bitcoin ( BTC) today with 853,530 BTC held in reserves.

The value of Coinbase’s BTC holdings equates to 35% of the current $100 billion worth of BTC held on exchanges. Binance is the second-largest bitcoin holder, in terms of exchanges, with 339,870 BTC worth $14.5 billion using current bitcoin exchange rates.

Ethereum Exchange Reserves Plummet, Miners Sell Holdings

Meanwhile, the same can be said about the number of ethereum ( ETH) held on centralized exchanges. Data from cryptoquant.com shows there’s 17 million ether held on exchanges today, but that amount has been sliding significantly since May 2021. In May last year, crypto exchanges held 21.9 million ethereum.

This means roughly 22.37% of the ETH held on exchanges has left the market environment for alternative solutions. On the other hand, much of the ETH that has left centralized exchanges since last May could have been transferred to decentralized exchange (dex) platforms.

Currently, the most active crypto exchange in terms of ether trade volume, Binance, holds 3.59 million ETH in reserves. While less BTC and ETH on exchanges could lead to less selling pressure, metrics show that BTC miners have been selling bitcoin.

Miner holdings, according to Glassnode data, went negative on February 5, 2022, for the first time in two months. At the time of writing, cryptoquant.com statistics indicate there’s roughly 1.86 million BTC held by mining entities.

Binance Announces SAFU Fund Has Reached $1 Billion

Binance, the world’s largest exchange by volume, has revealed a significant milestone about its SAFU fund. The fund’s name is ‘Secure Asset Fond for Users’ and it has now reached one billion dollars to pay its users for any hack or other event that could affect their funds. Two wallet addresses were also revealed by the exchange so that the public and users can track the movements of these funds.

According to the press release, this information seems to have been made in order to improve the transparency exchange for governments around the globe. It also suggested that other crypto-exchanges follow their lead. Binance said that this is the case:

Binance asks all centralized exchanges for their addresses of insurance funds. This will be a benefit to the whole ecosystem and show regulators, governments and other important stakeholders that we are committed to trust, integrity, and transparency within the crypto ecosystem.

Origin of SAFU and Past Uses

The SAFU fund was created in 2018 after the exchange suffered several trading outages due to irregular trading activity. To protect users from major hacks, the fund was created. The exchange stated at the time that it would donate 10% of trading fees to the fund and that the funds would be kept in a separate cold wallet.

SAFU has been used to help victims of hacking in numerous cases. In May 2018, hackers stole more than 7,074 from the exchange. This was one of the most well-known instances. Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s CEO, said that the company was looking at a reorganization of the BTC chains but that decided not to do so. The fund was also used to pay clients for Cover finance infinite minting hack in December.