Read in the Digest:
- Crypto Market Surges 10% After Fed Hikes Interest Rates; ETH, ETC, and LDO Lead Altcoin Rally
- Meta’s Revenue Declines in Q2 Report, Profit Drops 36%
- FTX.US Opens Stock Trading to All Users in the U.S., Considers Options Next
- Outrage as Harmony Proposes Minting 5B ONE Tokens to Reimburse Users
- U.K. Law Commission Proposes Reforms to Clarify Crypto Property Law
Crypto Market Surges 10% After Fed Hikes Interest Rates; ETH, ETC, and LDO Lead Altcoin Rally
Defying the bearish sentiments that engulfed the crypto market prior to the U.S. Federal Reserve increase of interest rates on Wednesday, digital assets surged in the aftermath of the announcement, raising the global market cap by 10%.
Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency, has gained 8% over the last 24 hours as its price shot up from $21,200 to as high as $23,358. Ethereum leads the way for altcoins, gaining 12% to set a new 6-week high at $1,667.
The 24-hour price chart of Bitcoin (BTC). Source: CoinMarketCap
The 24-hour price chart of Ethereum (ETH). Source: CoinMarketCap
Ethereum’s spin-off chain, Ethereum Classic (ETC), is posting even better results, gaining 22.3% in the last 24 hours and 46.7% in the last 7 days to hit a high of $35.07. ETC is spiking as miners migrate from ETH to ETC as the merge approaches.
The 7D price chart of Ethereum Classic (ETC). Source: CoinMarketCap
Lido DAO (LDO) is the grand altcoin rally leader, gaining 37.7% in the last 24 hours. LDO trades at $2.2, the best performing top 100 crypto, gaining 260% in the last month.
The 30D price chart of Lido DAO (LDO). Source: CoinMarketCap
Flipsider:
- Many believe that the crypto market will repeat the trend of trending after the Fed announcement, followed by a massive sell-off.
Meta’s Revenue Declines in Q2, Profit Drops 36%
After years of the sales arrow only pointing upward, on July 27, Facebook (NASDAQ:META) parent company Meta reported its financial results for the second quarter ending June 30 with total quarterly revenue of $28.82 billion, down 1% from a year earlier.
According to data from Refinitiv, the company’s quarterly net income fell by 36%, to $6.69 billion. In addition, the diluted earnings per share for the quarter decreased to $2.46 per share from $3.61 per share in the same period of 2021.
Part of the decline in Meta’s revenue can be linked to the drop in monthly active users on the platform from 3 billion in Q1 to 2.93 billion as of June 30. In June, the average daily active users dropped to 1.97 billion.
Meta expects its revenue for the third quarter to be lower than that of Q2. The estimated revenue the company gave for Q3 will be in the range of $26 billion to $28.5 billion, trailing Refinitiv’s $30.5 billion average analyst estimate.
Flipsider:
- The growing competition from rival TikTok, which is snagging users and taking ad market share, is one of the reasons for the decline in revenue.
Why You Should Care
The disappointing second-quarter results from major tech firms are a result of the growing inflation rate and recession that have taken a toll on the economy.
FTX.US Opens Stock Trading to All Users in the US and Considers Options Next
On Wednesday, July 27, FTX.US, the U.S. affiliate of Sam Bankman-Fried-owned FTX, announced that users across all U.S. states can now trade stock on its platform after completing the beta testing of the feature.
The American affiliate of FTX now lists over fifty of the biggest American companies, including the Big Five Tech stocks, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), and Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL).
After announcing the launch, Brett Harrison, the president of FTX.US, said, “It will be very interesting when we open it to all to see how many FTX US users start to trade stocks and to what extent we will be able to bring new users.”
In addition to opening stock trading to all its users, the president of FTX.US has announced that the exchange is currently considering adding options trading, following the likes of Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD).
Flipsider:
- FTX’s proposal to acquire Voyager Digital appears to have broken down after the failed crypto lender said that “no customer will be made whole” under the proposal.
Why You Should Care
The service expansion falls in line with FTX’s goal of improving the service offered to customers to help bolster their existing business.
Outrage as Harmony Proposes Minting 5B ONE Tokens to Reimburse Users
To reimburse the 65,000 affected users from the $100 million Harmony bridge hack, the Harmony team, on Wednesday, July 27, submitted a proposal on its network’s governance to mint billions of its ONE tokens to reimburse the victims of the Horizon bridge hack.
The Harmony team put forward two plans. The first involved performing a hardfork on the network to mint 4.97 billion ONE tokens that will reimburse 100% of the stolen funds. The second plan will see 2.48B ONE to reimburse half of the users’ funds. Both plans would take place over three years.
However, the proposal has sparked outrage in the Harmony community, with many members noting the team’s lack of concern about the project’s future. “DO NOT MINT MORE!” is currently the most upvoted comment in the Harmony One community forum.
Other users have noted that minting the ONE tokens out of thin air would increase inflationary pressure to unsustainable levels, further devaluating the price of ONE, currently trading at $0.0215.
Flipsider:
- The infamous North Korean hacking group Lazarus has been linked to the $100M Harmony hack, which has already been passed through Tornado cash.
Why You Should Care
The outrage in the Harmony community is fueled by the belief that the proposal only seeks to protect its treasury at the expense of the entire protocol.
U.K. Law Commission Proposes Reforms to Clarify Crypto Property Law
The Law Commission of England and Wales on Thursday proposed a number of law reforms to clarify how property law accommodates digital assets as they continue to evolve and expand as stores of value, forms of payments, or equity or debt securities.
The new consultation paper explicitly recognizes “data objects” as a property law category covering ownership and control, options for how the government could develop this specific property, and the law around transfers and transactions involving digital assets.
The legal reforms proposed by the Commission are in line with the government’s plan for England and Wales to become a hub for digital assets systems and cryptocurrencies. November 4, 2022, is the Law Commission’s deadline for the public to respond to its consultation paper.
Law Commissioner for commercial and common law Sarah Green said the proposal aims “to create a strong legal framework that provides greater consistency and protection for users and promotes an environment that can encourage further technological innovation.”
Flipsider:
- According to a court ruling from a U.K Judge, individuals and entities can now be served legal documents via NFTs; this showcases a move to adopt blockchain technology.
Why You Should Care
Governments across the globe are now putting together regulatory frameworks to tame the volatile “Wild West” crypto market.