Remember late 2021 when cryptocurrencies were perceived as the future of global transactions. Since that peak a few months ago, cryptocurrency assets have declined a painfully staggering USD 2 trillion. With losses so monumental, a wave of crypto-related disputes in the form of international arbitration are imminent.

Cryptocurrency businesses have been known to include arbitration agreements in their contracts, which is unsurprising considering the harmonious nature of both cryptocurrency and international arbitration. As cryptocurrency identifies itself as a decentralized character, arbitration similarly enjoys the freedom of party autonomy that cannot be found before national courts.

This article seeks to provide a guide to the challenges and remedies that are bound to arise in cryptocurrency arbitrations as well as a look at the current Binance case.

VARIOUS FORMS OF CRYPTOCURRENCY DISPUTES

As with any subject matter, cryptocurrency disputes come in various forms, but as crypto is a novel sector, some disputes may raise novel legal issues. For instance, in the absence of a governing law clause, issues may arise as to what law governs the blockchain transactions. Expect to see some of the following forms of disputes:

The substantive underlying issues may be familiar to some, but the disputed factual issues may be outside of a partys scope. This is where industry experts come in handy. For instance, counsel may be unaware of how a decentralized finance platforms fake product identification system works. Engaging an industry expert to provide technical analysis of the disputed factual issues may go a long way in complimenting the legal reasoning.

THE BINANCE CASE

Binance is one of the leading crypto trading platforms with offices in France, Spain, Italy, and the UAE. On May 19, 2021, a power outage caused the platform to fail. This failure left users unable to exit their positions all whilst crypto prices were dipping in real-time. Hundreds of users/investors commenced arbitration against Binance, seeking relief for the millions they had lost as a direct result of the outage.

Whilst the dispute is being headed by White & Case, with a USD 5 million minimum in funding from Swiss private equity firm Liti Capital, the dispute is the first of its kind, but certainly not the last.

One of the main challenges currently arising from this dispute is the fact that Binance states they have no official headquarters and as such, it has been incredibly difficult for investors to figure out how, and where, to take the company to court.

Another challenge was identifying the correct counterparties. The Binance terms of use refer only to Binance Operators as being the parties that run Binance, without naming any incorporated legal persons, and conversely, including language to the effect that the identities of these operators are subject to change. This open-ended definition includes but is not limited to legal persons (including Binance UAB), unincorporated organizations and teams that provide Binance Services and are responsible for such services. When a dispute arises, it is the task of the claimant to identify the counterparties to the dispute depending on the specific services [Claimant] uses and the particular actions that affect rights or interests. This caused immense issues as arbitrating against the wrong party could result in the tribunal rejecting a claim, despite the validity of the claim.

CHALLENGE I: NATURE OF THE JURISDICTION

Several jurisdictions across the globe have taken steps to regulate cryptocurrency assets or even just outright ban them. In Qatar, a circular warned all banks operating in Qatar against trading in bitcoin. India and Russia are among the nations where bitcoin trading has been outright outlawed. Courts have been found to follow suit. In 2020, a court in Mainland China set aside an award regarding cryptocurrency on the grounds that it violated public policy.

All this being said, the seat of arbitration is a significant factor in cryptocurrency disputes. However, risks can be mitigated. For instance, based on the jurisdiction, parties may opt to request an award in damages quantified in a currency of equivalent value to the cryptocurrency in dispute. This may reduce the likelihood of the enforcement being denied.

CHALLENGE II: IDENTIFYING THE CORRECT PARTIES

As we saw in the Binance case, cryptocurrency businesses are sometimes organized in opaque ways which may it difficult to identify the correct counterparties to the arbitration agreement.

However, once the correct party(ies) have been identified an examination of their ability to satisfy the requirements of the award should be done. Several cryptocurrency businesses do not have the financial means to satisfy an award, due to the staggering decline of the market and arbitrating against a party on the brink of financial collapse may not be beneficial.

CHALLENGE III: VALUATIONS

Valuating cryptocurrency businesses may be a challenge due to the lack of comparable publicly listed companies with sufficient financial information to conduct a market-based valuation. Similarly, valuating the cryptocurrencies themselves may be straightforward but where the currency is illiquid, difficulties may arise.

Another issue with valuations is assessing the future prospects of crypto businesses, at their valuation date and identifying key driving factors. Again, this may seem straightforward, but problems are prosed when the valuation date falls within a period of significant market volatility, such as that seen during the winter of 2021.

As such, identifying the valuation data has a significant impact on the quantification of damages.

CHALLENGE IV: ARBITRAL AWARDS AND RELIEF

If an arbitral award is rendered in a partys favor, they still face the challenge of receiving their money. First, crypto assets and transactions take place on blockchain which makes it difficult to track down and even locate the amounts. Second, as previously discussed, some jurisdictions may reject enforcement of cryptocurrency-related disputes on the grounds of public policy or some other issue relating to the assets.

In addressing these challenges, parties and their counsel may utilize some of the following:

Mareva Injunction

A worldwide freezing order and asset disclosure order. It extends to all a defendants assets worldwide, limiting the defendant from utilizing those assets except for regulatory purposes (i.e., paying employment salaries) unless consent is granted by the plaintiff. It also requires the defendant to disclose its worldwide assets over a certain threshold value (i.e., over USD 10,000 or USD 50,000).

The Hong Kong High Court recently granted a Mareva injunction over bitcoins that had been fraudulently misappropriated freezing up to USD 2.6 million of the defendants assets (including any digital assets).

Norwich Orders

Injunctive orders obtained against an innocent third party in order to identify a wrongdoer or details related to a potential wrongdoer. This can be used to compel an innocent third party (such as a cryptocurrency exchange) to disclose relevant information to a plaintiff/applicant.

In digital asset disputes, these orders have been used to compel exchanges to disclose details related to crypto wallets and digital assets. The English High Court recently issued a Norwich order against two cryptocurrency exchanges outside of England compelling them to assist in identifying what had happened to the cryptocurrency in question.

Anton Piller Orders

A common law remedy which compels a defendant to permit a plaintiff to enter its property to search for and seize evidence and records (including electronic data and equipment). An Anton Piller order in a cryptocurrency dispute was recently issued by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in relation to an alleged theft of CAD 15 million in digital assets from the plaintiffs crypto wallet.

CONCLUSION

Cryptocurrency and its arbitration are developing over time and it will be interesting to see the other challenges which will emerge over the coming months as tribunals around the world deal with cryptocurrency-related disputes.

Excerpt from:
The Cryptocurrency Arbitration Handbook - Lexology

Many investors, especially those looking for profitable short-term opportunities, are turning to cryptocurrencies and forgood reason. Potential profits from this market far exceed what you can achieve in stocks and even forex trading. That's because, unlike stocks and forex, cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, creating many long and short opportunities at any given moment.

That said, not all cryptocurrencies are equal, and some present better day trading opportunities than others. For this reason, we have compiled a list of the top cryptocurrencies to trade in 2023.

Each of these coins has shown high volatility over time, and they are available on most top cryptocurrency exchanges. In this guide, you will also learn about how to get started in your day-trading journey.

The top 10 best cryptocurrencies to trade today

Given the high volatility of the cryptocurrency trading market, many investors are turning to short-term trading. If you like the idea of short-term trading, below are the top 10 cryptocurrencies to day trade today.

Binance coin (bnb)

Ethereum (eth)

Terra classic (lunc)

Bitcoin (btc)

Cardano (ada)

Ripple (xrp)

Chainlink (link)

Dogecoin (doge)

Shiba inu (shib)

Cosmos (atom)

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A closer look at the top cryptocurrencies for day trading

One thing that stands out among the top cryptocurrencies to trade today is that they are all liquid and volatile. This makes them perfect for anyone looking for cryptocurrency day trading opportunities.

Now that you know all 10are perfect for cryptocurrency trading, let's look at each of them in depth. The best part is that they are also among the best cryptocurrencies to trade and hold long-term.

Binance coin (bnb)

The binance coin is the cryptocurrency that powers the binance exchange the largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volumes. This means that the long-term growth of binance coin is closely tied to the growth of the binance cryptocurrency exchange.

Bnb offers various uses for its holders, from discounts on trading fees and access to upcoming token sales through binance's launch pad program. In addition, it can be used within the company's smart chain (bsc), which creates nfts and allows users to participate in building dapps.

It is no surprise that bnb has become one of the most popular cryptocurrencies for day trading in recent times. The token's stability and low volatility make it appealing for crypto traders looking to day trade or scalp some gains on their investments, as opposed to other currencies, which might be more volatile depending upon market sentiment.

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Virtual currencies are highly volatile. Your capital is at risk.

Ethereum (eth)

Ethereum is one of the best altcoins on this list, and it's not hard to see why. The blockchain was built with smart contracts in mind - which allow for code that runs without any interference from third parties. But even more than its functionality as an app store powering these kinds of applications, ethereum also has appeal to short-term traders and long-term cryptocurrency investors.

The demand for either tokens for paying gas fees has made it one of the most sought-after cryptocurrencies on exchanges. Not only does this token provide access to smart contracts, but also as an investment that is continually drawing in retail and institutional investors for day trading and long-term investment.

The appeal of ethereum for cryptocurrency day trading is clear when you look at its price action. There are strong supports and resistances that offer predictable market entries and exit points. This makes ethereum very popular among those who want to day trade cryptocurrencies but need some predictability on price movements.

The best part about ethereum trading is that eth is one of the most liquid cryptocurrencies in the market today. Ethereum is only second to bitcoin in trading volumes, and when you couple this with its price predictability, it is easy to see why it is one of the best cryptocurrencies to day trade today.

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Virtual currencies are highly volatile. Your capital is at risk.

Terra classic (lunc)

Terra classic has one of the most resilient communities in the cryptocurrency market. Since the collapse of the terra luna ecosystem earlier in 2022, lunc has become a speculators paradise, and volumes are high all the time, especially when there is token burn news. This liquidity, coupled with its high volatility, makes it a top cryptocurrency to day trade.

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Virtual currencies are highly volatile. Your capital is at risk.

Bitcoin (btc)

Bitcoin, the world's most popular cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of over $437 billion, according to coinmarketcap, is still worth considering for day traders. Bitcoins first-mover status has allowed it to gain traction in such an otherwise flooded industry that continues evolving daily. While there have been some challenges along the way, including price fluctuations and regulations, bitcoin remains a top cryptocurrency for day traders looking to capitalize on market volatility.

Anyone who has ever tried day trading knows that volumes matter. The higher the volumes that a trading asset has, the better its odds of success. On this front, bitcoin is miles ahead of the competition. With more than $20 billion in daily trading volume, bitcoin is the most liquid cryptocurrency ever. Most top cryptocurrency exchanges can give investors tight spreads on btc thanks to the huge trading volumes. This makes day trading strategies like scalping possible with btc.

Besides the volatility characteristic of all cryptocurrencies, bitcoin stands out as a top cryptocurrency to trade for its current adoption levels and growth potential.

None of the other cryptocurrencies match bitcoin in terms of merchant adoption. At the same time, institutional investors are increasingly seeking exposure to bitcoin. This gives bitcoin good short-term potential and makes it one of the best cryptocurrencies to buy and hold for years.

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Virtual currencies are highly volatile. Your capital is at risk.

Cardano (ada)

What if you could harness the power of blockchain without bleeding your bank account dry? Cardano is a cryptocurrency that aims to compete with ethereum in terms of features, but at below $1 per token, is affordable for most investors. Charles hoskinson, who was part of the original ethereum team, developed cardano. Hoskinson and the rest of the cardano team hope this new network will provide even more value than his previous work while remaining accessible to many, primarily through its low barrier to entry staking.

With its 'proof-of stake' mechanism, cardano only uses a fraction of the energy requirements of bitcoin. This gives it a high adoption potential while creating a source of passive income for those that stake ada tokens.

For day traders, there is a lot to love about cardano. Ada is one of the most traded cryptocurrencies today. Like other top 10 cryptocurrencies, ada has high trading volumes at any given time. This means cardano spreads are low on all top cryptocurrency exchanges. It also means that cardano is a perfect cryptocurrency for scalpers and traders employing different day trading strategies.

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Virtual currencies are highly volatile. Your capital is at risk.

Ripple (xrp)

There's a lot of buzz about xrp, but is it worth your time? The answer depends on if you have short-term or long-term investments in mind. If you are a long-term investor, you need to consider xrp's core fundamentals and the risks involved.

However, for traders with narrower spans between trades (i.e., those looking only at what lies ahead today), ripple (xrp) offers some attractive trading opportunities. That's because it has one of the largest communities in crypto, and xrp volumes are usually high on most cryptocurrency exchanges.

Ripple is also highly volatile, and its volatility will likely increase in the coming days and months. That's because there is a lot of speculation that the ongoing court case between ripple and the sec could be close to its end. It's been a tough few years for ripple. The uncertainty of the sec case has caused major fluctuations in recent months and could provide some exciting opportunities for those looking to day trade xrp in 2023 and longer.

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Virtual currencies are highly volatile. Your capital is at risk.

Chainlink (link)

Chainlink (link) is an obvious inclusion in the list of top cryptocurrencies for successful day trading in 2023.

Chainlink is a network of oracles that provide data to decentralized applications. These networks are not centralized, so they allow the dapps access to real-world insights without being vertically integrated with one source for all information.

The data oracles on the chainlink network are an essential part of keeping dapps running smoothly. By aggregating information from various sources, this service ensures that every piece sent through its system gets accurate feedback. To guarantee the accuracy, the network rewards data providers with link tokens if they deliver facts as requested by a smart contract.

Over the years, link has become one of the most popular cryptocurrencies for day trading. That's because link is listed on almost all the best cryptocurrency exchanges in the market, which makes it highly liquid. Besides, due to its high utility, and currently depressed prices, link continues to attract many traders, which keeps volumes high at all times. The result is that link is practical even for scalping day trading strategies.

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Virtual currencies are highly volatile. Your capital is at risk.

Dogecoin (doge)

If you follow the crypto markets, it's no secret that dogecoin was one of the 2020s most popular coins. It survived may 2021 without majorly falling apart and remains one of the most popular meme coins to trade today.

While dogecoin has lost a significant portion of its value for the better part of the year, it remains one of the most popular meme coins for day traders and long-term investors. With the right factors at play, doge has shown higher return potential than most cryptocurrencies.

Doge is an amazing cryptocurrency for short-term traders because its price can rise quickly and fall quickly. This makes it perfect for taking advantage of any trading opportunities, regardless of the prevailing market conditions. While this volatility may not be ideal for the risk-averse, those who can shoulder it have multiple profit opportunities from dogecoin at any given time.

Most importantly, day traders love dogecoin for its high trading volumes. Dogecoin's high trading volumes come from its large and passionate community, numbering over 4 million on social media platforms. This coupled with the fact that doge is available on most top cryptocurrency exchanges, makes it one of the best for day trading.

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Virtual currencies are highly volatile. Your capital is at risk.

Shiba inu (shib)

Shiba inu is one of the most famous meme coins in the market today. Since its 48,000,000% rally in 2021, the shib community has grown exponentially.

Shiba inu has been listed on almost all the top-rated cryptocurrency exchanges. The has seen its liquidity shoot up over time, making it one of the cryptocurrencies of choice for day traders.

Cosmos (atom)

Cosmos is gaining traction as one of the blockchains that could open the way for blockchain mass adoption. It is scalable and also allows for the creation of an interconnected network of blockchains.

This has seen cosmos adoption grow over time, making it one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. This has made cosmos a highly liquid cryptocurrency, perfect for day traders.

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Virtual currencies are highly volatile. Your capital is at risk.

A simplified guide to cryptocurrency trading

Cryptocurrency trading is just like any other financial asset trading. It entails the short-term buying and selling of a cryptocurrency over a short period. For instance, if a cryptocurrency trader expects the price of ethereum to go up within the day, they can buy it in the morning, let its price rise, then sell once their price target is hit.

When you invest in crypto, it's crucial to consider your investment's time frame. However, because cryptocurrency price movements happen so quickly, especially compared against more traditional markets such as stocks or bonds, short-term cryptocurrency trading approaches tend to focus on much smaller time frames.

Crypto trading has always been considered one of the most profitable strategies for traders who want to make big bucks in a short time. One common tactic is buying crypto's that are about to go up before they peak, then selling them immediately. It's called scalping, and cryptocurrencies with high trading volumes, have better outcomes than when trading conventional assets with lower volatility.

That said, even as you analyze our list of best cryptocurrencies to day trade, it is important to remember that this strategy is inherently risky. That's because in a volatile market like cryptocurrency, it can be hard to predict how prices will go within hours. As such, if you are to succeed when day trading cryptocurrencies, you need to develop a high-risk tolerance.

How does cryptocurrency trading differ from investing?

The difference between crypto trading and investing is often misunderstood, but it's an important distinction to make if you want your money working for you.

Crypto trading is a high-risk but potentially lucrative venture that allows traders to take advantage of short-term price movements. When day trading cryptocurrencies, buy or sell orders must be closed within the day. It's a high-risk strategy, but if done right, it can lead to significant returns on investment.

On the other hand, cryptocurrency investing is about buying and holding cryptocurrency for years. When investing in cryptocurrencies, you have an advantage in handling volatile markets. Unlike traders, who often time the market and try buying low or selling high, crypto holders need not concern themselves with what seems like a perfect opportunity at any given moment. That's because emotion doesn't play nearly as big a role with these investments over extended periods.

For instance, while bitcoin is usually highly volatile short term, with up to 70% declines in price, the overall trajectory has been up over the last decade. Bitcoin started trading in 2009 at under $1, and at its current price of $20,000, is still one of the most profitable investments ever. That's despite a drop in the price from highs of $69k in 2021.

There's another major benefit, too: unlike people trading stocks (or other traditional assets), those investing in cryptocurrencies don't need to worry about waiting too long. With cryptocurrencies, anything between 5 to 10 years is enough to give you multiple times what you can get from the s&p 500, for instance.

With this in mind, it is only natural to wonder, is cryptocurrency trading better than long-term investing? Whether you want to become a cryptocurrency day trader or a long-term hodler is a function of your risk tolerance. If you are into high-risk, high-return investments, then cryptocurrency trading is a worthy consideration. On the other hand, if you are uncomfortable with volatility, then long-term cryptocurrency investing could be ideal.

>>>trade cryptos now<<<

Virtual currencies are highly volatile. Your capital is at risk.

Understanding cryptocurrency day trading

The idea behind crypto day trading is that you want to take advantage of quick fluctuations in the market. You open and close your position within a single business day, meaning if prices move up or down quickly throughout that period, then it's possible to make a profit.

To help you better understand how to day trade cryptocurrencies, here is an example of how it's done.

A cryptocurrency speculator expects the price of ethereum to go up during the day. From a hypothetical price point of $1300, the trader expects ethereum to hit $1350.

Buying volumes surge, and during the day, ethereum ends up hitting a high of $1500.

The trader decides to close the trade, giving them a profit of 15.3%.

On the flip side, a trader can decide that the price of bitcoin will go down after starting the day at $19,800.

The trader then opens a short position, with a target of $19,200.

Read more here:
Best cryptocurrency to trade in 2023 | HeraldScotland - HeraldScotland

Cryptocurrency mixers, a software that provides anonymity in crypto transactions, are at the forefront of the latest clash between regulators and the emerging world of digital assets, with legal actions, arrests, counter lawsuits, and North Korean hackers all part of the picture.

The U.S. Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) slapped sanctions on the Tornado Cash cryptomixer in August. This is based on allegations that since its creation in 2019 the mixer has handled more than $7 billion of cryptocurrency, including from criminal organizations like the North Korean state-backed Lazarus Group.

Despite public assurances otherwise, Tornado Cash has repeatedly failed to impose effective controls designed to stop it from laundering funds for malicious cyber actors on a regular basis and without basic measures to address its risks, said Treasury Under Secretary Brian E. Nelson in announcing the sanctions. Treasury will continue to aggressively pursue actions against mixers that launder virtual currency for criminals and those who assist them.

Sheila Warren, chief executive officer of the Crypto Council for Innovation, said the sanctions effectively a ban on U.S. citizens and businesses using the service set a precarious precedent and would have potentially very far-reaching implications.

This is a departure from the principle that code or technology itself has a fundamental neutrality that is benign, and it is what you do with it that is what turns it into something that can be malicious, she said at the Forkast live-streamed event, Crypto Rising: The Role of Law: An International Debate post Tornado Cash on October 5.

In addition to sanctioning specific wallets, all assets held in Tornado Cash were frozen, triggering a backlash from many in the crypto community and a lawsuit against the Treasury. The case filed by six Tornado Cash users and backed by cryptocurrency exchange firm Coinbase Global, Inc may set important precedents for U.S. regulators.

Privacy vs. Security

Advocates of crypto mixers argue they are key to privacy on the blockchain because they obscure the history and origin of digital assets. When the mixer receives cryptocurrency, it pools it together with assets from other users, mixes them together, and returns the same amount of funds, less a fee, into a new wallet that the user can access with a special digital key though the details of how Tornado Cash works differ slightly.

The ability to move cryptocurrency into a wallet that has never been used or associated with the user ensures more privacy. Though cryptocurrency is often considered anonymous, it is pseudonymous, with every transaction traceable to a public cryptocurrency wallet address.

A wallet can become associated with the users actual identity the more it is used in transactions with traditional finance. For example, once a wallet is added to a third-party exchange, the users wallet and bank account can be linked.

While the absence of crypto mixers would have a negligible effect on legal cryptocurrency activity, they present a dilemma to regulators and members of the cryptocurrency community, according to legal and blockchain experts.

Virtually everyone would acknowledge that privacy is valuable, and that in a vacuum, theres no reason services like mixers shouldnt be able to provide it, however, this needs to be balanced with the fact that 25% of mixed funds come from illicit addresses, Andrew Fierman, head of Sanctions Strategy at U.S. blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, told Forkast in an email.

A sizable amount of the more than $7.6 billion worth of Ether crypto that Tornado Cash has received since starting up in August 2019 has come from illicit or high-risk sources, including $455 million from hacks by the Lazarus Group, according to Chainalysis data.

In the first half of 2022, crypto addresses tied to illicit activity transferred nearly 10% of their funds to cryptocurrency mixers like Tornado Cash, Chainalysis data shows, which didnt provide a dollar figure.

Given the data, Fierman said, we may see this trend continue and for OFAC to designate other mixing services used by cybercriminal groups.

However, on the privacy and safety side of the argument, Ethereum cofounder Vitalik Buterin has said he used Tornado Cash to donate to Ukraine following the invasion by Russia, stating the service allowed him to do so without disclosing the identities of recipients.

Sanctioning code?

Christopher Goes, the cofounder of Anoma, a privacy-centric blockchain protocol, told Forkast via email that hes skeptical of how effective sanctioning Tornado Cash would be, as it is not targeted or specific enough to shut down particular parties.

He argues it is easy to copy and rename protocols, diluting efforts to crack down on money laundering, while freezing the assets of individuals for using a service that was legal when they first engaged with it.

While I can see how this goal makes sense within a certain U.S. foreign policy rationale, I am not sure that sanctioning Tornado Cash will actually accomplish it, or help, he said, adding that he does not believe Tornado Cash is technically a crypto mixer.

This is an unfortunate misconception, he said, when users use Tornado Cash, their funds are kept separate, not mixed with one another. There are some custodial Bitcoin mixers, which do mix funds but which do not provide privacy, and those are probably regulated under money transmitter laws.

At its core, Tornado Cash is just code running on various open public blockchains like Ethereum, making it a complex entity to regulate. The code was publicly available for anyone to use on the open-source software hosting service GitHub.

The code was then removed from GitHub on concern that even hosting the software was in breach of the Treasury sanctions.

Tornado Cash advocates pushed back, arguing the OFAC did not have the Congressional authority to sanction code, which they argued is an expression of freedom of speech, as established in 1996 in the Bernstein v. U.S. Dept of State case.

Digital Rights advocacy group the Electronic Frontier Foundation said in a blog post: the disappearance of this source code from GitHub after the government action raised the specter of government action chilling the publication of this code.

Peter Van Valkenburgh the research director at Coin Center, a non-profit on public policy and cryptocurrencies weighed in, saying the Tornado Cash ban is unconstitutional.

OFAC has since walked back slightly, saying that U.S. persons would not be prohibited by U.S. sanctions regulations from copying the open-source code and making it available online for others to view. The code is now back on GitHub, though in a read-only form.

Ethereum Core developer Preston Vanloon, tweeted about the reversal, saying, that is progress from an outright ban. I still encourage GitHub to reverse all actions and return the repositories to their former status.

Arrested

Another casualty is 29-year-old developer Alexey Pertsev who was arrested in Amsterdam on August 10 by the Netherlands Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD) for his alleged involvement in the Tornado Cash protocol.

Accused of facilitating money laundering through the mixer, Pertsev was ordered to be held an 90 days in prison on August 25, though he has not been charged with any crime.

Six individuals who said they have funds trapped in Tornado Cash filed a lawsuit on Aug. 8 against the OFAC and the Treasury Department, alleging the sanctions exceeded the agencys authority, infringed on users constitutional rights, and threatened the ability of law-abiding Americans to engage freely and privately in financial transactions.

Coinbase Global Inc., the biggest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, has helped organize and bankroll the lawsuit.

The Treasury Department on 13 September announced a way for Tornado Cash users to recover their funds by applying for an OFAC license to withdraw funds legally.

More than US$1.6 million is frozen in Tornado Cash accounts, according to data from DeFiLlama, and much of it may well be illicit, but as with Buterins Ukraine donation there are legitimate reasons users may want layers of privacy when making a transaction.

In another lawsuit filed against the U.S. Treasury in September, the plaintiff Tyler Almeida said he used the mixer to privately donate 0.5 ETH to the Ukrainian governments public crypto wallet address. Almeida said this was to avoid public crypto wallets that donated to Ukraines public addresses being targeted by Russian state-sponsored hackers, according to the complaint.

Implications

Despite the Treasurys actions, cryptocurrency mixers are not illegal. Other services, such as UniJoin and ChipMixer, are still up and running. However, the risk of sanctions loom, according to Leonie Tear, counsel at King & Wood Mallesons and certified global sanctions specialist with the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists.

I think its a warning shot to the whole industry in terms of the need to get compliance programs in place, said Tear.

While the decentralized nature of Tornado Cash makes it difficult to identify individual bad actors, targeting the most high profile tumblers can dissuade users and incentivize new industry standards, Tear added.

Its all pushing the industry to really put in place proper controls and stop virtual assets being used for crime, she said. The aim I dont think is just to stifle innovation or to stop cryptocurrency being used, its just to try and rein in the more wild side.

Some crypto companies have distanced themselves from Tornado Cash. Circle, issuer of the popular dollar-pegged USDC stablecoin, froze 75,000 USDC held by users with ties to Tornado Cash.

Conversely, Tether Holdings Ltd., the issuer of the worlds largest stablecoin by market capitalization, USDT, decided not to freeze any assets linked to Tornado Cash unless instructed specifically to do so by law enforcement.

Christopher Goes at Anoma said that either way, this story is far from over.

I see a lot of productive engagement, and I expect that to continue, he said, the technology and regulations are both complex, and I hope that all involved parties can exercise patience and assume good intent by default.

(Updates in third section to add that Goes does not regard Tornado Cash as a crypto mixer.)

Original post:
What is the future for cryptocurrency mixers after U.S. sanctions on Tornado Cash? - Forkast News

What happened

The broader cryptocurrency market has been seeing rather low levels of volatility of late. Whether that's investors believing that much of the macro news that's already impacted markets has been priced in or not remains to be seen. However, with most tokens hovering around flat today, and the overall market down only 0.3% at the time of writing, many are focusing on tokens that are making unusual moves.

One such token that fits this criteria today is Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR -2.88%). The world's 36th-largest token by market capitalization, Hedera has surged 6.2% higher over the last 24 hours as of 1:30 p.m. ET. This is the largest upside move of any token today.

Recent reports that Hedera has seen developer interest in its enterprise-grade network surge may be behind this move. According to recent data fromSentiment, Hedera is currently in third place in terms of development activity, behindPolkadotandCardano.

The race for developer talent to build out decentralized applications on Layer 1 networks like Hedera is on. The fact that so many are choosing this lesser-known (but significant) blockchain is something worth diving into. I intend to do a deep dive on this blockchain project at some point moving forward. My interest has been piqued by this move.

The idea behind Hedera is relatively simple. Via an open-source network, Hedera allows developers to compete for the ability to deploy decentralized applications, with the same competition applying to users vying for transactions on this network. Some level of competition can spur interest among a certain personality type, making this network intriguing, to say the least.

On days like today, when broadly bearish sentiment continues to rein over any indications that bullish catalysts can be on the horizon, upside moves such as the one seen in Hedera are worth noting. This is a crypto project I've yet to explore deeply, but I intend to do so, on the basis of what appears to be relatively strong demand for these tokens.

When times get tough, projects that stand out tend to get even more attention. Such appears to be the case with Hedera today.

Chris MacDonald has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Read the rest here:
Hedera: The 1 Cryptocurrency That's on Fire Today - The Motley Fool

Photo illustration of Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange website.

Dado Ruvic | Illustration | Reuters

Cryptocurrencies were little changed on Friday as investors sought to extend the previous day's rally.

Bitcoin was lower by 1% at $19,175.00, and ether gained 1% to trade at $1,299.66. Both assets ended their fourth down weeks in the last five.

Crypto jumped Thursday, following the movement of stocks after the consumer price index came out showing higher-than-expected inflation. That reading initially sent risk assets down sharply before they reversed and soared, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average staging a historic 1,500-point rally.

"Yesterday we saw a knee jerk reaction lower in all markets which was algo-driven, then short-covering and real buying stepped in, which was the right response to the CPI data," said Jeff Dorman, chief investment officer at Arca. "Markets aren't concerned with inflation, they are concerned with the Fed's expected response to inflation, and nothing changed yesterday: 75 basis points was baked in, it was confirmed further by the CPI data."

October tends to be an up month for bitcoin, according to Bespoke Investment Group. Bitcoin's never been in a bear market like this one, however, and some remain cautious.

The cryptocurrency's third-quarter return of 6% and ether's 25% return outperformed other asset classes, and both have held up fairly well, trading within the $19,000 level for much of the past month, due to the uncertain macro environment. However, "the subdued volatility relative to other assets on continued declining volumes has the potential to lead to downside," Compass analyst Chase White said in a note Friday.

It had been a tough week for markets before the CPI data was released. YuyaHasegawa, crypto market analyst at Japanese crypto exchange Bitbank, said the rebound could trigger an unwinding of recent risk-off sentiment in stocks.

That "could have a positive effect on the price of bitcoin," he said. "If the price recovers the $20,000 psychological level with substantial trading volume in the next few days, bitcoin could test $23,000 next week."

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Bitcoin reverses lower after Thursday's big rally but remains in the $19,000 level - CNBC

As Hong Kong gears up for the most awaited FinTech week, the citys government might reveal its stance on cryptocurrencies and thus, decide the future of the industry.

The officials are reportedly planning to introduce a new policy statement on cryptos to clarify and display its vision of developing Hong Kong into an international virtual assets hub.

The Fintech week, which will focus on Web3 and the metaverse, will be held from October 31 to November 4. During this event, the Securities and Futures Commission will provide a clear perspective to the global markets on virtual assets.

Christopher Hui Ching-yu, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury commented on the decision:

The Fintech Week will, for the first time, issue 2,000 NFTs with utilities to participants for claiming perks like ticket discounts for next years event.

As per organizers, some 20,000 physical and virtual attendees are expected in the upcoming event this year.

Notably, the Hong Kong FinTech Week collides with major events, namely, the Singapore FinTech Festival, which will take place from November 2 to 4, and the three-day-long Global Financial Leaders Investment Summit spearheaded by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

The significance of the move can be gauged by the governments relentless efforts to bring back fintech start-ups that have left Hong Kong because of the citys strict Covid-related travel control steps. The major exodus was undermining Hong Kongs position as a cryptocurrency industry hub, local investors said.

In September, the citys government revealed that more than a dozen potential companies are interested in security token offerings and the Fintech Week might be a great start for other firms too.

The post Hong Kong To Decide Future of Cryptocurrency in Fintech Week appeared first on Coin Edition.

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This summer, word started spreading over Chinese social media about a conference in Dali, a city nestled among 4,000-meter peaks in the countrys southwest.

The organizers expected fewer than 200 attendees, but ended up selling out the 1,000-person venue only to see more than double that number ultimately show up for the August event. The topic of the gathering: cryptocurrencies, a sector Chinas government declared largely illegal a year ago.

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China's cryptocurrency holdouts test the boundaries of Xi's crackdown - The Japan Times

Is there a cryptocurrency that has maintained a sustained surge in this bearish market? The answer is a yes but look beyond the main tokens.Quant (QNT/USD) is one of them and remains in a defiantly bullish mode.

Quant is an Ethereum-based token that powers the Quant Network. The network was launched to make global information exchange seamless. An overledger functionality on the protocol has helped address interoperability issues for other blockchains. The native token QNT allows digital access to applications and services on the network. Enterprises and developers pay access fees to the Quant Treasury based on the equivalence of the native token QNT.

While large cryptos have overshadowed QNT, it is making a statement with the latest gains. On CoinMarketCap, QNT has added 22.33% in the week, with an intraday gain of 16.56%. Ranked #31 by market cap, the cryptocurrency is the highest gainer among its predecessors. The cryptocurrency has been on a non-stop bullish move for the past one month. The bullish momentum, however, started way back in June. CoinJournal investigates why.

Well, the gains in QNT reflect positive developments. On June 30, Quant announced a tokenisation product tokenise. The product will let developers create digital assets and interoperable tokens on Polygon, Ethereum, and XDC. Again, on August 22, Quant announced a non-fungible token standard, QRC-721, in line with its tokenisation mission.

Lately, Quant issued an update on its Overledger product. The update improved transactions on Ethereum, as well as the functionality of the QRC-721 tokens. There are speculations that Quant could be enjoined in the development of Central Bank Digital Currencies.

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Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. It is better suited to more experienced investors and it offers a large number of cryptocurrencies to choose from, at over 600.Binance is also known for having low trading fees and a multiple of trading options that its users can benefit from, such as; peer-to-peer trading, margin trading and spot trading.

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On the weekly chart, QNT trends upwards. The cryptocurrency has overcome resistance at $152 and is pushing higher. The token has more room to move higher because QNTs next resistance lies at $197. An RSI reading of 66 also suggests room for upside

The bullish momentum of QNT makes it attractive in the bearcryptocurrency market. With the strong defiance of the ongoing macro concerns, QNT is a buy toward the $197 resistance. Nonetheless, an attractive entry lies lower, potentially at $152 or $129. Investors should buy the token on clear bullish signs at the mentioned zones.

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Why is Quant (QNT/USD) cryptocurrency rising, and how attractive is it? - CoinJournal

Though initially unthinkable due to high energy expenditure, cryptocurrencies are now trying to bridge the gap between climate and crypto. Climate optimists pulled together in an attempt to adapt new technologies to turn energy-sucking crypto into something more sustainable and green.

On the other hand, other projects are transitioning or have transitioned from a proof-of-work (PoW) into a proof-of-stake (PoS), which nets them the label of more sustainable crypto.

The following three could be deemed as the top 3 green crypto projects in the sea of various crypto projects.

The smart contract behemoth, the second largest crypto, is well known for its decentralized application (dApp) development environment, on top of which numerous other projects were built. With the recent Ethereum Merge, the project moved away from PoW into a PoS protocol, validating transactions by staking.

The Merge reduced the entire networks power draw by an amazing 99.95%, making the entire network low-carbon.

At press time, Ethereum was trading at $1,300.37, up by 1.32% on the day, but down by 3.32% across the previous week, as per CoinMarketCap data.

The branding and marketing for this crypto project focus on positively impacting the environment by utilizing a proof-of-space-and-time protocol. In essence, the protocol plots unused hard drive space used to validate the network.

The project created a green paper detailing their consensus protocol, highlighting that the network uses only 0.16% of Bitcoins (BTC) annual energy consumption.

At press time, XCH was trading at $31.80, up by 0.94% on the day but down by 6.71% in the last seven days, as per CoinMarketCap data.

VeChain is working on green initiatives to drive, among other things, more stakeholder involvement through projects like the one signed with the government of San Marino or delivering the future of safe and traceable food.

The current estimation models by the project see VeChain generating 4.58 metric tons of carbon emissions, equaling emissions generated for mining a single BTC.

At press time, VET was trading at $0.002289, up by 1.49% on the day but down by 2.95% in the last seven days, as per CoinMarketCap data.

Bridging the gap between green investments and crypto could be one of the avenues crypto investors take. The above three projects represent the ones that either reduce or will produce the least CO2 output and could provide a better future for crypto enthusiasts and the planet in general.

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Top 3 green cryptocurrency projects to keep an eye on - Finbold - Finance in Bold

On Thursday (October 13), Yevhen Karpenko, Community Manager for DeFi Investing Platform DEFIYIELD, explained why he believes that Cardano ($ADA) is the best cryptocurrency in the world.

In early February 2022, Kraken Intelligence, the research arm of crypto exchange Kraken, released a 42-page highly impressive researchreport titled Cardano: A new generation in smart contract platform design

Here were some key highlights from Krakens report:

Cardano initially took on notoriety among a class of ICO-craze-driven projects in 2017 following the networks launch. While the ICO-wave gained infamy from the number of overpriced assets that ultimately disappeared into crypto dust, Cardano finds itself among a subset of ICO Warriors that persisted the treacherous perils of a dark and quiet crypto winter bloody, beaten, yet hungry for more...

Importantly, Cardano is very much a value-driven project, emphasizing community governance, academic peer-review, and the importance of high assurance programming...

Cardanos values have noticeably directed the projects developments and design decisions, and as a result, the blockchain looks like it has been designed with the purpose and standards of providing decentralized, global, financial infrastructure rather than only focusing on providing a Web experience...

With ambitious goals, Cardano recognizes the necessity for their infrastructure to run correctly the first time it runs. This is in contrast to a launch now, fix as we go philosophy employed by many Silicon Valley development teams... Ironically, despite the Ethereum Killer label, Cardano is actually far more reminiscent of Bitcoin, particularly with respect to its tokenomics, consensus protocol, and accounting style...

Cardanos design is fundamentally unique among most of its peers particularly as its design closely reflects a PoS-based, smart contract-enabled version of Bitcoin, due to the design of its base protocol and accounting model, rather than an iteration on Ethereum... Cardano saw a massive uptick in adoption starting late 2020 and throughout the course of 2021 Cardano underwent exponential growth in nearly every adoption metric listed, both on-chain and off-chain. There are now nearly 3 million wallets (1348% annual growth) on the network and over I million delegated wallets (870% annual growth).

Yesterday, Karpenko explained why he believes that $DA is the best cryptocurrency:

1. A higher degree of decentralization. The network becomes increasingly decentralized because everyone can become a node validator in Ouroboros. At the moment, there are more than 1500 validator pools in Cardano 2. Faster transactions. Cardano can process more than 250 transactions per second (TPS), compared with around 4.6 TPS for bitcoin and between 15 and 45 TPS for Ethereum 1.0. This makes the Cardano network very scalable

3. More environmentally friendly. Cardano is one of the most environmentally friendly blockchain systems. In a 2021 interview with Forbes, Hoskinson claimed that #Cardano is 1.6 million times more energy-efficient than bitcoin 4. Peer-reviewed network. The Cardano team works closely with academics to generate peer-reviewed research to guide blockchain development. Its nature as an open-source and peer-reviewed blockchain helps ensure its survival and evolution beyond that of its parent organization

5. Cheap gas fees. Additionally, the PoS model allows Cardano to offer nominal transaction fees on its network. The average cost of a transaction on Cardano costs around 0.1 ADA, which equates to a couple of cents. Compare this to the price of Ethereum of $15 per transaction Passive income. finally, every Cardano holder has the opportunity to gain passive income by staking their $ADA coins. The procedure is as simple as purchasing $ADA tokens and locking them up in a wallet such as Yoroi.

On Tuesday (October 11), Charles Hoskinson, Co-Founder and CEO of Input Output Global (aka IOG), the blockchain technology firm behind Cardanos R&D,explained in an interview why he is very bullish on crypto in the long term.

His comments were made during aninterviewwithMaria Bartiromo, the anchor ofMornings with Maria,on American cable TV channel Fox Business Network (FBN).

When Bartiromo asked Hoskinson for his current assessment of the crypto market and how he expected crypto regulation in the U.S. to change, the IOG CEO replied:

Its a tough market. The stock markets are down nine trillion dollars, and the crypto markets dont seem to be immune to that, but, you know, Ive been through seven boom and bus cycles in the last eight years. So, weve gotten pretty used to it. Weve gotten used to volatility, but the fundamentals are still very strong.

All the infrastructure continues to be built. Theres a lot of great exchanges doing wonderful things. A lot of good protocols doing things. So, like all things, its businesses as usual, and most the major actors are still building and still doing interesting things. So, Im overall very optimistic in a long term, but its going to be a rough short term.

Then, when asked about Coinbase receiving regulatory approval to operate in Singapore, Hoskinson said:

Well, the United States has been very difficult, and as a result, a lot of crypto companies are going global and that ultimately it means theyre moving jobs and opportunities outside of the United States, and so unless and until that environment gets better, were going to continue to see this trend where American companies diversify, whether it be Ripple or Coinbase, and its just something that weve had to deal with. But overall, it shows you that the people at Coinbase and others in the industry are quite bullish and optimistic about global growth.

Mitch Roschelle, whois the founding partner of Macro Trends Advisors LLC and who appears regularly as a guest on Fox Business, asked Hoskinson how cryptoassets would be affected by the slowdown in the global economy.

The IOG CEO replied:

I used to believe that crypto would be counter cyclic and the place that people would put assets when they were fearful of the global economy, but so far they seem to be moving in parallel with tech stocks and some of the more standard equity markets. So thats kind of a problem. But all things considered, I think that long term the crypto markets are going to decouple from the traditional marketplaces and have their own economy and, you know, its probably going to occur in the next 24-36 months.

Bartiromo then wanted to know how major blockchain upgrades like the ones that Ethereum and Cardano have had recently improve the ecosystem.

Hoskinson told her:

Well, its just like many of the things that we do. We are a slow and methodical project. Everything we do is all about making things better, faster, and cheaper, and ultimately improving use and utility in the platform. So, Vasil was about 12 months of work, and we just got it out last month, and its really exciting to see that its caused a lot of great positive upgrades in our community.

But more broadly, when we look at the cryptocurrency space, this is the the case. Most people are building, and while the macro environment is not so positive, the individual environment of each cryptocurrency, whether it be Ethereum with the Merge or Cardano with Vasil, is looking better and better every day, and we keep getting more capabilities Theres great growth and everything from GameFi to metaverse to NFTs to DeFi. So, Im very bullish in the long term.

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$ADA: Yevhen Karpenko Explains 'Why Cardano Is the Best Cryptocurrency in the World' - CryptoGlobe