After what felt like a perpetual paralysis, the crypto market has finally been showing signs of promising growth with the release of inflation figures, and the issuing of nonfarm payments (NFPs) last Friday. In the wake of this improving market mood, Bitcoin finally climbed and made it above its dreaded ceiling, and is presently trading above $17,200. Ethereum too has been quite positive and has surpassed a multi-week high with its current price at $1330.
Crypto-Highlights of the week
- The mammoth payment company, Mastercard recently announced a collaboration with the Ethereum-based crypto player, Polygon, as part of its artist accelerator program. Mastercard will be training a range of emerging artists from across the globe to tap into the capabilities of blockchain, as a means to enhance their fan engagement and brand value.
- The head of France’s central bank has called for increasing regulations against crypto service providers operating within the country. The remarks come against the wider background of “disarray” seen within the French crypto markets in 2022, owing to wider disruptions, such as the FTX fiasco.
- Amid growing tension between governments and the crypto industry, Romania is apparently taking the most aggressive stance, by carrying out raids against suspected crypto-holders, who have not declared their holdings. The raids have been ongoing since December, and come after reports that undeclared holdings by certain investors exceed $50 million.
- According to the latest reports, US prosecutors and other federal agencies are conducting investigations against American hedge funds that have had dealings with the crypto-exchange giant, Binance. Several of these firms have also received subpoenas from the office of the US attorney to comply with the investigations, and appear in front of the committees to examine the matter.
- Fabio Pannetta, a top executive of the European Central Bank, recently wrote an opinion piece, where he described unbacked crypto assets as gambling vehicles without any intrinsic value. He made a strong case for more structured regulations for the crypto industry, while also asking for a deeper look into decentralized finance as a broader concept.
