Cryptocurrency prices fell on Friday's strong September jobs report, wiping out what had been a week of solid gains. Meanwhile, October is off to a busy start for the world of digital assets. From the top cryptocurrencies for Q4 and the second-largest crypto hack ever, to Kim Kardashian's SEC settlement and Fidelity's new Ethereum fund, here are the top cryptocurrency headlines from the past week.
Be sure to also check this week's coverage of cryptocurrency ETFs like BITQ, BLOK and BITS.
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Cryptocurrency Price Action
Bitcoin is trending toward $19,500 early Friday, falling from just over $20,000 after the jobs report. While Ethereum is holding above $1,330, after slipping from $1,357 prior to the workforce data.
Ethereum's price has slipped after merging to a proof-of-stake network that should make the system faster and vastly more energy efficient.
Cryptocurrency Prices Heat Map:
Digital asset investments are extremely volatile. While cryptocurrency's fundamentals and technical indicators may differ, investors should focus on the same key objectives. First, stay protected by learning when it's time to sell, cut losses or capture profits. Second, prepare to profit if the cryptocurrency starts to rebound.
Despite their original promise, cryptocurrencies haven't acted as hedges against inflation. Instead, they've trended with the broader indexes. Read The Big Picture and Market Pulse to track daily market trends.
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Ethereum Users Rise
The number of active Ethereum users rose 36% in the third quarter, according to data compiled by trading data and review site BestBrokers.
Binance Faces $570 Million Hack
Binance was the victim of the second-largest crypto hack ever Thursday night. More than $2 billion in cryptocurrencies have been stolen so far this year.
GOP Wants A CBDC
GOP members of the House Financial Services Committee requested Attorney General Merrick Garland release a legislative proposal that allows the U.S. to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by Oct. 15.
FTX Crypto Card Expansion
FTX is expanding its Visa debit card to more than 40 countries, with many located in Latin America. The crypto exchange rolled out its cryptocurrency card in the U.S. earlier this year, and plans to roll out in Europe and Asia in late 2022 and early 2023, respectively.
Coinbase Expansion
Coinbase announced it incorporated in Australia and is expanding its services for retail users in the country.
Blockchain Market Growth
The Web3 blockchain market is expected to reach $33.53 billion by 2030, according to research and consulting firm Grand View Research.
Fidelity Launches Ethereum Index Fund
Asset manager Fidelity launched an Ethereum Index Fund this week, expanding its cryptocurrency offerings.
Coinbase Retail User Numbers Tumble
Coinbase retail participation tumbled 68% in the second quarter this year, Germany-based cryptocurrency research and news firm CryptoMonday.de analysis shows.
Mastercard Launches New Crypto Security Product
Payments giant Mastercard launched a new software product called Crypto Secure, which helps banks identify and block suspicious or fraudulent crypto transactions.
Is Bitcoin Bottoming? Here's What ARK Says
Bitcoin is showing signs of bottoming, according to Ark Investment's Bitcoin Monthly report for September.
Top Cryptocurrencies For Q4
Bitcoin outperformed the market indexes in September, which is historically its worst-performing month out of the year. With the September slump over, here are the top five cryptocurrencies for the fourth quarter.
FSOC Crypto Report, Recommendations
The Financial Stability Oversight Council approved a report on regulatory and financial stability risks of digital assets. The FSOC's identified risks include spot markets for crypto-assets, lack of framework to engage in arbitrage, and retailers' direct exposure to market practices like automated liquidation. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen led the group, which recommends a bill that would charge the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with overseeing the spot market and another to establish rules for stablecoin issuers.
Japan's Blockchain, Web3 Plans
Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the government is ramping up its efforts to promote Web3 services. In a speech before Japan's National Diet, the country's bicameral parliament, Kishida said the blockchain, NFTs and the metaverse will be part of the government's growth strategy. Japan plans to digitize national security cards and will promote efforts to expand Web3 services that incorporate the metaverse and NFTs. In early September, the Japanese government began issuing NFTs as rewards for local authorities.
September Stolen Crypto Funds
More than $169 million in crypto funds were stolen in September, according to DefiYield's REKT Database. The REKT Database tracks cryptocurrency investments lost through hacks, exploits and scams. Last month, $169.592 million in funds were stolen, with the largest loss coming from the $160 million exploit of market maker Wintermute on Sept. 20. Major crypto thefts have varied over the past few months. They fell from $334.3 million in June to $80 million in July, before climbing to nearly $213 million again in August.
Kim Kardashian Settles With SEC
Celebrity influencer Kim Kardashian will pay $1.26 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that she illegally promoted a cryptocurrency without disclosing she was paid for the advertisement.
Bankrupt Firms From The Quarter Owe Billions To Creditors
This quarter's largest crypto bankruptcies totaled roughly $10 billion owed to creditors, according to analysis from the Wall Street Journal. Crypto lender Celsius Network owes customers more than $4.7 billion after filing for bankruptcy in late June. The Three Arrows Capital hedge fund borrowed about $3.5 billion from more than two dozen firms and entities. While lender Voyager Digital owed around $1.4 billion to thousands of creditors prior to FTX buying its assets. And smaller bankruptcies for firms including Compute North Holdings, Hodlnaut and Vauld each totaled hundreds of millions.
SBF Details FTX Buy Out Strategy
CEO Sam Bankman-Fried gave some insight into how his FTX crypto exchange would approach a buyout for bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network's assets. In response to a tweet claiming FTX would buy the assets for a fraction of the value, Bankman-Fried said he would pay full market price. "Our bids are generally determined by fair market price, no discounts," he wrote. "Goal isn't to make money buying assets at cents on the dollar, it's to pay $1 on the $1 and get the $1 back to customers."
