Your Favorite Crypto Digest From TradeCrypto.com

Market is green. BTC is now trading above $20,250, ETH is trading around $1 150.

💪 Bitcoin dominance: 43.44%

📉 Total Cryptocurrency Market Cap: $0,890 tr

😲 Fear and greed index: 19 (Extreme Fear)

🚀 Gainers(Top-100)

Convex Finance (CVX)+23.89%

STEPN (GMT)+19.10%

Polygon (MATIC)+16.25%

😭 Losers(Top-100)

TerraClassicUSD (USTC)-10.36%

UNUS SED LEO (LEO)-1.94%

PAX Gold (PAXG)-0.05%

Prominent economist Peter Schiff, who is well-known in the community for his anti-crypto🙅🏻 sentiments, had his bank shut down❌ by Puerto Rico🇵🇷 regulators. The revelation, however, led to Crypto Twitter pointing out the “irony” as Schiff’s prediction for Bitcoin (BTC) came true for his own traditional bank🏦.

Puerto Rico regulators closed down Schiff’s bank for not maintaining the net minimum capital💰 requirements, which further impacted the customers as they lost access❌ to their accounts following a subsequent freeze❄️. While acknowledging that💬 “customers may lose money,” Schiff stated that he was unaware of the regulatory minimums and was not presented with any form of legal notice prior to the abrupt closure.

Coinbase laid off more than 1,000 people (18% of its staff📉), Bybit laid off 20% to 30% of its staff (up to 600 people📉),  Huobi is preparing to lay off about 300 people🔜, Gemini laid off 10% of its staff (~100 people📉), BlockFi laid off 20% of its staff (170 people📉), Crypto com downsized by 5% (260 employees📉),  Bitpanda laid off 730 employees📉,  BitMEX laid off about 75 employees📉.

And this wave🌊 of layoffs is only gaining momentum. More turmoil and bankruptcies await the crypto market in the coming months🔜.

Tencent, Ant Group, Baidu, JD.com, and several other leading Chinese 🇨🇳tech companies last week issued a💬 “self-disciplined development proposal” for the “digital collectible industry” that would introduce real-name authentication for users👥 that issue, buy, and sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs), according to a South China Morning Post report📢.

According to a statement💬 by the China Cultural Industry Association, the signatories of the agreement📑 also acknowledged and reaffirmed the existing regulation which bans❌ the use of cryptocurrencies, stressing that platforms offering digital collectibles—the term used in mainland China🇨🇳 to describe NFTs—can💬 “only support legal tender as the denomination and settlement currency.” 

Jeremy Allaire🗣, the CEO of the financial service company Circle, moved to 💬quell rumors that the firm’s USDC stablecoin is on the brink of collapse⚡️. In a Twitter thread published 📲over the weekend, Allaire said💬 he can understand why the crypto community “would be paranoid” about USDC, taking into account 📢the recent collapse of several prominent crypto projects.

“Circle is in the strongest💪🏻 position it has ever been in financially, and we will continue to increase📈 our transparency,” 💬stated the Circle boss.

Vauld, a Singapore-based 🇸🇬cryptocurrency lending and exchange💱 platform, has halted its operations❌, citing financial difficulties amid volatile market conditions. The company also announced 🔊that it would immediately suspend all deposits, withdrawals, and trading.

Vauld is backed👥 by leading VCs, including Coinbase Ventures, Pantera Capital, and Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures. The company will only process customer deposits💰 related to its collateralized loans product. “Specific arrangements will be made for customer deposits as may be necessary for certain customers to meet margin calls in connection with collateralized loans,”💬 reads announcement.

The crypto lender’s liquidation price on its Bitcoin loan💰 has dropped to📉 less than $5,000, according to DeFi industry data. Celsius (CEL) has repaid a substantial amount 💸of its outstanding debt to Maker (MKR) protocol since the beginning of the month, signaling🔉 that the troubled crypto lending platform was trying to stave off❌ a complete collapse amid credible rumors of insolvency.

Since July 1, Celsius has repaid💰 $142.8 million worth of Dai (DAI) stablecoins across four separate transactions🔄, according to data from DeFi Explorer. The crypto lender still has $82 million💰 in outstanding debt owed to Maker.  With the loan repayments, Celsius’ liquidation price on its Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) loan has dropped📉 to $4,966.99 Bitcoin (BTC).

The Monetary Authority of Singapore🇸🇬, or MAS, has been “carefully considering” adding restrictions⛔️ that could affect how retail investors handle crypto, 💬according to one of the government’s senior ministers.

According to parliamentary records published📑 on Monday, Singapore🇸🇬 senior minister and MAS chair Tharman Shanmugaratnam 💬said the financial watchdog may consider “placing limits on retail participation” for crypto investors as well as introducing rules📛 on the use of leverage for crypto transactions. Shanmugaratnam also called 💬for regulatory clarity among financial regulators❌ around the world💬, “given the borderless nature of cryptocurrency markets.”

Conclusion: During the USDT rumors, USDC won the leadership race. Companies are cutting costs and reducing staff. All cryptocompanies are under the scrutiny of the community.

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