Hodler’s Digest, July 14-20 – Cointelegraph Magazine

Top news this week

Pixelverse adds Pudgy Penguin character to Telegram minigame

The faces of popular non-fungible token (NFT) collection Pudgy Penguins will be integrated as characters into Telegram’s Pixelverse mini-game. On July 16, Pixelverse announced that the Pudgy Penguins character “Pudgy” would be introduced into the game, joining other popular cryptocurrency characters like Doge, the Dogecoin memecoin, and Mew, the character representing the Solana memecoin. This integration will allow players to play as the character in the Pixelverse game. A standalone Pudgy Penguins mobile game is expected to launch sometime in 2025. While the NFT market has been in decline, some pundits have argued that the sector is going through a corrective cycle.

Craig Wright Admits He’s Not Satoshi, Posts Disclaimer on Website

Craig Wright published a legal disclaimer on his website homepage on July 16, emphasizing that he is not Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. The disclaimer cited a recent ruling by the UK High Court and directed website traffic to a summary of findings presented by the Crypto Open Patent Alliance. The disclaimer acknowledges that Wright was not the author of the Bitcoin whitepaper and that the computer scientist does not own the copyright to the technology described in the whitepaper.

Ethereum ETFs Could Have a Bigger Impact on ETH Prices: Bitwise

According to Matt Hogan, Bitwise’s chief investment officer, a U.S. spot Ether ETF (exchange-traded fund) would have a rough start, but could have a bigger impact on the asset’s price than a Bitcoin ETF has had on BTC. One reason an Ether ETF could have a bigger impact on the asset’s price, according to Hogan, is because Ethereum-based applications are widely used, while Ether’s inflation rate is virtually zero, given the “tiny amounts of ETH” being created each day.

State Street Aims for Blockchain Leap with Stablecoins and Deposit Tokens: Report

State Street has shown serious interest in blockchain payments technology. According to Bloomberg, the global asset manager is considering creating its own stablecoin and deposit token. It could also leverage its investment in UK-based payments startup Fnality to create new payment options and join a “digital cash consortium effort.” State Street created a dedicated digital finance division in 2021. The division was later laid off, but was revived and integrated into its main business this year.

Trump Reportedly ‘Feels Good’, Will Also Attend Nashville BTC Conference

Former US President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, despite surviving an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on July 13, according to David Bailey, one of the event organizers and CEO of Bitcoin Magazine. The event will run from July 25 to July 27, with Trump scheduled to speak on July 27.

Winners and Losers

Bitcoin on the weekend (Bitcoin) is in $66,239ether (Ethereum) In ~ $3,486 and Ripple (XRP) In ~ $0.56. Total market capitalization is $2.42 According to CoinMarketCap, it is worth around $1 trillion.

Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, the top 3 altcoins that have seen the most gains this week are dogwifhat. (World Health Organization) 61%, Worldcoin (world) 55.94% and Arweave (Argentina) 48.98%

The top 3 altcoin losers this week are Uniswap. (UNI) TRON at 1.45% (transformation) -1.19% and Gnosis (GNO) -0.45%.

For more information on cryptocurrency prices, read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most memorable quotes

“If you see a ‘pro-crypto’ politician today, it would be a good idea to look at their fundamental values ​​and see which side they would take in the event of a conflict.”

Vitalik ButerinCo-founder of Ethereum

“Bitcoin L2 is not just an innovation, it is something that is needed for Asia’s evolving cryptocurrency ecosystem.”

Robbie RioHead of Asia at Polyhedra Network

“Innovation is no longer an option, but a necessity to navigate the challenges of the future and a relentless pursuit of excellence.”

International Trust Blockchain Application Association

“We believe that cryptocurrencies should not just sit in bank vaults, but should bring everyday benefits to humanity.”

Andrey RazutkinChief Technology Officer, Tangem

“After the launch, there will be a flow, then there will be additional ETH products, then there will be Solana, then there will be… It will probably never end. The dam has burst.”

Eric BalchunasBloomberg’s Chief ETF Analyst

“China’s concern with cryptocurrencies has always been capital flight. (…) Cryptocurrencies further democratize finance and enable capital flight for the middle and lower classes.”

Otama MikoCEO and Co-Founder of Trading Strategy

Forecast for this week

Traders Expect Bitcoin Price to Hit $71.5K as Open Interest Surges 13%

According to historical patterns observed by cryptocurrency traders, Bitcoin could head towards $71,500 after breaking above the $65,000 level on Tuesday.

The price bounce has also increased interest among futures traders who are betting on Bitcoin’s short-term price action. “A break above $65,000 would mean that the price is ready to move in the $65,000-$71,500 range,” anonymous cryptocurrency trader Rekt Capital wrote in a July 16 post to X, when Bitcoin was hovering just below $65,000.

However, with a huge amount of short positions at risk of being liquidated at $71,500, many futures traders are confident that the price will not reach that level for now. According to CoinGlass data, around $1.47 billion worth of short positions will be liquidated at $71,500.

FUD of the week

Indian Cryptocurrency Exchange Hacked for $235 Million

Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX suffered a major security breach on July 18, which reportedly resulted in the loss of around $235 million. The hack involved several suspicious transactions originating from WazirX’s Safe Multisig wallet, which were detected on the Ethereum blockchain by Web3 security firm Cyvers. The hackers quickly exchanged the stolen assets for various cryptocurrencies, including Ether, Tether, and Pepe. In response to the incident, WazirX has suspended withdrawals and said it is investigating the breach.

Mt. Gox creditors reported multiple ‘brute force’ attempts at their accounts.

The Mt. Gox creditors subreddit has been flooded with reports of users reporting multiple login attempts on their accounts for a week, raising fears of a potential cyberattack. On the Mt. Gox creditors subreddit known as “r/mtgoxinsolvency,” several users have reported problems logging into their accounts on the Mt. Gox website, while others have shared screenshots showing numerous unauthorized login attempts on their accounts. The shuttered cryptocurrency exchange has now distributed 36% of its bitcoin to creditors after recently moving more than 140,000 bitcoins (worth about $9 billion) to a known cold wallet and two unknown addresses.

$10 Million Leaked in Li.Fi Protocol Attack

Li.Fi, an application programming interface for the Ethereum Virtual Machine and Solana swaps and bridging, was compromised on July 16, resulting in the loss of over $10 million in cryptocurrency. Li.Fi warned X’s community that users should not interact with Li.Fi-based applications until further notice. A Li.Fi spokesperson later told Cointelegraph that the “smart contract exploit” had been contained and “the affected smart contract side has been disabled.” Approximately $10 million worth of cryptocurrency was lost, which also affected the Arbitrum blockchain.

Popular Magazine Articles of the Week

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While cryptocurrencies are still an opaque sector in Saudi Arabia, the country’s talent pool and booming gaming sector make the prospects for the web bright.

Coinbase Won’t Mention ‘Cryptocurrency’ for 5 Years: Avichal Garg, X Hall of Flame

Electric Capital co-founder Avichal Garg believes a spot Bitcoin ETF could help cushion the blow from the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

Crypto-Sec: Evolve Bank suffers data breach, Turbo Toad fan loses $3,600

Turbo Toad enthusiasts lose over $3,000 to phishing attacks, Microsoft patches another “zero-click” Office vulnerability, and Evolve leaks 33TB of customer data to ransomware attackers.

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Editorial staff

Cointelegraph Magazine staff and reporters contributed to this article.