TradeDog Newsletter

In Today’s Newsletter

• Fed blacklist Tornado Cash, ban Ethereum mixing tool in the US?
• OpenSea introduced a new stolen item policy to combat NFT theft?
• Cross-chain RenBridge laundered $540Mn in hacking proceeds?
• Galaxy Digital reports a $554Mn loss in Q2’22
• Acala Network aUSD collapses after parachain exploit

Industry Outlook

Quick Bites

Fed blacklist Tornado Cash, ban Ethereum mixing tool in the US

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned Tornado Cash which is an Ethereum mixing tool. Along with the tool, a long list of Ethereum addresses was added to the Specially Designated Nations List, which means US citizens are banned from using the tool or transacting with these addresses.

OpenSea introduced a new stolen item policy to combat NFT theft

With the rise of asset theft in the NFT space, OpenSea has introduced a new stolen item policy wherein police reports are required for the NFTs that are said to be stolen. The existing policy faced a bulk of backlash from users as they were penalized for buying stolen NFTs even if they didn’t know whether it’s actually stolen or not. However, after the announcement, some users praised the top NFT marketplace.

Cross-chain RenBridge laundered $540Mn in hacking proceeds?

Elliptic, the blockchain forensics and analytics firm, mentioned in a report that RenBridge, a cross-chain infrastructure, facilitated the laundering of atleast $540Mn in proceeds of crime since 2020 through the process of chain hopping. Elliptic acknowledged that blockchain bridges like RenBridge present difficulties to authorities attempting to crack down on individuals or groups using the new technologies for illegal purposes.

Galaxy Digital reports a $554Mn loss in Q2’22

Crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital reported a loss of over half of a billion dollars during second quarter of this year. However, the firm further mentioned that the loss is still an “unrealized loss” on digital assets. The company also mentioned maintaining a strong liquidity position of $1.5Bn.

Acala Network aUSD collapses after parachain exploit

aUSD, the native stablecoin of Acala Network, collapsed to zero after hackers exploited a bug in a newly deployed liquidity pool to mint over 1.28 billion tokens out of thin air. Acala Network is a decentralized protocol built upon Polkadot, and the network quickly got into maintenance mode and halted all swaps and cross-chain transfers. This resulted in exploiters having 99% of the stolen amount stuck on the parachain.?

Bitcoin Market Analysis

• The past weekly price performance of Bitcoin was witnessed within the rising channel pattern. The world’s largest cryptocurrency is moving within the bullish pattern since the previous month suggesting strong build-up by the bulls?
• However, during past week, the price level regularly tested the lower base of the pattern suggesting profit booking momentum alongside. On the moving averages. MA-20 is providing strong support while residing around $23.9K. Any breakdown below it can result in bears coming back into the scenario?
• The RSI level is also maintaining strong sustainability above 50 but being regularly tested. For further emphasis, we have used DMI which reflects upon the prevailing sentiment. A positive crossover of ADX against +DI is witnessed on the chart which suggests -DI has some room to increase the negative sentiment.?
• Overall, BTC is currently being traded at critical level wherein it needs to find sustainability and positive sentiment to carry forward the bullish momentum built since the past month. The resistance levels can be placed at $25K and $27K. Whereas, support levels can be placed around $23K and $21K.?

Sprint Updates

1. Countries where Bitcoin (BTC) is legal?
2. Using crypto to build real-world infrastructure
3. The regenerative finance movement
4. What are coin mixers and how do they work??

5. What are dynamic NFTs?