Meanwhile, the US markets have closed again. We look at the live Bitcoin (BTC) price and the prices of the top 25 crypto. Then we analyze why the crypto market is falling. Next, we take a look at special news about the Ethereum (ETH) Merge update. Finally, we look at how the Netherlands is contributing to the fight against cryptocurrency.
We begin, of course, with the live Bitcoin (BTC) price and the prices of the top 25 crypto.
Live bitcoin (BTC) price and prices top 25 crypto drop
At the time of writing, the live Bitcoin (BTC) price is quoting EUR 22,780.90 ($23,373.27). This is 2.02% lower than yesterday around this time and also lower than during our Bitcoin update this afternoon.
In addition, we see that the prices of most crypto from the top 25 are also falling. There are only a few coins besides the stable coins that are recording a gain. The biggest gain is currently with + 2.94% for Leo Token (LEO). Dogecoin (DOGE) records the largest loss with -7.57%. On the site of Tradeincrypto.com you can analyze all live crypto prices 24 hours a day.
Crypto in downturn due to release of FED meeting minutes
The Fed’s latest interest rate decision was disappointing and that caused a bull run in crypto. Now the minutes of the meeting where the interest rate decision was made have been released. What can be read therein makes investors uncertain and we see that reflected in crypto prices.
This is particularly due to the Fed’s announcement that they will continue to push for interest rate hikes to curb inflation. Indeed, they are considering strong interest rate hikes than the 0.75% we saw in July. The financial markets reacted differently to this.
The Dow Jones and Nasdaq rose shortly after the uptrend, but then fell again. The crypto market fell after the announcement and there is currently no sign of recovery. Since the next interest rate decision is not going to be announced (until) September, the question is how structural the fears of investors are.
ETH devs and Grayscale temper expectations for Ethereum (ETH) Merge update
Expectations for the upcoming Merge update from Ethereum (ETH) are high. Maybe even too high, because the dev team of Ethereum (ETH) published an update on its site that may dampen enthusiasm considerably.
They announced that the Ethereum Merge update will not affect the scalability of the network. Also, the Merge update will not cause transaction fees to drop. Now these 2 problems are THE big criticisms when it comes to Ethereum (ETH), so the team announces that these will be addressed in subsequent updates.
Investor Grayscale also expressed concerns about the transition from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake. They are particularly focused on the other tokens running on the Ethereum network. How will transactions with those tokens be validated after the Merge?
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7. A PoW fork of the current Ethereum network would bring duplicate instances of all of this and more, which could present meaningful challenges to developers and market participants, and an existential risk to DeFi on the new chain.
– Grayscale (@Grayscale) August 16, 2022
They are also concerned about a possible hard fork, where the blockchain is split into a PoW part and a PoS part. For example, they wonder how stable coins tied up in smart contracts will remain possible to claim after a hard fork. They therefore fear a wave of selling and that could have a hefty impact. For example, the largest stable coin, Tether (USDT), operates on the Ethereum blockchain. As of yet, the devs have not shared a specific solution, but analysts assume that there is one.
Netherlands extradites crypto crime suspect to America
The Netherlands is doing its bit to counter crypto crime again. Indeed, the US Treasury Department announced tonight that our country has extradited a 29-year-old Russian crypto criminal to America. According to the press release, this happened earlier this week and the suspect has already been arraigned.
The Russian crypto crook is expected to have laundered proceeds from attacks with ransomware (so-called hostage software that blocks data with a password that you can only get if the criminals pay a sum of money in crypto). If found guilty, he could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Staying up to date with the latest price developments?
You can always follow the developments yourself with our WANT crypto analyses or the background articles and previews on the crypto market and Bitcoin. Of course, you can also follow the live quotes 24 hours a day if you want to stay informed in real time. Are you interested in other investments besides crypto? Then our weekly Monday morning price forecast might be a reading tip. “Please note: We never give financial advice, so our contributions can’t be interpreted that way either. Always do your own research and decide on rational grounds if, when, what and how much you want to invest in.”
