Helen Partz
Bitcoin and the overall cryptocurrency market have been experiencing one of the most critical moments since 2018, wiping more than $1 trillion in market value since early 2022.
The current crisis has triggered a wave of panic in the community, with Bitcoin (BTC) miners’ selling activity surging to seven-month highs as mining profitability has dropped to October 2020 levels.
The Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index has posted the lowest number since the pre-pandemic times of Q3 2019, dropping to 7 and indicating “Extreme Fear” on Wednesday.
These and other recent events in the industry do not look good — but only at first glance, according to some industry experts and executives.
People in the industry continue to reiterate that bear markets are actually good for Bitcoin and healthy for the crypto industry, as they remove speculators and scams while providing space to build real and great products and services.
“The current situation is good for Bitcoin in the long term, cleansing the market from leverage, scams and dishonest institutions,” Trezor Bitcoin analyst Josef Tětek told Cointelegraph.
According to Tětek, previous bear markets spawned many pivotal projects, including the Lightning Network, a major Bitcoin-related project enabling cheaper, faster Bitcoin transactions. The initial concept of the Lightning Network was formulated during the bear market of 2015.
Crypto winters and bear markets provide more opportunities to build, as speculation leaves the market, Tětek noted, stating:
“Bear markets are good for Bitcoin. Builders face fewer distractions, and the fake ‘project founders’ that were only looking for a quick VC funding and naive retail exit liquidity disappear as quickly as they previously appeared. Real builders rejoice when all the bullshit gets washed out.”
The crypto market needs to go through crypto winters in order to grow and mature, Bitcoin Suisse CEO Dirk Klee told Cointelegraph. According to the executive, the quality, stability and security of crypto services and products become even more important during uncertain market conditions. He said:
“Ultimately, that is what the industry needs in order to mature further, and we aim to live up to those standards every single day.”
In a similar way to broader markets, Bitcoin and the entire cryptocurrency ecosystem have historically evolved in cycles, with many crypto observers arguing that Bitcoin has “never traded below previous cycle peak.”
According to Kraken CEO Jesse Powell, Bitcoin price cycles are based “sort of around the Bitcoin halving,” a one-in-four-years event that reduces the Bitcoin block reward by half, which has historically increased Bitcoin’s demand and eventually led to bull markets.
Powell is known for accurately predicting the crypto winter of 2022. His previous prediction that Bitcoin would hit $100,000 by the end of 2021 failed, however.
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Arijit Sarkar
Not even a $258 billion class-action lawsuit alleging a crypto pyramid scheme could stop Elon Musk from publicly displaying his continued support for Dogecoin (DOGE).
On Thursday, a New York district court received a class action complaint against the world’s richest man Elon Musk and his companies, SpaceX and Tesla, for an alleged Ponzi scheme using DOGE. The lawsuit demanded $258 billion in total monetary damages from Musk while requesting the court to rule DOGE trading as gambling in the United States.
I will keep supporting Dogecoin June 19, 2022
The lawsuit, however, did not resonate with the crypto community as entrepreneurs began to ridicule the move. Musk, too, was seemingly unshaken about the allegation as he doubled down on his love for the Dogecoin ecosystem with the above tweet.
On Saturday, Dogecoin creator Billy Markus, who is no longer a part of the project, shared his vision for Dogecoin that goes beyond the hype — recommending the developers focus more on its utility and security. Musk agreed with a “More currency-like” reply to Markus’ suggestion.
Musk further reassured Markus by sharing his openness to use Dogecoin as payment for other services in addition to Tesla and SpaceX merch.
Bad actors trying to cash in on Musk’s success have been found to be releasing deepfake videos promoting cryptocurrency scams.
Musk came across a fabricated video doing rounds on the internet, wherein a deepfake was used to mimic the entrepreneur on a TED Talk. In the video, the deepfake version of Musk was found promoting a cryptocurrency platform boasting 30% returns on crypto deposits.
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Sarah Jansen
The hype around NFTs is reaching critical mass, with public figures, celebrities like Justin Bieber and Jimmy Fallon, and major businesses putting significant investments into the digital sphere. For many, the actions of these parties call into question what all the attraction is about.
To understand the reasoning, users must first backtrack to 2014, when the first nonfungible token or NFT came to life. NFTs are blockchain-based tokens that authenticate digital assets, making them an ideal method for tracking music, art and film creators and owners to ensure appropriate parties are compensated for their efforts.
Therefore, profit isn’t the only reason that these public figures have been investing hundreds of thousands, if not millions, into NFTs. Rather, many have found major appeal in what these digital avatars represent, freedom for artists, membership into a shared community, and a bridge toward the digital realm.
Among notable players entering the market is Btok, a social network designed to connect people to the blockchain world. Much like NFTs connect people to digital communities, by entering the platform, Btok users will have the chance to join like-minded blockchain enthusiasts, fellow investors and, of course, learn the latest project news firsthand.
As a super app serving the needs of people in blockchain, it is only fitting that the platform is also diving head first into NFTs with the purchase of the most expensive Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs on the market. The blockchain social media app now holds Ape #7537 as its brand ambassador, a piece defined by its bandolier clothing, which only 2% of the collection possess, closed eyes, bored mouth and brown fur. At the time of sale, this Ape sold for 1024 ETH, the equivalent of $1,240,000.
Maintaining strong on the blockchain front
The Btok platform, like other blockchain social media platforms, has gained popularity for keeping user content on the decentralized network’s immutable ledger, enabling users to avoid censorship and remain in total control over their content. It is no surprise, then, that in alignment with these industry trends, Btok has built a community of over 10 million blockchain users and over 1,000,000 groups, the platform itself becoming a gateway to the blockchain world.
However, Btok aims to extend its reach much further, to link all parties within the blockchain world together, thereby providing solutions to both users and project owners. As a one-stop blockchain platform with super functionality, users will be able to do more than take advantage of instant messaging (IM) functionality. Instead, they will also be given a chance to discover up-and-coming blockchain projects, participate in airdrops and transfer cryptocurrencies, among other notable features.
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This Daily Dose was brought to you by Cointelegraph.
