“Bitcoin (BTC) added 5.6% in the past 24 hours to rise over $30,000 during Asian trading hours on Monday in a brief show of strength amid a record losing streak. Monday’s run comes on the back of a bump in Asian equities amid reports that major Chinese cities have started to ease coronavirus restrictions after months of strict lockdowns.
The asset has slid for nine straight weeks for the first time in its history, falling from the $48,160 level in late March to last week’s close of $29,600. The drop came alongside inflation concerns in the broader economy, a move away from risk assets, and systemic risk from within the crypto industry.
Price-charts suggest bitcoin saw strong support at the $29,000 mark, a level that has been tested several times in the past weeks. Closing below this level could mean that the cryptocurrency could drop to its 2017 high of nearly $20,000, charts show. Resistance at $30,500 continues to exist, however, and a daily close above that level would show strong signs of recovery.“
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“MoneyGram International, one of the world’s largest cross-border transfer services, is partnering with the Stellar blockchain to create a stablecoin-based platform for money transfers. The new service will allow Stellar wallet users to send Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) to recipients, who will be able to cash them out for fiat currency through the MoneyGram network.
We’re trying to be a bridge from the crypto world to the fiat world.
If a country like El Salvador is going to make Bitcoin seamless with US dollars in country, I think that consumers, through MoneyGram, should be able to transfer Bitcoin to El Salvador or transfer dollars and convert them to Bitcoin. If that’s where the world is going, let’s participate in that world and let’s see how we can help fulfill that opportunity.”
“The move comes as part of a government-led effort to revitalize consumer spending as a zero-COVID policy has devastated the countries’ economic hubs.
The airdrop is a joint effort between the city of Shenzhen and Meituan Dianping, China’s leading food delivery app. As per instructions, users would need to first login to the Meituan app, sign up for the incentive, and then potentially receive the e-CNY rewards as part of a lottery draw. If chosen, the e-CNY is then dispensed to users and can be spent at more than 15,000 in-app merchant terminals that accept the state-owned digital currency.”
“South Korean authorities have reportedly summoned all employees at Terraform Labs as part of a full-scale investigation of the collapse of UST and LUNC.
According to the report, the probe is being conducted by the joint financial and securities crime investigation team of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office. The authorities are looking for signs of intentional price manipulation and whether the tokens went through proper listing procedures.
As previously reported, Terra investors filed a class-action suit against Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon and co-founder Shin Hyun-seun in mid-May, demanding a record of user accounts, marketing materials and UST-related communications. The investors reportedly lost up to $44 million worth of deposited funds after LUNC tanked 99% and UST lost its 1:1 peg value to the United States dollar.
According to some reports, Terraform Labs dissolved its South Korean branch days before the LUNC and UST collapse, with some speculating that Kwon closed the local division to evade taxes.”
The Disrupt 