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Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.Top Stories This WeekPeter Schiff’s bank closure strengthens Bitcoin case for financial freedomAvid Bitcoin hater and gold peddler Peter Schiff saw his bank in Puerto Rico, Euro Pacific International Bank, shut down this week, with regulators pulling the plug on the grounds that the bank was not maintaining the net minimum capital requirements. Schiff noted that, as a result, “accounts are frozen and customers may lose money.” The crypto community on Twitter was quick to swoop in, with pseudonymous user HodlMagoo noting the priceless irony: “Do you understand why you need bitcoin now?”Bitcoin ‘tourists’ have been purged, only hodlers remain: GlassnodeAccording to Glassnode’s “The Week On-Chain” report published on Monday, supposed “market tourists” have been completely “purged” from the BTC market, leaving only seasoned hodlers or investors transacting with the asset. The report also stated that “shrimps” — those holding less than 1 BTC, and whales — those with 1,000 to 5,000 BTC — were “increasing meaningfully.”Ethereum testnet Merge mostly successful — ‘Hiccups will not delay the Merge.’Ethereum developers completed the second-to-last Merge trial on the Sepolia public testnet this week. There was a minor hiccup, with 25-30% of validators going offline after the Merge due to “wrong configs.” However, devs such as Terence Tsao stated that “hiccups will not delay the Merge.” The final Merge trial on Goerli is slated to go through in the next few weeks, and it appears the official Ethereum Merge is on track for now.Voyager Digital files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, proposes recovery planOn Tuesday, Voyager Digital filed for bankruptcy as part of a “reorganization” plan just days after the crypto exchange paused trading, withdrawals and deposits. Under the plan, Voyager is looking to make users whole again by offering a combination of Voyager tokens, crypto, proceeds from the Three Arrows Capital recovery, and common shares in the newly reorganized company.The bottom is in: CNBC’s Jim Cramer says crypto has ‘no real value’The crypto community on Twitter has joked that the crypto bottom is in after Jim Cramer predicted that the market will plunge further, saying that crypto has “no real value.” Cramer has developed a reputation in the crypto community for giving stock/crypto tips that generally end up being at odds with how the market behaves. “How many companies can Sam Bankman-Fried save?” he said.Winners and LosersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $21,804.19, Ether (ETH) at $1,239.99 and XRP at $0.35. The total market cap is at $960.9 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Curve DAO Token (CRV) at 49.12%, Convex Finance (CVX) at 41.45% and THORChain (RUNE) at 25.95%.  The top three altcoin losers of the week are Amp (AMP) at 8.52%, KuCoin Token (KCS) at 7.17% and UNUS SED LEO (LEO) at 5.98%.For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.Most Memorable Quotations“Celsius has refused to acknowledge the truth or their failures in risk management and accounting.”Jason Stone, CEO and founder of KeyFi“In the future, we see blockchain as one way to bring more empowerment and independence to communities on Reddit.” Reddit, social media platform“There’s a lot of peripherals that are just not getting tested and that’s unavoidable and probably fine.” Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum“Crypto really does seem to be imploding. Went from $3 trillion to $1 trillion. Why should it stop at $1 trillion? There’s no real value there.” Jim Cramer, host of CNBC’s Mad Money“We need now to bring in the regulatory system that will manage those risks in the crypto world in the same way that we manage them in the conventional world.” Jon Cunliffe, deputy governor for financial stability at the Bank of England“The Bitcoin network is approaching a state where almost all speculative entities, and market tourists have been completely purged from the asset.” Glassnode, blockchain analytics firmPrediction of the Week Bloomberg analyst tips bullish BTC recovery in next six monthsBloomberg’s senior commodity strategist, Mike McGlone, has predicted that BTC could be due for “one of the greatest bull markets in history” during the second half of 2022, arguing that the bottom is in and the floodgates could be primed to slam open. He cited the market activity in the first half of 2022 as being similar to the bottom of the bear market in 2018, which then went on to surge in the first six months of 2019.FUD of the Week PennyWise crypto-stealing malware spreads through YouTubeAccording to cyber intelligence company Cyble, a new strain of crypto malware is being spread via YouTube. The malware, named PennyWise, tricks users into downloading software that’s able to siphon data from more than 30 crypto wallets and crypto-browser extensions. PennyWise can also take screenshots and steal sessions from chat applications such as Discord and Telegram.Celsius moved $529M worth of wBTC to FTX exchange: Should we be worried?On Friday, it was reported that Celsius had transferred nearly 25,000 Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) worth $528.9 million to the FTX crypto exchange. The move has raised concerns that a dump could soon follow, resulting in a potential plunge in the price of BTC.Bombshell allegations of fraud as KeyFi takes Celsius to courtKeyFi, an investment firm that previously managed $2 billion worth of Celsius assets, has filed a lawsuit against the troubled lending company over an alleged failure to honor a profit-sharing agreement “worth millions of dollars.” KeyFi has accused Celsius of refusing to honor a “handshake agreement” that would see it take home certain percentages of the profits it made on Celsius’ behalf via staking and DeFi strategies.Best Cointelegraph FeaturesBear market? “So what,” says World Chess Champion Garry KasparovCointelegraph sat down with Chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov at Consensus 2022 to get his thoughts on the crypto and NFT market.How the Metaverse can revolutionize the fashion industryBy amalgamating the world of fashion with the Metaverse, brands and their clients stand to benefit a lot.What does a bear-market ‘cleanse’ actually mean?The latest bear market should send a clear signal to projects: It’s all about finding a problem that needs to be solved, and actually using your product to solve it.

Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.Top Stories This WeekAfter 8 years dumping billions of XRP, Jed McCaleb’s stack runs out in weeksRipple Labs co-founder and former chief technology officer Jed McCaleb is nearing the end of his eight-year-long XRP dumpathon. The former Ripple exec has been gradually shedding his stash of 9 billion XRP since his departure in 2014. As of June 30, McCaleb only had 81.53 million XRP worth $26.55 million remaining, much to the delight of die-hard Ripple supporters.80,000 Bitcoin millionaires wiped out in the great crypto crash of 2022The number of wallets holding over $1 million worth of Bitcoin has decreased by roughly 80,000, from 108,886 on Nov. 12 to a mere 26,284 as of June 30. That represents a 75% plunge within nine months. However, with the price of BTC crashing down to the $20,000 region and potentially lower, it may also give more people a chance to become whole coiners.Ethereum fork a success as Sepolia testnet gears up to trial the MergeOn Thursday morning, the Gray Glacier hard fork designed to delay the difficulty bomb successfully went live on Ethereum. The hard fork will delay the difficulty bomb by roughly 100 days as developers work to get the final stages of the Merge completed. Over the next few days, the Sepolia testnet is also set to run through its Merge trial, making it the second of three public testnets to do so.Bear market will last until crypto apps are actually useful: Mark CubanBillionaire investor and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban thinks the current bear market won’t be over until there’s a stronger focus on applications that provide utility. Speaking on the Bankless podcast, he noted, “It lasts until there’s a catalyst and that catalyst is going to be an application, or we get so low people go ‘fuck it, I’ll buy some.’”BlockFi announces deal with FTX US, including ‘option to acquire’ for $240MAmid rumors that FTX US was planning to acquire beleaguered crypto lender BlockFi for as little as $25 million, BlockFi CEO Zac Prince revealed Friday that the actual deal was more costly. According to Prince, BlockFi signed agreements with the derivatives exchange for a $400-million revolving credit facility. As part of the deal, FTX US will have the ability to purchase BlockFi outright for up to $240 million. Still, that’s a drop in the bucket compared with BlockFi’s valuation this time last year, which was roughly $5 billion.Winners and LosersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $19,433.55, Ether (ETH) at $1,058.95 and XRP at $0.31. The total market cap is at $867.7 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are TerraClassicUSD (USTC) at 164.07%, Amp (AMP) at 7.52% and Compound (COMP) at 6.15%. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Storj (STORJ) at 30.28%, Polygon (MATIC) at 21.52% and Zcash (ZEC) at 21.67%.For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.Most Memorable Quotations“Anonymous is looking into Do Kwon’s entire history since he entered the crypto space to see what we can learn and bring to light.” Anonymous, hacktivist group“In the midst of this, Bitcoin and Ethereum have both traded below their previous cycle ATHs which is a first in history.” Glassnode, Blockchain analysis firm“A very solid use case for crypto is becoming apparent in the gaming industry, where people invest time that you can earn from it, and that’s all arranged by the blockchain.”Maurice Mureau, CEO of Hodl“There has been a real spike in the interest from traditional hedge funds who are taking a look at Tether and looking to short it.” Leon Marshall, head of institutional sales at Genesis“The metaverse is a market opportunity, a way to re-engage talent, and a path to connect people across the globe through a new collaborative experience.”Laura Newinski, deputy chair and chief operating officer at KPMG“We’ve been so focused on tokens and money and Web3. I think it’s time to refocus on the underlying infrastructure layers that make all of that possible.”Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at CoinSharesPrediction of the Week Dogecoin price could rally 20% in July with this bullish reversal patternThe price of OG memecoin DOGE appears to have been running through a bump-and-run-reversal (BARR) bottom since May 11, a technical pattern that points to extended trend reversals in a bear market. The pattern consists of three phases: lead-in, bump, and run. As it stands, DOGE appears to be in the bump phase and could be set for a 20% pump to $0.00941 in the near future.FUD of the Week Infamous North Korean hacker group identified as suspect for $100M Harmony attackProminent North Korea-based hacking syndicate the Lazarus Group has been identified as a key suspect behind the recent $100 million Harmony protocol hack. According to a report published on Thursday by blockchain analysis firm Elliptic, the way in which Harmony’s Horizon bridge was hacked and the stolen assets laundered bears a striking resemblance to previous Lazarus hacks, such as the $600 million Axie Infinity hack in April.Singapore reprimands 3AC for providing false informationThe potentially insolvent crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) has been reprimanded by the Monetary Authority of Singapore for providing inaccurate information regarding the number of assets it owned. When 3AC was registered in Singapore in 2013, it was permitted to manage funds for up to 30 investors worth up to $180 million, but it appears there may have been some alleged smudging of the lines in the name of supposed compliance.OpenSea data breach causes massive leak of users’ email addressesNFT marketplace giant OpenSea issued a warning to users on Thursday that a list of customers’ emails had been leaked to an outside party. The leak happened via an employee of Customer.io, a platform for managing email newsletters and campaigns. The firm warned users to be on the lookout for potential phishing attacks. Best Cointelegraph FeaturesThailand’s Crypto Utopia — ‘90% of a cult, without all the weird stuff’The story of how a Bitcoin OG set up a libertarian crypto community and commune for digital nomads on beautiful islands in Thailand three times — and why he hasn’t yet given up on the dream.Governments, enterprise, gaming: Who will drive the next crypto bull run?With all the recent turbulence in the crypto space, the question of the moment is: What will drive the next crypto bull run?Metaverse fractional ownership to form similarly to property loans: Casper execRalf Kubli said that smart contracts can create fractionalization agreements and divide plots of metaverse land that can be leased out individually.

Coming every Saturday, Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.Top Stories This WeekSBF and Alameda step in to prevent crypto collapse contagionSam Bankman-Fried stated on June 20 that his firms Alameda Research and FTX would be “stepping in” to help companies with liquidity troubles amid the current bear market. Over the course of the week, Alameda dished out a loan of roughly $500 million to Voyager Digital, which is suffering from exposure to the potentially insolvent Three Arrows Capital, while FTX supplied BlockFi with $250 million worth of credit. New video revives debate over Bored Ape Yacht Club’s alleged ‘racist’ imageryYouTuber Philip Rusnack, known as Philion, published a video this week on Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club nonfungible token (NFT) project, arguing that the team has embedded alt-right inside jokes, Nazi imagery and racist caricatures of Black and Asian people in the artwork depicted in the tokenized avatars. Such a notion has been a long-running conspiracy theory in the NFT community, and while many people laugh it off, others take the supposed evidence as gospel.‘Bitcoin dead’ Google searches hit new all-time highWith Bitcoin crashing back down to the lower $20,000s, Google searches for “Bitcoin dead” spiked in the week of Friday, June 18, and hit some of the highest levels on record. Google Trends tracks search interest over time and assigns scores of 1 to 100 based on the total number of user searches. During this period, “Bitcoin dead” achieved a perfect score of 100.Bitcoin S2F model gives false sense of certainty, says Vitalik ButerinEthereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has critiqued the stock-to-flow (S2F) model popularized by pseudonymous investor PlanB. The BTC-focused S2F drew significant attention during the bull run last year, as it went on a relatively long streak of accurate predictions before falling way off the mark in late 2021. Commenting on the S2F model, Buterin noted, “I know it’s impolite to gloat and all that, but I think financial models that give people a false sense of certainty and predestination that number-will-go-up are harmful and deserve all the mockery they get.”Solend invalidates Solana whale wallet takeover plan with second governance voteSolana-based DeFi lending protocol Solend created a counter governance vote to the controversial “SLND1 : Mitigate Risk From Whale” poll this week after listening to the strong pushback from the community. The initial vote was intended to allow Solend to reduce the market risk of a massive whale’s potential liquidation by letting the platform access the whale’s wallet. However, the idea has been vetoed after the countervote polled 1,480,264 votes in favor of not going through with the whale takeover.Winners and LosersAt the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $21,241.99, Ether (ETH) at $1,214.06 and XRP at $0.37. The total market cap is at $952 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are Storj (STORJ) at 89.27%, Synthetic (SNX) at 74.21% and Polygon (MATIC) at 51.76%. The top three altcoin losers of the week are Harmony (ONE) at 4.06%, KuCoin Token (KCS) at 1.93% and PAX Gold (PAXG) at 1.55%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.Most Memorable Quotations“Particularly in the area of digital asset trading, I feel that the UK has missed a trick […] We are getting very close to the point where it will be too late. Other jurisdictions are racing ahead of us.” Philip Hammond, former U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer “In short, they are just ‘bad’ projects. These should not be saved. Sadly, some of these ‘bad’ projects have a large number of users, often acquired through inflated incentives, ‘creative’ marketing, or pure Ponzi schemes.” Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of Binance “The SEC now seems to take the position when they sued us that ‘XRP is a security and always has been,’ but they approved Coinbase going public even though Coinbase is not a registered broker-dealer.” Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple“Web3 and crypto, in general, is very market-driven, so you have highs and downs. When we build, we always are considering the long game.” Stani Kulechov, founder and CEO of Aave “When things are a bit harder in the market, you discover who’s actually building something that might last for the long longer term and what is going to pass away.” Hester Peirce, commissioner of the SEC “Even if we weren’t the ones who caused it, or weren’t involved in it. I think that’s what’s healthy for the ecosystem, and I want to do what can help it grow and thrive.” Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of Alameda ResearchPrediction of the Week ‘Foolish’ to deny Bitcoin price can go under $10K — AnalysisWith the price of BTC hovering around $20,000 and the Fed yet to reveal any new information regarding efforts to reel in inflation, crypto commentators have argued that the outlook of the price in the immediate term is uncertain. However, a potential fresh pullback may only involve a trip to $16,000, according to some, while others have urged investors to consider a drop to $10,000 as a potential scenario also. “Consolidating $BTC in a broad range and then going up. MDD (maximum drawdown) is not that big like -20%,” Ki Young Ju, CEO of on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant, wrote in part of a Twitter post.“At this stage, nobody can say with certainty whether BTC will hold this range or if it will go to sub $10K price levels ever again, but it would be foolish not to have a plan for that possibility,” a tweet argued.FUD of the Week Harmony’s Horizon Bridge hacked for $100MThe Horizon Bridge to the Harmony layer-1 blockchain was exploited for $100 million worth of altcoins on June 24. From 7:08 am EST until 7:26 am EST, 11 transactions were made from the bridge for various tokens before sending the tokens off to Uniswap to exchange for ETH. The Harmony team said it is working with “national authorities and forensic specialists” to determine who was responsible, and a post-mortem will follow.China’s WeChat bans crypto and NFT-related accountsSocial media and payments app giant WeChat updated its policies to ban accounts that provide access to crypto or NFT-related services. Under the new guidelines, accounts involved with the issuance, trading and financing of crypto and NFTs will be categorized as an “illegal business” and will either be restricted or banned outright.Iranian government to cut power supply for the country’s legal crypto mining rigsAccording to reports from local media outlets this week, Iran’s Ministry of Energy will have started shutting off the power supply to all of the country’s licensed crypto mining firms by the beginning of July. The government entity cited a potential electricity deficit during the peak summer season as the reason.Best Cointelegraph FeaturesThe community-centered approach to Web3 — Aave founder and CEO“What if we actually can have ownership on our own presence in social media — our profiles, our social identities?” asked Stani Kulechov. Is there a way for the crypto sector to avoid Bitcoin’s halving-related bear markets?BTC’s high volatility and halving-related bear markets tend to drag down investment and interest in the entire crypto market. Can this be avoided?Lummis–Gillibrand crypto bill comprehensive but still creates divisionThe senators introduced new approaches to familiar questions concerning digital assets and how to divide regulatory responsibilities.