The XBO Weekly #13 – Crypto News

Lower interest hikes in December impact crypto prices
The prospect of smaller interest rate hikes in December, by 50 basis points rather than the 75 of the previous four, appears to have benefited the cryptocurrency market, which increased its market capitalisation by 3% week over week to $815 billion. While Bitcoin (BTC) recorded relatively modest gains of the order of 4.5%, reaching $17,200, Ether rose 7.3% to $1280, decentralized exchange Uniswap (UNI) jumped 15% to $6.25, and the Polygon platform (MATIC) climbed 9% to $0.92. The new Ethereum proof-of-work fork (ETHW) was one of the biggest gainers, adding 20% to reach $4. While the bear market bounce is certainly encouraging and has some experts calling for the bottom to be in, investors are hesitant to return to the market, seeking authorities' attention to the industry and an improvement in geopolitical concerns.

Belgian regulators declare that Bitcoin and Ether aren't securities
A favourable development from Belgium's financial regulators is that they do not regard Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) to be securities. While crypto assets may be subject to various rules and regulations since they act as a form of payment or a medium of exchange, they are not classified as securities because they are created only by computer code and are not distributed as part of an agreement to investors. The European Union is expected to pass a final vote on the Markets in Crypto Assets Law, which will harmonise member states' regulations regulating crypto assets and associated service providers. Cryptocurrency assets are generally categorized as securities in the United States. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) intends to regulate all crypto as securities, while CFT Chair Rostin Behman stated this week that while Bitcoin is a commodity, Ethereum does not meet the definition of a commodity, a complete 180-degree shift from his previous position.

Apple intensifies its offensive against NFTs
Apple has rejected the latest version of the Coinbase wallet from its App Store in what looks to be a monopoly profit-protection strategy. According to the multinational technology corporation, "gas," or fees levied by the Ethereum network to transport NFTs, should be paid through Apple's In-App purchase system - and subject to the 30% commission that Apple charges developers for all App Store transactions. NFT wallet developers are unable to comply with this criterion since they do not charge or receive fees, and Apple's in-app purchase mechanism does not even support cryptocurrency. Apple has announced that it would work with developers who have been impacted by this update.

XBO featured Coin of the Week – Chainlink (LINK)
Chainlink is a decentralised oracle that connects smart contracts to external data sources, events, and payment methods. The network is powered by LINK, an ERC-20 token that incentivizes third-party blockchain data sources to meet service level agreement (SLA) criteria. As Chainlink prepares to introduce staking on the Ethereum network, LINK has been one of the top performing large capitalization this fortnight (up 23%), gaining 12% in the previous week alone.

LINK is the 19th largest asset by market valuation, with a circulating quantity of 508 million tokens priced at $7.50. While it has risen 41% from its June 2022 low of $5.35, it is still 86% lower than its all-time high of May 2021.

Buy, Sell, or Swap LINK - Simply and securely, with XBO.

Disclaimer: The above does not constitute financial advice. It is only intended for informational and educational purposes.