Crypto Flipsider News – BTC & ETH Update; ADA Flips XRP; Binance Nigeria Partnership; FIFA Launches NFT Platform; The Acala USD Incident

Read in the Digest:

Bitcoin holds out above 2017 highs – Ethereum (ETH) fails to reverse at $1.5k.

Cardano (ADA) rallies to flip XRP in the rankings, as the Vasil upgrade nears.

Binance and Nigeria work to develop a virtual free zone.

FIFA partners with Algorand to launch NFT collection for the World Cup.

Acala report reveals 52 million wrongly minted coins – aUSD recovers.

Bitcoin Holds out Above 2017 Highs – Ethereum (ETH) Fails to Reverse at $1.5k

Following a solid unemployment report, Bitcoin trended downward over the weekend to hit a 7-day low of $19,636. Despite the collapse of Bitcoin along with other risk assets, BTC managed to hold out above the $19,500 level, its record peak from December 2017.

BTC opened the week at lower than $20k for the tenth consecutive day as it dropped 0.5% in the last 24 hours to trade at $19,757 at the time of writing. Traders remain mixed in predictions for Bitcoin’s next direction.

The 7 day price chart for Bitcoin (BTC). Source: CoinMarketCap

While Bitcoin’s direction remains undecided, Ethereum’s (ETH) path looks to be clearing up. The Ether’s failure to reverse at $1,550 all but confirms the possibility of an uptrend for ETH. ETH now trades at $1,580, having gained 7% in value in last week to outperform Bitcoin.

The 7 day price chart for Ethereum (ETH). Source: CoinMarketCap

With Ethereum’s mainnet merge scheduled to begin tomorrow with the launch of the Bellatrix upgrade on the Beacon Chain, ETH looks to assume a bullish outlook. Analysts believe that if ETH manages to rally to $1,700, its price could shoot even higher once the merge is complete.

Flipsider:

Analysts have expressed concerns about the possible volatility that may ensue due to the release of $3 billion worth of Mt.Gox bitcoins, which will occur at around the same time as the Ethereum Merge.

Cardano (ADA) Rallies to Flip XRP in the Rankings as the Vasil Upgrade Nears

Cardano (ADA) has pulled its weight, overtaking Ripple’s XRP as the seventh largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Cardano’s rally comes just days after ADA was listed on Robinhood.

The Robinhood launch fueled a 30% hike in the ADA’s daily trade volume. The hype also saw ADA rake in gains of 13.46% over the last seven days?—the most of any of the top 20 cryptos ranked by market cap.

Cardano now trades at $0.486 at the time of writing, and is ranked as the seventh largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $16.65 billion. As a result, Ripple’s XRP dropped to eighth with its market cap of $16.11 billion.

The 7 day price chart for Cardano (ADA). Source: CoinMarketCap

The surge will certainly be seen as a positive by the Cardano community, which is eagerly anticipating the Vasil upgrade after Cardano Founder Charles Hoskinson announced September 22nd as the official date for the Vasil hard fork.

Flipsider:

Despite having a definite launch date for its upgrade, Cardano has come under criticism due to the Vasil hard fork initially being slated to launch in July, but suffering two sizeable delays.

Why You Should Care

Cardano (ADA) is expected to rally even further with the launch of Vasil, an upgrade that is expected to bring increased network capacity and lower-cost transactions to Cardano.

Binance and Nigeria Work to Develop a Virtual Free Zone

The Nigerian government and the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance Holdings, have revealed that they conducted a preliminary meeting for the development of a special digital economic zone that aims to boost blockchain technology.

In a September 2nd post, the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) stated that the aim of partnering with Binance and Talent City is to develop a digital hub similar to the Dubai virtual free zone.

According to NEPZA, the virtual free zone will be the first in West Africa, and will draft crypto-friendly laws, regulations, and tax incentives for crypto businesses. The initiative also looks to take advantage of the near trillion dollar virtual economy on blockchains.

Managing Director of NEPZA Adesoji Adesugba underlined that the special economic zone will focus on the development of Nigeria’s digital economy, and will serve to widen employment opportunities, as well as drive crypto adoption in the West African region.

Flipsider:

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) enacted a blanket ban in 2021, restricting banks from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions of any kind.

Why You Should Care

The Nigerian federal government is working to widen its economy’s prospects by shifting from crude oil, and embracing the growing digital technology sector.

FIFA Partners with Algorand to Launch NFT Collection for the World Cup

The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), is set to launch an NFT-based “collection of classic football clips” in September that will showcase soccer-related digital collectibles ahead of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

According to a press release, the NFT platform, dubbed “FIFA+ Collect” is powered by the Algorand blockchain, and is being created as part of the May partnership agreement between the two organizations.

The agreement will also enable the platform users to enjoy the benefits provided by the blockchain firm’s “wallet solution” for the NFT. FIFA+ Collect will feature clips of the greatest goals, saves, and iconic moments from The FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup through art and imagery.

The collectibles will be available on ‘FIFA+’, which provides access to live football matches, news, games, and original content. When launched, FIFA+ Collect will be available across all mobile devices in English, French, and Spanish.

Flipsider:

Although Crypto.com became an official sponsor for the November 2022 World Cup, the exchange turned down a $495 million sponsorship deal opportunity for the UEFA Champions League.

Why You Should Care

The launch of the NFT platform, dubbed FIFA+ Collect, will allow soccer fans globally to own unique digital collectibles at an affordable rate, as well as to share and trade precious “moments in time” from the tournament’s storied history.

Acala Report Reveals 52 Million Wrongly Minted Coins – aUSD Recovers

Three weeks ago, Acala announced that it had traced roughly 3 billion erroneously minted tokens of its Acala Dollar (aUSD) stablecoin. The incident due to a misconfiguration in a newly launched liquidity pool, which led to an attacker minting the vast amount of tokens.

The traced aUSD error mints have now been burned following a community proposal was passed in favor of destroying them. In its September 5th report, the stablecoin issuer reports that the current outstanding aUSD error mints are down to 52.068 million tokens.

According to the report, the latest finding involved a total of 281 addresses, with 42.482 million aUSD error mints remaining on the Acala network. Meanwhile, other tokens have been transferred to parachains such as Moonbeam, Astar, Interlay, and CEX.

One positive for Acala is the overall price recovery of the aUSD stablecoin despite the event. After the exploit on August 14th, the price of aUSD fell to as low as $0.009383. However, as of this writing, the stablecoin now seems to be on the journey to recovery, trading at $0.8 after briefly touching a high of $0.8488.

The 10 day price chart for Acala Dollar (aUSD). Source: CoinMarketCap

Flipsider:

While the daily trade volume of the Acala Dollar is at its highest point since the attack, its use for profit trading suggests that it may never regain its dollar peg.