Former Monero maintainer Riccardo ‘Fluffypony’ Spagni to surrender for South Africa extradition

June 30, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Court filings hint at authorities allowing Spagni to be in the United States for the Independence Day holiday weekend before being taken to South Africa early on Tuesday.

Riccardo Spagni, the former maintainer of the privacy coin Monero also known as Fluffypony, faces extradition to South Africa months after his arrest by U.S. authorities.

In a Thursday court filing for the Middle District of Tennessee, Magistrate Judge Alistair Newbern ordered Spagni to surrender to U.S. Marshals on July 5 for extradition to South Africa. He will reportedly face 378 charges related to allegations of fraud and forgery between 2009 and 2011 at a company called Cape Cookies.

U.S. authorities arrested Spagni in Nashville in July 2021 at the request of the South African government, holding him in custody until September. The court filings hint at allowing Spagni to be in the United States for the Independence Day holiday weekend before being taken to Africa early on Tuesday. None of the charges in South Africa are related to Spagni’s time working on Monero (XMR), for which he was the lead maintainer until December 2019.

Spagni, who posts on Twitter under the handle Fluffypony, has been involved in the crypto space since 2011. Since his arrest in the United States, he tweeted regarding his desire to return to South Africa to “address this matter” related to the fraud charges:

I am very pleased that the U.S. court has released me. I am actively working with my attorneys on a way to return to South Africa as soon as possible so I can address this matter and get it behind me once and for all. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do.
— fluffy/pony (@fluffypony) September 21, 2021

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets, the price of XMR has fallen roughly 8% in the last 24 hours, reaching $110 at the time of publication. As with many cryptocurrencies in the current bear market, the price of the privacy coin has fallen significantly in the last 30 days — roughly 46% from more than $206 on May 31.

Top Privacy Cryptocurrencies by Market Cap Lost Half Their Value in Less Than 2 Months

June 21, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Biggest Movers: HNT Nears 1-Week High, as XMR Rebounds on Friday

June 17, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Regulations and exchange delistings put future of private cryptocurrencies in doubt

June 16, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

At a time when privacy tools and coins have become the primary target of regulators around the world, the future of privacy-focused coins looks obsolete.

The core principles of cryptocurrency were based on financial independence, decentralization and anonymity. With regulations being the key to mass adoption, however, the privacy aspect of the crypto market seems to be in jeopardy.

In 2022, even though no particular country has come up with a universal regulatory outline that governs the whole crypto market, most countries have introduced some form of legislation to govern a few aspects of the crypto market such as trading and financial services.

While different countries have set different rules and regulations in accordance with their existing financial laws, a common theme has been the strict implementation of Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations.

A majority of crypto exchanges operating with a license obtained from the government body or government-affiliated bodies have discouraged any form of anonymous transactions. Even in countries where there is no particular law on privacy coins, there is a ban on private transactions over a certain threshold.

The governments of the United States and the United Kingdom have also demanded regulatory action against the use of coin mixing tools, a service used to obscure the origin of a transaction by mixing it with multiple other transactions.

Coinjoin, a popular crypto mixing tool, recently announced they would block illicit transactions amid-regulatory heat.

The recent delisting of Litecoin (LTC) by several crypto exchanges in South Korea owing to its recent privacy-focused MimbleWimble upgrade is another example of how the privacy aspect of the cryptocurrency is the first to fall on the road to regulatory acceptance. Apart from South Korean exchanges delisting LTC, many global exchanges including Binance and Gate.IO also refused to support transactions using the MimbleWimble upgrade.

Most regulations focus on making cryptocurrencies more transparent so that consumers and businesses feel at ease with them. This may be good news for institutional and corporate investors, but it could be a blow for privacy-focused coins.

At a time when regulatory oversight is at its highest, there is a special threat to privacy coins such as Monero (XMR) and ZCash (ZEC), which are already banned on several leading exchanges. However, experts believe that despite the ongoing case against privacy coins, people will continue to use them.

Privacy tokens are a red flag for many regulators, who often prefer that blockchain transactions are auditable, verifiable and take place on a public chain.

Under regulatory scrutiny around the world

Privacy coins obscure the key identifiers of transactions such as the address of the sender or receiver, a feature that regulators believe could be misused by miscreants. Even some nations like Japan, which was once seen as the leading country in terms of progressive crypto regulations, decided to do away with privacy coins.

Japan banned the use of privacy-focused cryptocurrencies in 2018, after which several registered crypto exchanges in the country delisted privacy coins from their platform. Similarly, South Korea has not just banned privacy coins, but any form of private transactions is prohibited on Korean crypto exchanges.

In the United States, privacy coins remain legal. However, the Secret Service recommended that Congress regulate privacy-enhanced cryptocurrencies.

In August 2020, Australian regulators forced many exchanges to delist privacy coins. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has similarly listed the use of privacy coins as a potential red flag for money laundering through virtual assets.

Some cryptocurrency exchanges have also stopped offering privacy coins as a result of AML guidance. In January 2021, Bittrex, the eighth largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, announced that it would drop Monero and Zcash from its platform. Kraken, the fourth largest exchange, delisted Monero in the United Kingdom in November 2021 following guidance from the United Kingdom’s financial markets regulator.

Ankit Verma, chief investment officer at crypto investment platform Mudrex, told Cointelegraph:

“While some exchanges periodically prohibit trading privacy coins, most of the largest privacy coins are currently available for trading across major exchanges in different jurisdictions. Yet, the institutional skepticism around the adoption of privacy coins persists. It is difficult to predict the usage of privacy coins on a wider scale primarily because of the strict enforcement of KYC and AML guidelines. Our belief is the absence of institutional affinity for privacy coins combined with the fact they are unregulated further dampens the possibility of widespread adoption of privacy coins.”

Regulatory pressure has mounted to such a level where even privacy features of particular cryptocurrencies come under scrutiny, even if the crypto itself is not solely focused on privacy. Thus, experts believe the real winners will be those who combine the best of privacy and regulatory compliance.

Fennie Wang, CEO at Humanity Cash — a community-based currency development platform — told Cointelegraph:

“The winners will be protocols that balance between user privacy and regulatory compliance using a combination of cryptographic techniques and sound policy translation. Decentralized identity primitives alongside zero-knowledge Proofs, homomorphic encryption and multi-party computation will be central to this equation.”

Can privacy coins survive the regulatory onslaught?

Privacy coins remain a gray area in several countries where they are not banned but governments have discouraged their use.

Chris Kline, chief operating officer at Bitcoin IRA — a crypto retirement plan provider — believes privacy coins can co-exist despite the current regulatory downturn. She explained:

“Privacy coins can co-exist in a regulatory environment. This coexistence will take place alongside new rules and challenges as the CFTC takes the lead on standards ahead.”

Many other experts believe that, while privacy coins will find it hard to get regulatory approval, regulators will become more sophisticated toward privacy coins and bring them under their regulatory purview.

Nikos Kostopoulos, a blockchain adviser at European Union IT infrastructure firm NetCompany, told Cointelegraph:

“While it is foreseen that privacy coins might not have a position in regulated cryptocurrency exchanges, the privacy coins will not be evaporated from the market cap, but rather will find audiences and venues where privacy is fundamental while regulators will become more sophisticated towards their approach to privacy coins — for example with imposed KYC/AML once there is a transaction with fiat currencies or cryptocurrencies.”

Recent: Consensus 2022: Web3, unpacking regulations, and optimism for crypto’s future

Privacy is still a key concern for many in the crypto community, and this concern is amplified when it comes to sensitive information such as financial transactions. This is why privacy coins are so important for preserving and securing users’ interests. They ensure that sensitive user data is not accessible to just anybody and that transactions are conducted privately. Some privacy coins such as Zcash and Dash (DASH) let users choose whether or not to encrypt their transactions, giving them complete control over their data.

Multiple reports have shown that less than 1% of crypto transactions account for criminal activity and cash still remains the currency of convenience for criminals. Given all these positives of privacy coins, declaring a full ban on them might cause a threat to user privacy and, ultimately, the underlying technology.

Top 5 cryptocurrencies to watch this week: BTC, ADA, XLM, XMR, MANA

June 5, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

BTC appears to be in the early stage of a recovery this week, and ADA, XLM, XMR and MANA could follow.

The bears are trying to extend Bitcoin’s (BTC) record of nine consecutive red weekly candles to ten weeks, but the bulls are trying to avert this negative occurrence. Although sentiment remains negative, Arthur Hayes, former CEO of derivatives giant BitMEX, anticipates Bitcoin to bottom out in the range of $25,000 to $27,000.

On-chain data from Glassnode shows that smart money may have started accumulating Bitcoin. The net outflows from major cryptocurrency exchanges reached 23,286 Bitcoin on June 3, the highest since May 14.

*Crypto market data daily view. Source:* *Coin360*

Another positive sign of accumulation is that investment into Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs) was strong in May and has only risen further in the first two days of June, according to an Arcane Research report. The ETPs hold 205,000 Bitcoin under management, which is a new record.

Could Bitcoin turn up and start a recovery? If that happens, could select altcoins follow the leader? Let’s study the charts of the top-5 cryptocurrencies that may lead the relief rally.

BTC/USDT

Bitcoin plunged below the 20-day exponential moving average ($30,459) on June 1. The bulls attempted to push the price back above the 20-day EMA on June 2 and June 3 but the bears did not relent.

The bears will try to pull the price below the strong support at $28,630. If they manage to do that, the BTC/USDT pair could drop to the vital support at $26,700. The buyers are expected to defend this support zone with all their might because if they fail to do that, the downtrend may resume.

On the upside, the bulls will have to push and sustain the price above $32,659 to suggest that a new uptrend could be starting. The bullish momentum could pick up on a break and close above the 50-day simple moving average ($33,778). The pair could then rally to the pattern target of $36,688 and thereafter to $40,000.

*BTC/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView*

The 4-hour chart shows that the price action is getting squeezed. Although bulls pushed the price above the 20-EMA, they are facing stiff resistance at the 50-SMA. This suggests that bears are active at higher levels.

A minor positive in favor of the bulls is that they have not allowed the price to break below the support at $29,282.

If the price rises from the current level and breaks above the downtrend line, the bulls will attempt to push the pair to the 200-SMA. Conversely, if the price breaks below $29,282, the next stop could be $28,630.

ADA/USDT

Cardano (ADA) broke above the downtrend line on May 31 but the bulls could not sustain the higher levels as seen from the long wick on the day’s candlestick.

Although the bears have successfully defended the downtrend line, a minor positive is that the bulls have held the ADA/USDT pair above the 20-day EMA ($0.56). This increases the possibility of a break above the downtrend line.

If that happens, the pair could rally to the 50-day SMA ($0.67) where the bears may again pose a strong challenge. A break and close above this level will suggest a potential change in trend. The pair could then rally to the breakdown level of $0.74.

Contrary to this assumption, if the price turns down and plummets below $0.53, the bears will try to pull the pair to $0.50 and later to $0.44.

*ADA/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView*

The 4-hour chart shows that the price has been squeezed between the 200-SMA and the 50-SMA but this tight range trading is unlikely to continue for long. If bulls propel the price above the 200-SMA, the pair could attempt a rally to $0.64. A break and close above this level could open the doors for a possible rally to $0.69.

Conversely, if the price turns down and breaks below $0.53, the selling could pick up momentum. The pair may then decline to $0.50 and later to $0.47.

XLM/USDT

Stellar (XLM) rallied above the 20-day EMA ($0.14) on May 30, which was the first indication that the selling pressure may be reducing. The bears stalled the up-move near the 50-day SMA ($0.15) but they haven’t been able to sink and sustain the price below the 20-day EMA.

This suggests that the bulls are buying the dips to the 20-day EMA. If bulls drive the price above the 50-day SMA, it will suggest the start of a sustained recovery. The XLM/USDT pair could then attempt a rally to $0.18 and later to the 200-day SMA ($0.21).

This positive view will invalidate in the short term if the price turns down and breaks below $0.13. Such a move will suggest that demand dries up at higher levels. That could pull the pair down to $0.12. If this support also gives way, the bears will try to resume the downtrend by sinking the pair below the psychological level of $0.10.

*XLM/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView*

The 4-hour chart shows the price is trading inside a symmetrical triangle. If bulls push the price above the resistance line of the triangle, the pair could rally to $0.15 and thereafter attempt a rally to the pattern target of $0.17.

Alternatively, if the price turns down from the current level, the bears will try to sink the pair below the support line of the triangle. If they do that, the selling could intensify and the pair may slide to the strong support at $0.13.

XMR/USDT

Monero’s (XMR) failure to rise above the 50-day SMA ($202) may have tempted short-term traders to book profits. That has pulled the price down to the 20-day EMA ($189).

The bulls are attempting to defend the 20-day EMA but the lack of a strong bounce off it suggests weak demand. If the price sustains below the 20-day EMA, the next stop could be the uptrend line. A break and close below this support could pull the price down to $167.

On the contrary, if the price rebounds off the current level, the buyers will attempt to overcome the resistance zone between the 50-day SMA and $210. If they manage to do that, the XMR/USDT pair could extend its rally to $230.

*XMR/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView*

The pair has been declining inside a descending channel, suggesting a minor advantage to sellers. If bears sink the price below the channel, the negative momentum may pick up and the pair could slide to $167.

Alternatively, if the price rebounds off the support line, the buyers will try to propel the pair above the channel. If they manage to do that, the pair could again attempt a break above the overhead resistance at $210.

MANA/USDT

Decentraland (MANA) has failed to break above the 20-day EMA ($1.06) for the past several days but a minor positive is that the bulls have not given up much ground. This suggests that the bulls are buying on dips as they anticipate a move higher.

If bulls propel the price above the 20-day EMA, it will suggest that the bears are losing their grip. The MANA/USDT pair could then rise to the overhead resistance at $1.36. This is an important level to keep an eye on because a break and close above it could signal that a bottom may be in place. The pair could then rally to $1.68.

Conversely, if the price turns down and breaks below $0.90, it will suggest that the bears are in no mood to surrender their advantage. The pair could then retest the crucial support at $0.60. The bears will have to pull the price below this support to indicate the resumption of the downtrend.

*MANA/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView*

The 4-hour chart shows that the pair has been trading inside a tight range between $0.94 and $1.04. The gradually downsloping 20-EMA and the RSI in the negative territory suggest a slight advantage to sellers. If bears pull the price below $0.94, the pair could drop to $0.90.

On the contrary, if bulls push the price above $1.04, it will suggest that demand exceeds supply. That could open the doors for a possible rally to the stiff overhead resistance at $1.15.

If the price turns down from this level, the pair may oscillate between $0.90 and $1.15 for some more time. A break and close above $1.15 could suggest that buyers have the upper hand.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

South Africa Charges Former Monero Lead Developer With 378 Counts of Fraud and Forgery

June 3, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Ethereum, Cardano and One Additional Crypto Project Entering Crucial Phases That Bear Market Can’t Stop: Coin Bureau

June 2, 2022 The Daily Hodl

Monero Looks Primed to Retrace to $150

May 26, 2022 The Crypto Briefing

Top 3 cryptocurrencies that are faring the best in the 2022 bear market

May 24, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Binance

The list is curated after studying the drawdowns of the top 30 crypto assets by market cap from their record highs.

The crypto market has been in decline over the past six months with its valuation dropping from over $3 trillion in November 2021 to $1.23 trillion in May 2022.

Fears over persistently higher inflation, the Federal Reserve's hawkish response to it, and the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia prompted investors to limit their exposure to riskier assets. Also, their increasing appetite for the safe-havens, such as the U.S. dollar, weighed down demand for some of the top cryptocurrencies and U.S. equities.

As a result, some digital assets, such as Dogecoin (DOGE) and Cardano (ADA), fell by more than 80% from their record highs established last year. At the same time, a few tokens witnessed similar albeit dwarfed declines compared to other assets in the top-30.

These are three among those cryptocurrencies listed in random order.

Monero (-65%)

Privacy-focused cryptocurrency Monero (XMR) has suffered fewer losses than its top rivals in the space since November 2021.

XMR's price dropped nearly 40% to $186 from its November 2021 peak of around $300. The plunge surfaced as a part of a broader correction move that started after Monero reached its record high in May 2021, near $520, bringing its net downside retracement to around 65%.

*XMR/USD weekly price chart. Source: TradingView*

XMR's limited downside prospects since November 2021 came forth amid reports that it's been used to bypass sanctions. Meanwhile, fears of strict regulations lurking over the crypto market also appeared to have boosted the speculative demand for Monero.

From a technical perspective, XMR has been consolidating in a range defined by its 50-week exponential moving average (50-week EMA; the red wave) around $211 and 200-week EMA (the blue wave) near $167, underscoring a bias conflict.

UNUS SED LEO (-40%)

UNUS SED LEO (LEO), a utility token backed by iFinex — the parent company of BitFinex exchange, has been largely unfazed by broader crypto trends.

The token continued its uptrend even as its rivals in the top-30 moved lower after November 2021; it reached an all-time high of around $8.15 in February 2022 but has since corrected by almost 40%, now trading at around $4.90.

*LEO/USD weekly price chart. Source: TradingView*

Notably, iFinex introduced LEO in a private token sale to raise $1 billion back in 2018. In doing so, the firm wanted to alleviate the cash shortfall it had incurred after the partial fund seizure of its payment processor, Crypto Capital.

IFinex also announced that it would buy back LEO with a minimum of 27% of its consolidated revenues from the previous month, thus removing its supply from the market. In addition, the firm also committed to allocating 95% of the recovered Crypto Capital funds and 80% of the funds from the BitFinex hack in 2016 to buy LEO.

LEO's returns to date now stands around 100%. But the token appears heavily centralized, with a so-called centralized exchange whale still holding around 97% of its net supply, according to data from Santiment.

Binance Coin (-53%)

Like Monero, Binance Coin (BNB) topped out in early May as its price per token crossed over $700. Then in November 2021, the BNB/USD pair almost retested its record high before correcting lower with the rest of the market. In doing so, it wiped out more than half of its valuation, now trading around $325.

*BNB/USD weekly price chart. Source: TradingView*

BNB serves as a utility token inside the Binance ecosystem, including the world's leading crypto exchange by volume and a native blockchain named BNB Chain. The token holders also get to submit proposals via BNB Chain's built-in governance module, which are then voted on.

Other crypto assets

Top cryptos, Bitcoin (BTC), and Ethereum's native token, Ether (ETH), have also fared better than most of their top-ranking rivals in the ongoing bear market.

BTC's price has dropped by 57% to around $29,300 from its November 2021 record high of $69,000. Meanwhile, the second-largest crypto, ETH, has plunged 60% to around $1,975 from above $4,850 in the same period.

Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Polkadot (DOT) are down 65% from their record highs of $55 and $0.00008760, respectively.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Monero enters ‘overbought’ danger zone after XMR price gains 75% in two weeks

May 23, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Altcoin

XMR is also nearing a breakdown move led by the formation of rising wedge, a classic bearish reversal pattern.

Monero (XMR) price may witness a sharp pullback by June because its 75% rally in the last two weeks has left the gauge almost "overbought."

Monero price RSI meets rising wedge

Downside risks have been mounting due to XMR's relative strength index (RSI), which almost hit 70 this May 23, indicating that the market is considered overvalued. An oversold RSI could amount to a bout of declining moves, as a rule of technical analysis.

Additionally, Monero is also painting a bearish reversal pattern, dubbed the rising wedge. Rising wedges form when the price moves inside a range defined by two ascending, converging trendlines.

As they do, the volumes typically decline, underscoring a lack of conviction among traders about the upside price move.

Rising Wedges typically resolve after the price breaks below their lower trendline, followed by an extended move downside to the level that traders locate after adding the maximum wedge's height to the breakdown point.

*XMR/USD four-hour price chart featuring RSI and rising wedge setup. Source: TradingView*

As a result of this technical rule, XMR risks falling toward $138.50 by June—down nearly 30% from today's price—if the breakdown point comes to be around $180. While a breakdown move that appears near the apex point around $200 would shift the wedge's downside target to nearly $150.

A slightly bullish XMR setup

Simultaneously to the rising wedge, XMR has also been forming an ascending channel pattern, confirmed by at least two reactive highs and lows across the past two weeks, as shown below.

*XMR/USD four-hour price chart featuring ascending channel. Source: TradingView*

XMR now trades in the middle of its ascending channel range, eyeing a close above $200, a historically significant support level, albeit acting as resistance. Meanwhile, the token holds its 200-4H exponential moving average (200-4H EMA; the blue wave) near $191 as its interim support.

If the price breaks above $200, it would invalidate the bearish reversal setup posed by the falling wedge pattern discussed above. XMR's decisive jump would shift its interim upside target near $220, up about 15% from today's price.

Conversely, failing to close above $200 would increase XMR's risks of declining toward the $180-175 range, marked as the "pullback target" in the chart above. The area coincides with the ascending channel's lower trendline.

monero