Category: Bitcoin

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Canadian Crypto Exchange CatalX Temporarily Suspends Trading and Withdrawals

Catalyx, a Canadian cryptocurrency trading platform, announced a security breach on Thursday. It involves the loss of crypto assets in the exchange’s custody.

Crypto Exchange Security Breach

CatalX CTS Ltd., operator of the cryptocurrency exchange, said in a press release that the security incident is suspected to involve an employee.

The events disrupted normal trading and withdrawal activities on the Canadian platform.

It said: “Due to the loss, all cryptocurrency and fiat currency withdrawals from the Platform and all trading activities on the Platform have been temporarily suspended.”

Termination order details

Based on the December 21, 2023 injunction order, the Alberta Securities Commission announced the confidentiality of the admitted evidence.

The order was granted pursuant to sections 33 and 198 of the Securities Act (Alberta) and requires a 15-day pause in the trading and purchasing of any securities or derivatives by the defendants. The order will expire on January 5, 2024, if not extended by the Commission.

Although the crypto exchange has ceased all trading and withdrawals, it is being audited by Deloitte.

Crypto Losses in 2023

However, this is not the first incident where a crypto company has lost funds due to an internal breach.

In early July 2023, reports revealed that crypto payments provider CoinsPaid suffered a loss of $37 million. The breach reportedly resulted from hackers gaining access to an employee’s computer through a misleading job offer. The employee was later tricked into installing a program that led to the theft of critical data.

In a separate incident, LastPass, a company specializing in password data encryption, faced a security breach in its cloud storage service due to employee credentials being compromised.

According to a recent De.Fi report, the decentralized finance sector faced losses totaling around $1.95 billion in 2023. Meanwhile, Ethereum emerged as the most attacked blockchain, suffering around $1.35 billion in losses in 170 violations.

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Market cap of Bitcoin and Altcoins will reach $1.85 trillion and $2.2 trillion

Amid the current financial scenario, analysts have focused their attention on the cryptocurrency market, which is showing signs of recovery. Michaël van de Poppe, a respected figure in the trading community, recently predicted that the total cryptocurrency market capitalization could rise to a staggering $2.2 trillion. This projection comes at a time when the market is going through a consolidation phase, falling below the crucial mark of 1.6 billion dollars.

The role of Bitcoin in market dynamics

Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, plays a key role in this projected growth. It recently surpassed major resistance at $38,000, prompting optimistic predictions about its future trajectory. Van de Poppe correlates the advance of Bitcoin with the potential increase in the market capitalization of cryptocurrencies. He suggests that breaking through the $1.6 trillion resistance could push the market to pre-Earth collapse levels, targeting the first $1.85 trillion and eventually reaching $2.2 trillion.

Altcoins Preparing for a Milestone

At the same time, altcoins are not far behind in this potential financial revolution. EGRAG, another market analyst, predicts that the market capitalization of altcoins will reach the trillion-dollar mark. This level of growth has not been seen since the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in May.

EGRAG recalls the dramatic decline that followed, falling from $1.268 billion in April 2022 to a low of $485 billion two months later. Currently at a 19-month high of $735.5 billion, the altcoin market is recovering steadily, indicating a possible uptrend similar to the post-May 2022 scenario.

Implications for Bitcoin and Altcoin Valuations

If these predictions come true, the impact on individual cryptocurrencies could be substantial. For Bitcoin, a total market capitalization of $1.2 trillion would mean a price increase to around $61,301 per token. Meanwhile, altcoins could see a 2.3x increase in valuation, reaching as much as $1.7 trillion. This outlook has led analysts to advise investors to watch out for a recovery around March 2024.
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Crypto Tax Planning: Merging Tax-Loss Harvesting with Charitable Donations

As the year comes to a close, cryptocurrency investors can combine tax-loss harvesting with cryptocurrency donations to charities, a move that optimizes tax benefits while supporting worthy causes.

Adopt Year-End Tax Strategy with Charitable Giving

As the end of the year quickly approaches, cryptocurrency investors are not only focusing on tax-loss harvesting but also exploring the benefits of cryptocurrency charitable contributions. This strategic approach allows investors to potentially reduce their tax obligations while supporting charitable causes.

The concept of tax-loss harvesting in the cryptocurrency space involves selling digital assets at a loss to offset capital gains taxes. This method can be particularly advantageous given the volatility and potential for significant price fluctuations in the crypto market. Investors can offset capital gains or reduce ordinary income by up to $3,000 per year in the US, with the ability to carry forward any additional losses.

At the same time, donating bitcoins (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies to charities has become a tax-efficient method of supporting philanthropic causes. The IRS classifies cryptocurrencies as property, meaning donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law. An important advantage of this approach is that donating cryptocurrency directly to a charity allows the donor to potentially avoid capital gains taxes that would be incurred if the cryptocurrency were sold and then donated for cash. Additionally, donors can typically deduct the fair market value of the crypto at the time of donation.

Organizations like The Giving Block are at the forefront of facilitating crypto donations. They provide platforms for donors to contribute various cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, and USDC, to a wide variety of charities. Giving Block initiatives demonstrate the growing acceptance and use of cryptocurrencies in the nonprofit sector, offering a tax-efficient avenue for donors.

The cryptocurrency donation process is designed to be simple and secure. Donors can choose from a wide selection of charities, select the crypto asset and donation amount, and complete the transaction via a wallet address provided by the charity. Additionally, donors have the option to remain anonymous while receiving a receipt for tax purposes.

Crypto philanthropy has received significant support from prominent figures in both the crypto and non-profit sectors. High-profile donations such as Vitalik Buterin’s $1 billion SHIB donation and Pineapple Fund’s 5,500 BTC contribution highlight the potential impact of such acts of charity.

As the end of the financial year approaches, advisors encourage cryptocurrency investors to consider a combined approach of tax-loss harvesting and charitable donations. This strategy not only offers potential tax benefits, but also contributes positively to social causes. With organizations like The Giving Block and others facilitating these donations, the process of contributing to charities through cryptoassets is becoming increasingly common, allowing investors to support causes they care about while optimizing their positions as promoters.

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Bitcoin Transaction Fees Rise to $40

On Saturday, December 16, 2023, Bitcoin transaction fees peak at $40 per transaction at 1:48 p.m. Eastern Time. The increase in on-chain fees exceeded the peak reached on May 8, 2023, when the average transfer cost exceeded $31 per transfer.

Rising Bitcoin Rates Surpass $40

Bitcoin transaction fees are rising, and at the time of writing, a high-priority transaction hit $40 just before 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 16th. Miners have been charging fees and an example of this is the fact that block height 821,485 came with 7,314 BTC in fees, which is more than the block subsidy size of 6.25 BTC. Currently, the hash price per petahash per second (PH/s) remains at $108 per PH/s per day.

The recent increase in Bitcoin transaction fees to $40 each significantly surpasses the previous 2023 record of $31 per transfer set on May 8. Mempool space data reveals that for high-priority transactions, individuals are spending 674 satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB). , while for those with lower priority the cost is around 602 sat/vB or US$35.78, as observed on Saturday afternoon.

Notably, some transactions on Saturday exceeded as much as $50 per transfer. There are currently eight unmined blocks, each filled with high-priority transactions. Additionally, 311 blocks are waiting to be processed to resolve the backlog of 383,607 unconfirmed Bitcoin (BTC) transactions in the mempool.

These outstanding blocks, which total more than 531 megabytes (MB) of block space, translate into an estimated settlement time of just over two days and three hours, considering the average block interval of ten minutes. The significant increase in BTC fees on the network has generated a flurry of comments and discussions on social media, with numerous observers weighing in on the situation.

“The average Bitcoin transaction fee is now $50, with 300,000 transactions waiting to be confirmed. This is beyond ridiculous and unusable,” said Nikita Zhavoronkov, lead developer at Blockchair. “Historically, this is the point at which people start fleeing en masse to alternative blockchains.”

Others were quite satisfied with the high rates. “Remember all the [Ethereum] maxis who said Bitcoin had a security budget problem? It’s fixed,” posted Dan Held on X. Others talked about layer two (L2) solutions and whether or not they could alleviate the problem.

“Bitcoin rates surpassed 600 sats/vB today. That’s a 600x increase in 1 year,” said Muneeb Ali, co-creator of Stacks. “And you’re still debating whether developers want to build on top of Bitcoin in the future? “Bitcoin L2s are becoming more critical every day.”

“It will be great to see L2s flourish in a higher rate environment,” Held responded to Stacks executive thread X. “I think bitcoin rates are reaching a tipping point for that to happen,” Ali responded.

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Dogecoin Founder Says Bitcoin Needs Room to Recover Again

Dogecoin founder Bill Markus expressed a somber sentiment about the recent Bitcoin price drop after the cryptocurrency hit highs of $44,000 in early December.

Doge Founder’s Grim Stance on Bitcoin Price Swings

Around the first week of December, Bitcoin saw a surprising rise to over $44,000 from $38,000 sometime in late November. The cryptocurrency has been on a steady upward trend driven by several factors, including anticipation surrounding the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) final ruling on spot Bitcoin ETF filings in January.

Despite the positive increases experienced by the cryptocurrency, BTC recently saw its price fall from 2023 highs of over $44,000 to $40,000 following Senator Elizabeth Warren’s anti-crypto statements on Monday and a bill that aims to establish the strictest crypto regulations.

Due to the unexpected price drop, Markus made gloomy comments about BTC’s recent price swings, stating that the cryptocurrency was “in good spirits again.”

When asked by a member of the crypto community what actions to take amid the falling BTC price, Nakamoto humorously replied: “I guess just give it space. Maybe he will eventually leave the room.

At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin is trading at $42,968, according to CoinMarketCap. The price correction above $42,000 can be attributed to a recent announcement by the US Federal Reserve to keep interest rates stable. Following the Federal Reserve’s decision, BTC saw a price increase of almost 5% and Ethereum also saw a slight price growth.

Grim Crypto Exchange BTC Price Prediction

Positive sentiment around the BTC price has steadily increased following the recent Fed rate announcement and excitement around the Bitcoin halving event scheduled for April 2025.

However, cryptocurrency exchange Changelly contradicted recent positive price predictions for Bitcoin. According to stock market forecasts, the BTC price is expected to see a slight drop of 0.98% before December 15.

Changelly’s forecast expressed a bullish signal of around 17% for the cryptocurrency. Adding to the uncertainty over BTC’s overall price potential, Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart warned against excessive expectations regarding the proposed massive inflows into BTC following the approval of BTC Spot ETFs.

On the other hand, many cryptocurrency investors have made bullish predictions about the Bitcoin bull run, and a popular member of the crypto community, Crypto Rover, predicted that Bitcoin would reach between $150,000 and $220,000 during the Bitcoin bull run.