CoinLoan Weekly: BTC Hash Rate Drop, Tether Seeks Protection from CoinDesk
Price Dynamics
BTC Price
Last week, BTC and other cryptocurrencies experienced a sharp fall in value. On Wednesday, January 3, the price of the leading cryptocurrency dropped from $47,000 to $43,000, the lowest point since early December. The event came after the Federal Reserve announced that they could raise interest rates earlier than expected. The fear over the further downfall kept Bitcoin down.
As of now, BTC is trading around the $41,000 mark, with a 24-hour change of -2.1% and a 7-day change of -12.9%
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ETH Price
Ethereum was also affected and experienced significant fluctuations. Despite the ecosystem's high popularity, the ETH coin price went down from $3,826 to $3,332, following the BTC pattern. The Ethereum highest point for the week was achieved on Tuesday, January 4 – $3,895.
At the moment, ETH is trading at $3,038, with a 24-hour change of -2.4% and a 7-day change of -20.8%
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XRP Price
Like BTC and ETH, XRP was not exempt from the drop in value. The BTC fear and greed index hit 29. This move, combined with a legal standoff with SEC, led the coin price to fall to $0.76. The highest point for XRP this week was $0.84.
So far, XRP is trading at $0.73, with a 24-hour change of -2.2% and a 7-day change of -14.4%.
Cryptocurrency News
Bitcoin's Hash Rate Dropped due to Internet Shutdown in Kazakhstan
On January 5, the Kazakh government disconnected the Internet in several regions due to the ongoing protests in the country. According to the NetBlocks, the shutdown continued on January 6. The move left Bitcoin farms unable to operate, effectively dropping the global hash rate.
In mid-July, China banned the crypto industry altogether, including cryptocurrency operations and mining. The BTC miners eventually moved all the equipment to other countries, such as the US or Kazakhstan – the latter was chosen for its proximity to China.
According to GlobalCheck, the Internet was down for more than five hours in most parts of the country on Wednesday. Some mobile providers continued providing clients with access to the network. In Almaty, Kazakhstan's second major city, the wireless connection remains unstable.
According to BTC.com, Bitcoin's hash rate dropped 12% straight after the Internet shut down. At the moment, aggregate network processing capacity is estimated at 179 EH/s.
Tether Asked the Court to Protect Confidential Information from CoinDesk
Tether has petitioned to protect the company's secrets and prohibit disclosure of USDT reserves. The announcement was published amidst CoinDesk's official statement of participation in Tether's litigation together with the New York State Attorney General's Office (NYAG).
In June, the news outlet asked NYAG to provide documents on USDT reserves. In February, the agency obtained them amidst the ongoing settlement case involving Tether's financial transactions connected to the loss of $850 million.