***Qrafty smiling the biggest smile*** Welcome, fellow crypto seeker! I, Qrafty the crypto lovin’ honey badger, welcome you to Coinqraft – the crypto newsletter for brainy folks who crave the lowdown on crypto and Bitcoin but prefer to dodge the crypto fanatics and Twitter daredevils lurking in those mysterious Telegram caverns!.🌟

🦡 Whoooweee there's a lot to talk about today! 🦡 Let’s dive into the crypto rabbit hole because Qrafty just got back with news 📰 and scoops 🔍 from the crypto jungle:

1. Only BTC and XRP in top 10

2. Binance isn’t looking to good

3. Bitcoin difficulty increased

Bonus: Nvidia stock going full green dildo

Today’s Story

Binance doing the nasties, BNB falls to year’s low

Allegedly, Binance has enabled transfers to and from five Russian financial institutions under international sanctions due to their connection to the Ukraine invasion. This action is seen as a breach of sanctions against Russia, raising concerns over the exchange's compliance with regulatory standards.

The Russian Central Bank has reported consistent peer-to-peer trading activities involving the ruble on its platform, with Russians conducting an average of $428 million in monthly trades over a six-month span, despite previously undisclosed figures indicating such a presence.

Also, Binance’s coin, BNB, has fallen to the lowest price since the beginning of the year, at $205 U.S. dollars per coin. At the time of writing, BNB has recovered slightly and is sitting at $216. There is also speculation that Binance is in deep waters following all the investigation.

Binance partners with Moonpay for USD on-ramping, since it needs fiat on-ramps like it needs air. It’s not really like it has a choice… at this moment, any legal way that CZ can use to access fiat is a lifeline.

Why is that, Qrafty?

Because users cannot exit from coins into cash and cannot add capital to the exchange, to buy more coins. They’re basically trapped in the Binance ecosystem. Interesting to note that Moonpay’s DJ turned CEO Ivan Soto-Wright and execs sold $150 million worth of crypto just before the market crashed, by . Right now,

Finally, just to recap Binance’s recent history, from Travis:

• Was sued by the SEC & CFTC on a lot of charges

• Three senior executives quit in the same week.

• Had a billion dollar+ collateral hole in Binance-pegged BUSD, which was declared a security by the SEC, who sued Paxos (the entity that issued Binance’s stablecoin); then, Paxos forced them to wind down BUSD

• Canada, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium expelled them

• About to be charged by the DOJ with evidence of massive money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions violations

• Under investigation in France for "aggravated money laundering"

• Had their auditor quit and remove attestation

• Lost multiple banking partners and payment processors, can't process fiat in most countries

• BinanceUS effectively closed

• Forced to shut down the Mastercard debit cards in Bahrain

• Laid off thousands of employees and cut benefits for remaining employees

Qrafty will keep you posted as the story unfolds. It’s popcorn time! 🍿🍿🍿

🙃 Qrafty hopes that today’s main story brought brave badgery value to you! Now it’s time for a break, you deserve a bit of fun! 😇 👇️ 

Since we’re having a deluge of ETFs lately, maybe it’s time to remember what Bitcoin stands for.

A good giggle… priceless. For everything else there’s… laughing hysterically.

Here is the main news of the day 👇️ 

1. It has become harder to mine Bitcoin

The Bitcoin mining difficulty has increased again, to 55,6 trillion hashes, according to data from Coinwarz. This comes despite the market being in a downtrend and investors being rather bearish than bullish. But the reality is that investors who know what they’re doing are buying right now, when there’s the proverbial blood in the streets.

But what is mining, Qrafty? I don’t get it…

Well… if Bitcoin would have been handed out like dentists hand out candy, it wouldn’t have had any perceived value from people. So the creators of Bitcoin decided to build a hurdle in the way of obtaining a Bitcoin, in the form of a cryptographic (math) puzzle.

Now, those who want Bitcoin must put their hardware to work, which is also called mining. The more efficient hardware you have in solving those math puzzles, the faster you will be to obtain BTC.

And what is hashrate, Qrafty?

Hashrate? Think of it as a computer's "muscle power" in the cryptocurrency world. It’s not really about having more equipment, but more efficient ability to solve those math puzzles.

The bigger the hash power, the better – it's like crypto's version of Popeye's spinach! 💪🚀 Since these computers need to solve math puzzles in order to obtain Bitcoin, the ability of a computer or ASIC to solve these puzzles is called a hashrate.

Think of this like the horsepower of your car. The higher the hp, the higher the ability of your car to defeat inertia and air drag and advance at a faster speed on the road, thus getting you to your destination.

2. First insider trading case for NFT’s

In June of last year, Nathaniel Chastain was apprehended, and his case was labeled by authorities as the first instance of an insider trading scheme involving digital assets. It’s funny because the authorities have literally no idea how much insider trading there is in this domain.

He potentially faced up to 20 years in prison for fraud and money laundering, but was sentenced to 3 months in prison.

Qrafty lol’d. The FBI and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) accused Chastain of illegally making more than $50,000 in profit from trading NFTs when he was arrested last June.

It’s funny to say the least, because he made much more from that. And it’s also terrible because 3 months for defrauding and cheating customers trust while breaking the law is less than a slap on the wrist.

3. Oldies but goldies: only BTC and XRP remain in top 10

Cryptocurrency's tribalism mirrors the fervor of global religions and sports. It forges connections and schisms alike with intense zeal. This isn't merely logic; it's a worshipful dedication to a potentially transformative force for their financial lives and wellbeing. It unites and divides, all fueled by profound passion.

Since the old days of the bitcointalk and xrpchat/xrptalk forums back in 2010-2015, to the later platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Reddit, the digital battles were always formidable, although the quality of the intellectual content gave way to moonbois and pure hive minds today filled with anything but reason or logic, just attacking and spewing vitriol when the narrative wasn’t going their way.

Hours upon hours were spent battling ideologies and technicalities, just to go to sleep at 5 a.m. and get back at it in a couple of hours. The result? Most projects that are around now have their origins, in one way or another, in those obscure forums. In case you didn’t know, Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin applied for a job at Ripple and was rejected.

During this time, for a few weeks, Vitalik crashed on the couch of Stefan Tomas, who later became Ripple’s CTO. During that time, they talked and talked and guess what? That’s how Ethereum was born and, also, that’s how Codius was born.

While Codius got discontinued by Ripple because they considered it a small market back in 2015, Ethereum went on to become the home of smart contracts and the crypto powerhouse that it is today. Bet you didn’t know that 🙃 

Why isn’t Ethereum here, Qrafty?

Because we’re talking about pre-2013 time, and ETH was invented in 2013. You could say that these 3 coin bravely and stubbornly stood the test of time and remained in the top 10 over time.

4. Billionaire indicted in FTX case for selling property to SBF

Interesting to see that a billionaire has been indicted in the FTX case!

Joe Lewis, the spry 86-year-old billionaire owner of Tottenham Hotspur, found himself scrambling for possibly the world's biggest get-out-of-jail card when facing insider trading charges worth a staggering $300 million.

That's roughly 50 million more than Sam Bankman-Fried of FTX fame! Talk about rivaling the big leagues. And as if that's not enough, Lewis once sold Bankman-Fried some fancy Bahamian properties worth a whopping $76 million. Ah, the twists and turns of the ultra-rich!

Lewis, the guy with enough land in Argentina to start his own country and a "tax exile" stint in the Bahamas since '75, has gone all out on his quest for freedom. He's thrown his $250 million superyacht and personal jet into the mix as bail collateral🛥️🛩️. And here's the kicker – he's joining the "I didn't do it" chorus with his fellow defendants, facing a staggering 19 fraud and conspiracy charges, each lugging the possibility of 20 to 25 years behind bars. Yowza…

Now, Lewis is accused of helping his then-23-year-old ex-girlfriend, Carolyn Carter, and his trusty personal pilots dive into biotech investments just before the world knew what was cooking (aka insider trading). These shrewd moves apparently netted the trio over half a million bucks. Talk about a high-stakes love triangle!

5. BRICS members agree to expand

Again, Qrafty knows that this isn’t related directly to crypto and Qrafty kept talking and talking about this, but it is really important in a wider context. Those who tell you that BTC is decoupled from the bigger markets are actually decoupled from reality and sanity.

So please don’t believe them and also don’t believe Qrafty, just think for yourself and try to find a reason why would big investors come with capital in risk assets in such a time of uncertainty?

Now, getting back to the subject, while India successfully landed on the dark side of the Moon, the members of BRICS just announced that they have agreed on the expansion of this economic alliance. As of now, there are over 40 countries that are interested in joining the block.

The purpose? Well… let’s let the presidents of Russia and China explain it more clearly: to give up the dollar and to compete with G7.

6. Nvidia stock going crazy

In their latest earnings call, Nvidia ($NVDA) announced:

• Revenue of $13.5 billion, up 101% YoY which is a record

• Huge $25 billion stock buyback announced

• Adjusted earnings per share of $2.70, up 429% YoY

• Q3 revenue of $16 billion, 28% above expectations

• Record data center revenue of $10.3 billion

Beat all headline expectations and raised guidance. The stock is now up 250% YTD and the best stock performance in the S&P 500. That’s a big wow factor right there… it’s the wet dream of every investor to find a company like this in its infancy.

Hey hey 🙃 Qrafty hopes you are enjoying the experience here and would like to regularly get Qrafty’s letters!

If so, please click on the button below. Qrafty is really really grateful to have you here, so thank you!

If my crypto wallet could beat me, I woud be in a coma!

Qrafty’s thought of the day

Other stories from today worth considering

Where is Justin Sun’s money?

Justin Sun stands as a significant figure in the cryptocurrency realm, boasting a diverse portfolio of investments and holdings across the landscape. He tends to has a finger in a lot of areas and seems to be an elusive (yet public) figure in the crypto landscape, appearing and disappearing from the stage like a magician pulling rabbits… I mean coins from his hat. The people over at Protos have done an interesting investigation into Justin Sun’s finances.

US debt will grow by 5,2 billions per day for the next 10 years

Yup, that’s $5,2 billions, with a b and 19 trillion (with a t, Qrafty can’t really count that far, it’s impossible for a badger). Also, the budget shortfall for 2023 is now projected to be $426 billion more - and the cumulative deficit for the 2023–2032 period, $3.1 trillion more - than CBO projected last May.

You can read it all here, in the 2023 CBO report.

Another central bank in on CBDC’s

This time, it’s none other than Australia’s Central Bank: Australian CBDC may be useful for payments, tokenized bank deposits and… of course… stablecoins! It’s useful for anything except tracking public spending, right?

BIS says crypto should be regulated, not banned

BIS is the Bank for International Settlements, it's like the ultimate global banking club, catering exclusively to national central banks and hosting the wildest discussions on money and rules! 🌍🏦💬

To them, the crypto use case is the best because it facilitates cross border transactions and settlements. As they put it, crypto has an “illusory appeal“ as a hedge over inflation and lower fee option for payments or transfers. So their proposal is to integrate these coins and make them part of the system, defeating the whole purpose of the Bitcoin movement. You know… if you want to beat ‘em, join ‘em.

Balancer warns users about vulnerability

Balancer, a leading decentralized crypto trading project on Ethereum, is advising customers to withdraw their tokens due to the identification of a severe vulnerability. This flaw has the potential to endanger tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.

BlockFi fights FTX, 3AC claims

BlockFi, currently undergoing liquidation since May, disputes FTX's claim for over $5 billion, asserting it lacks entitlement. BlockFi is also challenging the now-defunct hedge fund 3AC, formerly based in Singapore, contending they aren't entitled to reimbursement due to alleged fraudulent practices. 3AC filed for bankruptcy last year amid crypto-related risks and allegations of inadequate risk management.

Croatia wants to attract crypto action

After the European Union's endorsement of a groundbreaking cryptocurrency regulation, the real challenge lies in its execution across the 27 member states.

Croatia aims to stand out by swiftly establishing transparent regulations to draw crypto activities from fellow EU countries. Positioned in the Balkans, Croatia eyes the role of a 'passporting' hub for the EU's blockchain industry.

Market Whispers

After yesterday dip to 25300 btc went for a 6% run, up to 26800. Will it get back in the june-july range that went up to 30 k again? Qrafty doesn't want to spoil the fun so he better refrains from making predictions.

Today is FIND YOUR INNER NERD DAY!

That’s all from Qrafty 🦡 for today! Qrafty thanks you and wishes you to live each moment as if you are listening to the music you love most!

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