Ethereum price shrugs off SEC and IRS criticism with 24-hour rally
Ethereum's market action remains shaky as the US SEC noted this week that regulations surrounding the DeFi market need to tighten.
- IRS special agent Ryan Kroner recently opined that the decentralised finance sector (built largely atop ETH) is still replete with instances of market manipulation.
- Prominent NFT marketplace OpenSea has had to rescind its recent "minting limit stance" after thousands of the platform's users spoke out against the move.
- The number of Cardano wallets is now at its all-time high (approx. 3 million ADA addresses).
Following closely in the footsteps of the digital currency market at large, Ethereum – the world's second largest crypto – is showcasing a high degree of correlation with Bitcoin, rising by a little under 3% over the last 24 hours. That said, the altcoin recently dipped as low as AUD$3,250 before surging once again, currently trading at a price point of AUD$3,460.
In terms of what may lie ahead for the digital asset, bears seem to be controlling ETH's value, especially as they gear up for Friday's US$1.1 billion options expiry. Additionally, the altcoin continues to be affected by the US Securities and Exchange Commission's recent comments regarding the DeFi market, wherein a spokesperson for the regulatory body noted that the government needs to review the various lending products emanating from this space with a tighter fist.
Additionally, Ryan Kroner, an executive agent working for the IRS, noted during a virtual event hosted by the USC Gould School of Law that the crypto market — DeFi in particular — is still replete with issues related to fraud and manipulation despite it being the "future of finance".
OpenSea reverses minting policy after community backlash
After having imposed a limitation on the total number of NFTs that a creator can mint via its native smart contract solution, OpenSea has had to reverse its decision after facing community backlash. To elaborate, the platform had implemented an unexpected policy that allowed individual users to issue only 5 NFT collections (50 items per collection) using its "storefront contract".
The reversal came earlier today, with a spokesperson for OpenSea apologising for implementing such a measure without consulting the platform's community first. A tweet, in this regard, read as follows:
"To all the creators in our community impacted by the 50 item limit we added to our free minting tool, we hear you and we're sorry. We have reversed the decision. But we also want to offer an explanation."
Cardano facing network issues following recent DEX launch?
Touted to be a network offering an extremely high level of transactional throughput, data available online suggests that Cardano has continued to maintain record capacity for nearly 14 days running, primarily due to the launch of SundaeSwap, its first decentralised exchange (DEX).
On a technical note, Cardano's blockchain load has continued to hover around the 93% mark. This metric stood at just 33% at the start of the new year. Lastly, the number of ADA wallets in existence globally now stands at roughly 3 million, an all-time high for the digital asset.
Interested in cryptocurrency? Learn more about the basics with our beginner's guide to Bitcoin, dive deeper by learning about Ethereum and see what blockchain can do with our simple guide to DeFi.
Disclosure: The author owns a range of cryptocurrencies at the time of writing.
