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Cryptocurrency exchange contract holdings hit record highs

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Cryptocurrency exchange contract holdings hit record highs

Bitcoin contract holdings are now valued at $26.1 billion, while Ethereum contracts have climbed to $11.45 billion.

Data from CoinGlass shows that cryptocurrency markets have hit a new milestone, with contract holdings on exchanges for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) reaching unprecedented levels.

Binance’s ETH contract holdings have surged past $3.8 billion, setting a new record. The distribution of contract holdings across various exchanges reveals a significant concentration in major platforms.

For BTC, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and Binance are leading, with CME holding 137.20K BTC valued at $7.79 billion, 30.02% of the total, and Binance holding 109.73K BTC worth $6.24 billion, 24.04% of the total.

Similarly, in the ETH market, Binance dominates with 1.15 million ETH valued at $3.74 billion with 33.19% of the total, followed by Bybit holding $2.07 billion and OKX with $1.59 billion.

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Cryptocurrency Price Analysis: SHIB, DOGE, and XRP Face Varied Challenges

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Throughout much of the month, the majority of top assets maintained a sideways trajectory. While some experienced marginal upticks, others contended with declines. Let’s delve into the price analysis of Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Ripple (XRP). Shiba Inu (SHIB)Coin Edition’s evaluation of SHIB’s 4-hour chart revealed a bearish signal. Specifically, attention was drawn to the Exponential Moving Average (EMA), where the 20 EMA (yellow) crossed below the 9 EMA (blue)—a phenomenon known as a death cross. Moreover, SHIB’s price lingered beneath these indicators, signaling a diminishing strength for the token. Presently, there’s a prospect of SHIB’s price descending

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Bitcoin (BTC) User Paid Eye-Watering $100,254 for Single Transaction

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Bitcoin (BTC) User Paid Eye-Watering $100,254 for Single Transaction

A single Bitcoin BTCUSD transaction has caught the attention of many owing to its gas fee size. Blockchain analytics platform Whale Alert confirmed that a fee of 1.5 BTC was paid for a single transaction. This fee is equivalent to $100,254 based on the current market value of the top cryptocurrency. This fee is quite higher than the average transaction cost.

This user paid this enormous fee to have their transfer included in an ordinary Bitcoin block. Some of these transactions have been recorded in the past. In September 2023, a Bitcoin user paid a transaction fee of 19 BTC. This was around the time when Bitcoin price was trading at $26,000, hence, the 19 BTC was equivalent to $509,563.

Then again, in January, another BTC account paid over 4 BTC to have their transfer included in an ordinary Bitcoin block. The transaction was therefore charged with a whopping 1,800,890 sat/vB fee.

Potential reason for high transaction fee

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Payment of such exorbitant fees usually raise suspicions as many market observers wonder the circumstances that could have led to it. At press time, Bitcoin’s average transaction fee was at a level of $4.696, up from $3.740 on May 4 and down from $6.696 one year ago. This is also a change of 25.57% from yesterday and -29.86% from one year ago, per data from YChart.

It is worth noting that ordinarily transaction fees can fluctuate due to network congestion. It once reached as high as $60 during the 2017 cryptocurrency boom. Hence, this outrageous transaction fee recently recorded could be a result of a mistake or a misconfiguration in transaction software. It could also be potentially for reasons known only to the transaction initiator or even a possible money laundering scheme.

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Stablecoin Tether steps up monitoring in bid to combat illicit finance

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Stablecoin Tether steps up monitoring in bid to combat illicit finance
The world’s largest stablecoin, Tether, has stepped up monitoring of how its tokens are used in broader crypto markets and payments in a bid to combat illicit finance, Tether said in a statement on Thursday.

Tether, a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar, and blockchain analytics company Chainalysis have launched new tools to identify transactions associated with sanctioned entities and analyse the activity of major holders of the token, Tether said.

Last month, Reuters reported that Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA planned to increase use of Tether in its crude and fuel exports at a time when the U.S. has reimposed oil sanctions.

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The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Russian middlemen had used Tether to evade Western sanctions in order to source weapons parts for drones and other military equipment. Tether’s announcement did not mention either report. Asked by Reuters if Thursday’s announcement was related to the report about Venezuelan oil, a spokesperson for Tether said that its work to build a more powerful monitoring tool with Chainalysis had been “in the works for several months.” “Tether has been using Chainalysis data for several years, as the foundation for our investigation and compliance work. Also, Tether has clearly announced its compliance with OFAC/SDN list,” the spokesperson said in emailed comments, referring to the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s sanctions. Tether has previously said that every action with the cryptocurrency is online and traceable, and “every asset can be seized and every criminal can be caught.”

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Tether has grown rapidly in recent years, hitting $100 billion in circulation in March. That growth has been driven by its use as an alternative to the dollar in emerging markets, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino told Reuters last month.

Stablecoins can be used as a form of payment, as well as to convert in and out of other tokens, such as bitcoin, when trading on crypto exchanges.

Tether, which is registered in Hong Kong and owned by a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, is able to freeze its tokens and has previously said it has done so in response to requests from law enforcement.

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