Bitcoin whales are seemingly accumulating ahead of the halving, as the number of addresses with over 10,000 BTC in them has hit its highest number since August 2019.  

Maker governance token holders have approved a proposal to add Wrapped bitcoin (wBTC), an Ethereum token pegged to the value of BTC, as a type of collateral for the Dai stablecoin.

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking people who may have claims against the holdings of CoinGather, a little-known cryptocurrency exchange seized in 2018.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Bitcoin Addresses With Over 10,000 BTC Hit Highest Number Since August 2019
• Maker Adds Wrapped Bitcoin as Collateral for Dai Stablecoin
• S. DoJ Seeks Claimants Against Holdings of Seized Crypto Exchange

At the time of writing, bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $8,681.57 (-3.95%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $4.05 bn. As for ether (ETH), it is trading at $201.02 (-6.28%) with a daily Top Tier volume of $1.24 bn. The MVIS CryptoCompare Digital Assets 10 Index is currently tracking at 2,971.80 (-2.72%).

Bitcoin Addresses With Over 10,000 BTC Hit Highest Number Since August 2019

The seven-day moving average of the number of addresses holding 10,000 bitcoins or more rose to 111 last week, the highest level seen since August 2019, as whales are seemingly accumulating BTC ahead of the halving.

Data from blockchain intelligence firm Glassnode shows the number has risen over 11% since early March. Matthew Dibb, co-founder of Stack, wrote:

“The increase in the number of BTC addresses with more than 10,000 BTC is likely the result of long-term holders coming back online to expand their holdings.”

Bitcoin undergoes a mining reward halving every four years, controlling its inflation by reducing mining rewards per block by 50%. This month’s halving event will see rewards drop from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC.

Many investors anticipate the flagship cryptocurrency’s price could go up after the halving, as a significant drop in supply would see demand drive the price up. Others, however, point to the Efficient Market Hypothesis to argue the halving is already priced in.

It’s worth noting that the rise of unique addresses with over 10,000 BTC in them doesn’t necessarily mean new whales are entering the market, as a single investor can hold multiple addresses. Moreover, exchanges themselves often hold multiple addresses with large balances.

Maker Adds Wrapped Bitcoin as Collateral for Dai Stablecoin

Maker (MKR) governance token holders have approved a proposal to add Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), an Ethereum token backed by the flagship cryptocurrency, as a collateral type in the lending protocol.

The finalization was announced in a blog post, that detailed wBTC became the fourth collateral type on Maker, along with ETH, USDC, and BAT. Ether was the first type of collateral, and BAT was then introduced when Maker upgraded to multi-collateral DAI (MCD). USDC was added in mid-March. The blog post reads:

"The addition of WBTC means that Bitcoin holders can now turn their BTC into WBTC (bring Bitcoin to the Ethereum blockchain), and then use it to generate Dai.”

Wrapped Bitcoin and other bitcoin-pegged ERC-20 tokens extend BTC’s liquidity to the Ethereum network, bridging both networks. wBTC itself went live in January of last year.

U.S. DoJ Seeks Claimants Against Holdings of Seized Crypto Exchange

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking people who may have claims against the holdings of CoinGather, a little-known cryptocurrency exchange seized in 2018.

The trading platform was seized in March 2018, in a move that came months after it went offline and its administrators disappeared leading the community to believe it was an exit scam.- the exchange’s trading volume was of less than $100,000.

In a post published on April 29, the DoJ wrote:

"The United States is seeking to forfeit any and all cryptocurrency or other digital assets contained in virtual currency wallets residing on the Dell PowerEdge Server, serial number JNFHSW1. These wallets were accessible through the 'CoinGather' cryptocurrency exchange, previously available online at www.coingather.com. If you were a registered CoinGather user with cryptocurrency in a CoinGather wallet on November 21, 2017, you may have a valid claim."

A warrant of arrest directed at its server doesn’t disclose how much money the government is looking to forfeit.

ANON Summit 2020 is moving into a fully online experience

Vienna, Austria, 30 April 2020 -- BlockExpo has announced that they are moving ANON Summit online for 2020.

The move to a digital format will make the event accessible to everyone despite COVID-19 and the restrictions it has caused for travel and large in-person gatherings. The event is scheduled to take place on 19-20 May 2020, when many are still expected to be under quarantine.

Confirmed speakers include renowned blockchain and cryptocurrency professionals Maximilian Marenbach, Head of Banking at Kraken Digital Asset Exchange; Lili Zhao, Director at NEO; and Andreas M. Antonopoulos, author of Mastering Bitcoin. The conference will be opened by the Austrian Federal Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs, Margarete Schramböck.

Major sponsors like Raiffeisen Bank International, Tezos, BDO, StakerDAO, Austrian Post, IEEE, and Ledger have confirmed their continued support. CryptoCompare and Market Across have also come on board as leading media partners.

Using novel technology, ANON 2020 will mirror the entire offline experience into the online world. Rather than a simple teleconference or webinar, the conference will have a stage, workshops, networking, and even an expo area.

Benefits of moving online:

• Near-infinite capacity
• Accessibility to crypto and blockchain enthusiasts around the world
• 100% sustainable and CO₂ neutral
• New opportunities for networking with an international audience

BlockExpo has joined forces with Cointelligence, a respected name within the crypto industry, to ensure the success of the event.

 

The conference will be affordable for everyone. There will be two types of tickets available, one for a modest 20€ fee and one for free.

For more information, including a full list of speakers, visit the website.

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