Cryptocurrency market is mixed on July 12

Cryptocurrency prices continue to be in a mix of green and red on July 12. The global cryptocurrency market cap is $1.41 trillion, a 1.24 percent increase over the last day, while the total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is $52.79 billion, which makes a 9.17 percent decrease. The volume of all stable coins is now $38.57 billion – 73.06 percent of the total crypto market 24-hour volume. Bitcoin’s price is currently $33,343.15 and its dominance is currently 45.36 percent, an increase of 0.39 percent over the day. Read full here

Cryptocurrency Bill set for Monsoon Session

The government is likely to present the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 in Parliament during the Monsoon session that begins on July 19. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said earlier this week that a lot of work was done on the bill and the Cabinet note was ready. She added that views, perspectives and feedback had been taken from stakeholders. The minister also clarified that a window would be available for fintech, experiment and pilot projects, but the final call would be taken by the Cabinet. Read more here

Binance froze when Bitcoin crashed. Now users want their money back

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, froze for over an hour just as the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies plunged. Users, who had made leveraged bets on their rise, were locked out. As losses steepened, the exchange seized their margin collateral and liquidated their holdings. Binance traders around the world have been trying to get their money back. But unlike a more traditional investment platform, Binance is largely unregulated and has no headquarters, making it difficult, the traders say, to figure out whom to petition. Now a group of about 700 traders are working with a lawyer in France to recoup their losses. In Italy, another group is petitioning Binance over the same issue. A Binance spokesman said extreme market volatility, like on May 19, can create technical bottlenecks for it and other exchanges. Read more here

NFTs soar high

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are seeing solid investor interest in recent times, with over 2.5 billion dollars of NFT sales reported for the first half of 2021. As compared to the same period last year, sales are up by more than 13 million dollars, and transaction volumes have risen as high as 25 percent since December 2020. Auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s have also upped their cryptocurrency game, with the former offering a 101.38 carat, pear-shaped diamond for sale via cryptocurrency. The rarity was ultimately sold off at 12.3 million dollars. Read details here

Crypto-Sports sponsorship on cards

Popular cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com struck two major multi-million-dollar deals with wrestling tournament UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and racing magnum opus Formula 1. The deal, sealed at almost 175 million dollars for UFC and 100 million dollars for Formula 1 signifies growing partnerships between sports and cryptocurrencies. Football fans would have hardly missed WazirX promotions during the UEFA Euro 2020 championship. In fact, the upcoming India vs Sri Lanka 20-over series has also been renamed the CoinDCX T20 Cup. See more here