Bitcoin Reclaims $60,000 | Zombie Blockchain Revival Plan

Market's volatility hit a fever pitch.

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Nina Bambysheva Staff Writer, Forbes Money & Markets
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Steven Ehrlich Director, Forbes Digital Assets
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BITCOIN RECLAIMS $60,000

This week began with a dramatic selloff in risky assets worldwide after the Bank of Japan announced its highest interest rate hike in 16 years, causing the Nikkei 225 to plummet more than 12%. Cryptocurrencies were hit harder than equities, despite the S&P 500 experiencing its worst day in nearly two years and the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping over 1,000 points. Bitcoin and ether led the Monday decline with a 15% and a 22% plunge over a 24-hour period, respectively, resulting in a $367 billion loss in the total value of cryptocurrencies, according to CoinGecko.

However, the recovery was swift. On Thursday, bitcoin surged 7.2% in one of its largest single-day rallies in recent months, briefly surpassing $62,000 before settling around $60,600 on Friday afternoon. Ether jumped 10%, while Solana’s SOL and Cardano’s ADA rose 5%.

OPERATION ZCASH 2.0

Zooko Wilcox, the founder of the privacy-focused blockchain Zcash, is spearheading a revival plan for his struggling project. Wilcox, who collaborated with Satoshi Nakamoto on Bitcoin, launched Zcash in 2016 to offer users the ability to conceal their transactions from prying eyes, unlike Bitcoin’s transparent ledger.

Despite its innovative approach, Zcash has seen limited adoption, generating only about $30 a day in fees and processing just three transactions per minute. In 2023, its total fee revenue was a mere $14,367. While other tokens like bitcoin and bitcoin cash have surged 250% and 211%, respectively since the market bottom in November 2022, Zcash remains down 18%, even after a 64% rise in June. From a peak market capitalization of $3.5 billion in 2021, Zcash now trades below $500 million.

After stepping down from his role in December, Wilcox is now collaborating with a Swiss-based entity to rejuvenate Zcash from the outside. Read more about the strategy here.

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CURRENT PRICE OF TOP 5 COINS (7-Day % Change)

Coin

Price

Percent Change

Bitcoin (BTC)

$60,643

2.4%

Ether (ETH)

$2,594

13.8%

Tether (USDT)

$1.00

0.0%

Binance Coin (BNB)

$508

7.7%

Solana (SOL)

$153

0.3%

Sources: Forbes Digital Assets, CoinGecko. Prices as of 4:55 p.m. on August 9, 2024.

RIPPLE TO PAY $125 MILLION PENALTY IN SEC CASE

Ripple Labs has been ordered by a federal judge to pay a $125 million civil penalty for the improper sale of its XRP token to institutional investors, a significantly lower amount than the nearly $2 billion initially sought by U.S. regulators.

The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2020, which accused the company of raising funds through the sale of XRP without registering it as a security. Following the court’s decision, XRP saw a 25% increase, reaching 64 cents.

ELSEWHERE

FTX, Alameda Ordered To Pay $12.7 Billion To Creditors By U.S. Judge

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