Cointelegraph sat down with Danilo Carlucci, the founder of investment firm Morningstar Ventures and 37xDubai, which is based in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). Carlucci spoke about its goals with the new art gallery and why it is diving into NFTs and Web3 despite the conditions of current markets.

First look at where NFTs will be displayed at the 37xDubai gallery. Source: 37xDubai

Carlucci says the gallery is “an effort to bridge art and technology in one place.” Being a more traditional venture capital fund, the executive said the art gallery is Morningstar Venture’s way to diversify into the more creative digital art and NFT space. He said:

“We have various different types of digital arts, but we also have NFTs displayed. We don’t just sell these specifically handpicked NFTs, but we also educate the people who are visiting our gallery about what NFTs are.”

Apart from displaying NFTs inside the gallery, the 37xDubai founder also highlighted that it is using NFTs that are inspired by its Tree of Life art installation as a membership token.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/nfts-art-gallery-dubai-first-look-37xdubai

XDC operates using its native XDC token, which serves as a reserve cryptocurrency for third-party decentralized applications (DApps) running on the network. The token is intended to be used for a variety of use cases, including DApp payment settlements, micropayments, transaction costs and smart contract deployment and settlement.

TradeFinex has been involved in collaborations with the World Trade Organization, the International Chamber of Commerce and various government agencies to explore blockchain as a means to overhaul the speed, transparency, costs and traceability of trade finance.

A 2020 report from the World Trade Organization highlighted TradeFinex as a network that operates “as both permissioned and permissionless: permissionless for public verification, but permissioned for selective data sharing.”

At the time of the publication, several participants were using TradeFinex, including Validus, Enigio, Ramco and the International Trade and Forfaiting Association, among others.

An announcement shared with Cointelegraph outlined the goal of the joint venture to localize XDC Network information and documentation in Japan, proliferate XDC tokens to local cryptocurrency exchanges and deploy trade finance solutions across the Asia-Pacific region.

The launch of the joint ventures comes after recent reports from Japan that its government intends to permit startups to raise funds through the issuance of cryptocurrency tokens instead of conventional stock listings.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/sbi-group-tradefinex-xdc-blockchain-japan-joint-venture

LUNC’s value plummeted by nearly 100%, setting off a broader downturn in the crypto markets, resulting in the loss of approximately $40 billion in total market capitalization.

The proposal stated that it would lead major crypto exchanges to burn USTC.

“Most importantly, this proposal opens the door for institutions like Binance to start burning USTC knowing that the minting and reminting is over,” the statement noted.

Related: Lack of stablecoin regulation could push issuers out of US — Austin Campbell

This comes after reports that the Terra Classic community is concerned about an uptick in spam following a decline in LUNC prices.

On Sept. 10, Cointelegraph reported that the community is voting on multiple proposals, one of those being to raise the minimum deposit requirement from 1 million LUNC to 5 million LUNC.

The proposal ended on Sept. 16, with 93.22% in favor of increasing the minimum deposit requirement amount.

Just like Bitcoin trading platforms in Dubai, there are lots of options for Bitcoin wallets in Dubai to store crypto safely. The first step is to choose a Bitcoin wallet suitable for investor plans or behavior.

Online wallets or wallet applications aren’t as safe as hardware wallets, but they can be more suitable for investors planning to move their cryptocurrency holdings or use them on a regular basis. Hot wallets to choose from include Trust Wallet or Electrum.

More valuable Bitcoin holdings or funds left idle for some time are best stored in safer hardware wallets, such as Trezor or Ledger Nano.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/terra-classic-cease-ustc-minting

Could Bitcoin shake out from its slumber and start a bullish move in the near term? Would that act as a catalyst for an altcoin rally? Let’s look at the charts of the top five cryptocurrencies that may lead the charge higher.

The flattish 20-day EMA and the relative strength index (RSI) near the midpoint show a status of equilibrium between the buyers and sellers. A break below the 20-day EMA will tilt the advantage in favor of the bears. The BTC/USDT pair could then descend to the formidable support at $24,800.

Alternatively, if the price rises from the current level and climbs above the 50-day simple moving average of $26,948, it will signal that buyers are back in the driver’s seat. The pair may then attempt a rally to the overhead resistance at $28,143.

Bitcoin price analysis

The bulls have managed to sustain Bitcoin’s price above the 20-day exponential moving average (EMA) of $26,523, but they have failed to start a strong rebound. This indicates a lack of demand at higher levels.

Wilson shared that the SFC then launched a complex investigation involving multiple parties across a range of jurisdictions, which escalated in April 2023 after the organization received its first official investor complaint.

“In June 2023, an AMLO (Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance) came into full effect. At that time enforcement commenced a more formal fraud investigation. As a result of that investigation we issued a formal warning on Sept. 13 and referred the matter to the police.”

The financial fallout from JPEX is estimated to have reached around $178 million at the time of publication, with local police having received more than 2,200 complaints from affected users of the exchange.

A total of 11 people, including crypto influencers, YouTubers and employees of the allegedly fraudulent crypto exchange, have been taken into custody for questioning.

One of Hong Kong’s principal financial regulators, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), has vowed to step up efforts to combat unregulated cryptocurrency trading platforms in its jurisdiction.

According to a Sept. 25 announcement, the SFC said it would publish a list of all licensed, deemed licensed, closing down, and application-pending virtual asset trading platforms (VATPs) to better help members of the public identify potentially unregulated VATPs doing business in Hong Kong.

The SFC said it will also keep a dedicated list of “suspicious VATPs,” which will be featured in an easily accessible and prominent part of the regulators’ website.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/hong-kong-regulator-sfc-crackdown-unregulated-crypto-platforms-jpex-scandal

An independent investigation from Web3 SaaS analytics platform 0xScope revealed the hacker's historical relationship with Minix Network. In 2022, the address 0x1795 — which has been linked to the hacker — received 5 ETH from Mixin, and was deposited into Binance later.

While it was initially promised that Mixin founder Feng Xiaodong would explain this incident in a public Mandarin livestream at 1:00 pm Hong Kong Time on Sept 25, links to the livestream were not provided on official social media channels such as X (formerly Twitter) or its official website mixin.network.

Mixin Network did not respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment by publication.

Related: Remitano exchange hacked for $2.7M; $1.4M frozen by Tether

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently suffered a hack that compromised his social media profile on X.

On Sept. 25, Mixin Network confirmed that a hack on Sept. 23 drained approximately $200 million worth of crypto assets from its mainnet. An immediate suspension of all deposit and withdrawal services on Mixin Network followed the revelation.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/mixin-network-hack-200-m-crypto-assets

Meanwhile, global derivatives volumes traded on centralized exchanges increased 13.7% in June to $2.13 trillion, according to CCData. Binance was the leading venue for derivatives crypto trading in the month, with volume topping $1.21 trillion in June, followed by OKX exchange with $416 billion, up 44.9% in activity. Bitcoin futures volume also spiked on the CME exchange, reaching $37.9 billion, a 28.6% increase in the month.

Coinbase has also moved into derivatives markets in the United States. In August, it obtained regulatory approval to offer investments in crypto futures to eligible customers in the country.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-sought-ftx-europe-acquisition-after-bankruptcy

According to a Sept. 22 report from ArtNet, Casale signed on to be repped by DigiArt back in May 2021, with the firm helping him gain exposure in exchange for a 50-50 split of his NFT sales and the exclusive “right to market and offer for sale all non-fungible tokens created by Casale” up until the contract expired on May 2, 2022.

However, DigiArt sued Casale in March 2023 over an alleged breach of contract after the artist launched an NFT project by himself on Dec. 21, 2021, called Coolman’s Universe.

The project consists of 10,000 cartoon avatar NFTs and, to date, has generated 26,399 ETH ($42 million) of secondary sales, according to data from OpenSea.

DigiArt alleged that Casale “wholly ignored his contractual obligations” by launching the project but failed to list any specific monetary damages in the complaint. The firm also admitted to not attempting to enforce the agreement until months after the project had launched.

Additionally, DigiArt also did not provide a written start date on the contract with Casale, along with several other important details.

This ultimately led Judge Wendy Berger of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida to rule in favor of Casale and dismiss the case.

“The draft contained several blanks, including the effective date, the name of the artist, and the allocation of net sale proceeds…in the body of the e-mail, [DigiArt’s] representative stated that the profit split would be ’50/50’ ‘on initial NFT drops.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/nifty-news-murakami-nfts-dan-harmon-nft-show

While Coinbase holds over $25 billion in BTC in its wallets, the exchange only owns around 10,000 of all the Bitcoin it holds, which is worth roughly $200 million, according to recent data.

Meanwhile, community members expressed varying reactions to the news about the amount of Bitcoin the centralized exchange holds. Some believe it’s a sign to withdraw their BTC from exchanges, warning holders not to wait until exchanges start to halt withdrawals. Others say that since there are legitimate concerns over cold wallets, there’s no good way to store their assets.

When it comes to Bitcoin ownership by companies, business intelligence firm MicroStrategy still owns the most BTC. In earnings results posted on Aug. 1, the firm’s co-founder Michael Saylor declared that the company owns 152,800 BTC, worth over $4 billion at the time of writing.

The Sept. 15 filing lists all 38 requirements pressed by the SEC individually and argues against them all.

He is likely to pay close attention to the court proceedings, however, as the disagreement between the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Binance.US is at a high pitch after a week of adversarial filings.

Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui is holding a hearing on the SEC’s motion to compel, which Binance has characterized as “unduly burdensome.” The SEC said that Binance is being uncooperative despite agreeing to a consent order on discovery in the SEC’s case against it for unregistered securities operations and other allegations.

Custody of Binance.US customer assets is one of the big questions being put forward by the regulator. Former SEC Office of Internet Enforcement chief John Reed Stark noted in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that Ceffu acknowledges being legally known as Bifinity in its “Terms of Use” page. Bifinity has been identified as part of Binance Group, Stark added. If that is the case, Binance.US customer assets are in practice custodied by Binance and in danger of being siphoned off, observers add.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/binance-sec-hearing-washington-dc-updates

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican polling second behind former president Donald Trump, promised in July to ban CBDCs in the U.S. should his campaign be successful. In May, he signed a Florida bill into law aimed at largely prohibiting the use of a federally issued digital dollar in the U.S. state. Other longshot candidates who have taken positions opposing CBDCs include Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Speaking to Cointelegraph at the Permissionless II conference in Austin, Texas on Sept. 11, Emmer said certain candidates running for office in 2024 may underestimate the impact of issues surrounding crypto and blockchain. He pointed to financial privacy concerns, specifically mentioning government oversight of central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs.

“It’s politically potent regardless of your political persuasion,” said Emmer. “Democrats, Republicans and others believe that your personal information is supposed to be yours, and you get to choose when you get to share it.”

Emmer has reintroduced a bill aimed at limiting the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC in the United States. He has also backed an appropriations amendment for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s funds, which could reduce the commission’s ability to follow through with enforcement actions on crypto firms.

On Sept. 20, the House Financial Services Committee will meet in a markup session for the Digital Dollar Pilot Prevention Act — legislation that could prohibit the Fed from initiating CBDC pilot programs without approval from Congress. The committee discussed CBDCs in a Sept. 14 hearing for the first time since Congress’ August recess.

Hong Kong established itself as a growing crypto hub in 2023, with pro-crypto legislation and opening the crypto trading market for retail customers. However, unlicensed crypto platforms like JPEX have fooled many users in the country due to a lack of knowledge and awareness. The regulatory body is now working to educate people on using only licensed platforms for their crypto trading activities.

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-Chiu told reporters on Sept. 19 that the government would increase its efforts to inform investors and remind them only to utilize platforms granted Securities and Futures Commission licenses, reported the Associated Press.

The JPEX issue came to the fore on Sept. 13 when the SFC notified the public that it had received over 1,000 complaints about the unregistered crypto exchange platform, with claims of losses amounting to over 1 billion Hong Kong dollars ($128 million).

In its warning, the SFC noted that JPEX promoted the platform’s services and products to the Hong Kong public through online celebrities and over-the-counter money changers.

As the problems with JPEX became public, many users of the platform found themselves unable to withdraw their funds, while others complained about reduced wallet balances. After the Hong Kong watchdog warned the exchange, the platform reportedly increased its withdrawal fee to $1,000 to discourage users from withdrawing their assets.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-rules-hong-kong-tightened-after-jpex-fraud-case

One of the issues raised revolves around AI and its use, with the workers demanding stricter protections against artificial intelligence and larger royalties for their work, known in the industry as residuals.

In a recent interview with Variety, U.S. actor Sean Penn took a shot at many studios' desire to utilize actors’ likenesses and voices for future AI use.

“So you want my scans and voice data and all that. OK, here’s what I think is fair: I want your daughter’s, because I want to create a virtual replica of her and invite my friends over to do whatever we want in a virtual party right now.

A Californian lawmaker has introduced a bill to protect actors, artists, and entertainers from artificial intelligence, by mandating employment contracts to include informed consent when it comes to digital replicates.

Ash Kalra, an Assembly member of the State of California and the lawmaker behind the bill, argued that generative AI presents a “real threat” to workers in the entertainment industry, and its use should be banned unless a bargaining agreement between the parties is made.

The legislation, Assembly Bill 459, will eventually be assigned to a committee whose members will research, discuss, and make changes to the bill proposed by Kalra, which will then be put before the chamber for a vote.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/lawmaker-introduce-legislation-protect-actors-from-ai-copycats-amid-hollywood-strike

Despite reaching the milestone, the layer-2 network is still lagging behind more prominent blockchains like Polygon and BNB Smart Chain (BSC). Polygon had 2.1 million transactions on the date, while BSC had 3.1 million transactions on the same day.

Unlike its previous transaction record on Aug. 21, when the blockchain also hit 136,000 daily active users along with its high number of transactions, the layer-2 network did not have as many users this time. When it comes to daily active users, Base only had around 86,000 on Sept. 14, according to data recorded by Dune Analytics.

Base officially launched on Aug. 9, allowing users to bridge tokens, swap tokens and provide liquidity, mint nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and do many other activities that could be performed on layer-2 networks.

Related: Friend.tech TVL tops $20M weeks after being declared ‘dead’

Since its launch, the network has received a warm welcome from the crypto community. On Sept. 6, over 700,000 NFTs were minted by more than 268,000 unique wallets on the layer-2 network. During its first two weeks, over $242 million worth of crypto assets were bridged to the blockchain, with 130,000 unique wallets using it daily.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/base-network-hits-almost-2m-transactions-in-a-day-still-lags-polygon-bsc

But overall, traders have kept the BTC price inside the $25,650-26,670 range. Looking broadly, this range appears like a "bear flag," a bearish continuation pattern characterized by a consolidation channel forming after a strong downtrend.

As a rule of technical analysis, bear flags resolve after the price breaks out of their range to the downside and falls by as much as the previous downtrend's height. Applying these parameters to the ongoing Bitcoin price consolidation brings its bear flag target around $23,000.

Bitcoin's bear markets since 2017 have typically exhausted near a common ascending trendline support, as shown below. BTC price tested the trendline in November 2022 at around $16,750 and has since increased by 70%.

That said, Bitcoin may have already bottomed out in the ongoing bear market. However, the price will need to decisively break above its 0.236 Fib line near $28,350 to confirm its long-term bullish recovery based on the historical fractal — which it just failed to do.

Related: Bitcoin’s cycles are changing — Bloomberg analyst Jamie Coutts explains how and why

Bitcoin now treads below the 0.236 Fib line, raising possibilities of a retreat toward the bear market trendline support that's also near $23,000.

Bitcoin "death cross" soon?

Bitcoin inches closer to forming a death cross between its 50-day (the red wave) and 200-day (the blue wave) exponential moving averages (EMA).

https://cointelegraph.com/news/how-low-can-the-bitcoin-price-go

Olszewski believes that the Merge as well as the move by various teams within Web3 to offset or commit to offsetting their carbon footprints help the space in two ways. Firstly, it attracts people who were previously put off by those who argue that blockchains are not good for the environment. Secondly, the executive highlighted that this leaves room for innovation within the regenerative finance (ReFi) ecosystem.

“At the very least, I think we’ve started to shift the narrative, which I think is both really good for the crypto industry because I think it pulls more people in [...] and it’s created a safe space to innovate within the ReFi ecosystem,” Olszewski said.

Related: How blockchains can solve greenwashing and contribute to climate action

Apart from these, the executive also mentioned some benefits of having an on-chain carbon offset system compared to traditional methods. Olszewski said that traditional carbon credit systems are plagued by a lack of transparency.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/web3-ecosystem-made-good-strides-changing-climate-narrative-exec-says

When it comes to analyzing Ether’s price, it’s worth noting that, despite being a prominent altcoin with unique fundamentals, ETH’s price movement is still considerably impacted by Bitcoin

BTC

$26,585

. Throughout history, September, particularly before a halving event, has been recognized as a bearish period for the cryptocurrency market.

Through an examination of Ether’s

ETH

$1,637

on-chain activity, market intelligence platform Santiment has published a report indicating that the count of daily active Ether addresses experienced a notable increase, reaching around 1,089,893 on Sept. 13.

This recent upsurge represents the second-highest number of daily active addresses ever recorded in Ethereum’s history. The highest count was registered on Dec. 9, 2022, aligning with Ether’s reevaluation following its losses from the post-2021 bear market.

As a result, analysts at Santiment suggest that the Ether market may experience increased volatility, potentially leading to a recovery. Additionally, this uptick in on-chain activity indicates a growing demand for the underlying asset.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/ethereum-active-addresses-second-highest-in-history-analysts

Around the globe, times are tough for many everyday people. Increases in cost of living minimized any growth in wages last year as inflation continues to take its toll. Additionally, world powers such as China and Russia are increasingly challenging the dominance of the USD as geopolitical tensions flare up.

In this precarious new world, decentralized cryptocurrencies can potentially be a source of stability and freedom. Bitcoin first emerged in the wake of the 2008 banking crisis and the impact of events like the Lehman Brothers collapse is evident in the writings of Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

While the subprime mortgage crisis was in full swing in February 2009, Nakamoto proposed an “e-currency based on cryptographic proof” that enables secure and effortless transactions without the need for a trusted third-party middleman. But has crypto lived up to its promise so far, and can DeFi help solve the ongoing instability of the 2020s?

https://cointelegraph.com/innovation-circle/defi-as-a-solution-in-times-of-crisis

“Europe has now become a leader in supercomputing – with 3 of the 5 most powerful supercomputers in the world,” the president said, adding, “We need to capitalise on this.”

President von der Leyen also lauded U.S. technology companies that have chosen to voluntarily adopt AI standards and ethics and praised EU companies that have done the same. “Now,” the president added, “we should bring all of this work together towards minimum global standards for safe and ethical use of AI.”

European Union President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new initiative to give artificial intelligence (AI) startups expedited access to European supercomputers.

The announcement came during the president’s 2023 EU State of the Union address on Sept. 13.

We have to ensure AI develops in a human-centric, transparent and responsible way.I believe , together with partners, should lead the way on a new global framework for AI, built on three pillars:guardrails, governance and guiding innovation.#SOTEU pic.twitter.com/Nz6tSpoZ9P

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) September 13, 2023

In introducing the topic of AI, von der Leyen invoked an open letter sent by members of the global AI community calling for increased regulatory scrutiny of the potential for “extinction from AI.”

https://cointelegraph.com/news/eu-announces-initiative-supercomputer-access-artificial-intelligence-ai-startups

As previously explained by Cointelegraph, factors such as crypto ATM installations, pro-crypto regulations, startup culture and a fair tax regime contribute to a country’s CRS. Slovenia, Canada and Australia managed to squeeze into the top 10 in 2023, as shown below.

When it comes to the masses, the Dutch showed the most interest in crypto per person. The United States is home to the largest network of Bitcoin

BTC

$26,360

ATMs, however, Hong Kong has the most crypto ATMs per square foot given its significantly smaller land mass.

Estonia, Singapore and Switzerland are among the busiest hubs for crypto and blockchain companies. One of the primary drivers that can make or break mass crypto adoption is taxes. There are 12 countries that impose a 0% tax on crypto for individuals — including Germany, Panama, and Portugal among others — who remain well-positioned to climb up the ranks in the coming years.

In the US, New York became the most crypto-ready US state after recording CRS of 9.80 owing to numerous crypto-related legislation and a huge number of crypto and blockchain businesses in operation.

Related: US ‘the only country’ crypto startups should avoid, says Ripple CEO

India leads the global crypto adoption in 2023, a recent Chainalysis report revealed. Other lower middle-income (LMI) nations, including Nigeria and Thailand, bagged the second and third spot in the report.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/hong-kong-top-crypto-ready-2023