Crypto Scoop: Bitcoin's Price Falls Below $60,000 As Taproot, Bitcoin Update, Is Enabled

Here are the highlights of this week's crypto scoop:

• Bitcoin's price falls below $60,000 as Taproot, a Bitcoin update, is enabled
• OpenSea Burns 100,000 ETH
• Indian Government Bans Crypto as Payment Method but Regulates it as an Asset
• AMC Theatres Set to Accept Shiba Inu in Payments

Bitcoin's price falls below $60,000 as Taproot, a Bitcoin update, is enabled

Bitcoin recently soared to a new ATH of $68,000, however since then it experienced a price correction that had it trading below $60,000. This was why it was quite discouraging to crypto enthusiasts when Twitter Chief Finance Officer further soured the mood with his anti-crypto comments. Segal’s comments may have also contributed to bitcoin’s bearish run. Ned Segal, Twitter’s CFO noted that investing cash holdings into crypto assets like bitcoin didn’t make a lot of sense at the moment. Segal explained that crypto assets are highly volatile which is one of the many reasons preventing the company from diversifying into crypto. Nonetheless, Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter is a strong advocate of crypto assets, and his other company, Square, is actively pursuing crypto initiatives.

In the midst of this, Bitcoin’s long-anticipated upgrade, Taproot was activated. Taproot would offer developers a more diverse platform to ideate and improve bitcoin’s limitations. Taproot was launched on Sunday, November 14, 2021, offering developers an avenue to integrate new features into bitcoin and improve on scalability, security and scalability of bitcoin. On this note, Bitcoin enthusiasts have used the recent bearish run as an opportunity to buy the dip in anticipation of a bullish run.

OpenSea Burns 100,000 ETH

NFTs have been on the rave this year with their volume increase over the past few months. OpenSea is one of the largest NFT markets has contributed to 10% of the total amount of ETH burns. The report shows that about 900,000 ETH has been burned and OpenSea has burnt 100,000 ETH.

The market for first-class coins began to burn months earlier when the burn rate accelerated due to increased interest in the NFT area around August. Despite a recent drop in trading volume, it has maintained its dominance, with more than $400 million worth of Ether burned throughout the platform. Previously, this burned Ethereum may have been given to miners, who could then sell these assets on cryptocurrency exchanges, increasing the coin's supply. However, since the implementation of EIP-1559, these coins have been burning, and analysts have predicted that due to the present burn rate, Ethereum would become deflationary next year.

While the general NFT industry is currently in a slump, some projects, such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), are nevertheless thriving. The sales of bored monkey NFTs have multiplied by 10%. Prior to November 15, the Ethereum market trading volume on OpenSea was less than $50 million; nevertheless, the volume sold by BAYC NFTs soared by 900 percent, and the ETH market trading volume more than doubled to $105 million.

Read also: How To Make Your Own NFT

Indian Government Bans Crypto as Payment Method but Regulates it as an Asset

The Indian government has announced that although bitcoin would now be recognised and regulated as an asset, it is still banned as a payment option. The government also plans to present a crypto regulation bill in the parliament; however, details of the bill have not been fully finalized. The bill would not ban crypto in the country but would ban active solicitation from crypto exchanges, firms and platforms. Tanvia Ratna, CEO of think tank policy noted that the issue of advertising cryptocurrency has triggered a huge debate and controversy with some people thinking it might mislead youths.

On Monday, the government conducted a meeting with leaders from the crypto industry, following a series of closed-door meetings between the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).  Regulating cryptocurrency as an asset does not address all of the issues that authorities are concerned about, but it does remove it from the currency arena, which is one of the RBI's concerns," Ratna added. "Defining the asset class is the most difficult element," Ratna observed, adding that current attempts to regulate cryptocurrency as a commodity aren't a suitable fit. Other RBI issues, such as financial stability, capital controls, and currency rate risk, are more difficult to address, Ratna emphasized.

Price arbitrage has become a fresh point of anxiety for the government. According to one of the sources, authorities are apprehensive about how any regulator could keep track of various exchanges "when there is a large price differential and an opportunity for a price arbitrage." However, the exchanges are lobbying for a regulatory sandbox to fine-tune the restrictions. The Securities and Exchange Board of India may be named as the regulator, but no "final decision" has been made on the matter.

AMC Theatres Set to Accept Shiba Inu in Payments

Bitcoin, ether, and other cryptos are already accepted by the country's leading movie theatre chain, AMC Entertainment Holdings. According to AMC CEO Adam Aron, Shiba Inu (SHIB) would be accepted as payment using BitPay wallets in 60-120 days.

BitPay will start taking SHIB at Aron's request, and AMC will be the first to use the service, he announced in a tweet on Tuesday.  BitPay is a company that specializes in cryptocurrency payment processing. Aron said last week that AMC would begin accepting bitcoin, ether, and other cryptocurrencies as payment methods for online transactions. According to Aron, dogecoin will also be accepted for the purchase of gift cards valued at up to $200 every day.

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