Crypto Scoop: Bitcoin Stands well above $20k As The Crypto Market Turns Green Again

The crypto markets finally turned green, adding roughly $60 billion to the market cap in a day. In this edition of the crypto scoop, we will be reviewing:

• Celsius Network’s Depositors May Not Get A Dime: Bankruptcy updates
• Crypto Enthusiasts Rejoice as Crypto Markets Turn Green
• South African Central Bank to Look at Regulating Crypto
• Gamestop jumps into NFT
• UN Report: Over 13m Nigerians Hold Cryptocurrencies

The global economic downturn has affected many sectors, including the crypto market. The crypto industry might be in for a long ride ahead from news of huge layoffs and bankruptcy filings. 

Celsius Network’s Depositors May Not Get A Dime: Bankruptcy updates

This week, the crypto lender Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. However, the filing showed a $1.2 billion imbalance on its balance sheet, which was one of the factors that caused FTX to back out of a potential takeover deal. The document states that the corporation now has $5.5 billion in liabilities vs $4.3 billion in assets.

During the height of the crypto boom, cryptocurrency lenders like Celsius gained a lot of popularity. Many depositors were drawn in by the loans' low requirements and high-interest rates. Due to an increase in institutional investors' interest, these organizations made money by lending out digital assets. However, with the market slump, their business model came under fire.

Cryptocurrency assets of $1.75 billion and mining assets worth $720 million are both held by Celsius Network. The crypto lender did assert to have CEL tokens valued at $600 million, but the declining market cap and the token's price haven't helped the company's cause. For comparison, CEL's market worth is now $185 million.

Crypto Enthusiasts Rejoice as Crypto Markets Turn Green

The past 24 hours on 15th July 2022, have seen the cryptocurrency market begin to rise in value after several days of falls or a lack of significant volatility. Leading the charge is Bitcoin, which had a 6 per cent increase from below $20,000 to a multi-day high of just under $21,000.

The altcoins were not left behind. Currencies like ethereum, stand out as they reached their own weekly highs above $1,200 and have performed even more spectacularly.

Solana is also one of the major winners, nearing $40 after rising by 13% in a single day. 

With another double-digit increase to $0.7, Polygon continues its upward trend from yesterday. This comes after Disney selected the network for its accelerator program.

South African Central Bank to Look at Regulating Crypto

Kuben Naidoo, the Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, stated that South Africa will try to put in place a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies (SARB).

He stated during a PSG Think Big webinar that his company's perspective had changed and that they now saw bitcoin as a financial asset that needed to be regulated. There has been a lot of money coming in, and it needs to be regulated to make it more popular.

Additionally, he stated that the exchange control regulations and requirements are "very near to being finalized" by the central bank.

Naidoo also hinted at the prospect of a digital currency being issued by the South African central bank.

"We are testing and learning," Naidoo said of the debate over whether the central bank should launch its own digital money. "Two pilots have been completed by us. In a laboratory setting, we have developed a central bank digital currency. However, I believe that will be a few years from now."

Gamestop Jumps Into NFT

GameStop, an American retailer of video games, consumer electronics, and gaming gear, has opened an NFT marketplace where players, developers, collectors, and others may buy, sell, and trade NFTs.

The brand-new NFT market aims to distinguish out by offering low fees and quick speeds. The marketplace lists prominent NFTs, NFT makers, and collections. Users can access NFT statistics through the marketplace's functionality.

There is also educational content available. Everything from the fundamentals of NFT to how to link a wallet to the market is addressed in the educational content. 

UN Report: Over 13m Nigerians Hold Cryptocurrencies

According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 13 million Nigerians own digital assets, placing the West African nation third among those in Africa with the biggest concentration of cryptocurrency owners.

With roughly 6.3% of Nigerians owning or holding cryptocurrencies, the most recent data from the UN agency's policy brief showed that the nation was behind only Kenya and South Africa.

This means that, out of the nation's estimated 211 million citizens, only over 13 million had digital currencies in 2021.

Nigeria is currently one of the world's largest cryptocurrency markets, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) ban on banks allowing cryptocurrency trading.

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