Crypto Scoop: ETH Eyes $2,000 As The Merge Draws Closer

The crypto space has been abuzz with excitement as the Ethereum merge draws nearer. Here are the highlights of this week’s crypto scoop: 

• Ethereum soars past $1900 as merge date draws nearer
• CAR and Iran pursue crypto initiatives
• Samsung launches NFT initiatives for mobile phones
• Meta rolls out NFT sheets in 100 countries 

Ethereum Soars to $1900 As Merge Date Draws Closer

Ethereum’s final testnets Goerli went live during the week. Ethereum hit a $1900 high for the first time since the market crash in June. The price surge has been attributed to news that the Ethereum merge would happen earlier than anticipated. Ethereum’s core developers announced the merge might take place on September 15 rather than the initial set date of September 19. 

With anticipation building for the Ethereum merge, Ethereum Classic (ETC), a hard fork of Ethereum, hit a four-month high of $42.29 during the week. 

Circle, the USDC stablecoin issuer, has revealed that it would fully support ETH proof of stake post-merge. According to the circle, the merge unlocks future scaling opportunities and also helps reduce energy consumption. Tron founder has also announced full support of the Ethereum Merge.

CAR Receives Support From The Bank Of Central African States (BEAC) To Pursue Crypto Initiatives

The Central African Republic (CAR) request to introduce a national cryptocurrency powered by bitcoin has been approved by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), which also agreed to oversee the project. After the Ministerial Committee of the Central African Monetary Union (UMAC) meeting in July 2022 in Douala, Cameroon, the decision was made. 

In a statement, UMAC assured BEAC of its support for the project, noting that the Board of Directors welcomed the CAR's expression of its commitment to the single currency and respect for the Bank of Central African States statutes. 

According to a government official, Iran has paid for its first formal import order worth $10 million using cryptocurrency.  Alireza Peymanpak, vice minister of Iran's Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade and head of the TPO,said, "By the end of September, the usage of cryptocurrencies and smart contracts will be pervasive in international trade with target countries."

Samsung Pursues NFT Initiatives For Mobile

In order to run an NFT ecosystem for its new line of Galaxy mobile phones, Samsung Electronics has formed an agreement with partners, including Theta Labs.  Samsung Electronics is encouraging user experience innovation in order to link non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the internet virtual world to offline tangible rewards.

By linking advantages in the virtual world with those in the real world, Samsung notes that the NFT ecosystem would foster "customer experience innovation.

Metaverse Rolls Out NFT tokens In 100 Countries

Social media network , Meta has integrated with Coinbase (COIN) Wallet and Dapper and is now distributing non-fungible tokens (NFT) across 100 nations.

Mark Zuckerberg, the creator and CEO of Meta, announced the rollout in a Facebook post.  After a successful testing period in May, Instagram users in several countries can now display their NFTs. The social media network will also include support for Flow Blockchain.

Tornado Cash, a  Crypto platform Used In Dusting Attack. 

An Ethereum protocol called Tornado Cash aids in protecting users' on-chain transaction privacy. The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control officially banned Tornado Cash, an Ethereum mixing service, and all the cryptocurrency addresses linked to the platform on August 8. (OFAC). The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department sanctioned Tornado Cash on Monday. According to the department, the technology has been used to launder more than $7 billion in illicit funds since 2019.

An anonymous Tornado Cash user dusted a number of well-known wallets connected to ENS domain names after the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) banned Tornado Cash   In a dusting attack, a little amount of bitcoin, also known as dust, is dispersed to a large number of wallet addresses in an effort to hack into their systems, steal their data, and commit fraud. 

According to data from the Onchain platform, some famous people and organisations received 0.1 ether. According to blockchain explorers, recipients include rapper Snoop Dogg, YouTuber Logan Paul, Comedian Jimmy Fallon, Puma, the Ukraine Crypto Donations address, and Linkin Park's Steve Aoki. 

Binance - owned WazirX is undergoing investigation from India's Enforcement Directorate. 

India's Enforcement Directorate is investigating ten cryptocurrency exchanges allegedly laundering more than 1 billion rupees, or more than $125 million, in digital money. According to The Economics Times, numerous organisations accused of money laundering used the exchanges to purchase cryptocurrencies worth more than 100 million rupees, which were then transferred to other foreign wallets, most of which were connected to mainland China.

WazirX, a company controlled by Binance, is one of the exchanges being looked into in India for possible money laundering. The Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999 was reportedly broken by the India-based exchange, which runs as a separate division of Binance. The money laundering cases are one of the reasons crypto companies are working hard to comply with KYC and anti-money laundering laws. 

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