This Week in Crypto News: Zim Inflation, Russian Crypto, ChatGPT
Crypto news: We bring you a roundup of what’s been happening in crypto this week. Given European Union sanctions, is Binance relaxing Russian crypto purchase rules a wise move? Zimbabwe’s central bank has announced the launch of a new gold-backed digital crypto inflation hedge. Also, Artificial intelligence tools could crack the identity of Bitcoin’s pseudonymous founder Satoshi Nakamoto, according to ChatGPT.
Bitcoin Founder’s Identity
As artificial intelligence tools become more advanced, they could crack the identity of Bitcoin’s pseudonymous founder Satoshi Nakamoto. ChatGPT suggests Bitcoin’s founder could be cryptographer Nick Szabo, one of the first people Nakamoto allegedly sent his famous email to, Hal Finney, or retired physicist Dorian Nakamoto. Greater accuracy could come as language models learn from broader and new datasets, with GPT-4, the latest model from ChatGPT creator OpenAI, scoring 40% higher on the company’s internal factual benchmark. That being said, it would be difficult to verify the bot’s assessment without further investigation.
Crypto Gainers and Losers
The biggest crypto gainers this week were Render Token (RNDR), which jumped nearly 37%. Cronos (CRO) gained just under 19%, and Injective (INJ) was up nearly 15%. At the other end of the charts, PancakeSwap (CAKE) price fell by 21%, Optimism (OP) was down just over 10%, and OKB price dropped by 9.77%.
Inflation Hedge in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe’s central bank has announced the launch of a new gold-backed digital crypto inflation hedge. After the 2008 financial crisis, the country has suffered from runaway inflation that has rarely fallen below an annualized rate of 90% this year. The Zimbabwe dollar has also rapidly devalued against major currencies. On Wednesday, the interbank rate for USD was 1100 Zim dollars. One analyst suggested on Wednesday that Zimbabwe’s gold-backed tokens could specifically help farmers avoid inflation. However, as crypto exchange Litebit argued, citizens cannot know if the bank holds enough gold to back the crypto inflation hedge, making Bitcoin a better option. Adopting the token could help accelerate digital asset adoption by introducing the citizens to custody and purchase processes. Gold-backed crypto like Gold Coin (GLC) and Meld Gold by Algorand (MCAU) allows investment in gold without needing to hold it.
Russian Crypto Trading Limit Boost
On Sunday, Russian Telegram chats suggested that Binance had lifted its €10,000 Russian crypto trading limit. The exchange had previously blocked transactions with Russian cards. It also banned users with €10,000 in crypto from trading in response to EU sanctions. The exchange has not officially withdrawn the limit, though BeInCrypto’s investigation suggests the Telegram chats were true. Binance could need the money from Russian trading if it decides to settle its multi-billion lawsuit with the U.S. Commodity and Futures Commission. A Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) official said this week that talks with Binance had reached a stalemate.
Overall, the crypto world continues to evolve, with new developments and challenges emerging every week. Stay tuned to keep up with the latest happenings in the crypto space.
