Kalam Crypto #31: BTC and ETH addresses reach ATH, and Hello Egypt!

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." Albert Einstein

Ahlan wa sahlan, and welcome to the 31st edition of CoinMENA's weekly newsletter, Kalam Crypto. Every week we will bring you the latest news and developments from the exciting world of cryptocurrencies. This week, we have positive price action on Ethereum, addresses holding BTC and ETH reach all-time highs, and CoinMENA can now onboard residents of Egypt from our base in Bahrain! All that and more, so let's dive into this week's letter, and talk crypto:

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Global News 🌍

Bullish price action for Ethereum: We don’t usually cover short-term price action on Kalam Crypto. Instead, we focus on long-term value. However, we thought Ethereum’s positive price movement warrants an exception. ETH price increased by 50% this week on the news that the Merge, Ethereum's upgrade from proof of work to proof of stake, is expected in mid-September.

Celcius goes sub-zero: The embattled centralized finance lending platform Celsius files for “Chapter 11” bankruptcy. The bankruptcy filing showed that the lender owes its users $4.7 billion, part of a larger balance of $5.5 billion in liabilities. Compared to its $4.3B in assets, the balance sheet is left with a $1.2B deficit in total. 

Inflation hotter than GCC summers at 9.1%: The US Consumer Price Index (CPI) continues to increase, reaching 9.1%, a 40-year high. This news is relevant to crypto markets because it dictates the fiscal response from US Federal Reserve. In response, the Fed is expected to continue hiking interest rates, with many predicting another 75 basis point increase at the end of July.   

USD and EUR hit parity for the first time in two decades: In other macro news, the dollar continues to strengthen against all major world currencies, and this week the euro had a 1:1 exchange rate with the USD. The high US dollar interest rates are the main trigger for the relative decline of the euro along with the current conflict in Eastern Europe. The last time the currencies were equal in value was 20 years ago, in 2002, when the euro was in its infancy.

Local News 📍

Dubai announces new Metaverse strategy: Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, unveiled a new strategy that seeks to increase the presence of blockchain technology and Metaverse companies in Dubai by five times. The strategy aims to rank Dubai among the top 10 cities in the world in the sector, support the creation of 40,000 virtual jobs, and contribute $4 billion to Dubai’s economy in 5 years.

Keep an eye on 👀

Adoption increases for Bitcoin and Ethereum: On-chain data shows that the number of users on both the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks is increasing! The number of bitcoin addresses holding 0.1 BTC hit an all-time high of 3,720,583, and the number Ethereum of addresses holding 1+ ETH also hit an all-time high of 1,552,039. In addition, Bitcoin’s Lightning Network capacity also hit a new all-time high of over 4,300 BTC, with about 17,707 nodes and 86,120 channels.

CoinMENA News 🗞

Hello Egypt 👋🇪🇬: We are excited to announce that CoinMENA is now able to onboard residents of Egypt from our base in Bahrain. Users in Egypt will be able to enjoy the simplest and safest way to trade digital assets in the MENA region and will have access to all of CoinMENA’s services.

20,000 XRP with CoinMENA Big Ripple Giveaway: We are giving5 users 4,000 XRP each! To qualify, trade (buy/sell) any of your favorite digital assets on CoinMENA for 50 USD or above before Friday22nd July 2022, at 11 PM Bahrain/KSA time. Take advantage of the offer and trade on CoinMENA now! 

Tweet of the week 🐥

Quiz Corner ✅ 

Last week’s question: Which is the oldest cryptocurrency?

Answer: Bitcoin

This week’s question: How many new bitcoins were mined between 2009 and 2012?

• 2,625,000

• 21,000,000 

• 10,500,000

See the answer in next week’s newsletter.