• Bitcoin (BTC) falls below $22k, DOGE & SHIB record double-digit drops

• Ethermine won’t support PoW fork; merge will have a triple halving effect

• Ripple launches new crypto on-demand liquidity service in Brazil

• Cardano developer says testnet is “catastrophically broken” due to bug

• MercadoLibre launches its own cryptocurrency “MercadoCoin” in Brazil

Bitcoin (BTC) Falls Below $22k, DOGE & SHIB Record Double-Digit Drops

Bitcoin’s losses have extended into the fourth day following the release of the FOMC minutes by the United States Federal Reserve. Bitcoin has now broken the $22.5k support level for the first time since July 27.

The 24-hour price chart for Bitcoin (BTC). Source: CoinMarketCap

The price of Bitcoin has plunged by 9% in the last 24 hours and now trades at $21,400. With Bitcoin trading under $21,500, the asset will either look to retest the $20k level or reclaim $22.5 in the near term.

The bearish market has had its biggest impact on the meme coins. The leading meme coin, Dogecoin (DOGE) has plunged by more than 16% in 24 hours to fall $0.08165 to as low as $0.06828.

The 24-hour price chart for Dogecoin (DOGE). Source: CoinMarketCap

Despite registering a bullish breakout before the minutes were released, Shiba Inu (SHIB) is now posting double-digit losses. Over the last 24 hours, the price of Shiba Inu has tanked by 14% to hit a low of $0.00001289.

The 24-hour price chart for Shiba Inu (SHIB). Source: CoinMarketCap

Flipsider:

• Despite the entire crypto market being under bearish pressure, Gnosis (GNO) is up by 5% to trade as high as $199.6, near its 3-month high.

The 24-hour price chart for Gnosis (GNO). Source: CoinMarketCap

Ethermine Won’t Support PoW Fork; Merge will Have Triple Halving Effect

Ethermine, the largest ETH mining pool, has announced that it won’t support mining the proposed PoW Ethereum tokens. After careful consideration, Ethermine says, “switch to withdraw-only mode once the Proof-of-Work mining phase has ended.”

The pool contributes 30.8% of Ethereum’s mining power and has said it will create a timer counting down to the mainnet merge on September 15. Miners can no longer connect their equipment to the Ethermine Ethereum pool when the time elapses.

Still on the much anticipated Ethereum merge, the co-founder of Sprise, Montana Wong, has said that the event could have a triple-halving (or three Bitcoin halvings) effect on the price of Ethereum.

Ethereum’s supply is currently increased by 4.3% annually. However, post-merge, it will be reduced to 0.4%. The elimination of miners will also reduce the selling pressure on the ETH by up to 10 times.

Flipsider:

• Ethermine announced it will offer a 0% fee for miners switching from ETH to other coins, including Ethereum Classic (ETC) and Ravencoin (RVN).

Why You Should Care

The immense deflationary effect of the merge is the reason the ETH is primed for a massive rally as the network migrates to a PoS consensus.

Ripple Launches New Crypto On-Demand Liquidity Service in Brazil

Ripple, the leading crypto solutions provider, has announced a partnership with Travelex Bank that will see the company introduce its crypto on-demand liquidity (ODL) service in Brazil.

Travelex, a foreign exchange company, will utilize RippleNet’s ODL to facilitate cross-border payments between enterprises. Ripple’s XRP will be used to accelerate the transfer and exchange of fiat currencies between countries. 

Travelex Bank is the first of Ripple’s partners in Brazil to be approved by the central bank to operate exclusively in foreign exchange. The initial phase will see Travelex test Ripple’s ODL for payments between Brazil and Mexico.

According to João Manuel Campanelli, the Chief Operating Officer of Travelex Bank, the company is working to extend its cross-border settlement service with Ripple to the United States and Asia.

Flipsider:

• In a push back against Canada’s recent crypto purchase limit, Vitalik Buterin has said the plight of Ripple was not to be supported, and XRP should not be protected.

Why You Should Care

Brazil’s adoption of a crypto-friendly regulatory framework has led to the increased use of Ripple’s solution in Latin America.

Cardano Developer Says Testnet is “Catastrophically Broken” Due to Bug

Adam Dean, a prominent Cardano developer, has reported that the project’s development team just discovered a bug in Node v1.35.2 that has left the Cardano testnet “catastrophically broken.”

Dean explained that the rush in a bid to meet up with the scheduled mainnet hard fork led to the bug discovered in Node v1.35.2. As a result of most node operators being to 1.35.2 on testnet, Node 1.35.3 is now incapable and incompatible with syncing.

According to reports, only roughly 14% of SPOs have so far upgraded to node version 1.35.3. With syncing not possible on Node 1.35.3, the Cardano team is testing 1.35.3 on two new testnets that don’t have a block history.

Dean urged Input Output and CEO Charles Hoskinson to salvage the situation and deploy the tooling needed for a disaster recovery plan. According to Dean, the rush involved in deploying the Vasil hard fork is giving him an uneasy feeling.

Flipsider:

• The report of the testnet being broken comes shortly after Hoskinson assured the crypto community that progresses toward the Vasil hard fork should proceed without a hitch.

Why You Should Care

The Vasil upgrade is supposed to be Cardano’s biggest event, and community members have called on the team to not rush the process for the best result.

MercadoLibre Launches Its Own Cryptocurrency “MercadoCoin” in Brazil

Multinational e-commerce company MercadoLibre Inc, on August 18, announced the launch of its own cryptocurrency dubbed MercadoCoin, which will be implemented in Brazil as a part of its loyalty program.

The MercadoCcoin is an ERC-20 token built on the Ethereum blockchain and will be valued at $0.1. For now, the company has no plans to launch in other regions or trade on other exchanges apart from MercadoPago.

Users of the crypto will earn cashback rewards, with higher-spending users getting more rewards. MercadoLibre expects the cryptocurrency to be available to its 80 million users in Brazil by the end of August. 

The company is partnering with Argentina-based crypto exchange Ripio, which will provide custody and trading services on Mercado Pago.

Flipsider:

• MercadoLibre announced this week that it will expand the range of its BTC, ETH, and stablecoin trading features to every region in Latin America.

Why You Should Care

MercadoLibre turns to crypto for a competitive advantage as the competition in Brazil’s e-commerce space increases.