What’s Happening In Crypto Today? Daily Crypto News Digest

Sead Fadilpašić

Last updated:

February 28, 2024 06:51 EST | 4 min read

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of blockchain and crypto news today – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s news.

In crypto news today:

• Why is crypto up today?
• Scammers Hack Matthew Perry’s Twitter Account Seeking Crypto Donations
• US Judge Halts Federal Survey of Crypto Miners’ Energy Consumption
• OKX Officially Launches in Türkiye

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Why is crypto up today?

The crypto market is seeing another spring day.

The total market capitalization has increased by 3.5% over the last day.

At the time of writing, it stood at $2.31 trillion, according to CoinGecko.

Once again, we find that the large majority of the top 100 coins by market capitalization have seen an increase.

Among the top 10, over the past 24 hours, there are no coins in red.XRP has appreciated the most. Its price is up 7% to 0.5923.

Bitcoin is up nearly 6% to $59,472, and Ethereum saw a 3.7% increase to $3,342.

The remaining coins on the list (minus the stablecoins) are all up between 1% and 4%.

Bitcoin’s latest surge comes at a pivotal moment. Industry insiders and investors are closely watching the price predictions, especially with the upcoming halving event.

The anticipation surrounding the halving, combined with institutional interest, is one of the main reasons for the current optimism in the market.

Meanwhile, investment company BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) IBIT broke its personal record on Tuesday, attracting $1.3 billion record daily volume.

At the same time, crypto exchange Kraken unveiled a new division dedicated to providing services to institutional clients as it seeks to gain a foothold in the Bitcoin ETF market.

Scammers Hack Matthew Perry’s Twitter Account Seeking Crypto Donations

Scammers hacked the Twitter account of Matthew Perry, the recently deceased actor famous for playing Chandler Bing on the sitcom “Friends.”

Hackers tried to solicit crypto donations through a fraudulent website, NBC News reported.

The Matthew Perry Foundation stated that,

“We have received reports that Matthew’s official X page has been hacked and is directing users to a fraudulent site soliciting donations via cryptocurrency. Please do not donate to this site or share the fraudulent posts on social media.”

They warned that MatthewPerryFoundation.org is the only website associated with the foundation and that it is accepting donations only through this site.

The post has been removed from Perry’s account.

There is currently no information about the scammers’ identity of the scammers or how much money they got their hands on.

US Judge Halts Federal Survey of Crypto Miners’ Energy Consumption

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA), an independent data analysis agency within the Department of Energy, will likely have to wait a while before it gets any crypto mining data.

Texas Judge Alan Albright granted the plaintiffs a temporary restraining order (TRO) request until a preliminary injunction hearing.

It prevents the US federal government from surveying domestic crypto miners in regards to their energy consumption, The Register reported.Albright further noted that,

“Upon inspection of the Survey itself, the Court finds the 30-minute estimated time of completion is extremely inaccurate, if not grossly misleading.”

The Texas Blockchain Council and Riot Platforms requested the order four days ago. The two claimed that the case is “about sloppy government process, contrived and self-inflicted urgency, and invasive government data collection.”

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) authorized the EIA to conduct an emergency survey of the US crypto industry in January.

The EIA expressed concerns about potential public harm and stressed electricity s that come out of increased mining as the BTC price rises.

The agency aimed to survey 82 US mining facilities. These firms faced a civil penalty of up to $12,937 for failing to comply.

However, the mining organizations argued that the agencies failed to follow proper procedures and that the data demand posed a significant business burden, among other things.

They further stated that completing the survey takes nearly two days – much more than the promised 30 minutes.

A preliminary injunction hearing is set for today.

OKX Officially Launches in Türkiye

In other crypto news today, crypto exchange OKX has officially launched OKX TR, its crypto exchange in Türkiye.

With this, they are providing Turkish users with a compliant gateway to crypto trading and DeFi, the press release said.

Turkish users now have access to enhanced localized features, including Turkish Lira direct deposits and withdrawals from banking partners such as Fibabanka, VakıfBank, Ziraat Bankası, İş Bankası, Şekerbank, and Türkiye Finans.OKX President Hong Fang said that,

“With a crypto adoption rate close to 50%, Türkiye represents a very dynamic and promising market for the industry as it continues to develop.”

He added that the population’s high level of engagement and understanding of digital assets makes it an ideal environment for the exchange.

Users can trade major cryptocurrency pairs, including USTD/TRY, BTC/TRY, and ETH/TRY. The platform also comes with advanced crypto features.

Also, the OKX TR team offers 24/7 local customer support in Turkish and English, according to the announcement.

Furthermore, the OKX Web3 Wallet is currently available in Türkiye through OKX’s global platform.

The non-custodial Web3 wallet provides access to a user-friendly, self-custody portal to trade non-fungible tokens (NFTs), use decentralized apps (Dapps), and more.

OKX TR Board Chairman Mehmet Çamır commented that the country is in a prime position to grow in the DeFi space.

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