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QCP Capital: Bitcoin Has $34K Price PotentialBitcoin’s potential for a significant price rally toward $34,000 has been discussed recently by analysts at QCP Capital, the Singapore-headquartered crypto asset trading firm. Despite Bitcoin’s recent lack of major volatility catalysts, QCP’s analysis suggests that a classic support rebound might trigger the return of the highest Bitcoin prices in over a year.Photo by Kanchanara on UnsplashCrucial price action time-frameAccording to QCP Capital’s latest market update on Tuesday, the upcoming weeks are poised to be crucial for Bitcoin’s price action. The cryptocurrency has been range-bound for months, leaving market observers speculating about the emergence of a new market trend.QCP Capital highlights September as a pivotal month due to the completion of a rising wedge pattern that started during the end of the 2022 bear market. This pattern has guided Bitcoin’s price movement, with the wedge reaching its first termination point at the beginning of September. The specific level of interest is $29,300, which aligns with the current focal point of the Bitcoin spot price.Rally potentialThe analysis ponders whether there will be a sharp rally that pushes the price to the $34,000 resistance level. This scenario has occurred three times this year, as the price kissed the support trendline. The report acknowledges that it might take a few more quiet weeks before the outcome becomes clear. The analysts expressed their intention to buy back their end of September short calls and anticipate going long on end of December volatility in due course.QCP Capital’s perspective aligns with other optimistic views on Bitcoin’s short-term price strength. Some projections even suggest that the 2023 Bitcoin bull market might return by October, although the market sentiment is varied, with some cautioning about the possibility of new lows before a broader recovery.Macroeconomic trendsTurning to macroeconomic trends, QCP Capital indicates that significant change is not on the immediate horizon, echoing the status quo in the crypto space. Comparing the current situation to the compressed trading environment of the crypto winter in 2018 and 2019, the analysis suggests that a macroeconomic shift would be required to reinvigorate the market, similar to what has happened in the past.Bitcoin’s volatility has reached historic lows, as illustrated by data just published by on-chain market intelligence firm, Glassnode. While a game-changing macro environment shift isn’t imminent, there are short-term catalysts on the crypto calendar for the upcoming months.These include events like Mt. Gox creditor payouts, the GBTC vs. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit, potential SEC decisions on Blackrock/Fidelity’s Bitcoin spot ETF applications, and potential news related to centralized crypto exchanges and stablecoins.The September deadline for comments on the initial Bitcoin spot price exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications is particularly noteworthy, as it’s widely seen as a turning point for the industry. Europe’s first Bitcoin spot ETF, which began trading on Tuesday, is being custodied by Fidelity Investments, marking another step in the maturation of the cryptocurrency market.

Korean Prosecutors Say Do Kwon and His Colleagues Knew Terra Was Unviable from the BeginningKorean prosecutors claimed that Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon and the key members behind the Terra-LUNA crash were aware of the project’s unviability from the beginning, according to a file issued by the Seoul Southern District Court.©Terraform LabsTerraform Labs founders misleading Korean investorsTerraform Labs founders Do Kwon and Daniel Shin attracted 280,000 investors in Korea alone, claiming that the Terra stablecoin is a means of transaction, even though the company leaders had been notified by the financial authority that Terra-accepting businesses were impermissible. It is reported that during a search and seizure of the company, Korean prosecutors collected evidence that its employees shared such knowledge on their internal messaging system.Terra’s cross trading on crypto exchangesKnowing their cryptocurrency’s unviability, Terra executives registered its sister token LUNA for listing on major Korean crypto exchanges in May 2019. According to the Korean prosecution, they used a bot to create a trade volume of more than 800 million won in three domestic crypto exchanges by cross trading between 2019 and early last year.Cross trading is illegal in the stock market, as it is considered as an act of price manipulation, but LUNA was traded in crypto exchanges and it hasn’t been determined whether their token is a security or not. Under current Korean law, the court has to accept it as a security to punish those behind the Terra collapse.Shin’s denial of allegationsMeanwhile, Daniel Shin denied the prosecution’s allegations and argued that they had never received such a notice from the financial regulator.

The Thai government is planning to enable tourists to spend crypto via credit card, according to information revealed by Thailand’s finance minister on May 26.Photo by rc.xyz NFT gallery on UnsplashPichai Chunhavajira, the Southeast Asian nation’s finance minister and deputy prime minister, delivered a keynote speech at an investment seminar in Bangkok in which he outlined that while some countries enable people to purchase goods directly with cryptocurrency, another option is to allow consumers to link their digital assets with other services such as credit cards.  In that way, the consumer can spend crypto through credit card services. English language news outlet The Nation reported that Chunhavajira confirmed that the government is preparing to launch a pilot project that would allow tourists to spend crypto in this manner within Thailand. Seamless conversion from crypto to fiatWith this system, merchants would still receive payment in Thai baht. From the point of view of the user, crypto could be spent but any exchange between crypto and fiat currency would happen seamlessly and automatically via the credit card service provider’s platform.Discussions between officials from the Bank of Thailand and the Ministry of Finance are ongoing with regard to the proposed scheme. It’s understood that similar existing models which have been introduced overseas are being examined. It’s likely that the pilot program is the same as the project that was announced by Chunhavajira in January when he alluded to a program enabled for foreign tourists visiting the Thai tourist resort of Phuket. At that time, it was envisaged that the scheme would adhere to existing legal frameworks and implicate identity verification through a third party service provider, with conversion from crypto to Thai baht to be enabled such that there would be no material difference experienced by merchants. Targeting touristsThis is not the first occasion in which tourists have been targeted by crypto-related initiatives. Earlier this month, it was announced that Binance Pay, a crypto payment service offered by global crypto exchange Binance, had partnered with the government of the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan to launch the world’s first national-level crypto tourism payment system. In July 2024, the governor of Jeju Province in South Korea advocated for the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and crypto as part of Jeju Island’s tourism strategy. Last December the province announced a digital transformation roadmap that sets out a cashless future. Plans include the introduction of a system for converting digital assets and facilitating payment methods from neighboring countries like China and Japan. However, not all governments have been keen to facilitate tourists in spending crypto. In May 2023, the governor of the province of Bali in Indonesia cautioned foreign visitors to the region against the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment for goods and services. Governor Wayan Koster warned that visitors using cryptocurrency for payments could face severe consequences, including criminal penalties and deportation.