On-chain and technical indicators also hint at more pain for Bitcoin and Ethereum for the remainder of 2022. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum's native token, Ether (ETH), started the week on a depressive note as investors braced themselves for a flurry of rate hike decisions from central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of England.

Bitcoin price fails to hold $20,000
On Sept. 19, BTC's price failed to regain the $20,000 psychological support zone. The BTC/USD pair slipped by 6.5% to around $18,250, while ETH dropped 4% to approximately $1,280.

Their gloomy performance came as a part of a broader decline that started in mid-August, wherein BTC and ETH wiped a total of 28% and 37% off their market valuation, respectively.more info

Just like Binance, India-based exchange WazirX will implement BUSD auto-conversion for balances of USDC, USDP and TUSD at a 1:1 ratio in October. Major Indian cryptocurrency exchange WazirX has opted to delist the USD Coin (USDC) from its platform and convert the remaining balances into Binance-backed Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin.

WazirX officially announced on Monday that it has stopped deposits of USDC alongside other stablecoins like Pax dollar (USDP) and TrueUSD (TUSD).

According to the announcement, the platform will instead offer the BUSD stablecoin to enhance liquidity and capital efficiency for users. WazirX will implement BUSD auto-conversion for users' existing balances of USDC, USDP and TUSD at a 1:1 ratio on Oct. 5, the firm said.

“Users will be able to view their USDC, USDP and TUSD balances under the BUSD-denominated account balance when the conversion is complete,” the exchange noted. “WazirX may amend the list of stablecoins eligible for auto-conversion,” the announcement added.

Withdrawals of USDC, USDP and TUSD will still be available on WazirX till Friday. The platform then plans to delist the stablecoins from its spot trading pairs on Sept. 26.

According to data from CoinGecko, WazirX was trading an insignificant amount of USDC before the announcement. At the time of writing, the only USDC trading pair listed on WazirX is USDC trading against Tether (USDT), with $3,400 in daily volumes.more info

Saylor underscored the high maintenance costs and taxes linked with owning and inheriting physical property over the long term, which in the case of Bitcoin, does not exist. MicroStrategy CEO and Bitcoin (BTC) advocate Michael Saylor doubled down on his support for Bitcoin as he explained the issues related to transferring the value of physical properties such as gold, company stocks or equity and real estate during the Australia Crypto Convention.

Speaking about the underlying proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism, Saylor highlighted that Bitcoin is backed by $20 billion worth of proprietary mining hardware and $20 billion worth of energy.more info

The sale of Celsius' stablecoin holdings will pay for the crypto lender’s daily operations, but won’t be used to pay back creditors. In the latest chapter of Celsius’ ongoing liquidity crisis, which first became public when the lender froze customer withdrawals in June, the bankrupt crypto lender has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York for permission to sell its stablecoin holdings.

Court filings from yesterday indicate that Celsius has asked for authorization to sell its stablecoins in order to pay for operations. The company previously released a coin report on Wednesday revealing that it has over $2 billion in liabilities from various cryptocurrencies; its stablecoin holdings amount to approximately $23 million, held in 11 different stablecoins.more info

APE is down about 9% today ahead of a significant token unlock for launch contributors—but staking is also on the horizon. ApeCoin, the Ethereum-based token built for the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT ecosystem, launched to immense hype (and significant paydays for BAYC holders) in March. Now some of the project’s backers are set to reap over $115 million worth of APE tokens as a reward, leaving holders wondering how that unlock might impact the token’s price.

On Saturday, the ApeCoin DAO treasury is expected to unlock 25 million APE tokens allocated for “launch contributors,” which the website notes are the unnamed “companies and people that helped make this project a reality.” The 25 million tokens are set to unlock six months following ApeCoin’s launch, which took place on March 17.more info

Regardless of the methods used by scammers to contact potential victims, the FDACS newsletter highlighted five red flags that can help citizens identify and evade possible scams. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) issued a warning sharing insights into identifying robocall scam marketing auto warranties, which includes being asked to pay for the services via gift cards and cryptocurrencies.

Consumer complaints against increasing robocall scams — wherein scammers use prerecorded calls to market and sell fraudulent services — led the Enforcement Bureau to order phone companies to avoid carrying robocall traffic.

Regardless of the methods used by scammers to contact potential victims, the FDACS newsletter highlighted five red flags that indicate scams.more info

Brazil is already leading the globe in cryptocurrency adoption. Integrating crypto with payment providers in the region is a surefire way to see Latin America fully embrace the industry. Thriving on exploiting users’ data, Web2 monopolies like Facebook and Google have ushered in an era of massive internet centralization in recent years. This concentration of power has enabled huge shares of communication and commerce closed platforms, giving users little control over how their data is collected.

An emerging concept, Web3, will provide a means to pivot from centralization to an open-source internet. A recent report from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) found that this new digital economy could reach an astounding 1 billion users by 2031. If executed correctly, the decentralized internet will allow users to take control of their data and content.more info

The new British government sounds bullish on crypto, while discussions in Washington about regulation are intensifying.For the first time in many weeks amid a chilly crypto winter, Bitcoin and Ethereum had a great week.

After dipping below $19,000 at the start of the week, Bitcoin then enjoyed a steady 7.3% recovery over the last seven days and trades for $21,236 at the time of writing, according to CoinMarketCap.

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, rallied harder just days before the Ethereum merge event to proof of stake. It shot up 10.9% over the week and is currently worth $1,726.more info