The inflow of funds to the Tornado Cash protocol decreased by almost 79%, and the UN proposed to ban banks from using the cryptocurrency – these and other important news of the cryptocurrency market in our review.
The flow of funds to the Tornado Cash protocol decreased by 78.5% after the US authorities sanctioned it on Monday, August 8, reports The Block, citing its research. Over the past three days, only $6 million was added to the protocol, which is about 4.5 times less than in the previous period last week.
The United Nations Development Authority (UNCTAD) believes that the risks and costs of cryptocurrencies outweigh their benefits, and therefore are not suitable for banks, writes Bits.media. UNCTAD called on world governments to impose additional taxes on cryptocurrency transactions and restrictions on the advertising of digital assets to increase state revenues and ensure financial stability in developing countries.
Blockchain bridge RenBridge has facilitated the laundering of at least $540 million in illicit funds since 2020, according to a study by analytics firm Elliptic. Analysts reported that billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies have been transferred between different blockchains using bridges such as RenBridge, Portal, cBridge, and Synapse.
Investment firm BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) has launched a private trust offering American institutional investors access to bitcoin. “Despite the sharp downturn in the crypto market, we continue to see high interest from some institutional clients on how to access these assets efficiently and cost-effectively,” BlackRock said in a statement.
Bitcoin miner Hut 8 recorded a net loss of CAD 88.1 million (approximately $69 million) in the second quarter on a 17.8% drop in revenue to CAD 43.9 ($34.3 million). The report states that the financial results were affected by the decline in the price of bitcoin and the increase in the average cost of electricity.