The weekend had seen total cryptocurrency market capitalization fall below $1 trillion, indicating that many market participants are increasingly cutting down their holdings. This phenomenon reflects in the price of the crypto king itself, Bitcoin, which had plunged hard, by over 10% on Friday alone, slipping dangerously close to its fateful lows of June 2022. There is increasing perception across the market that the recent gains of last month are becoming seriously difficult for even the most popular coins to hold on to.

Highlights of the week

• All major cryptocurrencies had suffered losses through the weekend, with total market cap falling below the $1 trillion mark. Trade volume in the last 24 hours had seen a drop of 28.8%, down to $58.8 billion. These figures, thus, hint at low confidence by market participants. 
• The new center-left Australian Government announced on Monday of its plans to conduct a nationwide virtual stock-take of the country’s crypto-holdings. The treasury department further elaborated on a token mapping it would plan to conduct in lieu of this initiative, which would entail cataloging the various classes and uses of the cryptocurrencies held by Australians.
• Samsung, along with several other members of the Korean Financial Investment Association (KFIA) have announced a collaboration to establish a major crypto exchange within the country. Each of the companies involved in the venture plan to create a virtual asset company for joint benefits.
• The leading manufacturer of BTC ATMs, General Bytes had earlier announced that the company had been victim of a major cyberattack, which allowed hackers to exploit a software vulnerability, and extract BTC from users. The news adds to the hesitance of investors in an already overly-pessimistic market. 
• Authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran have recently brought forward a report stating that over 9,400 illegal crypto-mining devices were seized throughout various districts of Tehran, since March 2022. The crackdown comes as these operations continue to run undeclared, whilst exploiting free electricity available in mosques, schools, and libraries. 
• A new breakthrough comes in the phenomenon of solar-powered crypto mining after the firm MecoBit Photovoltaic optimized its PV merchandise aimed at ensuring clean energy mining. This could come as a tipping point for the crypto-industry, which saw heavy criticism given the magnitude of energy consumption that holds it together.