The massive stories in the cryptocurrency industry for January's early weeks were massive, and it has dictated the track of the coins this year, with Tech Times' CryptoWatch offering a round-up on what made the headlines. First off, there is the controversial shutdown by Venezuela of the renowned Petro Cryptocurrency, which is best known as the brainchild of President Nicolas Maduro.
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Moreover, there is Apple's massive App Store crackdown in India where it removed the top crypto apps and platforms present, alongside the current prices of the top coins now.
Venezuela Shuts Down Petro Cryptocurrency, But Why?
The South American country of Venezuela has decided to shut down the renowned cryptocurrency venture known as Petro, which is known to be President Maduro's project launched six years ago. One of the main reasons why it was shut down by the country is because it did not grow as much as envisioned by the nation's government, also seeing massive scrutiny behind it.
AFP reported that the Petro cryptocurrency project also got involved in a scandalous graft issue. Moreover, it was used by Venezuela to go around the imposed US economic sanctions against the country.
The Patria Platform announced that the crypto wallets were already closed in mid-January, best known for being the only place it was traded.
Apple's operations in India, particularly on its App Store, saw a massive hit for renowned cryptocurrency platforms this January, centering on top apps like Binance, Kraken, and more. It also includes the likes of Mexc and Kucoin that were subjected to the said removal, as flagged by the country to conduct "illegal operations" within its jurisdictions.
India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) issued show cause notices to nine crypto firms that claimed non-compliance to its anti-money laundering rules, according to Tech Crunch.
Huobi, Gate.io, Bittrex, Bitfinex, and Bitstamp complete the list, but Bitstamp remains available on the Indian App Store. It is similar to Binance's lawsuit in the US, centering on its non-compliance to its anti-money laundering policies.
Prices of the Top Cryptocurrency Now
There are differing prices for top coins in the market now, as detailed on CoinMarketCap's charts, Bitcoin saw a slight decline while Ethereum increased compared to its previous numbers, but still saw a decrease in its percentage. Nevertheless, the coin prices remain steady and not much has changed apart from those below the top three.
Bitcoin (BTC) - Price: $41,620.73 | 1.47 percent decrease over the past seven days
Ethereum (ETH) - Price: $2,460.03 | 1.34 percent decrease over the past seven days
Tether (USDt) - Price: $0.9993 | 0.04 percent decrease over the past seven days
Binance Coin (BNB) - Price: $319.50 | 5.36 percent increase over the past seven days
Solana (SOL) - Price: $91.38 | 4.39 percent decrease over the past seven days
