Welcome, this is The Crypto Explorer, your crypto tour guide.

Bitcoin's price has fallen below $60,000 for the first time since June. This has sent shockwaves through the entire cryptocurrency market, impacting all other altcoins.

Everyone seems to be asking the same burning question: why is this happening?

Here’s what we got for you today:

• 📉 Bitcoin Prices Fall Below $60,000 – Find out why!

• 🤷‍♀️ NFTs Under Scrutiny: Could They Be Considered Securities?

• 🧱 Around The Block: Kamala Harris odds climb to 18% on Polymarket, over $11 million in bets.

 📉 Bitcoin Prices Fall Below $60,000 – Find out why!

The crypto market experienced a significant downturn as Bitcoin dropped below $60,000 for the first time since late June, leading to the liquidation of $8.4 million in long contracts.

Ethereum also faced a similar situation, with $8.8 million worth of long contracts being wiped out.

If you're unfamiliar with the terms, long contracts are bets on rising prices, while short contracts bet on falling prices. If the gap between a contract's target price and the spot price widens too much, traders could be forced to liquidate if they can't cover the margin.

What could have triggered this sudden decline? No one knows (for sure); all we have is speculation.

Here are a few:

1. Mt. Gox: There are over 14,000 Bitcoins that could soon be returned to early adopters who have been waiting for their BTC for a decade. So, the market is front-running the potential impact.

2. Inflation and federal interest rates: These factors are potentially pushing investors toward safer assets like treasury bonds over riskier ones like cryptocurrencies.

3. The strength of the US dollar: This may also be a major factor, as Thinking Crypto Host Tony Edward pointed out, among other things.

In any case, Bitcoin is currently trading at $57,425.50, and Ethereum is priced at $3,143.96 at the time of writing. For more in-depth details, check here!

🤷‍♀️ NFTs Under Scrutiny: Could They Be Considered Securities?

A U.S. District Court judge in Massachusetts has just made a significant ruling that could have a major impact on the NFT industry!

The judge refused to dismiss a lawsuit against DraftKings, claiming that their sports-themed NFTs might be considered unregistered securities.

This raises a crucial question: Are NFTs actually securities?🤔

DraftKings' NFTs, which are sold on the Polygon blockchain, are alleged to meet the criteria of the Howey test, a major determinant for what qualifies as a security.

The court also ruled that DraftKings' NFTs involve an investment of money in a shared enterprise with a reasonable expectation of profit from DraftKings' efforts.

This means they could potentially be classified as securities, and if that happens, it could significantly impact how companies create and market these digital assets.

Brands may need to reevaluate their NFT strategies to ensure compliance with securities regulations, which could potentially stifle creativity and innovation in the space.

What's more, this isn't the first time something like this has happened.

Back in June, Dapper Labs shelled out $4 million to settle a similar lawsuit!

Interestingly, the court suggests that Dapper's NFTs, which run on its proprietary Flow blockchain, could pose a higher risk of violating securities laws compared to DraftKings' use of Polygon.

There's no set date for the continuation of the DraftKings class action suit, but we really hope they revisit this case soon.🤞

You can learn more here!

🧱 Around The Block:

Kamala Harris odds climb to 18% on Polymarket, over $11 million in bets.

• Kamala Harris odds climb to 18% on Polymarket, over $11 million in bets.

• Mt. Gox Bitcoin sell-off fears are exaggerated: CoinShares study

• Russia favors cryptocurrency for international payments to counter Western sanctions.

• Centralized Exchange losses to hacks are up 1,000% this year: ImmuneFi.

• U.S. Court orders Sam Ikkurty to pay $84M for crypto Ponzi scheme.

• Algorand celebrates its 5th anniversary with 2 billion transactions and record adoption of real-world use cases.

• Polkadot Treasury spends nearly $37,000,000 on outreach and marketing in the first half of 2024.

That's all we've got for you today.

Please don't forget to rate today's email and let us know what you like about it.

In any case, see you tomorrow, or on Twitter, if you're there: @danielakpobare

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell assets or make financial decisions. Please be NEW”