CoinMarketCap News, August 29: BTC Battles to Stay Above $20,000 as Fed Warns More Pain is Ahead

It's been a weekend to forget for Bitcoin. The world's biggest cryptocurrency slid below $20,000 after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned further interest rates may be required to bring red-hot inflation under control. Speaking in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, he vowed that the U.S. central bank will "use our tools forcefully" to address the cost-of-living crisis. He also warned that the rate rises could cause "some pain" to the U.S. economy. There are fears hiking interest rates so aggressively could tip the U.S. into a recession. The stock markets reacted negatively to the speech — and $1.25 trillion was wiped off Wall Street in a single day on Friday… more than the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies.

Further misery was piled on the crypto markets when rumors started circulating on Twitter that Mt. Gox was about to dump 140,000 BTC. Thousands of victims are due to receive payouts — eight years after the platform collapsed in an audacious hack. But one man who's owed BTC has slammed high-profile accounts for spreading "misinformation" — and says the repayment system hasn't even been built yet. Eric Wall wrote: "Mt. Gox is NOT distributing any coins this week, or the next week, or the week after that." A number of high-profile Twitter accounts have now hurriedly deleted their panicked posts. It's the latest painful reminder to take everything you read on Crypto Twitter with a very liberal pinch of salt.

The company that develops the Avalanche blockchain has been accused of "attacking" rivals and "conning" the SEC with the help of a law firm. Ava Labs and Roche Freedman have entered into "an extraordinary secret pact that harms the crypto industry," according to Crypto Leaks. Covert recordings show Roche Freedman's founding partner, Kyle Roche, saying that he "sues half the companies in the industry" — and declaring he's one of the "top 10" crypto experts worldwide. It's claimed the firm engages in class action lawsuits that weaken projects and lure regulators away from looking into Avalanche. Ava Labs founder Emin Gün Sirer has dismissed the article as "conspiracy theory nonsense."

The MTV Video Music Awards went metaverse mad on Sunday. Eminem and Snoop Dogg teamed up for their first performances in decades — with part of it based in a virtual world. Their Bored Apes were on full display as they gave a live rendition of their hit song From The D 2 The LBC. Both rappers also wowed the crowd in real life — and above the stage, giant versions of their NFTs nodded along to the beat. The crowd in New Jersey went wild, but not everyone at home liked it. One fan on Reddit said they want Eminem to retire, writing: "This VMA performance has honestly made me laugh at how pathetic it was. The NFT ape performance was not only cringe as f*** but the animation was also f****** dogs*** lmao."

In another bullish development, the VMAs had a Best Metaverse Performance award for the very first time. It was a star-studded list of nominations to say the least — with Ariana Grande, BTS, Charli XCX and Justin Bieber among those in the running for a gong. But they were all beaten by the South Korean girl band BLACKPINK, who said: "We had so much fun on this project so we're very glad that everybody enjoyed it and we're very grateful for our fans." Their concert was held with the help of PUBG Mobile — seeing off competition from other big metaverse brands including Fortnite, Minecraft and Roblox. Players who watched their performance were able to dance and cheer to the music, and were even treated to a brand-new song.