Bitcoin price drops below $29,500 on Monday
After hitting a yearly high of $30,975 last Friday, Bitcoin price is under pressure today and has dropped below $29,500 for the first time in a week. Analysts are considering whether the dip was a technical correction or whether it comes from an unusually large sell delta for Bitfinex. The next important macro data for Bitcoin will occur on May 3, when the next meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the United States Federal Reserve is due to take place.
Kingdom of Bhutan Quietly Held Millions of Dollars in Cryptocurrencies
The Kingdom of Bhutan has invested millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies, according to Forbes, saying its investment arm Druk Holding & Investments had “cultivated a secret cryptocurrency portfolio” since at least 2022. According to court documents, it added: “US $2.9 billion from Bhutan’s sovereign investment arm was a client of bankrupt cryptocurrency lenders BlockFi and Celsius, which it never publicly disclosed.”
Paxful reveals frozen customer funds and warns against US financial institutions
Paxful co-founder and CEO Ray Youssef said $4.4 million — about 3.3% of total customer funds — remains frozen on the platform, despite releasing 88% of all frozen accounts in the past ten days. Youssef advised his Twitter followers not to trust any US-based financial institution.
Crypto lender Amber Group considers selling unit in Japan
Crypto lender Amber Group is considering options for its Japan unit, including a possible sale, as part of a plan to focus more on institutional clients than retail clients, Bloomberg reported, citing managing partner Annabelle Huang. Japan is a “high-end market,” Huang said, but “the regulations are strict.” The company plans to apply for a license from Hong Kong after the city pivots to create a digital asset hub.
Argentina approves first BTC futures offering in Latin America
It appears that regulators are softening Bitcoin’s stance in Latin America, as Argentina’s financial markets regulator approved the first offering of Bitcoin (BTC) futures contracts. In an official statement from the Comisión Nacional de Valores (CNV), the regulator explained that it had approved the trading of futures contracts on the Matba Rofex Bitcoin index. The CNV specified that trading and settlement would be carried out in Argentine pesos and that only institutional or professional investors would be permitted access to the offer.
Bank of Israel Outlining Plan to Issue CBDC “Digital Shekel”
The Bank of Israel is preparing an action plan for the possible issuance of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), a digital shekel, The Jerusalem Post reported, citing “a recent document.” The bank discussed conditions that would allow or support a decision to issue a BOI CBDC at some point, indicating a range of variables that could affect the committee’s recommendation, the report said.
Brian Armstrong, sold $1.8 million worth of stock in April
Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong sold $1.8 million worth of company stock in April. According to data from Dataroma, he sold a total of 29,730 shares of Coinbase — which add up to $1,860,444 in value — in six transactions on April 12. Armstrong sold 89,196 shares of Coinbase for $5.8 million in March — nearly half of those sales were made within 24 hours before the US SEC issued a notice to the exchange. Coinbase’s COIN stock is one of the best performing crypto stocks in 2023, rising 17% in the past week and over 12% in the last month.
US House of Representatives introduces new stablecoin bill
Members of the US House of Representatives are circulating a new bill intended to provide a regulatory framework for stablecoins in the country. The House Financial Services Committee released a new bill for discussion on Saturday, likely ahead of a hearing on the matter scheduled for Wednesday by the committee’s new panel focused on digital assets and financial technology.
SEC accuses Bittrex and its co-founder of regulatory evasion
U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex is reportedly facing potential action from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), despite preparing to shut down local operations. The SEC’s enforcement team told Bittrex in March that it would recommend that the agency sue the company for alleged violations of investor protection laws, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing David Maria, the company’s general counsel.
Circle to Testify at US Congress on Stablecoins
Circle, the U.S. company behind the popular stablecoin USDC, is set to testify at a congressional hearing on Wednesday on stablecoin regulation in the U.S. At the hearing, titled “Understanding the Role of Stablecoins in Payments and the Need for Legislation,” Circle Chief Strategy Officer Dante Disparte is expected to explain why the US should support private companies issuing dollar-backed stablecoins on-chain. .
BNB Chain publishes list of high-risk DApps and tokens
BNB Chain, the blockchain powered by crypto exchange Binance, has updated its red flag list to include 191 high-risk projects and decentralized applications (dapps) currently hosted on the blockchain. They are included for several reasons: they are suspected of issuing fake tokens, they have high or opaque fees, their websites or Twitter handles don’t work, etc. The BNB Chain red alarm list is updated every Friday.
The market capitalization of stablecoins
On April 17, Tether’s circulating market valuation reached nearly $81 billion, just 1.5% below its record high of $82.29 billion year-over-year. It has already grown about 20% year-to-date (YTD). The circulating market capitalization of USD Coin, the second-largest stablecoin, has dropped more than 25% year-to-date to $31.82 billion, the worst since October 2021. BUSD witnessed a 60% drop in market capitalization in 2023 to $6.68 billion, the lowest since April 2021. Tether’s advantage over USDC and BUSD is due to cryptocurrency traders’ belief that Tether operations are not exposed to the potential contagion of banking crisis.
Aave proposal to launch on zkEVM gets support
A “temperature check” proposal to deploy the popular decentralized exchange (DEX) Aave on the zkSync Era Mainnet network has been approved. 99.78% of Aave token holders voted in favor of launching the third version of the lending and lending protocol on the zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machine (zkEVM) when voting closed on Sunday. The next steps will be to deepen the discussion, assess the risk parameters and finalize the proposal.
H. Moser says Gen Z and millennials are the next big consumer market
Luxury watchmakers are using Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) to attract Gen Z, the South China Morning Post reports. Millennials and Gen Z are taking an early interest in luxury goods, according to a study by management consultancy Bain & Company and the Italian luxury brand association Altagamma Foundation. The chief executive of the famous watchmaker H. Moser, Edouard Meylan, said that a “younger and more digital” clientele was emerging in Asia. The brand held Bitcoin sales, including a $380,000 watch that, at the time, sold for BTC 10.