Bitcoin Price: US$ 66,819.32 (+2.89%)
Ethereum Price: US$ 3,200.20 (+1.67%)
Trading platforms like Robinhood and Interactive Brokers, which offer 24-hour access to U.S. stocks, have recently faced challenges, with Robinhood halting its services due to geopolitical tensions. This has raised concerns about the sustainability of round-the-clock trading, especially given the difficulties in managing liquidity in such a trading environment, as evidenced by the cryptocurrency industry. Despite these challenges, startup firm 24X National Exchange is seeking SEC approval to launch the first 24/7 exchange in the U.S. Meanwhile, Canadian provinces are imposing restrictions on energy supply to cryptocurrency operations due to the unprecedented demand for electricity, extending moratoriums and introducing regulatory amendments. In a separate development, two SEC lawyers resigned following a court sanction against the agency for “gross abuse” of power in a crypto case, adding to the criticisms of the SEC’s approach to regulation in the crypto industry.
A fake letter proposing a 1% wealth tax on crypto holdings exceeding $500,000, allegedly from Senator Elizabeth Warren, caused a stir among crypto users on social media. Despite the letter being debunked, some users refused to acknowledge the truth. Meanwhile, digital asset funds saw a decline in investments for the second consecutive week, with Bitcoin and Ether funds leading the outflows. This trend is attributed to concerns about rising interest rates in the U.S., making less risky financial instruments more attractive. In other news, Woo X cryptocurrency exchange launched tokenised U.S. Treasury Bills (T-Bills), enabling users to earn yield on their USD Coin holdings. Lastly, Real-World Asset (RWA) tokenisation emerged as the second most profitable crypto narrative in Q1 2024, with over $1 billion worth of U.S. Treasurys tokenised by March 28.
Mt. Gox, the hacked cryptocurrency exchange, has updated its repayment data, signalling that compensation for hacked funds may be imminent, with some creditors already receiving fiat currency in their bank accounts. Meanwhile, EigenLayer, the largest restaking protocol on Ethereum, could be facing a yield crisis due to its rapid growth in total value locked (TVL), potentially outgrowing its Actively Validated Services (AVS). Lastly, U.S. President Joe Biden has signed a controversial bill that expands the surveillance powers of U.S. government agencies. Critics argue that this could severely impact the privacy of American citizens, ushering in a new era of surveillance. The bill initially received strong pushback from privacy-conscious Republicans and Democrats alike but was passed through the House of Representatives. NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden described the legislation as being unconstitutional.
Base creator Jesse Pollak believes memes will be key to onboarding millions of users to his Coinbase-adjacent layer-2 network, which has already tripled in total value locked (TVL) since March. The growth in memecoins and transactions on Base surged following the Ethereum Dencun upgrade in mid-March, which reduced fees on layer-2 networks. In other news, $60 million worth of Tether has already been issued on The Open Network (TON) since it began supporting the blockchain on April 19, making it the 11th-largest blockchain for Tether out of 16. The collaboration allows Telegram’s users to send transfers freely and instantly among all platform users. Additionally, Several Swiss-based Bitcoiners are renewing attempts to get the Swiss National Bank to hold Bitcoin in its reserves by holding a referendum to change the country’s constitution. Adding Bitcoin to the central bank’s reserves would help protect the country’s “sovereignty and neutrality” in an increasingly uncertain world, said Yves Bennaïm, founder and chairman of 2B4CH, a nonprofit think tank leading the charge.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com
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