Bitcoin Price: US$ 46,580.51 (+0.37%)
Ethereum Price: US$ 3,519.50(-0.07%)
Mining Difficulty Soars, Strong Q1 Ending, & Web3 Investing
- BTC mining difficulty hit new highs at 120 ZH/s, the toughest it has ever been to mine a Bitcoin. This comes as Bitcoin supply crossed 19M, making there only 2M Bitcoin remaining left to mine. As BTC heads into the next halving estimated in 2024, we can expect fiercer competition as every Bitcoin becomes more valuable.
- Furthermore, as entities like Luna Foundation Guard accumulates Bitcoin and utilize it in their ecosystem, this further reduces the circulating supply available on the market.
- BTC is ending the quarter in a much better place than where it started the month. Quarterly closes are important because they’re often scrutinized by many types of market participants. A strong monthly or quarterly close can inform a bullish bias for traders and investors with longer time horizons. Algorithmic traders can also use quarterly (or monthly or weekly) closes as triggers for certain trend or momentum-based strategies.
- Despite the strong end to Q1, BTC’s price appears to be heading into some resistance at the time of writing. Notably, BTC also finds itself at the midpoint of the weekly market structure.
- The last two weeks provided an extremely rare occurrence for bitcoin as it notched 8 consecutive days of positive price gains. Over the last seven years when looking at consecutive positive days for bitcoin returns, this trigger event only happens 1.3% of the time, making this is a very rare event.
Aussie crypto ‘finfluencers’ face tough new legal restrictions
- New warnings from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) on appropriate conduct for financial influencers could have a dramatic impact on the local crypto industry.
- ASIC’s recent Information Sheet outlines the traps influencers and the companies that hire them could fall into while wittingly or unwittingly promoting financial products. The penalties for failing to heed ASIC’s warnings could lead to millions of dollars in fines for corporations and up to five years in prison for individuals.
- Although it does not specifically mention crypto influencers, the guidelines certainly apply to them as cryptocurrency investing services are seen as financial products. To those financial influencers or “finfluencers” who are not sure whether their brand is in violation of the law, ASIC advises them to “Think about your content carefully and whether you are providing unlicensed financial services.”
Aussie convenience store giant to accept crypto at 170 outlets
- Convenience store and gas station giant On The Run (OTR) will soon accept crypto payments at 170 outlets across South Australia and Victoria. The move will allow customers to pay for gas, snacks and even a Subway foot long in over 30 cryptocurrencies.
- OTR’s parent company the Peregrine Corporation, one of the largest privately-owned companies in South Australia, will also be accepting crypto at its Subway, Oporto and Smokemart stores. Once the system is finalized in July, it will become the largest business in the country to accept in-store crypto payments.
- The company is working with Singapore-based exchange Crypto.com to implement its Pay Merchant service as its payment settlement layer. Datamesh, a Sydney-based payment systems provider, will roll out point of sale terminals allowing shoppers to pay through the Crypto.com application with their cryptocurrency holdings.
- Yasser Shahin, Peregrines’ executive chairman, stated that accepting crypto payments was an opportunity to jump on board with the growth of cryptocurrencies, adding:
- “The growth and mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrency adoption in Australia and the rest of the world has been phenomenal, and has offered us a clear opportunity to tap into the momentum of this fast-growing space for the benefit of our customers.”
Vitalik Buterin is worried about Ethereum — Here’s how the community responded
- Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin expressed his concerns about the blockchain’s future in a recent interview, and attendees of the recent ETHDubai event voiced mixed sentiments toward his perspective on crypto’s perils.
- In an interview with Time magazine, Buterin pointed out some of his worries regarding the network, including it being populated by players who are only after profit and deviate from the original vision of an egalitarian platform. “If we don’t exercise our voice, the only things that get built are the things that are immediately profitable,” he said.
- Commenting on Buterin’s woes, Sergej Kunz, co-founder of 1inch Network, expressed that he disagrees highly with the Ethereum co-founder. Kunz said that while there are “scam projects” trying to get money from retail investors, there are also good projects that need really funding and can get that funding from venture capitalists trying to make a profit.
- Aleksei Pupyshev, a developer at GTON Capital, believes there should be a balance between profit and not-for-profit initiatives within the space. He thinks that while there are many projects supporting charity and solving health-related issues, rewards can motivate people to come into the industry.
- Charles Hoskinson, also an Ethereum co-founder, expressed his belief in decentralization during a recent talk at Binance Blockchain Week. In his keynote speech, he said that “If you’re just here to make money, you lose all the things that make the technology special.”
‘Green oasis’ for Bitcoin mining: Norway has almost 1% of global BTC hash rate
- Bitcoin (BTC) mining in Norway is 100% renewable and “flourishing,” according to a report by Arcane Research.
- “A green oasis of renewable energy,” Norway contributes almost 1% to the global hash rate and is almost entirely powered by hydropower.
- Using data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index and by mapping out the mining facilities, the report concludes that Norway contributes 0.77% to the Bitcoin total global hash rate. By way of comparison, Norway’s population of 5 million contributes a tenth of that—or 0.07% of the global population.
- Crucially, according to the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), Norway’s electricity mix is 100% renewable, with 88% hydro and 10% wind. That means Bitcoin miners in Norway are solely using “green” energy.
- “The most important takeaway for Bitcoin miners regarding Norway’s electricity mix is that it’s fully renewable, and will stay like that.”
SEC chair: retail crypto investors should be protected
- Gary Gensler, chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, said the agency’s protections that apply to investors of traditional assets should extend to those in the crypto market.
- In prepared remarks released Monday for the Penn Law Capital Markets Association Annual Conference, Gensler said he had requested SEC staff to explore getting crypto platforms registered, having them subject to the same regulatory framework as exchanges. In addition, the SEC chair said the agency’s staff could be working towards addressing regulatory clarity in the crypto space by considering how to register platforms “where the trading of securities and non-securities is intertwined” and whether retail crypto investors should be afforded the same protections as those in traditional markets.
- “Crypto may offer new ways for entrepreneurs to raise capital and for investors to trade, but we still need investor and market protection,” said Gensler. “We already have robust ways to protect investors trading on platforms. And we have robust ways to protect investors when entrepreneurs want to raise money from the public. We ought to apply these same protections in the crypto markets.”
