Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

After the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Binance for alleged violations of trading and derivatives rules, a significant amount of cryptocurrency was withdrawn from the exchange. Data from analytics provider Nansen shows $400 million in Ethereum-based funds were withdrawn in 24 hours, and 3,655 bitcoin worth more than $99 million were withdrawn over the past day, according to Coinglass metrics. 3,655 Bitcoin Withdrawn From Binance in 24 Hours On Monday, March 27, 2023, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ), alleging the exchange had violated specific trading and derivatives rules. The CFTC is seeking disgorgement and monetary penalties, as well as a ban on future registrations. Following the news, Binance experienced a large number of withdrawals, and some observers noted “large onchain movements prior” to the exchange’s troubles with the CFTC. “A few hours before the Binance CFTC Indictment, there were large...

Despite Bitcoin’s difficulty reaching an all-time high at 46.84 trillion, participants in bitcoin mining have kept the hashrate running stronger than ever before. According to statistics, on March 23, 2023, the hashrate reached a high of 400 exahash per second (EH/s). The 400 exahash equates to 0.4 zettahash or four hundred quintillion hashes per second. As the hashrate continues to climb, research analyst Sam Wouters at River Financial estimates that at the current growth rate, Bitcoin could reach the zettahash era “by the end of 2025.” Reasons for the Increase in Bitcoin Hashrate: Insights from River Financial Analyst Two days ago, Bitcoin.com News reported that the difficulty of the Bitcoin network had increased for the third consecutive time in the last six weeks. The difficulty is now at an all-time high of around 46.84 trillion after increasing by 7.56% on March 23, 2023. On the same day, Bitcoin’s hashrate peaked at 400 exahash per second, representing an unimaginable four...

Microstrategy has purchased 6,455 bitcoins for approximately $150 million at an average price of $23,238 per coin. With its latest purchase, Microstrategy now holds 138,955 bitcoins acquired at an average of $29,817 per coin. Moreover, the company also paid off its loan from troubled Silvergate Bank in full. Microstrategy Buys More Bitcoin Nasdaq-listed Microstrategy Inc. (Nasdaq: MSTR) announced Monday that it has acquired 6,455 more bitcoins. CEO Michael Saylor tweeted: Microstrategy repaid its $205M Silvergate loan at a 22% discount. As of 3/23/23, MSTR acquired an additional ~6,455 bitcoins for ~$150M at an average of ~$23,238 per bitcoin & held ~138,955 BTC acquired for ~$4.14B at an average of ~$29,817 per bitcoin. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday, the company detailed that the 6,455 bitcoins were acquired between Feb. 16 and March 23. Repayment of Silvergate Loan The filing further explains that the Nasdaq-listed softwar...

Bitcoin started the week trading around the $28,000 mark, as markets reacted to the news that Silicon Valley Bank was to be acquired. First Citizen Bank agreed to buy approximately $72 billion in SVB assets, at a discounted rate of $16.5 billion. Ethereum continued to trade under $1,800 on Monday. Bitcoin Bitcoin ( BTC ) started the week trading marginally higher, with prices hovering near the $28,000 level. Following a bottom at $27,678.15 on Sunday, BTC /USD moved to a high of $28,178.14 earlier in today’s session. The move saw bitcoin edge towards a recent resistance point at the $28,300 mark, which was last hit on Friday. Bitcoin chart by TradingView Overall, BTC has mostly consolidated on Monday, which comes as the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) collided with a ceiling at the 65.00 zone. As of writing, the index is tracking at the 64.51 level, with the next visible point of support at the 62.00 mark. Should bulls take price strength below this point, there i...

Despite being touted as the possible panacea, decentralized finance (defi) still faces obstacles which greatly diminish the prospects of mainstream adoption, asserts serial entrepreneur and CEO of Radix DLT, Piers Ridyard. Ridyard added that while defi is seen as “a fantastic proof of concept,” widespread adoption of this alternative to traditional finance is only possible when the developer and user experience is improved. Developer Incentives and Mass Adoption of Defi Besides improving developer and user experience, the Radix CEO told Bitcoin.com News that the provision of ongoing and sustainable support to developers ensures “you [don’t] end up with a ghost chain.” Ridyard, a YC Alumni, also shared thoughts on how defi and Web3’s scaling woes can be overcome. Ridyard further discussed Coinbase’s attempt to bolster developers with its recently launched layer 2 (L2) blockchain and why this is unlikely to result in the envisaged mass adoption of defi. Below are the CEO’s answers ...

Jan Nieuwenhuijs, a gold market analyst, has predicted that gold might exceed prices of $8,000 during the next decade, as the current Ukraine-Russia war, and the worldwide battle against inflation, shift the preference of central banks for foreign currencies to gold. The proposed long-term price model shows that each troy ounce of the metal might touch the $10,000 mark. Analyst Makes Case for $8,000 Gold Prices Jan Nieuwenhuijs, a gold market researcher, has predicted that the price of gold might exceed $8,000 during the next decade, as central banks shift their reserve preferences due to macroeconomic factors and war. Nieuwenhuijs believes that the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and the global war against inflation, will trigger a change in the composition of reserves. As part of his analysis, which considers the historical percentage of gold held by central banks as a key metric, Nieuwenhuijs states : Central banks in aggregate have an unusual faith in foreign exc...

The number of irretrievably lost bitcoins has now reached 6 million, which leaves 13.3 million as coins that remain in circulation, Timothy Peterson of Cane Island Alternative Advisors has said. Peterson added that out of the 1.7 million bitcoins that will be mined in the next 100 years or more, one million coins will be lost in the same period. One Million Lost Bitcoins According to Timothy Peterson, an author and manager of Cane Island Alternative Advisors, the number of irretrievably lost bitcoins has now reached 6 million. In his latest tweet on the subject, Peterson asserts that from the estimated 19.3 million bitcoins that had been mined by March 25, 2023, only 13.3 million remain in circulation which is “probably all you will have access to in your lifetime.” I estimate that, as of this week, 6 million of the 19.3 million #bitcoin mined have been irretrievably lost. (See related research at https://t.co/ULso76SXjD ) This means 13.3 million remain with only 1.7 million lef...