Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The annual inflation rate in China has unexpectedly slowed down in March to its lowest level in a year and a half, the latest statistical data indicates. On a monthly basis, consumer prices decreased for a second consecutive month, despite estimates suggesting they will remain unchanged. Post Zero-Covid Policy Inflation in China Eases Further China’s annual inflation rate fell to 0.7% in March, from February’s 1.0%, according to official numbers released by the National Bureau of Statistics. That’s the lowest figure since September 2021, noted the Trading Economics website which quoted the data. The unexpected drop reflects further easing of the costs of both food and non-food items which comes amid an uneven economic recovery after the removal of the government’s zero-Covid policy, the statistical portal highlighted on Tuesday. Food inflation decreased to 2.4% from 2.6% in February, a 10-month low which is largely due to a decline in the cost of fresh vegetables which turned ou

A Layer two (L2) project, called Cryptogpt, which leverages ZK-rollup technology and artificial intelligence (AI), has announced that its team has raised $10 million in capital from a Series A funding round. The crypto and AI firm disclosed that the new funds would be used to expand into the largest Asian markets, and the company now has a valuation of $250 million. Cryptogpt Startup Raises $10 Million; Startup Now Has a $250 Million Post-Valuation Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a popular subject in 2023 as AI projects, such as Midjourney and Chatgpt, along with many other programs, have seen a surge in demand. This has sparked a significant rise in value for a number of AI-related cryptocurrency and blockchain projects this year. According to statistics from cryptoslate.com, at the time of writing, 77 AI-focused cryptocurrencies are worth $3.48 billion. On April 10, an L2 project called Cryptogpt announced that it raised $10 million in a Series A financing round. “Crypt

PRESS RELEASE. The Seasonal Tokens economy has gone through its second change of season. Like bitcoin, the four tokens – Spring , Summer , Autumn and Winter – go through regular halvings of the supply from mining. Every nine months, the rate of production of one of the tokens is cut in half. On the 6th of March, the Summer halving took place. Summer went from being produced at the fastest rate of the four tokens, to the slowest. As the market adjusts to the lower rate of supply after a halving, the token that was previously the cheapest gradually becomes the most expensive. This happened with Spring after its halving in June of last year. The same process is now unfolding with Summer. Autumn tokens, which are now produced at the fastest rate of the four, have become the cheapest token, and can be expected to remain that way until the Autumn halving in December. Meanwhile, Summer is rising and is now tied with Winter for second place. The tokens are designed to slowly cycle

Bank walks are a new liquidity movement phenomenon identified by analysts, characterized by a slow drift of deposits to take advantage of better yield opportunities. Such “walks” might prove to be pernicious to the banking system, as they cannot be stopped and have effects on credit availability. What Are ‘Bank Walks’? Bank walks, so called by analysts due to their slow action when compared to bank runs, are slow movements of deposits caused by the constant search for higher yields. According to an ongoing study titled “Destabilizing Digital Bank Walks,” they “cannot be stopped by any deposit insurance and that will undermine the stability of the banking system in the months to come.” The study remarks that regulators often consider deposits as sticky, meaning they are composed of the savings of depositors, and don’t move often. This means that banks can put part of these deposits into treasuries of a determined maturity. However, the study found that these deposits, as a conseque

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee has advised the SEC to “aggressively” assert authority over crypto assets that are securities. The advisory committee believes that “virtually all, if not all, crypto tokens are securities,” urging the regulator to “make crypto asset-related enforcement a top priority.” SEC Urged to ‘Aggressively’ Assert Authority Over Crypto Securities The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Investor Advisory Committee (IAC) submitted its view on the regulation of crypto assets to the SEC on Thursday. The committee was established under Section 911 of the Dodd-Frank Act to advise the securities watchdog on regulatory priorities. In their letter to SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, IAC Chair Christopher Mirabile and Vice Chair Leslie Van Buskirk explained that they are submitting the view articulated “as a consensus of the IAC members.” They wrote: We believe that virtually all, if not all, crypto tokens are securities a

Harry Dent, economist and author of several best-selling books, has warned that the biggest crash in our lifetime is “going to hit between now and about mid-June.” He stressed: “People are going to know this is not a big correction — it is a major crash, one that you have not seen … in your lifetime.” Harry Dent’s ‘Biggest Crash’ Warning The founder of HS Dent Investment Management and author of several best-selling books, Harry Dent, warned in an interview with David Lin, published Friday, that the biggest crash in our lifetime will likely happen by mid-June. Dent stressed: We won’t see this again. We will not see a bubble economy, our kids will probably not even see a bubble economy decades and decades from now … It happens once in a lifetime at most. He explained that the biggest crash that he is predicting is what the 2008-2009 crash should have been, noting that the S&P 500 was down 57% at that time. “About a year and a half into that crash, central banks just stepped i

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says the U.S. banking crisis is not over and “there will be repercussions from it for years to come.” The executive added that recent bank failures “have significantly changed the market’s expectations,” and the odds of a recession have increased. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon on U.S. Economy, Recession, and Banking Crisis Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, shared his concerns regarding the U.S. economy, recession, and the banking crisis in his annual letter to shareholders, published last week. The letter followed the recent collapse of several major banks in the U.S., including Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. Calling recent bank failures a “banking crisis,” Dimon warned: The current crisis is not yet over, and even when it is behind us, there will be repercussions from it for years to come. “Recent events are nothing like what occurred during the 2008 global financial crisis (which barely affected regional banks),” the JPMorgan b

Emmanuel Macron, president of France, clarified his position on the future of Europe and its relations with China and the U.S. in the short term. Returning from his visit to Beijing, Macron believes that Europe should avoid getting caught up in a conflict between the U.S. and China, and reduce its reliance on the U.S. dollar to avoid becoming “vassals,” applying his concept of “strategic autonomy.” Emmanuel Macron Believes Europe Should Remain Autonomous Regarding U.S. and China French President Emmanuel Macron recently revealed his stance on the current geopolitical and macroeconomic issues Europe is facing, standing in the middle of the Russia-Ukraine war and a possible Taiwan conflict. At his return from a three-day visit to China, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Macron stated that Europe commonly gets caught in third-party affairs that affect its possibilities of developing “strategic autonomy.” Macron also noted that this behavior of the European Union bloc is

PRESS RELEASE. As per the latest news, LABEL Foundation, a Korean-based organization dedicated to revolutionizing the music industry through the power of blockchain technology, has secured a major investment in the venture round funding from DWF Labs, the multi-stage Web 3.0 investment firm. DWF Labs, that has recently been labeled as a top crypto investor by Coindesk , has injected $1 million in LABEL’s ecosystem to foster the development of their pioneering Dapp TRACKS and to expand their user base by bringing innovative solutions to the market. Over the years, LABEL Foundation has raised two successful investment rounds, that has been led by traditional investment firms, eBest Investment & Securities and Groom Investments, that has enabled them to launch their innovative Listen-and-Earn TRACKS dApp, which has recently seen a successful Closed-Beta-Test completion, tested by thousands of their users. LABEL believes that this revolutionary application has enormous prospects not

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) reported an increase in the country’s gold reserves of 18 tons in March, continuing its buying spree. China has consistently added to its gold reserves since November, purchasing more than 100 tons in the last five months. The Asian state now has 2,068 tons in its coffers. China Purchased 18 Tons of Gold in March, PBOC Reports Show China further increased the size of its gold reserves in March. According to reports from the People’s Bank of China, the size of the national Chinese gold reserve increased by 18 tons in March, reaching 2,068 tons in total. The purchase marks the continuation of a five-month buying spree that the country executed starting in November last year. After no reports of gold purchased since 2019, the country has been consistently buying gold, having purchased 102 tons in the aforementioned five-month period. The demand for gold has been strong in 2023, according to the World Gold Council, which believes that central banks

U.S. President Joe Biden decided to extend the sanctions that the U.S. government enacted against Russia for one more year, arguing that the country continues to pose a threat to the security of the nation. Biden had talked about these sanctions before, explaining that the only option besides enacting them would involve a direct international military conflict. U.S. President Joe Biden Extends Anti-Russia Sanctions for One More Year U.S. president Joe Biden has decided to extend the sanctions enacted against the Russian Federation for one year, on the basis that activities of the country “continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.” According to Executive Order 14024 , issued on April 15, 2021, the Russian government has been conducting “efforts to undermine the conduct of free and fair democratic elections and democratic institutions in the United States … and to violate well-established principl

Allianz, one of the world’s largest insurers, has warned that the U.S. economy is headed toward a crash landing. “We expect the economic momentum to deteriorate during the second half of the year on the back of rapidly tightening credit conditions, exacerbated by the banking crisis,” said the insurance giant’s analysts. Crash Landing Ahead, Warned Allianz Allianz’s research and analysis division published a report last week stating that the U.S. economy is “headed towards a crash landing.” Allianz is one of the world’s largest insurers with over 122 million private and corporate customers worldwide and more than 159,000 employees. It is headquartered in Munich, Germany. “Negative confidence effects from the near-death experience in the U.S. banking sector and the unresolved energy situation in Europe will shape the rest of the year,” Allianz’s analysts began. While noting that the U.S. economy “picked up pace in early 2023,” they stressed that this revival will likely be “short-liv

Investment manager Larry Lepard has warned that the U.S. dollar could lose most of its value within five to 10 years. Following the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, “the U.S. did something which I perceived to be very stupid, which is it seized $600 billion of Russian currency reserves, and that sent the message to every other country in the world that ‘Hey if the U.S. doesn’t like what you’re doing, they can grab your money,'” the executive described. Investment Manager Expects U.S. Dollar to Lose Most of Its Value in 5-10 Years Larry Lepard, investment manager and founder of Equity Management Associates (EMA), shared his prediction about the demise of the U.S. dollar in an interview with Kitco News, published Wednesday. He said: I’m very comfortable saying the dollar will effectively be restructured or have lost most of its value within 10 years, and I think, frankly, it could even be shorter than that. My kind of median guess is about five years. The executive then explai

A thrilling adventure in Book of the Fallen by Pragmatic leads to a huge win of 6 BTC ! Another Massive Win on Bitcoin.com Games It seems like the lucky streak on Bitcoin.com Games crypto casino continues with yet another player hitting the jackpot of 1,214 times their initial bet amount , and winning a life-changing amount of BTC . The latest big win came from a player who took a chance on the thrilling game Book of the Fallen by Pragmatic and ended up with a massive $170,000 payout in Bitcoin . Book of the Fallen by Pragmatic Book of the Fallen is an action-packed slot game with an adventurous theme that takes players on a quest to discover the hidden treasures of an ancient civilization. With its impressive graphics and unique features, this game offers players an unforgettable gaming experience that’s both exciting and rewarding. The lucky player who won the $170,000 jackpot was spinning the reels with a bet of 0.005 BTC , proving once again that on Bitcoin.com Games, big mu

On April 8, 2023, the number of Ordinal inscriptions surpassed the million mark as the non-fungible token (NFT) trend has seemingly become a mainstay. Presently, on Sunday, April 9, the total number of Ordinal inscriptions is 1,049,263, and so far, 169.85 bitcoins worth $4.7 million have been collected in fees. Ordinal Inscriptions Reach 1 Million This weekend, Ordinal inscriptions reached a milestone by surpassing the 1 million mark on Saturday, April 8, 2023. Ordinal inscriptions started to see significant demand after the mining pool Luxor mined Bitcoin block No. 774,628 , which was not only close to 4 megabytes in size but also contained Ordinal inscription No. 652 . Ordinal inscriptions is an idea that sprang from the mind of Casey Rodarmor , which allows users to inscribe satoshis (Bitcoin’s smallest unit) with arbitrary content such as text, pictures, video, and even software. Dune Analytics metrics compiled by the user @dgtl_assets indicate that 169.85 BTC worth $4.7 mil

The United States dollar has been a hot topic in recent weeks, with multiple reported developments occurring globally which could signal significant moves toward de-dollarization in large economies. Former U.S. congressman Ron Paul also noted this week that if the USD’s influence as a reserve currency is undermined, it might happen later than some expect. All this and more, just below, in the latest Bitcoin.com News Week in Review. US-Saudi Tensions Escalate as Report Says Crown Prince Is No Longer Interested in Pleasing the United States After Saudi Arabia and members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) surprised the world by announcing cuts to oil production, a spokesperson for U.S. president Biden’s National Security Council stated that reducing production is not advisable. According to a recent report, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman has told associates that Riyadh is no longer interested in pleasing the United States. Read More BR

Russia is now ranking second in terms of energy capacities engaged in the extraction of cryptocurrencies, new data suggests. Despite persisting regulatory uncertainty and the negative effects of sanctions, the amount of power devoted to the sector has been growing, reaching record highs this year. 1 GW of Electrical Power Involved in Crypto Mining in Russia During Q1 of 2023 Russia has for the first time climbed to second place in the world in terms of total power capacity of the facilities devoted to the production of digital currencies. According to data provided by the country’s largest mining operator, Bitriver , the amount of power involved in coin minting has reached 1 gigawatt (GW) in the first three months of the year. The United States remains the clear leader with 3 to 4 GW of mining capacity, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported. The top 10 also includes Gulf countries (700 MW), Canada (400 MW), Malaysia (300 MW), Argentina (135 MW), Iceland (120 MW), Paraguay

Economist Peter Schiff has urged people to get rid of their U.S. dollars now as a growing number of countries have escalated their efforts to reduce their dependence on the U.S. and the USD. “The dollar’s reserve currency status is in jeopardy, as is the American standard of living that depends on it. The best move you can make to mitigate your personal loss is to divest of dollars and dollar-denominated financial assets,” he stressed. Get Rid of U.S. Dollars Now, Says Peter Schiff Gold bug and economist Peter Schiff has urged U.S. dollar holders to get rid of their USD now. He tweeted Friday: How much clearer does the writing on the wall need to be? Get rid of your U.S. dollars now, while there’s still enough people who still can’t read it. His tweet was prompted by an article titled, “Saudi Arabia, Southeast Asian Nations Swipe Left on US Dollar Dependence,” which highlights the mounting efforts by countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia an

Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki has issued a warning about the potential demise of the U.S. dollar and the looming threat of hyperinflation. He has expressed concern that the USD may lose its value and “become toilet paper.” Further, t he famous author is saddened by U.S. authorities bringing criminal charges against former President Donald Trump. He stated: “As crime runs rampant in our cities & voters demand ‘defund the police.’ I am crying. America is dying.” Robert Kiyosaki’s USD and Hyperinflation Warnings The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, has shared his concerns about the future of the United States, hyperinflation, and the potential collapse of the U.S. dollar. Rich Dad Poor Dad is a 1997 book co-authored by Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. It has been on the New York Times Best Seller List for over six years. More than 32 million copies of the book have been sold in over 51 languages across more than 109 countries. In an “emergency podcast” that he

PRESS RELEASE. It truly is time to rejoice now that .btc domains have come to Bitcoin. BTCDomain is a user-friendly domain system built on Bitcoin that allows users to begin registering, trading, and searching .btc domain names. By combining Ordinals and Zero-Knowledge (ZK) technologies, they can securely store all of their metadata on the Bitcoin network while consistently maintaining the integrity of their domain registrar and resolver. Why Are Blockchain Domains Important? A domain serves as a symbol of an individual’s personal identity. The simplicity of using a.btc domain for transactions not only prevents transfer errors caused by complicated wallet addresses, but it also protects users from clipboard replacement attacks , which change wallet addresses during the copy-paste process and is one of the most common and recurring fraudulent acts. A memorable domain name is also essential for effective marketing and brand awareness for businesses and brands. A distinctive domai