Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) said it’s working closely with Ukraine to help it trace crypto transactions of Russian sanctions evaders. The agency is providing the Ukrainians access to a Chainalysis tool as well as specialized training to Ukrainian law enforcement. IRS Offers Ukraine Tools From Chainalysis to Trace Russian Blockchain Transactions The criminal investigation division of the United States Internal Revenue Service announced it’s stepping up collaboration with counterparts abroad as part of efforts to identify persons and entities evading Western sanctions. The agency revealed it’s working with blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis and Ukrainian investigators to track Russians who might be using cryptocurrencies to conceal their assets amid financial restrictions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. According to a report by Bloomberg, the IRS is sponsoring Ukraine’s access to a Chainalysis tool facilitating crypto-related probes. It has also organized t

Sleeping Bitcoin Wallet Awakens: $3.7M Worth of BTC Suddenly Moves After Close to 12 Years of Dormancy  A recent Gallup Poll reveals a significant decline in the percentage of Americans favoring real estate as their preferred long-term investment, despite its continued popularity. Conversely, the Gallup survey indicates that the perception of long-term investments in gold has experienced an almost twofold increase compared to the previous year’s poll on the same topic. Gallup Poll Reveals Preference for Real Estate and Crypto Slides, While Bias Toward Gold Nearly Doubles Gallup, Inc., the analytics and advisory company headquartered in Washington, D.C., recently unveiled its latest Gallup Poll on long-term investments on May 11, 2023. With a history dating back to 1935, Gallup has been conducting public opinion polls worldwide. The poll, conducted from April 3 to April 25, 2023, delves into various investment options such as real estate, gold , stocks, bonds, and crypto assets .

Sleeping Bitcoin Wallet Awakens: $3.7M Worth of BTC Suddenly Moves After Close to 12 Years of Dormancy  Russian lawmakers intend to soon approve four bills designed to regulate various aspects of cryptocurrencies, a high-ranking member of the Russian parliament announced. Meanwhile, Russian companies are already using digital assets in cross-border settlements, the official noted. Russian Legislature to Vote on Crypto Laws by End of July The State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, plans to adopt four crypto-related laws during its spring session which ends on July 30, according to Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the parliamentary Financial Market Committee. The bills are tailored to regulate cryptocurrency mining , cross-border crypto payments, taxation of digital assets , and liability for their illegal use, the lawmaker detailed, quoted by the Interfax news agency. He emphasized that the draft laws are well thought through. Aksakov remarked that large Russian compan

Sleeping Bitcoin Wallet Awakens: $3.7M Worth of BTC Suddenly Moves After Close to 12 Years of Dormancy  EY, the global accounting and professional services organization, released a long-awaited update on Friday for the creditors of Quadriga CX. The Canadian cryptocurrency exchange, which had sought bankruptcy protection in 2019 with liabilities of C$215.7 million and assets totaling around C$28 million, had left its creditors in a state of uncertainty. In the latest notice from EY, it was revealed that Quadriga creditors will receive a payout equivalent to 13.094156% of the total value of their claims. EY’s Update Offers Redemption for Quadriga CX Creditors With Haircut Compensation Plan After enduring a protracted bankruptcy process that commenced in 2019, Quadriga CX ‘s customers and creditors can finally breathe a sigh of relief as they are set to receive a payout from the estate. Once the dominant cryptocurrency trading platform in Canada, Quadriga faced a tumultuous journey as

Sleeping Bitcoin Wallet Awakens: $3.7M Worth of BTC Suddenly Moves After Close to 12 Years of Dormancy  Despite several U.S. dollar-pegged digital tokens experiencing notable redemptions in recent months, the largest stablecoin by market valuation, tether, is on the verge of achieving its highest-ever market capitalization. With a current value of $82.84 billion, tether is a mere $433 million shy of reaching its all-time high (ATH) set on May 8, 2022. Stablecoin Tether on Brink of Record Market Capitalization Approximately 370 days ago, specifically on May 8, 2022, tether’s ( USDT ) market capitalization soared to an all-time high (ATH) of $83.279 billion. It was during this period that Terra’s once-stable coin, terrausd (UST), became unpegged from its $1 parity. Following that event, tether’s market valuation experienced a decline, hitting a low of $65.36 billion on November 24, 2022, resulting in a loss of 21.51% of its total market capitalization. Since then, tether’s market

Sleeping Bitcoin Wallet Awakens: $3.7M Worth of BTC Suddenly Moves After Close to 12 Years of Dormancy  On Friday, Ethereum’s Beacon chain encountered yet another bout of transaction finality challenges, reminiscent of the glitch experienced on May 11, 2023. For over an hour, the blockchain stopped the process of finalizing blocks. However, Superphiz, an Ethereum developer, emphasized that despite this setback, “No transactions were halted” and the incident had “zero impact on chain activity.” Developers Insist Ethereum’s Transaction Finality Glitch Is Now Patched In a span of two consecutive days, the Ethereum blockchain encountered transaction finality challenges, commencing on May 11, 2023 , and recurring on May 12. Although the initial incident lasted a mere 25 minutes, the glitch on Friday persisted for over an hour. The exact cause of these halts remains uncertain, although speculation arose regarding potential complications related to staking clients and MEV glitches. In spi

The Group of Seven (G7) countries are discussing ways to counter China’s “economic coercion” against other nations, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has shared. Noting that Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K., and the European Union share similar concerns, she emphasized that any action by the U.S. will be “narrowly scoped and targeted at technologies where there are clear national security implications.” Janet Yellen Calls for Coordinated Efforts to Counter China’s Economic Coercion U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen revealed at a press conference Thursday that members of the Group of Seven (G7) are discussing how to respond to China’s use of “economic coercion” against other nations. The press conference took place in Niigata, Japan, ahead of the G7 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors, which Yellen attended. Japan holds the G7 presidency this year. Noting that the U.S. has been contemplating imposing more specific limitations on outbound inv

Bitcoin bounced back from a near two-month low on Saturday, as bulls moved in to buy the recent dip in price. Saturday’s move came as the cryptocurrency rebounded from a recent support point, after yesterday’s breakout. Ethereum was also higher, climbing above $1,800. Bitcoin Bitcoin ( BTC ) moved away from a recent two-month low on Saturday, as bulls opted to buy the recent dip. After falling to a low of $25,878.43 on Friday, BTC /USD rose to an intraday high of $26,989.07 earlier in the day. Today’s rebound sees bitcoin jump back above a key support point at $26,500, following Friday’s breakout. From the chart, it appears that this took place as the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) found a floor of its own at 36.00. At the time of writing, price strength is tracking at 37.99, with a ceiling at 43.00 a possible target. Should bulls lead the charge to this point, it is likely that bitcoin will be back above the $27,000 level this weekend. Ethereum Ethereum ( ETH ) was bac

The former CEO of Paxful, Ray Youssef, has told users of the peer-to-peer bitcoin marketplace that he is no longer in control and therefore cannot vouch for “anything that is happening there now.” Youssef also told a user who claimed to have been scammed on the platform that he too has been banned from the platform. Former CEO Tells Users to ‘Trust No One’ The former CEO of Paxful, Ray Youssef, has again reminded users of the peer-to-peer platform on May 9 that he left the company weeks ago and as such he cannot “vouch in any way for anything that is happening there now.” While he urged users to “trust no ones,” Youssef however said he will soon provide an update about a trust “set up to make any frozen funds whole.” I am no longer the CEO of Paxful and have no control over anything happening there. They banned me too. Good luck and trust no ones. #selfcustody https://t.co/c8Hh9mFXdk pic.twitter.com/IPOVnsp14x — Ray Youssef (@raypaxful) May 11, 2023 The remarks by Youssef,

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, announced on Friday that it is “proactively withdrawing from the Canadian market.” The company thanked the regulators who worked with them and said that the Canadian market was “small.” Binance Bows Out of Canada Due to Regulatory Guidance The cryptocurrency exchange Binance has decided to withdraw from the Canadian market. The company noted that it was the home country of its founder and cited regulatory guidance as the reason for its decision. Binance claims that the new regulatory climate in Canada makes it less feasible for its digital currency business to operate in the country. “Unfortunately, today we are announcing that Binance will be joining other prominent crypto businesses in proactively withdrawing from the Canadian marketplace,” Binance tweeted on Friday. The trading platform’s social media account added: Unfortunately, new guidance related to stablecoins and investor limits provided to crypto

On Friday Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that bans the use of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the state. Following the bill SB 7054 being signed into law, Florida’s Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) now explicitly forbids the use of a federally adopted CBDC as money. Florida Puts the Brakes on CBDCs The Sunshine State has officially outlawed the use of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) following the approval of SB 7054 or HB 7049 by the Florida House of Representatives and Senate. Governor Ron DeSantis put pen to paper and signed the bill , cementing the ban on Friday. The signing ceremony, which took place in Fort Myers, was attended by Wilton Simpson, the state’s 13th commissioner of agriculture, and Kathleen Passidomo, president of the Southwest Florida Public Service Academy at Fort Myers Technical College. The new anti-CBDC law will come into effect on July 1, 2023. “They’re going to be able to have the window into what you’re doing with the mon

On May 11, 2023, a long-inactive bitcoin wallet sprang to life and transferred a substantial 139.7 bitcoin worth $3.7 million. The address, established on June 19, 2011, has contributed to the year’s total of 1,125.37 bitcoin moved from dormant 2010 and 2011 wallets. 139.7 Bitcoin Worth $3.7 Million Suddenly Moves From Idle Wallet A vintage wallet created on June 19, 2011, suddenly relocated 139.7 BTC , equivalent to $3.7 million at the time of transfer, on Thursday, May 11, 2023. Btcparser.com flagged this activity, which was confirmed at block height 789,291 at 8:14 p.m. (UTC). Shortly before that date — April 24 — the last 2011 bitcoin transfer from a dormant wallet took place and involved shifting 400 BTC at block height 786,801. The wallet that received the 139.7 bitcoin still holds the funds as of May 12, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. (ET). Throughout this year, inactive wallets from both 2010 and 2011 have collectively transmitted a whopping 1,125.37 BTC valued at around $30 milli

  Bitcoin fell to a seven-week low on May 12, as prices dropped below the $27,000 level in today’s session. Friday’s decline came as a red wave swept through cryptocurrencies, with the market cap down 2.75% as of writing. Ethereum also slipped to its weakest point since March. Bitcoin Bitcoin ( BTC ) dropped below the $27,000 level in today’s session, pushing prices to a seven-week low. Following a high of $27,589.92 on Thursday, BTC /USD slipped to an intraday bottom at $26,166.87. As a result of this drop, bitcoin fell to its lowest level since March 17, when price was below the $25,000 mark. Bitcoin chart by TradingView Overall, this latest sell-off coincided with the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) breaking out of yesterday’s floor of 43.00. At the time of writing, price strength is tracking at 35.07, which is its lowest point in over two months. Should momentum continue in this current trajectory, there is a possibility that BTC could move toward $25,000 this we

  Ethereum had issues processing transactions on May 11, 2023, at around 4:13 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, and transaction finality issues lasted for roughly 25 minutes. Currently, developers do not know what caused the issue and the blockchain is now running normally. Ethereum Network Experiences Temporary Transaction Processing Issue The Ethereum blockchain was unable to process ETH transactions and reach consensus for approximately 25 minutes on Thursday, just after 4 p.m. (ET). Ansgar Dietrichs, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation said : “The beacon chain had a brief period of non-finalization just now. Good illustration for the robustness of the chain — while there was some slowdown of blocks, transactions continued to be processed as usual. We are back to normal now.” Prysmatic Labs co-founder Preston van Loon also informed the public that developers were “Investigating current mainnet issues… Will post an update once we learn something.” Roughly an hour later, at 5:40

  Shiba inu moved close to a five-month low on Friday, as meme coins reacted to news that Elon Musk has found a new Twitter CEO. Musk tweeted, “Excited to announce that I’ve hired a new CEO for X/Twitter. She will be starting in ~6 weeks.” Dogecoin neared a two-month low today. Shiba Inu (SHIB) Shiba inu (SHIB) neared a five-month low on Friday, as markets reacted to the news that Elon Musk will be stepping down as CEO. Musk, who acquired the social media company last year, has been at the helm since the takeover, but has now found a long-term replacement. Following a high of $0.000008746 on Thursday, SHIB/USD dropped to a bottom of $0.000008549 earlier in the day. As a result of this sell-off, shiba inu moved close to Monday’s low at $0.00000835, which was the weakest point the meme coin has hit since January. Looking at the chart, this latest move occurred as the relative strength index (RSI) moved deep into oversold territory, with a current reading at 23.02. This does give h

Consumers in the euro area have sharply raised their expectations about inflation in the coming months, the European Central Bank revealed. Survey data showing this comes after the monetary authority slowed the pace of its rate hikes last week while indicating that it’s still early for a pause. ECB Registers Heightened Consumer Expectations About Inflation Europeans believe inflation will be around 5% over the next 12 months with their median expectations rising “significantly” in March from 4.6% in February, the European Central Bank ( ECB ) announced on Thursday, quoting its latest Consumer Expectations Survey (CES). The poll has been conducted before the ECB’s decision to raise interest rates by 25 basis points last week. Despite slowing the pace of rate hikes, the regulator argued that while inflation has declined, underlying price pressures remain strong, signaling further raises are likely. “Uncertainty about inflation expectations 12 months ahead reached its highest level

  The meme-based token pepe (PEPE) has experienced a 14.9% decline against the U.S. dollar over the last 24 hours, continuing its downward trend from the last five days. Thus far, PEPE has seen a 60% drop in value from its all-time high on May 5. Rival Meme Tokens Challenge PEPE’s Dominance as Meme Token’s Value Plummets Despite retaining its position as the third-largest meme token in terms of market capitalization, pepe (PEPE) has been losing value since May 5, when it hit $0.00000431 per unit. Its value has since plummeted by 60% in USD terms. On May 8, Bitcoin.com News noted that the digital currency’s market cap dwindled from $1.8 billion to $790 million. As of May 11, PEPE’s market capitalization stands even lower at $680 million at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Over the past day, PEPE has shed another 14.9%, although its price remains up by a slight 2.3% within the last week. Furthermore, while it has lost 60% since hitting its record high on May 5, PEPE still boasts an impress

  Marathon Digital Holdings, a publicly-listed bitcoin mining company, has recently revealed that it was served with a subpoena by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in relation to an investigation concerning the firm’s Montana mining facility. The SEC is reportedly looking into potential violations of federal securities law. Marathon’s Montana Mining Facility Under SEC Investigation, Company Receives Second Subpoena Marathon Digital Holdings (Nasdaq: MARA ) was served with a second subpoena on April 10, 2023, following a previous subpoena in October 2020. The company disclosed the news in its May 10 SEC filing , revealing that it has now received a total of two subpoenas. According to the filing, the subpoena requires the company and certain executives to produce documents and communications related to the Hardin, Montana data center facility, which was previously described in a Form 8-K dated October 13, 2020. Marathon said it is fully cooperating with the investiga

  Former U.S. President Donald Trump has urged Republican lawmakers to let the U.S. default on its debt obligations if the Democrats do not agree on “massive” spending cuts. Trump, who is also running for president in 2024, stressed that letting the U.S. default is “better than what we’re doing right now because we’re spending money like drunken sailors.” Donald Trump’s Advice on U.S. Default Former President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has advised Republican lawmakers to let the United States default on its debt obligations if Democrats do not agree to spending cuts. Trump was asked during a televised CNN Town Hall on Wednesday for his advice to Republicans on the possibility of the U.S. defaulting on its debt obligations. He said: I say to the Republicans out there — congressmen, senators — if they don’t give you massive cuts, you’re going to have to do a default. The former U.S. president added: “I don’t believe they’re going to do a default because

The South African minister of international relations, Naledi Pandor, has urged Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) countries to be wary of making a hurried decision when they meet in August to discuss launching a common currency. Pandor said her country will “not shy away from discussions” that relate to her country’s national interests. The minister also revealed that South Africa’s debt is primarily denominated in dollars, therefore the country cannot easily ditch the greenback. Establishing a BRICS Common Currency With just a few months before Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) all converge in Johannesburg to discuss launching a common currency, South Africa’s international relations minister said member states should guard against making a hurried decision. In her remarks published by Bloomberg, the minister, Naledi Pandor, said while the calls for an alternative to the greenback are growing, BRICS nations still need to “approach this discu

The Bitcoin mempool, otherwise known as the network’s transaction backlog, is still clogged with over 390,000 transactions waiting to be processed by miners. To clear the mempool, more than 190 blocks need to be mined. As the scaling issues continue to plague the network, a conversation between former Bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen and the network’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto has been making rounds. Andresen expressed his concern about the software’s scripting language, which made him “nervous.” He also pointed out that there could be ways to “abuse” the scripts-in-a-transaction scheme. Nakamoto and Andresen’s Bitcoin Scripting Language Conversation From 2010 On June 17, 2010, almost 13 years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto discussed the inventor’s brainchild with former Bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen. Andresen had expressed a strong interest in the project and was working on a tool to analyze wallet data to “understand better exactly how Bitcoin works.” During their conversation, Andresen

According to a local report, South Korean prosecutors have been given the green light by the Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court to seize assets owned by Do Kwon, the co-founder and former CEO of Terraform Labs. The report discloses that a total of 233.3 billion won ($176 million) worth of assets have been frozen, which includes imported vehicles, bank deposits, and cryptocurrency accounts held at a digital currency exchange. Seoul Court Gives Nod to Seize $176 Million in Assets Owned by Do Kwon After reports surfaced claiming that Do Kwon, the co-founder and former CEO of Terraform Labs, had $100 million stashed away in a Swiss bank account, a new report by regional news outlet Hankyung reveals that South Korean prosecutors have taken action by freezing Kwon’s assets. The report states that Kwon’s assets are valued at approximately 233.3 billion won ($176 million). The 12th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court has given the green light for the

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, stated that he favored abolishing the debt limit, giving the government the faculties to extend its debt without congressional action. Dimon also stated that even the drama surrounding the build-up to extending or not extending the debt limit could cause panic, as the U.S. economy is foundational for the world. JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon Favors an Unlimited Debt Ceiling Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan, one of the largest banks in the world, has given his opinion when it comes to the issue of the congressional discussion on raising the debt limit to avoid possible default in the U.S. In an interview given to Punchbowl, a U.S. politics-focused outlet, Dimon stated that he favors the abolition of the debt limit, and warned about the effects of the drama surrounding the congressional discussions to negotiate a debt limit increase. About the debt limit, Dimon declared : I hope we avoid it. I hope, one day, we get rid of it. The executive also stated that even