Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The BRICS nations are focusing on increasing their international roles and “enhancing coordination on key multilateral platforms,” Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs reportedly revealed after a meeting with BRICS ambassadors. He stressed “the need for joint efforts to counter destructive actions aimed at destroying the established security architecture.” BRICS Seeks Expand Global Influence Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, stressed the need for joint efforts to counter Western countries’ “destructive actions” on Monday at a meeting with ambassadors from the BRICS countries, Russian news agency Tass reported. The BRICS nations consist of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. According to a statement released by the Russian Foreign Ministry at the conclusion of the meeting: Lavrov stressed the need for joint efforts to counter destructive actions aimed at destroying the established security architecture, being undertaken in line with the Western count...

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) economic counselor has warned of the side effects of sharp monetary tightening. Noting that “Inflation is much stickier than anticipated,” he stressed that “financial risks have risen.” IMF Economist’s Warning Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Economic Counsellor and the Director of Research of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), shared his global economic outlook in a blog post published by the IMF Tuesday. “The economic slowdown is most pronounced in advanced economies. Inflation is falling more slowly than anticipated,” he wrote. “Recent banking instability reminds us, however, that the situation remains fragile. Once again, downside risks dominate and the fog around the world economic outlook has thickened.” He added: Inflation is much stickier than anticipated, even a few months ago … Core inflation, which excludes energy and food, has not yet peaked in many countries. The IMF economist noted that “activity shows signs of resilience as l...

According to a recent announcement from Binance US, the American-based subsidiary of the largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, the exchange plans to delist the cryptocurrency asset tron. The news follows Binance’s being sued by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and Tron founder Justin Sun’s being sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) five days earlier. Binance US Reveals Spell and Tron Deslisting Binance US announced that it plans to delist the cryptocurrency assets tron ( TRX ) and spell (SPELL) on April 18, 2023. The company stated that it periodically reviews the assets it lists, and when a “digital asset no longer meets our high standards, or industry circumstances change, we conduct a more in-depth review of the affected asset and assess whether further action is necessary (i.e. delisting).” Binance US will close deposits for SPELL and TRX on April 17, 2023, the day before delisting, but withdrawals will remain open. Although it is del...

Officials of the U.S. Treasury Department will travel to Europe this month with the objective of getting more countries to apply punitive actions against Russia. The tour, which includes visits to Switzerland, Italy, and Germany, aims to stop the material support companies in these states provide Russia, threatening to cut trade if they don’t comply. US Treasury to Demand Implementation of Sanctions Against Russia in Europe The U.S. government is seeking to forcefully disable the trade relations that Russia still has with companies and countries in Europe. According to AP , two officials of the U.S. Treasury Department will travel to Europe later this month to stop European countries from providing any kind of support to the Russian Federation. Treasury officials Liz Rosenberg and Brian Nelson will embark on a tour that will include stops in Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. They will meet companies and financial institutions to try to coerce them into cutting ties with Russia or fa...

PRESS RELEASE. MetaPlayerOne is bringing the power of Web3 communications to GameFi by introducing a new launchpad and standard for NFT game assets. Using this platform and this standard, different GameFi projects can recognize specific smart contract asset holders and rare asset holders, providing them with various benefits. For example, addressing an airdrop specifically to all legendary asset holders across all GameFi projects. GameFi projects that meet MetaPlayerOne’s requirements can expect a global marketing support package from MetaPlayerOne, which will help promote their projects on a large scale. MetaPlayerOne is one of the pioneers in unlocking the true potential of Web3 technologies through its unique metaverse developing engine for various use cases. Through this groundbreaking co-investment and acceleration program for GameFi projects, the aim is to offer Initial Game & Collection Offerings (IGOs) via NFT drops and enhance the success of such programs, provide acce...

Between 2019 and 2022, the value of foreign capital that flowed into Nigeria dropped from $23.9 billion to $5.32 billion. The drop has been attributed to low investor confidence, the high cost of doing business, as well as the country’s high inflation rate. Nigeria will “struggle to keep the naira to the dollar exchange rate from depreciating further” until both crude oil and non-oil exports are boosted, an accounting firm has asserted. Nigeria’s High Cost of Doing Business In its latest report on the flow of foreign capital into Nigeria, the accounting firm KPMG said the value of capital brought into the West African country fell from $23.9 billion recorded in 2019, to $5.32 billion in 2022. According to the report, the persistent decline in the amount of capital flowing into Nigeria can be attributed to “low investor confidence due to the ambiguous foreign exchange regime.” The challenges encountered when seeking to access foreign exchange as well as Nigeria’s high inflation rat...

Economist Nouriel Roubini, also known as “Dr. Doom,” predicts that the global reserve currency system will shift from unipolar to bipolar. He expects most countries that attempt to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar to propose the Chinese yuan as an alternative to the USD. Roubini on U.S. Dollar and Chinese Yuan as Global Reserve Currencies Nouriel Roubini, aka Dr. Doom, discussed the future of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency in an interview with Indian media outlet CNBC TV-18, published Tuesday. Roubini is the chief economist for Atlas Capital and also Professor Emeritus of Economics and International Business at New York University Stern School of Business. He explained that most countries that form a rival group to oppose the U.S. and reduce their reliance on the dollar are striving to establish an alternative economic, monetary, and global reserve currency system. The economist added: These allies are going to move in the direction of proposing the RMB [...

According to worldwide data from Google Trends, the search term “bitcoin” has reached a score of 93 out of 100 in the last seven days. Additionally, the price of bitcoin rose above the $30,000 range for the first time in ten months, or since June 2022. Bitcoin Search Interest Rises as Leading Crypto Asset Taps $30K On Tuesday, April 11, 2023, bitcoin’s price rose above the $30,000 mark for the first time since June 8, 2022. According to statistics from coinmarketcap.com, BTC’s dominance is currently over 47%, the highest it’s been in two years. Presently, the hashtags #bitcoin, # ETH , and #cryptocurrency are trending on Twitter, and there are currently more than 88,000 tweets with the #cryptocurrency hashtag. At 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, the search term bitcoin reached a score of 93 out of 100 on Google Trends (GT). A GT score of 100 denotes the zenith of a search term’s popularity in the selected region and time period. It also means that more people are searching for...

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...