Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

An investment banker formerly employed by Deutsche Bank has been charged with perpetrating a crypto-related fraud. The man from Brooklyn has been accused of misappropriating funds from victims whom he promised large returns on cryptocurrency investments in a Ponzi-like scheme. Ex-Deutsche Bank Investment Banker Arrested and Charged for Defrauding Crypto Investors Rashawn Russell, a 27-year-old investment banker and registered broker from Brooklyn, New York, was arrested on April 10 on criminal charges related to his alleged role in running a crypto investment fraud scheme, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday. Prosecutors claim that Russel defrauded multiple investors, luring them with promises of big and even guaranteed returns from cryptocurrency investment and trading. However, he used their money for his own benefit, to gamble and to repay other investors in order to keep the scheme going. The indictment alleges that the accused repeatedly failed to provide inv...

Economist Peter Schiff has cautioned that the present banking crisis is the cusp of a much worse financial crisis. “It’s going to get much much worse if you are going to try to dismiss it,” he stressed. Citing the Federal Reserve’s recession forecast, he warned: “Normally the Fed doesn’t forecast a recession. So if they can actually see this one coming, it likely means it will be massive.” Peter Schiff on Banking Crisis, Financial Crisis, and Recession Gold bug and economist Peter Schiff warned in a recent interview on Trader TV Live that the current banking crisis is not over and a much worse financial crisis will follow. Schiff explained that “Everybody has talked about a banking crisis” but “nobody wants to refer to it as a financial crisis.” He exclaimed: “No! This is a financial crisis. The 2008 financial crisis was also a banking crisis unless people forget it was the banks that were failing.” The economist stressed: This is the cusp of the crisis. It’s going to get much mu...

Economist Peter C. Earle says de-dollarization has begun, emphasizing that “It’s not just the conscription of the dollar in economic warfare, but increasingly error-fraught monetary policy regimes that are driving various interests away from the greenback.” He described: “By weaponizing dollar dominance and permitting expanding mandates to disorient U.S. monetary policy, the dollar’s fate as the lingua franca of world commerce over the long haul may already be sealed.” Rising De-Dollarization Trend Economist Peter C. Earle wrote an opinion piece, titled “De-dollarization Has Begun,” published by the American Institute of Economic Research last week. He explained that “The profound economic disruption experienced by Iran, and more recently Russia, after being evicted from dollar-based trading systems like SWIFT … have led many nations to consider imminent contingency plans,” elaborating: It’s not just the conscription of the dollar in economic warfare, but increasingly error-frau...

According to Mastercard, the payments giant has launched non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that grant access to the Mastercard Artist Accelerator program, designed to support emerging musicians. Developed in collaboration with Polygon, the NFT project highlights Mastercard’s intent to embrace Web3 technologies. Mastercard Launches Second NFT Offering In January, Mastercard announced its partnership with Polygon to support up-and-coming artists through the Mastercard Artist Accelerator program. During the NFT.NYC conference, the company unveiled NFTs that provide entry to this program. “Until the end of the month, music and Web3 enthusiasts can redeem Mastercard Music Pass NFT,” the company stated on Wednesday. When unveiling the music artist program, Mastercard did not reveal the participating musicians, as they had not been chosen yet. The selected artists are R&B soul singer Young Athena, Venezuelan vocalist Manu Manzu, Nigerian-based artist LeriQ, pop sensation Emily Vu, and West...

Tech entrepreneur, angel investor, and author of The Network State, Balaji Srinivasan, says a proverbial “giant robot” of supportive governing bodies and crypto proponents is needed to do battle with the “giant monster” of the U.S. federal government. The former CTO of Coinbase also said he will issue an update on his ongoing $1 million-dollar bitcoin bet “soon,” noting that “the reason I did that was to draw attention to this crisis.” Balaji Envisions Fall of Western Fiat, Promotes In-Person Meetups to Build Trust Speaking remotely at the first in-person ETHGlobal Pragma Tokyo Summit on April 13, tech entrepreneur, author, and bitcoin proponent Balaji Srinivasan emphasized to attendees that difficult economic and societal changes are coming, but he is also optimistic about the tools crypto and the larger community focused on “network states,” already provide to weather the storm. Asked by Bitcoin.com News what the next practical steps are on the road to setting up network states...

Montenegro intends to create and issue its own digital currency with help from U.S.-based crypto company Ripple. The Southeast European nation, which adopted the euro unilaterally, is moving to realize the plan despite the eurozone developing a digital version of the common currency. Monetary Authority of Montenegro to Cooperate With Ripple on ‘National Stablecoin’ Project The Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG) has signed an agreement with blockchain solutions provider Ripple under which the two sides will collaborate to produce a strategy and pilot program to launch the country’s central bank digital currency ( CBDC ) The introduction of the “national stablecoin” will represent another step towards digitalizing financial services in the small Balkan country and providing greater financial accessibility for its citizens, Ripple emphasized in a press release. Over a hundred nations are currently exploring or already developing CBDCs with multiple use cases in mind, including widenin...

When inflation in advanced economies is tamed, real interest rates are likely to drop to pre-pandemic levels, the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) blog post has said. According to the authors of the blog post, the transition to a “cleaner economy in a budget-neutral way” could result in lower rates in the medium term. Recent Interest Rate Hikes Temporary Interest rates in advanced economies are likely to fall to pre-pandemic levels when authorities succeed in bringing inflation back under control, the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) blog post has suggested. The blog post added that the “recent increases in real interest rates are likely to be temporary.” The return of real interest rates to levels seen before the spread of Covid-19 will also coincide with the easing of the respective countries’ monetary policy regimes. As has been reported by Bitcoin.com News, central banks from advanced economies have raised benchmark rates as they seek to tame inflation. The risi...

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...