Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

A Russian official has revealed that regular discussions are being held between Russia and other BRICS member nations regarding the expansion of the economic group. “This requires a thorough analysis and delicate internal work by the five countries to reach a consensus,” according to Russia’s Foreign Ministry. Member Countries Discuss BRICS Expansion Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated during a news briefing on Thursday that Russia has been holding regular negotiations with its BRICS partners regarding the group’s possible expansion, local news outlet Tass reported. The BRICS nations comprise Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Zakharova explained: The entire range of issues associated with this is being discussed at BRICS sherpas and sous-sherpas meetings, and, of course, this requires a thorough analysis and delicate internal work by the five countries to reach a consensus. The Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson added that while ...

PRESS RELEASE. Pleasant Grove, Utah – The Mirror Protocol, a trailblazing decentralized finance (DeFi) project, proudly announces the launch of its highly anticipated pre-sale. This state-of-the-art platform empowers users to seamlessly diversify their portfolios with the most sought-after blue-chip cryptocurrencies available today. The pre-sale event showcases an extensive array of The Mirror Protocol tokens, including XRP-MP, ETH-MP, ADA-MP, LINK-MP, and MATIC-MP. These tokens yield rewards in premier crypto coins such as # BTC , # BNB , # ETH , # XRP , # ADA , #LINK, and #MATIC, making it an ideal opportunity for participants eager to capitalize on the impressive DeFi blue-chips dominating the market. Managing Director Roland Aravelo expressed his enthusiasm, stating, “We are thrilled to launch our pre-sale on this groundbreaking dashboard. The Mirror Protocol consistently strives to offer the optimal experience for our participants, and this innovative dashboard enables us to de...

A China-led regional organization that covers more than half of Eurasia intends to transition to settlements in the currencies of its members. While the plan is to abandon the U.S. dollar in mutual payments, participating nations are yet to consider a common currency. Shanghai Cooperation Organization to Abandon Dollar in Favor of National Currencies The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is preparing to move away from the U.S. dollar and switch to settlements in the national currencies of its member states. In an interview with the Belarus 1 state TV channel, the bloc’s Deputy Secretary General Grigory Logvinov stated: A roadmap for the transition to settlements in national currencies is being developed. Also quoted by the Interfax news agency, the Russian diplomat emphasized that efforts in that direction are “serious and substantive.” “The process is far from simple because, unfortunately, the dollar as a world reserve currency is too deeply embedded, including in natio...

Switzerland’s financial regulator is not satisfied with the emergency plans of two of the Alpine nation’s five major banks. The assessment refers to a period prior to the rescue of Credit Suisse by UBS when the authority viewed the troubled giant’s preparedness in positive terms. 2 Swiss Banks Unable to Implement Recovery Plans, Finma Finds The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) considers insufficient the crisis plans of two of Switzerland’s main banks, Reuters reported. The regulator is not certain if Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) and Postfinance will be manage to continue to operate in case of a crisis. ZKB’s emergency plan is not yet ready to implement as the bank has not reserved sufficient capital for recapitalization while Postfinance “must realign its emergency recapitalization strategy,” Finma stated in an announcement on Wednesday. The two are among the country’s five “systematically important banks,” along with Credit Suisse, UBS, and Raiffeisen. The asse...

PRESS RELEASE. Zagreb, Croatia, 28th April 2023, Chainwire AIGameToEarn, an innovative platform combining artificial intelligence and gaming, started the whitelisting signups for its upcoming launch. The list is open to 2,000 lucky individuals, of which 200 spots are reserved for contributors, giveaways, and contest winners. Those who hurry and get whitelisted can purchase two AI NFTs on the mint day and participate in the platform’s $100,000 leaderboard. Making the whitelist is not a prerequisite for enjoying AIGameToEarn. On the contrary, those who miss this chance can still earn rewards by completing quests and participating in the community. The whitelisting process will end on May 15. Here’s how to join the whitelist: Those interested can submit their wallet here . Complete as many quests as possible on the Zealy quest board. This will boost their leaderboard position and their chances of winning a whitelist spot. Stay active in the community. All interested gamers and...

A Bank of America (BOFA) commodity strategist has postulated that gold, should it continue to flourish in 2023, could pave the way for a climb to $2,500 per ounce. Presently priced at $1,983 per unit, the precious metal remains just shy of the $2,000 threshold. However, if it were to achieve the projected $2,500 target, its value would need to rise by more than 26% against the U.S. dollar. ‘Non-Commercial Purchases Do Not Need to Increase Materially to Justify Gold Hitting $2,500,’ Says BOFA Commodity Strategist In 2023 thus far, gold has demonstrated admirable performance, with its price soaring by over 19% in the span of six months. The past 30 days, in particular, have seen a noteworthy 1.33% spike in the price of this treasured metal. Furthermore, a recently-released memo from a BOFA commodity strategist opines that, to realize the envisioned $2,500 per ounce milestone, gold need not scale much further in value. “Bottom line: non-commercial purchases do not need to increase m...

Rich Dad Poor Dad author Robert Kiyosaki has warned of economic chaos, a war breaking out, hyperinflation, and rising starvation. Commenting on de-dollarization on a “massive scale,” he stressed: “It’s a weaponization of our U.S. dollar against the world … It’s all coming down fast right now.” Robert Kiyosaki on De-Dollarization on ‘Massive Scale’ The author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, is back with more dire predictions about the U.S. economy, the dollar, and global economic chaos. 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. Over 32 million copies of the book have been sold in over 51 languages across more than 109 countries. During his Rich Dad radio show, which aired last week, Kiyosaki discussed de-dollarization with Andy Schectman, CEO of Miles Franklin Precious Metals Investments. Schectman began by highlighting recent events that led to what he described as “de-...

On April 27, Coinbase, the crypto exchange based in San Francisco, made public the disclosure of its response to the Wells notice it had received from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) back in March. The company maintained that the regulatory body’s enforcement actions were in direct contrast to the agency’s previous approval of the firm’s public listing via its S-1 filing. Coinbase asserted in its response to the SEC that it is the “innocent investors who stand to lose the most from the commission’s abrupt about-face.” Coinbase Responds to U.S. Securities Watchdog’s Wells Notice Coinbase’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, presented his company’s response to the U.S. securities regulator on Thursday, divulging their Wells response . In direct opposition to the SEC’s enforcement actions , Coinbase maintains a firm disagreement, while the correspondence made it clear that the regulator should have been aware of this stance when Coinbase went public. The animosity between the tw...

In the wake of the recent legal action against ten associates of Terraform Labs, which included the co-founder Shin Hyun-seong, known to many as Daniel Shin, it appears that prosecutors from Seoul are convinced that Terraform Labs and co-founder Do Kwon are still in possession of a considerable sum of money, specifically 130 billion won ($100 million), held in a Swiss bank account. South Korean Prosecutors Claim Do Kwon and Terraform Labs Still Own $100 Million Tucked Away in a Swiss Bank Account, SEC Complaint Backs Theory As reported by Park Beom-soo, a local journalist, following the Terraform Labs indictment , Do Kwon and his associates allegedly transferred 10,000 bitcoin (BTC) to a fintech bank headquartered in Switzerland. Sygnum Bank, a digital asset financial institution based in Zurich, was reportedly the recipient of this sizable transfer. It has since come to light that the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office has been closely monitoring the movement of Terra-li...

Current indicators suggest the European Central Bank (ECB) should raise the interest rate in May, the monetary authority’s chief economist said. Future increases will depend on the economic data but this is still not the right time to stop, according to Philip Lane who believes the bank has to bring inflation back to the 2% target “in a timely manner.” Leaving Interest Rate at Current Level Would Be ‘Inappropriate’ Despite Falling Inflation, Lane Says Inflation in the euro area has dropped significantly between October, when it peaked at 10.6%, and March’s 6.9%. Nevertheless, the most important goal for its central bank is to make sure that it gets closer to 2%, Chief Economist of the ECB Philip Lane told Le Monde in a recent interview published by the bank on Tuesday. While easing in some sectors, such as energy, inflationary pressures persist in others, like food, the top official noted, warning there’s a risk of “sticky” inflation. This is why it’s important that the ECB raises...

PRESS RELEASE. Web3 game company Iskra unveils the release of its own launchpad for games, the Iskra Launchpad , with World of Win set to be the first project to conduct its initial game offering (IGO) on the platform. The release of the Iskra Launchpad comes right after Iskra dominated the number one spot on DappRadar’s blockchain games dapp rankings for all periods – 24 hours, 7 days, and 30 days – with 669.27k UAW as of writing and cited as one of the best-performing games dapp for March 2023. The Iskra Launchpad is a platform that allows game companies working with Iskra to promote their tokens to the Iskra community via IGO before its official listing on an exchange. Through the Iskra Launchpad, the Iskra community will have the opportunity to discover visionary games at an early stage and purchase tokens at its offering price. While tokens purchased on the Iskra Launchpad during an IGO are locked and subject to a vesting and distribution schedule, every IGO token has a...

Fiat currencies of BRICS member states will have no alternative in the future, according to former President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev. Nations in the bloc need to think about their digital forms and a digital currency issued by the group as a whole, the Russian politician said. Ruble, Yuan, Other BRICS Currencies to Take Over After Euro Collapse, Dmitry Medvedev Predicts Russia’s former head of state, Dmitry Medvedev, does not rule out the collapse of the common European currency and a return to national fiats on the Old Continent. “It is absolutely certain that financial shocks in Europe will not keep you waiting,” he was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency. The euro, already not too resistant to external influences, has started losing its role as a universal means of payment, Medvedev pointed out. Therefore, it is likely that Europe will return back to “the system of financial patchwork with national currencies. Well, then goodbye euro, hello mark, lira, and French f...

Brazil’s president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has expressed support for the creation of a BRICS currency. His statement of support comes as the BRICS bloc is gaining global influence, with 19 countries seeking to join the group. Brazilian President Lula Supports BRICS Currency Creation Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva reiterated Wednesday that he supported creating a currency for trading between BRICS countries, Reuters reported. The BRICS nations comprise Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. In a speech during a trip to Spain, he said without providing further details: I am in favor of creating, within the BRICS, a trading currency between our countries, just like the Europeans created the euro. Lula’s support for the creation of a BRICS currency followed his statement urging developing countries to stop using the U.S. dollar and adopt local currencies instead. The Brazilian president said on April 13 during his visit to the New Development Bank in Sh...

A top Russian official has urged all countries to make efforts to ensure that the “threat of global confrontation, of a hot, full-scale World War III” does not materialize. “World tensions are white-hot indeed,” he warned. Russian Official: Full-Scale World War III Should Not Materialize The deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, urged all countries to make efforts to avoid the outbreak of a new, full-scale global conflict Tuesday while addressing participants in the Znanie (Knowledge) educational marathon. “I cannot say what the last straw, what the trigger may be. But it may happen at some point,” he was quoted by Russian news outlet Tass as saying. The official emphasized: We all need to work to ensure that this threat of global confrontation, of a hot, full-scale World War III should not materialize. Commenting on the current conflict between Russia and Western countries, he stressed that Russia has no desire to see a war break out. However, he said...

Former White House economist Joseph Sullivan has warned that a BRICS currency would erode the U.S. dollar’s dominance. If member nations use only a common BRICS currency for international trade, “they would remove an impediment that now thwarts their efforts to escape dollar hegemony,” he described. Former White House Economic Advisor on BRICS Currency and U.S. Dollar’s Reserve Currency Status A former White House economic advisor, Joseph Sullivan, discussed de-dollarization and the potential impacts of a BRICS currency on the USD in an opinion piece published by Foreign Policy Monday. The BRICS nations are Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Sullivan was a special advisor and staff economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers during the Trump administration. He is currently a senior advisor at the Lindsey Group, an economic advisory firm. Referring to the hypothetical BRICS currency as “the bric,” he warned: If the BRICS used only the bric for internati...

Amidst the buzz surrounding bitcoin’s latest price surge, a significant number of transactions are currently clogging up the mempool. As of writing, 134,986 unconfirmed transactions await confirmation, and block times are lingering above the usual ten-minute mark. Bitcoin Transactions Backlogged as Mempool Reaches Higher Levels On the morning of Wednesday, Bitcoin.com News brought to light the decrease in Bitcoin’s global hashrate over the past 24 hours, currently hovering just above the 300 exahash per second (EH/s) range. Meanwhile, block intervals have slowed down and surpassed the average ten-minute mark, with the most recent block taking a total of ten minutes and 50 seconds to be validated. Even though bitcoin’s price initially soared past the $30K mark earlier today, by 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on April 26, 2023, the value had regressed back to a low of $27,242. Since then, the price managed to jump back above the $28K zone . At present, the mempool remains packed with...

Javier Milei, a presidential candidate for the next election in Argentina, has presented a dollarization plan to fix the economy of the country if elected. The proposal, which has supporters and detractors, would aim to solve the historic devaluation of the Argentine peso and the 100%+ interannual inflation that Argentina registered in March. Dollarization Surges as Option to ‘Fix’ Argentine Economy Argentine economists and the population are debating dollarization as a possible solution to the devaluation and inflation problems the country is currently facing. The proposal, presented by Javier Milei, one of the strongest contenders in the next October presidential election according to several polls, includes the abandonment of the Argentine peso as a fiat currency, and the conversion of all deposits and reserves of the central and private banks to U.S. dollars. According to Milei, this would be one of the more feasible solutions to the myriad problems the national economy is fac...

PRESS RELEASE. Golden Gate (GGX) is a novel interchain infrastructure protocol that eliminates Layer 0 communication friction by delivering protocol-agnostic communications and more secure liquidity transfer. Golden Gate mediates interchain communication via the Incentivized Message Delivery Protocol (IMDP), which uses a network of couriers running light clients to deliver messages for efficient cross-chain communication. Golden Gate supports the IBC, XCMP, and LayerZero communication protocols, amongst others, making it universally composable across Web3 infrastructure. With this architecture, Golden Gate delivers a next-generation programmable layer 0, enabling developers to leverage this technology stack to benefit their dApps and, ultimately, their end users. In practice, this means that developers will be able to deploy their dApps such that they are natively interoperable and protocol agnostic from day 1, abstracting away the need to worry about cross chain interoperability. ...

Economist Peter Schiff has warned that the U.S. will default on its debt obligations. He further stressed: “All the bad stuff that they’re saying is going to happen if we don’t raise the debt ceiling is guaranteed to happen because we do raise the debt ceiling.” Peter Schiff on U.S. Debt Default Economist and gold bug Peter Schiff warned Monday on the Peter Schiff Show podcast that the United States will default on its debt obligations and that raising the debt ceiling will have devastating consequences. Commenting on politicians claiming that the U.S. debt ceiling must be raised “because we pay our bills,” the economist argued: “We never pay our bills … We have $31.7 trillion in debt. That’s $31.7 trillion of bills that we have not paid. We didn’t pay them. We borrowed the money. And we want to keep on borrowing the money. Nobody wants to pay any of these bills.” Schiff cautioned: It’s only a question of time. It’s not a question of if. It’s just a question of when. We will defa...

Economist Peter St Onge has warned that U.S. dollar weaponization will lead to “soaring inflation, a catastrophic fallen American standard of living, and a U.S. that falls off the world stage.” Commenting on the economist’s warnings, Tesla and Twitter CEO Elon Musk weighed in on de-dollarization. De-Dollarization Happening Faster Than People Realize, Says Economist Economist Peter St Onge warned about the dire consequences of weaponizing the U.S. dollar in a video he posted on Twitter Monday. St Onge is a Research Fellow and the Mark A. Kolokotrones Fellow in Economic Freedom at the Heritage Foundation. Before joining the Heritage Foundation, he was a Fellow at the Mises Institute, a Senior Fellow at the Montreal Economic Institute, and an Assistant Professor of International Trade and of Marketing at Taiwan’s Feng Chia University. Citing a former Morgan Stanley analyst, Stephen Jen , stating that the U.S. dollar has already suffered a “stunning collapse” and is losing its reserve ...