Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

At 11:06 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on April 29, 2023, at block height 787,500, the number of blocks left to discover until the next Bitcoin blockchain halving is now fewer than 52,500 blocks. This means the network has progressed 75% through the 210,000-block halving cycle, which will ultimately result in a reduction of the block reward from 6.25 bitcoins per block to 3.125 bitcoins per block. Bitcoin Halving Countdown: Fewer Than 52,500 Blocks Left to Discover On Saturday morning (ET), the Bitcoin network progressed 75% of the way toward the next block reward halving, with fewer than 52,500 blocks left to discover until the event occurs. This milestone marks another step in the ongoing evolution of the Bitcoin network as it progresses toward its eventual maximum supply of 21 million bitcoins. The Bitcoin blockchain halves its block reward every 210,000 blocks, which occurs roughly every four years. ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░ 75% 365 days and 52503 blocks left $29385 per #bitcoin — Progress

U.S. Senator Rand Paul has warned that the U.S. dollar could lose its status as a global reserve currency. “For a variety of reasons, both foreign policy as well as fiscal irresponsibility, yes, the dollar is in a precarious position,” said the lawmaker. Senator Rand Paul on U.S. Dollar Losing Reserve Currency Status U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) shared his concerns about the growing de-dollarization trend and the USD losing its global reserve currency status in an interview with Fox Business Thursday. He was asked: “Is king dollar going to be tossed off of its throne because of bad fiscal and monetary policies? Is it going to lose its world reserve status in your judgment?” The senator from Kentucky replied: I am concerned about it. “I think our foreign policy has something to do with that … We’ve pushed all of our adversaries farther and farther away from us and closer and closer together. It’s not just Russia and China being pushed together by foreign policy and obviously, s

Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio has warned that the U.S. and China are “on the brink of war” and “are beyond the ability to talk.” The billionaire added that their relations “are getting so bad” that U.S.-China trade could collapse. He cautioned that the next 18 months “will be a very risky period.” U.S. and China on the Brink of War, Says Dalio Ray Dalio, the founder of the world’s largest asset manager, Bridgewater Associates, warned in a Linkedin post, published Wednesday, that the U.S. and China are on the brink of war. The billionaire, who has visited China for almost 40 years and has built close friendships there, shared his perspectives from his recent 13-day trips to China, as well as from meetings with Chinese citizens, experts on China residing outside the country, and policymakers in other countries, including the U.S. Regarding U.S.-China relations, Dalio stressed: The United States and China are on the brink of war and are beyond the ability to talk. He no

Economist Stephen Jen, a former Morgan Stanley managing director, expects a shift “from a unipolar reserve currency world to a multipolar world,” with the Chinese yuan, the euro, and the U.S. dollar forming a “tripolar” reserve currency configuration. ‘A Multipolar World’ Economist Stephen Jen, the CEO of asset management firm Eurizon SLJ, expects multiple currencies will chip away at the U.S. dollar’s dominance. Jen was formerly a managing director at Morgan Stanley in London and a senior economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). After stating that the U.S. dollar is losing its world’s reserve currency status at “ an alarming pace ,” the former Morgan Stanley director told the Insider publication that the de-dollarization trend is likely to continue. However, he noted that it will “probably not to a point where a non-dollar currency commands a bigger market share than the dollar.” Jen described: More likely, we will evolve from a unipolar reserve currency world to a mu

Scottish-Salvadoran driver Sebastian Melrose has made his debut in the Porsche Carrera Cup racing championship. The 25-year-old, who took part in a popular Netflix TV series last year, drives a Bitcoin-branded 911 that features the flag of crypto-friendly El Salvador on its rooftop. Bitcoin Racing Team Joins Porsche Carrera Cup With Netflix Celebrity in the Car British racing team Bitcoin Racing has joined the Porsche Carrera Cup together with Richardson Racing, not only to win prizes in one of the U.K.’s biggest racing championships but also to promote crypto. The tandem hired a newcomer to the series, Scottish-Salvadoran driver Sebastian Melrose, who debuted last weekend at the Donington Park circuit. Melrose, who owes a great deal of his fame to his participation in the “Too Hot to Handle” dating game show on Netflix, sat behind the wheel of a “Bitcoin Porsche,” a 500-horsepower 911 GT3 that is sporting the bitcoin logo on its door panels, and on its roof, the flag of El Salvado

According to regulations published by the country’s treasury secretary, global crypto exchanges used by Kenya’s estimated 4 million users will start paying a 1.5% tax on revenues earned. Tax-Avoiding Digital Asset Platforms The Kenyan Treasury has said it will start levying taxes on revenues earned by cryptocurrency exchanges used by an estimated 4 million local residents. According to a report by Business Daily Africa, Kenyan authorities will rely on the 1.5% digital tax service that became effective on Jan.1, 2021. Initially proposed in 2020, the digital tax is the Kenyan government’s attempt to extract revenue from leading crypto exchanges and tax-avoiding digital asset platforms. As reported by Bitcoin.com News in early January 2021, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) said it expected to get $45.5 million (5 billion Kenyan shillings) from the tax. Meanwhile, as shown in the 2023 regulations’ value added tax (electronic, internet and digital marketplace supply) published by Tr

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