Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

Sleeping Bitcoin Wallet Awakens: $3.7M Worth of BTC Suddenly Moves After Close to 12 Years of Dormancy  Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko says his country’s response to sanctions is to deepen relations with the BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). “The creation of a comprehensive economic union remains our priority,” he emphasized. “There should be no barriers and no restrictions at all. This is a basic principle for building our union, and we must reach this target as soon as possible.” Belarus Prioritizes Building Economic Union With ‘No Barriers and No Restrictions at All’ Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko outlined his country’s priorities and response to sanctions during the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting in Moscow on Thursday. The meeting was chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Lukashenko explained that Belarus’ response to sanctions is to strengthen cooperation within majo

Sleeping Bitcoin Wallet Awakens: $3.7M Worth of BTC Suddenly Moves After Close to 12 Years of Dormancy  Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance says it has created a new crypto trading platform for Japan residents that will be available this summer. The new exchange will fully comply with Japanese crypto regulations and will offer trading of a limited number of tokens initially, according to the exchange. Binance Has Created New Crypto Trading Platform for Japan Users Global cryptocurrency exchange Binance has announced that it is launching a local crypto trading platform for residents of Japan this summer. Binance wrote: We are pleased to announce that we have created a new platform for residents in Japan in order to fully comply with local regulations. “The new platform will be available this summer. We will inform the launch date and provide further details in the coming months,” the global crypto exchange continued. The services offered by Binance’s global platform will be di

Sleeping Bitcoin Wallet Awakens: $3.7M Worth of BTC Suddenly Moves After Close to 12 Years of Dormancy  In the past 21 months following Ethereum’s London hard fork, the network has witnessed the destruction of over 3.33 million ether, valued at $6.1 billion. At present, roughly 3.51 ether is burned every single minute. Standing out as a prominent participant in the burn process since August 5, 2021, just below conventional ETH transfers, is the Opensea platform, which has contributed to the burning of 230,050 ETH . More Than $6 Billion in Value Destroyed Since EIP-1559 Back on August 5, 2021, a significant event occurred in Ethereum’s history with the implementation of the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 1559 as part of the London upgrade . Since then, 660 days have passed. In the initial three months alone, over 700,000 ether was burned, setting the stage for what was to come. Fast forward to the end of May 2023, utilizing the latest burn metrics, EIP-1559 has fueled the b

Sleeping Bitcoin Wallet Awakens: $3.7M Worth of BTC Suddenly Moves After Close to 12 Years of Dormancy  Roughly three months ago, 74 AI-driven digital currencies boasted a market value exceeding $4 billion. However, since that time, the AI-centric crypto market has experienced a loss of more than $1 billion in value. The Decline in AI-Driven Cryptocurrencies: $1 Billion Wiped Out From Market At the start of the year, products incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) witnessed substantial demand with the rise of AI-focused software noted throughout 2023. This trend permeated into the cryptocurrency sphere, resulting in up to 74 AI-centric tokens amounting to a value of $4.03 billion by the end of February. At its peak, the AI crypto market recorded a $444.39 million 24-hour trade volume on February 27, 2023. Presently, both trade volume and market valuation within the AI crypto sector have significantly decreased. Data from cryptoslate.com reveals that a total of 89 crypto asse

The development bank set up by the BRICS bloc is negotiating with Saudi Arabia on accepting the country as a member, according to a press report. The talks come as the bank, created as an alternative to similar institutions led by the West, seeks to expand its funding options amid sanctions on one of its founding shareholders, Russia. BRICS Development Bank Engaged in ‘Qualified Dialogue’ With Saudi Kingdom The Shanghai-based New Development Bank ( NDB ), established by the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), is in talks with Saudi Arabia on admitting the country as a member, the Financial Times reported. The negotiations come as the NDB prepares to evaluate its options to attract funding during its annual meeting starting on Tuesday, affected by the penalties imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, the British daily noted. “In the Middle East, we attach great importance to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and are currently engaged in a qualifie

Sleeping Bitcoin Wallet Awakens: $3.7M Worth of BTC Suddenly Moves After Close to 12 Years of Dormancy  The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has issued a warning regarding investments in assets like cryptocurrencies. They will remain unregulated in most countries until the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) law is enforced across the Union, the regulator pointed out. ESMA Highlights Risks Related to Unregulated Products and Services for Crypto and Other Assets The European Union’s securities watchdog, ESMA, has issued a statement warning investors of risks arising from investment firms providing both regulated and unregulated products and services for crypto and gold, among other assets, as well as some non-transferable securities. These usually fall outside the scope of the EU’s existing financial services regulation but are offered as alternatives to financial instruments. ESMA remarked that retail investors often rely on the reputation of a provider and advis

The future fate of the U.S. dollar continues to dominate financial news, as investor Jim Rogers says the USD’s time is “coming to an end,” and nine Asian countries have been discussing de-dollarization measures in Iran. In other news, an expert has predicted that the price of gold will skyrocket due to economic conditions, and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has said of interest rates that people “should be prepared for rates going higher from here.” All this and more just below, in this latest Bitcoin.com News Week in Review. 9 Asian Countries Discuss De-Dollarization Measures in Meeting Hosted by Iran Top officials from nine Asian countries, members of the Asian Clearing Union (ACU), have gathered in Tehran for their annual meeting, where de-dollarization takes center stage. In addition to the officials from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, Russia’s central bank governor and officials from Belarus and Afghanistan also attended the meeti

The White House and House Republicans have reached an agreement in principle to raise the U.S. debt ceiling. Described by President Joe Biden as “good news for the American people,” the deal would open the door to avoiding a historic default by the government in Washington and averting not just a potential economic catastrophe in the United States but a global recession as well. Joe Biden, Kevin McCarthy Announce In-Principle Agreement to Raise Debt Ceiling After weeks of negotiations, which put an end to a months-long stalemate, the White House and the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives now have “an agreement in principle” on a deal to raise the debt ceiling in the U.S. for two years and limit budget spending. The agreement has been reached by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a phone call on Saturday. Both sides are now facing the difficult task to convince the Republican-controlled House and Democrat-dominated Senate to back the deal

According to Fraser Edward, the CEO and co-founder of the public permissionless network, Cheqd, one of the main hurdles faced when attempting to move data stored on Web2 servers to Web3 is “establishing a clear and scalable revenue model.” Edward however suggested overcoming this hurdle will unlock new use cases which facilitate economic activities within the Web3 ecosystem will be unlocked. The Trusted Data Market The Cheqd co-founder also told Bitcoin.com News that in today’s data-driven world, greater emphasis is now being placed on obtaining accurate and verified data. This shift in value from what Edward labeled generic data to trusted data is evidenced by users’ demand for data that is portable and cryptographically verifiable. According to Edward, it is this demand for assured data that has given rise to what is now known as the “trusted data market.” Meanwhile, in the rest of his responses to questions from Bitcoin.com News, the Cheqd CEO touched on the so-called “bot paran

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has updated her projection regarding the date the U.S. government could default on its debt obligations. She warned that the Treasury “will have insufficient resources to satisfy the government’s obligations if Congress has not raised or suspended the debt limit by June 5.” Yellen Warns US Could Default on June 5 U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has revised her estimate for the potential date of a U.S. default. In a letter she sent to all congressional leaders Friday regarding the debt limit, Yellen wrote: Based on the most recent available data, we now estimate that Treasury will have insufficient resources to satisfy the government’s obligations if Congress has not raised or suspended the debt limit by June 5. “We will make more than $130 billion of scheduled payments in the first two days of June, including payments to veterans and Social Security and Medicare recipients. These payments will leave Treasury with an extremely low level o

Florida’s 46th Governor, Ron DeSantis, recently declared his candidacy for the U.S. presidency in 2024 and has since participated in several interviews. While conversing with Dana Loesch on The Dana Show, DeSantis criticized the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as a “corrupt organization” and no ally to the typical American citizen. DeSantis Discusses Single-Rate Tax Proposals, Insists IRS Is No Friend of the Average American Following Joe Biden ‘s inauguration, he substantially expanded the IRS, and his 2024 budget plan aims to further enlarge the U.S. tax agency. Biden recently said he will reject Republican negotiations regarding the debt ceiling that would constrain his plans to bolster the nation’s tax revenue service. Subsequent to Ron DeSantis’s announcement last week, the Florida governor expressed his viewpoints in interviews with Ben Shapiro and Dana Loesch. During his dialogue with Loesch, DeSantis addressed the IRS when The Dana Show host inquired about his stan

Economist and ardent gold advocate Peter Schiff caused a stir on Friday by announcing his participation in an upcoming art sale featuring non-fungible tokens (NFTs). These unique digital collectibles will be minted on the Bitcoin blockchain using Ordinal inscription technology. Schiff’s surprising entry into the NFT market through Bitcoin has piqued the curiosity of onlookers, prompting them to speculate whether the once vocal Bitcoin critic has experienced a change of perspective. Schiff: ‘I’m Still Not a Member of That Club’ For a very long time, Peter Schiff has been a vocal critic of bitcoin (BTC) , repeatedly asserting that the cryptocurrency’s value would eventually plummet to zero. He has engaged in numerous debates where he consistently highlighted BTC ’s perceived lack of intrinsic value as one of its fundamental vulnerabilities. However, despite his longstanding stance, Schiff is now venturing into the realm of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), conducting a sale that will utiliz

One of Saturday’s biggest movers is XRP , which rose to a 30-day high earlier in today’s session. The token rose for a third consecutive day, as bulls returned to the market to start the weekend. Cardano was another notable gainer today. XRP XRP (formerly ripple), moved to a one-month high on Saturday, as bulls began to gradually renter the market. Following a low of $0.4614 on Friday, XRP /USD raced to a peak of $0.4777 earlier in the day. As a result of the surge, the token climbed to its highest level since April 30, when it was last above $0.4800. Looking at the chart, the move came as XRP bulls broke out of a key resistance level at the $0.4750 This occurred as the relative strength index (RSI) also moved beyond a ceiling at the 57.00 mark. At the time of writing this, the index is now at a reading of 58.18, with the next target for bulls potentially at 62.00. Cardano ( ADA ) Cardano ( ADA ), was also in the green to start the weekend, with prices moving further away f

Bitcoin moved closer to the $27,000 level on Saturday, as markets continued to react to the latest Personal Consumption data from the United States. The key inflation index rose to 4.4% in April, higher than expectations of a drop to 3.9%. Ethereum also edged higher. Bitcoin Bitcoin (BTC) rallied towards $27,000 to start the weekend, as prices reacted to the latest Personal Consumption data in the United States. BTC /USD climbed to a peak of $26,916.67 earlier in today’s session, which came a day after trading at a low of $26,370.55. The move sees bitcoin climb for a third straight session, moving past a floor at $26,3000 in the process. From the chart, the latest surge in price came as the 14-day relative strength index (RSI) bounced from a support point at 39.00. At the time of writing this, the index is now tracking at 43.02, with the next visible point of resistance at 45.00. Should this point be broken, then there is a strong possibility that BTC will move back over the

The government of Argentina is reportedly seeking to expand its de-dollarization agreement with China due to the lack of dollars that the country is facing. According to reports, Economy Minister Sergio Massa would be in talks to expand the current swap line to double the available amount from $5 to $10 billion, lent in Chinese yuan. Argentina Seeks to Expand Swap Line Agreement With China On De-Dollarization Push The government of Argentina would be seeking to expand the access it has to a Chinese yuan swap line in order to reduce the use of its scarce dollar reserves. According to local reports , Economy Minister Sergio Massa and Central Bank of Argentina President Miguel Pesce will be traveling to China on May 29 with the objective of doubling the free amount of money available in the swap line, taking it to $10 billion in Chinese yuan. China had allowed the Argentine government to freely access $5 billion of the swap line, of which almost $2 billion were used during April and

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin engaged in phone conversations with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva regarding their joint work within the BRICS group ahead of the economic bloc’s leaders’ summit. Lula has been a vocal advocate of ditching the U.S. dollar in favor of national currencies and a proposed common BRICS currency. Putin and Lula Discuss Various Topics, Including Ukraine War and BRICS Cooperation Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, engaged in a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, following his discussion with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this week. Among the topics the leaders discussed was cooperation across major multinational organizations, such as the BRICS. The BRICS economic bloc comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. In a tweet Friday, Lula wrote (translated from Portuguese by Google): I just spoke by phone with the president of Russia, Vladimir Pu

The government of Brazil views the development bank established by the BRICS bloc as an alternative to traditional financial institutions, the country’s head of state told African diplomats. President Lula da Silva also vowed that the bank will improve cooperation with its African counterpart. Brazil Wants the New Development Bank Under BRICS to Strengthen as Financing Instrument Authorities in Brasilia consider the New Development Bank ( NDB ), created by the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), as a promising alternative to traditional financial institutions, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was quoted as saying by the Tass news agency. Lula made the statement during a meeting with ambassadors from African countries. “We want the BRICS bank to strengthen as an alternative instrument for financing, and we will reinforce our cooperation with the African Development Bank,” he emphasized. Current international financial and banking institution

As calls for the creation of a global alternative to the greenback grow, credit rating agency Moody’s said on May 25 that rival currencies such as the euro and the Chinese yuan do not yet threaten the U.S. dollar’s position as the world’s reserve currency. The agency said a confidence-sapping policy mistake such as the U.S. Congress’s failure to raise the debt limit poses the “greatest near-term danger to the dollar’s position.” Rival Currencies Cannot Match the U.S. Dollar’s Core Traits The global credit rating agency Moody’s has said while the spectre of the U.S. dollar losing its dominance is real, at the moment there are no viable alternatives to take its place. In a note reportedly released on May 25, Moody’s insisted that the current rivals to the greenback such as the euro and the Chinese yuan will not be able to quickly match the core traits that made it the most dominant currency. As has been reported by various media outlets including Bitcoin.com News, the dollar’s longs

Although the implementation of the recently approved Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulations is likely to be difficult, their coming into force is going to have a positive outcome for everyone in the industry, Przemyslaw Kral, the CEO of the crypto exchange Zondacrypto, has said. Kral also argued that the implementation of these regulations will force non-compliant entities or those that cannot “deliver the required standards” to leave the European Union market. The Impact of MiCA Regulations on Crypto Industry Participants In his written answers to questions from Bitcoin.com News, the CEO suggested that the new regulations will ensure incidents such as the collapse of FTX will not recur. In addition, the regulations will stop human trafficking rings or criminal gangs from moving funds via Europe. Concerning fears that the implementation of MiCA regulations will see crypto firms leave Europe just as some have done in the United States, Kral said much will depend on their objec