Influence from friends and the fear of missing out (FOMO) were some of the reasons investors bought crypto for the first time in 2022, according to a survey by a United States financial regulator. Published by the United States Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation in late April, the survey found that a
Month: May 2023
Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week digesting major macroeconomic news as the United States sees the second-largest bank failure in its history. After a sideways weekend, BTC/USD was already volatile into the new weekly and monthly candle as downside kicked in. After steadying below $29,000, BTC price action is already facing more potential pressure as
Business intelligence platform MicroStrategy has reiterated its commitment to its Bitcoin (BTC) investment strategy after turning its first quarterly profit since 2020. The Michael Saylor-founded firm went back into the green in the first quarter of 2023 with a profit of $94 million, which was largely attributed to a one-time income tax benefit of $453.2
Layer-2 blockchain protocols have been in the spotlight in 2023, bringing major performance improvements to a variety of platforms and services operating in the Ethereum (ETH) ecosystem. Zero-knowledge proofs have been key in the roll-out of a variety of layer 2s, with the technology pioneered by the decentralized scaling network Starknet. StarkWare, the technology firm behind
Legislators in the European Union have pushed forward with a draft of a new bill designed to keep artificial intelligence technology in check. According to the bill, the high-risk tools will not be banned entirely, though they will be subjected to stricter transparency procedures. In particular, generative AI tools, including ChatGPT and Midjourney, will be
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the Treasury will not be able to pay all of the government’s debt “as early as June 1, if Congress does not raise or suspend the debt limit before that time.” Yellen also cautioned that the U.S. defaulting on its debt obligations “would produce an economic and
Blockchain technology was introduced in 2008 as a decentralized, secure, transparent system for managing digital transactions. Its primary aim was to provide a solution to major problems with traditional transactional systems, including trust, security, decentralization and efficiency. Blockchain has since expanded beyond finance and has been used in supply chain management, healthcare, games, digital media
Liquid staking solutions such as Lido and Rocket Pool now have more total value locked (TVL) than decentralized exchanges (DEXs), making them the top category of DeFi protocols, according to data from crypto analytics platform DefiLlama. For the first time, the Liquid Staking category has surpassed DEXes in total value locked, making it the leading
The deadline has come for comments on a consultation paper and call for evidence released by the United Kingdom’s HM Treasury on a proposed crypto asset regulatory framework. The long-awaited paper, published in February, drew detailed responses from a variety of cryptocurrency industry players. Blockchain provider Polygon Labs, venture capitalists Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), the Association for
Bitcoin (BTC) headed toward $28,000 support after the May 1 Wall Street open as markets digested fresh United States banking jitters. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Suspicions mount over First Republic contagion Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD dropping to multi-day lows at the time of writing. The pair continued
On May 1, cryptocurrency exchange OKX announced that it would be listing memecoin Pepe (PEPE) at 17:00 Hong Kong Time (HKT) and open Pepe withdrawals on May 2 at 17:00 HKT. In supporting the listing decision, OKX staff wrote: “Pepe the Frog is a cartoon character and internet meme created by cartoonist Matt Furie. Pepe
Ethereum network fees have experienced a significant upswing following the implementation of the Shapella upgrade on April 12th. In the last 30 days, onchain fees have soared by over 153%, from a prior rate of $4.65 per transfer to a current average of $11.80 per transaction. The data highlights a substantial surge in the costs
Bitcoin (BTC) saw considerable volatility between April 25 and May 1, ranging between $27,200 and $30,000. From a trading perspective, the 10.5% move sounds alarming, resulting in $340 million in leveraged BTC futures contract liquidations. However, from a broader angle, Bitcoin price is up 72% year-to-date in 2023, while the S&P 500 stock market index
JPMorgan Chase emerged as the winner in the auction to acquire the deposits and a “substantial majority of assets” of the troubled bank First Republic. This marked the failure of the third regional bank in the United States since March and laid open the vulnerabilities in the legacy banking system. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) has risen
Gary Gensler, the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) chair, recently appeared before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee for a hearing regarding his leadership of the regulatory agency. The hearing, with Gensler as the only witness, promised to be unpleasant for the SEC chair, with the federal agency’s actions during Gensler’s leadership
Your biweekly roundup of cool AI stuff and its impact on society and the future. The past two months have seen a Cambrian explosion in the capabilities and potential of AI technology. OpenAI’s upgraded chatbot GPT-4 was released in mid-March and aced all of its exams, although it’s apparently a pretty average sommelier. Midjourney v5
