Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies saw huge price drops over the weekend, while BTC's hash rate is being affected by power outages in China. These and more news stories are in this handy daily digest so you're always up to date with the latest events happening in the crypto world.
Cryptocurrencies and altcoins
📍Cryptocurrencies had a bloody weekend with falls of more than 20%. Bitcoin (BTC) la cryptocurrency BTC, the market leader, is down more than 12% in value at the time of writing. BTC, which hit an all-time high of $64.800 on April 14, is currently trading near $XNUMX. $56.800 per unit.
Ethereum (ETH), the second most valued cryptocurrency on the market, also shows falls of more than 11%, trading at a value of $2.260, after marking a high of $2.544 per unit. On the other hand, Dogecoin (DOGE), the meme token that surprised everyone with a growth of more than 300% this week, is also in the red at the time of this edition, trading at a value of $0,32 per unit.
📍At its all-time high above $64.000, Bitcoin managed to surpass the market capitalization of the world's oldest fiat currency: the British pound, with more than 1.200 years of history.
📍The hash rate Bitcoin's computing power, the network, reached a new high of 200 EH/s. According to data from GlassNode, the network hash rate reached 200 EH/s, breaking all previous records. However, the network's computing power is being severely affected by the power outages experienced by Bitcoin miners in China, as a result of security inspections being carried out in the Xinjiang province, which are causing a considerable decrease in mining power.
Wu Blockchain reported the incident on its Twitter account.
📍The total capitalization of the altcoins surpassed $1 trillion for the first time this weekend. According to data from CoinMarketCap, the altcoin market hit a record high of $XNUMX trillion. 1,11 trillions of dollars Saturday.
CBDC and Central Banks
📍According to Stefan Ingves, governor of Sweden's central bank, the country could see the arrival of a digital currency CBDC within 5 years. Ingves made these statements at the presentation of the reports on digital currency in Stockholm.
Sweden is already developing and testing its CBDC, called e-crown, a currency that will help the nation enter the new post-cash era, to maintain a privileged position among the major Western central banks, which are in search of effective solutions for an increasingly cashless society.
📍Meanwhile, Kazushige Kamiyama, head of payments at the Bank of Japan (BOJ), ensures that the digital yuan, China's CBDC digital currency, is not a threat to the United States. Kamiyama believes that the US dollar has ample qualities to remain the world's leading reserve currency, and that taking this position from it will not be so easy.
"The dollar's status as a key global currency will not change so easily."
Kamiyama also noted that if the United States opts for the digitalization of its currency, its position as a reserve currency will be strengthened in the global market. The US FED has announced the possible issuance of a digital dollar, and will hold a public consultation this year to obtain the opinion of interested parties on the development of this currency.
📍Monica Singer, director of ConsenSys in South Africa, said during the European Blockchain Convention, that the European Central Bank (ECB) will put itself at risk if it waits too long to create a CBDC for the euro. The company's executive believes that CBDCs will help central banks and governments to repair the errors of the traditional financial system, which in her opinion, is "broken."
Singer said that if the ECB were to wait until 2028 to issue its digital euro, no one would be using the euro in its current form until then, so by that year, there would likely be no central bank.
“If Europe's central bank is going to wait until 2028, there won't be a central bank by then. Because who is going to use the euro in its current form? There will be so many options.”
Cybersecurity
📍One security breach on the platform Celsius Network Celsius has allowed a malicious actor to access the email data of its customers, who are falling victim to numerous phishing attacks seeking to steal their funds. The Celsius community has proposed to start a compensation fund to help those customers who may have lost their crypto assets, while calling on customers of this cryptocurrency platform not to click on malicious links they receive in their emails, claiming to be from Celsius.
Rules and Regulations
📍In Turkey, the country's central bank bans the use of cryptocurrencies and digital assets in business transactions and payments. According to a Spanish President Pedro Sánchez’s announcement of the entity, the cryptocurrency holders They will not be able to use crypto assets in the provision of payment services and the issuance of electronic money, directly or indirectly, from April 30.
📍A local medium informs that Yuguda Licked, the head of Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is considering establishing a new regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies as the country's ban on this class of digital assets is wreaking havoc on markets and the local economy.
Although the established prohibitions remain in force in the country, the regulator considers it necessary to establish new regulations to improve the regulation of this growing market.
Continue reading: The total capitalization of cryptocurrencies exceeds 2,2 trillion dollars
