Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff claims that the cryptocurrency's price could fall further if it falls below $60,000. Schiff stated that new investors are not used to the volatile nature of Bitcoin and this could be an "unpleasant awakening" for them. He also pointed to the $60,000 level as the most important psychological line that BTC must protect to prevent further declines.

On the other hand, commenting on gold, Schiff stated that the safe haven asset fell from its all-time high of $2,425/oz to below $2,300 in a few weeks. However, gold recovered from this decline and is currently trading above $2,320. Schiff believes the worst is over for gold and sees $2,300 as a new support level that won't be broken anytime soon. He also predicts another BTC correction, predicting the precious metal will soon rise above $2,400.

Bitcoin price remained above $66,000 for several days and pushed $67,000 several times without success. The ensuing rejection compounded the pain for bulls and those overleveraged in long positions, increasing the total value of liquidations by more than $200 million on a daily basis.

However, altcoins also have a big say in this matter, as many of them have fallen more than bitcoin.

Last week was quite painful for the major cryptocurrency as the asset fell below $60,000 on two separate occasions amid rising tensions between Iran and Israel.

Iran, which first said it would not retaliate, caused the price of bitcoin to gain a lot of value and rise to approximately $65,000 when the fourth halving was completed.

Since then, BTC has continued to gain value and rose above $67,000 on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. However, the bears stepped in at this point and reversed bitcoin's trajectory.

Within hours, the asset fell to $64,500 and another decline pushed it below $63,600, a multi-day low. Despite recovering a few hundred thousand dollars since then, BTC is still in the red, just above $64,000.

More painful declines are seen in Solana (-7%), Toncoin (-7%), Dogecoin (-7%), Avalanche (-10%), Shiba Inu (-8%) and many others.

Therefore, it is no surprise that almost 100,000 traders went bankrupt in the last day and most of them were holding long positions. The total value of liquidations on a daily basis at CoinGlass is just over $210 million.

Standard Chartered Bank analyst Geoff Kendrick believes that Bitcoin (BTC) will enter an uptrend after leveraged positions decrease. In an interview with BNN Bloomberg over the weekend, Kendrick said a less leveraged market environment could push BTC's value toward its year-end target of $150,000.

The week before the Bitcoin halving weekend, when tensions in the Middle East escalated, ended with millions of liquidations in short and long positions. BTC dropped by almost ten thousand dollars as news spread about Iran's attacks on Israel.

Kendrick said that the liquidation of leveraged positions has opened a path for the crypto market to move into an uptrend and is poised to rise from its current position. Since the market is entering the halving in terms of leverage, it can jump to new levels and increase.

Kendrick also stated that less leveraged positions in the market, as well as positive news entering spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the Iran-Israel situation, could trigger BTC's rise.

Standard Chartered analysts expect capital inflows of $50-100 billion in the next 18-24 months as the market matures. Kendrick compared the Bitcoin ETF space to gold, predicting that it could grow 4.3 times as inflows continue over time, pushing BTC to $150,000 by the end of 2024 and $200,000 in 2025.

On the other hand, Standard Chartered has predicted that BTC could reach $250,000 in 2025 if Bitcoin ETF inflows reach the $75 billion midpoint forecast.

Balaji Srinivasan, popular venture investor and former CTO of Coinbase, believes that Bitcoin Maximalism will gain strength as a philosophical and economic belief system.

He argued that faith in the current financial system will erode over time as US dollar inflation pushes a new generation towards Bitcoin. Consumer inflation in the U.S. rose to 3.5% in March, remaining well above the nation's 2% target for three years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Balaji claims that the Federal Reserve has raised the policy rate significantly to combat high prices, but this method brings harsh side effects for consumers.

Balaji believes the country's debt levels will lead to "massive money printing." This is a dangerous prospect, especially considering that 64% of young people aged 18-29 view inflation as the most important national problem.

Bitcoin maximalism is a movement and belief system that sees Bitcoin as superior to all other financial assets. This includes precious metals, fiat currencies, bonds, stocks, and even other cryptocurrencies.

“I'm not a maximalist, but Bitcoin Maximalism will rise,” he said.

São Paulo-based Nubank announced the ability to withdraw and deposit Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. With this new feature, customers will be able to send and receive Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana via the Nubank application.

Nubank initially supports three cryptocurrencies but plans to add more in the near future. According to the report by Livecoins, users are recommended to consider some important points before completing a transaction. For example, withdrawals may be subject to variable fees depending on the chosen network, and crypto transactions can take approximately 60 minutes.

This latest feature from Nubank is poised to further strengthen Brazil's growing crypto scene. Nubank, Latin America's largest fintech bank, has 80.4 million customers in Brazil and millions more in Mexico and Colombia. This marks a significant step in the mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrencies.

This development comes on the heels of Brazil's largest bank, Itau Unibanco, entering the cryptocurrency exchange in early December 2023. Brazil is one of the top Latin American countries with high levels of cryptocurrency adoption. It is also one of three countries showing strong “grassroots adoption” and ranks in the top 20 on Chainalysis' Global Crypto Adoption Index. 🚀🌐

Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX plans to sell its remaining Solana native tokens, SOLs, in an auction this week. 📈

People familiar with the matter said the bankruptcy estate will auction off an unspecified amount of SOL in hopes of a higher price than they could get from direct sales, people familiar with the matter said, according to a Bloomberg report.

Since FTX began divesting its SOLs through direct sales, it has attracted interest from major crypto firms such as Pantera Capital, Neptune Digital Assets Corp, and Galaxy Trading, a division of Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital.

Last month, bankruptcy estates sold between 25 million and 30 million locked SOLs for $64 each, netting as much as $1.9 billion. 🚀

The deadline for the auction is Wednesday, April 24, and the results will be announced on Thursday.

One of the companies showing interest in FTX's SOL blind auction is cryptocurrency exchange Figure Markets. Mike Cagney, the company's co-founder and CEO, announced that the company will create a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) open to non-US and US investors for auctions.

The SPV will accept investments in US dollars and Circle (USDC), and community consensus on offer prices will be determined on a $1:1 voting basis. The tool also allows retail investors and FTX lenders to participate in the auction with a minimum investment of $5,000, compared to the $5 million minimum investment set by commodities for direct sales.

FTX creditor activist Sunil Kavuri praised Cagney's approach to the auction, noting that the Sullivan & Cromwell law firm overseeing FTX's bankruptcy proceedings insisted on selling the locked SOLs to its customers at a heavy discount, despite objections from creditors.

The creator of the 'Bitcoin Power Law' model has published a chart detailing BTC price targets for the next few market cycles. The model predicts that Bitcoin will hit $218,875 at the cycle peak in November 2025 and $96,677 at the bottom in December 2026. 📈

Bitcoin Power Law is a long-term price model that predicts the future market value of Bitcoin as if it were subject to the laws of physics. The man behind the model - Giovanni Santostasi - is a former physics professor and believes that Bitcoin's long-term price trend follows a "power law" relationship over time.

Santostasi insists that the Power Law model is not a “model” at all, but a “complete and coherent theory” of what Bitcoin is and how it works. For example, power law's price basis is not based on technical analysis, but rather on the point of "mining physical" and "miner surrender".

Santostasi does not believe in popular price models such as Plan B's "stock-to-flow" model. This model attempts to predict the price of Bitcoin as a function of supply inflation, which decreases after each Bitcoin halving. 🚀

“S2F is profoundly wrong conceptually, logically, mathematically and structurally,” Santostasi said. "It really provides misinformation about Bitcoin, it's basically a magic trick and a lie."

Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, is offering a total of 10,000 FDUSD token voucher rewards to all users who have not traded on Binance Spot in the last 90 days. This promotion reflects the company's strategy to increase user engagement and adapt to market trends. 📈💰

To participate in the promotion, eligible users must accumulate a trading volume of at least $100 on select pairs. These pairs include DOGE/BTC, SHIB/EUR, SHIB/USDT, WIF/BTC, WIF/FDUSD, FLOKI/FDUSD, FLOKI/TRY, PEPE/FDUSD, PEPE/TRY and many more.

Token vouchers will be distributed to eligible users within 21 business days after the promotional period ends. This process will continue until May 5 and traders must claim their rewards before the expiration date.

Binance reserves the right to disqualify transactions deemed "prohibited activities". This includes situations such as churning, pump-and-dump schemes, ramping and other market manipulations.

Binance has previously turned to meme coins to improve user experience and respond to current market trends. Earlier this month, Binance Loans added 18 new loanable assets to its program, including dogwidhat (WIF) and Pepe (PEPE). In March, Floki Inu (FLOKI) and many other altcoins were introduced as creditable tokens.

DeGods, the NFT project with the highest market cap on Solana, is considering the possibility of returning to its original blockchain. Founder Rohan Vohra, alias 'Frank', shared a test image of bringing NFTs back to Solana, marking a potential return to the platform where he first gained popularity. When DeGods launched in late 2021, Solana's price was nearing its peak and the NFT ecosystem was growing rapidly. However, by the time Solana became Solana's most valuable large-scale NFT project, SOL had lost significant value and the overall NFT market had declined. DeGods first announced his departure from Solana in December 2022 and announced that he would be moving to Ethereum. Now, as the landscape may change again, the project is exploring the possibility of returning to its roots in Solana. This news sparked a variety of reactions, with some expressing skepticism and criticism towards the idea of ​​moving back and forth between blockchains.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has recommended a three-year prison sentence for Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao. The proposal comes after Zhao pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act in November last year. Zhao must serve 36 months in prison and pay a $50 million fine, according to documents filed by DOJ lawyers Tuesday night.

The DOJ criticized the adequacy of the Sentencing Guidelines in addressing violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, highlighting Zhao's awareness of Binance's legal violations and actively encouraging them. Zhao initially faced a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison under the terms of the agreement, but now faces the possibility of a much longer sentence.

On the other hand, Binance is facing its own consequences. With Zhao's guilty plea, Binance agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine and have a court-appointed monitor appointed. However, the appointment is still pending.

With a 20% price increase over the past week, Shiba Inu (SHIB) has surpassed major cryptocurrencies. 🚀 Positive developments for Meme coin include a significant increase in token burning rate and updates to Shibarium.

The cryptocurrency market has experienced a significant revival in the last week, with leading assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP) and Solana (SOL) in the green zone. Popular meme coin – Shiba Inu (SHIB) – recorded greater gains than these assets and its price increased by 20% on a 7-day scale.

SHIB exchange reserves fell this week to around 150 trillion assets, the lowest level recorded since February 2022, according to CryptoQuant. A decrease in this metric means fewer Shiba Inu tokens are available for trading, leading to increased scarcity and potential price appreciation (assuming demand increases or remains the same).

The increase in Shiba Inu cremation rate and the advancement of layer-2 blockchain solution – Shibarium – also suggest that the price of the asset may be poised to rise in the short term. Shibarium was officially introduced last summer and aims to encourage the development of the Shiba Inu. This is achieved by reducing transaction costs, increasing speed, and improving scalability. 🚀

Bitcoin attempted to surpass the $67,000 level but failed and is currently trading just below that level. 📉

Altcoins are in the green zone, with ETH jumping to $3,250 and TON regaining some of its recent losses. HBAR is today's top performer after interaction with BlackRock. 💹

Last week, the Bitcoin price experienced a huge fluctuation, especially due to the increasing tensions between Iran and Israel. However, after Iran recently announced that it would not retaliate, bitcoin took an aggressive stance, gaining more than $5,000 in value.

Bitcoin's market cap remains above $1.3 trillion, but its dominance over altcoins has fallen, falling to 50.7% in CG.

News broke yesterday that Hedera has partnered with Archax to tokenize BlackRock's ICS US Treasury money market fund on its blockchain. Markets immediately reacted with a massive increase for HBAR.

Total crypto market cap approached $2.6 trillion on CoinGecko.

Meme coins Bonk Inu, dogwifhat and others are experiencing significant price gains, while leaders Dogecoin and Shiba Inu show more modest gains. 📈

Following the recent Bitcoin halving, another possible rally is predicted for this asset class, which has historically led to market gains. 💰

Leading assets such as Bonk Inu (BONK), dogwifhat (WIF), Cat in a Dogs World (MEW), and BOOK OF MEME (COME) experienced daily price increases of 27%, 17%, 23%, and 12%, respectively.

The total market cap of the meme coin industry is now over $58.5 billion, representing a 4% increase compared to April 23.

Some analysts have suggested that SHIB, DOGE, WIF, and many other meme coins may experience a larger bull run in the near future. One clue that this scenario is possible is the Bitcoin halving that took place last week.

This event, in which miners' rewards for verifying blocks on the blockchain were halved, was the precursor to a major resurgence of the entire cryptocurrency market.

Traditional financial firms in the US are showing more interest in the cryptocurrency sector. Two investment advisors from Minnesota and Kansas, Legacy Wealth Asset Management and United Capital Management, have allocated 6% and 5% of their portfolios to the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), according to a tweet from Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.

These asset management firms invested over $20 million each in FBTC, ahead of a rival that invested $17 million in BlackRock's ETF.

Balchunas called these investments a "new high" for investments in Bitcoin ETFs, which he said is a great look for market participants hoping for long-term adoption.

On the other hand, a $40.8 million investment in FBTC increased spot Bitcoin ETF inflows and offset last week's outflows. On Monday, the spot Bitcoin ETF market recorded inflows of $62.2 million, with FBTC seeing the highest inflow at over $34.8 million.

Meanwhile, a student-managed investment fund allocated a higher portion of its portfolio to BTC. CryptoPotato reported that the Stanford Blyth Fund allocated 7% of its portfolio to Bitcoin following a BTC purchase. 🚀📈

Zircuit, an EVM-compatible ZK Rollup, has reached a milestone of staking Total Value Locked (TVL) exceeding $2 billion. This comes after users deposited more than $80 million into the project in the last 24 hours.

🔹 The mainnet is expected to launch later this summer, but is still in the test network phase.

🔹 Zircuit announced its staking program on February 24. It allows users to participate in the project's ecosystem and earn Zircuit points by staking various assets such as ETH and ezETH from Renzo Protocol, rswETH from Swell Network, rsETH from Kelp DAO, LsEtH from Liquid Collective, and stETH from Lido Finance.

🔹 According to Dune Analytics, 544,716 ETH, liquid staking tokens (LSTs) and liquid restaking tokens (LRTs) were invested in the project. Additionally, the network holds over $186.4 million in stablecoins, mostly Ethena's yield-generating USDe token.

🔹 Zircuit points, along with the returns and points generated by invested assets, are expected to make their holders eligible for a future air discount. Following the launch of the mainnet, those who move their assets to the Zircuit Mainnet will receive the highest rewards. Meanwhile, users can withdraw their holdings at any time, as ETH is not hard-locked like other protocols like Mantle.

🔹 Additionally, the project introduced its “Build to Win” program on March 27, encouraging developers to build infrastructure and tools or deploy decentralized applications (dApps) on Zircuit's testnet, which launched in November.

🔹 On the other hand, Zircuit passed the $500M TVL mark on March 8, highlighting its increasing adoption over time. In particular, its traction ahead of its mainnet launch is reminiscent of Blast's meteoric rise last year.

🔹 However, unlike Zircuit, Blast allows users to withdraw deposits previously placed on the mainnet at any time, providing increased flexibility and liquidity.

Zircuit's TVL Exceeds $2B Ahead of Summer Mainnet Launch. 🚀

Jack Dorsey's fintech company Block Inc. announced that it has completed development of an advanced Bitcoin mining chip. This is an important milestone for the company's mining project. 🎉

Block's three-nanometer (3nm) Bitcoin mining chip is in the process of completing full design release with a leading semiconductor foundry.

“Our mining chip will use the most advanced semiconductor process currently available, delivering the performance that will enable all mining operators to survive and thrive in the fifth mining era (the period after the last 4th halving of the block subsidy) and beyond,” said Block.

Block continues to incorporate feedback from Bitcoin and the mining industry into its chip design. At launch, the company will be the first Bitcoin mining hardware supplier with this type of solution.

Additionally, apart from the mining chip itself, the company is working on a full Bitcoin mining system of its own design. The company is still seeking design feedback on this system in areas related to reliability, maintainability and software features.

Jack Dorsey and Block also helped Bitcoin development in other ways, such as providing legal protection funding for Bitcoin developers and pioneering Bitcoin-based tips on Twitter.

Block also introduced a Bitcoin hardware wallet called “Bitkey” last year, which provides multi-signature cold storage Bitcoin storage in a usable way for crypto beginners.

Venezuela's state-owned oil and gas company PDVSA plans to accelerate the use of USDT, especially the stablecoin with the highest market value, to circumvent US sanctions. The Venezuelan oil company, which began integrating USDT for oil sales in 2023, has implemented a new policy requiring new customers to have a digital wallet holding cryptocurrency. 🛢️💱

PDVSA reportedly plans to accelerate the use of USDT for crude and fuel exports after the United States refused to renew the general license that temporarily lifted sanctions on Venezuela's oil and gas sector. With the reimposition of sanctions, PDVSA wants to increase its use of USDT to circumvent oil and gas sanctions. 🚫🇺🇸

In the first quarter of 2024, the Venezuelan oil company switched to a new contract model that requires half the value of each load to be paid up front in USDT. PDVSA also requires new customers to have a digital wallet holding cryptocurrency.

This isn't the first time Venezuela has turned to cryptocurrency to evade US sanctions. In 2018, the government introduced a state-owned, oil-backed cryptocurrency called the Petro. However, the Petro has not been widely adopted and has come under increasing criticism within and outside Venezuela.

Polkadot introduced the Join-Accumulate Machine (JAM) protocol, which combines Ethereum features and aims to increase blockchain efficiency and scalability. Approval of the protocol will be made by the community. 🌐🔄

The update of Acala Network and the potential $8.8 million sponsorship deal with Inter Miami CF are among the important developments for the protocol. ⚽💰

Polkadot's latest developments reveal the remarkable aspects of the blockchain protocol. JAM combines Ethereum's smart contract environment with the scalable node network pioneered by Polkadot.

It will also include a service that supports existing parachains, allowing developers to continue using Substrate for blockchain deployment.

Some of Polkadot's top parachains have also experienced significant developments. Acala Network announced the Sinai Upgrade, which aims to strengthen the platform's position as a liquidity layer in the Web3 space.

Almost a week ago, Inter Miami CF's Marketing and Media Rights President Nico Zini announced that the American football team could sign an $8.8 million sponsorship deal with Polkadot.

The number of XRP wallets is approaching an all-time high, reflecting increased investor interest. Ripple's final round of hearings with the SEC and Bitcoin's halving are expected to significantly impact the price movement of the asset. 📈🚀

For the last few months, the price of Ripple's XRP has been hovering around the $0.45-$0.70 range, far from its former glory days. However, many investors saw these rates as a buying opportunity and increased their exposure to the asset.

Market intelligence platform Santiment announced that the number of wallets holding at least 1 million XRP tokens has increased in the last six weeks and finally reached 2,013. This figure is just one wallet away from the all-time high recorded in June 2023.

Many cryptocurrency analysts are stating that Ripple's native token is poised for a significant price movement due to the upcoming hearing between the company and the US SEC.

The trial will begin today (April 23) and could positively impact the value of XRP in the event of Ripple's victory. An opposite scenario could result in the price dropping and strict crypto-related rules being implemented.

Another noteworthy element is the Bitcoin halving that took place last week. This event, in which miners' rewards are halved, has historically been the precursor to a major BTC rally and overall market revival.

During the previous halving in 2020, the value of XPR was below $0.20, a year later it jumped to almost $2.

Terraform Labs (TFL) and its founder Do Kwon are under pressure to pay a total of $5.3 billion in damages for fraud related to the defunct Terra blockchain.

In an April 19 filing, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) demanded that Kwon and his company pay nearly $4.2 billion in ill-gotten gains and nearly $546 million in prejudgment interest after losing on all charges in the case against the regulator earlier this month.

The agency demanded that Terraform and Do Kwon pay a civil penalty of $420 million and $100 million, respectively, in addition to the ill-gotten gains charges.

If the court grants this request, the case could go down in history as the largest crypto-related enforcement action, surpassing the Justice Department's $4.3 billion settlement with Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, in February.

While Binance's accusations at the time were related to a lack of anti-money laundering controls, TFL's case was related to securities law violations and defrauding investors.

Kwon opposed any restraining measures against him, claiming there was no evidence that Kwon would repeat the same "alleged" behavior.

Kwon's lawyers also argued that the unfair profit penalties were unfair on the grounds that Kwon had not made any illegal profits from his scheme, regardless of TFL's earnings.

As for civil penalties, Kwon's attorneys argued he should be charged just over $800,000.

🔒🚀