Bitcoin's halving event and the recent approval of Bitcoin ETFs by the U.S. SEC could indirectly affect future crypto regulations, according to Natalia Latka, policy director at blockchain analysis firm Merkle Science. Increased volatility and energy consumption concerns could lead to regulatory scrutiny, particularly around market stability, investor protection, and sustainability. Meanwhile, the U.S. law remains unclear on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, leading to a situation of "regulation through enforcement." In the U.K., the phased implementation of existing regulations to crypto assets creates confusion and legal uncertainty for businesses. In Europe, despite a more comprehensive regulatory framework, further clarifications are still required.

The Pax Dollar (USDP) stablecoin recently experienced a brief surge in price due to issues with pricing aggregators, not the protocol itself, according to a Paxos spokesperson. The stablecoin's price jumped to $1.29 on April 16, before returning to $1 within three hours. This depegging occurred during a significant market cap increase for USDP, which briefly rose from a $140 million market cap to a $181 million market capitalization. Despite the temporary price fluctuation, USDP will always remain redeemable at fair value via Paxos. An unknown trader was liquidated for $529,000 worth of Circle’s USDC on April 16, shortly after the Pax Dollar surged to $1.18.

Crypto trading volumes on centralized exchanges (CEXs) like Binance have surged since late 2023, with many tripling their monthly volumes by March 2024, according to Bybit's Institutional Report 2024. OKX saw a 278% increase, Binance a 239% rise, and Bybit itself grew by 264%. These figures surpass the industry average growth rate of 255%. Coinbase lagged slightly behind with a 193% increase. The report suggests that the growth was driven by price rallies of Bitcoin and Ether following the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S. Despite OKX's rapid growth, Binance remains the largest CEX by market share.

Traditional finance firms are increasingly tokenizing financial assets on public blockchains, according to RippleX's senior VP, Markus Infanger. He suggests that the future value of tokenized markets could reach $16 trillion, dwarfing the current total market cap of the cryptocurrency sector. Ripple is reportedly in advanced talks with various financial institutions about tokenization projects on the XRP Ledger. The company is also planning to issue its own U.S. dollar stablecoin on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum, as it expands its offerings to both traditional finance and decentralized finance players.

Swedish crypto miners are facing a hefty tax bill of over $90 million following investigations by the Swedish Tax Agency, Skatteverket. The agency found that 18 out of 21 crypto-mining firms had submitted "misleading or incomplete" information to gain tax benefits. These firms are accused of avoiding Value Added Taxes (VAT) on taxable operations, import taxes on mining equipment, and income tax on mining revenue. Despite appeals, the administrative court upheld the tax demand for most firms. This comes as crypto mining firm Hive Digital Technologies expands its operations in Sweden, emphasizing its commitment to green energy practices.

Binance, the crypto exchange giant, is set to make a comeback in India after a four-month ban. The company will reportedly pay a $2 million fine for non-compliance. This move makes Binance the second overseas exchange to return to India after KuCoin, following a block by the country's financial regulatory body due to non-compliance. Previously, Binance accounted for over 90% of India's crypto trading volume. Now, with registration from the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Binance and other foreign exchanges must adhere to the same rules as Indian exchanges, including a 1% tax deduction at source.

The Omni Network's token, OMNI, plummeted by over 55% just 18 hours after its airdrop, erasing more than half its market cap. A fake token with the same name was also "rug pulled," with its price dropping 100%. The layer-1 testnet blockchain, which aims to connect Ethereum rollups, distributed 3 million OMNI, or 3% of its 100 million token supply, to its community contributors on April 17. The token's price has continued to slide since the airdrop, with its current market cap at $267.5 million. Meanwhile, a fake OMNI token's developers have reportedly pulled a $398,000 exit scam.

Former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith, who was sentenced to 63 months in prison in 2022 for aiding North Korea in using blockchain technology, has requested a sentence reduction. The plea, made by his attorney Glen Garrett McGorty, is based on new U.S. sentencing guidelines that offer a two-point offense level reduction for certain "zero-point" offenders. Griffith, who was also fined $100,000, is argued to qualify for this reduction, potentially shaving a year or more off his sentence. The court is requested to order a revised pre-sentence investigation report and schedule a resentencing hearing.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler recently fooled many into thinking he was resigning, only to clarify he's "not done." His posts, viewed over 1.1 million times, highlighted the SEC's 2,000+ enforcement actions under his leadership. Gensler's tenure has seen crypto-related enforcement actions reach a 10-year high, with 46 actions against crypto firms in 2021, doubling from the previous year. Critics argue Gensler is taking a "regulation by enforcement" approach to crypto, while he insists companies should "come into compliance." Gensler, nominated by President Biden, could serve as SEC Chair until April 2026.

Google Trends data shows that interest in 'Bitcoin halving' has hit an all-time high, with predictions suggesting it will double from its 2020 peak by the end of the month. Bitcoin halving, which refers to the halving of rewards paid to miners, is set to occur around 4am UTC on April 20. The highest interest in this event comes from Nigeria, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Cyprus. This surge in interest is not surprising given Bitcoin's strong performance in recent months, despite a recent dip in price. Some market commentators suggest a significant rally could follow the halving.

US Senator Elizabeth Warren has urged Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to adopt more comprehensive Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) measures for stablecoins. In a letter, Warren supported the Treasury's proposal to expand its sanctions powers to blockchain validator node operators. She emphasized that these authorities must be included in any legislation to regulate the $157 billion stablecoin market. Warren's comments were not in reference to the recent stablecoin bill introduced by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis, but rather a forthcoming bill from the House of Representatives.

Bitcoin's price continues to drop ahead of the eagerly anticipated Bitcoin halving event on April 20. The cryptocurrency fell 7.5% to an intra-day low of $59,648 on April 17. The price correction has been attributed to a variety of factors, including a lack of demand for Bitcoin ETFs, a strengthening U.S. Dollar Index, and a weakening technical setup. The U.S. Dollar Index rose 2.56% to a six-month high on April 16, its best five-day run in 14 months. Meanwhile, Bitcoin's crucial support at $62,000 has flipped into resistance. The path with the least resistance for Bitcoin is currently downward.

Anthony Pompliano, founder of Pomp Investments, has reiterated his bullish stance on Bitcoin (BTC), stating that its sound monetary principles will make it bigger than gold. Despite recent market downturns, Pompliano believes Bitcoin will lead the recovery and continue to perform well for another four-year cycle after the upcoming halving. He also highlighted that Bitcoin and gold are assets "outside the system that no one can create more of," making them sound investments. Pompliano advises investors to consider Bitcoin as a "savings technology" and to practice dollar-cost averaging for long-term gains.

Crypto-friendly Democratic candidates in Alabama and Texas have received a $3.7 million boost from the Protect Progress Super PAC, which is backed by Coinbase and Ripple Labs. Shomari Figures, who won the Democratic runoff for Alabama's 2nd Congressional District, received around $1.7 million from the PAC between July 2023 and February 2024. Figures' campaign, which promotes blockchain technology and addresses regulatory concerns about digital assets, raised about $400,000. Protect Progress also allocated roughly $1 million to support Julie Johnson's bid for Texas' 32nd Congressional District. Johnson's campaign emphasizes the need for the U.S. to lead in crypto and blockchain technology development.

Bitcoin's price briefly dipped below $60,000 ahead of the much-anticipated Bitcoin halving, but traders remain optimistic about its long-term outlook. Despite being in the pre-halving "danger zone" for a month, Bitcoin reclaimed a key moving average indicator that has historically signaled the start of bull runs. The recent price correction has reset key technical indicators, suggesting Bitcoin is no longer overbought. The current drawdown is viewed as a healthy correction, with the outlook for the next 18 months remaining bullish. Continued inflows from the 10 spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US and the recent approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in Hong Kong are also expected to drive a post-halving rally.

MeWe CEO Jeffrey Edell suggests that the controversy surrounding TikTok's data privacy could be avoided by using blockchain technology. Amid concerns that TikTok's owner, ByteDance, has shared sensitive user data with the Chinese government, Edell argues that decentralization could protect user privacy. He believes that companies should set strict guidelines for handling personal data and digital identity. MeWe transitioned to the Frequency blockchain network in April 2023, demonstrating that it's possible for social media platforms to give users control over their data without compromising functionality.

Veyond Metaverse, a medtech firm, is extending its telepresence platform to Apple's Vision Pro headset. The company, known for conducting the first "digital surgery" in 2023, offers real-time translation and remote communication services. Veyond Metaverse's move into the high-end medical telepresence market comes as the demand for new doctors outstrips the global cadaver supply. The company's platform allows experts to assist in surgeries remotely, while the on-site surgeon conducts the physical procedures. The firm also offers immersive educational experiences, using augmented reality and haptic feedback devices to train students.

NASA is using VR technology and the metaverse to train astronauts for life on a lunar space station, currently under development. Meanwhile, Ubisoft is nearing the release of its first blockchain-based game, Champions Tactics Grimoria, teased at Paris Blockchain Week. In NFT news, the floor price of Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs has dropped over 90% from its peak to 11.1 Ether (ETH), its lowest since August 2021. Lastly, VeChain is partnering with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to tokenize fighters' gloves, tracking their identities on the VeChainThor network.

Addressable, a tech company, has partnered with mobile analytics platform AppsFlyer to enhance marketing campaigns for Web3 applications. The partnership aims to solve user acquisition challenges in the crypto ecosystem by connecting wallets to social media profiles for targeted advertising. Addressable's platform allows advertisers to target specific Web3 wallets from different Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) chains. The company currently supports seven different EVM chains, including BNB, Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, and Avalanche. The integration with AppsFlyer will allow clients to tap into data from Web3 mobile platforms and target users of these mobile applications.

BytePlus, the tech division of TikTok's parent company ByteDance, is diving into Web3 through a strategic partnership with Mysten Labs, creators of the Sui layer-1 blockchain. The collaboration will leverage BytePlus's AI and data warehousing expertise to bolster the Sui ecosystem, focusing on Web3 gaming and SocialFi projects. BytePlus's solutions, including its cloud-native data warehouse ByteHouse, will be integrated with Sui's full-node data, potentially enhancing Sui's analytics capabilities. This partnership could revolutionize data analytics in the Web3 space, according to Mysten Labs' CEO.