This week in the world of cryptocurrencies, the US CPI inflation numbers were released which brought attention to the impact on Bitcoin. In other news, Tether announced an impressive profit of $1.48 billion for the first quarter, while Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital reported a profit of $134 million during the same period.
Institutions such as PayPal, Goldman Sachs, MasterCard, and Robinhood played essential roles in driving cryptocurrency adoption. For instance, PayPal held nearly $1 billion in crypto, primarily BTC and ETH, and Goldman Sachs reported that family offices were increasing their crypto investments despite the market downturn.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Ireland Governor likened unbacked cryptocurrencies to a “Ponzi scheme” but conceded that “crypto is not going away very soon.” Furthermore, the Chinese CBDC set its sights on new applications in the realms of education and public transport.
Kazakhstan has collected approximately $7 million in taxes from cryptocurrency miners in 2021, while, in Brazil, a new chess tournament’s organizers announced they will reward winners with non-fungible tokens (NFTs). However, not all news was positive. Bittrex US filed for bankruptcy less than a month after the US SEC accused it of running an unregistered securities exchange, even though Bittrex processed $425 million in withdrawals since April 1.
Additionally, Apollo joined forces with NovaWulf to explore the acquisition of Celsius Network. Binance made headlines for moving a significant BTC stash between its crypto wallets and temporarily halting BTC withdrawals, citing network congestion. Moreover, the company’s NFT marketplace shared plans to support Bitcoin Ordinals later this month.
In the political realm, US President Joe Biden criticized “wealthy crypto investors” via Twitter. Lawmakers in the United States proposed the idea of regulating cryptocurrencies through a self-regulatory organization under the supervision of the SEC and CFTC. However, Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer pushed back on the SEC’s crypto custody rule proposal, and the Chamber of Commerce supported the company’s request for the SEC to establish regulations for crypto.
Despite an increase in regulations, leading crypto companies like Jane Street Group and Jump Crypto scaled down their digital asset trading activities in the US.
In legal news, crypto enthusiasts like Sam Bankman-Fried faced criminal charges, while Do Kwon pleaded not guilty to using false passports from Belgium and Costa Rica in a Montenegro court.
In conclusion, as the world of cryptocurrencies continues to evolve, the debate surrounding the pros and cons of this technology intensifies. Despite skeptics likening cryptocurrencies to Ponzi schemes and unrealized regulations hindering some operations, industry leaders continue to explore new opportunities, and institutional adoption increases. Crypto might not be going away anytime soon, but it’s essential to stay informed and weigh the risks and benefits before diving in.
Source: Cryptonews
