ETH hits 7-month high ahead of Shanghai and Capella upgrades

Ether (ETH) has breached $1,900 for the first time in over seven months, a week before staking withdrawals are enabled in the next major update for the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. CoinMarketCap data shows the last time Ether was over $1,900 was on Aug. 16, 2022, amid a broader crypto sell-off at a time when the United States Federal Reserve was hiking the Federal Funds rate at a record pace to combat inflation. The Ethereum Shanghai hard fork, set to occur on April 12, will implement EIP-4895 — allowing…

Malaysia enlists China to help end USD dependence for trade

China and Malaysia are considering moving forward on discussions regarding an Asian Monetary Fund as distancing from U.S. dollar hegemony becomes a greater priority in the region. On April 4, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reportedly said China was open to a proposal to set up an Asian Monetary Fund. The concept of the Asian-focused fund was floated at a forum on the Chinese island province of Hainan last week according to Bloomberg. According to Ibrahim, China’s President Xi Jinping welcomed discussions on a proposed agency to help the two…

ECB Member Fabio Panetta Claims Rising Profit Margins Could Be Fueling Inflation – Economics Bitcoin News

Fabio Panetta, a member of the executive board of the European Central Bank (ECB), has stated that companies increasing their profit margins could be helping to fuel inflation. In an interview with the New York Times, Panetta warned about the effect that companies increasing such margins could have on inflation levels in the long term. ECB’s Panetta Links Profit Margins With Inflation Fabio Panetta, a member of the executive board of the European Central Bank (ECB) and former deputy governor of the Bank of Italy, has brought attention to the…

As Bitcoin Platform Paxful Closes, Co-Founder Youssef Talks Up Alternatives

“We spent millions on compliance, but even that still wasn’t enough,” Youssef told CoinDesk in an interview. “And then to make things worse, in the middle of January,” he went on, “my co-founder decided to sue the company and myself. The litigation got really nasty and he scared away our best people. My entire chief level staff resigned. I had no operational staff.” Original

Multiple US state regulators allege AI trading dApp is a Ponzi scheme

Securities regulators from Montana, Texas, and Alabama have jointly filed enforcement actions against cryptocurrency trading platform YieldTrust.ai alleging it is “perpetrating a Ponzi scheme.” According to April 4 statements from the Montanian, Texan and Alabamian regulators, YieldTrust.ai and its Romanian owner, Stefan Ciopraga, claimed the decentralized application (dApp) called “YieldBot” is “powered by cutting-edge artificial intelligence” and is “capable of executing 70 times more trades with 25 times higher profits than any human trader could.” The regulators alleged YieldTrust didn’t provide “any proof” to investors that the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered…

US Justice Department Seizes Cryptocurrency Worth $112 Million in ‘Pig Butchering’ Crackdown – Regulation Bitcoin News

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) says it has seized cryptocurrency worth over $112 million linked to fraudulent investment schemes known as “pig butchering.” According to court documents, the seized crypto accounts were allegedly “used to launder proceeds of various cryptocurrency confidence scams,” the Justice Department said. $112 Million in Crypto Seized by DOJ The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday that it has seized cryptocurrency worth more than $112 million “linked to cryptocurrency investment scams.” Noting that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Phoenix Division is investigating this…

Chilly DOGE, While Bitcoin Simmers Over $28.6K

Pagoulatos saw BTC’s dip Monday following the rumor as a flight to safety. “When people are trading bitcoins, they’re gonna be trading on places like Binance, Coinbase, Bybit,” he said. “And when there’s rumors of, say, the CEO of the biggest exchange being a wanted fugitive, people are obviously going to want to withdraw their money, sell their bitcoin, get it off as fast as possible.” Original

Marathon Digital posts quarterly record of 2,195 Bitcoin mined in Q1

Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Marathon Digital reported a quarterly record of 2,195 BTC mined over the first quarter of 2023, currently worth around $62 million. Marathon explained in an April 3 update that the 2,195 mined BTC is a 74% increase from the first quarter of last year and a 41% increase from Q4 2022. It comes on the back of the miner increasing its operational hash rate by 195% from Q1 2022. Marathon also recorded a monthly record of 825 BTC mined in March — currently valued at around…

Seoul Takes Control Over $160 Million in Assets of Former Terraform Employees, Founder – Bitcoin News

Authorities in South Korea have reportedly seized assets worth billions of won belonging to former representatives of Terraform Labs. The measure should prevent suspects in the case with the failed blockchain firm from selling property that may have been obtained with criminal proceeds. South Korean Law Enforcement Moves to Seize Terraform-Linked Real Estate, Report Prosecutors in South Korea have so far established control over 210 billion won (nearly $160 million) in assets owned by employees and executives of Terraform Labs, the company behind the collapsed cryptocurrency luna and stablecoin terrausd,…

Unbeatable Welcome Offer for New Players on BitSpinCasino – Promoted Bitcoin News

Step into the Cosmic World of Gaming with BitspinCasino’s Welcome Offer of up to 3 BTC. A Cosmic Entrance: New Players Get up to Free BitspinCasino, the new online casino that promises to take players on a journey through the cosmos, has made a grand entrance into the online gaming world. The casino is offering an unbeatable welcome offer of up to for players to play for free. New players are being offered a whopping 110% deposit bonus for their first three deposits, with a chance to get up to…