The fight over cryptocurrency privacy has just gotten serious. Several regulatory updates from around the world have sparked heat in the crypto community this week, encouraging people to band together against tyrant-like measures from the DOJ, FBI, SEC, European lawmakers, and others. While countries fight to regulate crypto services out of business, in traditional finance, banks are struggling, and it is unclear whether we will see a continuation of the 2023 crisis, and if that will be bullish for Bitcoin and the company.
Top Story
Western Regulators Are After Private Crypto Transactions
On Thursday, the FBI issued a warning against using unregistered cryptocurrency money services businesses. The agency stated that using any crypto or other financial service that does not require KYC (know your customer) before sending money can be considered illegal. Naturally, the crypto community reacted impulsively, pointing out that regulators are attempting to kill decentralization and privacy.
The announcement came only one day after the DOJ arrested the founders of the Bitcoin mixer "Samourai Wallet" for allegedly handling $100 million in money laundering transactions. Following these two events, several well-known Bitcoin wallets pulled their services out from app stores in the United States.
More Related News:
- EU Passes New AML Rules Package, Also Targeting Crypto
- Oklahoma Has Passed A New Law To Protect Bitcoin Ownership
Market Updates
ETFs: Hong Kong, Ethereum, 100% Haircut For Loans
Crypto ETFs have been the driving force in this year's rally and they never miss a chance to be in the spotlight. This past week saw the end of the legendary BlackRock's IBIT 71-day inflow streak, as Bitcoin ETFs saw a net outflow of $120 million. Furthermore, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) released an announcement with two key details for crypto.
- Investment Vehicles (e.g. ETFs) Can't Use Crypto As Loan Collateral (100% Haircut)
- Franklin Templeton Has Listed Its Spot Ether ETF On The DTCC Site
Meanwhile, in Asia, Hong Kong Bitcoin and Ether ETFs will begin trading on April 30, providing retail and institutional investors with a safer and more convenient way to invest in digital assets within a regulated framework. You can track ETF inflows on the SoC Bitcoin ETF Tracker.
New U.S. Bank Crisis. Bullish For Crypto?
The U.S. banking sector was shaken by Republic First Bank's collapse, marking the first failure of 2024. Investors immediately began speculating if there would be a repeat of last year's playbook and if Bitcoin could benefit from the chaos. In 2023, even rumors of possible banking failures saw slight spikes in Bitcoin's price shortly after. So far the market has been neutral following the news. Some analysts are paying closer attention to the shift in the ETH/BTC pair and the overall rate of Bitcoin dominance.
Rumors For A Big Crypto Airdrop
David Hoffman, the co-founder of Bankless, posted on X (Twitter) on Saturday, implying that the coming week will be "big". The community immediately took the bait and began to speculate on whether some of the long-awaited big airdrops would be announced.The majority of the community bet on zkSync's $ZK, while others cited Hoffman's success in predicting Arbitrum and Starknet drops a week before the official announcements.
On another part of crypto Twitter, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin posted a cryptic message (most likely as a joke) containing several mathematical equations that do not make sense. The tweet was received positively by the community and interpreted as a bullish signal.
MORE BITE-SIZED STACKS
DeFi
- Transfering $550M Worth Of Bitcoin With Only $19 Fees
- Renzo Increases Airdrop Allocation After ezETH Depeg
Courtroom
- Consensys Sues SEC to Defend the U.S. Ethereum Community
- DOJ Challenges Motion To Dismiss Tornado Cash Founder's Charges
Institutions
- Pantera Capital Seeks to Raise $1 Billion For a Crypto Fund
- Stripe Brings Crypto Payments Via USDC On Solana, Ethereum, Polygon
- Oldest US Bank Invests In Bitcoin ETFs, SEC Filing Shows
Misc
- 'Buy Bitcoin' Sign Held at Janet Yellen's 2017 Speech Sells for $1M
- Eminem Replaces Matt Damon as Crypto.com Celebrity
- CryptoPunk Sells For 4,000 ETH ($12.41M), Sixth-Most Expensive Ever
Airdrop Announcements
- Saga Tease Their Followers That Airdrop Screenshot Was Taken
- KaminoFinance To Release $KMNO On April 30
Tweets For Thought
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