The crypto markets witnessed a bloodbath last Saturday as $10 billion in crypto were liquidated in one hour while bitcoin plunged to $52,000 losing more than 10% of its value, according to Liquidation data by bybt.com.
Crypto News Recap: WWE Raw & Fashion Brands Join the NFT Party, Central Banks Race to Roll Out CBDCsAlthough Coinbase is making history with Nasdaq listing, with the markets radiating in red and fear peaks, not everyone is in a celebratory mood this week. I bet many of you are wondering the reason behind this. Well, it seems that a bunch of unfortunate events occurred this weekend. But no need to fuzz about it dear trader, it's neither the first time nor the last. The good ol' traders go numb every time BTC takes a dip ? It's the new traders leading the FUD.
Since money speaks louder than words let’s take a look at the major highlights of last week in the amazing world of crypto.
Here are 10 things you can buy with bitcoin: Check out video⬇️
Crypto Charts: Bitcoin
On 18 April, Bitcoin price suddenly fell to $52,000 losing almost $7,000 in a brutal hour.
As of the time of writing, the fastest asset to reach $1 trillion recovered to $56,617
Source: coinmarketcap.com
Amid the rush to understand what's going on, analysts pointed out 3 main reasons for the unexpected crash and FUD citing the hash rate crash in China and the Turkish central bank ban of crypto payment, and the third hay that broke bitcoin's uptrend was rumors from unknown sources about US regulators mulling to charge some unnamed "financial institutions" with crypto-related money laundering:
U.S. TREASURY TO CHARGE SEVERAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FOR MONEY LAUNDERING USING CRYPTOCURRENCIES -SOURCES
— FXHedge (@Fxhedgers) April 18, 2021
Crypto Charts
Source: coinmarketcap.com
Turkish central bank bans the use of cryptocurrencies for payments
In a sudden change of heart, Turkey's central bank decided to ban the use of crypto to pay for goods and services.
According to the announcement published in Turkey’s official Gazette, the country thinks that cryptocurrencies pose significant risks due to the volatile nature of it.
For those keeping score, earlier this year, Turkish Central Bank and legal government regulators announced the intentions to regulate cryptocurrencies as Turkish Ministry of Finance teamed up with the central bank and other two financial regulatory agencies. However, the ministry has expressed ‘some concerns about crypto and the state of crypto in Turkey’ back then.
As we reported earlier, the notable thing here is that Turkey has announced its intention to pilot a national central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2021. So it’s almost surprising to see Turkey bans crypto payments, or is it clearing the way to its CBDC? So what comes next? don't worry we’ll keep tabs on this one.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the Main Opposition in Turkey since 2010, tweeted his anger of this decision describing it as bully:
Yine bir geceyarısı zorbalığı, kurtulamadılar bu zihniyetten. İlla geceyarıları bir akılsızlık yapacaklar. Böyle kararlar verilmeden önce tüm paydaşlarla konuşulur. #Kripto kararını kime danıştın ey iktidar? Bu konunun tüm paydaşları ile oturup, istişarelerde bulunacağım.
— Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (@kilicdarogluk) April 16, 2021
Translation: Another midnight bullying, they could not get rid of this mentality. They make foolish noises at night. Before such decisions are made, all stakeholders must discuss.#Kripto. Whom did you consult your decision, O ruler? I will sit down and consult with all the stakeholders of this issue.
The legislation comes into force starting April 30th, per Reuter.
China coal mining accidents to be blamed for bitcoin's hashrate drop
The recent coal mine accidents that occurred in China had knocked out bitcoin's mining hash rate in the region as the authorities had to cut off power for big data centers in the area.
According to figures shared with CoinDesk, the four largest pools in the world: F2Pool, Antpool, BTC.com and Poolin, ‘have collectively lost 86% of their share of Bitcoin’s global hashrate over the last 24 hours’.
Bitcoin funding rate plunges to lowest levels in 7 months
In the aftermath, fear is spreading like wildfire in the crypto markets, as Bitcoin funding rate dropped to lowest levels last witnessed in September 2020.
The data gathered from Glassnode indicates that Bitcoin futures funding average rate across all exchanges has plummeted as low as around -0.03% on Sunday.
Source: Glassnode
If you're not sure what funding rate is check out ? ? 14 Crypto Terms You Must Know Before Trading!
Upcoming Activities
- Take a quiz! Earn $FIO Tokens
- Binance: Register an account at Crypto exchange Binance via gift link to receive a share of $100,000 in TRX, BTT, WIN, JST and SUN.
- Coinmarketcap: Take this quiz to earn $CKB Tokens.
- Drive Fiat 500 and earn crypto while you drive
Upcoming ICOs
- Deeper Network: This Silicon Valley project aims to build a more secure, private and fairer internet for everyone.
