Billions are liquidated on the crypto market, El Salvador’s BTC wallet goes down and if you don’t understand Bitcoin, are you too old? These stories and more this week in crypto.
In a sudden crash this week, Bitcoin’s price lost over $7,000 in minutes, continuing downward until trading at about $10,000 less than it had just 2 hours before. A whopping $2.6 billion was liquidated in less than an hour as the entire market bled out with many altcoins suffering double digit percentage losses from their value.
After formally integrating bitcoin as legal tender this week, El Salvador’s Chivo wallet system—which allows users to house their digital assets—went down, meaning individuals were unable to gain access to their currency to withdraw it for necessary purchases. On the same day President Nayib Bukele shared that the country purchased 400 bitcoin in the recent dip.
Popular crypto exchange Coinbase has come under fire from the SEC for its new Lend program, which would allow crypto holders to earn interest on any assets they lend out to borrowers. The regulatory agency expressed its intent to sue Coinbase should the exchange move forward with the program given that it violates present securities laws.
Beyond El Salvador, both Honduras and Guatemala have begun researching blockchain technology with the intent of one day releasing bank-issued digital currencies for residents to use. Meanwhile, Panama has introduced a bill in its Congress that if passed, would take a page right out of El Salvador’s playbook, legalizing bitcoin as a national currency.
Ukraine is the latest country to both legalize and regulate cryptocurrency. The nation’s parliament introduced a bill designed to permit further crypto activity while also protecting investors from fraud and malicious actors. The bill was passed almost unanimously this week, and implements regulations designed to keep crypto fans within the nation’s borders safe from scams.
One of the world’s leading banks, Standard Chartered, said in a recent report that it values Ethereum at price per coin of between $26K to $35K ‘structurally.” The institution also believes that ETH will begin gaining ground on Bitcoin but only as the latter reaches the peak of this cycle, which it estimates to be at about $175K.
Lee Cooperman, a US billionaire investor recently indicated that those who fail to understand the cryptocurrency might just be too old. Speaking to CNBC, he maintained his position that bitcoin “does not make a great deal of sense.” However, he also noted that his age could be the factor that prevents him from understanding it.
That’s what’s happened this week in crypto, see you next week.
