Bitcoin (BTC) Set New Local High
Over the past seven days, Bitcoin updated its current year’s local high. Last Friday, March 25, the value of the first cryptocurrency came close to the mark of $45 thousand. The price failed to hold this “height” for a long time, though no serious fallback happened — till the end of Sunday, the asset was trading above $44.000. On Sunday night, BTC began a serious growth, exceeding the mark of $47.000 earlier in the day. However, by Friday morning, April 1, Bitcoin quotes fell to $44.500.
Experts point out that investors’ expectations of further tightening of the Fed’s policy and maintaining inflation at a high level as the main reasons for the growth. Besides, the strengthening of cryptocurrencies contributed to the rise of US stock indexes and the activation of government regulators worldwide. Experts also attribute some rebound at the end of the week to investors’ anticipation of the March report on the state of the US labor market, which is scheduled for Friday. The report will largely determine the dynamics of the stock markets and, along with them, Bitcoin quotes.
Expert Opinions on Crypto Market
Views of prominent economists on the cryptocurrency market last week were divided into several categories.
Criticism by Crypto Skeptics
The current strategy of big investors was criticized by well-known crypto skeptic Peter Schiff, head of Euro Pacific Capital. In his view, cryptocurrencies can’t be used to hedge against inflation. He voiced this idea in a debate with Australian economist Steve Keen.
Schiff has consistently argued since 2011 that cryptocurrencies are a financial bubble and that their main weakness is their lack of real value, which is based solely on people’s trust. He admits that the price of Bitcoin will surpass the all-time high set last November, but sooner or later the bubble will pop anyway.
Crypto Optimists
But investors are not in a hurry to listen to the arguments of crypto skeptics. For example, word got out that MicroStrategy borrowed $205 million secured in BTC. The loan was issued by Silvergate Bank. According to the agreement, the loan funds will be used to buy Bitcoin, presumably from the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange.
The loan “gives us an opportunity to further our position as the leading public company investor in Bitcoin,” MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor said. By now, MicroStrategy is already the largest Bitcoin holder among public companies. It has about 125.000 BTC in its portfolio, worth about $6 billion today.
What Rich Dad Thinks
Investing in crypto also encourages famous investor and author Robert Kiyosaki. He believes that the US national debt is “skyrocketing” and the dollar may soon collapse, so investing in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana is necessary.
Statement by IMF Spokesman
Kiyosaki’s point of view is partially confirmed by Gita Gopinath, the First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF. She warns that the crisis caused by the conflict in Ukraine and the ensuing tightening of anti-Russian sanctions could reduce the dollar’s influence on international trade. The consequence will be an accelerated adoption of cryptocurrencies and CBDCs.
Ronin Blockchain Bridge Hacked
Last week saw a big event — a hacker breached the Ronin blockchain bridge and withdrew more than $625 million in digital assets. Representatives of the crypto project reported the incident. According to their data, the hacker identified a network vulnerability back on March 23, but his actions were noticed only on March 29, when one of the users could not withdraw his funds.
The Ronin Network has been temporarily suspended. An investigation is underway involving law enforcement officials, digital forensics and investors, as well as Chainalysis service specialists. The popular NFT game Axie Infinity operates on the Ronin blockchain, and its tokens (AXS) have already fallen in price by almost 20% amid the hack.
3 Large Crypto Integrations
Three major integrations were announced last week.
- The NFT platform OpenSea announced the addition of support for Solana blockchain tokens in April.
- The crypto wallet MetaMask is launching an integration with Apple Pay, which will make it possible to buy cryptocurrencies with bank cards.
- Opera browser developers added support for eight major blockchain ecosystems, including Bitcoin, Solana, Polygon, Celo, StarkEx, Nervos and the already mentioned Ronin. Opera’s EVP Mobile Jorgen Arnesen stressed that the company’s actions intentionally contribute to the mass adoption of crypto technology.
Note that this is not all the crypto news over the past week, but only a cursory overview of the most high-profile newsbreaks. More updates can be found on our website and social networks daily!
