News updates May 10, 2022

1. Bitcoin (BTC) Price Finds Support at $30K After Recent Bloodbath.   After a week of severe consolidation, Bitcoin (BTC) looks to have found support around the 2022 lows. Just over the $30,000 mark is where the token is trading at the moment. Concerns about growing inflation and interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve accounted for a large portion of BTC’s drop. As a result, BTC momentarily fell to $29,000 before regaining its previous level of $30,000.

2. 10-month BTC price lows spark $1B liquidation as Bitcoin eyes $35K CME futures gap
Long positions suffer across Bitcoin and altcoins as BTC gets sent back to exchanges for potential sale. 

Bitcoin (BTC) upended buy trends through May 10 as BTC/USD sank below $30,000 for the first time since July 2021.

Data from on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant showed exchange reserves start increasing as panic gripped crypto markets.

BTC flows back to exchanges
After seeing a sustained downtrend, the amount of BTC on major exchanges has begun to increase again.

According to CryptoQuant, which tracks the balance of 21 major exchanges, sellers sent a total of 37,537 BTC to accounts from May 6 to May 9 inclusive.

The deposits came as BTC price action fell from $36,000 to $29,700, subsequently recovering to near $32,000. 

3. El Salvador Made $1 Million on BTC Trading in 11 Hour: Here's How? 

The most recent purchase of 500 BTC made by El Salvador at approximately $30,000 has already turned a profit, and the country's president shows off the successful deal in his Twitter account.

 
According to the post, the country's balance is up to $1 million in only 11 hours right after buying many coins. But while Bukele brags about a successful deal, users rushed to remind the president that the country is down by approximately $20 million, since their average Bitcoin entry is around $45,000. El Salvador will profit from the Bitcoin position only after the first cryptocurrency rallies by approximately 40% from the price at which it trades now. The country started buying Bitcoin back in September when BTC was trading at around $50,000. 

4. $280 billion outflows Bitcoin’s market cap as it fails to capitalize on 2022 crypto adoption. 

While the current bearish pattern of the entire cryptocurrency market continues, its major asset, Bitcoin (BTC), has been recording steady losses in terms of price and market capitalization recently, but also since the year’s turn.

 
Indeed, since the beginning of 2022, the market capitalization of the flagship digital asset has gone from $883.89 billion where it stood on January 1, to $604.89 billion on May 10, as per CoinMarketCap data acquired by Finbold on May 10.

In other words, $279 billion has flowed away from Bitcoin’s market cap since the year’s start, reducing it by 31.57%. Declining Bitcoin price
Meanwhile, the DeFi asset’s dropping market cap coincides with its ever-decreasing price, which has also seen dramatic drops at the same time, decreasing from $46,726 on January 1 to $31,487 on May 10.

5. Queen's Speech: UK government to introduce bill to tackle illicit finance. 

The UK will introduce a bill to tackle illicit finance, Prince Charles said in the Queen's Speech, as he marked the opening of Parliament.

"A bill will be brought forward to further strengthen powers to tackle illicit finance, reduce economic crime and help businesses grow. Measures will be introduced to support the security services and help them protect the United Kingdom," he said.

There was no clear mention of cryptocurrencies, which were expected to be highlighted in the speech.

According to reporting by the Financial Times in February, the new bill will push forward powers for the government to seize crypto assets.

Earlier in the speech, Prince Charles said, "Measures will also be published to create new competition rules for digital markets, and the largest digital firms. "

The speech also highlighted a focus on the economy and on helping with the cost of living in the midst of the recent cost of living crisis. Further, the Bank of England will focus on returning inflation to its target.

The Queen’s Speech marks the start of a new Parliamentary session in the UK. The government writes and approves its content, which outlines upcoming government policy and the legislative program. This year marks a departure from tradition, however, as for the first time it was read by the Queen’s son, Prince Charles.

6. Binance Temporarily Suspends LUNA Withdrawals

Top cryptocurrency trading platform Binance has halted LUNA and UST withdrawals due to network congestion and slowness. Due to a significant volume of outstanding withdrawals, LUNA and UST withdrawals were suspended at 2:20 a.m. UTC on May 10. Withdrawals will resume once the network is stable and the volume of pending withdrawals has decreased, according to the exchange.

7. Putin Bids to Create New International Settlements Platform, Reform Foreign Currency Rules

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken of plans to revamp the country’s international settlements ecosystem – in a bid to prevent Moscow from sliding into an economic quagmire at the hand of Western-led sanctions.

Per the state-run news outlet Tass, Putin has created a working group that has been charged with “creating a new mechanism for international payments.” The group will be headed by a key Putin aide, Maxim Oreshkin, and will also launch new currency regulation-related measures, aimed at fighting back against the international community’s efforts to drag the fiat ruble into the abyss.

The group also comprises a number of key government and economic figures, such as the head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, the heads of the finance and economic development ministries, as well as the head of Russia’s financial regulator, and the chairs of the Federal Tax Service and the Federal Customs Service.

8. The Bank of Tanzania to Introduce CBDC, Strengthening Domestic Payment System

The Bank of Tanzania is actively introducing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to strengthen the domestic payment system.

9. Espanyol Becomes Spain’s First Football Club To Accept Crypto

La Liga football club Espanyol announced it will accept crypto payments starting next season, in a sponsorship agreement signed with iGaming Token Crypto Snack on Monday. The deal makes Espanyol Spain’s first club to accept payments in crypto currencies.

10. IMF recommends the Bahamas ‘accelerate its education campaigns’ on CBDC

The International Monetary Fund, or IMF, has turned its attention to the Bahamas’ central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Sand Dollar, and suggested additional regulatory oversight and education.

The recommendation came following the conclusion of an Article IV consultation in the Bahamas last Wednesday. According to the IMF, during such a consultation, a team of economists visits a country “to assess economic and financial developments and discuss the country's economic and financial policies with government and central bank officials.”