Crypto ▪︎ Bitcoin ▪︎ Trading ▪︎ News

💰 Bitcoin Miners Ramp Up Hashrate as Halving Nears, Network Hits 653 EH/s Record Just before the upcoming block reward halving, with only 72 blocks left until reaching block height 840,000, bitcoin miners have significantly boosted their hashrate. As of 8:50 a.m. EDT on April 19, 2024, the hashrate soared to a record 653 exahash per second (EH/s). Source 🔍 More Crypto News

💰 Bitcoin Halving Is Not a Bullish Event, Says 10x Research Analyst Bearish signals are looming over the crypto market these days and will almost certainly push prices down in the short term, well-known research analyst Markus Thielen said. “We don't have the typical drivers anymore that really brought prices from the $40,000 to the $70,000 region,” he said. The main reason behind this, he added, is the spot bitcoin ETFs, which have seen little to no new inflows over the past few weeks as investors have moved past the initial euphoria of the January launch. Source 🔍 More Crypto News

💰 Bitcoin to Hit $122,000 in 2024, Predicts Finder’s Latest Survey of Experts Finder’s latest survey on bitcoin’s (BTC) price involved a unique panel of 31 crypto and fintech experts. The results suggest that BTC could reach a peak of $122,000 in 2024, and then settle at $109,000 by year’s end. Nick Ranga, the senior crypto and forex analyst at Forextraders, attributes the current uptick in BTC’s value to growing institutional engagement. Ranga is among those experts who foresee BTC reaching its zenith once more in 2024, ultimately closing the year around the $100,000 mark per unit. Source 🔍 More Crypto News

🏦 Kraken launches self-custodial mobile wallet and releases its open-source code The crypto exchange giant Kraken released a self-custodial mobile wallet called Kraken Wallet, and it even published the app's code at launch. Kraken Wallet lets users manage their NFTs, tokens and DeFi positions across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Optimism, Base, Arbitrum, Polygon and Dogecoin, according to a release from Kraken. Users can also connect to popular decentralized applications and access round-the-clock customer service support. Source 🔍 More Crypto News

💰 Funding rate turns negative as Bitcoin drops below $64k In the volatile world of cryptocurrency, perpetual futures are a go-to for many traders. These contracts don't expire, relying instead on a mechanism called the funding rate to balance market forces. Recently, Bitcoin's perpetual futures saw a dramatic shift. Typically steadied by consistent positive funding rates, a sudden plunge into negative territory coincided with geopolitical turmoil and a significant drop in Bitcoin's price. Source 🔍 More Crypto News

💰 Bybit Report Suggests Bitcoin Exchanges to Run Dry in 9 Months As the crypto landscape evolves, a significant tightening in bitcoin’s available supply on exchanges has emerged, hinting at just nine months of reserves left. Bybit’s latest halving report unveils the reasons behind this tightening grip, indicating a looming scarcity that could reshape market dynamics. Source 🔍 More Crypto News

🇭🇰 Hong Kong spot bitcoin ETFs could go live as soon as this month: OSL Hong Kong asset managers, including units of China Asset Management (ChinaAMC) and Harvest Global, may soon launch their spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds as early as later this month, OSL confirmed with The Block today. “Reports suggest a spot ETF may start in late April, with a spot ETF following shortly after,” said Patrick Pan, chairman of the board and CEO of OSL. “All parties are working expeditiously to complete the process. However, exact dates remain unconfirmed at this time.” Source 🔍 More Crypto News

🪙 Ethereum validator queue hits highest level since September 2023 Staking on Ethereum has become all the rage recently with the recent popularization of restaking, which we talked about a bit last week. In a fun update, EigenLayer did launch on the Ethereum mainnet last week along with its EigenDA data availability layer. Coinbase Cloud and Google Cloud are among the protocol’s first operators, and it announced six actively validated services that will be secured through EigenLayer’s restaking on Friday. Source 🔍 More Crypto News

🇭🇰 Hong Kong approves first batch of spot bitcoin, ether ETFs in drive to become crypto hub Hong Kong approved the applications of several spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded funds on Monday, as the region continues its drive to become a regional crypto hub. China Asset Management, a major Chinese asset manager, said that its Hong Kong unit has received approval in principle from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to offer retail asset management services related to spot crypto ETFs. Source 🔍 More Crypto News

🇳🇬 Nigeria’s 🟠 Binance crackdown threatens Web3 industry Nigeria is feeling the consequences of actions against Binance executives, with investors withdrawing from deals and partnerships, particularly in the web3 sector. They mention Nigeria’s perceived lack of safety for business and government hostility, citing the Binance case as evidence, according to Lucky Uwakwe, the chairman of Nigeria's Blockchain Industry Coordinating Committee (BICCoN). Source 🔍 More Crypto News