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TA Highlight

This week, the cryptocurrency market was hit by the uncertain news of interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

Before the 5th, the BTC spot price has been in a status of horizontal price movement, and the price is basically stable, between $40000 and $37300. From the perspective of technical indicators, the BTC spot price has been fluctuating between the off track and the middle line of the bollinger bands. Before the 5th, the BTC spot price was fairly stable.

However, on the 5th, the news that the Federal Reserve will continue to raise interest rates irregularly in the future has dealt a huge blow to the cryptocurrency market. The news of interest rate hike first triggered a sharp decline in US stocks, and then the panic from the financial market was transmitted to the cryptocurrency market. The BTC price broke through the $36000 threshold that day, and the lowest price reached $35500.

With the strong decline, the BTC spot price entered a very horizontal trading movement, and the price basically remained at the fixed point of $36300. This is a very rare scene in the history of BTC spot trading. BTC spot price fluctuation basically stopped and was in a stopped trading status. Subsequently, both of the holders are confused about the market whether the BTC spot is at long position or short position. The holders with short positions did not sell out a large number of BTC to suppress the price, and the holders with long positions were not in a hurry to buy to raise the price either.

After experiencing a sharp decline, BTC spot will show a stable trend on the hourly line, which is enough to show that the market has fallen into a certain state of stress. On the evening of the 6th, the trend of BTC spot price may contain more information about future price trends.

Even in the face of such panic bad news, the BTC spot price is at horizontal price movement and correction after breaking through the off track of the bollinger bands, which shows that the off track of the bollinger bands is the most noteworthy BTC spot support line index in the near future. The BTC spot still has a certain support space, so it will not fall sharply like an overwhelmingly-dropping disaster.

Crypto Alerts

Vitalik Buterin: ENS Is By Far the Most Successful Non-financial Ethereum Application

On May 5, Vitalik Buterin said in an interview: "Ethereum domain name service ENS is by far the most successful non-financial Ethereum application, which can basically be compared to a decentralized phone book".

Lido Finance Surpasses Curve to Become the DeFi Protocol with the Highest Total Value Locked

According to the data on May 5, the total value locked (TVL) of decentralized staking agreement Lido Finance surpassed Curve and became the DeFi protocol with the highest total value locked. Presently, Lido Finance's total value locked is approximately $19.52 billion, and Curve's total value locked is approximately $19.3 billion.

Anchor Protocol ($17.23 billion), MakerDAO ($13.53 billion) and Aave ($11.84 billion) ranked third to fifth.

Founder of Ark Fund: It is Expected that the US Government Will Introduce More New Regulations in the Cryptocurrency Field

Cathie Wood, founder of Ark Fund, said that the US government is expected to introduce more new regulations in the cryptocurrency field, and the regulation may keep the cryptocurrency away from us. It also said that cryptocurrency would have a positive impact on 401 (k) retirement benefit plans.

The Impairment of Bitcoin Held by MicroStrategy is $170 Million in Q1 2022

MicroStrategy has announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2022, with revenue of $119.3 million. The company held more than 129000 Bitcoins on its balance sheet and included $170 million in non-cash digital asset impairment charges in the first quarter of 2022, up from $146.6 million in the previous quarter.

Michael J. Saylor, chief executive of MicroStrategy, said: "we continued to achieve strong results in the first quarter of 2022. As new and old customers increasingly adopt the MicroStrategy platform, our cloud revenue and bills have increased. We also further consolidated our position as a leading investor in Bitcoin listed companies by issuing the first Bitcoin supported term loan. We have proved that our Bitcoin can be effectively used as collateral for financing transactions, which enables us to further implement our business strategy. Today, MicroStrategy is the world's largest listed company with more than 129200 Bitcoins. "

Market Updates

Gucci Accepts Cryptocurrency Payment

Luxury brand Gucci will start accepting cryptocurrency payments in some stores in the United States later this month and plans to expand the pilot to all its North American stores this summer.

The first batch of Gucci stores supporting cryptocurrency payment include Wooster Street in New York, Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles, Design District in Miami, Phipps Plaza in Atlanta and Crystals store in Las Vegas.

The accepted cryptocurrencies include Bitcoin, Bitcoin cash, Ethereum, WBTC, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu and five stablecoins linked to the US dollar.

It is reported that Gucci has recently formed a team focusing on Web3, and has purchased the lands on the Sandbox (a blockchain-based real estate platform) and is developing digital real estates on the Sandbox, in which brands such as Adidas and Al Dente are also developing the lands.

Buffett said, “I Wouldn't Buy Bitcoins Even If They Are All Packaged for Only $25

In recent years, Bitcoin has been increasingly accepted by the traditional financial and investment circles, but Warren Buffett, known as the "God of Stocks", insists on the skepticism of Bitcoin and is even unwilling to spend $25 to buy all Bitcoin in the world.

At this year's shareholders' meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett explained that Bitcoin is not a productive asset and will not produce anything tangible. Although the public's view of this cryptocurrency has changed, he himself insists on not buying it. “If you say that our group needs to pay $25 billion to get 1% of all farmland in the United States, I will write you a check this afternoon. For $25 billion, I can own 1% of the farmland. If you want to sell me 1% of the apartments in the United States for $25 billion, I'm still willing to write you a check. It's simple. However, if you tell me that you have all Bitcoin in the world and are willing to sell it only for $25, I won't accept it because I don't know what I can do with it. Anyway, I have to sell it back to you because it's useless. By contrast, apartments can generate rent, farms can produce food.

I don't know whether the price of Bitcoin will rise or fall in the next year, five years or ten years. But one thing I'm sure of is that it won't produce anything substantive. It has a kind of magic, and many people will be obsessed with it.” Buffett held a $20 bill and said, "to have value, an asset must provide something for someone, and only one currency is accepted. You can think of all kinds of ways. We can even issue Berkshire tokens. But in the final analysis, this is money. The US government has no reason to let Berkshire tokens replace their money. "

NASDAQ CEO: Interested in Cooperating with Crypto Companies, Assessing Regulatory Environment and Institutional Needs

Adena Friedman, CEO of NASDAQ, said in an interview with foreign media that she was interested in establishing partnerships with companies in the field of digital assets (such as cryptocurrency), but would be cautious due to regulatory uncertainty, Bloomberg reported.

In addition, Friedman said: "we are assessing the regulatory environment and institutional needs in this field and actively discussing what role we can play. Although many institutions have invested in digital assets such as cryptocurrencies, their operational efficiency is still very low. We will play a role in solving this problem. "

TIME Magazine Publisher Has Submitted NFT and Metaverse Trademark Application

On May 5, according to a tweet from American lawyer Mike Kondoudis, Time USA LLC (Marc Benioff), the publisher of TIME magazine, has submitted an NFT and metaverse trademark application for TIME SQUARE, covering NFT, virtual performances and activities, virtual shoes / clothing / headwear / glasses / sports equipment / toys.

Global Headlines

Banco Central de la Republica Argentina (BCRA) Prohibits its Banks from Providing Cryptocurrency Service

On May 6, according to Coindesk, the Banco Central de la Republica Argentina (BCRA) said that banks in the country were prohibited from providing cryptocurrency services to customers. According to the statement, since there are currently no regulated digital assets, banks are prohibited from providing services for any digital assets not regulated by the central bank.

"The measures ordered by BCRA's board of directors are aimed at reducing the risks associated with these asset transactions, which may pose risks to financial service users and the entire financial system," the statement shows that.

A few days ago, Banco Galicia, a Argentina's private bank with the largest market value, added the option of buying and selling cryptocurrencies on its platform. Brubank, a digital bank, began offering similar services earlier this week. Sources said that from Friday, Argentine banks should no longer provide customers with cryptocurrency trading services.

The Korean Government Promotes the Basic Law on Digital Assets, Which Will Allow ICO Issuance

On May 5, the Korean presidential Transitional Council announced 110 government task proposals, including promoting the basic law on digital assets and improving the supervision of large technology companies. The basic law on digital assets includes measures to protect investors and improve transaction stability, such as the supervision of major activities such as the issuance and listing of digital assets such as NFT. It is planned to start with the issuance of virtual assets to ensure investor protection measures, and allow ICO in South Korea.

In addition, the bill will establish a regulatory system by dividing virtual assets into security types and non-security types. Security-type tokens will be regulated in accordance with the capital market law, and non-security tokens will establish regulatory systems such as issuance, listing and prevention of unfair transactions in accordance with the pending bills deliberated by the Congress. Regulations related to the entry of large technology companies such as Naver and Kakao into the financial market are also being promoted.

It was previously reported that the Korean Financial Services Commission banned ICO in 2017.

The President of Uzbekistan Signed the Decree On the Supervision of Cryptocurrency

On 2 may, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the president of Uzbekistan, signed a decree on the supervision of cryptocurrency, which provides the definitions of terms such as cryptoassets, exchanges and mining, and identifies the main regulatory bodies of the industry. The task of cryptocurrency regulators is to implement national policies in the cryptocurrency economy and protect the rights of investors.

In the meanwhile, it is also responsible for introducing blockchain technology into the public sector and combating money laundering, terrorist financing and weapons proliferation through cryptocurrency supervision. From January 1, 2023, citizens and companies of Uzbekistan will be allowed to buy, sell and exchange cryptocurrencies through cryptocurrency service providers.

Uzbekistan legalized cryptocurrency transactions in 2018, but at the end of 2019, the government banned local residents from buying cryptocurrency. At the end of last year, Uzbekistan relaxed restrictions on domestic cryptocurrency transactions, and its residents will be able to trade digital currencies on the country's licensed cryptocurrency exchanges.

India Requires Crypto Exchanges to Keep User Data for Five Years

Recently, the computer emergency response team (CERT) under the Ministry of Electronic Information Technology of India issued a new directive requiring cryptocurrency exchanges, VPN providers and data centers to keep user data for five years. According to the newly issued directive, cryptocurrency exchanges operating in India need to store customers' names, ownership models, contact information and other data. Cryptocurrency exchanges and VPN service providers must also report any network event within 6 hours, and must hand over the collected data to the authorities according to the directive.

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Author: Byron. B & Charles. F & Joy. Z (Gate.io Researchers)

* The article only represents the researcher’s views and does not constitute any investment advice.

* Gate.io reserves all rights to this article. Reposting of the article will be permitted provided Gate.io is referenced. In all other cases, legal action will be taken due to copyright infringement.