Category: crypto

Moody’s has assigned a provisional Ba2 rating to New Hampshire’s Bitcoin-backed municipal bond, indicating credit risk. The $100 million bond relies on overcollateralized Bitcoin, with custody by BitGo. The rating is provisional pending final legal documentation. The bond aims to attract institutional investors and support the Bitcoin Economic Development Fund.

Mercado Libre is discontinuing its Mercado Coin loyalty token after four years. Users must redeem or spend their balances by April 17 or have them converted to Brazilian reals. The platform will now offer crypto rewards through the stablecoin Meli Dolar. Despite this change, Mercado Libre continues to hold Bitcoin.

CFTC enforcement chief David Miller has warned traders in prediction markets that insider trading rules will be enforced. Event contracts are considered swaps under financial market laws. Regulators are monitoring suspicious activity and focusing on cases involving misuse of confidential information. Concerns have been raised about privileged information being used in prediction markets. Regulations are…

Texas Senate Lieutenant Governor and President Dan Patrick has prioritized studying prediction markets, crypto, and blockchain for the next legislative session. The focus is on regulatory gaps, potential exploitation of federal law by prediction platforms, and alignment with federal rules. This move aims to advance the state’s conservative majority priorities.

BitGo has launched a financing platform for institutions to borrow and lend against various crypto assets. The platform simplifies lending workflows by allowing clients to access liquidity from a combined pool of assets without moving collateral. It offers features like borrowing, lending, and collateral management, all within BitGo’s custody framework.

Former a16z crypto investor Sam Broner has raised $10 million to launch The Better Money Company, a startup aiming to become a clearinghouse for U.S. dollar stablecoins under the GENIUS Act regime. The company plans to support compliant tokens like Paxos and Stripe’s Bridge, excluding USDT but including Tether’s USAT.

Finnish MiCA-licensed Tesseract has launched Dedicated Client Vaults, segregated smart-contract yield accounts for institutional investors. Each vault is tied to a single client, ensuring 100% ownership of assets and compliance with MiCA rules. CEO James Harris warns against pooled yield vaults that could be considered collective investment schemes under MiCA regulations.

Binance founder CZ Zhao reassured the market that cryptocurrencies need to upgrade to post-quantum encryption to handle quantum computing, avoiding panic. He suggested locking or destroying Satoshi’s untouched Bitcoin to prevent future quantum theft, emphasizing that encryption is easier than decryption. Zhao warned of messy upgrades and potential vulnerabilities during the transition.

Bitcoin is trading between $66,037 and $68,130, facing resistance from moving averages and showing weak momentum. The cryptocurrency is in a neutral-to-bearish posture, with support at $65,000-$66,000 and resistance at $68,000-$69,000. Sentiment remains in “extreme fear,” with the possibility of a breakout if BTC surpasses resistance levels.

Trump is seeking an extra $200 billion for an Iran war budget on top of record defense spending, impacting crypto markets as they reassess geopolitical risk, debt, and the dollar in real-time. The Pentagon is requesting the additional funding, leading to uncertainty in markets and potential safe-haven trades in assets like bitcoin.