Bitcoin dropped below $70,000, the Bitcoin Cash network underwent a halving, Forbes estimated Changpeng Zhao’s fortune at $33 billion, Ripple outlined the launch dates for its own stablecoin, and other events of the past week.
Bitcoin price fell below $70,000
The first cryptocurrency started the week above $70,000, but by Tuesday, April 2, it had dropped below $65,000. By Thursday, April 4, digital gold had risen to $69,000.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $69,800.
Most of the top-10 digital assets by market cap ended the week in the red. Cardano (-8.7%) and Solana (-8.3%) suffered the most losses.
The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market is $2.7 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance index is 54.6%.
Bitcoin Cash network undergoes halving
On April 4 at 01:45 (Kyiv/Moscow time), at block #840,000, the Bitcoin Cash network experienced its second halving in history. The block reward was reduced from 6.25 BCH to 3.125 BCH.
The block was mined by the ViaBTC pool, receiving a reward of 3.156 BCH, including fees.
The first halving in the bitcoin fork network occurred on April 8, 2020.
Forbes estimated Changpeng Zhao’s fortune at $33 billion
Binance’s co-founder and former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, took the 50th spot in Forbes’ new billionaires ranking with a fortune of $33 billion.
According to the publication’s assessment, the entrepreneur’s wealth peaked in 2022 at $65 billion. However, the figure dropped to $10.5 billion afterwards.
Bloomberg’s billionaires index attributes $45.1 billion in assets to Zhao. The figure increased by $10.7 billion over the year, according to the agency.
Based on the results of 2023, Forbes counted 2,781 billionaires in the world. This became a record figure in history, as did the total amount of their wealth, which reached $14.2 trillion.
In terms of countries, the US remains the leader, with 813 individuals owning such fortunes (totaling $5.7 trillion). China (including Hong Kong) is in second place with 473 individuals and $1.7 trillion in wealth, respectively.
Topics to Discuss with Friends
- A trader missed out on over $4 million due to a hasty token sale.
- Another solo miner mined a Bitcoin block.
- A user earned $1 million in a day on the meme token EPIK.
- Notcoin listed its token to coincide with Bitcoin’s halving.
Ripple outlines launch dates for its own stablecoin
Ripple has announced plans to launch its own “stable coin” pegged to the US dollar by the end of 2024.
According to the developers, the new asset will be 100% backed by deposits in dollars, short-term US government treasury bills, and other cash equivalents. It will be launched on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum networks.
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse cited the company’s many years of experience and its “regulatory influence” as factors that allow them to offer “the best crypto payments” using XRP and the future stablecoin.
The company’s Chief Technical Officer, David Schwartz, stated that he currently does not have an answer to what the stablecoin will be named or what ticker it will receive.
Vitalik Buterin shares details of Ethereum’s next update
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin discussed the next stage of the blockchain’s roadmap – The Purge. It aims to simplify the network’s structure and reduce node load.
A central part of the protocol’s development at this stage is the implementation and development of EIP-6780, introduced during the recent Dencun hard fork. It optimizes the SELFDESTRUCT operation code, enhancing security and streamlining protocol implementation.
Buterin identified several other optimizations within Ethereum that focus on protocol optimization. Recently, the Geth client removed thousands of lines of code by discontinuing support for networks added prior to The Merge.
EIP-7523 addressed the issue of “empty accounts.” The update discontinued support for the majority of empty accounts from PoW networks within Ethereum.
Additionally, Buterin proposed using the precompile mechanism. These are Ethereum contracts that, instead of EVM code, contain logic implemented directly by the clients.
Also on ForkLog:
- A trader turned 0.1 ETH into $8.39 million on low-cap tokens.
- A farmer from Kenya received donations from the crypto community to buy goats.
- An Ethereum ICO participant moved 1069 ETH.
- A “dormant” address moved bitcoins worth $17 million after 10 years.
Morgan Creek CEO predicts Bitcoin could rise to $150,000 by the end of the year
Bitcoin’s growth after the halving will be “parabolic” and could allow the price to reach $150,000 by the end of the year, according to Morgan Creek Capital CEO Mark Yusko.
The top manager called the first cryptocurrency the “dominant token” and the “best form of gold.”
“After the halving, interest in the asset will increase – many will enter a state of FOMO. We should see a doubling of the fair value. In this cycle, it is ~$75,000 with downward corrections from $100,000 due to transaction-related ‘inscriptions.’ […] Thus, we get $150,000,” Yusko shared his calculations.
According to the specialist’s forecast, after the expected halving around April 20, Bitcoin’s growth will continue for the next nine months.
“Once this happens, demand will begin to rise, but the daily supply of new coins will decrease from 900 to 450. Towards the end of the year, the dynamics will become more parabolic. Historically, about nine months after the event, the market forms a price peak before the next bear market,” explained Morgan Creek Capital CEO.
Regarding long-term prospects, the expert stated that the first cryptocurrency could “easily” increase tenfold over the next decade. He explained the expectations as being due to the “law of large numbers.”
What Else to Read?
In the traditional digest, we have compiled the main events of the week in the cybersecurity sphere.
The cryptocurrency industry is attracting an increasing number of institutional players. This is evidenced by new investments in infrastructure and the growing attention that companies are paying to bitcoin as an asset class. The most important events of the past weeks are featured in the ForkLog review.
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