Day: March 27, 2025

Senator John Kennedy grills SEC nominee Paul Atkins about SBF pardon

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US Senator John Kennedy grilled prospective Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Paul Atkins about a potential pardon for Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried during the Senate Banking Committee’s March 27 nomination hearing. The Louisiana Republican directed a series of questions about the former FTX CEO toward Atkins and probed the prospective SEC chairman about donations Bankman-Fried’s family made to Stanford University. Senator John Kennedy questions prospective SEC chairman Paul Atkins. Source: Senate Banking Committee Kennedy then urged the SEC to take action to prevent any potential pardons on behalf of SBF.…

3 reasons why Bitcoin price can’t take out the $90K resistance level

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Since reaching a weekly high of $88,752 on March 24, Bitcoin (BTC) price has formed a series of lower highs and lower lows in the 1-hour time frame chart. As the end of the week approaches, Bitcoin price has failed to break above the $88,000 resistance, reducing the chance for a $90,000 retest before the end of Q1. Bitcoin 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView What is keeping Bitcoin under $90K? One major reason for Bitcoin’s current price struggles is constant sell-side pressure from short-term holders (STHs) or investors holding coins for…

Senator Cruz introduces companion bill to prohibit the Fed from issuing a CBDC

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US Senator Ted Cruz introduced a bill on March 26 to prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The “Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act,” would prohibit the Fed from offering certain products or services directly to American individuals, a key component of any CBDC. The Texas Republican’s bill can be considered a companion bill to Minnesota Republican Representative Tom Emmer’s anti-CBDC legislation, which was reintroduced on March 6. A companion bill is a piece of legislation that is similarly or identically worded to another bill, and…

Proposed Bipartisan Legislation Recognizes Bitcoin As A Technology That Supports Democracy

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On Wednesday, the office of Rep. Gabe Amo issued a press release stating that Rep. Amo and Rep. Kim (R-CA) reintroduced a bipartisan resolution supporting the use of distributive ledger technologies (DLT), including blockchain, to “support democratic governance, human rights, freedom of information, transparency, and innovation around the world.” The resolution (the full text of which was not linked to in the press release) urges federal agencies to explore and support DLT and expresses Congress’ commitment to advancing responsible innovation on this technological front. Rep. Kim commented on the importance…

Bitcoin price rally stalls as gold nears record $3.1K

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Bitcoin (BTC) faced mixed forces on March 27 as a combination of fresh US trade tariffs and macroeconomic data weighed on risk assets. BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView Gold leaves Bitcoin in the dust amid tariff woes Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC price volatility returning at the Wall Street open. BTC/USD displayed uncertain trading behavior in line with US stocks as the second revision of US Q4 GDP came in above the median forecast of 2.3%.  At the same time, initial jobless claims fell short of…

BlackRock’s Global Allocation Fund boosts IBIT shares by 91%

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Key Takeaways BlackRock’s Global Allocation Fund increased its holdings in IBIT by 91% to 821,664 shares as of January 31. The BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities Fund also holds a significant number of IBIT shares, valued at $77 million. Share this article BlackRock’s Global Allocation Fund has increased its holdings in the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) by 91% to 821,664 shares valued at around $47 million as of January 31, according to a Thursday SEC filing. The globally diversified investment strategy, designed to maximize total return while managing risk, added 390,894…

Hardware Wallets: Bitcoin’s Biggest Adoption Barrier

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There are roughly half a billion crypto users around the world and, at the most generous estimate, only 2.5% are using hardware wallets. That’s a tiny number, but I’m relieved it’s not higher.  Why? Because I want people to on-board to Bitcoin by the billion, and I want to see everyone self-custody securely. The consumer hardware wallet industry is one of the biggest obstacles to achieving this goal. And not just to Bitcoin adoption: the whole decentralization revolution is at risk if we don’t address the fatal flaw  at the…

Prospective SEC chair pressed on sale of FTX-tied firm

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Lawmakers in the US Senate Banking Committee questioned prospective Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) member Paul Atkins on his ties to the crypto industry and how he might regulate digital assets if confirmed. Questioning Atkins at his nomination hearing on March 27, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren said the former SEC commissioner had had “staggeringly bad judgment” in his role leading up to the 2008 financial crisis — Atkins served at the agency from 2002 to 2008. Sen. Warren also asked Atkins to disclose the buyers of his consulting firm Patomak…

USDT0 deployed on OP Superchain

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Crosschain US-dollar stablecoin USDT0 has been deployed to Optimism’s Superchain, increasing access to the world’s most widely used stable asset across Ethereum’s layer-2 ecosystem. On March 27, Optimism announced that the dollar-pegged USDT0 is now live on the OP mainnet. The crosschain stablecoin’s first deployment was on Ink, Kraken’s DeFi-focused layer-2. USDT0 is essentially a bridged version of Tether’s USDt (USDT), designed to extend the stablecoin’s adoption across various blockchains. Tether launched USDT0 in January in collaboration with the interoperability protocol LayerZero. A month later, Tether selected Arbitrum as the…

Circle, Intercontinental Exchange to explore stablecoin integration

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Stablecoin issuer Circle and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the company that operates the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) among others and provides clearinghouse services, are collaborating to explore stablecoin integration in ICE’s operations. The companies will explore the potential integration of Circle’s US dollar stablecoin (USDC) and its US Yield Coin (USYC) into ICE’s derivatives exchanges, clearinghouses, data services and other systems, under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) announced March 27. Lynn Martin, president of the New York Stock Exchange, issued this statement alongside news of the collaborative partnership: “We believe…