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cryptocurrency market rose sharply on Thursday as the world's top largest crypto tokens, Bitcoin and Ethereum, surged over 6%. Meanwhile, the global cryptocurrency market cap surged 5% to around $2.04 trillion in the last 24 hours. At 10:36 a.m., Bitcoin was trading 6% higher at $52,318, while Ethereum was up 6.6% at $2,796.

Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnhenshein is calling for approval of public options on Bitcoin spot ETFs after his company’s Bitcoin fund successfully converted into one last month.

Crypto trading and mining has been banned in China since 2021. Run used bank cards issued by small rural commercial banks to buy cryptocurrencies through grey-market dealers, and capped each transaction at 50,000 yuan ($6,978) to escape scrutiny. "Bitcoin is a safe haven, like gold," says Run. He now owns roughly 1 million yuan worth of cryptocurrencies, accounting for half of his investment portfolio, compared with just 40% in Chinese equities.

The digital asset market has seen astronomical growth over the past few years, with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin cementing their place in the financial mainstream. Major milestones like Bitcoin’s market capitalization crossing $1 trillion and El Salvador adopting it as legal tender signal a broader embrace of decentralized finance. This mainstream acceptance peaked last week with the highly anticipated launch of the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US, providing easy access for Wall Street investors.

crypto regulations Mumbai, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said the central bank will not emulate others on crypto currency regulations and asserted that «what is good for another market need not be good for us». His remarks come against the backdrop of the US Securities and Exchange Commission approving changes to allow the creation of bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the US. «What is good for another market need not be good for us. Therefore our views — both that of the Reserve Bank and personally that of mine — remain the same,» Das said on crypto currency regulations. He was speaking at a BFSI summit organised by the publication Mint.

Bitcoin delivered another bout of its notorious volatility in a sharp tumble toward $40,000 amid a broader crypto selloff. The largest token sank as much as 7.5% to $40,521 before paring some of the losses to trade 4% lower at $42,095 as of 11:12 a.m. in Singapore on Monday. Smaller tokens like Ether, XRP, Polkadot and Avalanche also fell. A gauge of the largest 100 digital assets shed about 4%, the largest drop since Nov. 22.

Bitcoin rallying to an almost 18-month high on speculation that an exchange-traded Bitcoin fund is imminent. Bitcoin rose more than 6% to $35,198, its highest since May 2022. It surged 10% on Monday in its best session for almost a year and its price has doubled in 2023. Crypto-linked shares such as Coinbase Global or bitcoin owner MicroStrategy rose in after-hours trade. Cryptocurrency ether broke above $1,800. An exchange-traded fund (ETF) owning Bitcoin on behalf of fund investors is seen as a driver of demand because it would allow anyone reluctant to trade crypto markets a means of buying exposure to bitcoin through the stock market.

Bitcoin jumped on Friday above $30,000 for first time since July, taking gains for the week past 10%, against a backdrop of volatile trading across cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by circulation, climbed as high as $30,022, its highest since July 23. It was last up 4% on the day. There was no immediate news catalyst for the move in bitcoin, said Joseph Edwards, head of research at London crypto firm Enigma Securities. Bitcoin is known for its volatility and the opacity of its markets. The mood across the broader financial markets has also been nervy lately. Investor sentiment has been rattled by war in the Middle East, a rise in benchmark U.S. 10-year yields towards 5% and concern about the prospect of interest rates staying a lot higher for a lot longer.

Renowned whistleblower Edward Snowden spoke at the 2023 Bitcoin Conference in Amsterdam last week, shedding light on several pressing issues surrounding Bitcoin. 

Bitcoin ETF. Bitcoin was up 3.8% at $27,909, while Ethereum was above the $1,550 level. Meanwhile, the global cryptocurrency market cap surged 2.6% to around $1.08 trillion in the last 24 hours. «BTC and ETH both showed positive gains over the weekend, driven by the news that the SEC won't appeal the court decision regarding Grayscale's spot Bitcoin ETF application. This news has sparked the interest of investors, as it raises the likelihood of a BTC spot ETF approval by the end of the first quarter of 2024,» said CoinDCX Research Team. Meanwhile, Parth Chaturvedi, Investments Lead at CoinSwitch Ventures, said, «In a positive development that underlines the crypto adoption, Ferrari — a well-renowned car manufacturer will now accept crypto as a payment method for its luxury cars in the U.S. To execute this, the company has partnered with BitPay wherein payments will be accepted in BTC, ETH, and USDC. As part of its expansion plans, this payment method will soon be available in Europe as well.»

In an interview with Forbes on Sunday, El Salvador's Vice-President Ulloa credited the nation's recent economic resurgence to its adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender.

Bitcoin is up against increasing bearish sentiments this week, just days after attempting to push past $30,000. Crucial technical markers are signaling further downside potential for the cryptocurrency over the near and medium terms.

Crypto betting platform Stake.com suffered a major security breach this Monday, with hackers exploiting vulnerabilities to steal over $41 million from hot wallets across multiple blockchains.

Bitcoin adoption in Argentina is surging, contrasting the more measured approach seen in El Salvador. As Argentina grapples with soaring inflation, its citizens are increasingly turning to Bitcoin, driven by economic challenges and political shifts.

Bitcoin losses continued today as bond yields continued to rise, causing concern for investors. This downturn has seen the leading digital currency dip below its two-month low of $26,000 for a loss of 0.74% over the past 24 hours.

On August 18, an unexpected event in the Bitcoin mining space took everyone by surprise. A lone miner, not backed by massive computational power, claimed the full reward of 6.25 Bitcoin for solving block 803,821. 

Yesterday, in a much-talked about conversation with Bloomberg, David Rubenstein, co-founder and co-chairman of the Carlyle Group, confidently spoke of Bitcoin's longevity as an important financial asset, further solidifying the lead cryptocurrency's foray into mainstream finance and investment circles. Rubenstein touched upon the increasing interest institutions have shown in Bitcoin, the global demand for a currency beyond governmental control, and how even major financial institutions are now reconsidering their stance on cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin and crypto assets have been around for more than a decade, but there have been increasing efforts recently in terms of regulation and legalization. This is because the spectacular pace of adoption and the rise in market capitalisation of Bitcoin and crypto assets have resulted in them moving from a niche product used by cypherpunks to having a more mainstream presence as instruments for savings and investments. It can often be quite challenging to apply existing regulatory frameworks to crypto assets or developing new ones. For a start, the crypto ecosystem is evolving rapidly and monitoring it can get quite tricky in a global environment with a large number of players Let’s look at some of the legal and regulatory issues that need to be considered: 1. Legal characterization of crypto & taxation Legal characterization of Bitcoin and crypto assets plays a key role in determining how they are likely to be taxed. The main distinction is whether these assets should be defined as a commodity (in which case capital gains rules apply), a currency or given a whole new different category.

Bitcoin has been moving less in tandem with tech stocks as sentiment around equities and cryptocurrencies diverges. The world’s largest cryptocurrency has been stuck below the $27,000 level this week, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 has climbed 3.5%. The 40-day correlation coefficient for Bitcoin and the tech gauge slid to 0.19 on Friday, the lowest since April 25. A reading of 1 implies assets are moving in lockstep and minus 1 signifies the opposite. Before April, the lowest reading was in November 2021. Bitcoin and equities — particularly growth stocks — had been tied at the hip for a while as investor appetite for both boomed in an era of low interest rates. That has since changed since the start of the year, as uncertainty around the Federal Reserve’s path of rate hikes and the bank collapses in March prompted investors in each market to react differently.

Bitcoin has been on an upward trajectory since the beginning of 2023 and breached the key $30,000 level for the first time in 10 months on Tuesday amid the expectation that Fed will pause interest rate hikes. On January 1st, Bitcoin began trading at roughly $16,500. As of 11th April, the asset has been trading above the $30,000 mark which is close to an 80% gain since January 2023. This is the first time since June 2022, that Bitcoin has reached this level. «The resolute demonstrated by Bitcoin in the past three months emphasizes the optimistic investor sentiment towards the leading cryptocurrency. It also indicates how investors have come to view Bitcoin as a viable alternative in the current climate. This bull run further underscores the faith investors have in the resilience of global macroeconomics, particularly that of the United States,» Gaurav Dahake, Founder & CEO of BNS, said. Bitcoin peaked at $30,438 in Asian trade and was last 6% higher at $30,133. It has gained about 7% since the start of the month, after rising 23% in March.

Meanwhile, in the husk of a onetime aluminum smelting plant an hour outside of Austin, row upon row of computers were using enough electricity to power about 6,500 homes as they raced to earn bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency. The computers were performing trillions of calculations per second, hunting for an elusive combination of numbers that bitcoin’s algorithm would accept. About every 10 minutes, a computer somewhere guesses correctly and wins a small number of bitcoins worth, in recent weeks, about $170,000. Anyone can try, but to make a business of it can require as much electricity as a small city. In Texas, the computers kept running until just after midnight. Then the state’s power grid operator ordered them shut off, under an agreement that allowed it to do so if the system was about to fail. In return, it began paying the bitcoin company, Bitdeer, an average of $175,000 an hour to keep the computers offline. Over the next four days, Bitdeer would make more than $18 million for not operating, from fees ultimately paid by Texans who had endured the storm.