New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams believes the emergence of cryptocurrencies poses a significant challenge to existing regulations, highlighting the ongoing discussions policymakers are having about blockchain technology and central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs. Before central banks like the Federal Reserve can issue their own CBDC, several major questions pertaining to blockchain technology and regulation need to be addressed, Williams told a panel hosted by the Bank for International Settlements. Specifically, Williams said policymakers need to outline how blockchain-based payment systems would function alongside physical cash. Williams is a member of this year’s Federal Open Market Committee, …

While a presentation yesterday from Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren has some members of cryptoTwitter spooked at the idea of regulation and oversight, the central bank might simply be pondering the future. In a presentation titled “Financial Stability,” Rosengren identified the stablecoin Tether by name as a part of three different “Financial Stability Challenges.” The challenges included risks to the housing market, the need for emergency lending facilities in times of crises, and “periodic disruptions to short-term credit markets,” where Tether was noted as one possible disruptor. A follow-up slide noted that stablecoins are rapidly growing in marketcap, and …

Bitcoin (BTC) is lower going into a new week’s trading — Monday has seen a test of levels below $33,000, and bulls are struggling. What could be next? With bullish short-term voices few and far between, it seems that cryptocurrency just isn’t of interest to investors right now. Against a backdrop of macro market uncertainty, low volumes and claims of a bull market top, Bitcoin has a lot to do to convince the market that the good times still lie ahead. Cointelegraph offers five things to consider when charting what might happen to BTC/USD in the coming days. Spotlight on …

The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Neel Kashkari, took a jab at Dogecoin (DOGE) last week by referring to the memecoin as a Ponzi scheme, upping his rhetoric against cryptocurrencies. Kashkari’s comments were in response to a LinkedIn poll by Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer and corporate secretary of Coinbase, who asked his connections about the proper way to pronounce "Doge." “The right pronunciation is pon-zi,” Kashkari quipped. This isn’t the first time Kashkari has taken aim at cryptocurrencies. In February 2020, he said digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC) lack the basic tenants of a stable …

The ghost of stock market crash is back again to haunt Bitcoin (BTC). It happened last in March 2020. Back then, the prospect of the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic led to lockdowns across developed and emerging economies. In turn, global stocks crashed in tandem, and Bitcoin lost half of its value in just two days. Meanwhile, the U.S .dollar index, or DXY, which represents the greenback's strength against a basket of top foreign currencies, has now climbed by 8.78% to 102.992, its highest level since January 2017. The huge inverse correlation showed that investors dumped their stocks and Bitcoin holdings and …

Bitcoin (BTC) suffered as investors moved a record amount of cash in Federal Reserve's overnight facility after the central bank started paying interest on the money. The U.S. central bank received $756 billion via its reverse repurchase program from nearly 70 market participants on Thursday. The stash is about $172B higher than the one deposited last week and roughly $235B more than on Wednesday, wherein only 53 investors tapped the facility. A reverse repo facility takes in cash majorly from money-market funds and government-sponsored banks. Until Wednesday, the service offered eligible users a return interest of zero percent. But after …

Bitcoin dropped closer to a key support level and the Dow and the S&P 500 pulled back after the Federal Reserve moved forward its plan for 2 interest rate hikes in 2023. Bitcoin (BTC) price extended its losses shortly after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced that the Fed would move forward its timeline and schedule two interest rate hikes in 2023. Bitcoin price was already seeing weakness in the early trading hours after losing the $40,000 level to mark an intra-day low at $38,300. The Dow and S&P 500 also pulled back 0.77% and 0.54% respectively. The decision comes …

Bitcoin (BTC) wobbled around $40,000 as investors waited for the United States Federal Reserve to release its new set of economic projections on Wednesday. The market's focus shifted to two important questions: Will United States central bank officials signal their intentions to raise interest rates in 2023 instead of 2024? And how much do they think inflation will rise in the remainder of 2021 and in the next year? Taper tantrum In March, the last Fed projection saw 11 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) officials agreeing to keep interest rates near zero at least until 2023. That suggested a tightening …

Former presidential candidate and congressman Ron Paul has renewed calls for Bitcoin to be legalized as money and not taxed. Paul is a staunch libertarian and author of the Bitcoiner favorite “End the Fed,” who has advocated for the legalization of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the past. The former congressman has also regularly taken aim against the Federal Reserve for its unchecked money printing since the pandemic began. Ahead of his appearance at the Miami Bitcoin conference on June 3, the 85 year-old spoke with streaming financial news provider Kitco News and noted that his goal is to “help …

Bitcoin’s (BTC) quick run-up above $40,000 during the early New York trading session Thursday lost momentum midway as traders decided to secure short-term profits. The benchmark cryptocurrency shed up to 12.08% after topping out at $40,440 on Coinbase. It reached an intraday low of $36,410 ahead of the London opening bell on Friday, showcasing upside resilience among traders near the $40,000 level. Technicals and looming regulations Concerns about stricter crypto market regulations have created headwinds for an otherwise choppy but solid Bitcoin price recovery. In retrospect, the BTC/USD exchange rate had crashed to $30,000 on May 19 after news of …

Bitcoin (BTC) may get a boost to finally clear $40,000 at the expense of the U.S. dollar as United States President Joe Biden's new $6 trillion federal spending budget proposal is unveiled. On May 28, the United States president will announce the massive fiscal policy, the largest since the Second World War, to ensure investments in major infrastructure, education and healthcare projects, reported The New York Times on May 27. Biden reportedly wants the federal government to spend $6 trillion in 2022. He also plans to raise the total spending to $8.2 trillion by 2031. Biden had earlier proposed significant …

The amount of Bitcoin (BTC) held by whales increased by around 14% after Tesla announced its foray into the cryptocurrency sector in early February 2021. The latest data from on-chain analytics platform Glassnode shows an inflow of roughly $19.5 billion worth of Bitcoin — according to current exchange rates — into wallets that hold at least 100 BTC and a maximum of 1,000 BTC. The deposits spiked right after Tesla revealed in its January securities filings that it had added $1.5 billion worth of BTC to its balance sheet. The news hit the wire on Feb. 8 when the cost …