Gate.io Leveraged Token Event Splits $6000 | Axie Ronin Sidechain Hacked for $600M+ | VanEck Expects Bitcoin to Hit $4.8M | CME Officially Launches Micro Bitcoin and Ether Options

Gate.io Weekly Newsletter | Market trends? Global headlines? We got you covered.

TL;DR? Listen on the Go!

Updated Weekly on Buzzsprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

Gate.io Announcement

Gate.io Leveraged Token $6K Giveaway | Gate.io's latest Leverage Token Giveaway is about to begin! We are giving away prizes worth $6,000 to new and existing users! If you complete the following tasks during the campaign period, you will receive the corresponding rewards on a first-come, first-served basis! What are you waiting for?

TA Highlight

This week the cryptocurrency market has been nothing but volatile.

On the 29th, BTC spot price hit the highest mark at $48,192.23, which is the second highest price in a single day since the start of 2022. On the 30th, BTC spot price has reached the highest point of the upper Bollinger band, but the breakthrough failed. It can be assumed that the current resistance for BTC spot price is around $48,000 and the dynamic resistance is the upper Bollinger band.

Although after two consecutive days of decline, BTC spot has returned to the $45,000 position, but the market still shows enthusiastic expectations for the BTC spot price. The trading volume did not show a significant decline. It is worth noting that the drop in BTC spot price on these two days may be a short-lived market pinning behavior.

When the price support zone is touched, a rebound is likely to occur. In the short term, the support zone for BTC successive prices is around $42,000, and the dynamic support line is near the middle of the Bollinger band. As a follower of the BTC spot price, the price of ETH has now seen a small rebound. The BTC spot price is still bullish and may see further increase in value.

Crypto Alerts

Hacker Drains $622M From Axie Infinity’s Ronin Ethereum Sidechain

The gaming-focused Ronin Network announced Tuesday that it has been targeted in a hack that saw an estimated $622 million worth of cryptocurrency drained from its bridge. According to a blog post published by the Ronin’s official Substack, the exploit affected Ronin Network validator nodes for Sky Mavis, the publishers of the popular Axie Infinity game, and the Axie DAO.

It is reported that the exploit took place on March 23 but was discovered late for a week after a report from a user being unable to withdraw 5k ETH from the bridge. All told, 173,600 Ethers and 25.5M USDC drained from the Ronin bridge in two transactions (1 and 2), adding up to about $622 million worth of crypto funds as of this writing.

“The validator key scheme is set up to be decentralized so that it limits an attack vector, similar to this one, but the attacker found a backdoor through our gas-free RPC node, which they abused to get the signature for the Axie DAO validator,” the report reads.

Grayscale CEO: Bitcoin ETF Rejected, May Sue SEC

Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said Grayscale Investments may sue the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) if its application to convert its $30 billion Bitcoin trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF) is denied.

The deadline for the SEC to approve or deny Grayscale's application is July 6.

In seeking legal action, Grayscale will argue that the SEC has approved bitcoin derivatives-backed ETFs, but has repeatedly denied spot ETF applications. Spot-traded ETFs track the price of an underlying asset like stocks, giving investors easier access to that asset.

Musk hinted at building a new social platform that would support the Dogecoin tipping feature

Recently, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on social media that he is seriously considering building a new social media platform, to which Crypto YouTuber Steven Steele responded that whether Elon Musk buys Twitter or creates his own platform, he will definitely make the new social media platform support Dogecoin (DOGE) tipping.

Elon Musk then replied "100 points", suggesting that he might do so.

MacroStrategy Closes $205 Million Term Loan Secured by Bitcoin, or Purchases More Bitcoin

Recently, Silvergate Bank issued a $205 million term loan to MicroStrategy subsidiary MacroStrategy LLC.

The interest-only term loan is secured by certain bitcoins held in MacroStrategy's collateral account, with trustees jointly authorized by Silvergate and MacroStrategy.

MacroStrategy will use the proceeds of the loan to purchase Bitcoin, to pay fees, interest and expenses associated with the loan transaction, or for general corporate purposes of MacroStrategy or MicroStrategy.

Market Updates

Rio de Janeiro to Become First Brazilian City to Accept Bitcoin Payments

Rio de Janeiro will officially start accepting Bitcoin (BTC) payments for taxes related to urban real estate within their city limits, otherwise known as Imposto sobre a propriedade predial e territorial urbana (IPTU).

The new pro-crypto tax laws will be implemented from 2023, which was announced by the Secretary of Economic Development, Innovation and Simplification, Chicão Bulhões.

The Sandbox, OpenSea Selected as the 100 Most Influential Companies

According to the official website of TIME magazine, metaverse gaming platform The Sandbox, NFT trading platform OpenSea and crypto exchange Paxful have been named to TIME magazine's list of the 100 most influential companies in 2022.

Uber CEO: Uber will someday accept cryptocurrency

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in an interview with Bloomberg that cryptocurrency has proven to be a real store of value and that Uber will one day accept cryptocurrency.

Capital Management Giant VanEck: Bitcoin Price Expected to Go as High as $4.8 Million

VanEck recently said that if Bitcoin becomes a global reserve asset, the price could be as high as $4.8 million each.

In a March 30 report, VanEck's head of emerging markets debt Eric Fine and chief economist Natalia Gurushina said the implied price of Bitcoin is between $1.3 million and $4.8 million.

The lower of these prices is predicted based on Bitcoin as M0, while the highest is predicted based on Bitcoin as M2. And in their assessment of the price of gold, Eric Fine and Natalia Gurushina believe that it should be at $31,000 as M0 and as high as $105,000 as M2.

It is worth noting that Russia is considering accepting Bitcoin as a payment method for its oil and gas exports as the West increases sanctions.

Global Headlines

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Officially Launches Micro Bitcoin and Ether Options

On March 28, CME announced the official launch of micro Bitcoin and Ether options, with one option contract representing 0.1 Bitcoin or Ether.

Russian Prime Minister: It's Time to Integrate Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies into the Russian Economy

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishuskin said it is necessary to integrate cryptocurrency circulation mechanisms into the country's financial system, according to Russian media reports.

At a meeting with members of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), Mishuskin stressed that issues related to the regulation of cryptocurrencies can only be solved jointly with the Central Bank to assess the risks posed by cryptocurrencies to the circulation of Russian currency. He added that measures should be taken to further regulate the cryptocurrency mining industry.

U.S. 2023 Budget Report: $10 Billion Expected Over Next 10 Years Through Updated Crypto Tax Rules

The U.S. Biden administration has released its budget report for 2023, which is $5.8 trillion with a projected deficit of $1.15 trillion, and includes some elements about the U.S. government's long-term plans for cryptocurrencies.

The report shows that the White House is proposing to update the rules for digital assets, primarily through expanded tax reporting requirements, which are expected to bring in more than $10 billion in new revenue over the next 10 years.

Earlier this year, in March, President Biden issued an executive order on digital assets. The order primarily commissioned a series of federal agencies to conduct a study, rather than calling for a broad crackdown on digital assets.

Indian Parliament Passes Crypto Tax Legislation, Will Impose 30% Capital Gains Tax on Crypto Transactions

According to reports, the Indian Parliament officially passed a controversial tax proposal that will see Indians pay a 30% capital gains tax on cryptocurrency transactions starting on April 1.

In addition, Indians will have to pay a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) as well as a tax on cryptocurrency gifts, and no deduction for losses.

After the tax was first proposed in February, the Indian crypto industry has been opposed to the bill and supplemented meetings with lawmakers through a Change.org Petition and online campaign, but in the end neither worked.

Industry participants are now considering a challenge to the Supreme Court.

Gate.io Weekly Blogs:

Gate Labs: March Investment Review

Understanding wrapped ETH (wETH)

March 2022 | Gate.io Monthly Featured Articles

How Cryptocurrencies Could Trigger A Financial Crisis

Gate․io Expands Its Institutional Market Maker Services

From Curve War to Convex War；Convex: How will the Third Largest DeFi Project, rise?

Author: Byron. B & Charles. F & Peter. L (Gate.io Researchers)

* The article only represents the researcher’s views and does not constitute any investment advice.

* Gate.io reserves all rights to this article. Reposting of the article will be permitted provided Gate.io is referenced. In all other cases, legal action will be taken due to copyright infringement.