Congressman Sherman Questions SEC, Bitcoin Developers Debate BRC-20

Stocks and crypto continue to slide as BTC fell 2.0% while the S&P dropped 0.52%. The S&P is on track to close its second negative week after the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index estimate came in at a 6-month low of 57.7 vs. 63 expected. The survey also showed consumer outlook for inflation over the next 5 years has reached the highest level since 2008, with 3.2% inflation expected. BTC has reached 2-month lows trading at $26.3k, just above the key level of its 200-week moving average at ~$26.1k. The downward price action has followed a string of negative headlines which led to uncertainty in the market, including network congestion issues (more below), Binance temporarily halting Bitcoin withdrawals, and unconfirmed (potentially fake) reports that the U.S government is continuing to unload Bitcoin seized in the closure of Silk road. LDO (+7.5%) and KAVA (+7%) are outperforming among the top 100 cryptos. LDO is preparing for its V2 upgrade which would enable withdrawals of staked Ether, expected to go live on Monday pending a community vote. Layer-1 blockchain KAVA announced its mainnet launch was one week away.