BitDigest May 13 · Issue #901
- Crypto prices sell off on environmentally-conscious tweet by Elon Musk
- Hungary planning to cut tax rate on digital currencies in effort to convince investors to declare gains
- IRS says since crypto is considered property it can be seized for overdue tax settlements
Weekly Stock Update
The Voice of Elon
I was arriving home from work expecting a quiet evening listening to the Business of Esports weekly livestream (another of my projects), when suddenly my phone starting beeping and I saw Elon Musk’s tweet. Reminiscent of many nights in the past, I stared at my screen watching bitcoin fall from $55,000 to $52.5k, $51.9, $50.7 and then the big drop below $47,000. Musk’s tweet was an attack on bitcoin, but the entire crypto market responded with all of the top coins selling off on the news. Even Musk’s favored DOGE dropped from $0.46 down to $0.36. (Crypto prices found buyers at these depressed levels and prices have since settled.)
Two questions kept me up last night.
1.What was Elon thinking? Unlike many new crypto-fan-boys, he definitely understood how mining worked when Tesla announced it would accept bitcoin as payment for new automobiles in February.
Credit to my friend, Fundstrat Analyst David Grinder who tweeted what many of us were thinking:
2.What’s next? Is he already planning to accept another digital currency? Has he already identified the coin that “use[s] <1% of bitcoin’s energy/transaction.”
Musks message is not new and I do not think people really care if Tesla accepts bitcoin. His message on the high energy usage by miners is a repeated attack, but this time it’s from a supposed supporter who some people even believe could be Satoshi
I want to share a chart on the energy based cost of payments. This is something many of us have asked about and this is the first time I have seen this information depicted. I am guessing we will start to see this in many forms going forward.
The Headlines
Boston Fed Confirms Federal Reserve Exploring Development of CBDC
Hungary Cutting Tax Rate on Crypto Trading by 50%
Hong Kong Increasing Support for Digital Yuan
IRS Can Seize Crypto to Pay Outstanding Debts
Hut 8 Planning to List on NASDAQ
BITF Becomes Service Agent for MicroBT
Bitwise Launches Crypto Industry Innovators ETF
Iconic Lists Bitcoin ETP on Deutsche Börse
Tesla Suspends Purchase of Cars with Bitcoin
MoneyGram to let cryptocurrency holders cash in their investments
Diem to Issue USD Stablecoin with Silvergate
Market Data
BTC Difficulty Hits New High
Analysis of Crypto Enforcement Actions by SEC
Thoughts on the Ecosystem
Masayoshi Son Not Sure About Crypto
Daily Cartoon
Reports you may have missed
U.S. equity indices are under pressure today following disappointing economic growth in conjunction with hotter-than-expected prices paid, sparking stagflation fears and reducing the chances of rate cuts. The $SPY has declined 0.91% to test $501 and the $QQQ has dropped 1.12% to $421, being weighed down by a 12% drop in META following its Q1 earnings release. Crypto markets are faring better, with BTC-0.42% (-0.28%) trading at $64k and ETH-0.44% ...
The crypto market is pulling back from its recent surge, with $BTC falling below $65,000, $ETH trading under $3,200, and $SOL fighting to stay above $150. As expected, altcoins are also generally declining, although a few notable performers are scattered across the market. Currently, $BONK and $WIF, two prominent memecoins on Solana, are showing resilience, up 12% and 6%, respectively. Additionally, $HBAR initially doubled in price following reports that Blackrock...
Blockchain Association Sues the SEC, Cosmos Patches Potential Reentrancy Vulnerability
U.S. Treasury rates and the DXY (-0.46%) are sliding today following weaker-than-expected S&P Flash PMI data, helping catalyze a 1% rally in equity indices. Manufacturing PMI came in at 49.9 vs. 52.0 expected, and Services PMI read 50.9 vs. 52.0 expected. Bitcoin miners have benefited as rates retreat and transaction revenue remains elevated, with $RIOT, CLSK, and $MARA showing weekly gains of 26%, 16%, and 14%, respectively. Crypto assets are mixed with BTC-0.42% ...
After significantly outperforming equities leading up to its halving event on Friday, BTC-0.42% continued its upward trend over the weekend, now trading just below $66k. ETH-0.44% has generally followed suit, although continuing to lag behind BTC, with its current price around $3200. SOL-3.81% , meanwhile, has continued its strong rebound from the recent price slide, reaching $156 yesterday, currently trading slightly below that level. The crypto market is broadly performing well...
