Weekly Recap: Bitcoin Dips Below $70,000 and Bitcoin Cash Halving

Bitcoin fell below $70,000, Bitcoin Cash underwent a halving, Forbes valued Changpeng Zhao’s fortune at $33 billion, Ripple announced the timeline for launching its own stablecoin, and other events of the past week.

Bitcoin Price Drops Below $70,000

The leading cryptocurrency started the week above $70,000 but fell below $65,000 by Tuesday, April 2. By Thursday, April 4, digital gold had risen to $69,000.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $69,800.

Most digital assets in the top 10 by market capitalization ended the week in the red. Cardano (-8.7%) and Solana (-8.3%) were the biggest losers.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization is $2.7 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance index is 54.6%.

Bitcoin Cash Network Undergoes Halving

On April 4 at 01:45 (Kyiv/Moscow time), the Bitcoin Cash network experienced its second halving at block #840,000. The block reward was reduced from 6.25 BCH to 3.125 BCH.

The block was mined by the ViaBTC pool, which received a reward of 3.156 BCH, including fees.

The first halving in the Bitcoin Cash network occurred on April 8, 2020.

Forbes Values Changpeng Zhao’s Fortune at $33 Billion

Binance co-founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao ranked 50th in Forbes’ new billionaire list with a fortune of $33 billion.

According to the publication, the entrepreneur’s wealth peaked at $65 billion in 2022 but later fell to $10.5 billion.

Bloomberg’s own billionaires index attributes $45.1 billion in assets to Zhao. The figure increased by $10.7 billion over the year, according to the agency.

By the end of 2023, Forbes counted 2,781 billionaires worldwide, a record number, as was the total wealth of $14.2 trillion.

The United States remains the leader in terms of countries, with 813 individuals holding such fortunes (totaling $5.7 trillion). China (including Hong Kong) ranks second with 473 billionaires and $1.7 trillion, respectively.

What to Discuss with Friends?

• A trader lost over $4 million due to a hasty token sale.
• Another solo miner mined a Bitcoin block.
• A user earned $1 million in a day on the EPIK meme token.
• Notcoin timed a token listing to coincide with the Bitcoin halving.

Ripple Announces Timeline for Launching Its Stablecoin

Ripple announced plans to launch its own stablecoin pegged to the US dollar by the end of 2024.

According to developers, the new asset will be 100% backed by dollar deposits, short-term US government treasury bonds, and other cash equivalents. It will be launched on the XRP Ledger and Ethereum networks.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse cited the company’s years of experience and its “regulatory influence” as factors enabling it to “offer the best crypto payments” using XRP and the future stablecoin.

The firm’s CTO, David Schwartz, stated that he does not yet have an answer on what the stablecoin will be called or what ticker it will receive.

Vitalik Buterin Shares Details of Ethereum’s Next Update

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin discussed the next phase of the blockchain’s roadmap — The Purge. It aims to simplify the network’s structure and reduce node load.

The central focus of protocol development at this stage is the implementation and development of EIP-6780, introduced during the recent Dencun hard fork. It optimizes the SELFDESTRUCT operation code, enhancing security and simplifying protocol implementation.

Buterin outlined several more “purges” within Ethereum aimed at protocol optimization. Recently, the Geth client removed thousands of lines of code, discontinuing support for networks added before The Merge.

EIP-7523 addressed the issue of “empty accounts.” Thanks to the update, support for most empty accounts from Ethereum’s PoW networks ceased.

Additionally, Buterin proposed using a precompilation mechanism. These are Ethereum contracts that contain logic implemented directly by clients instead of EVM code.

Also on ForkLog:

• A trader turned 0.1 ETH into $8.39 million on low-cap tokens.
• A Kenyan farmer received crypto community donations to buy goats.
• An Ethereum ICO participant moved 1,069 ETH.
• A “sleeping” address for 10 years moved bitcoins worth $17 million.

CEO of Morgan Creek Predicts Bitcoin to Reach $150,000 by Year-End

Bitcoin’s growth post-halving will become “parabolic,” allowing the price to reach $150,000 by year-end, predicted Morgan Creek Capital CEO Mark Yusko.

The top executive called the first cryptocurrency the “dominant token” and “the best form of gold.”

“After the halving, interest in the asset will increase — many will enter FOMO mode. We should see a doubling of fair value. In the current cycle, it is ~$75,000, adjusted down from $100,000 due to transaction-related ‘inscriptions.’ […] Thus, we arrive at $150,000,” Yusko shared his calculations.

According to the specialist’s forecasts, after the expected halving around April 20, Bitcoin’s growth will continue over the next nine months.

“Once this happens, demand will start to rise, but the daily supply of new coins will decrease from 900 to 450. Towards the end of the year, the dynamics will become more parabolic. Historically, about nine months after the event, the market forms a price peak before the next bear market,” explained the CEO of Morgan Creek Capital.

Regarding long-term prospects, the expert stated that the first cryptocurrency “can easily” increase tenfold over the next decade. He explained his expectations by “the law of large numbers.”

What Else to Read?

In the traditional digest, we gathered the main events of the week in the field of cybersecurity.

The cryptocurrency industry is attracting an increasing number of institutional players. This is evidenced by new infrastructure investments and the growing attention companies are paying to Bitcoin as an asset class. The most important events of recent weeks are in ForkLog’s review.