Week in review: EU approves crypto regulation as Bitcoin sinks below $30,000

EU approves crypto regulation as Bitcoin slides below $30k; Binance restarts card payments for Russian banks.

The European Union approved cryptocurrency regulation, Bitcoin slid below $30,000, Binance restored support for card transactions from Russian banks, and other events from the past week.

Bitcoin price falls below $30,000. Ethereum drops below $2,000

On 19 April, the price of Bitcoin over an hour decreased by 3.1%, to $29,000. Ethereum and other digital assets also showed a sharp decline. By 22 April, the price of the leading cryptocurrency fell below $28,000.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading near $27,640, Ethereum around $1,870.

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For the week, all top-10 cryptocurrencies by market cap ended in the red. The worst performer was Cardano (ADA), whose price fell 14.5%.

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Total cryptocurrency market capitalization shrank to about $1.2 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance index fell to 44%.

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EU approves crypto regulation

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On 20 April, the European Parliament voted in favour of the comprehensive regulation of the crypto industry — MiCA. The main provisions will take effect 12 months after publication in the Official Journal of the EU.

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ForkLog’s experts said that the document would boost the region’s investment appeal, but could also raise costs of regulatory compliance.

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Popularity of meme tokens shows up in Uniswap metrics

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Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes said that the altcoin season has begun. One of them — Pepe (PEPE) — was launched on 14 April and rose substantially in the following days. An anonymous investor managed to turn $260 into $2 million in just a week.

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Meanwhile, among Arbitrum airdrop participants, conducted airdrops of AIDOGE and AISHIB.

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The number of active Uniswap users reached a two-year high amid meme-token popularity. Gas fees on the Ethereum network also rose, with the metric briefly surpassing 100 Gwei.

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On 20 April, a MEV bot operated by a user known as jaredfromsubway spent $1.33 million in Ethereum gas fees to execute \”sandwich attacks\” on low-liquidity meme tokens Pepe, Wojak and Chad on DEXs such as Uniswap.

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The address accounted for 1.75% of all daily gas spent; by that measure it ranked second among the largest gas users on the network.

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US Congress criticises proposed stablecoin regulation

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On 16 April, the House Financial Services Committee published a bill aimed at regulating the activities of stablecoin issuers.

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By 19 April, the first hearings took place — the document was criticised for outdated data during its preparation, and stakeholders urged an update ahead of the next hearing for further discussion.

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Ahead of the hearings, SEC chairman Gary Gensler testified. He was criticised for the agency’s stance on cryptocurrencies, notably on whether Ethereum should be treated as a security, regulation of stablecoins and the FTX episode.

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Earlier, Ohio Representative Warren Davidson said he would introduce a bill to oust Gensler.

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This week the SEC also brought suit against Bittrex and Bittrex Global.

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What to discuss with friends?

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• Vulnerabilities in iOS and macOS put users’ cryptocurrencies at risk.
• Sotheby’s will auction an NFT collection from hedge fund 3AC.
• Michael Saylor turned email into a Lightning Network address.
• Researcher: rapper Soulja Boy made at least $730,000 from NFT scams.

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More than 1 million ETH withdrawn from staking after Shapella

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On 17 April, withdrawals from Ethereum staking after the Shapella hard fork activation exceeded 1.3 million ETH. At one point, daily inflows were higher than withdrawals, so by week’s end net outflows stood at 570,000 ETH (deposits reached 800,000 ETH).

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Since The Merge, the total supply of the second-largest cryptocurrency fell by more than 105,000 ETH (over $200 million).

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On 19 April, Binance activated the withdrawal function from Ethereum staking and the ability to trade commission-free in the BETH/ETH and BETH/USDT pairs. The offer runs until May 10.

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Binance restores support for card transactions from Russian banks

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The cryptocurrency exchange Binance, without prior notice, reinstated support for card transactions from Russian banks, including Visa and Mastercard cards.

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Earlier, media reported that the platform lifted the €10,000 deposit limit for Russian user accounts.

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Iron Fish launches privacy-focused blockchain

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Backed by a16z and Sequoia Capital, the Iron Fish platform launched a first-layer mainnet after two years of development.

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The network uses a Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism and zk-SNARK zero-knowledge proofs. Ahead of launch, developers conducted three testing phases from 2022 to 2023. At its peak, more than 60,000 nodes were active on the blockchain.

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Tornado Cash developer to be placed under house arrest

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A Tornado Cash developer, Alexey Pertsev, who is held in a Dutch prison, was granted permission from April 26 to await trial at home, organizers of rallies in support of the detainee said. Pertsev will be monitored with an electronic ankle bracelet and restricted movement. The next hearing is set for May 24.

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Coinbase chief signals possible exit from the US market

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Coinbase is weighing a possible exit from the US market, CEO Brian Armstrong told reporters. He said the United States has all it takes to be a key player in crypto, though regulatory uncertainty could prevent such a scenario.

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At the same time, Coinbase received approval to operate from the Bermuda Monetary Authority and is examining the prospect of launching an international derivatives exchange.

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Ukraine explains tax rules for Bitcoin transactions

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The State Tax Service of Ukraine in Lviv oblast issued guidance on the taxation of crypto operations for individuals.

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Experts noted that cryptocurrency still lacks a defined legal status in the country, so the regulatory framework for its classification and operation is absent. Nevertheless, funds derived from crypto transactions are taxable.

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Also on ForkLog:

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• Gala Games will conduct an airdrop of the new version of the token — GALA v2.
• The case of the \”red admin\” of WEX will be heard in Novosibirsk, while in the US the co-founder of Bitcoin exchanges Coyote Crypto and EggChange was sentenced.
• SafeMoon agreed with a hacker to return 80% of the funds.
• Wallet Bot added the ability to buy Bitcoin via a web interface.

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What else to read?

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We explored the features and ecosystems of rising L2 projects — Arbitrum Nova and zkSync. We explained what is known about potential token airdrops.

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We also summarise the week’s main events in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

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The DeFi sector continues to attract heightened attention from crypto investors. ForkLog has compiled the key events and news from recent weeks into a digest.