Weekly Review: Bitcoin Stabilizes, Mining Difficulty Drops, Notcoin Listing Date Announced

Bitcoin stabilized around $61,000, mining difficulty fell by 6%, the SEC continued its pursuit of crypto companies, exchanges announced the listing date for Notcoin, and other events of the past week.

Bitcoin Holds Above $60,000

The leading cryptocurrency began the week at $65,000. By Thursday, May 9, its price had dropped to $60,000 but managed to stay above this level.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $61,775, having lost 4.3% over the week.

Analyst Rekt Capital declared the end of the post-halving “danger zone.” He believes the coin reached a local bottom at $57,000.

Trader Matthew Hyland opined that Bitcoin needs to hold the $60,000 mark if the current momentum weakens at $67,500. In this case, the formation of a “reverse head and shoulders” pattern could be expected.

Most digital assets in the top 10 by market capitalization ended the week in the “red zone.” Exceptions were TON (+18%) and BNB (+0.5%).

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization is $2.39 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance index is 54.7%.

Drop in Mining Difficulty

On May 9, following the latest recalculation, the mining difficulty of the first cryptocurrency fell by 5.63% to 83.15 T. This decline was the most significant since December 2022.

The average hash rate over the roughly two-week period was 595 EH/s compared to 630 EH/s previously. This suggests that miners may have shut down equipment that became unprofitable post-halving.

Earlier in the week, on May 6, the Bitcoin blockchain surpassed a significant milestone by processing 1 billion transactions. On average, 178,475 operations were conducted daily over the network’s 5603-day existence.

Predictions from Jack Dorsey and Tom Lee

Twitter (now X) co-founder and Block CEO Jack Dorsey believes that digital gold will reach $1 million by 2030 and surpass it.

He highlighted the nature of Bitcoin’s ecosystem and how it encourages collective efforts to improve the network as the most interesting aspect of the cryptocurrency.

“Beyond its founding story, the most amazing thing about the first cryptocurrency is that everyone […] who makes any effort to improve it, enhances the entire ecosystem, which drives the price up,” Dorsey explained.

In early May, Block began using 10% of its monthly gross profit related to Bitcoin to purchase additional coins. This practice will continue until the end of 2024.

Fundstrat co-founder Tom Lee reaffirmed his forecast that the first cryptocurrency will reach $150,000 by the end of 2024. He cited expected “May purchases” following April’s sell-off as a growth driver.

Lee noted that the U.S. economy is no longer “overheated,” giving the Federal Reserve room to cut the key rate. Historically, such events have positively impacted risk assets, including cryptocurrencies.

What to Discuss with Friends?

• A wallet dormant for 10 years moved 687.33 BTC.
• Ethereum gas fees fell to a four-year low.
• Rice trading and an offline tablet: Sam Bankman-Fried shared his life in confinement.

SEC Continues Its Assault on the Crypto Industry

Earlier in the week, it was revealed that the crypto division of online broker Robinhood received a Wells notice from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The regulator’s concerns relate to the digital assets listed on the platform. Robinhood representatives expressed strong confidence that the added products do not qualify as securities.

In recent months, ConsenSys and Uniswap have also received Wells notices.

On May 9, new details emerged in the SEC’s case against Ripple. The agency opposed a proposal to settle for a $10 million fine for selling XRP to institutional investors. The regulator still demands $2 billion.

In its motion, the Commission stated that Ripple’s proposed penalty is a “slap on the wrist.” Ripple’s chief legal officer, Stuart Alderoty, criticized the agency’s statement and noted its inability to “apply the law in good faith in an attempt to confuse the judge.”

Amid ongoing disputes with crypto projects, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stated that investors are not receiving sufficient important information about digital assets. However, in an interview with CNBC, he did not directly answer whether Ethereum is a security or a commodity.

The official added that spot ETH-ETFs are under review. On May 7, the regulator extended the response period for applications to launch products from Invesco and Galaxy. On May 10, ARK Invest and 21Shares independently updated their exchange-traded fund documents, removing the staking clause.

Creditors Dissatisfied with FTX Compensation Plan

On May 7, the collapsed exchange FTX proposed a new compensation plan. According to the document, 98% of creditors will receive at least 118% of their claims within 60 days of court approval.

The total payout value will range from $14.5 billion to $16.3 billion. This sum includes assets under the control of the exchange and its liquidators.

Approval of the plan requires more than 50% of creditor votes, some of whom are dissatisfied with the proposal.

Sunil Kavuri, a representative of the largest group of affected FTX clients, opposed the new compensation model, as it limits recipients’ options and absolves some defendants of liability.

The proposal includes an “exculpatory clause” for the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, allegedly involved in FTX’s collapse. The document absolves it of all potential liabilities.

Among other drawbacks, Kavuri highlighted fiat payouts and creditor losses of ~$10 billion due to asset valuation at the time of bankruptcy declaration.

Also on ForkLog:

• Canaan introduced a new line of Bitcoin miners.
• Deutsche Bank pointed out risks for stablecoins. Tether responded with criticism.
• Vitalik Buterin discussed the idea of “multidimensional” gas pricing.

Notcoin Listing

This week, several major exchanges announced the listing date for the NOT token of the Web3 project Notcoin. The coin will be listed on Bybit and OKX on May 16.

On the same day, the token will be supported by the Wallet integrated into the Telegram messenger.

Trading platform Binance also announced the addition of the asset and the launch of farming on the platform. The campaign will run from May 13 to 16, during which users who lock BNB and the stablecoin FDUSD will receive NOT.

The coin’s listing was initially planned to coincide with Bitcoin’s halving and take place on April 20, but developers needed more time for preparation. They also missed the new deadline of “by the end of April”.

What Else to Read?

This week, ForkLog explained what Runes are in the Bitcoin network and how to apply Benner cycles in cryptocurrency trading.

In traditional selections, we compiled the main events in cybersecurity for the week, as well as the key metrics of mining companies for April.

The most important news from crypto industry participants was published in a separate digest.