Bitcoin is falling - Fears of rate hikes plague markets

Bitcoin fell last week as concerns about interest rate hikes and the end of quantitative easing plagued markets. The world's largest cryptocurrency started last week above $ 45, but has declined over the course of the week to now hover under $ 41. In the meantime Ethereum it followed a similar trajectory, briefly above $ 3500, but now significantly under $ 3100.

The downward movements confirm what emerged as a significant trend in 2022 - that cryptocurrencies do not appear to be immune to the environment of rate hikes. Moving on to a similar rhythm as traditional stock markets such as NASDAQ100, crypto seems to be struggling in an environment of rising rates.

Bitcoin is still in the upper half of the range it reached in 2022, meaning that if it stays above $ 40, the market may return to confidence. It is clear that the turmoil of the last few weeks has led to the buyout of the token and is now bearing the consequences.

On conference Bitcoin 2022which took place in Miami last week, there has been plenty of talk about cryptocurrencies and the wider environment, but unlike in previous years, nothing major seems to have raised the price this time.

Elon Musk calls for dogecoin payments on Twitter

General manager Tesla and currently Twitter's largest shareholder, Elon Musk, suggested changes to Twitter that would include the inclusion of dogecoin payments.

The eccentric billionaire bought 9% last week. shares in the company, and then was invited to the board. Musk has since made a number of suggestions for the platform, which now includes cryptocurrency. He suggested that Twitter Blue's subscription model could allow payments in Dogecoin. During a thread on the platform about how users can pay, he added: "Maybe even an option to pay in Doge [sic]".

Musk is arguably one of the few public figures in the world who can move the cryptocurrency markets just because of what he says. His statements had already had an impact on the price of dogecoin, which rose from about $ 0,1425 to over $ 0,1550 - a jump of about 9%. At this point, it is unlikely that the price will move further by significant amounts. However, observers will look for evidence that Musk's ideas can materialize as he is no longer a chair observer, but an active participant in the future development of the Twitter platform.

Central American bitcoin dominoes begin to collapse

Two more Central American countries have come one step closer to joining El Salvador by accepting bitcoin as legal tender. In Honduras, a special economic zone on the tourist island of Roatán in the Caribbean has officially begun to accept bitcoin as legal tender. Named zone "Honduras Prospera" was created in 2020 to encourage investment and autonomous economic growth for this troubled nation.

The Honduran government has officially made bitcoin use available to businesses, individuals, and local authorities. The economic zone will also be able to issue bitcoin bonds, similar to El Salvador.

Meanwhile, in Mexico, the president invited Samson Speech, a former Blockstream CSO, to the country to discuss the possibility of introducing bitcoin as legal tender. The message was delivered by Mexican Senator Indira Kempis, who is closely related to legislative attempts to integrate cryptocurrencies more into the Mexican financial system.

While the plans for bitcoin in Mexico are still in their infancy, the potential adoption of a cryptocurrency as legal tender in the country would change the rules of the game. Both El Salvador and Honduras are relatively small, but Mexico is a large country with almost 130 million citizens. If the country included to recognize bicoin as legal tender, the potential for an explosion in use would be remarkable.

Hashrate ETH hits its highest level as The Merge approaches

Hashrate for ethereum jumped by 13 percent. in three months as the diggers prepare for The Merge and hit record highs (ATH).

Hashrat to - which measures the performance of all miners on the web - continues to grow as The Merge approaches, reaching the new ATH on April 7. Miners go to great lengths to create more tokens in front of the Ethereum network, away from the system proof-of-work (PoW) to the system proof-of-stake (PoS). As a result of the merger, a PoS system will be implemented, agreed to reduce the ineffectiveness and poor environmental credentials of the PoW system. The combination is likely to increase the deflationary nature of ethereum as staking is rewarded by the system instead of creating coins.

The reservation hashrate is a signal that miners are retreating to build more blocks before this change. Currently, it is still planned for the second quarter of this year, and the potential implications for ethereum and the cryptocurrency market in general cannot be underestimated.