May 1, 2023

Bitcoin was recently trading at $28,500, down more than 2% over the past 24 hours. The world's largest crypto by market cap had challenged $30,000 at one point on Sunday afternoon, but a sudden plunge later that evening brought the price to its current level. BTC spent April changing hands in a range between $27,400 and $31,000 as investors weighed ongoing crypto industry woes and deep concerns about the U.S. banking sector. Over the weekend, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was weighing offers for First Republic, the latest, regional U.S. bank to implode. Early Monday morning, JPMorgan was announced as having acquired all of First Republic’s deposits and a “substantial majority of assets.” Investors will next be turning their attention to the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) two-day meeting beginning on Tuesday to discuss a potential interest rate hike. The CME’s FedWatch tool is forecasting an 82% probability of a third consecutive 25 basis point increase.

Former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden shared his hopes that AI’s intelligence could exceed that of humans and ultimately benefit humanity, despite fears the technology could be co-opted by bad actors. Snowden, who joined CoinDesk's Consensus 2023 conference virtually from Russia, shared his cautiously optimistic views on the future of AI, the technology that exploded into the mainstream after OpenAI’s ChatGPT roll out last fall. While Snowden at times echoed some experts’ warnings that AI technologies might empower bad actors, he also considered positive use cases for the emerging technology.

The crypto industry is "absolutely at war" against policy and lawmakers in the U.S., particularly against SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith said during a panel Friday at Consensus 2023. "Elizabeth Warren has an anti crypto army. She is advertising on Twitter for her campaign, that she has an anti crypto army," Smith said during "Beltway Confidential: Inside the D.C. Crypto Scene." Smith added, however, that industry groups had formed their own army to sway opinion. "So we're fighting. I don't think this is a war that lasts forever, but we're going to probably be at war for the next 18 to 20 months," Smith said.

Addresses With Over 32 ETH Appear to be Stabilizing

The number of addresses with more than 32 ETH is showing signs of stabilizing after an initial post “Shappella” upgrade decline. The March 12 upgrade allowed investors to remove staked ETH that had been previously locked. A minimum of 32 ETH is the required amount in order to stake the asset.

Initial concerns were that the allowance of un-staking would create downside pressure on the price of ether, as investors unstaked and potentially sold. The concerns have been unfounded however as ETH prices have increased more than 10% since the upgrade

A reversal of the initial decline would imply that the Shappella upgrade has removed an element of risk for stakers, which could prove bullish for the asset long term.

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