- Liechtenstein Plans to Accept Bitcoin for Payments to State, Prime Minister Says: Report
Liechtenstein is planning to add bitcoin (BTC) as a payment option for government services, German news outlet Handelsblatt reported on Sunday.
Any crypto received as payment will likely be immediately exchanged for Swiss francs, Liechtenstein’s national currency, Prime Minister Daniel Risch told the newspaper.
The European Union is now finalizing its landmark licensing regime known as the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation – something that could draw to the region crypto firms seeking regulatory clarity. Although Liechtenstein is not a member of the bloc, it is part of the greater European Economic Area (EEA), to which the framework’s relevance can be extended.
- Stripe tackles ‘cold start problem’ with the launch of fiat-to-crypto on-ramp
Internet payment processor Stripe has introduced a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp to address the “cold start problem” faced by Web3 companies due to customers not having “crypto in their wallets to carry out transactions.”
According to a May 4 statement, Stripe’s newly launched fiat-to-crypto on-ramp, which Stripe itself will host, will allow Web3 companies to offer United States-based customers the ability to purchase crypto “at the precise moment they need it” without the need to embed any code into a website or app.
Instead, customers will be directed to a link to convert their fiat into crypto.
- ‘Attack on Bitcoin’ Claims Circulate as Transaction Fees Climb Higher
The Bitcoin quadrant of Crypto Twitter was abuzz with concern on Sunday, as some users saw high transaction fees and a congested backlog of transactions as an attack on Bitcoin.
There are currently over 469,000 transactions waiting to be confirmed in Bitcoin’s mempool as of this writing, according to mempool.space. Before transactions are added to Bitcoin’s blockchain, transactions are sent to the network’s mempool, where they wait to be selected by a Bitcoin miner and inserted into Bitcoin’s next block.
Bitcoin transaction fees were also quite high, with high-priority transactions commanding a rate of 654 sat/vB, or around $26, according to mempool.space.
The two metrics suggested that Bitcoin’s network was especially clogged, but some thought it was the product of nefarious behavior, aimed at cutting off those that couldn’t handle the uptick in transaction fees.
https://decrypt.co/139259/bitcoin-ddos-ordinals-inscriptions-attack
- Meme Coin Trading Volume Surges to Two-Year High, Signals Caution for Bitcoin Bulls
Trading volume in meme coins, or cryptocurrencies originating from internet memes and having no inherent utility, surged last week in a move reminiscent of frenzied activity observed ahead of previous bitcoin (BTC) market tops.
The crypto market saw $2.3 billion in meme coin trading volume last week – a six-fold rise from the preceding week’s $387 million to the highest since May 2021, according to blockchain observer James Tolan’s Dune analytics-based tracker.
The speculative mania was led by pepecoin (PEPE), a frog-themed token launched in mid-April with a maximum supply of 420 trillion. PEPE crossed $1 billion in market capitalization on Friday, eventually peaking at $1.82 billion, a staggering achievement for a three-week-old meme cryptocurrency. At press time, PEPE’s market cap stood at $931 million, per Coingecko.
The PEPE frenzy also spurred speculation in other low-cap tokens like DINO, WSB, CHAD and 4TOKEN, which rose by several hundred percent in the past two weeks.
https://www.binance.com/en/news/flash/7544403
- Bitcoin Network Overwhelmed by 390,000 Unconfirmed Transactions and Surging Fees
As of Sunday, May 7, 2023, the Bitcoin network is experiencing a major traffic jam due to an overwhelming number of unconfirmed transactions. The latest statistics reveal that a whopping 390,000 transfers are currently stuck in limbo, waiting for confirmation.
This backlog can be attributed to the surge in minting and transferring of Ordinal inscriptions and BRC20 tokens, which have flooded the network. In fact, the Bitcoin blockchain is now hosting over 13,000 BRC20 tokens and a staggering 4.17 million Ordinal inscriptions, further exacerbating the congestion.
To clear the current backlog, a whopping 179 blocks would need to be mined. Given the average block time of 10 minutes, it would take approximately 1.24 days to mine the required number of blocks. This backlog has caused transaction fees to skyrocket by a whopping 343% over the past 11 days. As per bitinfocharts.com data, the average transaction fee currently stands at 0.00031 BTC or $8.82 per transfer.
- South Korea Authorities Investigate Lawmaker Over Suspicious Crypto Transfers: Report
South Korea’s financial watchdog has reported to local prosecutors a series of crypto transactions by an opposition party lawmaker, which has sparked domestic outrage over a potential conflict of interest.
Rep. Kim Nam-kuk of the Democratic Party of Korea allegedly withdrew 800,000 WEMIX tokens from late February to early March in 2022, and the transactions were reported to the Financial Services Commission’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), according to CoinDesk Korea. Kim’s WEMIX holdings stood at 6 billion won ($4.5 million) between January and February 2022.
The FIU classified the withdrawals as suspicious transactions and reported them to the prosecutor’s office, the report said.
- Defending against SEC to cost Ripple $200M, CEO Brad Garlinghouse says’
Ripple has spent $200 million defending the case brought against it by the United States Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), according to CEO Brad Garlinghouse.
Garlinghouse dropped the figure during a fireside chat at the Dubai Fintech Summit on May 8. He stated that the U.S. is stuck compared with the regulatory progress of the United Arab Emirates virtual asset regulatory authority and the recent Markets in Crypto-Assets (MICA) bill in the European Union. He went on to share that by the time the case is decided, Ripple will have spent $200 million defending itself against a lawsuit which, from its very beginning, doesn’t make a lot of sense.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/defending-against-sec-to-cost-ripple-200m-ceo-brad-garlinghouse-says
- SUI, PEPE Lead Market Losses, Down Double Digits Overnight
The popular meme coin rally fueling the rise of Pepecoin (PEPE) appears to have finally begun to slow.
Per CoinGecko, PEPE has fallen by nearly 11% this morning. Still, over the week, the meme coin has risen a whopping 215%.
Launched mid-April, the frog-inspired token quickly gathered steam, entering the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap last week. Today, PEPE is the 52nd-largest cryptocurrency and has a market capitalization of $965 million at press time.
The rally was helped along after Binance listed PEPE and Floki Inu (FLOKI) in it’s so-called Innovation Zone. Per the exchange, this zone is meant to host hyper-volatile cryptocurrencies, with interested investors expected to understand the potential for total loss.
https://decrypt.co/139277/sui-pepe-lead-market-losses-down-double-digits-overnight
- CZ: “Gas prices fluctuate and go up, transactions get stuck, fees go up, people complain.”
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) recently tweeted about concerns surrounding fluctuations in Bitcoin network fees that have led to withdrawal issues for some users. The fees have experienced an increase of up to 18 times within a month, resulting in stuck transactions and subsequent higher fees. Crypto experts attribute this to the ongoing bull market in cryptocurrencies.
However, CZ emphasized that cryptocurrency remains a faster and more cost-effective alternative to traditional fiat currency transactions. As the market continues to evolve, users are advised to stay inform.
https://www.binance.com/en/news/flash/7544306
- Bitcoin’s BRC20 Token Economy Skyrockets 192% to $279 Million in Just Four Days
The BRC20 token standard, which is built on top of the Bitcoin network, is gaining momentum and the BRC20 token economy is flourishing. As of Sunday, May 7, 2023, the BRC20 token economy is valued at $279.07 million, with approximately 13,530 tokens in circulation. This marks a significant increase from just four days ago when the BRC20 token market capitalization was $95 million and there were around 10,487 BRC20 tokens.
Bitcoin’s BRC20 Token Economy Skyrockets 192% to $279 Million in Just Four Days
The top ten most valuable BRC20 tokens today are ordi, pepe, piza, meme, moon, punk, domo, oshi, xing, and shib. Ordi is currently the most valuable BRC20 coin, with a single ordi token exchanging hands for $9.46. With a market valuation of $200 million, ordi dominates the entire BRC20 token market capitalization by more than 71%.
