The Korean won has surpassed the US dollar in trading volume on cryptocurrency exchanges

In the first quarter of 2024, the South Korean 🇰🇷 won exceeded the US dollar in trading volume on Bitcoin exchanges, achieving $456 billion versus $445 billion, according to data from Kaiko.

📈 This level of activity on South Korean cryptocurrency platforms hasn't been seen in two years, fueled by macroeconomic improvements and fierce competition.

👆 At the end of 2023, Bithumb and Korbit initiated aggressive zero-commission campaigns aimed at competing with Upbit, which has dominated the market with an average 82% share over the past three years.

👀 While trading volumes dipped in early April, analysts suggest that the approval of spot ETFs for Bitcoin and Ethereum in Hong Kong could potentially revitalize the market.

U.S. Senators have introduced a bill for stablecoins - The Block

Kirsten Gillibrand and Cynthia Lummis propose to:

▪️Prohibit unbacked algorithmic stablecoins.

▪️Require stablecoin issuers to hold fiat reserves in banks that back their tokens on a 1:1 basis.

▪️Require stablecoin issuers to implement anti-money laundering systems.

SingularityNet, Fetch.ai, and Ocean Protocol will conduct a token merger

🧐 Three AI-centric blockchain initiatives—SingularityNet, Fetch.ai, and Ocean Protocol—have unanimously received community approval to merge their tokens into a unified currency named ASI, as announced in a recent press release.

📅 In late March, these entities formed the Artificial Superintelligence alliance with a strategic aim to consolidate their individual tokens AGIX, FET, and OCEAN into ASI, positioning it among the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

✔️ The alliance's mission is to forge a decentralized AI infrastructure, enhancing collaboration across platforms. This integration is expected to provide developers and users with enhanced capabilities to foster a more democratic and transparent ecosystem.

🔜 The official merger and the introduction of ASI are scheduled for the upcoming weeks.

Exchanges may run out of bitcoins

👀 Bitcoin exchange reserves will only last for the next nine months, according to data from CryptoQuant.

Analysts have calculated💻 that publicly available exchange reserves have decreased by more than 800,000 BTC, reaching a historic low for the two-year observation period. As of April 16, available exchange reserves are about 2 million BTC.

📝 Assuming a daily inflow to spot Bitcoin ETFs of about $500 million, equivalent to 8,025 BTC, it will roughly last nine months to completely exhaust all available reserves.

Worldcoin is set to introduce its own Layer 2 blockchain

🌎 Worldcoin is set to launch its own Layer 2 blockchain, named World Chain, as announced by Sam Altman, CEO of the artificial intelligence firm OpenAI.

This new 🔗 blockchain platform aims to enhance efficiencies during the user onboarding process. According to a recent statement, World Chain will be anchored on the Ethereum blockchain for security.

📝 The statement further noted that verified human users will receive 👆 "priority blockspace over bots and some free gas," enhancing their experience on the platform.

Crypto exchange Kraken has launched a non-custodial wallet

🐙 Kraken, the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the USA, has introduced a non-custodial wallet that allows users to independently store their funds. This wallet is accessible to everyone, not solely to Kraken clients.

👝 The wallet app is compatible with eight different blockchains: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Optimism, Base, Arbitrum, Polygon, and Dogecoin. It also supports the management of NFTs and DeFi positions.

👆 Additionally, the Kraken Wallet is open-source, providing the opportunity for third-party developers to incorporate it into various ecosystems.

The Notcoin listing scheduled for April 20th will not take place.

🔜 The project team did not provide any details about why the listing has been postponed, only stating that it will occur "anytime soon".

Bitcoin transaction fees have spiked amid the hype around Runes

📈 The average bitcoin network transaction fee (7DMA) has exceeded $16. The Block experts attribute this to user activity in anticipation of the launch of Runes.

Furthermore, today a record fee of 🙀 $12,581 was paid for a transaction of 0.58 BTC ($35,728) in the bitcoin network.

Binance has been fully licensed in Dubai and plans to return to India

🧐According to Bloomberg, the Dubai government granted Binance a 📝 full license after its former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, surrendered control of the platform in the jurisdiction. Since mid-2023, Binance FZE's local division had an interim Operational MVP permit to offer brokerage and exchange services.

Before issuing the VASP, the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority required 🤷 Zhao to step down from decision-making authority within the company. 👀 Insiders suggest this was to ensure compliance with agreements between Binance and the 🇺🇸 US Department of Justice.

In parallel, The Economic Times reported on Binance's plans to re-enter the Indian market by paying a $2 million fine. The exchange will operate as an organization registered with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).

As part of this registration, Binance will abide by anti-money laundering laws and adhere to the taxation system for virtual assets.

Tether is undergoing a corporate restructure to broaden its scope beyond stablecoins.

The entity behind 💵 USDT, Tether, has revealed plans to reorganize its structure into four divisions with the goal of diversifying its operations beyond stable coins.

Tether's activities will be 🔪segmented into four key sectors:

⏺ Tether Data: Focused on developing and strategically investing in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and peer-to-peer platforms.

⏺ Tether Finance: Providing services for digital assets and serving as the foundation of the company's conventional products and financial services.

⏺ Tether Power: Committed to sustainable mining development and initiatives related to Bitcoin energy.

⏺ Tether Edu: Responsible for educational endeavors aimed at raising awareness about digital assets and other state-of-the-art technologies.

Currently, the 💰 market capitalization of USDT has surpassed $109 billion.

Hong Kong authorities have arrested 72 individuals associated with the bitcoin exchange JPEX.

The arrests were announced by the 🇭🇰 Hong Kong police as part of an investigation into fraudulent activities at the cryptocurrency exchange JPEX, according to local media reports.

Additionally, law enforcement has seized 💵 assets worth 228 million HKD ($29.37 million).

In total, 👮the police have received 2,636 reports from victims, with losses estimated at around 1.6 billion HKD (~$204.3 million).

JPEX exchange came under scrutiny in September 2023 when the Hong Kong 🏙 Securities and Futures Commission accused it of operating without a license. The platform was known for imposing high fees on asset withdrawals.

Among those arrested initially were bloggers who had featured in JPEX advertisements and operated unauthorized exchanges.

Amid a liquidity crisis, the exchange has suspended all operations on its JPEX Earn service.

Just two weeks in April, @base has already surpassed last month's total transaction count!

🙀 As of now, Base has logged 45 million transactions in April, a 50% increase ⬆️ from March's total.

Tether has added support for the TON network

ℹ️ According to the information on the website, $10 million of liquidity was added.

Over the past day, TON has grown ⬆️ by 15.5%, according to CoinMarketCap. Currently, the asset token is trading at a price of $7.15.

This allowed TON to overtake 🏃Dogecoin and take 8th place among all cryptocurrency assets by 💰capitalization.

Durov announced payments in Toncoin for content creators.

During the Token2049 conference in 🏙 Dubai, Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, announced that the 📨messaging app will start rewarding content creators 🖨 and enable cryptocurrency transactions.

🔜 Starting next week, the platform will offer the option for users to tip content creators using cryptocurrency via the 💎TON blockchain, with creators receiving up to 70% of these earnings.

🛒 The app will also facilitate the purchase of digital goods using cryptocurrency, with sellers retaining 70% of the generated 💲 revenue.

🙀 Moreover, users will have the chance to earn 95% in royalties from usernames and anonymous 🦊 NFTs on the TON blockchain, potentially including emojis and stickers.

The system for distributing 💵 rewards for advertising displayed on Telegram channels in TON was introduced a bit earlier.

Telegram Wallet introduces fee-free USDT transactions on TON!

Today is definitely a day full of news related to TON, and it's just a day before Bitcoin's halving)). It seems Durov chose the date of the conference for a reason 😉

The Telegram-integrated Wallet has launched USDT transactions based on 💎The Open Network (TON), announced TON CEO Andrey Rogozov during the Token2049 conference in 🏙 Dubai.

💵 USDT transactions in Telegram are commission-free and occur instantly. Additionally, users can send the asset to their Telegram contacts without needing a wallet address. 🙀

A correction and further growth to $100,000 awaits bitcoin - a venture capitalist

📊 Within 12-18 months, Bitcoin is expected to correct and grow to $100,000 with chances to reach 🚀$150,000-200,000. Anthony Pompliano, the founder of venture capital company Pomp Investments, said this on CNBC.

🧐 Pompliano expressed confidence in the market's stability, stating, "The probability of a decrease is currently quite low... I see no justification for the price to fall below $50,000. We've already crossed that threshold," he remarked.

👀 Additionally, the Bitcoin halving event is just about 10 hours away.

A user paid a $17,500 fee for a transfer of 1.34 BTC!

🙀 On April 19th, an unknown wallet sent 1.34 BTC (approximately $87,000 at the time of the transaction), paying a fee of $17,500.

🙈 The transaction fee was 105,305 sat/vB. This means the user overpaid by about 1269 times.

✔️A miner from the ViaBTC pool confirmed the block containing the transaction.

😳 On April 18th, another investor spent $12,581 on fees to transfer 0.58 BTC (approximately $35,728).

The fourth Bitcoin halving has occurred.

🎆 On April 20th, at block height #840,000, the fourth Bitcoin halving took place. The reward for finding a block decreased from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC.

🔨 The block was mined by the ViaBTC pool. The mining difficulty of the first cryptocurrency was 86.39 T.

Bitcoin 🪚 halving is reduction by half of the reward for miners for adding a new block to the blockchain. Satoshi Nakamoto 💻 programmed this event in the Bitcoin network to occur every 210,000 blocks, which is roughly every four years, until the issuance of 21 million coins (likely in the year 2140), when the cryptocurrency emission will cease.

💵 The price of Bitcoin did not react to the halving at all. The digital gold currently costs around $64,000.

Magic Eden confidently holds the first place among NFT marketplaces.

🏡 Magic Eden's share has steadily increased, reaching 53% over the past month, while over a six-month period, it stands at 38%.

🌊 OpenSea was the leader a year ago but is now in second place with a significant lag, at only 22%.

🤷 Tensor has also lost ground in its positions. OKX's share has remained almost unchanged - 7%.

Bitcoin users incurred a record $2.4 million in fees on the halving block.

📰 The 2024 Bitcoin halving event marked a historic milestone with block 840,000 becoming the priciest ever mined, largely due to the frenzy surrounding the newly launched 🗿Runes Protocol.

⏹ This block, mined by ViaBTC at 12:09 am UTC on April 20, recorded users paying 💰a total of 37.7 Bitcoin (BTC) in fees, valued at approximately $2.4 million, to secure space on this block.

The halving itself reduced ⬇️ the mining reward from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block. Including the mining subsidy, the total payment to ViaBTC for this block amounted to 40.7 BTC, or around $2.6 million.

🤘 The surge in fees was driven by degens eager to inscribe rare assets using the Runes Protocol, introduced concurrently with the halving.

Bitcoin average transaction fee began to decline

💸 Transaction fees on the BTC network have begun to recover — on April 20, fees reached a record $128.5, but currently, the fees in the network of the first cryptocurrency have decreased ⬇️ to $35.

The increase in fees accompanied the launch of the 🗿Runes protocol, which allows for the creation of tokens on the Bitcoin network.