Investors show nervousness as U.S. regional banks contribute to significant losses in risk assets.

The price of the new frog-themed memecoin has surged more than 4,000% since its inception on April 14.

Alternative asset management firm Valkyrie Investments is monitoring a "head and shoulders" bearish reversal pattern on Bitcoin's daily chart. The pattern consists of two rallies flanking a bigger one, representing the head, and is seen as a sign of a forthcoming bearish shift in the market trend. Valkyrie's analysts say that if prices drop below the trendline connecting the first and second troughs, traders may take bearish positions. A close under the neckline support at around $27,300 would confirm a H&S breakdown, opening the doors for a deeper decline. However, macroeconomic developments can make or break trends and invalidate patterns, and bitcoin may rally, invalidating the H&S, if Friday's US nonfarm payrolls data signal labor market weakness.

According to a research report by JPMorgan, the regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrencies in the U.S. is causing American crypto firms to seek opportunities overseas. The report notes that the lack of clarity on issues such as ether's status as a security is also impacting demand and liquidity in the cryptocurrency market. The regulatory pressure has deterred institutional investors from engaging with crypto, and some investors are buying gold instead of bitcoin as a hedge against a potential catastrophic scenario. Bitcoin's rally this year is said to be driven more by retail buying than institutional investors. A new protocol called Bitcoin Ordinals, which allows non-fungible-tokens to be stored on the Bitcoin blockchain, has also contributed to bitcoin's outperformance.

Block's Cash App generated $50 million of Bitcoin gross profit in Q1 2023, up 16% YoY, thanks to an increase in the amount of Bitcoin sold to its customers. The total sale amount of Bitcoin sold to customers was $2.16 billion, up 25% YoY. The year-over-year increase in Bitcoin revenue and gross profit was driven by an increase in the quantity of Bitcoin sold to customers, partially offset by a decrease in the market price of Bitcoin compared to the prior-year period. Block, formerly known as Square, is a payments company that serves small and medium businesses, with mobile payment service Cash App being a popular tool for buying and selling Bitcoin, especially for younger users and those who prefer to conduct financial transactions on their mobile devices.

Bitcoin transaction fees have reached their highest level in two years, surging to $3.5 million on May 3, up 400% from late April, according to data from CryptoFees. The average Bitcoin transaction fee reached $7.2, largely attributed to a surge in Bitcoin activity involving BRC-20 transactions. BRC-20 is an experimental token standard that allows users to issue and transfer fungible tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain, and its popularity has grown amid the sharp growth of meme coin Pepe. Ethereum's gas fees have also been skyrocketing to new multi-month highs, hitting an aggregate amount of over $19 million on May 2, the highest level since May 2022.

The Ordinals system, which enables the storage of NFTs on Bitcoin, is facing a new challenge after a developer found a way to introduce a bug into the metadata. The issue occurred when a developer initiated a transaction that didn't output a satoshi but was seen as valid in the Ordinals system, knocking the numbering system that Ordinals uses for its inscriptions off by one. However, the bug doesn't break the main Ordinals system of tracking satoshis, which are linked to collectibles, and only affects inscription numbers, a vanity metric marking the order in which each Ordinal collectible was created. The bug doesn't impact the actual Ordinals themselves, only the inscription numbering system.

This week, the market experienced a sharp sell-off, following what turned out to be false rumours related to distributions by the Mt Gox Trustee, and the US Government. Add to this the revival of 3.2k ancient Bitcoin, and the market found itself amidst serious volatility.

Bitcoin (BTC) saw a temporary dip in price with US equities at the Wall Street open, but quickly rebounded to a new May high of $29,529 on Bitstamp. Ongoing market jitters from the US banking crisis, which is now impacting several regional banks, continue to shape observer sentiment. However, traders are optimistic about a potential rematch with $30,000 and higher, with some setting a "best case" scenario of tapping range $32,000 and dumping. The next rate decision by the Federal Reserve, due in mid-June, is not expected to result in another shift higher.

Bitcoin's price has remained relatively stable over the past 24 hours, with little volatility and no significant movement. The altcoin market has also been mostly flat, with few notable increases. One exception is the memecoin PEPE, which has been on an epic bull run and is now trading at a market cap of almost $1 billion, less than three weeks after launching. PEPE's success has produced significant returns for early investors, and it remains to be seen if it will continue to ascend and challenge other popular memecoins like SHIB and DOGE.