Afternoon version

China's Douyin, the local version of TikTok, is now displaying bitcoin prices in search results. This move could be seen as a signal that Beijing is warming up to crypto and loosening its control over the digital asset ecosystem, especially given the tight control over social media within China.

Bitcoin (BTC) surged past the $30,000 level for the first time since June 2022, causing heavy losses for traders betting against a rise in prices. Over 87% of all liquidated future trades were short, resulting in losses of around $145 million. Huobi saw over $45 million in liquidations, followed by Binance and OKX at $35 million each.

Today, Bitcoin surged past a significant milestone, leaving investors and market watchers excited. Richard Mico, the U.S. CEO and chief legal officer of Banxa, attributes this growth to expectations of a slowdown in economic growth and a subsequent loosening of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve throughout 2023. The cryptocurrency market as a whole is experiencing a positive trend, with all non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies in the top 20 currently in the green. Ethereum, XRP, Cardano, and Solana have experienced gains of 3.22%, 2.46%, 3.85%, and 6.86%, respectively. Coinbase Co-Founder and CEO tweeted that his firm plans to integrate Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. Industry veteran Samson Mow commented on the resilience of Bitcoin, tweeting, “They threw everything they had at #Bitcoin and then we just went right back to $30k. Can’t stop the inevitable.” (cryptoglobe)

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has been spending his time on NOSTR, an open-source social media protocol popular with Bitcoin enthusiasts. Dorsey has become increasingly focused on NOSTR as a potential vehicle for his decentralized internet vision, and has been posting prolifically on the network. In a recent interview, Dorsey revealed that his payments startup Square, rebranded as Block, is working on NOSTR-compatible products.

Bitcoin's price has broken above the psychological resistance level of $30K per coin for the first time since June 2022. This marks a significant milestone for Bitcoin, as $30K was the level of support that the cryptocurrency bounced back from after being rejected from $65K.

The Bitcoin white paper, authored by Satoshi Nakamoto, has been translated into 43 languages, including braille, by community members to make its content accessible to a wider audience. These efforts have played a significant role in breaking down entry barriers to Bitcoin and enabling millions of people worldwide to understand its technology better. Anyone interested in translating the white paper may do so by submitting a request through bitcoin.org's Github page, allowing anyone, anywhere in the world, to contribute to the dissemination of knowledge about Bitcoin and make it more accessible to people of diverse cultures and languages.

Bitcoin and Ethereum experienced gains on Monday afternoon in Asia, alongside most other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with Dogecoin recording the most significant increase. The global crypto market capitalization rose 1.02% to $1.18 trillion, while the total crypto market volume gained 4.09% to $29.18 billion in the last 24 hours. Asian markets were mixed on Monday amid speculation that the US Federal Reserve may raise interest rates again in May. The US dollar index saw a 0.2% slide, while the euro rose 0.14% as investors expect another interest rate hike from the European Central Bank. Gold retreated 0.43% to $1,999 per ounce.

The number of crypto wallets holding at least one Bitcoin has reached a new all-time high, nearing the one million holder mark, according to data from cryptocurrency tracking platform LookIntoBitcoin. Meanwhile, the total number of Bitcoin holders has been rising at the fastest rate since early 2021, reaching 46.16 million addresses holding any amount of Bitcoin. The rising rate of people "hodling" Bitcoin in their wallets could be due to crypto traders becoming increasingly content in keeping their bags unmoved for the long term. Bitcoin's price is currently at $28,319 with a 70% YTD increase, and the asset's adoption could receive a boost from the Democrat presidential bid of environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who warned about the possible dangers of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

According to data from Glassnode, more than half of Bitcoin's circulating supply has been inactive in the last two years, with 29% of Bitcoin's circulating supply not being moved in the last five years. This amounts to over 5.6 million BTC, worth around $158 billion. Crypto influencer Anthony Pompliano highlighted these metrics, stating that these Bitcoin could potentially be lost or in the hands of "the most disciplined investors in the world." Some community members believe that those holding the inactive Bitcoin bought when BTC was at an all-time high and are waiting for the right time to sell. The keyword "Bitcoin" recently topped the list of most popular search terms in the United States, surpassing other trending keywords such as former U.S. president Donald Trump and American singer Elvis Presley. This follows the announcement by the United States Federal Reserve confirming the launch of the FedNow payments system in July.