Top Stories of The Week
Bitcoin to $1M by 2028 as Hayes tells Europe to ’get your money out’
Bitcoin has two strong tailwinds that will help propel it to seven digits in a few years, according to former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes.
For Hayes, shifting capital controls worldwide and US Treasury “devaluation” means that Bitcoin will become the go-to safety net for investors everywhere.
He summarized:
“Foreign capital repatriation and the devaluation of the gargantuan stock of US Treasurys will be the two catalysts that will power Bitcoin to $1 million sometime between now and 2028.”
SEC hacker sentenced to 14 months in prison
A federal judge sentenced Eric Council Jr., who participated in posting a fake announcement on the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s X account saying it would approve spot Bitcoin ETFs, to 14 months in prison.
Following a May 16 hearing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department announced that Council would serve 14 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.
“Schemes of this nature threaten the health and integrity of our market system,” said Jeanine Pirro, interim US Attorney for the District of Columbia. “SIM swap schemes threaten the financial security of average citizens, financial institutions, and government agencies.”
Ex-UFC champ Conor McGregor touts Irish Bitcoin reserve in presidential bid
UFC fighter turned Irish political hopeful Conor McGregor has endorsed the idea of building a Bitcoin reserve in his country to give more “power back to the people.”
“Crypto in it’s origin was founded to give power back to the people. An Irish Bitcoin strategic reserve will give power to the people’s money,” McGregor wrote to X on May 9.
The former UFC champion said he would discuss his plans in more detail in an upcoming X spaces, prompting responses from some of the Bitcoin industry’s most prominent leaders.
Coinbase drops 7% on customer breach, SEC probe into user numbers
Coinbase stock dipped after news broke of a cyberattack that exposed customer data and an ongoing US Securities and Exchange Commission investigation over misstated user numbers in 2021.
The double whammy of bad news rattled investors as company stock (COIN) slid 7% in a fall to $244 in after-hours trading on May 15, according to Google Finance.
Coinbase has since confirmed the report from The New York Times, which stated the SEC has been investigating whether Coinbase misstated its user numbers in past disclosures, an inquiry that began during the Biden administration and has continued under the Trump administration.
90% of institutions ‘taking action’ on stablecoins: Fireblocks survey
A report from enterprise-grade digital assets platform Fireblocks shows that 90% of institutional players are using or exploring the use of stablecoins in their operations.
The report, published May 15, surveyed 295 executives across traditional banks, financial institutions, fintech companies and payment gateways. Almost half of the respondents (49%) said they already use stablecoins in payments, while 23% are conducting pilot tests and another 18% are in the planning stage.
Only 10% of institutions surveyed said they were undecided about stablecoin adoption.
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“The stablecoin race has become a matter of avoiding obsolescence as customer demand accelerates and use cases mature,” Fireblocks wrote.
Winners and Losers
At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is at $103,452, Ether (ETH) at $2,573 and XRP at $2.32. The total market cap is at $3.30 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Among the biggest 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers of the week are dogwifhat (WIF) at 38.38%, Form (FORM) at 22.82% and Raydium (RAY) at 15.14%.
The top three altcoin losers of the week are Fartcoin (FARTCOIN) at 12.47%, Bitcoin SV (BSV) at 12.19% and Celestia (TIA) at 11.52%. For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.
Most Memorable Quotations
“Foreign capital repatriation and the devaluation of the gargantuan stock of US Treasurys will be the two catalysts that will power Bitcoin to $1 million sometime between now and 2028.”
Arthur Hayes, co-founder and former CEO of BitMEX
“The discussion around the president’s support for a certain memecoin…
cointelegraph.com