Author: John Smith

Panama City has approved a measure allowing residents to pay for public services using cryptocurrency.  The city council voted to enable payments in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), USD Coin (USDC), and Tether (USDT) for services like taxes, permits, and fines.  A partner bank will convert the crypto to U.S. dollars at the time of payment, complying with legal requirements without passing new legislation. “Prior administrations tried to push a bill in the senate to make this possible, but we found a simple way to do it without new legistlation,” Panama City’s Mayor Mayer Mizrachi posted. “Legally public institutions must receive…

Bitcoin price is steady, with a 7.85% weekly rise to $84,858.95, but its $1.68 trillion market cap is being overshadowed by altcoins stealing the spotlight. PEPE (PEPE), Minotaurus (MTAUR), and Ripple (XRP) have surged, with PEPE leading at 13.25%, followed by XRP’s 12.38%, outpacing Bitcoin’s (BTC) climb.  These three cryptocurrencies, driven by technical breakouts and ecosystem growth, are capturing attention. Here’s why they’re shining brighter than Bitcoin. PEPE: memecoin with momentum PEPE, trading at $0.057405 with an approximate $3 billion market cap, posted a 13.25% weekly surge and now ranks as the 30th most valuable crypto by market cap. Crypto…

Stocks trimmed gains, led by global chip makers, to see the U.S. stock market opened on Wednesday, April 16. Although the likes of Nvidia were slightly up as investors reacted to news China had indicated its readiness to engage the United States amid ongoing tariffs war, earlier losses impacted greater sentiment and contributed to the major indices opening lower. Nvidia (NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Micron Technology (MU), and ASML Holding (ASML) all fell sharply in premarket trading. The stocks flipped green ahead of Wall Street’s open, but the cautious sentiment lingered after the bell as Washington’s ramped-up tariffs on…

According to Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Mike Novogratz, the recent rebound in Bitcoin reflects far more than speculative trading, rather it is a direct response to growing macroeconomic instability and a shift in global financial architecture. Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” segment Wednesday morning, Novogratz connected Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent performance with broader geopolitical and fiscal developments, including a sudden tariff policy announcement, rising interest rates, and evolving strategies in Washington. The resulting uncertainty is sparking a reevaluation of traditional security and economic systems that have been in place since the post–World War II era. While Bitcoin typically performs well…

Crypto market maker DWF Labs has expanded its footprint to the United States with the launch of a new office in New York City. The firm also disclosed a $25 million purchase of governance tokens from World Liberty Financial (WLFI), a DeFi platform inspired by former President Donald J. Trump. The expansion is part of DWF Labs’ broader growth strategy aimed at strengthening institutional relationships, hiring U.S.-based talent, and engaging more directly with regulators and academic institutions. The firm made it clear that they have a deeper commitment to the country’s growing digital asset market. The firm says the move…

Binance Coin price has formed a symmetrical triangle pattern as its staked amount rises, and after the network executed its quarterly token burn. Binance Coin (BNB) was trading at $582, a few points above its lowest level this month. Its performance has brought its market cap to over $84 billion.  The top BNB news was that the network executed its quarterly token burn on April 16. It incinerated 1.57 million tokens, currently valued at over $1 billion. This token burn is typically based on the BNB price and the number of blocks produced during the quarter. The token burn is…

SHIB and XRP are both testing historically significant support zones, with technical indicators hinting at a potential shift in momentum as traders watch for key breakout levels to confirm a trend reversal. Shiba Inu (SHIB) is currently trading at $0.00001157, which is within a historically significant support zone around the $0.00001150–$0.00001250. This level has been tested multiple times and acted as major support throughout the consolidation phase between August to September last year, suggesting it’s an important line of defense for buyers. Even though the overall trend is still bearish, with SHIB price trading below all key moving averages, momentum…

The price of WalletConnect’s token WCT has surged over 27% in the past 24 hours, following a series of high-profile exchange listings. WalletConnect (WCT) is up more than 27%, currently trading at $0.40, with a 24-hour trading volume exceeding $910 million, up by 1700% over this period. Launched on April 15, the project has made headlines with rapid listings by major exchanges, including Binance, Crypto.com, Upbit, Kraken, MEXC, Gate.io, KuCoin, OKX, Bybit, and Bithumb. The WCT token debuts on exchanges 7 years after the project’s launch in 2018. “WCT marks a significant milestone in the WalletConnect Network’s decentralization roadmap and…

Italian finance and economy minister Giancarlo Giorgetti is warning that dollar stablecoins are a greater threat to the European economy than tariffs. U.S. policy on stablecoins is raising alarm among European leaders. At an asset management event in Milan, Italian economy minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said that U.S. stablecoin policy threatens the European economy more than U.S. tariffs. “The general focus these days is on the impact of trade tariffs. However, even more dangerous is the new U.S. policy on cryptocurrencies and in particular that on dollar-denominated stablecoins,” said Giorgetti. The minister was referring to the regulatory changes U.S. President Donald…

As MiCA standardizes crypto regulation across the European Union, many firms are choosing to leave the bloc, merge, or shift operations to more favorable jurisdictions. Europe‘s crypto industry is entering a major shake-up under the new MiCA regime, and as the blockchain forensic firm TRM Labs puts it, not all crypto business — also known as crypto asset service providers or CASPs — will make the transition. In a blog post, the analysts suggested that some firms are expected to shut down, while others are likely to merge in search of scale. MiCA officially came into force on Dec. 31,…