📌 The Bulls are Back, Consensus Highlights, and the SEC’s ETF Decision

Editor's Note: It's been 9-months since we've seen $8k-plus BTC. What's this bull run actually mean for the market? Are the glory days back?? We have no clue, truthfully. What we do know, however, is that friends and fam are back at it with texts like this... Let the mania continue!! (love ya cuz). Now onto the news...    MUST READS  The Bull Market May Be Back in Full Swing: Here's What Caused It... So here we are again. BTC is raging past $8k... we're seeing record breaking volumes... BTC dominance surged once again (4%-plus)... and, so far, it seems the crypto markets are doing a pretty good job on shedding that winter weight. But no one's a wizard here at CoinSnacks. So instead of pegging this long-awaited bull run to a specific trigger, we'll simply share what seems to be collectively reasonable here... A batch of whales (deep-pocketed investors), that started buying in waves   Massive short squeezes, causing instantaneous buying pressure   The US's trade war with China   A slew of impressive product releases at NY Blockchain Week (more on that below)  SPONSORED  Nexo - Better Than Any Bank Account Nexo is powered by 10 years of experience in online lending. The company now provides the community with the World's First Instant Crypto Credit Lines - you get instant cash to spend using your crypto as collateral without having to sell it. Minimum loan amount of just $500, maximum is $2M Funds can be received in 45+ fiat currencies or stablecoins No minimum Installments. Repay whenever you want, using your crypto or bank transfer Get Cash Now  DEEP DIVE  Consensus 2019 is UNDERWAY. Major Announcements So Far: As many of you know, Consensus 2019, the CoinDesk sponsored blockchain conference in New York, started on Monday. This is where the industry's top startups, thought-leaders, investors, and financial institutions all come together to discuss the current state of the market. Major announcements are made… multiple projects and protocols are launched... and future expectations will be shared. Here are our favorite highlights so far... Coinbase Custody now has $1B of crypto under management   Microsoft launched Ion - their open source, decentralized identify solution program   Gemini teamed up with Flexa to launch a real-time crypto payment system for consumers. This means big name retailers like Crate & Barrel, Nordstrom, and Whole Foods will now start accepting select cryptos, including Bitcoin   eSport fans can now bet crypto on Twitch's top 'Fortnite' streams   Bitcoin Futures exchange, Bakkt, has announced its intention to launch a "user acceptance test" by July to begin customer on-boarding and to test its model The Schnorr Signature & Taproot Softfork Proposal Flying under the radar – bypassing all the price hype and headlines – is the Taproot/Schnorr BIP (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal). Sometime in the near future, the Bitcoin community will be implementing the Schnorr signature, the Taproot softfork, and other base layer improvements – all of which will create massive benefits in Bitcoin's smart contracting capabilities, privacy, utility, and scalability. To get up to speed on these developments (nothing final yet) here's a great resource to lean on from Bitmex.   Bitfinex Successfully Raises $1 Billion in Tether From Investors Says CTO Paolo Ardoino, the CTO of Bitfinex, stated on Twitter that the exchange has successfully raised $1 billion in Tether (USDT) from investors including private companies and industry "giants." This is after the New York Attorney General accused Bitfinex of mismanaging $900 million of Tether's cash reserves in an attempt to "cover-up" a recent loss of over $850 million.    SPONSORED   REGULATORY FRONT  US Treasury Published MASSIVE New Guidance on Crypto Regulation Last week, the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published new guidelines showing how anti-money laundering laws apply to Bitcoin and the rest of crypto in general. Everyone panic! h/t @nlw and @jchervinsky for covering the highlights and breaking down the winners & losers under the new guidance... 🏆 Winners: non-custodial wallets; DEXes & DeFi lenders; blockchain developers; anonymizing software providers; most traders 😔 Losers: p2p traders & arbitrageurs; crypto ATMs; and ICOs   SEC Again Delays Decision on Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Approval The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) once again delayed a decision on whether to approve or reject a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) on Tuesday. 😉 Nothing new here...    TWEET OF THE WEEK  In less than 2 minutes, homeboy Sherman explained to us just how convoluted the US Dollar system really is. The main point though: The fear is fueled by the power of cryptocurrencies, not their weaknesses. Other Articles You May Enjoy A blockchain explanation your parents could understand   You're not alone: Crypto hedge funds saw 46% loss in 2018 bear market   Cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia halts trading and announces it is in the process of liquidation   Centralization and consumer privacy can't coexist   Honeyminer launched on MacOS so Apple users can use their computers to mine cryptocurrencies in the background   NY's Bitcoin Bandit ordered to pay $75M to SIM-swap victim   Watch Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary debate Anthony Pompliano on the bull case for Bitcoin   Top schools are offering more blockchain, cryptocurrency courses   Floyd Mayweather, DJ Khaled escape lawsuit brought by ICO investors The CoinSnacks weekly digest is a manually curated newsletter that delivers fresh content covering cryptoassets and the evolving blockchain community for investors around the world. The digest is curated by CoinSnacks employees and sent once a week. 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