On Monday morning, bitcoin dropped another 2.7%, trading at $33,531, the lowest level since July 2021. Equities also plunged. Ether decreased by 4.6% as investors took a step back in riskier investments due to inflation. More: - Popular cryptocurrencies declined in value over the weekend, and equities in Asia and Europe continued to fall over the weekend in a trend that continued early Monday morning.
- The Nikkei gauge was down by 2.5%, and Stoxx Europe 600 Index also fell by 1.2%.
- Darshan Bathija, chief executive of Singapore-based crypto exchange Vauld, explains: “In light of rising inflation, most investors have taken a risk-off approach — selling stocks and cryptos alike to cut down risk.”
- Tightening monetary policy to overcome inflation and ebbing liquidity is causing investors to pull away from risky investments across the globe.
- The downward trend might continue over the week, and bitcoin could hit a low of $30,000; if a downward trend continues with equities sentiment, it will also drag the price of bitcoin down even lower.
Bloomberg 
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MicroStrategy's stock price plummeted 24% as it inches closer to a margin call. The company's success depends on the value of Bitcoin, which has already taken a 20% hit. More: - The company's software business is not profitable, and in the past two years, it took out debt to buy 129,000 BTC.
- In March, the company took out a $205M collateralized loan to purchase more bitcoins for its portfolio.
- If Bitcoin falls below the $21,000 mark, the company will be forced to do a margin call on one of its loans.
- Two things are likely to happen if the price of Bitcoin drops significantly. Either MicroStrategy will have to put up more collateral for the loan or be forced to sell its Bitcoin at a lower price.
Business insider
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NFTs are coming to Instagram for select U.S. users. The social media platform will allow users to display their tokens on their stories, feeds, and messages with no associated fees. More: - The NFT launch should be viewed as a pilot project designed to learn about community engagement and the overall user experience.
- Distributing NFTs on the popular social media platform will introduce the technology to the average user in an effort to build trust in Web3 and blockchain technologies.
- Instagram's NFTs will be supported by Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and Flow.
- Users can display non-fungible tokens in the same way that tagged profiles and products are featured on the platform.
- By clicking on the NFT tag, users will access information about the token's data, such as the creator's name and the owner.
- Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed that similar functionality will also be available on Facebook in the near future.
The verge
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Nouriel Roubini, a longtime crypto critic, plans to launch tokenized assets due to growing concerns over inflation and speculation about the long-term outlook for the dollar. "The U.S prints too much money, " he said, and the team is working on a new instrument to develop a resilient dollar. More: - Roubini, a former crypto skeptic that famously called Bitcoin "the mother of all bubbles," has formed new views on digital assets due to the rise in inflation and stock market volatility.
- In 2020, he joined the Dubai-based Atlas Capital Team as co-founder and Chief economist to launch tokenized digital assets in the market.
- Adding to the list of challenges in today's markets, he says that the U.S. dollar reserve could be at risk because of how much money the U.S government prints and because adversaries are moving assets away from the dollar. As a result, people are starting to lose confidence in fiat currencies.
- A digital coin can potentially be a solution to these challenges as Roubini and the team plan to create a "resilient dollar" during uncertain economic environments and to hedge against soaring prices.
Bloomberg
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The Justice Department has indicted Luiz Capuci Jr., Mining Capital Coin (MCC) CEO, charging him with defrauding investors in an elaborate $62M scheme. Capuci faces 45 years in prison if convicted on wire fraud, securities fraud, and international money laundering charges. More: - Capuci promised investors that the funds would be used to mine cryptocurrency but instead linked the funds to his wallet.
- The CEO and his partner, Emerson Souza Pires, stole investor money to fund their own lifestyle that included lavish trips, yachts, real estate, and Lamborghinis.
- They also marketed MCC as "trading bots" developed to perform thousands of trades per second.
- The scheme involved promoting gifts such as iPads, Apple Watches, and his own Ferrari to promoters if they recruited more investors.
- A total of 65,000 investors were promised a daily return of 1% per week. If investors tried to liquidate their funds, they received error messages and were forced to add more funds or forfeit their entire investment.
Decrypt
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Cyber Yachts has filed NFT and metaverse related patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in an effort to merge the physical and digital worlds. More: - The company will launch an NFT drop coupled with virtual entertainment including concerts, events, and live performances this summer.
- Cyber Yachts' innovation and patent involve the ability for NFTs to interact with objects within the metaverse.
- The platform may be configured in a way that will allow users to merge physical and digital items, meaning if someone buys an NFT yacht, they can also have the associated physical yacht in the real world.
- Partners on the project include three-time Grammy-nominated artists Quavo and Migos.
- Cyber Yachts will soon launch the world's most expensive NFT: a 394-foot mega-yacht priced at $400M. The buyer will get the NFT and a matching real-life yacht.
Globe News Wire
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 |  | Gia Mattu is based in Calgary, Alberta. She is an entrepreneur with experience in climate technology, drones, AI, machine learning, and blockchain technology. When she's not working, she loves to hike the Canadian Rockies, try new cuisine, and travel. | | | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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