Litecoin is one of the first open-source altcoins based on the original Bitcoin code. It was initially a strong competitor to the first cryptocurrency. However, as the cryptocurrency market expanded, Litecoin’s popularity gradually declined.
Bitcoin rally, oil collapse, news from China – what is happening on the market
Bitcoin regained its $7750 position after the March collapse
On Thursday, April 23, the exchange rate of the main cryptocurrency updated the local maximum. According to traders, for further growth, bitcoin needs to hold resistance at $6861-$6974. It is also possible that after breaking through the $8000 mark, bitcoin may return to $5700.
Altcoins followed bitcoin, although their growth over the day was not so significant.
Cryptowatch analysts note that the bitcoin exchange rate doubled just 18 days before the halving, so the growth may continue.
The complexity of bitcoin mining has increased after a long fall
On Tuesday, April 21, mining difficulty once again increased by 8.45% and now stands at 15.96T. followed by a sharp drop to -30% due to the global crisis.
Analysts from CoinShares report that a third of the computing equipment of bitcoin becomes unprofitable already at the rate of $5350, so the miners began to gradually turn it off.
BTC.com predicts another 8% increase in difficulty in two weeks, which will be a new all-time high.
The price of oil almost zeroed
On April 20, the price of WTI oil fell by 99% to $0.01 per barrel. The fall in value is due to a decrease in the need for air travel and the use of transport due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bloomberg reports that a contract was signed to supply raw materials at a negative price of -$3.7 per barrel in order to prevent the closure of the field due to lack of storage space.
On Tuesday, WTI started to recover to $20, but then fell back to $12.
Negative prices have provoked a threat to American miners. Upstream Data mining companies, DJ Bitwreck and Crusoe Energy have signed contracts with oil companies to use electricity from a gas flare that is formed during oil production to minimize costs. New York experts believe that the decline in prices for black gold will force mining companies to declare bankruptcy. Then mining pools can lose a significant part of their profits or leave the market altogether. The situation may become more deplorable if bitcoin does not rise in price after halving.
Chinese court recognized Ethereum as an object of ownership
In the city of Shenzhen, the court ruled that ETH is protected by law, and citizens have the right to own and dispose of the asset. This decision was made in the case of an engineer of a local blockchain company who stole 3.4 ETH and 4 million Haode tokens from the account of the Haode Star project. The judge determined the amount of damages at $780, referring to exchange quotes. Thus, the court recognized that ETH assets "have economic value and can be sold publicly."
More than 70 companies in China are developing blockchain applications
Financial services companies, as well as four state-owned banks, are implementing blockchain in their applications, according to the materials of the white paper Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).
ICBC has already created a platform for trade settlements between China and Europe, which will support smart contracts and synchronize data from customs, banks and government agencies.
The number of companies implementing blockchain also includes Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and JD. They are engaged in the creation of their own services for the provision of financial services.
Starbucks and McDonald's will test China's new cryptocurrency
In total, 19 restaurants and retail stores of the Xiongan district will take part in testing the digital yuan. The decision was made during a meeting of representatives of the government and state-owned banks with the management of restaurants and commercial enterprises of Xiongan city. When exactly the testing will begin and how long it will last, local media have not yet reported.
Hacker returned stolen $25 million in cryptocurrency
The attacker made an attack on a Chinese financial project, seizing the USDT, USDC, PAX, BUSD, TUSD, etc. stablecoins for a round sum, after which he wanted to use the services of the 1inch.exchange exchange. The exchange received a request from the Singapore police demanding to disclose the fraudster's data, in particular, his IP address. After that, the hacker returned all the funds to the owners.
