El Salvador is leading the way for other nations to follow, with President Nayib Bukele announcing plans to purchase one bitcoin daily until it becomes unaffordable with fiat currencies. This initiative has boosted the country’s bitcoin holdings to a substantial 5,690 BTC, valued at approximately $400 million.

In addition to its cryptocurrency efforts, El Salvador has made a significant statement in the global investment arena by eliminating income tax for international investments and money transfers, aiming to attract foreign investors and stimulate economic growth.

This week, the country took a major step in its bitcoin strategy by transferring over 5,000 BTC into a cold wallet. President Bukele revealed that a large portion of these assets, worth $400 million, has been moved to an offline device stored in a physical vault within the nation’s territory. This move to secure the digital assets in a “Bitcoin piggy bank” signifies a strong belief in the cryptocurrency’s future and enhances its security.

El Salvador’s decision to transfer funds to a cold wallet came after its bitcoin treasury unexpectedly swelled, nearly doubling its previously known stash. The country has been acquiring bitcoin through various means, including daily purchases, passport sales, currency conversions for businesses, mining, and government services.

El Salvador made headlines in September 2021 when it became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. Since then, the cryptocurrency’s value has experienced significant fluctuations, recently reaching a record high of $73,800. The country’s ongoing daily bitcoin purchases and the establishment of a tax-free crypto haven powered by geothermal energy from a volcano demonstrate its innovative approach to using cryptocurrency for economic development.

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The Terra blockchain encountered an unexpected halt on Thursday, marking the second disruption within the month. The core team is actively investigating the issue, as stated in an official update. Despite this setback, the price of LUNA, Terra’s native token, has remained largely unaffected, with a weekly loss of nearly 13%.

The Terra blockchain issued an official update regarding the sudden halt experienced on Thursday, the second such incident in March. The cause of the halt remains unclear, prompting the core team to intensify efforts to identify and resolve the issue. The community has been assured that updates will be provided as the investigation progresses.

In a previous occurrence on March 14, the Terra blockchain faced a similar unexpected issue resulting in a temporary halt. Following swift action from the team, block production resumed, and an initial investigation was conducted. While users were informed of the restoration, the team committed to conducting a post-mortem analysis to prevent future occurrences.

Just a week later, on March 21, the blockchain once again paused block productions, prompting a follow-up tweet from the team. Despite these interruptions, the price of LUNA has shown resilience, maintaining stability amidst the technical challenges. As of the latest update, LUNA is trading at $0.9224, representing a 4% increase for the day, recuperating from its weekly losses.

Currently, LUNA’s price is consolidating below the resistance level of $1. Despite the disruptions, the asset remains 41% below its year-to-date high of $1.55, recorded on March 5.

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BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), the world’s largest asset manager, demonstrates its commitment to the digital asset space by launching its inaugural tokenized fund, the BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL). This move comes on the heels of its recent introduction of a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF).

In collaboration with Securitize Markets, LLC, BlackRock aims to offer qualified investors the opportunity to earn U.S. dollar yields through the BUIDL fund, which will be tokenized on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain as an ERC-20 token.

Robert Mitchnick, Head of Digital Assets at BlackRock, sees this as a natural progression of their digital assets strategy, emphasizing their focus on providing solutions that address real client needs.

Securitize is set to serve as a pivotal transfer agent and tokenization platform, overseeing tokenized shares and facilitating processes such as Fund subscriptions, redemptions, and distributions. BlackRock has structured the fund under the jurisdiction of the British Virgin Islands, with a minimum investment requirement of $100,000.

Tokenization remains central to BlackRock’s digital asset strategy, with CEO Larry Fink highlighting its potential to revolutionize capital markets. Carlos Domingo, co-founder and CEO of Securitize, views this development as a significant step towards making traditional financial products more accessible through digitization.

The BUIDL token offers various benefits, including enabling ownership issuance and trading on a blockchain, expanding investor access, ensuring instantaneous and transparent settlement, and facilitating transfers across platforms. BNY Mellon will facilitate interoperability between digital and traditional markets.

Designed to maintain a stable value of $1 per token and provide daily accrued dividends, BUIDL invests 100% of its assets in cash, U.S. Treasury bills, and repurchase agreements, offering investors yield while holding tokens on the blockchain.

Investors will have the flexibility to transfer tokens to pre-approved counterparts at any time and choose their preferred custody options. Anchorage Digital Bank NA, BitGo, Coinbase, Fireblocks, and other market participants and infrastructure providers in the crypto industry support the launch of BUIDL.

In a testament to community engagement, anonymous donors have sent various tokens and NFTs to the fund’s public Ethereum address, reflecting growing interest and support for BlackRock’s venture into digital assets.

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The momentum of Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) experienced a decline as BlackRock’s inflows dropped significantly. On March 20, BlackRock’s inflows amounted to $49.28 million, while Grayscale’s ETF witnessed higher outflows at $386 million.

For the second consecutive day, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded negative flows. According to data from the financial research platform ‘SosoValue,’ Grayscale’s ETF GBTC observed a substantial outflow of $386 million on March 20. The previous day saw the same ETF recording $443 million in outflows, reflecting intensified selling pressure on Bitcoin.

Other ETFs failed to compensate for the outflow, as per SoSo Value data shared by WuBlockchain. BlackRock’s IBIT recorded the highest inflow at $49.28 million on the same day.

Since the approval of ETFs by the U.S. SEC in January, substantial inflows had been driving Bitcoin’s value upwards. However, the recent decrease in inflows suggested that institutional impact might be contributing to the 8.66% decline in Bitcoin’s price over the last seven days.

Despite Bitcoin trading at $67,018, indicating a resurgence of buying pressure, continued outflows surpassing inflows could potentially drive BTC below $60,000.

Bulls are attempting to counter the bearish sentiment prevailing in the market. Coin Edition noted a noticeable bearish bias based on technical analysis. The 4-hour BTC/USD chart revealed a death cross with the Exponential Moving Average (EMA), where the 20 EMA (blue) dipped below the 50 EMA (yellow), signaling a reinforcement of the downtrend. Bitcoin’s price also fell below the 50 EMA, suggesting a potential halt to the recent uptrend.

As it stands, Bitcoin may experience a decrease, with a potential target of around $58,463 if bulls fail to sustain pressure. Conversely, a surge in buying pressure could propel the coin towards $70,202.

The derivatives market also witnessed significant activity, with Bitcoin’s recovery triggering substantial liquidations. Coinglass reported over $317.55 million worth of BTC contracts liquidated, possibly due to high leverage or insufficient funding fees. Short positions constituted the majority of liquidated positions, while volatility also led to liquidations among longs.

The cascade of liquidations could further impact Bitcoin’s price from a trading perspective, with shorts potentially becoming more aggressive if BTC drops below $60,000.

In summary, the decline in Bitcoin ETF momentum, coupled with technical indicators and derivative market activity, suggests a challenging landscape for the cryptocurrency in the near term.

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Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent surge since the beginning of 2023 has reignited interest in the cryptocurrency realm. The launch of several spot BTC ETFs has propelled the top crypto to establish a new record high on March 14, breaking a historical milestone by achieving this feat over 45 days ahead of its next halving event.

Amidst the current correction phase in the crypto market, traders are eagerly searching for the next catalyst to drive prices higher. Analysts widely point to the impending halving as the potential trigger for the next rally. However, halvings pose a significant challenge for Bitcoin miners, as the 50% reduction in new BTC emissions slashes their revenue in half, prompting many to deactivate inefficient equipment post-halving, leading to a decline in the Bitcoin hash rate.

To gain insights into how miners are preparing for the halving and their subsequent strategies, Kitco Crypto engaged in a discussion with Greg Beard, CEO of Stronghold Digital Mining. Stronghold made history as the first mining company to launch an IPO approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Beard, formerly Head of Energy at Apollo, emphasized the importance of viewing crypto mining as a form of “power arbitrage,” highlighting Stronghold’s ownership of power plants and data centers.

Beard emphasized the evolving landscape of the crypto-mining industry and the necessity for miners to assess energy demands on local power grids. Stronghold’s unique approach allows them to swiftly adapt to fluctuating energy prices by turning off data centers during periods of expensive power and selling excess energy to the grid. Beard highlighted the impact of renewable energy sources on energy price volatility and underscored Bitcoin mines’ role as grid-scale batteries, providing stability to power grids.

Regarding Stronghold’s revenue diversification efforts, Beard mentioned ventures into carbon sequestration, coal ash sales, and exploring alternative fuel sources. He contrasted Stronghold’s resilience with the challenges faced by miners lacking their infrastructure, emphasizing the importance of creating additional industrial applications beyond Bitcoin mining.

Criticism towards Bitcoin mining’s energy consumption has overshadowed its contribution to improving energy efficiency and environmental remediation efforts. Beard emphasized Stronghold’s commitment to cleaning up waste coal sites and converting them into power generation facilities. However, he lamented the lack of recognition from ESG investors, highlighting a disparity between investor perceptions and environmental impact.

Addressing concerns over Bitcoin mining centralization, Beard downplayed the risk of a concentrated mining power disrupting Bitcoin’s decentralized nature, citing potential consolidation among public miners. He projected significant consolidation post-halving, with outdated machines being phased out for more efficient models, ultimately driving the industry towards industrial-scale operations.

Beard also discussed potential challenges posed by government regulations, including President Biden’s proposed tax on Bitcoin miners’ power consumption. He cautioned against singling out Bitcoin miners for taxation, warning of unintended consequences on innovation and economic growth.

Looking ahead, Beard anticipated Bitcoin ETFs’ role in driving price volatility, particularly with their obligation to purchase underlying assets upon investor demand. He underscored Bitcoin’s defensive appeal for populations facing economic instability due to inflation and mounting global debt.

As governments grapple with soaring debt levels, Beard highlighted the inflationary implications of printing money to service debt, expressing concern for future economic stability. Despite uncertainties, Beard remained optimistic about Bitcoin’s potential as a hedge against economic turmoil, emphasizing its role in preserving wealth amidst fiscal uncertainties.

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