Author: Coin Telegraph

US government cost-cutting csar Elon Musk claims to have found at least 14 “magic money computers” in the federal government with the ability to send money from nothing.Musk said the computers, which exist in several federal departments, including the Treasury, Defense and Health and Human Services departments, can essentially issue payments and send money from nothing.“You may think that the government computers all talk to each other, they’re synchronized, they add up what funds are going where, and it’s coherent and that the numbers you’re presented as a senator are the real numbers,” Musk said in a March 17 episode…

Bitcoin’s nearly $12 billion open interest shakeout earlier this month might be just the catalyst needed for the asset to regain its upward momentum, according to a crypto analyst.“This can be considered as a natural market reset, an essential phase for sustaining a bullish continuation,” CryptoQuant contributor DarkFost said in a March 17 markets report.“Looking at historical trends, each past deleveraging like this has provided good opportunities for the short to medium term,” the analyst said.CoinGlass data shows that on Feb. 20, Bitcoin’s (BTC) open interest (OI) — a metric tracking the total number of unsettled Bitcoin derivative contracts such…

The team behind blockchain network Solana has deleted a controversial advertisement posted on its X account after immense backlash over political messaging around gender identity.The more than two-and-a-half-minute ad for the Solana Accelerate conference posted on March 17 with the caption “America is back. Time to Accelerate” depicted a man as “America” in a therapy session who said he was having thoughts “about innovation” such as crypto.The therapist responds he should do “something more productive, like coming up with a new gender” and later says the man should “focus on pronouns.”As the conversation meanders on, the man snaps and launches…

Offchain Labs, the developers of Ethereum layer-2 network Arbitrum, have announced a partnership with the Arbitrum Foundation to launch a new incubator-style program called Onchain Labs.According to a March 17 post by Offchain Labs, the new incubator is aimed at rapidly adding to Arbitrum’s existing decentralized application (DApp) offerings with a particular focus on supporting “innovative and experimental” projects. Offchain Labs said this support will primarily come in the form of product and go-to-market advice and won’t provide engineering or other operational resources. It also added that while it’s possible — there’s no guarantee that its venture capital arm, Tandem, will purchase…

Crypto whale tracking on the Hyperliquid blockchain has enabled traders to target whales with prominent leveraged positions in a “democratized” attempt to liquidate them, according to the head of 10x Research.Hyperliquid, a blockchain network specializing in trading, allows traders to publicly observe what type of positions a whale is holding, and since these positions are leveraged, the market can assess the liquidation levels unless an additional margin is added, Markus Thielen said in a March 17 report.Source: 10x Research“This transparency opens the door for coordinated efforts, where groups of traders could intentionally target these stop levels to trigger liquidations,” he…

The US Securities and Exchange Commission could change or scrap a rule proposed under the Biden administration that would tighten crypto custody standards for investment advisers, according to the agency’s acting chair, Mark Uyeda.In prepared remarks to an investment industry conference in San Diego on March 17, Uyeda said the rule proposed in February 2023 had seen commenters express “significant concern” over its “broad scope.”“Given such concern, there may be significant challenges to proceeding with the original proposal. As such, I have asked the SEC staff to work closely with the crypto task force to consider appropriate alternatives, including its…

Paul Atkins could move one step closer to becoming the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s new crypto-friendly chair, with a Senate committee hearing reportedly in the works for March 27.President Donald Trump nominated Atkins to lead the SEC on Dec. 4, but his marriage into a billionaire family has reportedly caused headaches with financial disclosures — delaying his potential start date.While it isn’t clear whether the White House has produced those papers to the Senate, Senate Banking, House and Urban Affairs Chair Tim Scott is reportedly eyeing a March 27 hearing to review Atkins’ standing, Semafor’s Eleanor Mueller said in…

Bitcoin (BTC) has undergone its second-largest correction of this bull run, according to analysts at crypto exchange Bitfinex. The correction, from the coin’s all-time high of $109,590 set on Jan. 20 to a low of $77,041 during the week of March 9-15, represents a 30% retracement triggered by selling pressure from short-term holders.In its report, Bitfinex defines short-term holders as those who have bought within the last seven to 30 days. According to the exchange, they have suffered net unrealized losses and are often more subject to capitulation. Bitfinex notes that ongoing outflows from Bitcoin ETFs, which totaled around $920…

Solana (SOL) futures traded for the first time on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group’s US derivatives exchange on March 17 as the cryptocurrency’s mainstream adoption gains momentum. In February, CME tipped plans to list two types of SOL futures contracts: standard contracts representing 500 SOL and retail-friendly “micro” contracts representing 25 SOL each. They are the first regulated Solana futures to hit the US market after Coinbase’s launched in February. The contracts are settled in cash, not physical SOL. On March 17, the contracts’ first trading day, SOL futures representing a notional value of nearly 40,000 SOL, or nearly $5…

Stablecoin developer Ethena Labs and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization company Securitize are launching a new blockchain for retail and institutional investors seeking access to the DeFi and tokenization economies. According to a March 17 announcement, the forthcoming Converge blockchain is an Ethereum Virtual Machine that will provide retail investors with access to “standard DeFi applications.” It will also specialize in institutional-grade offerings that will help bridge traditional finance with DeFi opportunities. The Converge blockchain is announced at the Tokenize NYC conference on March 17. Source: CointelegraphConverge will launch with various product offerings, including Ethereal, Morpho, Maple Labs, Pendle and Aave Labs’ Horizon. Converge’s…