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Spanish Police End Crypto Scam Ring That Used AI to Swipe $21 Million From Investors – Decrypt

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How big of a drive do I need to run a full node?

Setting up an old rig to mine ravencoin and run a full node, how big of a drive do I need for that? I saw 40GB in one spot but I saw 1TB in another. What size would be big enough I would never have to worry about running out of space? submitted by…
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Scotland's Lomond School accepts Bitcoin for tuition payments, a first in the UK

The Lomond School in Scotland will accept Bitcoin (BTC) tuition payments beginning in the Autumn semester of 2025, making it the first school in the United Kingdom to do so.Accepting Bitcoin is part of the school’s plan to integrate “sound money principles” from the Austrian School of Economics into the curriculum to “prepare students for the uncertain future,” the announcement reads, adding:”Bitcoin is available to anyone willing to learn — making it more democratic and inclusive, particularly for people in developing nations who lack access to traditional banking. Lomond sees Bitcoin as a perfect real-world case study in economics, computing, ethics, and innovation.”The school has no plans to accept other cryptocurrencies, and will convert the BTC to fiat currency immediately, according to the announcement. It might establish a BTC treasury in the future, pending input from the Lomond community.Lomond’s announcement highlights the growing tide of institutions adopting Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation amid turmoil in the global financial order.Value of the British pound (GBP) 1209-2025. Source: StatistaRelated: Swedish MP proposes Bitcoin reserve to finance ministerBitcoin slowly makes its way through the education systemBitcoin is now part of the curriculum in several schools and universities; some of these institutions have also adopted a BTC treasury strategy to protect reserves against the corrosive effects of inflation on purchasing power.In 2022, the University of Cincinnati added crypto courses to its curriculum to teach students about BTC and emerging Web3 technologies.Mi Primer Bitcoin, a Bitcoin education initiative, partnered with the Ministry of Education in El Salvador in 2023 to integrate Bitcoin education into the school system.Visual of Bitcoin’s hard supply cap expressed through successive halving events. Source: RiverThe University of Wyoming launched the Bitcoin Research Institute in July 2024 to conduct peer-reviewed academic studies about the decentralized digital asset.In February 2025, the University of Austin announced that its endowment fund allocated $5 million to BTC investments. The university’s endowment fund has approximately $200 million in assets under management.Chun Lai, the endowment fund’s chief investment officer, said the fund wanted BTC exposure to capitalize on the financial upside of digital assets as crypto experiences increased institutional adoption.Magazine: TradFi fans ignored Lyn Alden’s BTC tip — Now she says it’ll hit 7 figures: X Hall of Flame

Markets Gain Ground on US-China Trade Deal Hopes and Fed Reassurances

U.S. stocks edged higher Friday following remarks from the White House indicating the Trump administration’s confidence in securing a trade agreement with China. On the same day, Susan Collins, the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, stated that the central bank stands ready to implement measures aimed at steadying financial markets. […]

Crypto Biz: Ripple’s ‘defining moment,’ Binance’s ongoing purge

Ripple made headlines this week when it became the first crypto-native company to acquire a multi-asset prime broker, potentially setting the stage for wider adoption of its XRP Ledger technology. The acquisition of Hidden Road didn’t come cheap, either, as Ripple doled out $1.25 billion for the brokerage. It was a price Ripple CEO Brad Garlinhouse was happy to pay as the company set its sights on global expansion. Elsewhere, crypto exchange Binance listened to its community and moved to delist 14 tokens that no longer met its quality thresholds. Meanwhile, Binance’s former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, was appointed adviser for Pakistan’s newly formed crypto counsel. All this happened against a backdrop of negative headlines and plunging crypto prices stemming from the US-led trade war, which culminated in President Donald Trump’s executive order establishing a 104% tariff on Chinese imports. Despite the chaos, a panel of industry experts told Cointelegraph that the crypto bull market is far from over. In fact, it hasn’t even started yet. Hidden Road: Ripple’s “defining moment”Ripple’s $1.25 billion acquisition of Hidden Road is the payment company’s “defining moment,” according to Ripple’s chief financial officer, David Schwartz.In a social media post, Schwartz said the acquisition gives Ripple a major boost in promoting its XRP Ledger since Hidden Road already has more than 300 institutional customers and processes more than 50 million transactions per day.Source: David Schwartz“Now, imagine even a portion of that activity on the XRP Ledger — and that’s exactly what Hidden Road plans on doing — not to mention future use of collateral and real-world assets tokenized on the XRPL,” said Schwartz. Ripple has already dabbled in real-world assets (RWAs) by launching a tokenized money market fund in partnership with crypto exchange Archax. That could be the tip of the iceberg for the company’s RWA ambitions. Binance’s purge continuesCryptocurrency exchange Binance will purge 14 tokens from its platform on April 16 following its first “vote to delist” results, where community members nominated projects with troubling metrics.The 14 tokens selected for delisting include Badger (BADGER), Balancer (BAL), Beta Finance, Status (SNT), Cream Finance (CREAM) and Nuls (NULS).These tokens were removed after Binance conducted a “comprehensive evaluation of multiple factors,” including project development activity, trading volumes and responsiveness to the exchange’s due diligence requests.Pakistan taps CZ to broaden crypto ambitionsPakistan landed one of crypto’s biggest influencers as it attempts to promote industry adoption and lure blockchain companies to its shores. On April 7, the newly created Pakistan Crypto Council (PCC) appointed former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao as its crypto adviser. Pakistan’s finance ministry said Zhao will advise the PCC on crypto regulations, infrastructure development and adoption.CZ is appointed as an adviser by Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance. Source: Business RecorderAfter being lukewarm on crypto, Pakistan is fully embracing the industry in recognition of its transformative impact. The country has become a hotbed of crypto activity thanks to rising retail adoption and remittance activity. “Pakistan is done sitting on the sidelines,” said Bilal bin Saqib, the CEO of the PCC. “We want to attract international investment because Pakistan is a low-cost high-growth market with […] a Web3 native workforce ready to build.”Crypto bull market hasn’t loaded yetWith investors wondering whether Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins have already peaked, an industry panel told Cointelegraph’s Gareth Jenkinson that the best is yet to come. Cointelegraph Managing Editor Gareth Jenkinson, left, hosts a panel on crypto market conditions in Paris, France. Source: CointelegraphSpeaking at a LONGITUDE by Cointelegraph panel in Paris, France, MN Capital founder Michael van de Poppe said he believes the bull market “is actually getting started from this point.”Drawing parallels between the recent market crash and the COVID-19 meltdown of March 2020, van de Poppe said the US Federal Reserve will eventually step in to backstop investors.Fellow panelist and Messari CEO Eric Turner agreed, saying, “We never had a bull market,” but rather “two sides of the market” driven by Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and the memecoin frenzy.Crypto Biz is your weekly pulse on the business behind blockchain and crypto, delivered directly to your inbox every Thursday.

US Fed 'absolutely' ready to step in if liquidity dries up — Voting member

The US Federal Reserve is prepared to use its vast arsenal of monetary policy tools to prevent financial and economic conditions from deteriorating rapidly but will do so only if liquidity dries up or markets become disorderly, a top central banker said.In an interview with the Financial Times, Boston Fed President Susan Collins said the central bank “would absolutely be prepared” to backstop markets if needed.Source: Walter BloombergWhile it is generally understood that the Fed is always prepared to act quickly to stave off market chaos, Collins’ remarks come on the heels of asset selloffs across stocks and bonds, which have raised concerns about the health of the US financial system.Overall, however, the Fed is “not seeing liquidity concerns,” said Collins. If that were to change, policymakers would have “tools to address concerns about markets functioning or liquidity,” she said.The Fed’s Collins pictured in a December interview with Bloomberg. Source: Bloomberg TelevisionFor investors, Collins’ comments may carry extra weight because she’s a voting member of this year’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) — the 12-person panel responsible for setting interest rates.While Collins and her fellow FOMC members voted to keep interest rates steady at their March meeting, the biggest takeaway was the central bank’s easing off on quantitative tightening by reducing the redemption cap on Treasurys by 80%. Related: S&P 500 briefly sees ‘Bitcoin-level’ volatility amid Trump tariff warThe Fed moves marketsFederal Reserve policy exerts a gravitational pull on global markets through US dollar monetary liquidity, or the ease with which dollars can be used for investments and transactions. Liquidity has a major impact on digital asset prices, including Bitcoin (BTC). This was further corroborated by a 2024 academic paper by Kingston University of London professors Jinsha Zhao and J Miao, which concluded that dollar monetary liquidity “has [a] significant impact on Bitcoin price.”The relationship strengthened after the COVID-19 pandemic, with liquidity conditions accounting for more than 65% of Bitcoin’s price movements. “After the pandemic, [monetary liquidity] is the most important determinant of Bitcoin price, outperforming even fundamental measures of Bitcoin network,” the researchers said. Macro analyst Lyn Alden reached a similar conclusion when she called Bitcoin “a global liquidity barometer” in a September article. Alden drew attention to the relationship between Bitcoin’s price and global M2, or the broad measure of money supply across major global economies. Bitcoin trades in the same direction as global liquidity more than 83% of the time. Source: Lyn AldenAs Cointelegraph reported in early March, an increase in global liquidity and a rebounding business cycle have historically had strong predictive powers for Bitcoin’s price. Liquidity and business cycle trends suggest that BTC’s price could be poised for a recovery in the second quarter. Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again

Bitcoin price preparing for 'up only mode' as US bonds suffer worst selloff since 2019

Bitcoin (BTC) is entering what former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes calls “up only mode,” as a deepening crisis in the US bond market potentially drives investors away from traditional haven assets and toward alternative stores of value.Loss of confidence in US policy boosts Bitcoin’s upside prospectsOn April 11, the benchmark US 10-year Treasury yield surged above 4.59%—its highest level in two months.US 10-year Treasury note yields daily performance chart. Source: TradingViewThe $29 trillion US Treasury market has dropped more than 2% this week — its steepest decline since September 2019, when a liquidity crunch in the repo market forced the Federal Reserve to intervene.US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable tariff announcements and reversals have fueled the chaos. After threatening sweeping levies on global trading partners, Trump walked back many of the measures within days for certain countries, except China.The US dollar added to the pressure, with its strength against a basket of top foreign currencies—as tracked by the US Dollar Index (DXY)—dropping below the 100 mark for the first time since 2022.US Dollar Index daily performance chart. Source: TradingViewThat further notched its worst weekly decline in over two years.In contrast, Bitcoin rose by over 4.50% amid the US bond market rout, reaching around $83,250 on hopes that the weakening macroeconomic conditions will push US policymakers to act.“It’s on like donkey kong,” wrote Hayes in his April 11 X post, adding: “We will be getting more policy response this weekend if this keeps up. We are about to enter UP ONLY mode for $BTC.”Furthermore, bond traders are now pricing in at least three rate cuts from the Federal Reserve by the end of the year, with a fourth becoming increasingly likely. Rate cuts have historically been bullish for Bitcoin.Target rate probabilities for December Fed meeting. Source: CMEBitcoin eyes ‘parabolic bull run’ due to weaker dollarHistorically, sharp drops in the US Dollar Index have preceded delayed but powerful Bitcoin bull runs, according to crypto analyst Venturefounder.“A falling DXY has typically been a strong bullish signal for Bitcoin,” the analyst wrote on X, pointing to a clear bearish divergence on the chart. DXY vs BTC/USD monthly price chart. Source: TradingView/VenturefounderHe added that if DXY continues to slide toward the 90 level, it could replicate conditions that led to parabolic BTC rallies during the final stages of previous bull markets — each lasting up to a year.Additionally, Bollinger Bands creator John Bollinger offered a bullish outlook for Bitcoin, noting that the cryptocurrency is forming a familiar bottom at $80,000.Related: Bitcoiners’ ‘bullish impulse’ on recession may be premature: 10x ResearchMeanwhile, a maturing falling wedge pattern on the BTC price chart hints at a potential Bitcoin price rally toward $100,000, as Cointelegraph reported earlier.This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Over 85% Of Bitcoin Holders Still In Profit Despite Tariff-Driven Correction

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This year's top ETF strategy? Shorting Ether — Bloomberg Intelligence

Betting against Ether has been the best performing exchange traded fund (ETF) strategy so far in 2025, according to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas.Two ETFs designed to take two-times leveraged short positions in Ether claimed (ETH) first and second place in a Bloomberg Intelligence ranking of the year’s top-performing funds, Balchunas said in a post on the X platform.  In the year-to-date, ProShares UltraShort Ether ETF (ETHD) and T Rex 2X Inverse Ether Daily Target ETF (ETQ) are up approximately 247% and 219%, respectively, Bloomberg Intelligence data showed. The implications for Ether are “brutal,” Balchunas said. Ether itself is down approximately 54% year-to-date on April 11, according to Cointelegraph’s market data. Both ETFs use financial derivatives to inversely track Ether’s performance with twice as much volatility as the underlying cryptocurrency. Leveraged ETFs do not always perfectly track their underlying assets. Source: Eric BalchunasRelated: Ethereum fees poised for rebound amid L2, blob uptickWeak revenue performanceWith approximately $46 billion in total value locked (TVL), Ethereum is still the most popular blockchain network, according to data from DefiLlama. However, its native token performance has sputtered since March 2024, when Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade — designed to cut costs for users — slashed the network’s fee revenues by roughly 95%.The upgrade kept the network’s revenues depressed, largely because of difficulties monetizing its layer-2 (L2) scaling chains, which host an increasingly large portion of transactions settled on Ethereum. “Ethereum’s future will revolve around how effectively it serves as a data availability engine for L2s,” arndxt, author of the Threading on the Edge newsletter, said in a March X post.Ethereum’s TVL. Source: DeFiLlamaIn the week ending March 30, Ethereum earned only 3.18 ETH from transactions on its layer-2 chains, such as Arbitrum and Base, according to data from Etherscan. To fully recover Ethereum’s peak fee revenues from before the Dencun upgrade, L2’s transaction volumes would need to increase more than 22,000-fold, according to an X post by Michael Nadeau, founder of The DeFi Report. Meanwhile, smart contract platforms — including Ethereum and Solana — suffered across-the-board declines in usage during the first quarter of 2025, asset manager VanEck said in an April report. The diminished activity reflects cooling market sentiment as traders brace for US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs and a looming trade war.Magazine: XRP win leaves Ripple and industry with no crypto legal precedent set

Bitcoin Long-Term Holders Show Conviction: 63% Of Supply Hasn’t Moved In A Year

Bitcoin is facing a crucial test as its price continues to swing without clear direction, navigating a tense and uncertain macroeconomic environment. While volatility persists, many analysts believe the worst phase of the correction may be over. After dropping over 30% from its all-time high, Bitcoin has managed to hold above key support levels, reinforcing short-term optimism. Related Reading: Solana Eyes $200 Target As It Gains Momentum – Recovery Could Mirror 3-Month Downtrend However, global tensions—driven by escalating trade disputes and aggressive tariff policies from the US—are shaking financial markets. The specter of a global recession looms large, making investors cautious across both traditional and digital asset classes. Despite the noise, on-chain data from Glassnode adds a layer of optimism. According to their latest analysis, 63% of Bitcoin’s circulating supply has not moved in at least one year. This historic level of dormant supply highlights the growing conviction among long-term holders, who are weathering the current volatility without panic. Such behavior reinforces the belief that Bitcoin’s foundation remains solid, even as short-term traders exit the market. The strong hands are holding firm, and their resilience could lay the groundwork for the next major move—once macroeconomic conditions begin to stabilize. Bitcoin Holds Strong Amid Global Volatility: Rising Long-Term Conviction Massive price swings continue to shake both crypto and equities markets as volatility intensifies in response to rising global tensions and unresolved macroeconomic threats. Bitcoin, however, has held strong above the $81K level, suggesting that a potential recovery may be taking shape. The 90-day pause on U.S. tariffs—excluding China—offered temporary relief, but uncertainty still dominates investor sentiment. Ongoing trade conflicts between the United States and China threaten global economic stability, with many analysts warning of a potential recession if no resolution is reached. These fears are weighing heavily on risk assets across the board. Despite the challenging backdrop, Bitcoin’s performance suggests underlying resilience. Bulls are gradually regaining momentum after the recent sharp correction, and many market watchers believe the worst phase of the drawdown may be over. Adding to the optimism, top analyst Quinten Francois shared Glassnode data revealing that 63% of the Bitcoin supply has not moved in at least a year. This metric, often associated with strong long-term conviction, shows that the majority of Bitcoin holders are choosing to hold through volatility rather than sell into weakness. It reflects a maturing investor base with confidence in Bitcoin’s long-term value, even amid global uncertainty. If current support levels continue to hold and macro conditions stabilize, Bitcoin may be on the verge of a sustained recovery. Related Reading: Ethereum Long-Term Holders Show Signs Of Capitulation – Prime Accumulation Zone? BTC Price Stalls Below Key Resistance After Bullish Surge Bitcoin is currently trading at $82,600 following a strong surge that helped the asset recover from recent lows. The move has brought some short-term optimism to the market, especially as BTC managed to reclaim the $81K level—a key support zone that now needs to hold for bullish momentum to continue. However, significant resistance lies ahead. The price stopped near the 4-hour 200 Moving Average, currently sitting around $83,500. This technical level has consistently acted as a short-term barrier since Bitcoin lost the $100K mark, and bulls need a decisive breakout above it to confirm the beginning of a true reversal. If Bitcoin can break and hold above $83,500, the next immediate target is the $85K zone. Reclaiming that range could open the path for a push toward the $88K–$90K resistance band and potentially resume the longer-term uptrend. Related Reading: Dogecoin Whales Offload Over 1.32 Billion DOGE In 48 Hours – Risk-Off Or Panic Selling? On the flip side, failing to hold above $81K would signal weakness and likely invite renewed selling pressure. A breakdown below $80K would reinforce bearish sentiment, possibly triggering a fresh wave of panic selling and sending BTC back toward the $75K support zone. Bulls must act quickly to defend current levels and push higher. Featured image from Dall-E, chart from TradingView