Bitcoin and Etherereum rally to 3-week highs

The week kicks off with a robust beginning in the markets, as Ether soars past $1,900 and Bitcoin momentarily trades over $28,000 – reaching their peak levels in almost three weeks. Market participants enthusiastically welcomed the update that the Democrats and Republicans are advancing toward an agreement to raise the U.S. debt ceiling. 

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy informed the press on Sunday that he and Biden had established a preliminary understanding concerning the government's borrowing cap before the June 5 cutoff. Many believe that this is a potential catalyst for a future cut in interest rates and a further increase in government debt, which would be bullish for crypto assets.

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BKEX suspends withdrawals

BKEX Global, a cryptocurrency exchange based in the British Virgin Islands, halted withdrawals on Monday in order to collaborate with law enforcement. Through a statement on their website, BKEX revealed that a portion of their users' assets were connected to a money laundering case. The digital currency exchange committed to actively partnering with the appropriate agencies to address the concerns and reinstate standard procedures.

If you have funds currently on the platform we recommend keeping up to date with their official Twitter channel @BKEXGlobal for the most recent updates.

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ECB prototypes digital Euro

The European Central Bank (ECB) has completed prototypes for a digital euro and is set to make a decision on whether to develop the EU's official currency in a new format later this year, as per reports published on Friday. The ECB claims that its potential central bank digital currency (CBDC) can be designed to enhance innovation, although it seems less convinced about utilizing Web3-based distributed ledger technology and smart contracts. 

ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta stated in a letter to the European Parliament's Irene Tinagli that this demonstration proves the seamless integration of digital euro design options into the current payment landscape, providing sufficient room for innovative features and technologies. He also mentioned that these findings will contribute to both the functional and technical design of a digital euro.

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PancakeSwap launches game with CAKE token rewards

The decentralized cryptocurrency exchange, Pancake Swap, has introduced Pancake Protectors, an engaging tower defense game. While the beta version was released last week, the official launch took place today on Mobox, a Binance chain-based player versus player (PvP) Gamefi platform.

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Binance resumes TORN deposits

Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance has resumed TORN deposits after the assault on privacy-centric crypto mixer Tornado Cash DAO. On Monday, Binance declared that it has reinitiated deposits for TORN through the Ethereum (ETH) network and Binance's proprietary BNB Smart Chain.

TORN deposits on both networks were halted on May 21 due to a recent event involving the TORN decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). However, since the proposal to reinstate governance within the TORN DAO has been approved and implemented, the exchange stated that deposits are now open again.

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Other breaking news

• Worldcoin integrates Safe
• Tai.money live
• Stargate to disable Fantom pool
• Bank of Japan releases CBDC report
• USDC backing Maker’s stablecoin DAI plummets to 23%

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Wrapping up

There it is cryptopians, another Datawallet newsletter. Binance resumes TORN deposits which are good news for investors, while gamers can rejoice as PancakeSwap launches a game that rewards players with SWAP tokens. Meanwhile, BTC and ETH hit 3-week highs, briefly, and ECB releases a prototype of a Euro CBDC. Stay informed and ahead of the game with our daily crypto scoop. See you tomorrow!