Bitcoin Falls Below $68K and Long Liquidations Surge

Bitcoin’s price dropped over 8% in the past 24 hours, falling below the $68,000 mark after previously hitting a record high above $73,000. This decline led to significant liquidations, with more than $278 million in Bitcoin long positions cleared out due to price volatility. The overall crypto market saw over $667 million in long positions liquidated, contributing to a total of $809 million in liquidations across centralized exchanges. 

The price correction has notably impacted traders, particularly those with leveraged positions, underscoring the inherent risks of market volatility. This has occurred in a backdrop of continuously strong Bitcoin ETF flows, highlighting traders getting slightly ahead of their skis with leverage. Meanwhile, Ether experienced a similar downturn, while Solana’s SOL showed a slight gain amidst the market’s broader decline.

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Avalanche Invests in Meme Coins KIMBO, COQ, and More

The Avalanche Foundation has made its first foray into meme coin investments, selecting five Avalanche-based tokens: KIMBO, COQ, GEC, TECH, and NOCHILL. This decision, part of a digital culture initiative announced in December, targets tokens that embody the playful and diverse interests of crypto communities. Following the announcement, these meme coins experienced up to a 60% increase in value, outperforming the broader market downturn. 

The move reflects a broader acceptance of meme coins, traditionally viewed skeptically by blockchain purists, as legitimate investments. This strategy not only highlights the growing significance of community coins in Web3 but also suggests a potential shift in the perception of meme coin investments.

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Zerion Developing Zero-Fee Layer 2 Crypto Network

Crypto wallet Zerion is developing the ZERO Network, a Layer 2 solution aimed at eliminating transaction fees to facilitate easier entry into the crypto space. Scheduled for launch in late Q2 or early Q3, this Ethereum-based rollup promises free usage, enhancing user experience. Zerion co-founder Evgeny Yurtaev highlights the project’s commitment to absorbing transaction costs, which are expected to decrease with technological advancements.

This initiative, while reducing barriers for new users, seeks to promote Zerion’s wallet, expecting to recoup costs through increased app transactions and premium service sign-ups. Zerion also plans to collaborate with dApp developers to share fee subsidization, maintaining vigilance against spam by selectively subsidizing legitimate transactions.

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Craig Wright Isn’t Satoshi, Didn’t Author Bitcoin Whitepaper

U.K. Judge James Mellor concluded Craig Wright is not Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, nor the author of its foundational whitepaper. The verdict emerged from the Crypto Open Patent Alliance’s (COPA) lawsuit aimed at preventing Wright from claiming intellectual property rights over Bitcoin technology and suing members of the cryptocurrency community. The judge described the evidence against Wright as “overwhelming,” announcing he would detail his conclusions in a written judgment. 

This decision is heralded as a victory for COPA, backed by industry figures like Jack Dorsey, and marks a defeat for Wright, who declined to comment. The ruling also affects related cases and underscores the importance of truth and community integrity in the open-source and cryptocurrency sectors.

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Other breaking news

• Bloomberg: Berachain Raises $69M in Funding Round
• Binance Labs Quietly Spins Off $10B Venture Arm
• Hong Kong Initiates New Phase of CBDC Testing
• Justin Sun Deposits $480M ETH in Ether.Fi Restaking Protocol
• SEC Charges 17 People in $300M Crypto Ponzi

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