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Thomas Perfumo, Chief Economist at Kraken, offered deep insight into how Bitcoin is evolving—and why it doesn’t neatly fit into any one box. Speaking to TheStreet Roundtable host Scott Melker, Perfumo pushed back on the idea that Bitcoin trades strictly like either gold or a tech stock. “Bitcoin actually just noted a new all-time high when denominated by the Nasdaq,” Melker pointed out, highlighting the asset’s unpredictable identity in the current macro landscape. Perfumo agreed that Bitcoin’s behavior is unique, shaped by its stage of maturity in the adoption cycle. “When you see price signals in gold, gold price rising,…

MSTR earnings came out May 1. My morning media stops last Thursday (here and here) asked for a preview. We don’t talk about stocks, so I planned to zoom out and hit themes. While preparing, I had to suppress the eye-roll reflexes that MSTR triggers. MSTR, of course, is the ticker symbol for MicroStrategy, or Strategy, as the company is now known. Strategy, fronted by Michael Saylor, pioneered the “bitcoin treasury” model that’s now been copied by Metaplanet and dozens of other companies. Strategy plans to raise $84 billion, according to its most recent announcement, across equity and fixed income…

Democrats are putting up new resistance to crypto legislation prioritized by the Trump administration as they object to the involvement of the Trump family in that industry, in addition to a host of other issues. Their resistance burst into the open this past weekend as nine Democrats, led by Sen. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.), released a public statement opposing the GOP-led Senate bill that seemed likely to deliver a major crypto win for Trump and Republicans. The bill would establish rules governing stablecoins. Stablecoins are pegged to other assets, such as the US dollar. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer last Thursday…

Richcano | E+ | Getty ImagesFor many Americans, a Social Security number is the first form of identification they receive, mailed as a paper card a few weeks after birth.Now, the Social Security Administration is looking to give that form of ID an update by enabling secure digital access to Social Security numbers that will provide an alternative to the traditional Social Security card. Experts are cautiously optimistic about the idea, but have some security concerns.The new digital feature will allow individuals who have either forgotten their Social Security number or who have lost their Social Security cards to access…

By Omkar Godbole (All times ET unless indicated otherwise) The outlook for bitcoin (BTC) looks bullish even after the largest cryptocurrency pulled back to $95,000 from Friday’s highs above $98,000 and the total crypto market capitalization dropped under $3 trillion Among the signals, U.S.-listed spot bitcoin ETFs are rapidly absorbing supply. Last week, the 11 ETFs registered a cumulative net inflow of $1.8 billion, equating to over 18,500 BTC, six times more than the 3,150 BTC mined, according to data sources Farside Investors and HODL15Capital. (See Chart of the Day) On-chain activity has also picked up, suggesting a bullish outlook.…

Binance has joined forces with the National Agency for Investments of the Kyrgyz Republic through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to foster the growth of the digital asset sector in the region. The announcement came during the first meeting of the Council for the Development of Digital Assets, attended by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Nurgozhoevich Japarov. The collaboration will introduce Binance Pay in Kyrgyzstan, facilitating crypto-based payment solutions. This move is expected to expand cross-border payment systems across Central Asia and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The MoU also focuses on educational initiatives, with Binance Academy assisting the National Agency in…

Payments network MoneyGram has unveiled MoneyGram Ramps, an API aimed to facilitate cash-to-crypto and crypto-to-cash services via a single integration. This initiative is designed to connect digital wallets, exchanges, and fintech applications with MoneyGram’s worldwide cash network, allowing for the incorporation of crypto on/off-ramp functionality on a global scale. With this API, developers can enable cash deposits in over 30 countries and cash withdrawals in more than 170 countries via MoneyGram’s network. MoneyGram Ramps aims to streamline integration processes, lowering deployment time from months to minutes. The setup for a sandbox environment, which previously took up to 15 days, can…

As of Monday, the U.S. Department of Education is restarting “involuntary collections” on federal student loans that are in default, which may seriously damage the credit scores of millions of borrowers.Student loan collections efforts have largely been on pause since the pandemic began in March 2020. A new analysis by TransUnion found that consumers who faced default in recent months have seen their credit scores fall by 63 points, on average. For super prime borrowers — or those with credit scores above 780 — who were seriously delinquent, scores sank as much as 175 points. Credit scores typically range between 300 and 850.”Consumers may…

Bitcoin had inklings of performing like a store of value in April, in contrast with much of its history. However, Bitcoin has still more closely mirrored the performance of speculative tech stocks since the beginning of the year. Is the perception of Bitcoin’s properties and value currently changing? Shares of the Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC)-focused exchange traded fund iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (NASDAQ: IBIT) rallied 14.3% in April, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence . The IBIT is the most-traded and liquid Bitcoin ETF, and is run by Blackrock (NYSE: BLK), the largest asset manager in the world. IBIT…

Honeymoons and luxury vacations could soon be outpaced by crypto as the main draw for the island nation of Maldives. A Dubai-based family office plans to invest up to $8.8 billion in a blockchain-focused financial hub in the Maldives, part of an effort by the island nation to expand beyond its reliance on tourism and fisheries and address mounting debt obligations. The investment, led by MBS Global Investments, will be deployed over five years and is structured around a new joint venture with the Maldives government. The planned capital outlay exceeds the country’s GDP of around $7 billion. It will…