Weekly Roundup: The Biggest Cryptocurrency News of the Week

Woman holding Bitcoin

There has been a lot of big news in the cryptocurrency world this week, especially with Bitcoin. Here are the biggest stories that you may have missed.

European Council Approves Crypto Regulation Bill

The European Union (EU) has made some significant strides with cryptocurrency regulation this week as the European Council approved comprehensive Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation on October 5th. The regulation bill demonstrates how serious European authorities are ensure that the crypto market plays by their rules.

In order for the bill to be finalized it has to be approved by the European Parliament on a vote that is scheduled for October 10th. Some of the realms it addresses consumer protection, the prevention of money laundering, stablecoins, and the environmental impact of the industry.

European Union Completely Bans All Cryptocurrency Services in Russia

In further European Bitcoin news, the European Union (EU) has increased previous sanctions against Russia. While limited bitcoin and cryptocurrency transactions were previously allowed, the EU has now outlawed all transactions.

“The Commission welcomes the Council’s adoption of an eighth package of hard-hitting sanctions against Russia for its aggression against Ukraine,” the statement said.

The reason for the ban could be because of recent Russian news where its Ministry of Finance announced intentions to allow any industry to accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for international trade.

The new sanctions also include restrictions on individuals and business entities in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Bitcoin Mining Difficulty On the Precipice of Increasing

Mining Bitcoin is about to get more challenging with the requirements to mine a Bitcoin block set to see another large increase early next week. Automation adjunction occurs to to keep the mining time acquired per Bitcoin block to be roughly around 10 minutes, depending on the network hashrate. Network hashrate is also described as the amount of computing power needed to mine and secure the Bitcoin blockchain.

The higher the hashrate, the higher the difficulty, which lowers miners’ profitability. The current hashrate on the network is at all-time high around over 250 exahash per second (EH/s), according analytics firm Glassnode.

The reasoning behind this next increase in difficulty is the increased use of more efficient mining machines and cooler weather.

Bitcoin and Gold Correlation Hits Highest Level in Over a Year

In 2022 Bitcoin and U.S. stocks haven’t moved in tandem as much as previously, but Bitcoin’s correlation to gold has interestingly become stronger.

The two assets have been branching away from stock prices, and while the correlation is mildly strong for now, questions have been raised by experts as to whether Bitcoin and gold will continue to travel in sync.

Clara Medalie, Head of research at crypto research group Kaiko, believes the correlation between Bitcoin and Gold could still continue. “We could be seeing a slight decoupling of crypto and equity markets, which is reflected in BTC’s rising correlation with gold,” she said.

Kaiko also noted that crypto markets performed well during the third quarter in comparison to the overall stock markets. Bitcoin fell about a percentage point in comparison to the S&P 500 which dropped 5%, Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) 6% and Nasdaq 4%.

Charlie Morris, chief investment officer at ByteTree Asset Management, expects the correlation between gold and Bitcoin to remain “higher than usual”.

“The dollar hasn’t been this pricey (on purchasing power parities valuation) since 1985, and at some point the Fed will cool off,” he said. “When that happens, both bitcoin and gold will respond well. Just as a strong dollar caused them pain, a weak dollar will bring relief.”

For more Bitcoin news and informative articles, visit our archive.

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