Latam Insights: Bolivia Mulls Chinese Yuan for Trade Settlements, Steve Hanke Proposes 30-Day Solution for Venezuelan Inflation

Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of the most relevant crypto and economic development news from Latin America during the last week. In this issue, Bolivia mulls using the Chinese yuan in international trade settlements, inflation reaches 108.8% in Argentina, and…

Bitcoin Makes Progress in Clearing Backlog, but Lightning Network Capacity and Channels Dropped Amid Congestion

In the past week, the Bitcoin network has made progress in resolving its congestion issues. On May 7, 2023, the number of unconfirmed transactions reached an all-time high of over 500,000 transfers, causing a major backlog. However, as of today, that…

Tether’s Market Cap Inches Towards All-Time High as Competitors Struggle With Redemptions 

Despite several U.S. dollar-pegged digital tokens experiencing notable redemptions in recent months, the largest stablecoin by market valuation, tether, is on the verge of achieving its highest-ever market capitalization. With a current value of $82.84 billion, tether is a mere $433…

Over 440,000 Ethereum Added to Liquid Staking Derivatives in Two Weeks

In less than two weeks, the total value locked (TVL) in liquid staking derivatives has increased by 441,110 ether, worth roughly $793 million. While Lido Finance dominates the market with 74.35% of the TVL, competing liquid staking protocols Rocket Pool and…

Bitcoin Network Overwhelmed by 390,000 Unconfirmed Transactions and Surging Fees

In just under two weeks, the number of unconfirmed transactions on the Bitcoin network has skyrocketed from 134,000 to over 390,000, causing a bottleneck in the mempool. This surge in unconfirmed transactions has resulted in a staggering 343% increase in transaction…

US Banking Industry in Turmoil: A Comprehensive Look at the ‘Great Consolidation’ and Largest Bank Failures of 2023

2023 has been a rollercoaster ride for the U.S. banking industry. The collapse of three major banks has sent shockwaves through the financial world, with their combined assets surpassing the top 25 banks that crumbled in 2008. The following is a…

Meme Coin PEPE Surges by 152% This Week, Now the Fifth-Largest Meme Token by Market Cap

Pepe (PEPE), the meme coin featuring the popular character Pepe the Frog, has experienced a significant surge in value in the past week, rising by 152.9% against the U.S. dollar. Recent statistics indicate that PEPE’s market capitalization has surged from $141…

Bitcoin Network Hits 75% Progress Towards Next Reward Halving

At 11:06 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on April 29, 2023, at block height 787,500, the number of blocks left to discover until the next Bitcoin blockchain halving is now fewer than 52,500 blocks. This means the network has progressed 75% through…

Terawulf Energizes 50 MW at Nuclear-Powered Bitcoin Mining Facility Nautilus

Bitcoin mining company Terawulf has announced the full deployment of its 50-megawatt (MW) stake in the nuclear-powered Nautilus Cryptomine facility. The behind-the-meter bitcoin mining facility is powered by 100% nuclear power and benefits from a fixed power cost of $0.02 per…

With Close to 10 Billion Stablecoins Redeemed, BUSD’s Supply Drops to Lowest Level Since April 2021

Statistics recorded on April 15, 2023, show that the number of coins in circulation for the stablecoin BUSD dropped below the 7 billion range to 6.68 billion, marking the lowest number of BUSD in circulation since April 2021. Furthermore, data indicates…