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…

Ex-Coinbase Exec Balaji Srinivasan Closes Out $1 Million Bitcoin Bet

Former Chief Technology Officer at Coinbase, Balaji Srinivasan, closed out early a bet that the price of bitcoin would hit $1 million by mid-June amid hyperinflation of the U.S. dollar. Srinivasan paid a total of $1.5 million, more than the initially…

Economist and Political Scientist Refute Claims of US Dollar’s Demise Despite Trend of De-Dollarization News

This year, there has been a flurry of news reports and opinion editorials discussing an alleged de-dollarization trend amid a wave of disclosures associated with the BRICS bloc. In a recent article, the American political scientist and author Ian Bremmer insisted…

US Dollar Could Lose Most of Its Value in 5 Years, Investment Manager Warns

Investment manager Larry Lepard has warned that the U.S. dollar could lose most of its value within five to 10 years. Following the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, “the U.S. did something which I perceived to be very stupid, which is…

‘Panic of 2023’: James Corbett Explains How Bank Crisis Could Lead to CBDC ‘Nightmare of Total Monetary Control’

Investigative journalist James Corbett has recently referred to the ongoing global banking crisis involving SVB, Signature Bank, Credit Suisse and others as the “Panic of 2023,” drawing comparisons to what he views as historical precedents, and pointing ahead to an inevitable…

Bitcoin Hashrate Reaches 400 Exahash per Second, Researcher Says Network Could Reach Zettahash Era by 2025

Despite Bitcoin’s difficulty reaching an all-time high at 46.84 trillion, participants in bitcoin mining have kept the hashrate running stronger than ever before. According to statistics, on March 23, 2023, the hashrate reached a high of 400 exahash per second (EH/s)….

Number of Irretrievably Lost BTC Now 6 Million — Cane Island Manager

The number of irretrievably lost bitcoins has now reached 6 million, which leaves 13.3 million as coins that remain in circulation, Timothy Peterson of Cane Island Alternative Advisors has said. Peterson added that out of the 1.7 million bitcoins that will…

Analysts Suspect Banking Crisis Triggered ‘Resting Bull Market’ in Gold, Silver Could Print Much Higher Gains

At the start of the week, a troy ounce of .999 fine gold was trading at $1,813 per unit. Seven days later, gold rose 9.65% against the U.S. dollar to the current spot price of $1,988 per ounce. Gold’s rise comes…

Meta Winding Down Support for NFTs on Facebook, Instagram

U.S. tech giant Meta is giving up on operations with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) amid ongoing turbulence in the crypto space. The company allowed creators to share digital collectibles on its leading social media platforms last year. Meta Platforms Cutting Off Support…

Report: Silicon Valley Bank Under FDIC Auction as Calls for Bailout Grow

The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) began an auction process for Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) late Saturday night, according to reports. Final bids are due by Sunday afternoon. Unnamed sources indicate that the FDIC is seeking to close the deal…