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Bitcoin erodes 4% gains as BTC price downside targets stretch to $23K

A spike above $28,000 begins to fade as the new week begins, while a U.S. holiday means no external BTC price triggers from equities.

AI Eye: 25K traders bet on ChatGPT’s stock picks, AI sucks at dice throws, and more

Almost 25,000 investors have signed up to trade alongside ChatGPT as they follow the GPT Portfolio experiment from copy trading firm Autopilot.

The traders have bet a combined $14.7 million on the AI’s stock picks, which would average about $600 each if they all invested after signing up. They’re hoping to take even a small slice of a purported 500% return from one of the strategies backtested in academic research.

The GPT Portfolio gets the AI to analyze 10,000 news articles and 100 company reports to select 20 stocks for the $50,000 portfolio, updated each week. The initial picks included Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon, D.R. Horton and Davita Health. After two weeks, the portfolio is up around 2%, which is pretty much the same as the stock market. 

Interestingly the bottom five picks lost more in percentage terms than the top five gained — Dollar Tree lost 17% after it missed earnings — so it might be more sensible in future to only invest in GPT-4’s best five or 10 ideas, but we’ll see how it works out.

The smaller-scale ChatGPT Crypto Trader account is tweaking a similar strategy that gets GPT-4s advice on when to go long on Ethereum. He says it shows a profit of 11,000% backtested to August 2017, but in the real-world experiment since January, the portfolio is up by a third, while the Ethereum price has gained 60%.

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AI Eye: 25K traders bet on ChatGPT’s stock picks, AI sucks at dice throws, and more

ChatGPT always rolls a 4 but tens of thousands of traders are betting millions on its stock picks, AI expands classic album covers, and more.

Ledger CEO says crypto key recovery service makes self-custody easier

Ledger’s “Recover” service may be concerning, but some crypto industry participants think the feature may onboard new users while helping crypto natives.

Mining difficulty passes 50 trillion — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

Bitcoin (BTC) starts a new week in an altogether different mood as the weekly candle close brings a move higher.

The largest cryptocurrency, still stuck in a narrow range, is at last showing signs of life after several spikes to two-month lows.

With volatility back in play, traders nonetheless remain conflicted. Can short-timeframe strength lead to an overall trend breakout?

Opinions differ as May ends and brings a macroeconomic showdown that is already making itself felt: the United States debt ceiling deal.

With an agreement to raise the ceiling and avoid a U.S. government default almost here, risk assets may see relief across the board. However, since stock markets are closed until May 30, it will be a game of “wait and see” for Bitcoin traders to start the week.

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Another dormant Ethereum wallet reawakens after 8 years, moving millions

Its owner acquired the tokens during Ethereum’s ICO in 2015, when each ETH was worth only 31 cents each.

Bitcoin reclaims $28K, and charts suggest ARB, XRP, EOS and AAVE could follow

The United States looks to avoid a catastrophic debt default after the White House and the House Republicans agreed upon a tentative deal on May 27. The U.S. equities markets rallied in anticipation of the deal on May 26 and the positive sentiment has rubbed off onto the cryptocurrency sector, which is attempting a recovery.

Buying is not limited to Bitcoin (BTC) alone as select altcoins are also showing signs of a short-term up-move. However, sustaining the rally at higher levels may prove to be difficult for the bulls.

Crypto market data daily view. Source: Coin360

After the debt ceiling deal, traders are likely to focus their attention on the Federal Reserve’s rate hikes. The hot Personal Consumption Expenditures data on May 26 increased the likelihood of a rate hike at the Fed’s June meeting. The probability of a 25 basis point rate hike has risen from 17% a week back to 64% on May 28, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Along with Bitcoin, what altcoins that are looking ripe for a short-term up-move? Let’s study the charts of these top five cryptocurrencies to spot the important levels to watch out for.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin has reached the overhead resistance zone between the 20-day exponential moving average ($27,146) and the support line of the symmetrical triangle. This zone is likely to witness a solid tussle between the bulls and the bears.

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Bitcoin can bring 'cause and consequence into cyberspace', boost security — Michael Saylor

During an interview, Michael Saylor discussed how crypto networks like Bitcoin can promote security and combat digital trust issues.

Tornado Cash governance control set to be restored as voters approve proposal

A total of 517,000 token votes favored the proposal, with none opposing it.

Arbitrum-based Jimbos Protocol hacked, losing $7M in Ethereum

The attacker took advantage of the lack of slippage control of liquidity conversions to steal the funds.

FTX 2.0 coming up, Multichain FUD and Worldcoin raises six figures: Hodler’s Digest, May 21-27

FTX reboot is in the works, Multichain issues spark uncertainty and Sam Altman’s crypto project Worldcoin raises millions of dollars.

FTX 2.0 coming up, Multichain FUD and Worldcoin raises six figures: Hodler’s Digest, May 21-27

Top Stories This Week

Binance suspends deposits for bridged tokens, seeks clarity from Multichain team

Crypto exchange Binance suspended deposits for 10 bridged tokens following days of uncertainty surrounding the Multichain protocol. Transactions on the cross-chain protocol have been delayed over multiple bridges in the past few days, with little information from Multichain’s team about the ongoing issues. In a tweet from May 24, Multichain said that some cross-chain routes were unavailable “due to force majeure,” noting that the time for service restoration was unclear. Binance was not the only company to take steps amid the unexplained downtime — the Fantom Foundation removed 449,740 MULTI ($2.4 million) from liquidity on SushiSwap. The MULTI token plunged during the week. On Twitter, rumors circulated that Multichain’s team had been arrested by the Chinese police, with $1.5 billion of smart contract funds under authorities’ control.

FTX 2.0 launching soon? Court filing shows a reboot plan in the works

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX’s revival plans could soon become reality. According to court filing documents, FTX’s new management had a series of meetings with creditors and debtors in the past month, reviewing plans for restarting the exchange and finalizing the material required for its rebooting as FTX 2.0. The documents also suggest FTX could soon enter into a bidding process. Previous reports pointed out that a reboot could come as early as 2024, as the exchange has already recovered over $7 billion in assets.

Sam Altman’s Worldcoin secures $115M for decentralized ID

The bear market didn’t stop Worldcoin from raising $115 million this week in a Series C round led by Blockchain Capital. Funds will be used to support its decentralized World ID and recently released gas-free crypto wallet, World App. The project was co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and built by Tools for Humanity developers to address issues emerging from the exponential complexity of artificial intelligence, such as proving personhood. Worldcoin’s token, WLD, is not available in the United States and some other countries.

Fahrenheit wins bid to acquire assets of crypto lender Celsius

Crypto consortium Fahrenheit won the bidding war for insolvent crypto lender Celsius Network. The bid incorporates Celsius assets previously valued at nearly $2 billion, including institutional loan portfolio, staked cryptocurrencies, mining unit, alternative assets, and over $450 million in liquid cryptocurrency. Behind the consortium are the venture capital firm Arrington Capital and crypto miner US Bitcoin Corp. While Celsius and its creditors have accepted the bid, regulatory approval is still required to complete the acquisition. Celsius filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2022, contributing to a prolonged “crypto winter” in the industry.

Earlier this week, the crypto community celebrated the 13th anniversary of the first Bitcoin transaction when developer Laszlo Hanyecz made the first documented purchase of a good with BTC. The exchange involved 10,000 BTC — worth $41 at the time — and two pizzas from a local restaurant in Florida. The milestone turned into an annual celebration for the crypto space, with community members reminiscing on how far the industry has come since the transaction. Over a decade on, the pioneer cryptocurrency network faces a new wave of disruption thanks to the advent of Ordinals, highlighting the need for developers and capital to build layer-2 solutions.


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Why is Grand Theft Auto 6 unlikely to incorporate cryptocurrencies?

From time to time, rumors surface that Grand Theft Auto 6 will integrate cryptocurrency, fueling expectations that the franchise may make its way to Web3.

Crypto Biz: Ledger halts recovery service, Web3 in Hong Kong, and another CEX goes down

This week’s Crypto Biz explores Hotbit’s closure, Hong Kong’s licensing of crypto firms, Bitstamp’s acquisition by Ripple and Ledger’s branding crisis.

Stargate community proposes removal of Fantom USDC pool to mitigate risks

So far, a total of 1.7 million verified members of the Stargate community have voted in favor of the proposal.

Nigerian crypto company suspends withdrawals after BTC and naira compromise

Efforts are underway to recover compromised assets and enhance security measures as users express concerns on social media.

Bitcoin holds 200-week average as trader says ‘inflection point’ is here

Bitcoin (BTC) held its most recent gains into May 27 as traders called for a change in “bearish” market sentiment.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart on Bitstamp. Source: TradingView

Trader awaits “pretty major move” for BTC price

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it entered the weekend at around $26,700.

The week’s macroeconomic data from the United States had ended with a surprise, as a new Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index print showed the economy weathering tighter financial conditions much better than expected.

Markets then began to price in a June interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve, which should form a headwind for risk assets but failed to dampen a BTC price rebound.

Despite the price comeback, however, the mood remained overly cautious for some.

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Cronos Labs launches second cohort of $100M Web3 accelerator

On May 15, the chosen projects commenced the 12-week program after being granted seed funding of $30,000.

A week filled with exploits and uncertainty for DeFi: Finance Redefined

DeFi saw another multimillion-dollar rug pull this past week, and the Multichain saga continues to spiral out of control.

Neuralink gets FDA approval for ‘in-human’ trials of its brain-computer interface

The Neuralink device is designed to be surgically implanted and, according to CEO Elon Musk, will eventually be marked to the general public.

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