Bitcoin Price Stabilises After Halving; Thailand to Ban Some Crypto Exchanges

Bitcoin Price Remains Stable After Fourth Halving

Bitcoin underwent its fourth halving on April 20. Despite the frenzy surrounding this event, Bitcoin price did not see a significant change in its price point. As of Thursday, April 25, the oldest cryptocurrency is  trading at the price point of $63,887 (roughly Rs. 53 lakh) on Indian exchanges, after incurring a loss of 4.10 percent in the last 24 hours. On international exchanges like Binance, BTC is trading at $66,409 (roughly Rs. 55.3 lakh). 

Ether joined Bitcoin in experiencing market volatility. Its trading value is currently hovering over the mark of $3,037 (roughly Rs. 2.5 lakh) on Indian as well as foreign exchanges. The overall crypto market is currently facing a downturn due to renewed conflict in the Middle East and worries about China's economic health, affecting investor confidence. 

Binance Coin, Solana, Ripple, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and Avalanche, this week, emerged among altcoins that registered more frequent losses than gains. Cardano holds a firm support of $0.52 (roughly Rs. 43.33) with its immediate resistance predicted at $0.71 (roughly Rs. 59.16). If this level is surpassed, ADA could go up to $0.80 (roughly Rs. 66.66). However, failing to hold the support might result in a subsequent price decrease to $0.40 (roughly Rs. 33.33).

BWA Spells Out Some Self-Regulatory Rules for Crypto Exchanges

India's Web3 industry body, the Bharat Web3 Association (BWA) has laid down some rules for crypto exchanges in a bid to assist the Indian government in making the sector safe to engage with. These self-regulatory guidelines aim to slash the entry chances of scam tokens into India's crypto space.  

The BWA, as part of its guidelines, has instructed all FIU-registered crypto exchanges operating in India to act as the first filter in terms of identifying and weeding out potentially suspicious tokens. To draft these rules, the BWA has decided to focus on investor protection, market efficiency as well as credibility and safeguards.

“These guidelines reflect our commitment to ensuring a fair, transparent, and secure ecosystem for virtual digital assets (VDAs). By standardising the listing process, we aim to build awareness amongst stakeholders around token listing, enhance market confidence, protect investors, and foster sustainable growth in the Web3 domain,” Dilip Chenoy, Chairman of BWA said in a prepared statement.

Multiple Memecoin Projects Abandoned After Pre-Sale in Recent Weeks

In the last 30 days alone, at least 12 memecoins have been abandoned by their developers. Incidentally, all of these memecoins were launched for pre-sales. Independent blockchain investigator ZachXBT has sounded an alert about rugpull scams picking pace in the crypto sector. Most of the memecoins recently launched and abandoned were built on the Solana blockchain.

ZachXBT estimates that a total of over $27 million are stolen from the amounts that were collected through the pre-sales of these scam tokens. These categories of scams fall under the rugpull category. In rugpulls, traders are lured into investing in these tokens, once the amount is collected by developers, they simply abandon the projects and disappear.

Thailand to Ban Unlicenced Crypto Exchanges: Details

Following India's footsteps into the space of crypto regulations, Thailand is also deciding to tighten its grasp over its crypto sector. The tourist-population country will begin restricting all unlicenced crypto players from conducting their businesses within its limits.  

“The SEC would like to warn the public and investors to be careful of using services with unauthorized digital asset business operators. Because they will not be protected by law. There is also a risk of being deceived (scam) including the risk of money laundering,” the notice released by the Thai authorities said this week.