Investors in the United States are betting on whether inflation is reaching a high as traders speculate on the likely economic impact of coronavirus-related lockdowns in China. Bitcoin (BTC), the most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is keeping its own as oil prices rebound beyond $100 per barrel, rekindling inflationary fears among traditional investors.

The monthly U.S. Consumer Price Index data showed that inflation increased to 8.5 % in March, a new four-decade high, kicking off-trade in the United States on Tuesday. The statistics quelled investors’ fears that prices were spinning out of control, and equities surged; several economists speculated that inflation was reaching a high. Rising oil prices appeared to dampen the excitement later in the session, and equities closed the day down.

However, as of press time, bitcoin was somewhat higher, trading at roughly $39,600.

The performance was unexpected given that bitcoin had fallen for two days in a row, falling below $40,000 earlier this week for the first time since mid-March. Some investors consider Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation, but recent price moves for the 13-year-old cryptocurrency have become increasingly connected with U.S. stocks. Let’s look more closely at what happened in the cryptoverse.

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The Nightly Mint: Daily NFT Recap

It was a quiet Tuesday in the world of non-transactional financial transactions (NFTs), but there was plenty to cover. Candy Digital is unrolling dynamic NFTs, Mastercard has filed for patents around NFT engagement and Crabada is blowing up on the Avalanche network. The company has onboarded hundreds of new employees this year to advise banks and merchants on the use of N FTs and related blockchain applications.

CeFi Platform Celsius Restricts Yield Rewards To Only Accredited Investors In U.S.

Celsius released an announcement on their company’s Twitter channel, and founder and CEO Alex Mashinsky offered up a similar thread of information on Twitter. New funds supplied – even from existing accounts – into Celsius’ platform would no longer be eligible to earn yield unless they are accredited, investors. The Celsius platform will roll-out it’s ‘Custody’ feature as a replacement for swapping, borrowing, and transferring tokens. The impacts of today’s report are limited solely to U.S.-based users. Last year, we covered numerous stories of regulatory pressure applied to Celsius.

Bitcoin And Ether Up As BTC Whales Get Busy Acquiring New Supply From Sellers

Bitcoin price increased 0.62% in the previous 24 hours to $42,679.03, while Ether’s price inched up 1.26% to $3,254.76. Bitcoin is currently worth $811,832,005,365. The total volume of bitcoin traded on WazirX in the last 24 hours is $15,699,699m. The Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami has concluded, with more than 25,000 attendees celebrating the world’s most popular cryptocurrency and other assets. Its price has retreated 7% in the last seven days, while Ethereum’s price has corrected to roughly 5.45%, according to TradingView.

Mexico’s Third Richest Man Says No To Bonds, Yes To Bitcoin

Ricardo Salinas Pliego is the third richest man in Mexico. The billionaire saw Elektra, a supermarket chain, become the first to accept bitcoin payments. He has been advising investors to put a portion of their portfolios into the digital asset. Ricardo Salinas Pliego is rated as the third richest man in Mexico with a net worth of around $13 billion. He owns Grupo Elektra, a retail supermarket chain, and TV Azteca, a Mexican TV broadcaster.

The NFL’s First Team To Accept Crypto? The Tennessee Titans

Tennessee Titans will be the first NFL team to accept cryptocurrency payments. Will utilize a third-party provider for larger, recurring purchases via Bitcoin. Currently, only limited stadium signage and deal length is capped at three years. Tennessee Titans join an exceptionally shortlist of professional teams in the ‘big four’ of sports that accept crypto payments. As crypto payments continue to see broader adoption, there be an increasing amount of clubs and leagues that feel that there is a slice of the pie they’re missing out on.

Strike Brings The Lightning Network To Every US Merchant. The Market Yawns

Strike announced a partnership with Blackhawk and NCR to bring Lightning Network transactions to Point Of Sale terminals all over the United States. Jack Mallers titled his presentation “The King’s Gambit,” an alternative to the “pawn to e4” chess opening he usually mentions. The Strike announcement makes bitcoin a competing Medium of Exchange and puts it into every store in the US. As long as its price is increasing, people will want to hold the asset. The more places that accepted BTC at the point of sale, the more permissionless the network is.

Mike Novogratz Doubles Down On $500,000 Bitcoin Prediction

Mike Novogratz has reiterated his support for the $500,000 future prediction for bitcoin. The Galaxy Digital CEO was speaking at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami. The billionaire predicts that the Federal Reserve will eventually need to ease up on its interest rate hikes. The Galaxy Digital CEO had previously said that he sees bitcoin going to $500,000. He also expressed hope that the U.S. dollar would continue to be strong. Bitcoin going to infinity would mean “the rest of the Western world has really fallen apart”.

Armaldia: Play, Buy Your Own NFTs, Make a Profit

Crypto and NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are perceived by the global community as a game-changing leap forward. 13% of Americans bought or traded crypto in the past 12 months. In 2021 investors poured a record $30 billion into crypto. Armaldia is an online game using a strong blockchain system of cryptography to secure transactions. Players can control a limited supply of highly valuable land plots, each of which is a unique and non-replaceable NFT. Armaldia assumes construction and personalization of buildings and trade of resources.

MicroStrategy Acquires 4,167 BTC And Marathon Holds 1,259 Self-Mined BTC

Another day, another MicroStrategy bitcoin acquisition. Michael Saylor-led company is relentless in its BTC accumulation strategy. Marathon Digital Holdings doubles down on its no-selling policy. Will these two giants go down in history as pioneers of the digital currency industry? Marathon Digital Holdings produced a record 1,258.6 self-mined bitcoin during Q1 2022.

In March alone, they “successfully deployed 1,320 miners”. The company’s accumulation strategy began in October 2020, the last time Marathon sold bitcoin.