This week, Bitcoin stabilized around $78,000, Kevin Warsh became the new Fed Chair, and THORChain suffered a $10 million hack.
Bitcoin remained stable near $78,000 this week, while Kevin Warsh was appointed as the new Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve. In a significant cybersecurity incident, THORChain experienced a hack resulting in over $10 million in losses.
Market Movements
Despite fluctuating trends, Bitcoin held its ground around $78,000. The week began with a surge to $82,000, but the price corrected sharply midweek, primarily driven by disappointing inflation metrics from the U.S. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 3.8% year-over-year and increased 0.6% month-over-month in April.
CryptoQuant analyst Amr Taha noted that open interest on major exchanges fell by nearly $1.25 billion, as investors reacted to the inflation data by closing positions and reducing leverage. The Core Producer Price Index also exceeded expectations, rising to 5.2% compared to the anticipated 4.3%.
As a result, Bitcoin's price saw a decline of about 3% over the week, while Ethereum dropped 6% to below $2,200. Most altcoins experienced losses, with only DOGE and TRX showing slight gains. The total market capitalization now stands at approximately $2.69 trillion, with Bitcoin's dominance at 58.3% and Ethereum's at 9.8%.
THORChain Hack
On May 15, THORChain was targeted in a hacking incident that led to the theft of 36.75 BTC and around $7 million in various EVM tokens. The attack exploited a vulnerability in the GG20 TSS threshold signature scheme, allowing the hacker to reconstruct private keys and execute unauthorized transactions. Following the hack, THORChain suspended its operations, halting trading and liquidity pool activities.
Despite the breach, THORChain assured users that their funds were not impacted. The native token, RUNE, fell from $0.6 to $0.4 but has since recovered slightly to $0.45.
New Federal Reserve Leadership
Kevin Warsh has officially taken over as the Chair of the Federal Reserve, succeeding Jerome Powell after a Senate confirmation vote of 54-45. Warsh, a known advocate for cryptocurrencies, has been appointed to a four-year term and previously served on the Fed's Board of Governors. His leadership is expected to favor a more accommodating monetary policy.
Warsh's investment history includes interests in various crypto projects, and he has expressed that Bitcoin is an "important asset" for economic assessment. His appointment could signal a shift in the Fed's approach to interest rates and monetary policy.
Other Noteworthy Developments
- Kelp and Aave have initiated asset recovery efforts following the THORChain hack.
- Michael Saylor outlined a strategy for Bitcoin reserves.
- Circle successfully raised $222 million through the sale of ARC tokens.
- Both Anthropic and OpenAI have prohibited secondary trading of their shares, impacting their token prices significantly.
