Bitcoin reaches $30K — Is this the start of the next bull run?

This week on The Market Report, Cointelegraph analyst and writer Marcel Pechman discusses Bitcoin (BTC) breaking through the $30,000 mark, setting a new high for 2023. He also covers Tether blacklisting a validator and whether Ethereum’s latest upgrade could bring institutional investors to Ethereum.

Bitcoin hits $30K to mark highest price since June 2022

Bitcoin has hit price highs not seen since mid-2022, with the largest crypto by market cap touching $30,000 and setting a new high for 2023. According to CoinGecko data, Bitcoin has slightly surpassed $30,000 and is at nearly $30,190 at the time of writing, a price it hasn’t reached since June 10, 2022. In the last 30 days, BTC recorded gains of nearly 46%, rising to its highest level in 10 months on April 11. Some analysts predicted that it would regain its $30,000 price tag as traders await the United States Consumer Price Index (CPI) report on April 12, which will give insight into the Federal Reserve’s battle against inflation. But what about our very own analyst? Pechman gives his take on whether or not the anticipated CPI has anything to do with the recent price of Bitcoin.

Tether blacklists validator address that drained MEV bots for $25M

Tether, the issuer behind the leading stablecoin Tether (USDT), has blacklisted an address that drained Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) bots for $25 million last week. In this case, the rogue validator address swooped in to back-run the MEV’s transaction, leading to losses of nearly $25 million in various digital assets, making it the largest MEV exploit to date. Etherscan has already flagged the address, warning of its involvement in the exploit. Was it wrong for Tether to blacklist the address? Did anyone actually do anything wrong here? Pechman breaks it all down for us.

Shapella could bring institutional investors to Ethereum despite risks

Ethereum’s stakers and validators will shortly be able to withdraw $32 billion of Ether (ETH) from the Beacon Chain, which accounts for about 15% of the ETH’s circulating supply, according to Coinbase’s April 5 newsletter. Some worry that the upgrade, also known as the Shanghai hard fork, may lower the overall number of validators and put selling pressure on the network, among other concerns. The upgrade should mitigate risks for investors. “Lower volatility plus a yield makes for a more familiar and less risky asset to hold long-term,” Rich Rosenblum, co-founder and president of GSR — a crypto market-making firm — told Cointelegraph. Will Ethereum’s latest upgrade attract more institutional investors? Pechman lets us know what he believes will happen.

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