Plus — doomed Diem is dead, according to reports.
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Bitcoin recovers ahead of Fed meeting 🚨
Bitcoin has managed to hit $38,000 as the crypto markets continue their recovery for a second day. At the time of writing, BTC has risen by 4.77% over the past 24 hours. Ether and Binance Coin are outperforming — up 8.52% and 6.13% respectively. Both cryptocurrencies had suffered outsized losses during sell-offs earlier this week. On Wednesday, markets rallied ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting, where economists are expected to indicate interest rates will begin rising in March.
Memecoins facing a purge, analysts warn 😬
Bloomberg Intelligence's Mike McGlone — who continues to maintain an upbeat tone on BTC — believes Bitcoin will prevail in the coming 12 months, but warns that smaller altcoins could face aggressive sell-offs similar to the internet purge in 2000-01. McGlone went on to compare Dogecoin and SHIBA INU with the likes of AOL and Pets.com. Looking ahead, $30,000 is regarded as key support for Bitcoin — and indeed, BTC did manage to bounce off $33,000 on Monday.
Ditch BTC as legal tender, El Salvador told 🤯
El Salvador is being urged to abandon Bitcoin as legal tender. The International Monetary Fund says the cryptocurrency's use creates "large risks" when it comes to "financial stability, financial integrity and consumer protection." In a statement, the IMF went on to warn El Salvador's public debt is projected to reach 96% of GDP in 2026 — describing it as on an "unsustainable path." Nayib Bukele was characteristically dismissive of the warning… responding with a meme from The Simpsons.
Facebook's Diem digital currency 'is dead' 😵
Diem — the digital currency that Facebook wanted to launch — is dead, according to reports. Bloomberg News claims that the Diem Association is considering whether to begin selling its intellectual property — and engineers who worked for the project may be moved to other companies. The news outlet's sources suggest this amounts to "cashing out whatever value remains" in the embattled project, which has faced a staunch pushback from regulators since the beginning.
Bitcoin 'could be worth $1.36 million by 2030' 🤑
A single Bitcoin could be worth $1.36 million by 2030, according to a bullish new report by ARK Invest. However, this hinges on increased adoption among countries, asset managers and companies in the S&P 500. Overall, ARK Invest argues Bitcoin has "significant appreciation potential" — and its total market cap could scale 25x over the next decade. At the time the report was being prepared, BTC had a market cap of $1.1 trillion — compared with $10 trillion for gold and $106 trillion for global equities.
