The cryptocurrency markets and the United States equities markets witnessed profit-booking this week as the macroeconomic data hinted toward continued rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Bitcoin (BTC) is down more than 4% and the S&P 500 fell 2.7% to record its worst week of the year. The CME FedWatch Tool shows a 73% probability of a 25 basis points rate hike by the Fed in the March meeting but after the hotter-than-expected inflation readings in two weeks, the probability of a 50 basis point rate hike has started to slowly gain traction. During periods of uncertainty, some coins enter …

The blockchain technology developer Elrond announced it will redefine itself as a new brand with a focus on the metaverse. Formerly known as Elrond, the company will move forward under the new name MultiversX with the introduction of three new metaverse-forward products. xFabric, xPortal and xWorlds are the three new tools behind the rebrand, all of which aim to help metaverse creators and users. The tools include a metaverse portal, digital assets holder, creator utilities and a deployable blockchain module. Beniamin Mincu, the CEO of Elrond, commented to Cointelegraph saying that the new rebanding will benefit both digital and physical …

It has been difficult for Bitcoin (BTC) and the cryptocurrency markets to start a strong sustained recovery while the United States dollar is near its multi-year high and the U.S. equities markets are near their June lows. This shows that the sentiment remains negative and traders are not interested in taking on risk in their portfolios. The U.S. equities markets fell sharply on Oct. 7 following the release of September’s nonfarm payroll data but they did manage marginal gains for the week. The S&P 500 rose 1.5% and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.7% last week. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is on track …

The Maiar Exchange, a decentralized exchange (DEX) native to the Elrond blockchain, has been temporarily taken offline after an attacker utilized an exploit and made off with roughly $113 million worth of Elrond eGold (EGLD). Minutes before 12:00 am UTC on Monday, the co-founder and CEO of Elrond, Beniamin Mincu, tweeted that he and his team were “investigating a set of suspicious activities” on the Maiar decentralized cryptocurrency exchange. Soon after, the DEX was taken offline, with Mincu reporting that the issue had been identified and an “emergency fix” was being implemented. In a Twitter thread posted almost 24 hours …

Bitcoin (BTC) rose above $42,000 on March 19 but the bulls continue to face a strong challenge from the bears at higher levels. Although Bitcoin’s price has recovered from $37,578 on March 13, Cointelegraph market analyst Marcel Pechman highlighted that the long-to-short net ratio of top traders across three major exchanges shows that professional traders have not been buying aggressively. But while Bitcoin struggles at higher levels, select altcoins are showing strength. Twitter account BTCFuel anticipates that altcoins could be entering “the final leg up of the hype phase” and may peak in the Summer. Glassnode data shows that investors …

The National Bank of Romania has greenlighted an acquisition in the blockchain industry, authorizing the blockchain startup Elrond to acquire a payment processing platform. Elrond, a blockchain firm focused on distributed applications, received approval to purchase the electronic money institution Capital Financial Services, which acts under the brand Twispay, according to an announcement released on Thursday. Twispay provides an international payment solution supporting multiple fiat currencies and integrating various payment methods. The firm is a principal member of Visa and Mastercard, meaning that it directly participates in issuing cards and is allowed to acquire merchants. The firm is also licensed …