A Polymarket wager amassing $54,666 in trading volume suggests an 87% 
likelihood that a spot XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF) will secure regulatory 
approval by 2025. XRP ETF Mania Hits 87% Confidence: Polymarket Traders Bet 
Big on 2025 Approval In January 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange 
Commission (SEC) cleared the way for multiple spot bitcoin […]

Ripple Effect: Surging XRP ETF Optimism Follows SEC Legal Retreat

Cathie Wood, founder of the Ark Invest investment firm, will give the 
inaugural lecture for El Salvador&#8217;s new Urban Centers for Welfare and 
Opportunities (CUBO) AI program, a public education initiative spearheaded by 
the government of El Salvador.
According to El Salvador&#8217;s Bitcoin Office, the program will bring university- 
level AI courses to students and professionals and follows the country&#8217;s 
highly successful CUBO Bitcoin (BTC) and Lightning Network developer program.
The program will leverage industry experts to provide AI education to the 
public. El Salvador&#8217;s Bitcoin Office wrote in a March 23 X post:
&gt; &#8220;As El Salvador turbocharges its transformation into the ultimate tech and 
&gt; financial powerhouse of the region, CUBO AI will arm students and 
&gt; professionals in the country with the tools to dominate the AI frontier.&#8221;
El Salvador continues to attract crypto businesses and foreign direct 
investment as the Central American country positions itself as a regional tech 
and digital finance hub.
_Cathie Wood pictured left, with El Salvador &#8216;s President Nayib Bukele in the 
center, and economist Art Laffer, on the right, meet in May 2024. Source: __El 
Salvador &#8216;s Bitcoin Office_
 _**Related:**__**El Salvador acquired over 13 BTC since March 1, despite IMF 
deal**_
## El Salvador becoming a regional tech hub amid education and investment push
El Salvador has taken several steps to establish itself as a regional hub for 
innovation, including integrating Bitcoin classes into public education, 
leveraging geothermal energy to mine BTC, and passing pro-crypto and AI 
policies.
Cathie Wood met with El Salvador&#8217;s President Nayib Bukele in May 2024 to 
discuss the future of digital assets and AI policy in the Central American 
country, including potential education initiatives tailored by Ark Invest.
Wood left the meeting confident that El Salvador could increase its gross 
domestic product (GDP) tenfold over the next five years if it continues 
pursuing its tech-focused agenda.
&#8220;The President could scale El Salvador&#8217;s GDP 10-fold during his next 5-year 
term,&#8221; Wood wrote in a May 2024 X post and praised Bukele as forward-thinking.
Bukele also met with Elon Musk in September 2024 to discuss artificial 
intelligence and other 21st-century technologies, including crypto.
Musk likewise praised Bukele as &#8220;an amazing leader,&#8221; and the two continue to 
build rapport that could potentially lead to collaboration between the 
businessman and the government of El Salvador.
_**Magazine:**__**El Salvador &#8216;s national Bitcoin chief has been orange- 
pilling Argentina**_

Cathie Wood to kick off El Salvador's AI public education program

In a recent social media post, economist Peter Schiff critiques the Trump 
administration&#8217;s characterization of the U.S. as the &#8220;world&#8217;s best customer,&#8221; 
arguing that this perspective misrepresents the global economic relationship. 
Schiff asserts that while demand is unlimited, the resources to satisfy that 
demand are scarce, emphasizing that supply, not demand, is the limiting factor 
[…]

Peter Schiff Warns of ‘Parasitic Relationship’ Threatening Dollar Value and Painful Economic Transition

Bitcoin continues to trade within a tight range, consolidating below the 
$85,000 mark and holding above the $81,000 support zone. Bulls are making 
efforts to reclaim higher levels and spark a recovery rally, but persistent 
macroeconomic uncertainty and growing concerns over global trade tensions 
continue to weigh on market sentiment. Related Reading: Whales Accumulate Over 
120 Million Dogecoin In Past Week – Analyst The lack of momentum in either 
direction has left Bitcoin range-bound for the past several sessions. However, 
optimism remains among futures traders. According to recent data, 60.52% of 
traders with open Bitcoin positions on Binance Futures are currently holding 
long positions, suggesting a majority still believe in an upside breakout. 
This bullish leaning among leveraged traders highlights growing expectations 
that Bitcoin could recover once broader market sentiment improves. Still, the 
consolidation pattern remains in place until BTC can break decisively above 
the $85K level and target $88K or higher. If bulls fail to reclaim resistance 
soon, the risk of a breakdown below $81K increases, potentially triggering a 
deeper correction. As uncertainty dominates headlines, Bitcoin remains at a 
crossroads, and traders continue to watch closely for a catalyst to drive the 
next major move. Bitcoin Investors Split On Market Direction As Long Positions 
Dominate Futures After months of volatility and a sharp correction from 
Bitcoin&#8217;s January all-time high, some market participants are preparing for a 
prolonged bear market. Sentiment among this group is driven by persistent 
macroeconomic uncertainty, erratic global policy shifts, and rising concerns 
of recession, all of which have shaken confidence across both crypto and 
traditional markets. However, a more optimistic view persists among analysts 
who argue that the current price action is simply a healthy correction within 
a larger bull cycle. They believe that Bitcoin is undergoing a standard 
consolidation phase following its parabolic move in late 2024. The structural 
fundamentals supporting Bitcoin—including growing institutional interest and 
broader adoption—remain intact. Supporting this view, top analyst Ali Martinez 
shared a key metric on X: the Bitcoin Long/Short Ratio on Binance Futures. 
Martinez revealed that 60.52% of traders with open BTC positions are currently 
leaning long, signaling a bullish sentiment among futures traders. This 
bullish skew in leveraged positions suggests that a potential breakout may be 
on the horizon. If bulls can reclaim resistance levels near $88K and push 
above the $90K mark, it could confirm the start of a recovery rally and help 
restore confidence. Related Reading: Cardano Indicator Flashes Buy Signal On 
4-Hour Chart – Rebound Ahead? Until then, indecision continues to dominate the 
market, and Bitcoin remains trapped in a tight range where both scenarios—a 
deeper correction or a bullish breakout—remain on the table. BTC Price Range 
Narrows As Key Resistance Holds Strong Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $84,200 
after several days of tight consolidation between the $87,000 resistance and 
the $81,000 support level. Despite recent attempts to push higher, bulls have 
struggled to break through key resistance, leaving the price range bound and 
vulnerable to sudden volatility. Currently, BTC sits approximately 4% below 
the 4-hour 200-day Moving Average (MA) and Exponential Moving Average (EMA). 
These indicators, now acting as dynamic resistance around $87,300, are widely 
watched by traders as crucial short-term trend signals. Reclaiming this zone 
as support could be the catalyst for a recovery rally toward the $90,000 mark, 
helping shift sentiment back in favor of the bulls. Related Reading: Investors 
Withdraw 360,000 Ethereum From Exchanges In Just 48 Hours – Accumulation 
Trend? However, the failure to break above this technical ceiling raises 
concerns. If price action remains weak and fails to retake the 200 MA and EMA 
in the coming sessions, the likelihood of a drop below the $81,000 support 
increases. Such a move would not only trigger fresh selling pressure but could 
also send BTC into deeper correction territory. Featured image from Dall-E, 
chart from TradingView

Bitcoin Futures Data Shows Bullish Long/Short Ratio – Details

The Bitcoin (BTC) mining hashprice &#8212; a miner&#8217;s daily revenue per unit of 
hashing power expended to mine blocks &#8212; has remained constant at around $48 
per petahash per second (PH/s), despite a slight 1.4% uptick in Bitcoin 
difficulty.
Data from CoinWarz shows that the Bitcoin difficulty climbed to 113.76 
trillion at block 889,081 on March 23, up from the 112.1 trillion difficulty 
in the previous epoch.
According to TheMinerMag, a hashprice below $50 places financial stress on 
miners running older hardware such as the Antminer S19 XP and S19 Pro.
The older hardware coupled with declining network transaction fees risks 
pushing some miners into unprofitable territory &#8212; forcing them to turn off 
their hardware until they upgrade their application-specific integrated 
circuits (ASICs) or network conditions change.
Mining firms have been struggling since the April 2024 Bitcoin halving event, 
which slashed the block subsidy to 3.125 BTC per block mined, generally 
increasing network difficulty, and the recent downturn in the crypto markets 
due to macroeconomic uncertainty.
_Bitcoin mining difficulty. Source:__CoinWarz_
 _**Related:**__**SEC says proof-of-work mining does not constitute securities 
dealing**_
## Miners have a rough start to 2025
Research from financial services firm JPMorgan shows that publicly listed 
Bitcoin mining companies collectively lost 22% of their share value in 
February 2025.
Even miners who diversified operations into artificial intelligence and high- 
performance computing data centers, to shore up revenue lost through mining 
activities, are facing financial pressures, the JPMorgan report found.
The financial services firm cited the release of DeepSeek R1, an open-source 
AI model trained for a fraction of the cost as the leading models and performs 
on par with closed-source AI products, as a strain on large AI data centers.
_Although the Bitcoin network &#8216;s hashrate oscillates in the short term, the 
long term trend is up-only. Source: __CryptoQuant_
A steadily rising network hashrate, which is the sum total computing power in 
the Bitcoin network, is also creating increased competition among miners, who 
must expend greater computing resources to remain profitable.
Fears of a prolonged trade war between the United States and Canada, alongside 
constant tariff headlines, have put miners on edge.
Threats from Canadian officials to levy tariffs on energy exports to the 
United States place even more pressure on the already struggling industry.
_**Magazine:**__**Korea to lift corporate crypto ban, beware crypto mining 
HDs: Asia Express**_

Cryptocurrency price in USD