Stellar Lumens price has dropped in the past few months, mirroring the performance of most altcoins like Cardano and Avalanche. Stellar (XLM) was trading at the crucial support at $0.25 on Sunday, much lower than last year’s high of $0.6380. …

Stellar price could rise as transactions, stablecoin market cap jumps

Global financial markets faced severe turmoil this week as escalating 
U.S.-China trade tensions triggered panic selling across equities and 
cryptocurrencies, according to an April 7 analysis by QCP Capital. Volatility 
Spikes, Tariffs Rise: QCP Says World Nearing Economic Breaking Point On 
Monday, the firm reported that bitcoin initially resisted last week’s equity 
market downturn but […]

Markets Plunge, Bitcoin Cracks: QCP Warns of ‘Full-Scale Economic War’

Bitcoin is alive and kicking, spewing out impressive hashrate numbers like 
never before. Bitcoin&#8217;s network processing power has reached an unprecedented 
1 Zetahash per second (ZH/s), marking a major milestone in the 
cryptocurrency&#8217;s 16-year history. Multiple blockchain tracking services 
confirmed the achievement between April 4-5, 2023, though they disagree on the 
exact timing of when the threshold was crossed. Related Reading: XRP Will 
Explode—And This Korean Expert Says He’ll Be ‘Laughing’ At Critics Different 
Trackers Report Varying Dates For Historic Milestone A Zetahash (ZH/s) is a 
unit of computational power used to measure Bitcoin&#8217;s hashrate, which reflects 
how much computing power is being used to secure the Bitcoin network through 
mining. According to mempool.space data, Bitcoin&#8217;s hashrate peaked at 1.025 
ZH/s on April 5. BTC Frame&#8217;s metrics showed a slightly earlier breakthrough at 
1.02 ZH/s on April 4. Meanwhile, Coinwarz reported an even higher peak of 1.1 
ZH/s on April 4 at block height 890,915, but also suggested the network first 
hit the 1 ZH/s mark on March 24. The differences stem from how each service 
calculates hashrate. Blockchain analyst Jameson Lopp previously pointed out 
that using one &#8220;trailing block&#8221; versus five blocks for estimation can result 
in differences exceeding 0.04 ZH/s. Mitchell Askew, head analyst at Blockware 
Solutions, said viewing the raw Hashrate metric can be deceiving due to random 
variations in block times. He noted that Bitcoin&#8217;s 30-day moving average 
hashrate remains around 0.845 ZH/s. Network Shows Massive Growth Since 2016 
This achievement represents remarkable growth for the Bitcoin network. The 
current hashrate of 1 ZH/s equals 1,000 Exahashes per second, marking a 
1,000-fold increase since late January 2016 when the network first reached 1 
EH/s. To put this computational power in perspective, Bitcoin now processes 
approximately 40,000 times more calculations per second than Litecoin, the 
second-largest proof-of-work cryptocurrency network. Based on Coinwarz data, 
Litecoin currently operates at just 2.49 Petahashes per second. Commercial 
Mining Operations Drive Hashrate Growth According to Askew, the surge in 
hashrate has coincided with increased competition among commercial Bitcoin 
mining firms. Miners are doubling down, and expanding sites and plugging in 
more efficient machines, he said. However, he warned that less efficient 
miners might struggle unless Bitcoin prices increase in the coming months. 
Related Reading: Ethereum Slips Below Triangle—Is A $1,600 Crash Next? At 
least 24 publicly listed companies now operate Bitcoin mining equipment, 
according to CompaniesMarketCap.com. MARA Holdings leads the pack with more 
than 50 EH/s of computing power. Other major contributors include Riot 
Platforms, Core Scientific, CleanSpark, Hut 8 Mining, and TeraWulf. Most of 
the network&#8217;s hashrate flows through major mining pools, with Foundry USA Pool 
and AntPool controlling the largest shares, according to the Hashrate Index. 
Record Hashrate Coincides With Market Downturn The network&#8217;s technical 
achievement occurred during a sharp market decline. Bitcoin&#8217;s price fell 8% 
over a 24-hour period to $77,210, while US stocks experienced what analysts 
called the largest two-day loss ever. Featured image from Gemini Imagen, chart 
from TradingView

Bitcoin Goes Beast Mode—Mining Power Tops 1 Zetahash In First-Ever Surge

Metaplanet, a Japanese hotel manager turned Bitcoin treasury company, has 
fully repaid 2 billion yen ($13.5 million) worth of bonds ahead of schedule as 
it seeks to shore up its financial position.
Metaplanet conducted an early redemption of its 9th Series of Ordinary Bonds 
on April 4, more than five months before the maturity date, the company 
disclosed on April 7.
The zero-interest bonds were issued in March through Metaplanet&#8217;s Evo Fund and 
used to acquire additional Bitcoin (BTC). Since the bonds carry zero interest, 
the repayment would not have a material impact on the company&#8217;s fiscal 2025 
results, it said.
_Source:__Metaplanet_
Metaplanet, which trades publicly on the Tokyo stock exchange, has made 
Bitcoin the center of its corporate strategy through a series of acquisitions. 
The company&#8217;s Bitcoin balance has swelled to 4,206 BTC, placing it among the 
top 10 publicly traded holders.
The acquisitions are part of a broader strategy disclosed in January that 
could see Metaplanet purchase up to 21,000 BTC by the end of 2026. At the 
time, the company said it planned to raise more than $700 million to help fund 
its Bitcoin buying spree.
_**Related:**__**Metaplanet share price rises 4,800% as company stacks BTC**_
## CEO comments on Bitcoin price action
Metaplanet has seemingly embraced Bitcoin&#8217;s volatility, having adopted a buy- 
the-dip mentality to acquire more of the digital asset.
Over the weekend, Metaplanet CEO Simon Gerovich called Bitcoin&#8217;s volatility &#8220;a 
natural part of an asset that is truly rare, diversified, and has long-term 
potential,&#8221; according to a translated version of his social media post.
_Source:__Simon Gerovich_
Bitcoin&#8217;s price is under renewed pressure as part of a global sell-off in risk 
assets stemming from US President Donald Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Liberation Day&#8221; tariff 
announcement last week. The BTC price plunged below $80,000 on April 7, 
according to Cointelegraph Markets Pro.
Bitcoin&#8217;s performance mirrors broader declines in US stocks, with the 
benchmark S&amp;P 500 Index losing $5 trillion over two trading sessions.
_**Magazine:**__**Bitcoin heading to $70K soon? Crypto baller funds SpaceX 
flight: Hodler &#8216;s Digest, March 30 &#8211; April 5**_

Metaplanet repays 2B yen bonds early, CEO comments on BTC ‘down days’

Bitcoin holders are facing renewed pressure following US President Donald 
Trump&#8217;s trade tariff announcement, which sent shockwaves through global 
financial markets, including cryptocurrencies.
However, with Bitcoin (BTC) hodlers now under pressure, some community 
members, including BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes, are not missing a chance to 
buy BTC at a discount.
&#8220;Been nibbling on BTC all day, and shall continue,&#8221; Hayes wrote on X on April 
7 as the Bitcoin price hovered around $75,000.
_Source:__Arthur Hayes_
He also predicted that Bitcoin&#8217;s dominance in the broader crypto market could 
grow. He expects the current 60.5% share of the market to go toward 70%.
## Traders are &#8220;powerless to second-guess Trump&#8217;s next move&#8221;
While Hayes is stacking sats during the tariff-fueled market bloodbath, his 
investment firm, Maelstrom, reportedly sold BTC in December 2024, when Bitcoin 
traded near its all-time high of about $100,000.
In a blog post titled &#8220;Trump Truth,&#8221; Hayes had predicted a massive crypto 
crash after Trump&#8217;s inauguration in January, forecasting a clash in market 
optimism over his crypto policies and the realities of policy implementation.
_**Related:**__**Michael Saylor &#8216;s Strategy halts Bitcoin buys despite dip 
below $87K**_
&#8220;The gospel of Bitcoin evangelists to never sell and buy every dip is testing 
the nerves of hodlers,&#8221; Petr Kozyakov, co-founder and CEO at the payments 
infrastructure platform Mercuryo, told Cointelegraph.
_Bitcoin price in the past year. Source: CoinGecko_
&#8220;Amateur retail traders and the citadels of high finance appear equally 
powerless to second-guess Trump&#8217;s next move,&#8221; he said.
He added that many traders are waiting on the sidelines, weighing whether the 
market has been oversold. Despite short-term uncertainty, Kozyakov remains 
bullish on Bitcoin&#8217;s long-term outlook as &#8220;the new digital gold.&#8221;
&gt; &#8220;Traders are cautiously waiting on the sidelines for opportunities to re- 
&gt; enter the market and weighing if there may be evidence of overselling.&#8221;
Kozyakov is far from being alone in seeing a promising future for Bitcoin as 
&#8220;new digital gold.&#8221; ARK Invest founder Cathie Wood is also bullish on Bitcoin 
vs. gold, claiming in February that the &#8220;substitution&#8221; of gold for Bitcoin has 
already happened.
## Bitcoin will fail without payment use case, says Jack Dorsey
Despite the bullish sentiment of Hayes and Wood, others in the crypto 
community have cautioned that Bitcoin needs more than just a store-of-value 
narrative to remain relevant.
Jack Dorsey, former CEO of Twitter and serial crypto entrepreneur, is 
skeptical about whether BTC can succeed as a pure store of value.
&#8220;If it [Bitcoin] just ends up being a store of value and nothing more, I don&#8217;t 
think it gains relevance at all,&#8221; Dorsey said on a &#8220;Presidio Bitcoin&#8221; podcast 
episode on April 2.
_Jack Dorsey on a &#8220;Presidio Bitcoin&#8221; podcast episode on April 2. Source: 
YouTube_
To stay relevant, Bitcoin has to maintain its payment use case, he said:
&gt; &#8220;Otherwise, it&#8217;s just something you kind of buy and forget and only use in 
&gt; emergency situations or when you want to get liquid again. So I think if it 
&gt; doesn&#8217;t transition to payments and find that everyday use case, it just gets 
&gt; increasingly irrelevant. And that&#8217;s a failure to me.&#8221;
Despite its volatility largely being seen as a major impediment to its payment 
use case, Bitcoin continued to be a major payment asset on platforms like 
BitPay in 2024. Some jurisdictions have used Bitcoin as a tool of payment in 
global trade as well.
_**Magazine:**__**Bitcoin heading to $70K soon? Crypto baller funds SpaceX 
flight: Hodler &#8216;s Digest, March 30 &#8211; April 5**_

Hodlers on edge: Trump’s tariffs shake Bitcoin, but some are buying the dip

A team of crypto industry veterans, all formerly with Kraken, has acquired 
majority ownership in Janover Inc., marking a significant pivot for the 
company toward decentralized finance. The group includes Joseph Onorati, now 
Chairman and CEO, and Parker White, appointed…