Vitalik Buterin Criticizes El Salvador President’s Mandatory Bitcoin Adoption Policy

Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of

Ethereum, spoke out against President Nayib Bakele’s mandatory bitcoin usage for merchants. He said it was against the “ideals .”

” of cryptocurrency.

Buterin commented in response to a Reddit article titled “Unpopular opinion: El Salvador President Mr. Nayab (Nayib) Bukele should not be praised by Crypto community.”
The Ethereum co-founder didn’t hesitate to mention “Bitcoin Maximalists,” who he believed were praising the El Salvadoran President without critiquing.

“Shame on everyone (ok, fine, I’ll call out the main people responsible: shame on Bitcoin maximalists) who are uncritically praising him.”

Buterin said that Bitcoin maximalists are easy to please when someone in authority does something or speaks in favor of BTC.
President Nayib Bukele has been facing criticism from opponents and the international community ever since El Salvador’s legislators voted in favor of making the cryptocurrency a legal tender earlier this year.
The so-called Bitcoin Law was enacted in September. El Salvadorans were also allowed to access the Chivo wallet app by the government.
But Buterin called mass adoption of Bitcoin “reckless,” stating:

“Additionally, this tactic of pushing BTC to millions of people in El Salvador at the same time with almost no attempt at prior education is reckless, and risks a large number of innocent people getting hacked or scammed.”

However, President Bukele stated earlier that bitcoin adoption was optional for citizens in El Salvador.

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Ethereum Price Analysis: ETH Gains 9% Weekly But The Road to $4K Has These Obstacles

Ethereum is showing strong bullish momentum, driven by an influx of buyers. However, as the price nears a significant resistance level at $4K, market participants should anticipate a period of consolidation with the potential for heightened volatility. Technical Analysis By Shayan The Weekly Chart Ethereum has experienced an impulsive uptrend…
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Ethereum

Selling ETH for BTC: Leading Chinese Gaming Firm Converts

Boyaa Interactive, a leading Chinese gaming firm on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, has reallocated a significant portion of its crypto assets from Ethereum to Bitcoin.

As per a November 29 filing, the company reported converting 14,200 ETH into approximately 515 BTC in an open-market deal worth more than $49 million. The Ethereum had been acquired at an average cost of $2,777 per ETH, totaling $39.45 million.

Following the transaction, Boyaa now holds 3,183 BTC, with an average purchase price of $57,724 per coin.

The company emphasized that the move is in line with its strategy to expand its Bitcoin reserves, considering the market outlook for both Ethereum and Bitcoin. According to the board, converting existing Ether holdings into is a timely decision.

In March, Boyaa announced the approval of a $100 million initiative to allocate $45 million of corporate funds to Bitcoin, $45 million to Ethereum, and $10 million to stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.

The Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed firm disclosed a $1 million investment in the UTXO Management Bitcoin Ecosystem Fund in July. UTXO, interestingly, is the asset management partner of BTC Inc., a key player in the Bitcoin ecosystem that owns Bitcoin Magazine and hosts the Bitcoin Conference.

The latest development as Bitcoin gains traction in corporate investment portfolios, with Rumble, the renowned online streaming platform, revealing its decision to diversify its cash reserves by investing in Bitcoin.

The company’s Board of Directors has authorized an allocation of up to $20 million in BTC, allowing for flexible purchasing. Similarly, Jiva Technologies, a wellness and plant-based e-commerce company, has also committed to Bitcoin, securing approval for a strategy involving investments of up to $1 million.

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Ethereum

Huge Bitcoin Volatility, Ethereum Picks Up Speed, Ripple Bull Run Goes On: This Week’s Crypto Recap

It was a crazy week in the cryptocurrency industry, filled with a lot of volatility, a resurgance that the entire community was debating about, as well as the story of the underdog coming back at it. Let’s dive in.

First, we have Bitcoin. Its price tried to breach $100K last weekend on numerous occasions, but it turned out that the sell wall there was just too big for the bulls to overcome. That ultimately took its toll, and the price crashed, reaching almost $90K during the week. That’s when things started to get funny. The sentiment was completely from less than a week ago when BTC breached $90K for the first time.

Nevertheless, the price didn’t spend much time at these lows as the bulls were quick to regroup and started pushing forward. At the time of this writing, BTC is trading at around $97K and many are already calling for $100K to be breached this time around.

Another interesting turn is Ethereum’s performance throughout the past seven days. Now, you have to understand that many in the community have been making fun of ETH for being the slow runner throughout this bull run and failing to keep up. This week, however, it’s up by more than 8% and it appears that it’s looking at it’s next target at $3.7K.

But the best performer of them all throughout the past seven days was Ripple’s XRP. The cryptocurrency has been on an absolute tear throughout the past month, and it has even managed to flip BNB for the spot of the 5th largest coin by means of total market capitalization, albeit marginally as of yet.

It’s interesting to see how things will turn in the next couple of weeks, but it appears that the market remains as heated as ever.

Market Data

Market Cap: $3.53T | 24H Vol: $212B | BTC Dominance: 54.5%

BTC: $97,240 (-1.7%) | ETH: $3,582 ( +8.1% ) | XRP: $1.70 (+14.5%)

This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss

MicroStrategy Breaks its Own Record: Another Massive Purchase for 55,500 BTC (Worth $5.4B). The business intelligence company has increased its Bitcoin holdings to 386,700 BTC, following a record-breaking purchase of 55,500 BTC worth $5.4 billion at an average price of $97,862. The company’s total crypto stash, acquired for nearly $22 billion, is now valued at around $37.6 billion, yielding over $15 billion in paper profit.

WisdomTree Files for Ripple (XRP) in Delaware. The entity has filed initial paperwork in Delaware to launch an XRP exchange-traded fund (ETF), marking the first step toward regulatory approval, with an S-1 registration required to proceed. While the filing reflects growing interest in altcoin ETFs, significant regulatory challenges could delay approvals.

Solana’s Pump.fun Halts Livestream Function After Disturbing Content Sparks Outrage. The Solana-based meme coin generator, has suspended its livestream functionality indefinitely to address inappropriate content and enhance moderation systems. The decision follows incidents of disturbing behavior on its platform, prompting the team to prioritize user safety and transparency while improving content control measures

TORN Surges 400% as Court Rules Against US Treasury Sanctions on Tornado Cash. The federal appeals court ruled that Tornado Cash’s smart contracts cannot be sanctioned as “property,” overturning the Treasury Department’s 2022 ruling against the crypto mixer. This decision was followed by a massive price resurgence for the underlying cryptocurrency.

MARA Boosts BTC Holdings to $3.3 Billion Through $1B Convertible Note Offering. MARA, formerly known as Marathon Digital, has expanded its Bitcoin holdings to 34,797 BTC (valued at $3.3 billion) after purchasing 6,474 BTC in November using proceeds from a $1 billion convertible note offering. The mining company plans to issue an additional $700 million in convertible notes for further Bitcoin acquisitions and corporate purposes, mirroring MicroStrategy’s debt-fueled BTC buying strategy.

Global Stablecoin Supply Hits New All-Time High. The total market capitalization of the stablecoin sector has reached a record $191.6 billion, with Tether (USDT) dominating 69% of the market and USD Coin (USDC) accounting for 21%. The figure represents a 50% increase since January 2024, driven by growing demand and bullish sentiment in the broader crypto market.

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