Bitcoin Wipes Out Weekend Gains

On Saturday, Bitcoin hit highs of $48,791.78. But as a new week begins, such prices already seem like a distant memory. The world's biggest cryptocurrency suffered a sharp sell-off heading into Monday — falling below $43,000 at one point. As a result, it looks like any return above $50,000 is going to be far from easy for bulls to achieve. Here's the latest.

El Salvador Buys the Dip 💰

As prices plunged, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced the country was snapping up an additional 150 BTC, taking the country's total crypto stash to 700 BTC. Offering "presidential advice" on Twitter, he wrote: "They can never beat you if you buy the dips." In a swipe at critics, Bukele has also changed his social media bio to "Dictator of El Salvador."

Coinbase Signs $1.36M Govt Contract 👀

Coinbase has signed a $1.36 million deal to provide blockchain analytics software to the U.S. federal government — its biggest such contract yet. The agreement has led to fierce criticism among some members of the crypto world. One wrote on Twitter: "Strange that they would risk so much reputationally for such a relatively small sum."

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Full Ban on Stablecoins 'Would Be Sad' 😞

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has said an outright ban on stablecoins in the U.S. would be "sad" — and affect the usability of crypto platforms. Speaking to Bloomberg, he also admitted that Solana’s high-profile outage last week was "frustrating." It comes as Washington weighs up its options when it comes to cracking down on stablecoins. What could happen.

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Everything Else That You May Have Missed...

The DeFi news...

Yet Another DeFi Hack — pNetwork Loses 277 BTC Over Protocol Bug

Yes, there was another DeFi hack. Are we getting tired of them yet?

Sushi Loses Its Head Chef— 0xMaki Steps Down

While 0xMaki was just the unofficial project lead, the co-founder led the DEX into the top charts after founder Chef Nomi took off with $14 million. 0xMaki will stay on as an advisor.

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The NFT news...

Fortune Donates NFT Profits to Free Journalism Foundations

Isn't that nice. After making a "fortune" from their NFT cover with digital artist pplpleasr, the magazine and the artist herself teamed up to donate 214.55 ETH to free press journalist orgs all over the world.

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Emblem Vault Becomes Second-Largest Project by Sales Volume

These NFTs made $5 million over just one day this weekend.