updraftplus domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/aonyeani76/cryptocurrencypanther/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131hustle domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/aonyeani76/cryptocurrencypanther/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131wpforms-lite domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/aonyeani76/cryptocurrencypanther/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6131
Cryptocurrency markets navigated a choppy session on Wednesday, ultimately demonstrating resilience alongside traditional US equities as both asset classes clawed back from earlier declines.
Despite this recovery, underlying economic concerns and persistent uncertainty surrounding US trade policy kept investors watchful, with some analysts questioning the market’s apparent disregard for potential headwinds.
While characterized by volatility, the overall trend for crypto on Wednesday remained one of range-bound trading.
Shortly after the close of US equity trading, Bitcoin (BTC) was holding steady around $94,700, marking only a marginal 0.4% decline over the preceding 24 hours.
This modest change, however, belied earlier volatility where the leading cryptocurrency had dipped nearly 2%, mirroring weakness seen in stocks during the initial part of the session.
While Bitcoin recovered most of its lost ground, many alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) failed to keep pace, suggesting a degree of risk aversion within the digital asset space.
The broader CoinDesk 20 index, which tracks leading cryptocurrencies excluding stablecoins and certain other tokens, slumped 2% over the 24-hour period.
Notable decliners included litecoin (LTC), Ripple’s XRP, Avalanche (AVAX), and Chainlink (LINK), each shedding roughly 4%.
This pattern of early weakness followed by a late recovery closely mirrored the action on Wall Street.
Major US stock indices initially tumbled by 2% or more following the release of less-than-stellar economic news, only to regain substantial ground throughout the trading day.
The S&P 500 managed to close slightly in positive territory, while the Nasdaq Composite finished with a minor dip of just 0.1%.
Despite this market resilience, the underlying economic picture presented cause for concern, contributing to the earlier sell-off.
Data releases pointed towards potential slowing in the US economy.
Consumer confidence readings hit multi-year lows, and job opening figures came in below expectations, potentially reflecting the impact of ongoing trade tensions and tariff policies.
The continuing string of lackluster economic data, however, has not appeared to sway US President Trump from his assertive tariff policies.
Dismissing potential negative consequences for consumers, Trump remarked early Wednesday: “Somebody said all the shelves are going to be open… Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally. … They have ships that are loaded up with stuff, much of which we don’t need.”
These comments underscore the ongoing policy uncertainty contributing to market volatility.
This apparent disconnect between weakening economic signals and relatively buoyant market performance drew sharp commentary from some analysts.
Jeff Park, head of Alpha Strategies at digital asset investment firm Bitwise, expressed concern about the market’s focus.
“Hard to fathom how blind the market really is,” Park posted on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
He argued that the market’s fixation on potential near-term Federal Reserve interest rate cuts overlooks more significant fundamental risks related to US economic policy and its global standing.
“A Fed cut means nothing if U.S. creditworthiness is permanently impaired by the global community as resulted by dollar weaponization,” Park stated, suggesting aggressive policies could undermine trust in the US dollar and, by extension, the notion of a “risk-free” US Treasury asset.
“That’s the mispricing we are talking about here,” he continued.
“The myopic focus on whether [we] are getting a fed cut in May/June is completely irrelevant if the notion of the risk-free as we know it is fundamentally challenged forever, which means cost of capital globally is going higher.”
Reflecting the somewhat mixed day, crypto-related equities saw modest movements overall.
Coinbase (COIN) and MicroStrategy (MSTR) posted slight gains, while Bitcoin miner Hut 8 (HUT) stood out as a notable underperformer, declining 5.7%.
The day’s trading ultimately highlighted a market grappling with conflicting signals – resilience in price action against a backdrop of concerning economic data and persistent policy uncertainty.
Veteran crypto trader Peter Brandt has stated that Bitcoin (BTC) is forming a ‘three blind mice’ pattern without confirming whether this is bullish or bearish for the flagship crypto. His statement has got the crypto community searching for answers as to what this pattern might mean for BTC.
Peter Brandt stated in an X post that Bitcoin had formed the infamous “Three Blind Mice and a Piece of Cheese” trading pattern. However, the veteran trader didn’t provide more insights as to what he meant by this pattern. His accompanying chart suggested that this might be bearish for BTC as the last candlesticks that formed on the chart hinted at a downtrend.

The ‘Three Blind Mice’ pattern is said to appear after an uptrend in the market, indicating a bearish reversal. This means that the bears now have the upper hand in the market, and Bitcoin is likely to suffer more downward pressure. Indeed, this looks to be Bitcoin’s current price action considering the crypto’s retracement since it climbed above $65,000 last week.
Bitcoin rose above $65,000 as it headed for its best monthly close in September since 2013. However, since October began, the flagship crypto has witnessed a significant price correction, suggesting that it might once again be in bearish territory. BTC has yet to lose its critical support at $60,000, which has provided some comfort to the Bulls.
Bitcoin’s price correction has been primarily due to the rising tensions in the Middle East, with the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran. The flagship crypto retested the $60,000 support level following Iran’s missile strike on Israel.
Meanwhile, Peter Brandt’s earlier X post suggests that the veteran trader is currently bearish on Bitcoin’s trajectory. He stated that the recent BTC rally didn’t disturb the “7-month sequence of lower highs and lower lows.” He added that only a close above $71,000, confirmed by a new all-time high (ATH), will indicate that the trend from the November 22 low remains in force.

Crypto analyst Ali Martinez has also predicted that Bitcoin could drop to as low as $52,000. He stated that this would happen if the governing pattern behind the recent price action were a descending parallel channel. Analyst Justin Bennett also provided a bearish outlook for BTC, stating that a case can be made for the flagship crypto dropping to $51,000.

However, he added that he isn’t certain of the drop to $51,000 right now. What he is more certain of is Bitcoin dropping to $57,000, having reached his first target of $60,000. He also warned Bitcoin investors about any relief rally that the flagship crypto might enjoy while stating that the failure at $64,700 has opened up sell-side liquidity.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at around $61,000, down in the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Featured image created with Dall.E, chart from Tradingview.com
It’s time for the Btrust to start making moves. And they did so by announcing their “to-do list” and “high level goals.” A month ago, Block CEO Jack Dorsey and rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z announced the members of the board for their 500 BTC blind trust. Btrust’s purpose is to “make bitcoin the internet’s currency” and their field of action is Africa and India.
Hello World
We’ve been working hard on getting ₿trust set up. To start out, we’ve broken up our to-do list into a set of high level goals.
Each of these tasks require careful thought. We’ll be requesting feedback from the community on individual items in the weeks to come!
— btrustteam (@btrustteam) January 11, 2022
Said members of the board took charge and recently showed the world what they’ve been working on since they did so. “Each of these tasks require careful thought. We’ll be requesting feedback from the community on individual items in the weeks to come!,” Btrust said in its inaugural Twitter thread. Before going through those tasks, though, let’s remember who those members are. At the time, NewsBTC reported:
“The blind trust’s board members are: Ojoma Ochai, Obi Nwosu, Abubakar Nur Khalil, and Carla Kirk-Cohen, the only South African of the bunch. By just casually looking at their Twitter feeds it becomes obvious that they’re all thoroughly dedicated to Bitcoin already.”
Related Reading | South African Man Loses $900,000 Worth Of Bitcoin After Accidentally Deleting Keys
In a recent interview with Blockworks, 22-years old Abubakar Nur Khalil said:
“It’s very, very important for us to keep it as transparent as possible,” he said. “We’ll be communicating a lot about the process, our thinking and the things we’re going to be doing going ahead primarily through Twitter.”
And so they did. Let’s explore what that process looks like and what the Btrust will be working on in months to come.

BTC price chart for 01/12/2022 on Coinbase | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Following Bitcoin’s lead, the first thing the Btrust will do is to establish “Genesis Principles.” In other words, “Btrust’s vision will be laid out in an immutable set of principles.” Everybody involved in the organization will follow them, and there will be the option of using soft-forks and hard-forks to resolve disagreements or to accommodate different visions.
There’s another caveat, “Boards are bound to act in accordance with the principles, but the implementation is their prerogative. This provides flexibility, while staying true to Btrust’s vision.” So far, so good. This all sounds very Bitcoiny.
2⃣ Implement Principles
We’ll outline how we’re going to implement each of the principles in our work.
Boards are bound to act in accordance with the principles, but the implementation is their prerogative.
This provides flexibility, while staying true to ₿trust’s vision.
— btrustteam (@btrustteam) January 11, 2022
The next step is crucial, “Entity and Jurisdiction.” Under what jurisdiction will the Btrust operate? What type of entity will they choose to be? “Btrust requires a formal entity to hire employees, contract the board and provide a legal system to hold representatives accountable.”
In relation to this, Nur Khalil told Blockworks:
“We’re looking at starting with Africa initially, but then gradually expanding into other regions in the global South,” Nur Khalil said. “So that’s places like India as well. And then in general, with regards to the overall vision, we feel there’s so many disparities in some of these regions like Africa in terms of the actual amount of talented developers versus those of them that are actually working on Bitcoin.”
This is a great opportunity to test out Bitcoin’s multisig superpowers. “We will work on a proposal outlining various custody solutions, with the end goal of safely taking custody of the 500 BTC.” Also, important for people out there looking for opportunities, Btrust will be hiring “a full time lead to manage daily operations.”
5⃣ Recruit a Lead
Once we’ve delivered 1⃣,2⃣ and 3⃣, we will be looking to hire a full time lead to manage daily operations of ₿trust.
This is one of the most important board responsibilities, and we’re looking forward to finding somebody to bring ₿tust’s vision to life!
— btrustteam (@btrustteam) January 11, 2022
Last but not least, they’ll create some way of communicating with all of you. “We’re committed to building Btrust with input from the Bitcoin community. For now, we’ll be using twitter to communicate our progress, but it’s not scalable.” And they’ll raise funds to set up the organization. “We want to take our time to think about our approach to custody & company formation. This is a prerequisite for any investment. We’ll create a separate plan for how to cover any required set up funding.”
Related Reading | Spiral BTC Releases Lightning Development Kit. Jack Dorsey’s Puppet Promotes It
In relation to this, Nur Khalil told Blockworks:
“What we’re trying to optimize for is trying to do things gradually because there’s a lot and we won’t just look at the ecosystem and just throw a bunch of money on it. We still have to be meticulous on what the impact is.“
Great work so far, Btrust. We at NewsBTC are looking forward to covering your next steps and seeing what the future brings for the organization, Bitcoin, Africa, and India.
Featured Image by EglantineUdry on Pixabay | Charts by TradingView
The 500 BTC blind trust announced its board of directors. Back in February, Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z created the ₿trust with a clear mission; to “make bitcoin the internet’s currency.” The four individuals in charge of making that happen are now public knowledge. Three of them are from Nigeria, a country that prohibited banks to process Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies’ transactions. And is now one of the world’s leading P2P Bitcoin markets.
Related Reading | Spiral BTC Releases Lightning Development Kit. Jack Dorsey’s Puppet Promotes It
Bitcoin’s price was roughly $47K on February 12th. That day, Dorsey announced the blind trust via Twitter, “Jay-Z and I are giving 500 BTC to a new endowment named ₿trust to fund Bitcoin development, initially focused on teams in Africa & India. It‘ll be set up as a blind irrevocable trust, taking zero direction from us.” It’s interesting that the blind trust uses Bitcoin as the unit of account. In the future, who knows how much those 500 BTC might be worth in fiat terms?
JAY-Z/@S_C_ and I are giving 500 BTC to a new endowment named ₿trust to fund #Bitcoin development, initially focused on teams in Africa & India. It‘ll be set up as a blind irrevocable trust, taking zero direction from us. We need 3 board members to start: https://t.co/L4mRBryMJe
— jack
(@jack) February 12, 2021
In any case, Dorsey’s call for board directors received more than 7000 applicants.
In the Tweet announcing the winners, Dorsey said. “I’m so grateful for you all and so inspired. They’ll now work towards defining the operating principles as they think about how to best distribute the 500 bitcoin towards development efforts.” As promised, the four candidates will have full autonomy and decide the direction and scope of the trust.
Announcing the ₿trust board: @actuallyCarlaKC, @ihate1999, @obi, & @ojomaochai! I’m so grateful for you all and so inspired.
They’ll now work towards defining the operating principles as they think about how to best distribute the 500 bitcoin towards development efforts. https://t.co/jwbr4qQUZ2 pic.twitter.com/1MszEPdGKL
— jack
(@jack) December 15, 2021
The blind trust’s board members are: Ojoma Ochai, Obi Nwosu, Abubakar Nur Khalil, and Carla Kirk-Cohen, the only South African of the bunch. By just casually looking at their Twitter feeds it becomes obvious that they’re all thoroughly dedicated to Bitcoin already. Here, Nwosu explains how the Nigeria ban actually helped promote Bitcoin. Ochai, a hard-core cultural promoter, recommended Spiral to her followers and hinted at her designation. Kirk-Cohen is helping to train the next generation of African Bitcoin developers, and so is Nur Khalil, who’s a Bitcoin Core contributor.
A lot of people think that Bitcoin will go to zero because “GovErNmeNtS will ban it” @obi explains why Bitcoin actually gets stronger
when governments try to hinder its adoption. pic.twitter.com/hD97KMZxMx
— 37 sats (@ck_SNARKs) November 23, 2021
As for reactions, Kirk-Cohen is the only one that hasn’t said anything yet. Nur Khalil, who’s only 22, said. “Thank you so much Jack for the opportunity!! I am really honored to work with this great team! Let’s get to work on building the future of Bitcoin and launching Africa into the forefront of the monetary revolution!!!” For her part, Ochai said. “Really excited to get going! Thanks to you Jack, Jay and all who made this happen! Look forward to working with fellow board members…” Finally, Nwosu said. “Thanks Jack and the team. Super excited to be a part of this vision, organization, and mission… and to finally be able to talk about it!”
Really excited to get going! Thanks to you Jack, Jay and all who made this happen! Look forward to working with fellow board members… https://t.co/kNYBQ33Vqi
— Ojoma (@ojomaochai) December 15, 2021
The original call for board members for the blind trust said they were “initially focused on teams in Africa & India.” Does the fact that there are no Indians in the group mean that the ₿trust will focus on Africa only? The continent is huge and each country in there has its own idiosyncrasies and special characteristics. What will the board choose? And speaking of that, will the board have total independence? The original post said “taking zero direction from us,” but, 500 BTC is a huge sum of money.

BTC price chart on Bitbay | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
In any case, this blind trust will be one of the most interesting experiments developing over the next few years. And you can count on NewsBTC to keep you posted and informed of any new development.
Related Reading | Revisiting Dorsey’s Hyperinflation Tweet: Elon, Wood, Saylor, Balaji, Chip In
The world will thank Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z for this one. As podcaster Matt Odell said replying to Jack’s announcement, “I do not think people are properly appreciating how huge of an impact this initiative can have.”
Featured Image: The board members from Dorsey's tweet | Charts by TradingView