Bitcoin holds above $20,000 as stocks tank

Jerome Powell says it's premature to think about pausing rate hikes ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Market Activity Total Market Cap 1.00T (-0.80%) 24 Hour Volume 80.21B (+0.88%) Notable Movers[(OKB) $19.91]( (+23.54%) Notable Movers (DeFi)[(OKB) 0.2636]( (+17.86%) Bitcoin Dominance 38,75%[(-0,16%)]( Bitcoin Price[(BTC) $20,294.55 (+0.52%)]( Ethereum Price[(ETH) $1,539.15 (+0.87%)]( Cardano Price[(ADA) $0,3936 (+1.39%)]( Editor's Note The Limitations of Crypto Mayors In this world, there are plenty of crypto-friendly mayors. There is Eric Adams of New York, who accepted the first few paychecks in Bitcoin as a sign of NYC becoming a crypto hub. There is Miami mayor Francis Suarez, who also takes Bitcoin as a salary with the same goal for Miami. The mayor of Lugano, Michele Foletti, recently signed an economic agreement with El Salvador to foster cooperation with a Bitcoin-legalized country. And the mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, has created a Unicorn Factory designed to bring Web3 and tech projects into the city to foster innovation. However, one thing all of these crypto-friendly mayor have in common is simple — they are mayors. They may love crypto, they may take their salaries in crypto, they may create economic incentives to bring crypto to their cities: but the buck stops there. They are the leaders of cities, not countries. So when asked today at WebSummit whether Portugal had any plans to make Bitcoin legal tender, since the country has been positioning itself as a crypto tax haven and innovation hub for so long, Moedas answered resoundingly in the negative. It’s not that he doesn’t want Bitcoin as his country’s currency, it’s that it’s entirely out of his hands. “I don’t have the power to create it as a currency. I’m just a simple local mayor.” Until there are more crypto-friendly presidents, it will be up to the crypto-friendly mayors to promote crypto in their own individual cities to the best of their ability. And while we’re not saying that a crypto city is a small achievement, those looking for huge adoption steps like making BTC legal tender will have to keep waiting for some lucky election cycles to bring them the power that they need. A Bitcoin mayor isn’t enough to move Bitcoin mountains. CMC-Community Spotlight of the Day [How Does SKALE Offer Zero Gas Fees?]( Today, SKALE breaks down their zero gas fee system in our CMC Community Spotlight. [Read More]( Today’s Top Stories Check out [CoinMarketCap Alexandria]( for tech deep dives, analysis, daily news and easy-to-understand guides on how crypto works! [Today’s Top Stories ] [Fed warns rates will go higher]( 📈 The Federal Reserve has increased interest rates by 0.75 percentage points for the fourth time in a row. Jerome Powell, the chairman of the U.S. central bank, also warned that they may have to go higher than previously thought in the months ahead. With inflation remaining stubbornly high, he said: "It's very premature, in my view, to think about or to be talking about pausing our rate hikes. We have a ways to go." The latest hike means that the Fed's base rate now stands at 3.75% to 4% — a level that hasn't been seen in Bitcoin's 14-year existence. High interest rates can make stocks and cryptocurrencies look unattractive — with lower-risk assets such as government bonds offering more generous returns. [How the markets reacted]( 👀 Bitcoin has resisted a fall below $20,000 in the immediate aftermath of the announcement — and remarkably, remained fairly flat on the day. By contrast, the S&P 500 in New York closed down 2.5%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 3.36%. One remark that particularly caused alarm bells was this: The Fed would rather go too far on interest rate hikes than do too little. While inflation was once regarded as a temporary phenomenon, central banks around the world are now having to contend with the fact that the cost-of-living crisis may be much harder to solve. There are fears the efforts to combat inflation could drive major economies into a recession — that is, if they're not already in one. [Would CZ join Twitter's board?]( 🧐 Binance's CEO gave a news conference at the WebSummit in Lisbon yesterday — and inevitably, talk turned to Elon Musk's Twitter takeover. CZ's exchange is a minority investor, and contributed $500 million to the acquisition. When asked whether he would be tempted to join Twitter's board, he told reporters that he would probably do it as a favor — but stressed it's not something he's dying to do. In any case, CZ believes it's unlikely he would be asked. Instead, the crypto entrepreneur says he's focused on making sure crypto has a seat at the table when it comes to free speech. CZ's main goal is to help bring Twitter into Web3 when they are ready — and potentially help facilitate crypto payments on the social network. [And what does he think of CBDCs?]( 😬 many in the crypto space, the development of central bank digital currencies is very worrying indeed. Some Bitcoiners fear that they could be used to control how people spend their money — with a common example including restrictions on flights to clamp down on climate change. While CZ has previously warned most CBDCs are "going to have a lot of control attached to them," he doesn't believe they are a threat to the crypto space. In fact, he thinks they could actually help validate blockchain technology and win round skeptics — adding: "The more we have, the better." CZ also pointed out that while Bitcoin has a fixed supply of 21 million coins, central bank digital currencies would continue to be inflationary. Thanks for reading! Have a great day — more news tomorrow! [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Telegram]( Written by Molly Zuckerman and Connor Sephton Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up here](. WANT MORE CRYPTO BITES? 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