Good morning Bitcoin: AFM warns industry after investigation

Good morning! We have listed the latest news for you. Start the day with a bitcoin breakfast.

According to the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), it has emerged that crypto apps entail potential risks that can encourage consumers to trade more frequently and riskily. At least, that is what the Dutch regulator says.

This research, which examined the choice environment of crypto apps, comes at a crucial time: the ‘Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation’ (MiCAR) is about to come into force in 2024. Despite the fact that MiCAR is intended to better protect consumers, according to the AFM it offers few tools to mitigate the specific risks addressed by this research.

The crypto market received a huge boost this year. The prices of bitcoin and other cryptos rose sharply. This was also noticeable in the trading volume. Trading volumes were recorded on crypto exchanges that we have not seen since 2021. March was the peak so far in 2024.

We saw the volume more than double compared to February. This volume reached almost $2.5 trillion, a milestone not seen since November 2021. This increase marks a significant recovery since the dip in September 2023, when trading volume had fallen to around $324 billion.

It’s raining wild price predictions and the Dutch crypto entrepreneur Michaël van de Poppe takes it even further. The bitcoin price can still rise sharply in the current bull market. He quotes a price of $300,000 each on the social medium X. What do other analysts say?

Bitcoin bullrun
Van de Poppe tells his 711,000 followers that bitcoin manages to write a new all-time high above $73,000 before the April 20 halving. According to the analyst and trader, the bitcoin price can reach four more times before the peak of the current cycle is reached.