Bullish On-Chain Sign for BTC Appears; Ethereum Developer Jailed for 63 Months

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On Tuesday, the broader crypto market continued its stagnation after the release of March's U.S. inflation figures, which was revealed to have risen by a very substantial amount that was only last witnessed in 1981. While some economists may contend that the current inflation reading has likely peaked, most consumers will still face a tough road ahead. Meanwhile, investors are also bracing themselves for the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at a more aggressive pace.

As of the time of writing, BTC is barely managing to stay above the $40k psychological support after posting a marginal gain over the last 24 hours. A clear breakout above the major resistance near the $41.3k region may spark off a short-term recovery charge, whilst further downside corrections could also occur all the way to the $38.5k level should said breakout fail. On the on-chain front, several key on-chain datapoints reveal that the z-score of the BTC supply held by both long-term and short-term holders is exiting the oversold territory. If history is anything to go by, where past pivot points have coincided with the start of bullish cycles, the current uptick in the z-score may signal a potential turn of the tide for BTC and the crypto market at large. 

Moving away from BTC, ETH has stabilized above the $3,000 level after rising by 1.8% from 24 hours ago. However, several technical indicators suggest that the upside gains of ETH may be capped near the $3,100 level. Most major altcoins have flipped green, with speculative memecoin SHIB leading the pack after experiencing a staggering 20% surge on the back of its recent listing on a major exchange. 





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Former Ethereum developer Virgil Griffith was sentenced to 63 months in prison and handed a $100k fine for conspiring to violate international sanctions. Griffith was arrested in November of 2019 after returning from a trip to Pyongyang to give a talk on Ethereum at a blockchain conference, and was charged with conspiracy to help North Korea evade international sanctions using cryptocurrencies. Griffith, who received support from many distinguished figures within the crypto industry, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in September of 2021, and has received a lower sentence of slightly over five years.