The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has now erased all price gains of its recent rally following the seamless implementation last week of the highly anticipated Shanghai upgrade.

ETH has declined more than 13% from a Tuesday high of $2,118. It has fallen 5.3% over the past 24 hours as investors continue to weigh macroeconomic and crypto-industry focused uncertainties that have afflicted the wider digital asset market.

While the sell-off did not appear to stem from any fundamental reason immediately, a huge market sell order of bitcoin occurring from crypto exchange Binance and an unexpectedly high U.K. March inflation figure of more than 10% may have influenced market sentiment.

Also in the mix: A so-called long squeeze. More than $25 million in bitcoin futures were liquidated – of which longs, or bets on rising prices, made 98% of the positions.

The bill, available on the committee's hearing page, represents the first major piece of crypto legislation to move in 2023, and follows two key incidents over the past year involving stablecoins: the blowup of terraUSD (UST), which was backed by a token called LUNA, and the second-largest one, USD coin (USDC), temporarily becoming unmoored from $1.

It creates definitions for payment stablecoin issuers, echoing a term former Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) used when he introduced his own stablecoin bill in 2022.

The moratorium on stablecoins like UST would last until a study can be conducted. The bill also seeks a study of the potential impact of a CBDC issued by the Federal Reserve.

Cryptocurrency Exchanges Have to Report to Russian Authorities, Chief Prosecutor Says

Crypto service providers should be required to register in Russia and exchanges obliged to share information about their users with Russian security services, according to the head of the nation’s Prosecutor General’s Office, Igor Krasnov.

He also believes that merely granting cryptocurrencies property status under Russian law is not sufficient to fight the legalization of criminal proceeds. Krasnov urged for their regulation in order to address the challenges posed by their use for illicit purposes.

Quoted by the “Financial Security” magazine published by Russia’s financial watchdog, Rosfinmonitoring, the top prosecutor further explained that the difficult geopolitical situation increases the risks of exploiting vulnerabilities associated with digital assets.

The Bangkok Post reports that real estate mogul turned candidate Srettha Thavisin promises a basic-income style economic stimulus package via “digital currency” should his party, Pheu Thai, win the next election.

A Phue Thai spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment via Twitter on what tokens will be used for the airdrop.

In 2021 the Bank of Thailand, the nation’s central bank, declared Thai baht stablecoins to be illegal.

The Bangkok Post quotes Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, a minister in the prime minister's office, as saying that the airdrop proposal would have “major implications” for the entire country’s financial system.

The second largest cryptocurrency was recently holding steady a few dollars shy of the $1,900 perch it assumed Wednesday, down 1% over the past 24 hours, but up more than 5% from the start of the week when it was lingering below $1,800.

Investors seem increasingly enamored by the Shanghai hard fork, which is slated to occur on April 12. The upgrade, also called Shapella, will mark the completion of Ethereum’s full transition to a proof-of-stake (PoS) network and enable staked ETH withdrawals.

The stars allegedly used their social platforms to boost two crypto tokens without disclosing they were paid to promote them.

The charges were announced by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a news release on Wednesday.

The other celebs charged are:

Musician Soulja Boy (DeAndre Cortez Way)

Singer Austin Mahone

Porn actress Kendra Lust (Michele Mason)

Rapper Lil Yachty (Miles Parks McCollum)

Musician Ne-Yo (Shaffer Smith)

Senegalese-American singer Aliaune Thiam (Akon)

The group is accused of illegally promoting TRX and BTT crypto assets "without disclosing that they were compensated for doing so and the amount of their compensation", the SEC said.

“Bitcoin has been experiencing a surge in value over the past few days due to instability in the banking sector, higher-than-expected inflation data, and renewed confidence in a dovish Federal Reserve, bringing it to its highest level in approximately nine months. The global crypto market was valued at US$1.18 trillion during this period. On Monday, major central banks made coordinated moves, including the Federal Reserve to improve market liquidity. This might have also contributed to the upward sentiment in the market," said Edul Patel, Co-founder and CEO at Mudrex.

The crypto market experienced a bounce last week. The pump, as per experts was caused by a combination of factors, including a massive short squeeze, a billion-dollar buy by Binance, and the Fed's response to the banking crisis, and news on Ethereum’s update.