According to Cointelegraph: Bitcoin (BTC) traded lower on April 25, following a swift reaction to geopolitical news in the Middle East, which resulted in up to a 5% decrease for the bulls. The BTC price now hovers near $64,000.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, BTC's price action is attempting to form support at $64,000 before Wall Street's opening.

This decline comes after a drop to around $63,575 at the previous day's closing due to renewed Middle East tensions. Latest statistics from monitoring platform CoinGlass indicate an increased liquidity on both the buy and sell side of the spot price on various crypto exchanges.

Bitcoin liquidation heatmap (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

Importantly, a substantial volume of sell orders has appeared, beginning with around $75 million at $64,765 and escalating up to $67,700. Comparatively, the local low at $63,500 saw limited buying interest.

Famed trader Daan Crypto Trades underscored the "healthy" state of funding rates, suggesting it as a foundation for a slow but consistent rise in BTC's price going forward.

Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States reverted to net outflows on April 24, mainly driven by withdrawals from Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), according to sources including UK-based investment firm Farside.

Bitcoin's sensitivity to geopolitical events and the subsequent impact on price action remind traders of the inherent volatility and risk associated with cryptocurrency investment.

One of my key questions about the next era in crypto and blockchain is this: How will all the capital likely be deployed into digital assets and cryptocurrencies as they become better regulated?

More than 90% of the world’s financial and business assets are considered “on-shore” – that is, they are owned and managed by entities and people residing in the countries where they are bought and sold.

Today, most crypto-assets are bought and sold off-shore (I estimate about 80% based on data from CoinGecko). However, as more regulated opportunities open up, new capital will flow into these digital asset environments. I don’t, however, think there will be a huge new range of cryptocurrency growth opportunities.

If you read my columns regularly, you know that I strongly believe that Ethereum will follow the path of many other technology ecosystems towards dominance. Ethereum is, first and foremost, a technology platform. Yes, ETH is a cryptocurrency, but its main demand driver is for use, as a payment for transaction processing. I think over time, ETH will largely be subject to the laws of supply and demand for processing power on this “world computer.”

The technology industry needs and thrives upon standards that provide economies of scale and network effects. Ethereum has won the standards war for programming and has largely fixed its scalability issues, making it the default choice. Digital assets will, by and large, exist in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Digital assets can be much bigger than just a digital version of gold

Bitcoin isn’t subject to the same rules. Though people tend to lump them together, Bitcoin is a true crypto-asset and very much like gold; people don’t buy it with plans to use it. They buy it for its scarcity value and to see it appreciate as an asset. Like gold, people do not expect Bitcoin to generate a cash flow, just to appreciate through its scarcity.

Nor do I think that recent efforts to add a Layer 2 ecosystem to Bitcoin, similar to what exists in Ethereum, is likely to change this outcome. The Ethereum ecosystem has an enormous lead and Bitcoin users that want to make their asset programmable have already been migrating it into “wrapped” Bitcoins on Ethereum for some time.

So, can there be only one Bitcoin?

Theoretically, there can be infinite Bitcoins. It feels like there practically already are. Litecoin, Dogecoin, and countless other meme coins and cryptocurrencies are nearly identical copies of Bitcoin. And while there is no BrodyCoin as of yet, I do offer complimentary NFTs (get yours here!).

Despite the effectively infinite supply of Bitcoin copies, I suspect that there really can and only ever will be one Bitcoin, and it’s the one we already have. Let’s stick with the gold analogy. While there isn’t an infinite supply of gold, there are quite a few other precious metals out there. We could just as easily trade in silver or diamonds as gold.

Despite there being multiple options available, however, gold absolutely dominates the market for precious metals. The total market cap of global gold stores is estimated at $13.7 trillion. Silver comes in at just $1.3 trillion and the market cap. An order of magnitude separates gold from the next alternative and so I believe we will see Bitcoin retain a position in the order of a magnitude higher than any other alternative crypto asset.

I think this has a couple of important implications for people as they prepare for the next wave of growth in these markets that will come from a regulated era. The first is that inventing a new cryptocurrency isn’t necessarily going to be a path to success. Bitcoin has that role and, as people want digital gold, that is what they are going to buy.

Second, the world of digital assets should, and can be much bigger than just a digital version of gold. Oil is essential (for the moment) to the global economy and it’s 10 times larger than gold – doing $1.7 trillion in revenue (not to be confused with market cap) annually. Net new growth opportunities are likely to be much bigger by creating something that is used by consumers or needed by enterprises. That space is much larger than holding reserve assets. It’s where I’ll be looking for the next opportunities for real growth.

According to CryptoPotato, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has officially prohibited the use of artificial intelligence-generated voices in unwarranted robocalls across the United States. This decision comes after an incident in which New Hampshire residents received fabricated voice messages mimicking U.S. President Joe Biden, advising against participation in the state’s primary election. The ban, implemented under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), aims to curb the proliferation of robocall scams.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel stated that bad actors are using AI-generated voices in unsolicited robocalls to extort vulnerable family members, imitate celebrities, and misinform voters. The latest ruling extends the prohibition to cover “voice cloning technology,” effectively stopping an essential tool used by scammers in fraudulent schemes. The TCPA aims to protect consumers from intrusive communications and “junk calls” by imposing restrictions on telemarketing practices, including using artificial or pre-recorded voice messages.

In a related development, authorities have traced a recent high-profile robocall incident imitating President Joe Biden’s voice back to a Texas-based firm named Life Corporation and an individual identified as Walter Monk. Attorney General Mayes has since sent a warning letter to the company. Attorney General John Formella has also confirmed that a cease-and-desist letter has been issued to the company, and a criminal investigation is underway. The robocall, circulated on January 21 to thousands of Democratic voters, urged recipients to abstain from voting in the primary election to preserve their votes for the subsequent November election.