Weekly Roundup: IMF Targets Bitcoin Initiatives in El Salvador and Pakistan While China Hosts First Robot Fight

Blockchain initiatives in El Salvador and Pakistan have garnered the attention of the IMF; Sber has positioned itself as a future market maker for Russian cryptocurrency exchanges; the first robot combat event was held in China; and other notable developments from the past week.

Following last week’s peak of nearly $112,000, the leading cryptocurrency made another attempt to break through. However, after testing the $111,000 level on May 27, prices began to decline.

As a result of the accelerated drop, the price temporarily fell below $104,000. The main drivers of this downward movement were negative news regarding trade negotiations between the US and its largest economic partners—China and the EU.

An additional factor was the outflow of funds from Bitcoin ETFs after nine consecutive days of net inflows. On Friday, May 30, investors withdrew approximately $616 million from these products.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading around $104,800, representing a decline of about 2% over the week. Several altcoins in the top 10 by market capitalization experienced greater losses, with Dogecoin down 12%, Solana down 9.4%, and XRP down 5.8%. Only Ethereum remained in the “green.”

The cryptocurrency fear and greed index fell to 56 by the end of the week, approaching neutral territory while still indicating positive investor sentiment.

The total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies decreased to $3.4 trillion, with Bitcoin’s dominance at 61.4% and Ethereum’s at nearly 9%.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed its intention to limit El Salvador’s Bitcoin reserves. The organization announced that it had reached staff-level agreements on extended funding for the country. In 2024, the parties signed an agreement that restricted El Salvador’s acquisition of digital gold in exchange for a 40-month loan of $1.4 billion. With additional support from other international and regional bodies, the total package may reach $3.5 billion.

A preliminary step for approval involved amendments to the Bitcoin law, which removed the mandatory acceptance of Bitcoin for private entities and revoked its status as legal tender.

Despite the formal prohibition, El Salvador continued to gradually increase its Bitcoin holdings, which now total 6,190 BTC, with the latest purchase recorded on May 28.

The IMF also expressed concerns over Pakistan’s initiatives in cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence. The Pakistani authorities announced plans to allocate 2 GW of excess electricity for Bitcoin mining and to power data centers for AI services. Bilal bin Saqib, advisor to the Prime Minister on cryptocurrencies, announced the creation of a national digital gold reserve.

These plans elicited a swift response from the IMF, which requested urgent clarifications regarding the legal underpinnings of the proposed initiatives and the distribution of electricity amid chronic shortages.

Officials confirmed that they had not notified the organization of their decisions, even though they were in negotiations for financial assistance. They acknowledged that these initiatives could complicate reaching the agreements, which were already encountering «challenging issues.»

Sberbank will assume the role of a liquidity provider and market maker on Russian cryptocurrency platforms. This was announced by Alexander Zozulya, head of Sberbank’s global markets department.

The exchanges will be established within a legal “sandbox,” allowing super-qualified investors to operate on them. Cryptocurrency products will be accessible without direct ownership, similar to ETFs.

«In Russia, these could be structured products, digital financial assets (DFAs), or mutual investment funds (MIFs) that provide exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum, or a basket of cryptocurrencies, but without direct ownership or the ability to withdraw them,» Zozulya explained.

Full launch will require amendments to the Civil and Tax Codes and the Central Bank’s regulations.

On May 25, the first combat tournament featuring humanoid G1 robots from Unitree Robotics took place in Hangzhou, China, in a Muay Thai-style competition.

At the Unitree Iron Fist King: Awakening event, four bots fought against each other in a knockout format. They were remotely controlled but had pre-programmed behaviors, including punches, kicks, and dodges.

Equipped with sensors and depth cameras, the robots showcased their striking techniques, combinations, and ability to maintain balance. Teams of engineers controlled the machines via controllers or voice commands.

A new match is planned for December, taking into account the experiences from the first combats.

Bitmain introduced the first Bitcoin miner with an energy consumption ratio of less than 10 J/TH. The flagship of the latest Antminer S23 Hydro series boasts a claimed efficiency of 9.5 J/TH.

The hydro-cooled device delivers a hash rate of 580 TH/s while consuming 5.51 kW of power.

Experts noted that the manufacturer is releasing the miner amid stagnant demand. The company offers flexible payment options with a 40% down payment and the possibility of using Bitcoin as collateral.

Rival Bitdeer is expected to approach Bitmain’s flagship specifications with the upcoming launch of the SEALMINER A3 in the fourth quarter, with expectations of achieving energy efficiency of 11 J/TH based on the SEAL03 chip.

In a recent inquiry, Discord worked with the Bitcoin mixer Mixer.Money to delve into the technical aspects of the ongoing debate surrounding the removal of data limits in OP RETURN.

An analysis highlighted how the upgrade in Ethereum’s account abstraction technology has simplified life for hackers and provided insights on safeguarding assets against them.

A report focused on the mountainous kingdom of Bhutan, which had been detached from global trends but is now forging a digital future with Bitcoin.

In a traditional weekly digest, the key cybersecurity events were summarized, emphasizing the latest developments in the field.