Bitcoin mining difficulty has increased by nearly 10% over the weekend, thus reaching a new record and further increasing costs for miners, as well as pressure to sell more BTC.

Gary Gensler, chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), caused a stir over the weekend by reiterating his previously stated opinion that only BTC is not a security, while all other cryptocurrencies, including ethereum (ETH), could face additional regulatory issues and/or penalties. However, it is important to note that the SEC chairman's opinion is not law, and the SEC would have to prove each case separately, which could result in thousands of cases. On the other hand, it's worth noting that few other institutions have signaled that ETH may not be considered a security (for example, as recognized by Belgium).

G-20 representatives who met in India reiterated their intentions to coordinate the regulation of the crypto market at the international level. They are expected to provide reports with more specific proposals on how to achieve this later in the year. The Financial Stability Board (FSB) is expected to present its proposals for regulating stablecoins and crypto assets by July, and a joint document from the FSB and the International Monetary Fund is expected to be presented in September. The International Settlements Bank is also expected to propose ways to manage risks associated with crypto assets, but no specific date is given.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which coordinates global policies to combat money laundering and terrorism financing, is also urging countries to actively implement requirements for crypto service providers. A report on the progress of member states is expected in the first half of next year. FATF is particularly focused on implementing the "Travel Rule," which is aimed at tracking users of centralized crypto service platforms.

Solana (SOL) has been stuck several times over the past few years, and this weekend it did not work for almost a day. As of the time of writing, the developers still do (not know/ have not announced what happened)[https://solana.com/news/02-25-23-solana-mainnet-beta-outage-report). What is interesting is that SOL's price did not drop significantly due to this issue compared to the market, and has even risen 1% over the day.

The Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Oleksandr Bornyakov, said that 60% of military equipment suppliers "could accept payments in cryptocurrencies" (although it is unclear if that many actually did), and donors sent donations in cryptocurrencies ranging from USD 1 to millions of dollars.

"The Bitcoin Layer" analysts write that despite the current downturn, the recent trend of BTC price increase still remains unchanged, and the nearest important support level is at USD 21,500. At the same time, it is reminded that this week the world's largest economy, the United States, will present the latest data on its state and inflation trends.

Analyst Noelle Acheson argues that the fight against inflation may be more difficult - consumers still spend relatively heavily, thereby increasing pressure on prices and strengthening expectations of higher interest rate hikes, which could negatively affect BTC and other crypto asset prices.

"Blockware Intelligence" analysts speculate that in the near future, the BTC price will fluctuate between USD 21,500 and USD 25,000. It is also emphasized that the recent emergence of new BTC addresses and the trend of the stablecoin market are sending positive signals to the market: the number of addresses is increasing, and stablecoin users have started to exchange these tokens for BTC.