Is GOOGLE getting into Bitcoin? Wallet integration revealed! | Bitcoin News by CoinCorner

Transcript

Bitcoin's price plunges to a new three-month low, sparking fear and turmoil throughout the market. Google is looking to integrate Bitcoin into their ecosystem, potentially providing an accessible on-ramp to billions of new users. Trump and Elon prep for an audit of Fort Knox to see if the US Gold Reserve is actually there.

Welcome back to Bitcoin News, brought to you by CoinCorner. I'm your host, Alex Glass. Now, let's get straight into this week's top stories.

It's been a brutal week for price action. Bitcoin has dropped around 17% from the highs that we saw last week, and the price has broken below a key resistance level of $90,000 per coin to as low as $82,000. Due to all of this, the Fear and Greed Index is now showing that the market is in a state of extreme fear, dropping from 72 last month to now just 10.

But what's causing all of this? On Friday last week, the crypto exchange Bybit was hacked, and around $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum was stolen, serving as a gentle reminder to secure your coins in cold storage. This injection of fear initiated a market-wide sell-off in crypto and has continued into the week. There are also concerns about US inflation data, suggesting that inflation has not come down as much as hoped. As a result, the probability of an imminent interest rate cut coming from the Fed is looking less likely.

Additionally, Trump is also causing uncertainty across markets with the talk of imposing tariffs and a potential trade war. But even with all of this considered, Bitcoin is down only 177%, and a drawdown of this size appears to be just typical price volatility, especially when compared to previous cycles where 30% dips were not uncommon. CoinCorner customers also appear to be unfazed by this price action. CEO Danny Scott shared that even amongst the selloff, 89% of users were buying the dip rather than selling this week.

Now, one holder taking advantage of this recent dip is El Salvador, which this week bought seven Bitcoin after a one-week pause in their dollar-cost averaging strategy. The country, up until now, had a strict policy of purchasing one Bitcoin per day until it became unaffordable. Seeing an entire week go by without any purchases caused many to question if they had changed their stance on the asset. But now, following this recent purchase of seven Bitcoin, they appear to be back on track as usual, continuing to purchase one Bitcoin per day, putting to rest the rumors. President Nayib Bukele also made light of the situation by posting their portfolio tracker on X, saying, "Oh ye of little faith."

Also in the news, Donald Trump has said that he and Elon Musk are going to audit Fort Knox to check that the gold is actually there. Since the late 1930s, Fort Knox has housed a large portion of the United States' official gold reserves, which, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, is audited every year. However, Trump wants to see it for himself, saying, "Wouldn't it be terrible if we opened it up and there was no gold there?"

Even though this is a hugely positive step forward in providing more transparency from the government, as Elon Musk has even suggested they could live stream it to the public, many in the Bitcoin community see that Bitcoin fixes this and is a superior asset and store of value compared to gold. Senator Cynthia Lummis summed it up perfectly, saying in a post on X, "A Bitcoin Reserve could be audited anytime, 24/7, with a basic computer, and it's time to upgrade our reserves."

Over time, gold is proving itself as an outdated store of value. This is due to its increased risk of forgery, which, according to the Swiss metal refinery Valcambi, is becoming more sophisticated, suggesting that thousands of fake gold bars may have gone undetected. Bitcoin, on the other hand, thanks to its distributed ledger, allows anyone to verify transactions made on the blockchain to track holdings, with El Salvador's tracker being a perfect example, which is visible 24/7.

Now, moving on, we have some exciting news coming from the tech giant Google, which is reportedly working on integrating Bitcoin into their ecosystem. According to Kyle Song, a Web3 specialist at Google, the plan, which aims to lower the barrier to entry for mainstream users, is looking to embed wallets directly into Google accounts, allowing users to access them seamlessly, just like any other Google service.

Whilst it's worth noting that Song's comments are not an official announcement from Google, if this is true and Google successfully integrates Bitcoin with Google Pay, this could have a huge impact on accelerating adoption, as billions of users might suddenly find themselves with an easy and secure way to buy, exchange, and spend Bitcoin.

Now, some more bullish news this week is coming from the SEC, which has met with Michael Saylor to discuss a new crypto regulatory framework. Saylor, co-founder of MicroStrategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, presented a number of documents that served as a foundation for the meeting. This went into depth about the possible classification of digital assets, fostering innovation by reducing regulatory friction and bureaucratic oversight while enforcing transparency and accountability, and even putting forward the proposal that Bitcoin could be used to strengthen the US dollar and bring down the national debt through the use of a Bitcoin reserve strategy.

This meeting demonstrates the SEC's shift towards embracing digital assets, and it'll be interesting to see what changes come into effect in the near future.

Moving on to Bitcoin adoption at the state level in the US. Firstly, in Ohio, the government has put forward a new bill that would prevent state taxes on Bitcoin payments. If passed, this would stop the state from being able to impose tax on all digital assets when used as a form of payment, making it a viable alternative to use as a currency instead of the dollar.

The bill also clarifies residents' rights to self-custody digital assets, engage in mining activity, and requires state retirement funds to evaluate the potential of investing in crypto assets.

The positive news doesn't stop there, though, as Oklahoma's Bitcoin Reserve bill has passed through the House committee with a 12-to-2 vote in favor. This means the bill will now be passed to the House floor, where it will be debated, amended, or voted upon. There's still a long way to go in terms of getting this passed into law, but this is another positive step forward.

Five states, however, have not been as keen on introducing Bitcoin strategic reserve legislation. These include Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming, which have all rejected their proposals. It's not surprising that the asset is still misunderstood by lawmakers, and it seems the volatility is the main concern. One representative said, "It's still taxpayers' money, and we're responsible for it, and we need to protect it. These types of investments are way too risky."

But I'm afraid that is all we have for you today. So, as always, make sure to hit that subscribe button down below, and I'll see you next week with more Bitcoin news.