Gareth Soloway, chief market strategist and president of Verified Investing, told David Lin of The David Lin Report (TDLR) that bitcoin is forming a bear flag that could send prices down roughly 38% to $50,000, while the S&P 500 is flashing the same signals seen at the peak of the dot-com boom.

Bitcoin is consolidating below a critical resistance zone on May 3, 2026, as mixed short-term signals meet strong underlying trend support.

Strategy paused bitcoin purchases, shifting market focus to its 818,334 BTC exposure. Michael Saylor confirmed the halt after the company’s latest disclosed buy, leaving traders watching his orange-dot posts for the next signal.

This week, the Bitcoin network recorded its second consecutive difficulty reduction, easing another 2.3% on May 1 after the April 17 epoch posted a 2.43% decline. Hashrate has also trended lower, now resting beneath the 1 zettahash per second (ZH/s) threshold.

This week’s crypto stories spanned enforcement, mining, regulation, adoption, and institutional flows. Chainalysis traced Iran-linked stablecoin routing behind a major USDT freeze, while Riot continued its steady BTC sales to NYDIG. France dropped a proposed self-custody reporting rule, Binance argued crypto’s next wave of users will come through payments and utility, and Canada’s AIMCo disclosed a $219 million MSTR position as pension exposure to bitcoin-linked assets keeps expanding.

Welcome to Latam Insights, a compilation of the most relevant crypto news from Latin America over the past week. In this edition, Brazil’s central bank issues a resolution banning the use of crypto rails in regulated cross-border payments, Bitso estimates 40% of all crypto purchases include stablecoins, and Meta launches USDC payments in Colombia.

Experts stated that the decision, which sets a precedent for future AI substitution cases, establishes that AI replacement cannot be brandished as a justification to abandon a labor contract. China is the world’s second-largest AI hub.

used on digital asset commerce.

Bernardo Bilotta argues that banks avoid stablecoins not due to a lack of technical understanding, but to protect their vital relationships with central banks and Western correspondent banks, who are notoriously risk-averse.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has established strict new regulations for the 99th Oscars, officially banning AI-generated content from top categories to protect human creativity.

As the digital blockade imposed by the Iranian regime reaches its tenth week, reports indicate that an individual has allegedly died for using Starlink devices to circumvent it. Hesam Alaeddin, a 40-year-old man, was reportedly beaten to death for this transgression.

Bakkt has completed its acquisition of Distributed Technologies Research, a move designed to integrate artificial intelligence (AI)-native stablecoin infrastructure into its core financial services.

Deepening inflation fears are pushing U.S. crypto traders into digital assets, as 90% worry the dollar will lose purchasing power. An OKX survey found 49% increased crypto holdings since January, reflecting intensifying pressure on portfolio strategies.

Senators escalated scrutiny of a reported Tether loan tied to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s family trust, raising conflict-of-interest and national security concerns. Warren and Wyden cited a New York credit filing involving “Dynasty Trust A.”

Uphold will pay more than $5 million to compensate customers affected by CredEarn, a third-party crypto investment product. The New York settlement requires stronger product reviews, broker registration, and transfer of any Cred bankruptcy recoveries to harmed investors.