During Major League Baseball's opening day, Washington Nationals Park in Washington D.C. was still promoting Terra—the crypto ecosystem that collapsed in May 2022, sending the wider industry into a tailspin. The Nationals signed a five-year deal worth $40 million with Terra in February 2022. An exclusive Terra Club opened behind home plate as a luxury field-level space for fans willing to pay $290 or more per ticket. Terra's UST stablecoin lost its U.S. dollar peg last May and cratered in value, investors losing tens of billions of dollars in the rapid implosion, which in turn tanked crypto prices across the market. Terra's branded seats still appeared behind home plate over a year after the collapse, and Terra also still has a large sign along the outfield wall, as clearly seen in an official MLB highlights video taken on opening day.
Even shortly after Terra's collapse in 2022, the Nationals continued promoting Terra—including sharing a "Crypto 101" video presented by Terra posted on the team's official Twitter account on May 10th, 2022. Decrypt reached out to the Washington Nationals for comment but did not receive an immediate response. Terra's founder Do Kwon was arrested in Montenegro earlier this month after months on the run from authorities.
Dogecoin ( DOGE ) experienced a surge of more than 30% in a few minutes after Elon Musk's Twitter replaced the blue bird with the meme coin's Shiba Inu dog logo. The price of DOGE soared to 11 cents from 8 cents before the change. In the past, Musk has shown himself to be a fan of the cryptocurrency, even suggesting that it may offer better payments functionality than bitcoin. There is a report that Twitter was designing a system for payments through its platform with Musk acknowledging that he wanted the ability to add cryptocurrencies. The meme coin's price experienced an upswing following the story's publication. Around an hour after the logo change, Musk tweeted a cartoon image as his first public comment. Dogecoin's price last exceeded 10 cents in December, according to CoinDesk data. Despite its bullish price action in 2021, Dogelon Mars (ELON) currently stands 87% down from its all-time high. Although the coin has lost most of its gains since it surged at the start of 2023, it remains one of the most popular memecoins with a market cap of $180 million.
Tezos (XTZ) has recently undergone its 13th core protocol upgrade, Mumbai, which aims to boost its processing speed up to 1 million transactions per second. The upgrade hopes to make Tezos more secure, flexible, and developer-friendly, elements that traders could appreciate by buying a stake in the altcoin. Tezos price rallied on Wednesday with a near 10% gain intraday, indicating that investors and traders were awaiting the release of the Mumbai upgrade. However, too many technical hurdles were coming together on the top side for a substantial rally higher. XTZ could still see traders welcoming this upgrade as the procession speed kicks it higher.
The technical indicators of XTZ are favoring a consolidated move, though the asset price is currently trading between the 50 and 100 Daily Moving Average, and it can observe a negative crossover which can push the asset price to a new low. XTZ upside trend can see a halt near the value of $1.5, whereas the support of the asset price can be seen near $1. Expect with the positive newsflow that bulls will have bought at $1.10 and push price action through the 55-day and the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA), with a clean breakout trade potentially seeing $1.20 and next $1.40 on the topside for a staggering 25% gain.
On Monday, Leonardo DiCaprio, the famous Hollywood actor, appeared in a Washington, D.C. federal court to testify as a witness in the criminal trial of ex-Fugees rapper Prakazrel "Pras" Michel. Michel is accused of accepting over $100 million from Jho Low, a Malaysian businessman, to influence President Donald Trump and other government officials to drop an investigation into Low. DiCaprio, who has no wrongdoing associated with the case, testified to his relationship with Low, whom he had met through Michel. The actor confirmed that he had attended lavish parties with Low, who helped finance his 2013 film, The Wolf of Wall Street. Low is currently a fugitive, suspected of embezzling $4.5 billion from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund. Meanwhile, Michel is facing charges that could lead to decades in prison if convicted. Prosecutors claim he acted on Low's behalf, made illegal campaign contributions during the 2012 U.S. presidential election, and engaged in witness tampering. DiCaprio's appearance in the courtroom created a stir among jury members and led to a viral moment where the prosecutor asked the actor what he did for a living.
Residents across southern Indiana and Kentucky are being urged to stay alert as a Tornado Watch remains in effect until 3 am on Saturday. The watch covers a wide area, including ten counties in Indiana and 24 in Kentucky. While no tornadoes have been reported yet, a Wind Advisory is also in place from Friday evening until Saturday afternoon, with gusts of up to 50 mph being possible.
Residents in the affected areas are advised to stay tuned to local news broadcasts and weather alerts, and to make preparations in case a tornado warning is issued. This includes identifying a safe place in advance to take shelter, such as a basement, interior room or hallway on the lowest level of a building.
The National Weather Service also advises people to avoid traveling on highways and in cars, especially in areas where the tornado watch is in effect. In case of emergency, residents should call 911 or seek assistance from local authorities. Stay safe and prepare for any potentially dangerous weather conditions.
