Bitcoin Hits $100,000 Amid US-China Trade Agreement

The rate of the first cryptocurrency at the moment rose to the mark $105,700. Bitcoin's sharp price movement followed the US

The rate of the first cryptocurrency at the moment rose to the mark $105,700.

Bitcoin (BTC) has hit a new all-time high of $105,000. The cryptocurrency's sharp price movement followed the US administration's announcement that it had reached a 90-day "truce" in its trade war with China. The parties agreed to mutually reduce duties for this period: the United States reduced them from 145% to 30%, and the PRC from 125% to 10%.

JUST IN: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces a US-China deal for a 90-day tariff cut on goods from both nations

The initiative, "Stop Cryptocurrency Corruption Act 2025," would also affect executive branch employees, including Elon Musk, who is the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

The document was a response to the controversy surrounding stablecoin regulation. Some Democrats refused to support the GENIUS Act, accusing Republicans of ignoring measures against money laundering.

The purpose of the innovation is to prevent conflicts of interest. For example, US President Donald Trump previously released the meme coin TRUMP and then offered its large holders a VIP meeting at the White House.

The law imposes fines and criminal penalties on violators, including a ban on commercial activity for a year after leaving public office.

Meanwhile, Trump's status as "chief crypto lawyer" at World Liberty Financial (WLF), a company linked to his family, remains in question. Democrats have also expressed concern over Binance's $2 billion deal with Binance using a USD1 stablecoin issued by WLFI.

Alibaba has cut the cost of training AI searchers by 88%

Chinese tech giant Alibaba has announced a breakthrough in lowering the cost of training search-oriented AI models, as reported by SCMP.

The researchers presented a new approach called ZeroSearch. It supposedly improves the search capabilities of neural networks by 88% using simulations and without interacting with real systems like Google.

The method avoids the high costs often associated with routing queries through commercial tools. Already trained on extensive knowledge bases, the models generate "quality content" in response to queries.

ZeroSearch is claimed to turn a reference model into a search engine that can train other AI systems to answer queries. The technology reduces reliance on expensive external search infrastructure.

For example, sending 64,000 queries to Google via API costs $586.7. Generating answers for training using an AI model with 14 billion parameters costs $70.8. The innovation can expand search capabilities, the researchers noted.

'TRUMP contest' winners to be vetted before dinner with Trump

The team behind TRUMP - a Donald Trump-related meme-coin has announced the end of the contest for token holders. They will have to pass a background check to confirm participation.

The dinner will be held at Trump Golf Club in Washington, D.C., on May 22. Holders who maintain their position in the rankings and do not sell tokens will additionally receive a limited edition NFT Trump Diamond Hand on Solana.

"A very rare specimen," the project representatives emphasized.

According to Reuters, bidders spent $148 million to buy TRUMP. According to Chainalysis, 58 wallets made more than $10 million, while 764,000 investors were left with a loss, writes CNBC.

Dubai to introduce cryptocurrencies to pay for government services

Dubai's Department of Finance (DOF) announced a partnership with crypto exchange Crypto.com to accept digital assets as payment for government services.

The agreement was signed at the Dubai FinTech Summit as part of the UAE's strategy to transition to cashless payments: by 2026, 90% of transactions in the country should be digital.

Users will be able to pay for services through Crypto.com's crypto wallet. The platform will automatically convert digital assets into dirhams, which will flow into DOF accounts. Authorities expect the initiative to add up to Dh8 billion ($2.1 billion) to the local economy annually and reinforce Dubai's status as a fintech hub.

"This is the world's first project of this scale that brings together digital assets and the public sector," said head of Crypto.com's UAE division, Mohammed Al Hakim.

Ex-Congressman: In private conversations, Gensler recognized the potential of cryptocurrencies

Former US Congressman Patrick McHenry said that former SEC head Gary Gensler has shown a more balanced attitude towards cryptocurrencies in private conversations than in public speeches. He revealed this on the Crypto In America podcast.

"Has he endorsed cryptocurrencies privately as much as he has criticized publicly?

"No," McHenry responded to the anchor's question.

He said Gensler has recognized the potential of digital assets and blockchain technology in private meetings