Bitcoin Breaks 3-Week Decline with +4.​2% Weekly Gain

Bitfinex celebrates **13 years** of operation as a cryptocurrency exchange, positioning itself as a foundational platform for serious traders. The exchange emphasizes its focus on providing **resilience** beyond basic market access, maintaining its role as what it calls "the original Bitcoin exchange." Key positioning points: - Describes itself as a "base layer" for professional trading - Emphasizes platform stability and longevity in the volatile crypto space - Markets to serious traders seeking reliable infrastructure The milestone represents significant longevity in the cryptocurrency exchange sector, where many platforms have faced challenges or closures over the years. [Learn more about Bitfinex](http://bitfinex.com/about)

Bitfinex has introduced **Alpha**, a weekly research service targeting serious traders and investors. The service provides: - Actionable market research and analysis - Expert insights on both crypto and macro trends - Weekly intelligence briefings delivered directly to subscribers Bitfinex positions Alpha as a tool to help traders gain a competitive edge through professional-grade market intelligence. The service appears to focus on combining cryptocurrency analysis with broader macroeconomic trends. Traders can [sign up for Bitfinex Alpha](https://go.bitfinex.com/AlphaSignUpPage) to receive weekly updates starting Monday.

**Three distinct paths** are driving Latin America's position as a global crypto adoption leader: - **Venezuela**: Economic collapse forcing citizens toward digital alternatives - **Argentina**: Emerging as a regional talent and development hub - **El Salvador**: Government-backed Bitcoin legal framework Each country demonstrates different motivations, but all point to the same outcome - **LATAM leading worldwide crypto adoption**. **WERT's fiat-to-crypto infrastructure** enables this growth by providing instant on-chain settlement through traditional payment methods. Users can access Web3 using credit and debit cards, creating seamless onboarding. For builders, this means **frictionless user acquisition** and new capital flowing into the ecosystem. The combination of economic necessity, regulatory innovation, and improved infrastructure makes Latin America the proving ground for mainstream crypto adoption. [Watch the full analysis](https://youtu.be/DMVb4FBx3bs)

**Traditional financial control is shifting** as alternative systems gain momentum across key markets. **Key developments:** - Stablecoins now process billions in daily transactions across Latin America - Bitcoin ETFs are opening institutional investment channels - DAOs enable cross-border capital coordination without traditional intermediaries **The fundamental change:** Trust is gradually moving from government-backed systems to **protocol-based alternatives**. This represents a structural shift in how money and financial services operate globally. The analysis examines whether we're seeing the emergence of truly sovereign individuals who can operate independently of state financial systems. [Read the full analysis](https://blog.bitfinex.com/education/are-we-witnessing-the-rise-of-the-sovereign-individual/)