COVID-19 inquiry: Dominic Cummings set to give evidence amid Barnard Castle protest
The number of people who died from COVID-19 in the UK has been projected onto the walls of Barnard Castle – the evening before Dominic Cummings was set to give evidence to the official inquiry into the virus and how the UK government handled it.
A message saying “231,332 COVID deaths – is that clear enough to read?” on the notorious fortification was organised by campaign group 38 Degrees and COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK.
Mr Cummings, who famously claimed he drove to the castle to test his eyesight while the UK was still under restrictions, is due before Baroness Hallett’s probe later.
Politics Live: WhatsApps by aides of Boris Johnson revealed
It is not certain when he will be called to give evidence, after Monday’s witnesses overran.
Martin Reynolds – now known as party Marty for his role in the partygate affair – spent hours going over how the government responded to the pandemic.
Analysis:
Questions are piling up for Boris Johnson and Rishi Suank – and it’s likely to get worse
He was a senior civil servant under Boris Johnson.
While the inquiry cross-examined him, messages came out which showed current Civil Service head Simon Case saying that Mr Johnson was unfit to lead due to his constant changing of direction.
Mr Case also claimed that government “isn’t actually that hard, but this guy is making it impossible“.
He is set to give evidence himself at some point, and is currently on medical leave from his role in Number 10.
Mr Reynolds – who invited Downing Street staff to a “bring your own booze” party – was supposed to only spend part of the Monday morning evidence session before the inquiry, but he ended up being required until after lunch.
As such, former Downing Street communications director Lee Cain was told he would not be heard from on Monday and instead will speak on Tuesday morning.
Dominic Cummings. Pic: AP
Mr Cummings is expected to appear on Tuesday afternoon.
Having worked for Mr Johnson in Downing Street during the pandemic, the preceding election and during the Brexit deadlock, Mr Cummings has since become one of the former prime minister’s harshest critics.
Messages released on Monday show him referring to Mr Johnson as a “trolley” because his tendency to constantly change direction.
Both Mr Cummings and Mr Cain had left Downing Street by the end of 2020, with Mr Cummings claiming that Mr Johnson’s wife had too much power.
Former chancellor George Osborne warned last week that “disgusting and misogynistic” messages from the pandemic were likely to come out this week.
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, marks their 50th birthday amid a year of rising institutional and geopolitical adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency.
The identity of Nakamoto remains one of the biggest mysteries in crypto, with speculation ranging from cryptographers like Adam Back and Nick Szabo to broader theories involving government intelligence agencies.
While Nakamoto’s identity remains anonymous, the Bitcoin (BTC) creator is believed to have turned 50 on April 5 based on details shared in the past.
According to archived data from his P2P Foundation profile, Nakamoto once claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan and listed his birthdate as April 5, 1975.
Source: Web.archive.org
Nakamoto’s anonymity has played a vital role in maintaining the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network, which has no central authority or leadership.
The Bitcoin wallet associated with Nakamoto, which holds over 1 million BTC, has laid dormant for more than 16 years despite BTC rising from $0 to an all-time high above $109,000 in January.
Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano, Switzerland. Source: Cointelegraph
Nakamoto’s 50th birthday comes nearly a month after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, marking the first major step toward integrating Bitcoin into the US financial system.
Related: Bitcoin at 16: From experiment to trillion-dollar asset
Nakamoto’s legacy: a “cornerstone of economic sovereignty”
“At 50, Nakamoto’s legacy is no longer just code; it’s a cornerstone of economic sovereignty,” according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert.
“Bitcoin’s reserve status signals trust in its scarcity and resilience,” Lian told Cointelegraph, adding:
“What’s fascinating is the timing. Fifty feels symbolic — half a century of life, mirrored by Bitcoin’s journey from a white paper to a trillion-dollar asset. Nakamoto’s vision of trustless, peer-to-peer money has outgrown its cypherpunk roots, entering the halls of power.”
However, lingering questions about Nakamoto remain unanswered, including whether they still hold the keys to their wallet, which is “a fortune now tied to US policy,” Lian said.
Related: Bitcoin’s next catalyst: End of $36T US debt ceiling suspension
Is Satoshi Nakamoto wealthier than Bill Gates?
In February, Arkham Intelligence published findings that attribute 1.096 million BTC — then valued at more than $108 billion — to Nakamoto. That would place him above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the global wealth rankings, according to data shared by Coinbase director Conor Grogan.
Satoshi’s new addresses. Source: Conor Grogan
If accurate, this would make Nakamoto the world’s 16th richest person.
Despite the growing interest in Nakamoto’s identity and holdings, his early decision to remain anonymous and inactive has helped preserve Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos — a principle that continues to define the cryptocurrency to this day.
Magazine: 10 crypto theories that missed as badly as ‘Peter Todd is Satoshi’
The United States stock market lost more in value over the April 4 trading day than the entire cryptocurrency market is worth, as fears over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to ramp up.
On April 4, the US stock market lost $3.25 trillion — around $570 billion more than the entire crypto market’s $2.68 trillion valuation at the time of publication.
Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market”
Among the Magnificent-7 stocks, Tesla (TSLA) led the losses on the day with a 10.42% drop, followed by Nvidia (NVDA) down 7.36% and Apple (AAPL) falling 7.29%, according to TradingView data.
The significant decline across the board signals that the Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market” after falling 6% across the trading day, trading resource account The Kobeissi Letter said in an April 4 X post. This is the largest daily decline since March 16, 2020.
“US stocks have now erased a massive -$11 TRILLION since February 19 with recession odds ABOVE 60%,” it added. The Kobessi Letter said Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement was “historic” and if the tariffs continue, a recession will be “impossible to avoid.”
Source: Anthony Scaramucci
On April 2, Trump signed an executive order establishing reciprocal tariffs on trading partners and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from all countries.
Trump said the reciprocal tariffs will be roughly half the rate US trading partners impose on American goods.
Related: Bitcoin bulls defend $80K support as ‘World War 3 of trade wars’ crushes US stocks
Meanwhile, the crypto industry has pointed out that while the stock market continues to decline, Bitcoin (BTC) remains stronger than most expected.
Crypto trader Plan Markus pointed out in an April 4 X post that while the entire stock market “is tanking,” Bitcoin is holding.
Source: Jeff Dorman
Even some crypto skeptics have pointed out the contrast between Bitcoin’s performance and the US stock market during the recent period of macro uncertainty.
Stock market commentator Dividend Hero told his 203,200 X followers that he has “hated on Bitcoin in the past, but seeing it not tank while the stock market does is very interesting to me.”
Meanwhile, technical trader Urkel said Bitcoin “doesn’t appear to care one bit about tariff wars and markets tanking.” Bitcoin is trading at $83,749 at the time of publication, down 0.16% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data.
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