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Bitcoin (BTC) stayed closer to $60,000 on Oct. 22 after the largest altcoin Ether (ETH) failed to cement new all-time highs. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView ETH all-time high? Blink and you’ll miss it Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView ETH/USD just match its record $4,380 on Bitstamp before seeing a harsh rejection. Traders watched in anticipation as Ethereum appeared to follow Bitcoin to historic new levels, only to face immediate resistance and fall sharply back into a lower range. We couldn’t even celebrate $ETH ATH for longer than 30 seconds Lmfao ruthless market makers — Johnny (@CryptoGodJohn) October 21, 2021 Trader and analyst Rekt Capital called the event a “picture perfect rejection.” At the time of writing, ETH/...

Cryptocurrency-to-fiat infrastructure provider Xanpool continues expanding operations in the Asia Pacific (APAC) by securing fresh funding. The Hong Kong-based startup raised $27 million in a Series A funding round led by Valar Ventures, the venture capital firm co-founded by PayPal co-creator Peter Thiel. Other participating investors included crypto-focused venture capital firm CMT Digital as well as angel investors like TransferWise co-founder Taavet Hinrikus, Xanpool announced Friday. Running operations in 13 countries across APAC, Xanpool is looking to further consolidate its presence in the region with new funding. Xanpool CEO Jeffery Liu told Cointelegraph that the startup operates in countries like India, Hong Kong, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealan...

FTX has become one of the fastest-growing cryptocurrency exchanges in the world and continues to expand its features and services FTX, one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, has raised $420 million from investors in a latest funding round. This latest funding pushed the exchange’s total valuation to $25 billion as it continues to experience massive growth. Led by the 29-year old Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX has become one of the top exchanges in the world. According to the Wall Street Journal, the $420 million was raised from some traditional financial institutions, including the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and funds managed by BlackRock Inc. The announcement came just three months after FTX raised $900 million and saw its valuation grow to $18 billion. The crypto exchange ...

The Associated Press news agency announced it would be launching its own Chainlink oracle node to ensure any data from its U.S. newspaper and broadcaster members would be cryptographically verified. In an Oct. 21 announcement, the Associated Press, or AP, said smart contract developers would have access to the agency’s “economic, sports, and race call data” once the node was operational. According to the AP, it will be publishing data on-chain for developers to access and reference in any relevant applications, in addition to providing information on upcoming elections and serving artists working with nonfungible tokens. “Chainlink technology is the ideal way to provide smart contract developers anywhere in the world with direct, on-demand access to AP’s trusted economic, sports, and race ...

Ether (ETH) flirted with its $4,380 all-time high on Oct. 21 but failed to breach it by a few dollars. Some analysts, including independent market analyst Scott Melker, believe that an exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval is the next logical step for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). My bet is we will see an Ethereum Futures ETF before we see a physical Bitcoin ETF. — The Wolf Of All Streets (@scottmelker) October 20, 2021 However disappointed Ether bulls might be, they are likely to score a $78 million profit on Oct. 22’s options expiry. Bears were apparently caught off-guard as Ether accumulated a 35% gain month-to-date. Ether price at Bitstamp in USD. Source: TradingView Investor sentiment was also positively impacted by the pension fund for firefighters in Houston...

This weekly roundup of news from Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong attempts to curate the industry’s most important news, including influential projects, changes in the regulatory landscape, and enterprise blockchain integrations.   In this 30th edition of the Shanghai Man column, we preview the Wanxiang Shanghai Blockchain Week, an offline event that normally is the biggest blockchain conference on the Chinese calendar. Next week, despite all the regulatory crackdowns, the event is still planning to go ahead, albeit with a one-month delay from its usual place in mid-September.  The flagship event Historically, Wanxiang Blockchain Week has attracted huge crowds of industry participants including traders, investors, developers, financial institutions, and traditional comp...

More than 1 million people are on the waitlist for Robinhood’s long-awaited crypto wallet according to CEO Vlad Tenev Speaking to Jim Cramer during CNBC’s Disruptor 50 summit on Oct. 21, Tenev stated that was very “proud” of Robinhood’s progress in crypto, as he highlighted the firm’s recent push to provide a crypto wallet for its users: “A lot of people have been asking us for the ability to send and receive cryptocurrencies, transfer them to hardware wallets, transfer them onto the platform to consolidate. And you know, the crypto wallets waitlist is well over a million people now, which is very exciting.” “We see an opportunity to continue growing that business,” he added. Robinhood users have long urged the company to develop a crypto wallet as the platform currently does not sup...

Two or three weeks ago, when Bitcoin (BTC) was trading below $52,000, a trader betting on $65,000 by Oct. 22 would have been considered extremely optimistic. The fact that 98% of the put (sell) options for Bitcoin’s weekly options expiry on Oct. 22 has been placed below that price proves that this is true. Fast forward to this week, and the successful launch of the first BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States and news that Digital Currency Group (DCG), the parent company of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, increased its limit to acquire up to $1 billion worth of GBTC shares, boosted Bitcoin price to new all-time highs. The $40.5 billion investment vehicle has been available for trading on United States markets since March 2015, and it recently filed a request to the United S...

Society is headed towards a new form of digital ownership with an economy and greater metaverse based on the blockchain. The concept of “the metaverse” is typically depicted as actual and augmented reality-based in a virtual world. Most recognize this concept since it is present in several fictional movies of dystopian futures like Ready, Player, One, Minority Report and Avatar. However, the concept has since quickly gained attraction from the technology industry, making it more viable than ever before. The metaverse is seen by many as the natural evolution to what comes next after what people are already doing on social media. Industry experts believe that people are already seeking new places to interact with each other, collect virtual likes and gain recognition. Still, othe...