crypto blog
Bitcoin casts off dip, climbs past $45K as Fed signals rate hike coming in March
Bitcoin (BTC) hit daily lows then bounced strongly on March 2 as fresh comments by the United States Federal Reserve added to macro volatility. BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Powell: March rate hike expected “appropriate” Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD dipping to $43,350 on Bitstamp before the Wall Street open Wednesday. A recovery ensued as trading began, however, with the pair already back above $45,000 at the time of writing. The volatility followed the release of a new statement from Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who for the first time gave concrete notice of a key rate hike coming this month. “Our monetary policy has been adapting to the evolving economic environment, and it will continue to do so,̶...
Citadel to foray into crypto as CEO Griffith changes his mind on the asset class
Citadel Securities chief Ken Griffith admitted he got his assessment of cryptocurrencies He also added Citadel plans to become a market maker in crypto in the coming months Founder and CEO of investment firm Citadel Securities Ken Griffith has finally capitulated and now taken a much softer stance on crypto. An outspoken naysayer, the 53-year-old has, on constant occasions in the past, expressed his distaste for crypto finance and refused to acknowledge it. Speaking during a recent instalment of the Bloomberg Wealth with financier David Rubenstein yesterday, Griffith explored a breadth of subject matters, including the Ukraine situation, the chaotic market, and sanctions. He has come round but is not yet entirely convinced Responding to a question from David Rubenstein, the billionai...
FC Barcelona is looking to develop a metaverse and an in-house crypto coin
The Spanish club’s president revealed this week plans to create a unique cryptocurrency Barca previously rejected sponsorship offers from several crypto brands, including Polkadot La Liga football giants FC Barcelona wants to develop its standalone crypto coin, according to recent remarks from its president Joan Laporta. Sports news outlet ESPN reported this week that the club aims to raise funds via the project so as to remain afloat. The Blaugrana has struggled financially over the past few years due to the mismanagement of funds by the previous hierarchy. “We want to create our own cryptocurrency and we have to do that ourselves. We are different because we survive financially from what we can generate through the industry of sport,” Laporta said during this year’s edi...
Revolut’s Russian co-founder decries the ongoing war in Ukraine
Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky explained that he decided to exercise caution in his public comments and actions for the welfare of Revolut’s Russian staff His Ukrainian co-founder Vlad Yatsenko critiqued President Putin last week over the attack on Ukraine Following a period of reticence, the CEO of London-based fintech firm Revolut Nikolay Storonsky has established an anti-war standing over the ongoing invasion of Russia into Ukraine. The Russian billionaire co-founded Revolut with his Ukrainian partner Vlad Yatsenko, who serves as the CTO of the financial services company. Storonsky expressed his disappointment in the Russia-Ukraine conflict taking a war route via a personal letter published in a blog post yesterday. He averred that the war between the two countries would never be an an...
War coincides with Bitcoin’s highest ‘real’ volume since early December
The “real” daily Bitcoin (BTC) volume spiked to levels not seen for three months amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. According to the latest weekly update report from blockchain analytics firm Arcane Research, real daily BTC trading volume surged above the $10 billion last Thursday (Feb. 24, the first day of the invasion), marking the highest daily volume recorded since Dec. 4. The firm cited “new crypto narratives” that have risen to the forefront amongst the ongoing crisis, such as crypto fundraising in Ukraine, along with demand increasing in relation to the western block and Russia introducing “the strictest capital controls in decades.” Strong selling pressure from investors looking to take risk off the table on Feb. 24 may also have contributed to the surge in daily BTC volume, as ...
Billionaire admits he was wrong about Bitcoin as Citadel looks to crypto markets
American multinational hedge fund and financial services company Citadel is poised to enter cryptocurrency markets this year. Speaking on Bloomberg Wealth with David Rubenstein, Citadel founder Ken Griffin commented on the current state of markets in light of recent geopolitical conflicts stating that they are at a “very volatile inflection point.” When the interview turned to digital assets, Griffin who has previously warned the younger generation away from them and said “there’s no need for cryptocurrencies,” revealed that the firm would be engaging in crypto asset markets this year. “It’s fair to assume that over the months to come, you will see us engage in making markets in cryptocurrencies.” Its quite the turnaround from November 2017, when Griffin said: “Bitcoin right now has many o...
Nvidia hackers selling software unlock for graphics card crypto mining limiters
A hacking group that infiltrated Nvidia servers last month is attempting to sell software that could unlock crypto mining hash rate limiters on the firm’s flagship graphics cards. A South American hacking group going by the name LAPSUS$ claims to have stolen a terabyte of data from Nvidia servers in late February. The group is now offering software in the form of a customized driver to unlock limiters the company has put on its high-end graphics cards. Nvidia stated that it became aware of the incident on Feb. 23, and stated, according to reports on Mar. 2: “We are aware that the threat actor took employee credentials and some Nvidia proprietary information from our systems and has begun leaking it online.” The cybercriminal group has been trying to extort the California-based company thro...
Nifty News: Snoop Dogg and Gary V have $95M in NFTs, Dolly Parton’s Dollyverse and more…
According to data from DappRadar, the NFT portfolios belonging to Iconic rapper Snoop Dogg and popular entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuck are worth a combined $95 million. Vaynerchuck’s wallet holds the lion’s share of the value with $81.89 million at the time of writing. His holdings include multiple NFTs from top collections such as CryptoPunks (he owns a whopping 60 in total), the Bored Ape Yacht Club and World of Women. Snoop Dogg’s is an avid NFT collector and his wallet also holds multiple CryptoPunks, Meebits and Fidenza NFTs, with his most expensive NFT CryptoPunk #3831 worth $2.57 million at current prices. The wallets were highlighted as part of a blog post from DappRadar which compiled a list of the top 10 most valuable celebrity NFT portfolios. Other notable figures incl...
South Africa-based crypto exchange VALR completes a $50M Series B funding round
The raise was completed at a $240 million valuation with participation from big names like Pantera Capital The exchange will use the capital to add more products, expand into other markets, and hire more people In what is the largest ever raise by an African crypto firm, crypto exchange VALR, has today announced it completed a $50 million Series B funding round led by Pantera Capital. Several other institutional investors were involved, including Coinbase Ventures, Third Prime, Alameda Research, Distributed Global, and Fidelity Investments’ affiliate Avon Ventures. Following the raise, VALR has a $240 million valuation. VALR launched in June 2019 and has previously concluded a Series A funding round of $3.45 million back in July 2020 at a valuation ten times less than the current. Th...
3 reasons why Waves price gained 100%+ in the last week
Development never stops in the blockchain sector and projects that continuously evolve are the ones that stay at the forefront and survive over the long-term. One project attempting to stay on top of the innovation wave is Waves, a multi-purpose blockchain protocol designed to support a variety of use cases, including decentralized applications and smart contracts. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the price of WAVES has rallied 120% since forming a double bottom at $8.28 on Feb. 22. WAVES/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView Three reasons for the price growth for WAVES are the recent announcement that the protocol will migrate to Waves 2.0, a partnership with Allbridge that will connect Waves with other popular blockchain networks and the upcoming laun...
Rune’s upcoming mainnet launch and Terra (LUNA) integration set off a 74% rally
2021 was a roller coaster of a year for THORChain (RUNE), which saw its price top out at $20.31 only to come crashing down below $4 as a series of hacks and declining interest in decentralized finance had the token limping into 2022. Data suggests that investors could be taking a closer look at Rune and a few potentially bullish factors could include the protocol’s recent integration with the Terra and Cosmos ecosystem, an upcoming mainnet launch and the attractive yields offered to liquidity providers. RUNE/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that after hitting a low of $3.00 on Feb. 24, the price of RUNE has rallied 74.2% to a daily high at $5.23 on March 1 amid a 388% surge in its 24-hour trading volume. Rune integrates ...
Crypto dealer SFOX gets trust charter approval from Wyoming regulators
The State of Wyoming has approved California-based crypto broker SFOX for a trust charter, allowing the firm to provide custodial and other crypto-related services to institutional clients. In a Tuesday announcement, SFOX said the Wyoming trust charter will allow the firm to operate in the state as the SAFE Trust Company, offering services to institutional clients, private clients, and advisers. According to the company, SAFE will “serve in a variety of fiduciary roles” including direct trustee, discretionary trustee, trust advisor, and protector. “The new charter will enable us to provide secure, reliable and efficient investment, trading, and custodian services for a wide range of digital assets, meeting the needs of investors, particularly small-to-mid-sized firms, which until now have ...
