Bitcoin hits all-time high
Bitcoin hit an all-time high after a week of volatile trading. It first touched just over $69,200 on Tuesday before plummeting 10%. But by the weekend, Bitcoin had recovered and briefly surpassed $70,000 for the first time. Billions of dollars have poured into Bitcoin ETFs, and anticipation of the upcoming halving event continues to pique investor interest. Meanwhile, Ether hit $4,000 for the first time in two years as speculation about a spot Ether ETF grew.
Memecoin Maniaâs fees soar.
Memecoin mania is back with Ethereum-based meme tokens like Pepe, Shiba Inu, and Floki each more than doubling in price. Shiba Inu leads the way, with a market capitalization rising to over $25 billion. The growth is due to accelerated token burns and expected Shibarium network upgrades. The meme coin craze has pushed Ethereum gas fees to their highest level in nearly two years, making transfers difficult.
Asiaâs Fomo Fuels Bitcoin
Bitcoinâs recent surge has been driven primarily by Asian investors, particularly those from South Korea, China, and Hong Kong, who account for about 70% of trading volume. Asia accounted for $800 billion of the total $1.17 trillion in Bitcoin traded in February. This trend shows a significant FOMO effect in the region, which is further evidenced by the 12x increase in searches for âBitcoinâ on the WeChat messaging app.
Ethereum ETF delayed
The US SEC has postponed a decision on two new cryptocurrency products. A decision on an Ethereum ETF application has been postponed, triggering a public comment period in which the agency seeks input on whether the arguments supporting the approved Bitcoin ETF are applicable to Ethereum and what potential manipulation risks it may pose. . The SEC also postponed a decision on whether to allow exchanges to list and trade spot Bitcoin ETF options.
BlackRock Buys Bitcoin ETF
BlackRock, the worldâs largest asset manager, recently updated its SEC filings to indicate that it intends to purchase spot Bitcoin ETFs with its funds. The BlackRock Global Allocation Fund and Strategic Income Opportunities Fund aim to generate investment returns through stocks, debt, money market securities, and now Bitcoin.
Pay FTX with BlockFi
Bankrupt companies BlockFi and FTX announced an agreement to resolve their long-running legal dispute. FTX will pay $874 million to BlockFi, including $185 million in customer claims for FTX.com and $689 million in claims for Alameda Research. This negotiation is evaluated as a positive result in that it can reduce litigation costs in BlockFi bankruptcy proceedings through arbitration.
Spain suspends Worldcoin project
Spain has suspended the Worldcoin cryptocurrency project, co-founded by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, due to privacy concerns. The Spanish governmentâs data protection agency has ordered Worldcoin, which offers WLD tokens in exchange for iris scans, to suspend its activities in the country for three months, highlighting the high risk to citizensâ rights arising from the processing of sensitive biometric data.
Is Tesla Buying Bitcoin Again?
There is speculation surrounding Teslaâs Bitcoin holdings, as the companyâs BTC wallet currently holds approximately 11,509 Bitcoins, approximately 1,800 more than reported in its last earnings report. Some expect the recent Bitcoin purchases to be revealed in Teslaâs upcoming earnings call, while others consider it a possible accounting error. Tesla bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in February 2021 and then sold 75% of its stack in 2022.
This is what happened in the cryptocurrency market this week. I will see you next week.