Cryptocurrency Financial News

cryptocurrency market on Friday gave up the previous day's gains as the global cryptocurrency market cap declined by 2.62% to around $1.4 trillion. At 12:34 p.m., Bitcoin was trading 3.4% lower at $36,338, while the second most popular token, Ethereum, was down 4% at $1,981. «Bitcoin (BTC) faces a sharp decline, falling more than 3% to the $36,300 range after rejecting the $38,000 resistance. The SEC's delay in ruling on Hashdex's bitcoin ETF conversion may have fueled the intraday selloff,» said Sathvik Vishwanath, Co-Founder & CEO of Unocoin. «Macro factors, including a potential US Federal Reserve tapering cycle in 2024, are contributing to cryptocurrency tailwinds. Chart analysis suggests an ascending triangle with bullish growth, with a break above $38,000 potentially leading to a test of $40,000,» Sathvik said.

BlackRock on Thursday officially filed for a spot ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF), doubling down on its cryptocurrency bets amid investor optimism about the approval of such investment vehicles. The iShares Ethereum Trust, which was registered last week and will be listed on Nasdaq if approved, will give investors access to ether — the second most popular cryptocurrency — without directly owning it. BlackRock is proposing to convert the trust to a «spot» ETF, which means it will own ether instead of futures products tied to the crypto token. While futures-based crypto ETFs have previously been approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the regulator has long contended that the spot crypto market is prone to fraud and manipulation.

cryptocurrency industry faced a reckoning as its onetime star, Sam Bankman-Fried, was convicted of fraud in a trial that put the industry’s excesses on vivid display. But the ever-volatile crypto markets were already moving on. Shortly before Bankman-Fried’s verdict landed on Nov. 2, the price of bitcoin surpassed $35,000, its highest level since an industry meltdown in 2022. Last week, ether, the second-most popular digital currency, surged 10% to around $2,100, its best performance in months. Some investors rushed to declare the end of the so-called crypto winter of falling prices and financial scandals that have plagued the industry for the last 18 months. Driving the renewed euphoria? A potential new fund.

Data showed US consumer prices were unchanged in October, and the annual rise in underlying inflation was the smallest in two years. In the 12 months through October, the CPI climbed 3.2% — below economists' estimates — after rising 3.7% in September. Meanwhile, the global cryptocurrency market cap fell by 2.3% to around $1.37 trillion in the last 24 hours. At 11:57 a.m., Bitcoin was trading 3.1% lower at $35,562, while the second most popular token, Ethereum, was down 3.9% at $1,980.

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Bitcoin miners are making hay while the sun shines. The business has been yanked out of the doldrums by the cryptocurrency's recent rally — and now mining companies are racing to lock in profits before bitcoin's «halving», when rewards for producing the tokens are cut in half. The next halving is expected in April 2024, a process designed to slow the release of bitcoin, whose supply is capped at 21 million — of which 19 million have already been mined. «You're seeing a lot of urgency to plug rigs in ahead of the halving,» said Gregory Lewis, analyst at brokerage BTIG that covers the 13 biggest U.S.-listed bitcoin miners.

BNB (-2.1%), XRP (-1.8%), Solana (-2.5%), and Chainlink (-5.5%) trading in the red, while Tron (2%), Toncoin (1.6%), Polygon 7.1%), Avalanche (3.5%), and Polkadot were trading in the green. Meanwhile, the global cryptocurrency market cap fell by 0.43% to around $1.41 trillion in the last 24 hours. At 12.12 p.m., BTC was trading 0.9% lower at $36,933. In the last 24 hours, the market cap of Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, declined to $721 billion. Bitcoin's dominance is currently 51.20%, according to CoinMarketCap. BTC volume in the last 24 hours rose 0.6% to $13.04 billion.

Crypto venture capitalists have set their sights on Launchpad XYZ and its goal of enabling anyone to tap into algorithmic trading through the platform’s custom AI, Apollo.

Crypto lender Celsius Network received U.S. bankruptcy court approval for a restructuring plan that will return cryptocurrency to customers and create a new company owned by Celsius creditors. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn in Manhattan signed off on the restructuring in an order published on Thursday. The reorganized business will be managed by Fahrenheit LLC, a consortium that includes hedge fund Arrington Capital, and it will focus on mining new bitcoin and earning «staking» fees by validating blockchain transactions. New Jersey-based Celsius filed for Chapter 11 protection in July 2022, one month after freezing customer accounts to prevent withdrawals. Celsius, which was once valued at $3 billion, was one of the largest crypto collapses last year. The crypto lender is working to implement the plan and is expected to emerge from Chapter 11 in early 2024,according to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Dogecoin, Chainlink, Polygon, Polkadot and Shiba Inu were also trading over 4% higher. Meanwhile, during this rally, the global cryptocurrency market cap increased 3.26% to around $1.37 trillion in the last 24 hours. «Bitcoin is trading above the $36,000 threshold as market participants await word on the Bitcoin Spot ETF applications from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC now has an eight-day period starting today, where all 12 spot bitcoin (BTC) ETF applications could be approved. Otherwise, market participants will have to wait till early 2024 for updates from the SEC,» said Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex. Market sentiment is presently bullish as investors await more information. Notably, Bitcoin’s price has grown by over 115% from the beginning of the year, Edul said.

HSBC plans to launch in 2024 a custody service for storing blockchain-based assets excluding cryptocurrency, the bank said on Wednesday. The service, which is a partnership with Swiss digital asset firm Metaco, will allow institutional clients to store blockchain-based tokens representing traditional financial assets, as opposed to crypto or stablecoins, HSBC said. HSBC said last week it had made tokens representing physical gold held in its London vault. The bank last year launched a digital asset platform, HSBC Orion, which allows financial institutions to issue blockchain-based versions of financial assets, also known as tokenised securities. «We're seeing increasing demand for custody and fund administration of digital assets from asset managers and asset owners, as this market continues to evolve,» said Zhu Kuang Lee, chief digital, data and innovation officer at HSBC.

XRP, BNB, Cardano, Dogecoin, and Polkadot were trading in the red. Bitcoin was up 1.12% at $35,308 as of 12:05 p.m., while Ethereum was below the $1,900 level. Other popular altcoins, including Solana and Toncoin, rose up to 9%. While BNB fell 2.4% and Polkadot dropped 8%. «Bitcoin is currently trading near the $35,300 mark, while altcoins like Solana and Toncoin have surged by more than 6% and 11%, respectively. This recent price action has pushed the total cryptocurrency market's value to a 16-month high of 1.34 trillion dollars. To maintain its momentum, Bitcoin will need to breach the $35,700 threshold; otherwise, it may find support around the $34,200 mark,» said Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex.

cryptocurrency market cap surged nearly 1% to around $1.33 trillion in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin was up 0.16% at $34,930 as of 12:10 p.m., while Ethereum was just below the $1,900 level. Other popular altcoins, including Dogecoin and Toncoin, rose over 6% each. BNB, Cardano, Solana, Polygon, Polkadot, and Litecoin also surged. Meanwhile, XRP advanced 3% amid Ripple’s involvement with noteworthy projects including a newly announced CBDC pilot in Georgia and its inclusion in Dubai’s virtual assets regime.

Bitcoin’s revival. Gauges tracking the bottom half and 30 mid-tier tokens in MarketVector’s index of the largest 100 digital assets are up 16% and 14% respectively so far in November — exceeding the wider measure’s 4% gain and a 1% rise in Bitcoin. As a result, Bitcoin’s share of the $1.38 trillion crypto market is down to about 49% from a peak of 51.5% in October, CoinGecko data shows. Digital-asset investors often view such a drop as a sign of growing risk appetite. “This rally is definitely broader and more sustained than any price action we have seen since January,” said Richard Galvin, co-founder at Digital Asset Capital Management. “In an environment that’s still relatively thin in regards to liquidity, we’re seeing some material moves to the upside.”

XRP, BNB, Cardano, Dogecoin, Polygon, and Toncoin were trading in the green. Meanwhile, the global cryptocurrency market cap declined 0.14% to around $1.32 trillion in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin was down 0.6% at $34,915 as of 1:10 p.m., while Ethereum was below the $1,900 level. XRP surged over 9%. Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex, said, «Over the past 24 hours, Bitcoin has been hovering around the $35,000 mark. This fluctuation may be attributed to traders cashing in their Bitcoin profits and reallocating them into altcoins. Another potential factor could be the United States reporting a gain of 150,000 jobs in October, falling short of the 180,000 predicted by economists and a decline from September's 297,000 figure.»

Sam Bankman-Fried, the one-time cryptocurrency golden boy accused by US prosecutors of stealing billions of dollars of his customers' money, was found guilty on Thursday on all counts, and now faces up to 110 years behind bars. Following five weeks of trial in New York, the jury reached its decision in just five hours. Sentencing for man widely known as «SBF» will take place at a later date. Meanwhile, following the development, the global cryptocurrency market cap plunged by 1.8% to $1.28 trillion in the last 24 hours.

The cryptocurrency markets were trading higher in Thursday's trading after the US Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged and Chair Jerome Powell hedged on the possible end of the rate hiking cycle. The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday as policymakers struggled to determine whether financial conditions may be tight enough already to control inflation, or whether an economy that continues to outperform expectations may need still more restraint. After the end of a two-day policy meeting, Powell said the better course of action for now, given the uncertainties, was to maintain the Fed's benchmark overnight interest rate in the current 5.25%-5.50% range, and see how job and price data evolve between now and the next policy meeting in December. Meanwhile, after the Fed's decision, the global cryptocurrency market cap surged by 2.45% to over $1.3 trillion in the last 24 hours.

Charles Randell (pictured), was chair of the FCA and PRS between 2018 and 2022.

Bitcoin's price has risen strongly in recent weeks with the United States possibly set to allow a popular type of trading in the cryptocurrency that would further normalise the asset. A 30-percent jump since the end of August has been driven by speculation around the creation of a so-called exchange-traded fund for the asset, which would directly track the price of bitcoin. Spot bitcoin ETF would allow more of the general public to invest in the cryptocurrency without having to directly buy it. «Approval is now (a matter of) when, not if,» Charles Morris, founder of crypto analyst group ByteTree, told AFP.

With Bitcoin still trying to surmount the $35,000 level, analysts have flagged Aave (AAVE),  Solana (SOL), The Sandbox (SAND), Bitcoin Minetrix (BTCMTX), and Meme Kombat (MK) as some of the best crypto to buy now.

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