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Today, around $3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin options contracts are set to expire on major derivatives exchanges, raising questions about possible impacts on the cryptocurrency’s value. The majority of these options reside on Deribit and CME, indicating significant speculation or hedging strategies against Bitcoin volatility. With 62% of open contracts being call options, there is general optimism, but the impending expiration could generate selling pressure, especially if the price of Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) does not remain above certain critical thresholds, such as the US$ 48 thousand predicted to maximize losses among traders.
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), a global leader in asset management, consolidated its influence in the crypto market by acquiring 122,600 Bitcoins (COIN:BTCUSD) in just six weeks, representing 0.6% of the total in circulation. With this strategic move, the company now has around US$6.31 billion in Bitcoin, positioning itself as the 11th largest holder of the currency. The buying spree started modestly but soon gained momentum, reflecting the growing acceptance of Bitcoin as a legitimate asset class by traditional investors and signaling a significant vote of confidence in the cryptocurrency’s future.
Reddit has joined the select group of companies such as MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in investing in Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) and Ether (COIN:ETHUSD), revealing the strategy in an filing from IPO to SEC. The platform, which seeks to go public on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “RDDT”, also mentioned the acquisition of Ether and Polygon (COIN:MATICUSD) for sales of virtual goods. With sales of US$804 million in 2023 and total assets of US$1.6 billion, Reddit is preparing for public trading in March, seeking to strengthen ownership among its users.
Block (NYSE:SQ), under the leadership of Jack Dorsey, saw a 37% increase in its bitcoin sales in the fourth quarter of 2023, reaching $2.52 billion. Benefiting from the rising price of bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD), the company reported $207 million in gains from its bitcoin holdings. With a portfolio of 8,038 bitcoins, the appreciation contributed significantly to the gross profit of Cash App and Square, Block subsidiaries, which also showed significant growth. Furthermore, the company’s net profit saw a notable turnaround compared to the previous year.
The Uniswap Foundation suggested innovations in the administration of its decentralized exchange project, seeking to encourage a more active and considered delegation of votes. The proposal includes an improvement in the rewards system, benefiting users who delegate and invest their UNI tokens. The intention is to promote a more strategic participation in governance, linking rewards to contributions that favor the growth of the protocol. Voting for this change will take place in two phases, starting March 1. Uniswap’s native token (COIN:UNIUSD) was up 55.5% at the time of writing.
Filecoin (COIN:FILUSD) posted a new annual record, with its token FIL reaching $8.43, driven by a strategic collaboration with Solana (COIN:SOLUSD) and the growing influence of artificial intelligence in the sector. Despite a correction to $8.06 at the time of writing, FIL stands out with an increase of over 37% in the last week and an impressive 63% growth in the last month. The partnership promises to improve Solana’s scalability and security with decentralized Filecoin storage, while the AI trend contributes to market optimism regarding FIL.
The Avalanche network experienced a significant outage, going more than four hours without producing new blocks, an incident attributed to increased signups, as explained by Ava Labs co-founder Kevin Sekniqi. This outage, which has prevented the addition of new blocks since Friday morning, has led to a more than 2% drop in the value of Avalanche’s native token (COIN:AVAXUSD). Meanwhile, the developer community is working to resolve the issue and return to normality on the network.
Worldcoin (COIN:WLDUSD) reached an unprecedented peak of US$8.98, registering a significant increase in its value. Even after a small pullback to $8.32, the token exhibits remarkable growth of 138.52% in a week, 271.45% in a month, and 479.17% in 6 months, raising its market capitalization to US$1.11 billion. The price jump coincides with Worldcoin’s expansion and growing interest in AI technology, reinforced by significant announcements in the sector.
In February, an anonymous Ethereum whale, identified by wallet 0x7a95c, acquired a staggering sum of ETH (COIN:ETHUSD) and stETH (COIN:STETHUSD), totaling $411 million, mostly through Binance. This massive accumulation includes significant transactions of up to 34,000 ETH each, evidenced by data from Spotonchain and analysis from news site CryptoSlate. The whale displays a sophisticated investment strategy, with recent acquisitions bringing its holdings to 132,585 ETH in addition to 5,485 STETH, generating an unrealized profit of $21.13 million. Rumors about the possible connection to Justin Sun and the approval of an Ethereum ETF by the SEC add to the speculation surrounding this notable activity.
Warren Buffett, known for his criticism of Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD), maintains his position, refusing to invest in the cryptocurrency even with its appreciation. However, its holding, Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B), diverges by investing US$1 billion in Nubank (NYSE:NU), a Brazilian digital bank that has stood out in Latin America for its financial inclusion and its opening to the crypto market with Nucrypto. This investment underscores a classic Buffett approach: investing in companies with disruptive models and sustainable growth potential, even in sectors that he personally may not endorse.
PancakeSwap, a decentralized finance (DeFi) platform, will introduce an affiliate model, allowing developers to launch adapted versions of the platform on multiple blockchains. According to developer Chef Mochi, this strategy aims to expand access and opportunities in DeFi, offering technical support and incentives to affiliates. CAKE holders will benefit from affiliated DEX tokens and reduction in CAKE supply through token burning. PancakeSwap, already present on several blockchains, is seeking community feedback on this new initiative, and the price of the native token (COIN:CAKEUST) has risen 8% to $3.12 in the last 24 hours.
“c0ffeebabe.eth”, an ethical hacker, emerged as a hero by preventing a significant loss on Blueberry Protocol, a DeFi platform that supports leveraged lending. In a crisis that could have seen the evaporation of around $1.3 million worth of Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD), the quick action of “c0ffeebabe.eth” ensured the safety of the threatened funds. The incident, which occurred on February 23, highlights the vital importance of white hat hackers in combating exploits in the growing DeFi sector, where recent attacks have raised concerns about the security of digital assets.
Jeffrey Zirlin, one of the creators of Sky Mavis and the popular game Axie Infinity (COIN:AXSUSD), announced that two of his personal wallets were hacked, without affecting the Ronin platform. PeckShield, a blockchain security firm, discovered that a large amount of Ether (COIN:ETHUSD), valued at approximately $9.7 million, was moved to Tornado Cash from the Ronin Bridge. Zirlin assured that the incident did not compromise the operations of Ronin or Sky Mavis, emphasizing the continued security of the platform.
Historically, the relationship between the SEC and the cryptocurrency industry has varied, ranging from initial neglect to a more rigorous stance in recent years. Recently, the SEC has taken a tough approach, regulating through enforcement against major players like Coinbase and Kraken, leaving many in the industry wary of operating in the US. In response, the Lejilex platform, backed by the Crypto Freedom Alliance of Texas, filed a lawsuit challenging the SEC, arguing that secondary sales of digital assets are not securities transactions. This case, reflecting an “impact litigation” strategy, seeks a significant change in the application of securities laws to the crypto sector.
Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken claims the SEC’s charges are in retaliation for its call for better regulation of the crypto industry, expressed in testimony to US Congressional committees. The exchange emphasizes the need for a more fine-tuned regulatory approach and accuses the SEC of exceeding its jurisdiction, especially after alleging that Kraken operated without proper registrations. Kraken sees this as an attempt to intimidate them from exercising their freedom of expression and advocating for a clearer and fairer regulatory environment.
Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) and the Texas Blockchain Council are suing U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Energy, over an inquiry into the energy consumption of Bitcoin miners. They claim that data collection is invasive and lacks legal basis, violating the Bureaucracy Reduction Law and the Administrative Procedure Law. Miners see the action as a political effort, unrelated to network stability, and want to protect their confidential information.
In the COPA trial against Craig Wright, Adam Back presented correspondence with Satoshi Nakamoto to dispute Wright’s claims of being the creator of Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD). The emails, which include discussions of Bitcoin’s precursor Hashcash and references to other digital currency proposals, were used to argue against Wright’s copyright claims on the Bitcoin whitepaper. COPA alleges that such claims harm the development and security of the Bitcoin ecosystem, making the case of public interest.
FTX, now in liquidation, has been granted permission to sell its 7.84% stake in Anthropic, an AI startup. After an initial investment of US$500 million in 2021, the stake is potentially valued at US$1 billion, reflecting Anthropic’s growth. This move is part of FTX’s efforts to reimburse its customers, amid the impending conviction of its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, for fraud.
Pizza Ninjas, a platform dedicated to NFTs, announced the launch of a Nintendo 64 console emulator operating on the Bitcoin blockchain, using the ordinal technique to record data in satoshis. This innovation allows you to play classic titles without a physical console, thanks to Google’s Brotli compression, which significantly reduces file sizes. With this, games like the renowned Goldeneye 64 can be enrolled on the blockchain efficiently and economically, preserving the heritage of classic games in the digital age.
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