HUT Hut 8 Corporation

Bitcoin surpasses $57K; BlackRock boosts ETF market

The price of Bitcoin (COIN:BTCUSD) surpassed $57,000, a milestone not seen since the last market peak in November 2021, accumulating an annual growth of over 30%. The price increase was spurred by ETFs and Bitcoin acquisitions by MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), boosting confidence in the digital sector. Bitfinex investors took the lead, acquiring $123 million in Bitcoin at the start of the trading day in Asia. The liquidation of short positions and significant purchases on Binance also helped strengthen the upward trend, as usual, driving the broader market.

This advance coincides with BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (NASDAQ:IBIT), which reached a record daily trading volume of over $1 billion, positioning it as one of the most traded ETFs and highlighting its leadership in the US Bitcoin ETF market since its approval in January. The fund, now with $7.1 billion in assets, dominated 41% of the daily volume among Bitcoin ETFs, signaling growing institutional interest and renewing optimism around cryptocurrency, especially with the approaching halving event that promises to reduce the supply of new Bitcoins.

Rise of meme tokens in crypto markets

Prominent meme tokens on the Ethereum and Solana networks, like Pepe (COIN:PEPEUSD) and Dogwifhat (WIF), saw a significant increase of up to 52.4% in one day. This growth reflects a growing trend of investing in meme coins to capitalize on blockchain development, creating a cascading effect of appreciation in tokens from other platforms, with an average advance of 13% in 24 hours.

AERO skyrockets with investment from Base Ecosystem Fund

The AERO token, from Aerodrome Finance, saw a leap of 161% in the last 24 hours, after the Base Ecosystem Fund, backed by CB Ventures, acquired a position in it. Aerodrome, a leader on the Base blockchain, holds over 30% of the market with a TVL of $132 million. The initiative signals strong support for the development of projects on Base, promising a bright future for the platform.

Global expansion boosts Circle’s USDC

USDC (COIN:USDCUSD), the second-largest stablecoin by market value, is experiencing notable expansion. Driven by increasing global adoption and a rise in liquidity, USDC’s supply has grown by over $3.5 billion since December 2023, resulting in a market value of $28 billion, as reported by Coinbase. This growth, surpassing that of its competitor USDT (COIN:USDTUSD), reflects growing confidence and institutional and retail demand for USDC, especially outside the United States.

Delay in Do Kwon’s extradition may prevent court appearance

Kwon Do-hyeong, co-founder of Terraform Labs, may not be present at the SEC’s US trial on March 25 due to complications in his extradition. According to Reuters, his lawyer reported that judicial errors in Montenegro delayed the process. Despite this, Kwon does not wish to postpone the trial date, where he faces fraud charges related to the collapse of the Terra-Luna project, which resulted in significant losses for investors.

Arweave launches public testnet of Arweave AO for advanced scalability

On February 27, Arweave (COIN:ARUSD) unveiled the testnet of Arweave AO, an advancement in its blockchain network promising superior scalability. The initiative seeks to engage the community and technology enthusiasts, building on Arweave’s data storage platform to support various applications, such as social networks and AI. The network, already operating on 220 machines, aims to modularize the blockchain architecture for higher transaction and processing capacity. With the integration of an operating system and Lua programming support (COIN:LUAUSD), as well as compatibility with Ethereum (COIN:ETHUSD) and other protocols via WebAssembly, Arweave AO focuses on robust data storage, preparing for wide applicability, including in AI.

Hut 8 expands mining in Texas with innovative strategy

Hut 8 (NASDAQ:HUT), a Bitcoin mining giant (COIN:BTCUSD), plans to open a new facility in Texas, investing its accumulated Bitcoins. The facility, scheduled for the second quarter, will focus on reducing costs, with expenses 30% lower than usual. According to CEO Asher Genoot, this strategic move seeks to strengthen the company’s balance sheet and seize future growth opportunities, aligning with Hut 8’s expansion vision.

OKX debuts cryptocurrency platform in Turkey

OKX, one of the global leaders in cryptocurrency trading volume, announced the opening of its new exchange in Turkey, marking a significant step in its international expansion. OKX TR will offer Turkish users the convenience of making deposits and withdrawals in Turkish liras, in addition to support in two languages: Turkish and English.

HTX re-applies for license in Hong Kong

HTX, a cryptocurrency exchange associated with Justin Sun and formerly known as Huobi, re-applied for a VATP license in Hong Kong after withdrawing its initial application. The renewal of the process, highlighted on the SFC website, occurs without explanation for the withdrawal of the previous request made by Huobi HK. This move comes amid a reinforced warning from the SFC for unregistered platforms to comply by certain dates or cease operations.

Binance Labs expands support for startups with investment in Babylon

Binance Labs, the venture capital division of Binance, invested in Babylon, an innovator in the Bitcoin staking protocol (COIN:BTCUSD), reinforcing its interest in staking and re-staking startups. Although the invested amount was not disclosed, Babylon, which has already raised millions in previous rounds, is preparing to launch its testnet, promising to integrate Bitcoin into the Proof-of-Stake economy and strengthen the security of PoS blockchains.