Hodler’s Digest, February 4-10 – Cointelegraph Magazine

This week's main news

‘Big volume day' for BlackRock as Bitcoin ETFs amount to $1B

Total daily trading volume in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) topped $1 billion on February 7, with BlackRock leading the pack. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seifert described it as a “big volume day” for BlackRock AiShares Bitcoin Trust, which saw daily trading volume of $341.2 million, eclipsing Greyscale Bitcoin Trust's $296.5 million volume, according to Seifert. Meanwhile, Fidelity's FBTC fund came in third with $200 million in volume, while the other seven funds had $188 million in daily volume – bringing their total for the day to over $1 billion.

Monero drops to 5-month low as Binance plans to delist

Binance is canceling Monero (XMR) and other tokens like Aragon, Multichain and Vai on February 20, 2024. The announcement sent XMR's value to a five-month low on February 6. The exchange removes all trading pairs including Monero. They trade with Bitcoin, Ether, Tether and Binance's native coin, BNB. XMR tokens will expire after May 20, 2024. Binance's decision is based on factors such as contribution to the health of the crypto ecosystem, ethical conduct and responsiveness to due diligence requirements, the exchange said.

ARK 21Shares Ethereum ETF created with cash, adds seriousness

ARK 21Shares has revamped its spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) application with a cash generation model – similar to the spot Bitcoin ETF – and plans to take a portion of the ETF's ether to generate additional revenue. According to the cash model, ARK 21Shares will buy Ether equal to the amount of the order and deposit it in the trust account with the custodian. The ARK registry proposes to add a stored substance to the Ether ETF space. According to the application, the ETF will cover Ether from a trusted cold vault balance, and the accumulation of rewards will be considered as income for the trust. In other headlines, the US SEC delayed a decision on approval of an ether ETF proposed by Invesco and Galaxy Digital.

FTX, Alameda transfers $39M to exchanges in 37 days

Since January 2024, data tracked by blockchain analytics firm PeckShield shows that crypto wallets linked to the defunct FTX exchange and its sister company Alameda Research have sent more than $38.8 million in digital assets to multiple crypto exchanges. The fund's moves came as the failed exchange announced its restructuring efforts and plans to repay its customers in full. On January 31, the defunct exchange said in a US court hearing that its restructuring plans did not include relaunching the exchange, but focused on paying its customers in full. However, FTX attorney Andy Dietrich says it's not guaranteed, although the goal is to get customers back.

Crypto exchanges are selling fake IDs that claim to have passed KYC for $15.

A new service called Know Your Customer (KYC) that uses artificial intelligence “neural networks” and “generators” to create fake driver's licenses and passports is said to be able to bypass checks on several crypto exchanges. Fake documents are available for just $15. The site generates real fake driver's licenses and passports from 26 countries, including the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia and several EU countries, and pays in multiple cryptocurrencies through Coinbase's trade payments service. 404 Media reported on February 5 that crypto exchange OKX successfully passed KYC verification using a photo of a British passport, with the ID apparently placed on a bed sheet as if the picture had been taken. .

Winners and losers

At the end of the week, Bitcoin (BTC) at $47,497, Ether (ETH) at $2,491 and XRP at $0.52. According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap is $1.78 trillion.

Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies, the top three altcoin gainers for the week were Dymension (DYM) at 79.19%, Kaspa (KAS) at 31.70%, and BitTorrent (New) (BTT) at 29.38%.

The top three altcoin losers of the week were Monero (XMR) with -27.20%, Jupiter (JUP) -17.89% and Ronin (RON) -10.52%.

Be sure to read Cointelegraph's market analysis for more information on crypto prices.

The most memorable quotes

“If you don't understand the roots and history of the problem, you can't change how society moves, manages, values ​​and stores.”

Monica Long, president of Ripple

“I want to see a future where we're not talking about Web2 versus Web3.”

Khori Whittaker, Executive Director of ENS

“A federal regulator should have the ability to determine whether a stable coin issuer should be prohibited from issuing such assets.”

Janet Allen, United States Treasury Secretary

“Self-auditing, self-verifying, 24-hour publicly visible investments haven't existed until Bitcoin ETFs.”

Darren Feinstein, founder of Core Scientific and Blockchain

“ETFs are eating the world. They've eaten every asset class, and they're having bitcoin dessert.”

Fred Krueger, investor and author

“Digital dollars are happening all over the world, other governments will control dollar digital currencies before the United States. So I think there is a strong need to implement and confirm American leadership.”

Maxine Waters, United States Representative

Forecast of the week

Bitcoin shorts should be patient to ‘squeeze' as BTC price eyes $50k

This week saw Bitcoin's strongest performance since October, leading to some analysis that Bitcoin shorts are playing a dangerous game.

In his latest analysis on X (formerly Twitter), famous anonymous trader Jelle notes, in part, “a strong advance from the mid-range, re-attacking $48,000 as expected.” “Bitcoin's Last Hurdle to Overcome, Not Much Stop at New All-Time Highs After Breakout.”

More cautious on the immediate view, Keith Allan, CEO and founder of trading input Material Indicators, noted that sell-side liquidity is at a two-year high and below $50,000.

“At this stage, FOMO is something to consider before jumping into BTC. There is ~$175M in BTC bid liquidity stacked between here and $50k and ~$50M in bid support up to $43k.” Alan's own section of the X post.

FUD of the week

Hut 8's CEO resigned weeks after the seller's allegations

Bitcoin mining company Hat8 has announced a leadership transition, replacing its CEO, weeks after “pump-and-dump” allegations against the company were published by controversial short-selling firm J Capital Research. In the year Asher Gennot, a member of the company's board of directors, is replacing the former executive. Hat 8 chairman Bill Tye said in the announcement that the company is at a “tipping point” as it has completed its merger with US Bitcoin Corporation (USBTC). The executive added that Gennot brings a “systematic, proven approach” to unlocking the potential of the merger.

Bakkt, once touted as the ‘savior' of Bitcoin, is running low on cash.

Crypto company Bakkt, which is backed by the Intercontinental Exchange, has warned that it may not have enough cash to stay in business in the next 12 months. The company updated its quarterly report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on February 7, warning that it “cannot continue as a going concern”. The company was founded in 2018 by Intercontinental Exchange, which owns the New York Stock Exchange, amid much speculation. Bakht said it is now looking to raise additional capital by issuing securities listed in the public markets to “fund our long-term vision.”

Ransomware Returns: Chainalysis Flags $1B in Payments by 2023

By 2023, criminals have made a record $1 billion in cryptocurrency payments as high-profile institutions and infrastructure are targeted in sophisticated attacks. Recent data from Chinalysis' 2024 “Crypto Crime Report” focused on ransomware suggests that major supply chain attacks have occurred using the ubiquitous file transfer software MOVEit, affecting household names such as the BBC and British Airways. In the year Contributing to the rise of ransomware in 2023 is an increase in the “frequency, scope, and scale of attacks.” A variety of actors have carried out attacks, from individuals and small-time criminals to large syndicates.

The best magazine sections of the week

Real Life Doge at 18: Going to the Moon mm

As SpaceX's Doge-1 spacecraft prepares to launch to the moon, the magazine takes a look back at the colorful history of Dogecoin and the caboose life of its name.

ChatGPT With Nuclear Happy Trigger, SEGA's 80s AI, TAO Increased 90%: AI Eye

AI doomsday scenarios, Bittensor boosted by 90%, SEGA's 1986 AI, GPT-4 is no longer lazy, ChatGPT Apple Vision Pro app, crypto exit strategies and AIs attract travel planning.

Wen Notcoin list? MetalCore Beta and more: Web3 Player

Notcoin has surpassed Axie Infinity's peak user count by 7X, MetalCore CTO advises players to approach release dates with skepticism.

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Editorial staff

Cointelegraph magazine writers and reporters contributed to this article.