The XBO Weekly #17 – Crypto News
Bear market rally raises expectations of a market reversal.
Crypto surprised the markets for a second week in a row, with leading currencies Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) rising close to 22%, to $21k and $1550, respectively, bringing their total year-to-date gains to about 30% and effectively erasing post-FTX losses. Aptos (APT) and Decentraland (MANA) were the top gainers this week, climbing 93% to $7.90 and 70% to $0.68, respectively. Solana (SOL) ranked fifth and rose 45% to $23 following a tweet of support by Vitalik Buterin and the launch of the meme coin BONK, which brought in new users. SOL, which lost 80% and fell to $8 by the end 2022 after major investor FTX went bankrupt, has now regained two-thirds of its value. Despite the optimism, analysts caution investors as little has changed in terms of recession and inflation forecasts, interest rates, and quantitative easing policies.
Samsung Investments to offer Bitcoin Futures ETF
Government and institutional investors' growing interest in cryptocurrencies prompted Samsung Asset Management Hong Kong (SAMHK) to list the Samsung Bitcoin Futures Active ETF on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The first Bitcoin futures market in Asia began trading a $70 million Hong Kong Crypto Futures ETF in 2022. The filing, which is backed by the Samsung brand, makes Bitcoin investment more accessible to mainstream investors, who are often hesitant to manage their own private keys. Hong Kong is striving to become a regional cryptocurrency center by promoting its powerful regulatory structure.
Avalanche and AWS deliver blockchain tech to businesses and governments
The most recent partnership between Ava Labs Avalanche and Amazon's cloud computing platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is intended to help the institutional adoption of cryptocurrency. The partnership will make it easier for developers to launch and manage nodes on the Avalanche blockchain, strengthening and expanding the network. AWS is already used by several other blockchain projects to power their networks, including Ethereum. AVAX's trading volume and price increased in response to the announcement before leveling off close to its current price of $16.50. The token is still trading at a 90% discount to its all-time high established in October 2021.
XBO featured Coin of the Week – USD Coin (USDC)
USDC is an open-source, smart contract-based stable coin. It is issued by peer-to-peer payments technology company Circle and managed by Centre, a consortium founded by Circle and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. Stablecoins enable the hedging of price volatility while trading with blockchain-based assets. Although USDC has a $44 billion market value compared to USDT 's $66 billion, it has grown in popularity and transfer volumes after the fall of FTX and is regarded by some in the cryptocurrency industry as a potentially safer alternative.
Buy, Sell, or Swap USDC - Simply and securely, with XBO.
Disclaimer: The above does not constitute financial advice. It is only intended for informational and educational purposes.
