The XBO Weekly #19 – Crypto News
Weekly Market Wrap: Bitcoin leaps above $23K after its first-ever weekly ‘death cross’
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, seems to be at a crossroads, with a ‘golden cross’ that happened earlier this month and the first in its history weekly ‘death cross’ last week.
In a week from February 10 to February 17, Bitcoin (BTC) rose 8.86% and was trading at $23,764 on Friday evening in Hong Kong. Ether (ETH) followed with a 7.86% increase in the same period.
Most crypto analysts agree that the neutrality between the bulls and the bears will continue, while some expect a turn of events as the next year’s halving event grows nearer.
Aziz Kenjaev, head of partnerships at decentralized crypto derivatives exchange GammaX, took to LinkedIn to say that he expects “a slightly sideways move”, as the market needs “to calm down before further impulses”. He wrote that as the crypto market is more focused on the further development of the ecosystem and the interconnectivity between the decentralized and centralized, the regulations and lawsuit cases happening in that regard will strongly affect the market going further. He also notes that we need to pay closer attention to the deployments of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), as the governments try to recover the money spent in recent years by dipping into the Web3.
According to CoinMarketCap data, the global crypto market cap was at $1.09T on Friday at 7 p.m. in Hong Kong, up 6.86% from $1.02T a week prior.
El Salvador plans to open ‘Bitcoin Embassy’ in Texas
El Salvador ambassador to the U.S. Milena Mayorga shared on Twitter that she had met with Joe Esparza, Texas Deputy Secretary of State, to discuss the opening of the ‘Bitcoin Embassy’ in Texas. While Esparza confirmed that they have met to talk about “opportunities for cultural and commercial exchange,” he did not elaborate any further.
For now, it remains unclear what will the embassy, if established, do other than educate the public on the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
A similar initiative of a ‘Bitcoin office’ was opened last year by El Salvador in Lugano, Switzerland. The office aimed at spreading the adoption of the cryptocurrency and supporting projects that foster “the exchange of students and talents between El Salvador and Lugano, as was announced by the countries at the time.
UAE central bank plans to issue CBDC
The central bank of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced its nine-step Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program on Sunday, with the issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC} as part of the first stage.
During this stage, the project will set up a "series of digital payment infrastructures and services", including the issuance of a CBDC for "cross-border and domestic uses." According to the announcement, these “digital payment initiatives will drive financial inclusion, promote payment innovation, security and efficiency, and achieve a cashless society."
XBO featured Coin of the Week – Solana (SOL)
SOL is the native token of the Solana blockchain and one of the fastest-growing cryptocurrencies in the market. It has facilitated almost 100B transactions since its launch in March 2021. It is also famous for being one of the most economical altcoins, with the average transaction cost coming at $0.00025.
While there are a little under 300M SOLs in circulation at the moment, the Solana Foundation has announced that a total of 489M tokens will be released.
SOL gained 16.85% last week (12-17 February) and reached $23.17.
Buy, Sell, or Swap SOL securely at XBO.com.
Disclaimer: Our content does not constitute financial advice. It is only intended for informational and educational purposes.
