The latest moves in crypto markets, in context By Lyllah Ledesma, CoinDesk reporter Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here. |
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Welcome to Thursday! Here's what's happening in crypto today: |
- AVAX surges on Thursday as the protocol launched its network update "Banff 8."
- A bankruptcy-focused firm is offering put options to protect funds on crypto exchanges.
- Chainalysis cuts headcount by 5%.
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CoinDesk Market Index (CMI): 1,132 +4.6%
Bitcoin (BTC): $23,823 +3.2%
Ether (ETC): $1,673 +5.8%
S&P 500 futures: 4,148.50 +0.4%
FTSE 100: 7,794.00 +0.4%
Treasury Yield 10 Years: 3.4% −0.1 |
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Layer 1 Avalanche's AVAX rallied 15% on Thursday following the protocol's network update called "Banff 8" that went live. AVAX also witnessed a strong uptick over January, posting gains of 80%. The token was trading at around $22 at the time of writing. The protocol has also seen a number of announcements this week with IntainMarkets, a platform for trading tokenized asset-backed securities building as an Avalanche subnet and decentralized exchange, Dexalot, also launching as a subnet. |
AVAX 24-hour price chart (CoinDesk)
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Bankruptcy-focused investment firm Cherokee Acquisitions has started offering what it calls "put options" to crypto investors to protect their funds from potential bankruptcy of major exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and Kraken, CoinDesk learned Wednesday from the company. The put options will protect account holders' deposits on the above listed exchanges, paying back 100% of the assets in the account if the exchange files for bankruptcy protection within the contract period. Blockchain analytics company Chainalysis is cutting headcount as it reorganizes to adjust to challenges in the crypto market. The New York-based firm, which specializes in analyzing and tracking crypto transactions for risk-management purposes, said the reorganization will primarily affect its "go-to-market" team. The cuts will affect less than 5% of Chainalysis' staff, the company said. The firm said it employs over 900 people, meaning the cuts would amount to 40-50 jobs. |
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Market Insight: Bullish 'Golden Cross' Signal
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Bitcoin (BTC) and Wall Street's benchmark equity index, the S&P 500, are on the verge of hitting an easy-to-track bullish technical signal, the golden cross, that often makes traders giddy with delight. A golden cross occurs when the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) of the security's price moves above its 200-day SMA, producing a cross on the price chart. Because moving averages are backward-looking indicators, the signal tells us only that the market's short-term gains have surpassed its long-term gains. Still, chart analysts and traders see it as a harbinger of higher prices over the long run. "The winds of change have started to blow with the increasing likelihood of bullish golden crosses in the near future," analysts at Valkyrie recently noted in a newsletter, referring to the impending crossover on the daily bitcoin and S&P 500 charts. |
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- The chart compare the Fed funds rate, the Federal Reserve's benchmark borrowing cost, with the U.S. core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) from 2000 to date.
- The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, lifting the borrowing cost above the core PCE, or core inflation, for the first time since 2019.
- It shows the central bank has moved closer to a move away from liquidity tightening that roiled the crypto market last year.
- Historically, borrowing cost has been 6% points above core PCE when the Fed cuts rates.
- Source: Macrobond, ING
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Disclaimer: The information presented in this message is intended as a news item that provides a brief summary of various events and developments that affect, or that might in the future affect, the value of one or more of the cryptocurrencies described above. The information contained in this message, and any information liked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. The information presented herein is accurate only as of its date, and it was not prepared by a research analyst or other investment professional. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency before deciding to purchase or sell any such instruments. | |
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Network Update Lifts AVAX