2024-02-15 15:50

The company was the owner of 190,000 bitcoins as of the end of January. With bitcoin's (BTC) price rise to just shy of $53,000, MicroStrategy (MSTR), the largest corporate owner of the crypto has seen its holdings move above $10 billion, amassing a profit of more than $4 billion. According to the company’s most recent investor presentation, MicroStrategy at the end of January held 190,000 bitcoins purchased for a total of $5.93 billion, or $31,224 per coin. MicroStrategy began acquiring bitcoin in the second quarter of 2020, and has purchased additional tokens every quarter since. In December last year, the company was sitting on a profit of nearly $2 billion, but that's since doubled thanks to bitcon's more than 20% rally since the start of 2024. Bitcoin rose to $52,800 early Thursday morning, bringing the value of MSTR's holdings to just above $10 billion and its profit to more than $4 billion. The price has since pulled back somewhat, trading at $52,000 at press time. MicroStrategy co-founder and executive chairman Michael Saylor recently said that the listing of the spot bitcoin ETFs is pushing up the token’s price as it's brought about a massive imbalance in the supply/demand equation thanks to a decade of pent-up yearning for a retail accessible BTC product. MSTR shares were flat in Thursday morning trade and up 21% year-to-date. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/02/15/michael-saylors-microstrategy-bitcoin-bet-tops-4b-in-profit/

2024-02-15 10:16

The wallet has been the victim of multiple cyber attacks during 2023. U.S. cyber authorities are investigating a possible vulnerability in the Binance Trust Wallet iOS app. The vulnerability would allow attackers to steal money by guessing security words known as mnemonics. A potential vulnerability for the iOS version of "Binance Trust Wallet" has been listed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a U.S. agency that sets best practices and standards for technology and cyber security. The vulnerability was added to the CVE database, which lists serious issues that could have, or have already, caused material damage or losses, on Feb. 8. It is being investigated by NIST to determine the real-world severity of the vulnerability. The flaw has already been exploited in the wild, according to the database entry. In July 2023, it allowed attackers to guess security words and steal money from digital wallets because of the way it used the trezor-crypto library. "An attacker can systematically generate mnemonics for each timestamp within an applicable timeframe, and link them to specific wallet addresses in order to steal funds from those wallets," NIST wrote in its update. Trust Wallet suffered multiple cyber incidents in 2023, generating over $4 million in losses. The wallet was acquired by Binance in 2018. Binance has since released its own Web3 wallet. "Trust Wallet is now a separate legal entity that is not part of the Binance group and operates independently from Binance.com," a Binance spokesperson said in an email. Trust Wallet's X (formerly Twitter) profile has not posted about the vulnerability. https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/02/15/us-cyber-authorities-investigate-binance-trust-wallet-ios-app-for-vulnerabilities/

2024-02-15 09:50

The present bias towards long positions means potential for a long squeeze, where investors who hold long positions feel the need to sell into a falling market to cut their losses. SOL tokens are up 15% in the past two weeks and are among the best-performing major tokens. Levered bullish bets make a bulk of futures open interest for SOL, data shows, but may create a long squeeze event. Bets on futures tracking Solana’s SOL have risen to a lifetime peak of $1.7 billion in the past week, with bulls leading the charge. Notional open interest – or the dollar value locked in the number of unsettled futures contracts – has risen over $700 million since the start of February to $1.7 billion, with $400 million added since Feb.8. This exceeds the $1.4 billion figure set in late December, the previous record when the ecosystem saw a meme coin-led frenzy. Data from tracking service Coinalyze shows over 63% of positions are long or betting on higher prices – implying upward of $1 billion in bullish futures bets. Increasing open interest represents new or additional money coming into the market amid the price rally. Leverage, however, is a double-edged sword. It magnifies both profits and losses and is known to inject volatility into the market. The use of high amounts of leverage can often lead to a sudden and rapid movement of any token, as a price rise or fall may trigger a liquidation event. The present bias towards long positions means potential for a long squeeze, where investors who hold long positions feel the need to sell into a falling market to cut their losses, thereby creating a liquidation cascade. A similar build-up in late December peaked at $1.37 billion – preceding a drop from $120 to $83, or 30%, at the time. That said, SOL’s open interest of $1.7 billion still accounts for less than 5% of its market capitalization of $50.55 billion, which means volatility in futures may not have a long-lasting impact on the spot price. SOL prices are up 15% in the past two weeks, data shows, leading growth among other major tokens. (Omkar Godbole contributed to this story.) https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/02/15/solanas-sol-futures-rack-up-1b-in-record-bullish-bets/

2024-02-15 09:22

Ether's 14-week RSI has topped 70, a threshold that marked previous parabolic bull runs. Ether’s 14-week RSI has topped 70, a threshold that marked previous parabolic bull runs. The bullish signal is consistent with excitement surrounding Ethereum’s impending Dencun upgrade and the potential debut of spot ETFs. Crypto traders may want to pull up ether’s (ETH) relative strength index (RSI) on their screens as the popular technical analysis tool is signaling uptrend acceleration ahead. RSI, developed by J. Welles Wilder, is a momentum indicator that measures the speed and change of price movements over a set period, usually 14 days or 14 weeks. The indicator oscillates between 0 and 100, with readings above 70, indicating strong upward momentum instead of overbought conditions as popularly perceived. Meanwhile, readings below 30 show strong downward momentum. EEther’s14-week RSI has crossed above 70. Parabolic bull runs unfolded following similar crossovers in January 2016, February 2017, December 2017, July and November 2020 and March 2021. The bullish signal on the RSI means ether could play catch up with bitcoin and the broader market. While ether has rallied 60% to $2,775 since early October, market leader bitcoin and the CoinDesk 20 index have gained 100% and 89%, respectively. Ethereum has been in the news lately for several reasons, including the debut of the new token standard, ERC-404, which will allow multiple wallets to own fractionalized NFTS, and the impending Dencun upgrade, expected to reduce transaction costs significantly. Besides, there is excitement about the potential debut of spot-based ETH exchange-traded funds in the U.S. later this year. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/02/15/jump-in-ethers-relative-strength-index-warrants-your-attention-here-is-why/

2024-02-15 09:14

Several traditional financial firms are vying for an ether exchange-traded fund in the U.S., a move that is boosting the token’s medium-term outlook. Ethereum broke above $2,700 for the first time since May 2022. “The 15% rise in less than nine days suggests impressive buying interest after the bulls reloaded their positions in January,” one analyst said. The ether (ETH) price rose through the $2,700 mark early Thursday for the first time since May 2022 as traders bet on the possibility of a spot ETH exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval in the U.S., a move that could boost its institutional appeal. As of Thursday, Franklin Templeton, BlackRock, Fidelity, Ark and 21Shares, Grayscale, VanEck, Invesco and Galaxy, and Hashdex, had all submitted applications for an ether ETF. They already offer spot bitcoin (BTC) ETFs, which were introduced mid-January. Since then, the funds have accumulated $11 billion worth of BTC and helped propel the price of the largest cryptocurrency through $52,000. A similar dynamic could drive demand for ETH, market observers say. Another bullish driver is that regulated ether products could also offer yearly rewards of up to 5% as tokens are staked. Bitcoin does not. Such products are already planned for offering in parts of Europe. ETH rose as much as 7% over 24 hours before retreating. Open interest, or the number of unsettled futures contracts tracking ether prices, has risen to over $9 billion as of Thursday – a nearly 30% rise from the start of February. Bullish bets account for 57% of futures positions in the past 24 hours, Coinalyze data shows. Traders say ether could be headed back to its 2022 highs in the coming months. The token’s lifetime peak was nearly $5,000 in November 2021. “Possibly as part of a new wave of growth, ETH could quickly find itself approaching $3500 - returning to the April 2022 peak,” Alex Kuptsikevich, a FxPro senior market analyst, said in an email to CoinDesk. “The 15% rise in less than nine days suggests impressive buying interest after the bulls reloaded their positions in January,” he said. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/02/15/ether-traders-target-35k-as-eth-jumps-on-etf-expectations/

2024-02-15 08:55

ARK sold $34.3 million of shares in the crypto exchange, which is due to report earnings after the U.S. market closes. ARK sold $34.3 million worth of shares from three different funds, according to an emailed daily trading report. Coinbase has advanced 19% since the firm's previous sale and is due to report earnings after the market close. ARK Invest, the Cathie Wood-run investment vehicle, sold Coinbase (COIN) stock for the first time in a month on Wednesday, a day before the crypto exchange was due to report fourth-quarter earnings. ARK sold $34.3 million worth of shares from three different funds, according to an emailed daily trading report. The last time it reported selling the stock was Jan. 11. Coinbase, the only U.S.-listed crypto exchange, has climbed 19% since then, including a 14% jump yesterday that took the share price to $160.38 as bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, climbed through $52,000. The Nasdaq Composite stock index gained 5.9% in the same period. The exchange is expected to post stronger earnings and revenue when it reports results after the market closes today, fueled by increased trading volume as the crypto market rallied. Robinhood, a trading platform that also covers crypto, reported a 10% increase in crypto revenue in the quarter. The investment firm sold 30,009 shares from its Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF), 152,600 from the Innovation ETF (ARKK) and 31,459 from the Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW). https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/02/15/cathie-woods-ark-invest-sells-coinbase-shares-for-first-time-in-a-month/