2024-02-14 07:57

The airdrop will happen on Feb. 20, and eligible users have until June 20 to claim their tokens Starknet Foundation announced on Wednesday that STRK, the native token for the Ethereum layer-2 blockchain Starknet, will be airdropped on Feb. 20, with roughly 1.3 million wallets eligible to receive it. According to the foundation, there are several types of users that qualify for the 728 million token airdrop, or as they call it “provisions,” and they have until June 20 to claim their tokens. Starknet is a layer-2 blockchain that makes use of zero-knowledge cryptography. The long awaited arrival of the STRK token will be used to fuel “community participation and project governance,” Starknet Foundation said in a press release seen by CoinDesk. "Provisions celebrates our community's hard work in showing how we can and should scale Ethereum for mass adoption,” Diego Olivia, CEO of Starknet Foundation, said in the press release. The qualifications for the STRK airdrop are mainly divided into three groups: Starknet users, developers and contributors to the ecosystem; Ethereum builders and stakers, and non-Web3 open-source developers. The scope of those who qualify are unusual for an airdrop given that groups outside of the immediate Starknet ecosystem are eligible, with Ethereum solo-stakers and liquid staking token users falling in these categories. The foundation attributes their eligibility to the fact that Starknet is secured by Ethereum. Furthermore, non-blockchain open-source developers are eligible for STRK tokens, making it the first airdrop that non-Web3 users can qualify for, according to an infographic. The foundation added that its aim with this is “to set a new precedent in inclusivity.” The foundation also mentioned that for those who didn't qualify for this airdrop, “there will be further provisions in the future,” meaning there will be more airdrops. “We see how much attention this is bringing to Starknet and we’re flattered,” Eli Ben-Sasson, who sits on the board of the Starknet Foundation and is the CEO of StarkWare, the primary developer firm behind Starknet, said in the press release. https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2024/02/14/layer-2-chain-starknets-much-awaited-strk-token-airdrop-coming-next-week/

2024-02-14 06:18

While notional open interest has surged, the overall leverage build-up is still relatively low. The dollar-valued locked-in open futures and perpetual futures contracts have topped the $21 billion mark for the first time since November 2021. Still, the overall leverage in the market remains low, indicating low odds of sudden liquidations-induced price volatility. The notional open interest, or the dollar value locked in the number of open or active bitcoin (BTC) futures contracts, has risen to a 26-month high, according to CoinGlass. As of writing, open interest in perpetuals and standard futures stood at over $21 billion, with bitcoin trading at $49,570 in the spot market. The open interest tally has increased 22% this year, nearing the record $24 billion seen in mid-November 2021 when bitcoin traded above $65,000. The renewed interest in leveraged products like futures alongside a price rise represents an influx of new money on the bullish side and confirms the uptrend. Bitcoin has rallied 28% in just over three weeks, mainly due to strong inflows into the recently launched spot ETFs in the U.S. Leverage, however, magnifies both profits and losses. Hence, a notable rise in futures open interest is often viewed as a harbinger of price volatility. That said, the overall leverage in the market remains low, suggesting a low probability of sudden long (buy positions) liquidations leading to a price crash. Liquidation refers to the forced closure of bullish long or bearish short positions by exchanges on account of a margin shortage. Mass liquidations are known to inject bullish/bearish volatility into the market. Bitcoin's estimated leverage ratio has recently ticked slightly higher from 0.18 to 0.20, but it is nowhere near the levels seen in August last year, data from CryptoQuant show. Besides, at 430,500, futures open interest in BTC terms remains well below the peak of 660,000 reached in October 2022, per CoinGlass. "The leverage build-up is still relatively low, judging by the BTC futures open interest in BTC terms (to remove the price effect) – it’s climbing fast, but it’s not at frothy levels yet," Noelle Acheson, author of the popular Crypto is Macro Now newsletter said in Tuesday's edition. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/02/14/bitcoin-futures-open-interest-tops-21b-highest-since-november-2021/

2024-02-14 04:59

Token unlocks refer to the release of previously locked or restricted tokens into the market. Token unlocks could add to selling pressure if demand does not keep up. Data shows that some $95 million of SAND is set to be unlocked on Wednesday. Tokens of key gaming and NFT projects Sandbox and ApeCoin could see short-term selling pressure as planned unlocks release a cumulative $125 million worth of the tokens in the coming days. Token unlocks refer to the release of previously locked or restricted tokens into the market. These tokens become available for trading, buying, and selling after the end of their vesting period – and are typically vested for early investors, treasury, and public sale investors. Data shows $95 million worth of Sandbox’s SAND will be released in early European hours on Wednesday, while nearly $25 million of ApeCoin (APE) will be released Friday. The unlock represents 10% of SAND’s total supply and will bring the total circulating supply to nearly 90%. SAND is used for activities in the Sandbox’s virtual worlds and has a $1 billion market capitalization at press time. On the other hand, ApeCoin’s unlock represents just over 2.5% of the circulating supply - and over 35% of the token’s total supply will remain unlocked. These tokens are vested and allocated to the creator Yuga Labs, the ApeCoin DAO, and other network stakeholders. SAND prices were down 2.3% in the past 24 hours, data shows, while APE is up 1.6%. Gaming remains one of the hottest crypto narratives for 2024 among traders because crypto games onboard users to the broader crypto ecosystem and reward players in crypto for using their platforms. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/02/14/sandboxs-sand-slides-apecoin-steady-ahead-of-125m-in-unlocks/

2024-02-14 04:25

An interest rate cut isn't likely on the table, but risk assets are doing just fine Risk assets like bitcoin appear resilient to sticky U.S. inflation and declining odds of a Fed rate cut in the first half of the year, one analyst said. Prediction markets seem confident that BTC will hit an all-time high this year Risk assets like bitcoin (BTC) are doing just fine, an analyst with Truflation said after the cryptocurrency suffered moderate losses Tuesday following the hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation report, which dented hopes for a Fed rate cut. The U.S. consumer price index report for January showed prices went up for health and utilities, driven by the tight labor market, while food, alcoholic beverages, apparel, and household durables became cheaper due to consumers returning to normal purchasing behaviors after the holidays, Truflation wrote in a recent report. Bitcoin fell from $50,000 to around $48,800 after the U.S. consumer price index figure saw traders push out the timing of the first rate cut to July. The dip, however, was shortlived, with prices leveling off at around $49,500 as the Asian business day began, according to CoinDesk Indicies data. The CoinDesk 20 Index, which gauges the performance of top digital assets, has declined 0.73% in the past 24 hours. "While we saw a small pullback in bitcoin on the back of the news, in general, risk assets seem to be acting as if a March rate cut was still on the table, even though the vast majority of market participants don’t expect this," Oliver Rust, head of product at independent economic data provider Truflation said in an email interview. A Polymarket contract gives a 59% chance that bitcoin will hit an all-time high in 2024, while another gives a 66% chance that BTC will hit an all-time high before ETH. "Until we see a softening in the economic data, rate cuts are likely to be off the table till May or June," Rust continued. "But perhaps markets have simply accepted the fact that higher-for-longer interest rates are here to stay and have learned to live with this new reality now." https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/02/14/risk-assets-like-bitcoin-are-defying-low-fed-rate-cut-expectations-analyst/

2024-02-13 21:59

The shares of the popular trading platform rose 15% after beating earnings and revenue estimates. Robinhood saw more crypto trading volume in the fourth quarter. The company beat both earnings and sales estimates for the quarter. Its peer, Coinbase, is reporting this week and could see similar results. Robinhood (HOOD), the popular trading platform, said in a statement that its crypto revenue rose 10% versus a year earlier in the fourth quarter, reaching $43 million, as more users traded crypto. This could bode well for crypto trading platform peer Coinbase (COIN), where trading volume is one of the key contributors of revenue. The company said in a presentation that the notional volume of the crypto trading it handled was up 89% compared to the previous quarter due to more customers placing a higher volumes of trades. The higher volume isn't a surprise as prices in the digital asset market surged on optimism that spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) would get approved in the U.S. (That did come to pass in January.) Robinhood said that its transaction-based revenues for the quarter were up 8% from the previous year, mainly driven by crypto trading. Coinbase is reporting its earnings on Thursday and may see similar results for its trading volume – all else being equal. COIN shares were up slightly in the post-market trading on Tuesday. Robinhood also expects to win more crypto trading market share this year and expand internationally. Most recently, it started letting European Union customers trade crypto on its platform. "2023 was a strong year as our product velocity continued to accelerate, our trading market share increased, and we started to expand globally," Vlad Tenev, CEO and co-founder of Robinhood, said in a statement. "And we're off to an even better start in 2024, as we've already brought in more Funded Customers and Net Deposits through the first half of Q1 than we did in all of Q4 2023," he added. The trading platform also said that its overall fourth-quarter revenue was $471 million, beating the average analyst estimate of $454.7 million, according to FactSet data. Meanwhile, earnings per share was $0.03, beating the estimate for a $0.01 loss per share. The company's shares rose about 15% on Tuesday after the results were released. For the year, the stock has fallen nearly 7% versus the S&P 500's 4.4% advance. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/02/13/robinhoods-higher-crypto-revenue-could-be-positive-for-coinbase-earnings/

2024-02-13 19:39

The super PAC said it's spending millions to oppose the Democrat lawmaker in her Senate race, but her campaign says it's a "scheme to mislead voters." U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, a prominent Democrat progressive from California, has a crypto target on her back as one of the industry's leading campaign-finance organizations opposes her with ads. Porter's campaign said that billionaires and corporate interests are trying to rig the March primary election with misinformation. The U.S. crypto industry's most prominent campaign-finance organization, Fairshake, is going after Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), spending a part of its war chest to try to derail the progressive lawmaker's Senate bid. A new video ad attempts to skewer Porter's own campaign fundraising and is part of what the group said is a multi-million-dollar effort in California and online. "Despite her claims, Porter has taken campaign cash from the big banks, big pharma, and big oil and her super PAC is spending big to mislead Californians about her record," according to a statement from Fairshake, a political action committee (PAC) supported by crypto firms including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), ARK Invest, Circle, Ripple and Coinbase (COIN). Apart from criticism of the crypto mining sector's energy usage, Porter hasn't been among the more outspoken crypto critics. Her campaign said that California voters "will see through this scheme to mislead voters ahead of the March primary," according to spokesperson Lindsay Reilly. "Katie believes in the free market and that consumer protections pair well with financial innovation – but that’s not what this is about," Reilly said in an emailed statement. "It's about billionaires and corporate special interests using misinformation to rig our elections." Recent tallies of contributions to Fairshake put the industry super PAC's funding at more than $80 million. That doesn't yet mark a new high for crypto's political coffers. In the last U.S. campaign cycle, FTX alone spent at a similar level on candidates when its executives donated to one in three members of Congress, though that spending is now under a cloud as the bankruptcy has sought to claw it all back and U.S. authorities had investigated whether former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried violated campaign laws but decided not to pursue it with another trial. In the current political landscape, crypto dollars had already been devoted against another Democratic lawmaker, too. The Cedar Innovation Foundation, which is backed by crypto interests who haven't identified themselves, has been gunning for Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee that has so far stood in the way of digital assets legislation in this congressional session. The group paid for ads in Ohio demanding Brown stand up to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler. Read More: Fairshake Super PAC Raises $78M to Support Crypto Candidates in 2024 U.S. Election https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2024/02/13/crypto-political-group-fairshake-targets-california-democrat-sen-katie-porter/