Month: February 2025

Australian Retirement Fund AMP Seeks Bitcoin Exposure with $27 Million Investment

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AMP’s Chief Investment Officer, Anna Shelly, highlighted that customers in the fund’s balanced and growth options are most likely to have exposure to Bitcoin. While AMP embraces Bitcoin, other major funds have opted not to follow it, citing concerns over Bitcoin’s volatility and lack of yield. Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock echoed these concerns, stating that Bitcoin is unsuitable for the Australian economy. In a major announcement, Australia’s retirement fund AMP announced an investment of $27 million in Bitcoin thereby making a significant move in the asset class. This makes…

CFTC Announces Record $17.1B in Crypto Enforcement Actions in 2024

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The CFTC secured $17.1 billion in fiscal year 2024, primarily from cryptocurrency enforcement efforts. The collapse of FTX led to a historic $12.7 billion recovery, the largest in CFTC history. Binance was fined $1.35 billion, with CEO Changpeng Zhao personally paying $150 million in penalties. The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) its historic haul for fiscal year 2024, boasting an eye-popping $17.1 billion in monetary relief. Most of this staggering figure emerged from an intense focus on cryptocurrency enforcement, marking a seismic shift in regulatory oversight. Of the…

Binance Fixes Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) Token Glitch, Offers Generous Airdrop

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Binance compensates users with a 135 million PENGU token airdrop after data glitch. Trader earns $8.36M in 20 minutes by capitalizing on PENGU token’s price surge. has arrested the technical situation that earlier affected its listing of Pudgy Penguins (PENGU) tokens. As the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange explained, the issues began as a result of a delay in updating data from CoinMarketCap. This meant that there were inconsistencies in the information on the market about the token’s capitalization and valuation. Binance Announces Compensation Plan As users noticed the discrepancies, Binance…

Bitcoin Options Data Shows Caution among Traders, What’s Next?

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Short-term risk reversals on Deribit turned negative, with bearish block trades including short positions on $108,000 calls. This contrasts with recent weeks where traders exhibited strong bullish call biases. Traders fear Wednesday’s Federal Reserve announcement of a 25 basis point rate cut may include signals of slower rate reductions for 2025. Bitcoin price continues to extend its weekly gains beyond 10% hitting a fresh all-time high of $107,700 earlier today. Although BTC continues to smash new records, the options data shows that traders aren’t chasing new highs for the world’s…

Binance Report: Ethereum’s Market Share Hits 2021 Low, Altcoin Dominance Surges to 28.2%

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Ethereum’s market share drops to 13.1% amid competition from altcoins like Solana, which grew 131.7% in 2024. The Dencun upgrade reduced Layer 2 fees but led to Ethereum’s lowest Layer 1 fee revenue in years. Future upgrades, like Pectra, target scalability, but Ethereum faces rising app-chain and alt-L1 competition. Binance Research recently published a report titled “”, analyzing Ethereum’s shifting role in the crypto ecosystem and exploring major trends influencing its value. According to the report, Ethereum has been a cornerstone of the blockchain revolution, but its place in the…

Brazil’s Banking Giant Itaú Opens Bitcoin and Ethereum Trading to 50M+ Customers

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Itaú Unibanco launches cryptocurrency trading through Ion app with a minimum investment of R$10 and a 2.5% transaction fee per operation. The bank has registered a 300% monthly volume increase since launching its crypto platform in 2023, with a 30% growth in new customers in the last month. The institution offers two applications: Superapp for novice traders and Ion for users with basic web3 knowledge, both featuring the bank’s in-house custody services. Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A (Brazil: ITUB3) today the expansion of its cryptocurrency services by introducing a new trading…

Bitcoin Price Rally Eyes $108K: Is BTC New Gold Standard?

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Bitcoin hits a new all-time high of 40 ounces of gold per BTC, reflecting its rising dominance over traditional assets. Chartist Peter Brandt projects Bitcoin-to-gold ratio could reach 89, underscoring BTC’s growing dominance. BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin ETF surpasses iShares Gold Trust in AUM, cementing Bitcoin’s growing appeal among institutional investors. With Bitcoin reaching a new all-time high, the crypto total market cap peaked at $3.67T. As the buying pressure over the weekends drives to new peaks, the bulls are preparing to enter unchartered price levels. Amid the recovery run, the…

Bank of England Looks to Boost Digital Pound Privacy with ZK-Proof

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The Bank of England highlighted the potential for ZK-Proof to make the Digital Pound private as current digital currencies. The central bank has been exploring the creation of a Digital Pound collaborating with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Digital Currency Initiative. Public consultations continue, with a decision on launching the digital currency still pending. The is now testing emerging privacy technologies like ZK-Proof aka zero-knowledge proofs, and integrating it into the Digital Pound ecosystem, to boost the security of its central bank digital currency (). In its recent report dubbed…

Chainlink Hits New 52-Week High amid Whales’ Buying Spree

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Chainlink peaked at $26.92, reaching a new 52-week high.  Whale activity shows confidence, with a single whale purchasing $6.68M worth of LINK tokens during the rally. Retail and mid-tier investors increased their positions significantly, with mid-sized whale holdings rising by 104.61%. Technical indicators, including a golden crossover and a falling wedge breakout, suggest potential price targets of $31.96 and $52.99. Chainlink, a rising Oracle in the segment, witnesses a massive surge in market valuations. After Chainlink crossed the $15.50 billion market cap, LINK market price has reached levels last seen in…

Bybit to Terminate Withdrawal and Custody Services in France in January 2025

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Bybit will terminate its withdrawal and custody services in France by January 8, 2025, advising users to withdraw their assets before the deadline. The exchange cited France’s stringent regulations, particularly the requirement to register as a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP), as the reason for discontinuing its services. Bybit has faced challenges from the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) since being blacklisted in 2022 for operating without proper authorization. ar. The company has requested users remove their funds from the platform before January 8, 2025, as it plans to ramp…