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: |
- Coinbase’s CEO said he heard rumors the SEC wants to ban staking.
- Liquid staking platform Lido surged on the rumors regarding the staking ban.
- Binance is organizing a consortium to try to rebuild trust in crypto.
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CoinDesk Market Index (CMI): 1,093 −2.4% Bitcoin (BTC): $22,686 −2.1% Ether (ETC): $1,633 −2.4% S&P 500 futures: 4,159.00 +0.7% FTSE 100: 7,945.67 +0.8% Treasury Yield 10 Years: 3.65% −0.0 |
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Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says he's heard rumors the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would like to ban retail investors from engaging in cryptocurrency staking, the income-generating technique at the core of running proof of stake blockchains including Ethereum. "I hope that's not the case as I believe it would be a terrible path for the U.S. if that was allowed to happen," he tweeted Wednesday. The SEC declined to comment. |
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (CoinDesk) |
The governance token for the liquid staking platform Lido surged on the rumor suggested by Armstong that the SEC might ban staking for retail customers. The Lido protocol, governed by the LDO token (LDO), allows for the staking of ether (ETH). LDO surged around 11% in the immediate aftermath of the comments, and is up 8.4% in the past 24 hours. Binance is helping assemble a consortium of crypto companies with a view towards rebuilding trust in the industry and is taking on an active role in consulting on regulations, according to a person with knowledge of the plans. A number of companies have already signed up to come on board. They span the crypto industry, including individual projects, exchanges and blockchain analytics firms, the person said, without naming any of the firms involved. Binance declined to comment.
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Market Insight: Derivatives Volume Surges |
Trading activity increased strongly across the board in January, but derivatives volume grew faster than that of spot markets, according to data from CryptoCompare. Derivatives volume in January was up 76.1% from December to $2.04 trillion, the largest percentage increase since January 2021 when volume rose 114%. Derivatives trading now represents 70.3% of the entire crypto market, up from 68% in December, according to CryptoCompare data. The large trading activity increase came alongside big gains for the world’s largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, with bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) up 40% and 32%, respectively, in January. “This suggests that price increases were driven by derivative market speculation rather than spot market accumulation,” said CryptoCompare in its report. |
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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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