  The latest moves in crypto markets, in context Edited by Bradley Keoun (Substituting for Omkar Godbole) December 23, 2021 Sponsored by  If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive it, sign up here.
Good morning, and welcome to First Mover. Here's what's happening this morning:
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Market Moves by Shaurya Malwa Crypto markets had a mixed session early Thursday with bitcoin and ether little changed while some altcoins posted gains of more than 10%.
Bitcoin lost 0.6% after failing to break a resistance level of $49,000 on Thursday while ether has dropped 1.6% in the past 24 hours. Trading volumes remained low across major centralized exchanges in advance of the year-end holiday season.
Leading the advance among top altcoins with a market capitalization of over $1 billion were the tokens of Near (NEAR), a high-speed blockchain that rivals Ethereum, which surged 33% in 24 hours to an all-time high of $13.52.
The NEAR token's price jump came after decentralized payments network Terra said it would issue its UST stablecoins – pegged 1:1 with the U.S. dollar – on the Near network, as CoinDesk reported on Wednesday.
”NEAR has developed an impressed scaling solution that surpasses most available alternatives,” Jack Tao, CEO of crypto exchange Phemex told CoinDesk on Telegram. “It comes as no surprise that more and more projects will integrate or begin to develop on this ecosystem. With the launch of its Aurora EVM solution, I expect to see even more growth in the years to come.”  NEAR tokens set new all-time highs on Thursday morning. (TradingView) Data from CoinGecko showed $1.3 billion worth of NEAR traded on Wednesday. The price jump caused $6 million in liquidations on NEAR futures, a relatively small value that implies the rally was mainly led by spot traders.
Memecoin Shiba Inu (SHIB) was the top performer among other large cap altcoins. Prices of SHIB increased 7% on Thursday morning as whales – or large holders – further increased their exposure.
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Crypto Prices Bitcoin (BTC) See the latest price here Ether (ETH) See the latest price here The following are the biggest movers in the CoinDesk 20 digital assets over the past 24 hours: Top Gainers: Top Losers:
Sector classifications are provided via the Digital Asset Classification Standard (DACS), developed by CoinDesk Indices to provide a reliable, comprehensive, and standardized classification system for digital assets. The CoinDesk 20 is a ranking of the largest digital assets by volume on trusted exchanges.
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 Introducing CoinDesk's new Digital Asset Classification Standard, which was created in response to the significant growth of the number and types of digital assets offered in the market and the realization that traditional classification standards used for equities and other asset classes could not be adapted accurately to classify digital assets. Read more about DACS.
ICYMI In case you missed it, here are the most recent episodes of "First Mover" on CoinDesk TV: Robinhood Adds Crypto Gifting Feature and Acquires Cross-Exchange Trading Firm Cove Markets, Sam Bankman-Fried on Crypto Scrutiny
"First Mover" co-host Lawrence Lewitinn is in for Christine Lee. Joining Lawrence is Robinhood Crypto Chief Operating Officer Christine Brown. Starting December 22, Robinhood customers (not available in NV or HI) will be able to customize and send a crypto gift to friends & family from the Robinhood app. Meanwhile, Robinhood has acquired cross-exchange crypto trading firm Cove Markets. Plus, crypto billionaire and FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried gives his take on crypto scrutiny.
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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