Riding The Wave News Summary 125
Crypto ends February flat as 2023 rally stalls, Visa Says It's Not Slowing Down Plans for Crypto Products, & more.
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Crypto ends February flat as 2023 rally stalls
Christopher Newhouse, a crypto options trader with GSR, said the February action in bitcoin was "definitely more boring for directional trading than in January."
As Newhouse explained, crypto derivatives trading volume remained high in February but volatility fizzled over the month. Bitcoin is still the most popular cryptocurrency for traders, but in recent weeks those bets "toward the end of the month have been mixed or slightly bearish."
Over the same period, the major U.S. indexes were lower, with the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) falling 2.5% during the month.
"There's still optimism that things will start to get figured out in the coming months," Safai added, pointing to longer-dated bitcoin call options placed this month with a strike price of $30,000.
Since the beginning of 2023, bitcoin watchers have focused closely on whether bitcoin's price can breach $25,000. Between February 19-20, the level was briefly reached. Bitcoin has since fallen more than 6% and is currently changing hands near $23,200.
“Bitcoin is comfortably in a trading range and that might be the case for a while longer,” said Edward Moya, senior analyst with Oanda.
Ethereum is also drawing more attention as it nears its next protocol upgrade slated for early April.
"Generally, Ethereum has underperformed over the last six weeks," strategists at Fundstrat said in a note on Monday. "This looks to be changing."
Visa Says It's Not Slowing Down Plans for Crypto Products
Payments company Visa has said it is not slowing down with its cryptocurrency plans—despite news reports hinting otherwise amid a brutal bear market.
The U.S. company’s Head of Crypto Cuy Sheffield said in a series of tweets Tuesday that a Reuters story claiming both Visa and Mastercard were slowing down their crypto push was “inaccurate” when it comes to Visa.
He added that “despite the challenges and uncertainty in the crypto ecosystem,” Visa believes that “fiat backed digital currencies running on public blockchains have the potential to play an important role in the payments ecosystem.”
The company had announced plans to roll out cards to 40 new countries as part of a “long-term global partnership”—but pulled the plug when the crypto company went bust.
FTX went bankrupt in a highly publicized crash and is now being investigated for criminal mismanagement. Prosecutors allege the firm commingled customer funds; its ex-boss Sam Bankman-Fried is now facing 12 criminal charges.
A Visa spokesperson told Decrypt: “Recent high-profile failures in the crypto sector are an important reminder that we have a long way to go before crypto becomes a part of mainstream payments and financial services.”
Upcoming Upgrades That Will Shape the Ethereum Ecosystem
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