FTX crypto exchange’s native utility token, FTT, reached a new record high on Monday a week after it agreed to acquire LedgerX, a United States-based crypto derivative platform, for an undisclosed sum. On Monday, the FTT/USD exchange rate surged 16.37% to $73.99 in a market-wide rally that saw other top coins post similar but dwarfed price rallies. Additionally, the pair’s intraday climb coincided with gains among top exchange tokens, with Binance Coin (BNB) rising 2.3% and Uniswap’s UNI recording 3.5% profits on a 24-hour adjusted timeframe. LedgerX acquisition The news of FTX’s Ledger acquisition served as the primary bullish backdrop …

Bitcoin (BTC) finally broke above the $50,500 resistance and Ether (ETH) has risen above the $4,000 mark. This suggests that there is growing interest in cryptocurrencies and several legacy finance companies are initiating steps to tap into this increasing demand. One of the world’s largest independent asset managers, Franklin Templeton, is accepting applications for fresh mid-senior level positions in crypto trading and research, according to Linkedin job listings. Meanwhile, in Japan, financial conglomerate SBI Holdings is planning to set up one of the first crypto funds in the country by the end of November. Tomoya Asakura, the director and senior …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly investigating the startup behind the world’s largest decentralized cryptocurrency exchange, Uniswap. The U.S. securities regulator has initiated a probe into Uniswap’s main developer, Uniswap Labs, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The report says that enforcement attorneys are now looking for information about Uniswap’s marketing and investor services, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter. A spokesperson for Uniswap Labs reportedly said the firm is “committed to complying with the laws and regulations governing our industry and to providing information to regulators that will assist them with any inquiry.” Uniswap …

Bitcoin (BTC) is struggling to break above $50,000 but analysts remain confident due to strong on-chain metrics. Analyst Willy Woo believes that investors have been accumulating Bitcoin and a break above $50,000 could result in a quick up-move to $60,000. Another positive voice was that of SkyBridge Capital CEO Anthony Scaramucci, who said in an interview with Cointelegraph that the limited, fixed supply of Bitcoin and exponentially growing demand will boost prices higher. Scaramucci personally believes that Bitcoin could reach $100,000 before the end of the year. Currently, the focus seems to have shifted to Ether (ETH) as it rallied …

Just looking at Binance Coin’s (BNB) reported market capitalization, one might conclude that the token is the dominant asset when compared to other exchange tokens. Although there is no direct relationship between Binance’s exchange volume (or revenue) and token economics, traders seem to use it as a proxy. The controversial burn mechanism has been losing impact since April 2019, when the exchange changed the BNB white paper. Initially, the white paper proposed a plan where BNB tokens equivalent to 20% of the exchange’s profit would be bought under a “repurchasing plan,” but the new version scrapped that plan. However, excluding …

After a blistering start to 2021 saw token valuations and trading volumes surge to ignite the current bull market, the DeFi sector as a whole took a break while the NFT sector stepped into the limelight. While investors' attention was elsewhere, DeFi prices have had time to consolidate and project developers were able to focus on protocol upgrades and in the past month, DeFi-related tokens have been gaining traction and look poised for a breakout in September. Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that multiple DeFi tokens, including Aave (AAVE), Synthetix (SNX), YFI and SushiSwap (SUSHI) have rallied nearly …

There is an old proverb which says that history does not always repeat, but it tends to rhyme. If that holds true for Bitcoin (BTC), then a strong up-move may not happen in the month of September. Bybit data shows that since 2013, Bitcoin has closed September in the red for six years and has managed a positive monthly close only on two occasions. The best performance was in 2016 when Bitcoin rose 6.04%. However, September’s poor historical performance has not stopped small and large traders from accumulating Bitcoin in August. Ecoinometrics reported rising account balances for addresses holding 1,000 …

Asset managers and companies currently hold over 6% of Bitcoin’s (BTC) circulating supply, according to Buy Bitcoin Worldwide. A breakdown of the data shows that Bitcoin fund issuers and asset managers hold about 4%, public companies account for nearly 1% and private companies own roughly 0.83% of the cryptocurrency’s supply. It's clear that institutional investors have continued to add crypto to their portfolios, and Adam Proctor, managing director for billionaire Simon Nixon’s investment firm — Seek Ventures — said the company plans to increase “allocation to crypto,” as it believes it to be an “important area for the future.” CNBC …

Altcoins and decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens have been on a tear for the last two weeks and, as the end of August approaches, many projects are seeing their tokens reach all-time highs. Data shows that a majority of the top-10 DeFi tokens gained more than 20% in the past 30-days, with projects like Bancor (BNT) and THORChain (RUNE) seeing gains in excess of 115%. Here’s a look at some of the factors behind the current boost to DeFi tokens and the projects that are leading the way in terms of protocol upgrades and cross-chain interoperability. Total value locked reaches a …

Bitcoin (BTC) remains on a strong footing after bears failed to capitalize on the rejection near the psychological mark at $50,000. The recent price rise in Bitcoin has not enticed longer-term investors to part with their holdings, and Glassnode data shows that the Bitcoin supply held by long-term holders has hit a new all-time high of 12.69 million BTC. This tops the previous record achieved in October 2020. MicroStrategy’s recent Form 8-K filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission shows that the company bolstered its Bitcoin holdings by 3,907 BTC between July 1 and Aug. 23. The company …

Bitcoin (BTC) rallied above the psychological hurdle at $50,000 today for the first time since May 15. The sharp rally of the past few days has turned the sentiment bullish, with many expecting the resumption of the bull run. Morgan Creek Digital co-founder Anthony Pompliano told CNBC on Monday that Bitcoin could make a blow-off top, similar to the one seen in 2017 when the price had surged from “$10,000 to $20,000 in 18 days.” The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has risen to 79, indicating extreme greed. Just a month back, the indicator was showing a reading of extreme …

Wells Fargo, in partnership with NYDIG and alternative assets manager FS Investments, has registered a new investment fund dubbed “FS NYDIG BITCOIN FUND I,” which will offer the bank’s wealthy clients an opportunity to gain indirect exposure to Bitcoin (BTC). In another sign of growing institutional interest, filings submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by BlackRock show a 6.71% stake in Marathon Digital Holdings and a 6.61% stake in Riot Blockchain. BlackRock’s total investments in both the publicly traded Bitcoin mining firms are roughly valued at $384 million. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced on Aug. 20 that the …