1. Market Wrap: Bitcoin Rises to $35.8K, Ether Hits New High and DeFi Crosses $28B Locked
Bitcoin reversed several days of sideways trading to head higher, ether broke $1,500 for the first time and DeFi’s ecosystem has a record amount of value locked in dollar terms.
Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $35,824 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 6% over the previous 24 hours.
Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $33,459-$35,824
BTC above the 10-hour but below the 50-hour moving average on the hourly chart, a sideways signal for market technicians.
2. California Pension Fund Loaded Up on RIOT Shares During Bitcoin’s Q4 Rally
California’s $441 billion public pension fund increased its stake in bitcoin miner Riot Blockchain (RIOT) nearly sevenfold in last year’s Q4 amid the meteoric run-up in the price of bitcoin.
California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) held 113,034 shares in RIOT worth over $1.9 million at the end of 2020, according to Tuesday filings. That’s up from Q3 2020, when CalPERS’ 16,907 RIOT shares were worth a comparatively minuscule $49,000.
The largest public pension fund in the U.S. had been holding firm on its nearly 17 thousand RIOT shares since acquiring them during the bull run in late 2017. That position seldom varied until now.
RIOT spiked 541% during Q4 2020. Meanwhile, bitcoin (BTC, +6.93%) was up 174% for the quarter.
CalPERS board members included blockchain technologies as a future-forward investment opportunity during a public forum in 2016.
3. Bullish Bitcoin Fundamentals Point to Renewed Price Rally Ahead
Bitcoin’s on-chain metrics are painting a bullish picture after weeks of consolidation.
The top cryptocurrency hit a peak price of $41,962 on Jan. 8 and has mostly traded the range of $29,000–$40,000 since then.
However, demand continues to outstrip supply amid the price lull. “In 2021 so far, around 26,000 BTC have been mined. Meanwhile, the Grayscale Investment Trust has acquired over 40,000 BTC in the same period,” Glassnode said in its weekly report.
Further, the number of coins held on exchange addresses continues to slide, taking sell-side liquidity off the market.
4. Why a GameStop-Inspired Mania Is Unlikely in China’s Stock Market
Could GameStop-style short-selling speculation show up in China’s stock market?
Last week’s market frenzy in the U.S. may have inspired China’s crypto community to make more bets on dogecoin (DOGE (+2.46%)) and bitcoin (BTC (+6.89%)), but even the boldest traders are unlikely to try stirring up that kind of short-selling speculation in Chinese stocks.
“The Chinese financial regulators are closely monitoring who are trading what in the Chinese stock market. Retail investors involved in large-scale malicious shorting could be put in jail,” said Jason Wu, CEO of crypto-lending firm DeFiner.
5. Ether Cryptocurrency Reaches Record High, Briefly Tops $1.5K Amid WSB Trading Buzz
Ethereum’s ether (ETH) cryptocurrency logged a new record high on Tuesday, amid expectations the recent GameStop (GME) trading saga would accelerate the adoption of cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance (DeFi).
The second-largest cryptocurrency by market value briefly topped $1,500, hitting $1,500.63, during early U.S. trading hours on Tuesday, passing the previous record price $1,459.93 last month, according to CoinDesk 20 data. In recent trading, ETH was at 1.494.26, up 14.28% over the last 24 hours.
The latest leg higher from $1,200 came alongside turmoil in the stock markets, where brokerage platforms like Robinhood have restricted transactions to rein volatility fueled by Reddit-based retail traders’ coordinated buying in stocks such as GameStop. The retail frenzy prompted by Reddit forum r/WallStreetBets forced hedge funds to unwind short bets in GameStop, leading to a 1,700% price rally in the 17 days to Jan. 28.
Founded in July 2018, ZBG is a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange, a global platform of ZB.COM.
ZBG.com has quickly become one of the top 10 exchanges in the world with its innovative, efficient and global operations, and is known as a “New First-Tier” exchange.
Currently, ZBG supports 11 languages, with an average daily activity of more than 160,000, providing over 3 million users around the world with trustworthy cryptocurrency trading, contract trading and other crypto asset investment services.
In the future, ZBG will continue to expand its global market and provide stable, safe and fast blockchain project listing, diversified crypto assets and blockchain derivatives investment services to more blockchain enthusiasts around the world.
ZBG Official English (Telegram): https://t.me/ZBG_Exchange
ZBG Official Chinese(Telegram): https://t.me/ZBG_ChineseOfficial
ZBG Official Bangladesh (Telegram): https://t.me/zbgbangladesh
Twitter：https://twitter.com/ZBG_Exchange
ZBG, World’s top 10 crypto currency exchange.
Link to future value!
ZBG Team
February 03, 2021
