Happy Saturday, Snapshotters!
What a record-breaking week, again. BTC crossed the psychologically important threshold of US$50,000 for the first time since 2021. Bitcoin regained its US$1 trillion market capitalization. Finally, Bitcoin spot ETFs surpassed US$3 billion in inflows, surpassing the gold ETF launch 20 years ago.
Read on below for the details.
Market Spotlight
Note: Market prices captured in USD at the time of sending. Explore more on Crypto.com/Price.
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News Snaps
🚀 BTC Regains US$1 Trillion
When the Bitcoin price hit US$52,000 this past Wednesday, it also surpassed the US$1 trillion market cap for the first time in 26 months. Many experts and traders see this as the ultimate sign that crypto winter is over, anticipating even more gains.
📈 Solana Becomes Fourth-Largest Cryptocurrency
Also rallying is Solana’s native token SOL, which has just overtaken BNB as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap. SOL’s market cap reached approximately US$50 billion, surpassing BNB’s US$49.2 billion.
💪 Bitcoin Passes Gold ETF Launch
Bitcoin spot ETFs in the United States have collectively exceeded $3 billion in net flows just one month after launch, far surpassing the performance of gold ETFs when they were first launched 20 years ago.
🐂 Bull Market Enters FOMO Stage
With crypto prices rising, the bull market that began in January 2023 has entered the FOMO stage. As both Bitcoin and altcoin prices are rallying, the Crypto Fear & Greed Index hit its highest level since Bitcoin ’s 2021 record high, entering a period of ‘extreme greed’ with 79 out of 100 points.
⛽️ ERC-404 Token Trending With Consequences
Ethereum network gas fees reached an eight-month high as the new ERC-404 token standard kicked off on February 5. Launched by a project called Pandora, the experimental standard has since clocked more than US$474 million in volume. ERC-404 aims to bind ERC-721 NFTs to ERC-20 tokens, allowing for fractionalized NFTs.
🔐 A Quarter of all ETH Staked
Currently, about a quarter of the ETH supply is staked on the network, as funds keep flowing in to secure the Ethereum network. While the validator queue has dwindled compared to the heights of last year, there is still a steady stream of people staking their ETH, either as a validator or through liquid staking.
What’s Ahead
Investopia 2024 Live From Abu Dhabi
Attend or tune in to see Crypto.com’s very own Eric Anziani at Investopia 2024 — a global platform connecting investors to new economic opportunities and sectors — from February 28–29 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
In addition to Crypto.com, the event will feature speakers from across sectors focused on advancing the new economy.
Chart of the Week
Both Bitcoin and Ethereum extended their gains this week to reach new yearly highs. Bitcoin crossed the key price level of US$50,000, while Ethereum passed US$2,700.
Latest in Research
Monthly Feature Article | Alpha Navigator
Alpha Navigator is our monthly snapshot of the crypto market for traders. Get a lowdown on volatility and market cap developments, top crypto trading pairs, how Bitcoin and Ethereum are performing against other asset classes, and more.
Read the February Alpha Navigator.
NFT Spotlight
From the producers of the Lil Bitcoin project comes the NFT collection ‘Tokyo Blade’, created by Mitch Mula, a platinum-selling music producer and artist, and Deontae Grant, a published writer and music artist.
The first chapter in the series, ‘Black Shinobi’, drops on Thursday, February 22.
Set in the year 2050, ‘Black Shinobi’ follows the secret operative known as Black, who takes us on an adventure through Tokyo’s criminal underground to help his old friend Keiko keep her father safe from the Yakuza gang. The music created for this collection reflects the style of a 1980s retro anime with modern designs and environments.
The collection comes with 4 NFTs, and includes various utility items:
📕 Physical Tokyo Blade comic book
📁 PDF of Tokyo Blade comic book
Follow Black Shinobi through Tokyo. Or jump into Lil Bitcoin’s other various collections.
Product Picks
Loaded Lions: Mane City World Series: Prosperity Blitz
The New Year’s Blitz will be starting with a US$35,000 prize pool consisting of CRO and NFTs to be distributed among the top 1,000 players. What’s more, 100% of diamond spending during the Blitz will be added to this and future prize pools! The Prosperity Blitz will last two weeks, starting on February 15, 2024 and ending on February 29, 2024. Start building your city and stand to win a piece of the prize now!
Crypto.com App New Token Listings
Helium Mobile (MOBILE)
The Helium Network is a decentralized wireless infrastructure project leveraging the Solana blockchain. It enables users to deploy and manage wireless networks through token incentives. HNT is the primary token, with IOT and MOBILE supporting LoRaWAN and 5G networks, respectively. Helium Network’s token, MOBILE, serves as the governance token for 5G subnetworks, mined by 5G hotspots through data transfers and Proof of Coverage.
Crypto Level Up
How Do Bitcoin Transactions Work?
When a user makes a transaction on the Bitcoin network, it goes through several steps after they hit ‘Send’. These involve creating a new unique Bitcoin address, submitting the payment, verifying the transaction, encoding the details, and finally validating the payment.
How Long Does a Bitcoin Transaction Take?
The Bitcoin blockchain processes about seven transactions per second (tps). Depending on network conditions, it can be nearly instant or up to several days.
How Are Bitcoin Miners Involved in This Process?
Bitcoin miners verify network transactions, facilitating a crucial step in the process. As a reward, they receive network fees paid by the transacting user.
Get the full lowdown on how Bitcoin transactions work.
CryptoIRL
Roses are red…
@Csilla_cro bringing the love with the Crypto.com Frosted Rose Gold Visa Card.
Hashtag #CryptoIRL with your Crypto.com Visa Card on your social profiles to get featured! Your 15 minutes of fame in the #CROFam awaits you!
Decoder
Layer-2
Layer-2 is a scaling solution for Layer-1 blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which have strong security, but lack the ability to scale due to higher transaction costs and low throughput. For example, Ethereum processes about 10 transactions per second (tps), and as more people use the blockchain, the network becomes congested, leading to higher transaction fees.
Layer-2 projects like Polygon enhance scalability by building a new computational layer to decongest the Layer-1 chain (mainchain). They aim to enable high throughput of transactions while keeping the high level of security of the Layer-1 blockchain. The main forms of Layer-2s are optimistic rollups and Zero-Knowledge (ZK) rollups.
Security Tips
South Korea’s FSS Warns of Rise in Cryptocurrency Scams
In mid-January 2024, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) issued an alert to warn citizens about cryptocurrency fraud after a new scam took hold in the country, where users were scammed with top tokens listed below market prices.
Protect yourself from cryptocurrency scams with these best practices:
1. If an offer sounds too good to be true — like the one highlighted above — it most likely is. Don’t allow fear or greed to influence rational thought.
2. Should a cryptocurrency or NFT giveaway require you to participate by sending assets to a specific wallet address, do not do it. If it is from a reputable firm, it may be a hack.
3. Ensure that a project is transparent and has proper documentation. If the team is unable to answer your queries clearly and thoroughly, avoid it.
4. If you’re asked to share personal information in order to access a particular project or asset, decline to do so. No legitimate company or asset manager will require you to divulge information like private keys or passwords.
That’s it for this week’s Snapshot. Want more? Find out what’s trending in the crypto world.
