XRP, the token behind the Ripple payment network, has been on an absolute monster rally in the last day. The token has seen a 65% price surge that propelled it into the number 4 spot in the crypto rankings, pushing BNB down to 5th place, even though BNB on the other hand, is also up by 9% in the past week.

XRP Overtakes BNB

XRP recently overtook BNB after reaching a yearly high of $0.81, giving the cryptocurrency a market cap of $41 billion. The huge price spike can be attributed to investors jumping on the bandwagon with fear of missing out on XRP after the big news regarding its victory over the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 

The court determined on June 13 that the sale of XRP to regular investors does not constitute the sale of an unregistered security. As such, United States District Judge Analisa Torres ruled in partial favor of Ripple, saying that XRP sales on public cryptocurrency exchanges were not offers of securities under the law. 

However, the judge remarked that Ripples direct sale of XRP to institutional investors in the amount of approximately $700 million violated federal legislation regarding the sale of securities.

This catapulted XRPs price from $0.478 to $0.7885 in just under a day. With its current market cap, this means XRP is now the third-largest native cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin and Ethereum when the USDT stablecoin is removed. 

24-Hour Trading Volume Spikes 1700%+

According to data from Coinmarketcap, XRPs 24-hour trading volume has spiked a whopping 1,758.13% to over $13.49 billion. Trading volumes have surged on various exchanges, where Upbit, the South Korean-based crypto exchange, had over $2.7 billion in 24-hour trading volume. Binance also saw over $2.3 billion in trading volume as investors scurried to buy XRP. 

Coinglass data shows more than $35 million short position trades on XRP have been liquidated in the past 24 hours. Most of these are from Bybit, OKX, and Binance, with $21 million, $14 million, and $14 million in short position liquidations, respectively.

Of course, fast price rises often end in pullbacks as XRP remains a volatile digital asset. But its recent breakout shows its still an altcoin to watch, with the potential for even bigger gains if more investors continue to FOMO. However, XRPs potential for long-term growth continues to be supported by Ripple Labs real-world value as a payments network.

At the time of writing, XRP is stil...

Bitcoin daily price chart. (CoinDesk Indices)

XRP and DOGE took off while other cryptos flatlined. (SpaceX/Unsplash)

Top cryptocurrencies by market value (CoinDesk Indices)

The U.S. court's ruling on XRP is a blow to the SEC's stance of crypto being considered a security, Bernstein says. (the_burtons/Getty)

South Korea flag (Daniel Bernard/ Unsplash)

Bitcoin's dominance rate. (TradingView)

The latest price moves in bitcoin (BTC) and crypto markets in context for July 14, 2023. First Mover is CoinDesks daily newsletter that contextualizes the latest actions in the crypto markets.

SOL price (CoinDesk)

XRP climbed as high as 64 cents at one point, its highest level since May.

Cardano price has rallied substantially as traders see its potential of bypassing the SEC's regulatory threats based on the recent Ripple win.

NOWHERE TO HIDE? Eventually, everyones blockchain identity will be linked to their real-world identity, Arkham Intelligence predicts. (Library of Congress/Interim Archives/Getty Images)

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse (Danny Nelson/CoinDesk)

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse (Getty Images)

Alex Mashinsky (CoinDesk)

Bitcoin on-chain spending is heating up and, so far, is rhyming with past BTC price cycles.

U.S. Treasury Department seal (Bill Perry/Shutterstock, modified by CoinDesk using PhotoMosh)

"Evolution of the Mixtape" Sneaker (Legitimate)

The last 24 hours have been more than interesting for crypto investors across the globe. Thursday, July 13, saw one of the most important lawsuits in the history of the industry come to an end, and the ruling in favor of Ripple triggered a massive rally. As digital assets across the space recorded double-digit gains, liquidation volumes climbed quickly, now clocking over $300 million.

Crypto Short Traders Take Big Losses

The high volumes of crypto liquidations in the market so far have been a result of price recovery. As such, the vast majority of traders who have been losing money have been short traders, that is, traders who were betting on prices falling rather than recovering.

According to data from Coinglass, out of the over $300 million in liquidations, short traders made up for a total of $219 million. On the flip side, the volume from long traders was much lower, coming in at only $82.74 million for the same 24-hour period. This means that short traders made up 70.33% of all liquidations during this time, as long traders made the most money.

Furthermore, over 86,000 traders saw their positions liquidated on the last day, but the single largest liquidation happened on the Bitmex exchange. This position was worth $2.82 million at the time of liquidation, taking place across the XRPUSD pair on the exchange.

As expected, Bitcoin led the liquidation volumes during this time, but interestingly, Ethereum was not the second-highest volume as it usually is. That title was claimed by XRP traders this time around with a total of $62.17 million liquidated in 24 hours.

Will The Liquidations Continue?

A major factor behind...

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao wrote that decentralized finance will continue to accelerate, and more people will interact with DeFi products.

(Shutterstock)

Coinbase logo on a laptop computer (Piggybank/Unsplash)

The use of physical currency for transactions is plummeting globally, so why is the U.K. so tentative with its own central bank digital currency?

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong (CoinDesk archives)

The crypto market continues to exhibit dynamic shifts as Polygons native token, MATIC, outpaces Litecoin (LTC) in the global rankings to secure the 10th spot. This move comes after MATIC experienced a surge of nearly 30% over the past week.

Resurgence Amid Crypto Rally

The general upswing in the crypto market in the past week has presented opportunities for numerous cryptocurrencies to make significant strides. Polygon (MATIC), for one, has capitalized on this trend, breaking through multiple resistance levels to claim the 10th position in the global crypto market, thereby leaving Litecoin (LTC) trailing behind.

The assets surge, which saw MATIC price climbing from a low of $0.67 last Friday to a high of $0.88 yesterday before retracting to $0.84 at the time of writing, marks a nearly 30% increase in the past 7 days.

The surge also signals MATICs resilience, given that it comes just a month after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) classified it as a security, triggering a drastic dip in its value. This move by the SEC made MATIC dwell in a bloodbath for a week to trade below the $0.6 mark.

MATIC Road To Recovery

MATICs recovery, however, has been somewhat fascinating. Over the past 24 hours, MATIC has rallied by nearly 10%, exhibiting a strong upward trajectory. Interestingly, this rally mirrors the movements of several notable altcoins in the market, indicating a wider market recovery trend.

Despite the initial setback following the SECs classification, MATIC has demonstrated a comeback. Its rebound not only highlights the resilience of the asset but also underscores its growing popularity among investors, which can be attributed to the increasing interest in the Polygon platform, known for its scalability solutions for Ethereum transactions.

MATIC has witnessed a dramatic rise in its market capitalization over the past week, marking a nearly $2 billion increase. The digital asset, starting from a valuation of $6.2 billion last F...

Consensus 2019 Alex Mashinsky Founder and CEO Celsius Network (CoinDesk)

Celsius Thermometer (Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk)

SingularityNET (AGIX) 7-day price chart (Messari)

From Steemit and LBRY to Ujo Music and SuperRare, discover how blockchain technology empowers content creators in the digital age.

The Shiba Inu price has risen over 5% in the last 24 hours amid the market-wide hype surrounding Ripples partial victory in its legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). But SHIB investors should still be cautious: While the SHIB price shows a clear uptrend of 23% over the last 30 days, a complete confirmation of a trend reversal is still pending.

Shiba Inu Price Analysis

Technically, the Shiba Inu price remains in bearish territory for several reasons. As explained in previous analyses, the Shib price entered a downtrend channel in early February this year. The breakout from the bearish chart pattern succeeded six days ago, however, there is still a possibility that it is a fakeout.

Shibs trading volume was rather below average during and after the breakout. Only yesterday there was a noticeable increase. Within the last few hours, trading volume rose to $232 million, 200% higher than the previous day. In the best case, the volume should remain high to avoid a fakeout.

More of a bearish argument is that yesterdays SHIB rally stopped at $0.00000813. Thus, the price could not break above resistance at $0.00000816, nor could it set a new local high on the 4-hour chart.

A look at the 1-day chart also shows that the SHIB price continues to trade below the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level at $0.00000832. The following days could become crucial to confirm a sustainable trend change or a fakeout.

The battle between bulls and bears is still in full swing. The bull side would ideally like to break out above the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement level with a high trading volume. This could be a first confirmation for a sustainable trend change.

In this case, the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level at $0.00000977 could come into focus. Close to it is also the long-term bull boundary line, the 200-day exponential moving average (EMA) at $0.00000961. If SHIB also exceeds this level, one can finally speak of a trend reversal. Before that, however, the current gains stand on shaky legs.

Kyle Davies, Su Zhu, Mark Lamb (Kyle Davies/Twitter)

Artwork by Emily Xie (Christie's)

This is an opinion editorial by David Waugh, a business development and communications specialist at bitcoin investing platform Coinbits.

A few weeks ago, BlackRock and other major financial firms filed for permission to offer spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Though the U.S. Securities And Exchange Commission(SEC) stated that these initial filings were inadequate, forcing the firms to refile, many investors believe that they will eventually be approved, creating the first-such products on the market. These new financial instruments would allow institutional and retail investors to access exposure to bitcoin's price without having to purchase actual bitcoin.

On the surface, this would be a major win for Bitcoin adoption because it will become easier for financial advisors, previously hesitant or unable to enter this market, to assist clients with a form of bitcoin allocation.

Banks and other traditional financial players will also use the spot ETF to increase their exposures, which may increase bitcoin's exchange rate with the dollar. For families and individuals, however, shares of a bitcoin product through spot ETFs are not a substitute for holding bitcoin in self custody.

Ultimately, Bitcoin ETF products still exist within the traditional financial system and do not offer complete protection from market, government or compliance risk. As such, market forces can affect the ETF issuers, and governments can enact and enforce regulations by decree that devalue or debase the consumer's assets.

In contrast, holding real bitcoin allows individuals to access a digital bearer asset outside of control of governments and traditional financial institutions. Though it introduces new risks associated with private key management, every diversified portfolio should have a real bitcoin allocation, regardless of any additional allocation to a bitcoin ETF.

As investors seek to diversify to spread risk and protect themselves from geopolitical and market shocks, there is no substitute for bitcoin in self custody.

Advice Outside Of The Financial System

For years, financial advisors have dutifully a......

US banknote image via Shutterstock

(ELLA DON/Unsplash)

Once launched, Indonesias national crypto exchange will be the only platform allowing crypto transactions, the local regulator said.

Following a partial win in its long-running court battle with the SEC, Ripples XRP token surged over 90% on July 13, reaching a new yearly high of $0.91.

The price of Stellar (XLM) has experienced a similar meteoric rise to the XRP token in the last 24 hours. This rise was triggered by news that Ripple, the company behind XRP, had won its long-running case against the US Securities and Exchange Commission SEC.

The SECs case that XRP is a security was the focus of the court trial. To the delight of the crypto community, Judge Annalisa Torres of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled in Ripples favor, declaring the XRP token not to be a security.

Stellar Looks To Enter The Top 20 Crypto Ranking

The altcoin market had been dominated by bearish pressure in recent weeks due partly to the SECs declaration of tokens tied to Solana, Polygon, and Cardano as securities. This declaration formed the foundation of the regulators case against prominent crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance.

Related Reading: Optimism (OP) Rides The Wave Of Todays Crypto Surge With 15% Rally

That said, the market was jolted back to life yesterday following the announcement of Ripples court victory, with most tokens basking in green. Stellar also reacted swiftly to positive market sentiment, going on an almost 90% price rally within a few hours.

The tokens price has since steadied, with Stellar currently trading with a 52.4 % gain. With this, XLMs price rise places it amongst the top daily gainers in the cryptocurrency market today.

As of this writing, XLM is valued at $0.147189, with a 3.9% price decrease in the past hour. The token has a 24-hour trading volume of over $1.26 billion, representing a 3,386% surge in the past day.

According to CoinGecko data, the Stellar token is closing in on a spot in the top 20 largest cryptocurrencies, with a market cap of nearly $4 billion.

Is $0.8 Within Reach For XLM?

A look at the broader market shows that XLM has been underwhelming in recent days. Although the token scored some significant gains last month, it appears to have also been affected by the dour market conditions in July.

Following the positive price movement of yesterday, investors are hoping to see the XLM price visit the $0.8 again. However, after hitting its all-time high of $0.875563 in 2018, the coin has only ever reached the $0.8 level once.

Related Reading: XRP Price Retreats After Massive 80% Rally, Buy The Dips?

On the weekly chart, the XLM token must overcome resistance at $0.2 and $ 0.4 price levels. So, it...

XRP price almost doubled after Ripples legal win against the U.S. SEC. But can its rally continue after nearly reaching $1?

Following Ripple (XRP)s victory in court yesterday, there is a general bullish wave currently sweeping across the crypto market. According to data from CoinMarketCap, Cardano (ADA) has gained by 28.43% in the last 24 hours, with several other altcoins also posting double digits gains.

Cardano (ADA) Price Action And Analysis

Prior to its price boost yesterday, ADA had shown little to no movement all week, hovering around the $0.29 price mark. However, the tokens price spiked yesterday afternoon, reaching as high as $0.37 for the first time since early June.

Related Reading: XRP Price Retreats After Massive 80% Rally, Buy The Dips?

Looking at its broader performance, Cardano has had a mixed-price action since the start of 2023. The altcoin began the year in style, gaining over 70% to trade at $0.41 as of February 16.

This price surge was, however,  followed by a bearish trend bringing the tokens price as low as $0.30 on March 10. Thereafter, ADA would resume its bullish trajectory, rising to its highest price so far in 2023 at $0.45 on April 16. 

Over the next two months, Cardanos price slumped once again before showing sideways movement over the last three weeks.

Analyzing its 4-Hour Chart, ADA has encountered resistance at the $0.38 price zone and appears to be experiencing a recorrection. However, a rise in selling pressure could result in the token trading as low as $0.28, which marks its imminent support level.

On the other hand, if the bulls retake control and manage to push past the $0.38 resistance price level, ADA is likely to rise to $0.42, which represents the next major resistance level. 

At the time of writing, ADA is trading at $0.35 with a 2.30% loss in the last hour. The tokens trading volume is up by a stunning 808.08% and is valued at $1.4 billion. With a market cap of $12.3 billion, Cardano is ranked as the 7th biggest cryptocurrency in the world.

Ripples Victory Sparks Altcoin Rally

Yesterday afternoon,  U.S. Judge Analisa Torres ruled that XRP is not a security in the ongoing Ripple vs. SEC case. On the emergence of this news, the crypto market experienced a price boost, with mainly altcoins notching significant gains.

Asides from Cardano (ADA), coins such as Solana (SOL), Avalanche (AVAX), and Polygon (MATIC), are also on the rise, recording profits at 31.98%, 14.50%, and 17.76%, respectively, in the last 24 hours.

Related Reading: Optimism (OP) Rides The Wave Of Todays Crypto...

The Multichain team said funds and access to servers are currently with their CEO, Zhaojun, who is under the custody of Chinese police.

The AI proposal suggested that background performers should undergo scanning, receive payment for a single day, and grant companies complete ownership over the scan, image and likeness.

Bitcoin may have tagged new yearly highs, but BTC price performance still needs to prove itself with a range breakout, traders argue.

Blockchain protocol MultiversX has implemented a novel two-factor authentication mechanism to add additional security to its network.

Optimism (OP), alongside major cryptocurrencies, has witnessed a remarkable surge in value amidst a wave of positive momentum sweeping through the broader crypto market. 

The recent victory of Ripple against the US Securities and Exchange Commission has sparked a sea of green, with investors expressing renewed confidence in the industry.

In this flourishing environment, Optimism Networks OP coin stands tall, exhibiting an impressive surge of nearly 15% in the past seven days. 

But can the Optimism Network sustain its upward trajectory in the face of regulatory challenges?

OP Bulls Target $1.3 Resistance Level

In the ever-changing landscape of the cryptocurrency market, the current price of OP coin on CoinGecko hits $1.38, reflecting a noteworthy rally of 14.2% over the past 24 hours. Additionally, within the last seven days, the coin has experienced an impressive surge of 14.7%.

Since the first week of July, OP has been trading below the $1.3 mark. However, an OP price report notes that bullish investors are eyeing this crucial threshold to flip the H2 structure (see chart below) into a bullish trend. 

The $1.3 resistance level has posed a challenge for the OP coins value, preventing it from surpassing this critical point. Bulls in the market are striving to overcome this hurdle, which would signal a potentially bullish trend for the coin. 

Breaking through a resistance level...

A community member responded that they were also pleased to see former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky charged with multiple crimes.

Index funds and ETFs offer attractive options for passive income investing, providing investors with diversified exposure to various crypto assets.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission might be investigated for a haphazard and heavy-handed approach to digital assets.

The new features include hearing spoken responses, uploading images for prompts and utilizing the AI tool to analyze photos.

The Bitcoin price tagged a new yearly high yesterday at $31,840, leaving market participants wondering about the driving forces behind this bullish momentum.

The Power of Economic Indicators

One of the crucial factors contributing to Bitcoins upward trajectory was the release of the United States Producer Price Index (PPI) data. The latest figures revealed a significant slowdown in inflation, with PPI YoY dropping to 0.1% in June, surpassing expectations and marking the smallest pace since August 2020. Notably, the Core PPI YoY came in at 2.4%, slightly below the estimated 2.6%, reinforcing the notion of a diminishing inflationary environment.

This decrease in PPI is seen as a positive sign for the Consumer Price Index (CPI), providing hope for a more stable economic landscape. Macro researcher Mortensen Bach emphasized the significance of the PPIs impact, stating, PPI always leads CPI. Inflation is no longer a thing and input prices clearly indicate that! Deflation remains the primary risk going forward. This is what happens when you have a Federal Reserve who is blindly focused on backward-looking data!

Echoing these sentiments, macro analyst Ted added, PPI inflation leads CPI by a few months and todays PPI numbers have YoY running at +0.24%. Almost in deflation! Fed pivot anyone?

Also worth noting is that, May PPI inflation was revised lower from 1.1% to 0.9%. May Core PPI inflation was revised lower from 2.8% to 2.6%. The drop and revision lower in Core PPI is what the US Federal Reserve wants to see.

Inverse Correlation With The DXY

Another pivotal factor driving Bitcoins surge is the recent drop in the US Dollar Index (DXY) below 100.00, a level not seen in 15 months. This development has sparked renewed interest in risk assets like Bitcoin as a hedge against a weaken...

(Coinbase)

The XRP price rallied over 70% bringing up its value from $0.47 to $0.82 in a day. The incident also marks the biggest price jump for XRP in the past year.

The U.S. Capitol in Washington DC (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk)

Ether Prices (CoinDesk)

Alex Mashinsky Founder and CEO Celsius Network at Consensus 2019 (CoinDesk)

The CEO believes investors will be inclined to seek exposure to Bitcoin in a more familiar, structured and protected regulatory environment.

Worldcoin surpassed two million sign-ups to World ID in less than half the time it took to reach one million.

MATIC price surged due to favorable regulation, increased network use and anticipated Polygon 2.0 upgrade that could see a rebrand to POL.

Under bail conditions, only Sam Bankman-Frieds lawyers are exempt from security checks, now theyve asked if this can be extended to close friends.

XRP price rallied over 80% after the courts ruling and jumped above $0.80 against the US Dollar. It tested the $0.95 zone and is currently correcting gains.

• Ripples token price surged above the $0.65 and $0.80 resistance levels against the US dollar.
• It is trading well above $0.5000 and the 100-day simple moving average.
• There was a break above a major bearish trend line with resistance near $0.50 on the daily chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken).
• The pair is currently correcting gains but the bulls might be active near $0.70.

Ripples XRP Price Surges Over 80%

After the courts verdict in favor of Ripple, XRP saw a monster rally above the $0.45 resistance. It broke many hurdles near $0.50, dragging Bitcoin and Ethereum high as well.

There was a break above a major bearish trend line with resistance near $0.50 on the daily chart of the XRP/USD pair. It opened the doors for a strong increase above the $0.65 resistance. The price gained over 80% and even spiked toward the $0.95 level.

A high is formed near $0.9479 and the price is now correcting gains. It is trading below the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $0.4460 swing low to the $0.9479 high.

XRP is still well above $0.5000 and the 100-day simple moving average. Immediate resistance is near the $0.85 level. The first major resistance is seen near the $0.92 level, above which the price might revisit the $0.95 resistance zone.

Source: XRPUSD on TradingView.com

The main barrier could be near the $1 level. A clear break above the $1 resistance could open the doors for a sharp increase toward the $1.10 resistance. The next major resistance above the $1.10 level could be near the $1.20 level.

Are Dips...

Bitcoin market dominance briefly dipped below 50% as altcoins deemed securities by the SEC notched double-digit gains.

0.00010 BTC = 3.14 USD
1.00 USD = 0.00003 BTC
Converter

Ethereum price is up over 7% and trading above $2,000 against the US Dollar. ETH gained pace after XRP jumped over 80% and cleared $0.90.

• Ethereum is up over 7% from the $1,850 support zone.
• The price is trading above $1,980 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average.
• There was a break above a key contracting triangle with resistance near $1,885 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken).
• The pair could rise further toward the $2,050 and $2,120 resistance levels.

Ethereum Price Aims Higher

Ethereums price remained well-bid above the $1,850 zone. ETH started a decent increase after XRP surged over 50%. There was a move above the key $1,890 resistance zone. Many altcoins, including MATIC, SOL, BNB, and ADA gained handsomely in the past few hours.

There was also a break above a key contracting triangle with resistance near $1,885 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD. The pair gained over 7% and even surpassed the $2,000 resistance zone. A high is formed near $2,027 and the price is now consolidating gains.

Ether is trading above $1,980 and the 100-hourly Simple Moving Average. It is also well above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $1,865 swing low to the $2,027 high.

Source: ETHUSD on TradingView.com

On the upside, immediate resistance is near the $2,025 level. The first major resistance is near the $2,050 zone, above which the price could rise toward the $2,120 resistance zone. The next major resistance is near the $2,200 level. Any mo...

The crypto community has gathered to celebrate the recent ruling on XRPs security status, but lawyers warn theres more to it than meets the eye.

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XRPs market capitalization surged by more than $21 billion in just three hours.

Data that accurately predicted when Bitcoin would decline in 2021 now indicates that it will climb to $130,000 and possibly higher.

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse (Getty Images)

(Wael Hneini/Unsplash)

The director of Bitcoin mining analytics at the TBC said he was opposed to the Feds exploration of a central bank digital currency and planned to push for digital freedom.

(Pixabay)

Several members of the House of Lords voiced concerns about childrens online activities in legislation aimed at regulating anything communicated by means of an internet service.

(Arkham Intelligence)

(Unsplash)

The first hearing took place in a federal courthouse in lower Manhattan (elbud / Shutterstock).

Chromie Squiggle NFTs on OpenSea (OpenSea)

(eswaran arulkumar/Unsplash)

Europe is on the verge of witnessing the launch of its first spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The long-awaited debut of the European spot bitcoin ETF comes after a significant delay, which has only intensified the anticipation surrounding its arrival. Coinciding with this news, the United States is also experiencing a surge of interest in a similar product, kicking off with the filing by BlackRock for an American spot bitcoin ETF.

Jacobi Asset Management is responsible for the ETF listing, which was actually approved in 2021. Due to market conditions in 2022, the ETF was delayed although theres no official launch date yet, the development comes at an opportune time.

The ETF is designed to provide investors with an opportunity to gain exposure to bitcoin without directly owning the underlying asset, albeit at the costs of properties only offered by self-custody. By offering a regulated and easily accessible investment vehicle, the spot bitcoin ETF has the potential to attract a broader range of institutional investors.

The delay in launching the European spot bitcoin ETF had only heightened market expectations. Investors have been eagerly awaiting a regulatory green light that would enable them to tap into the Bitcoin market with the convenience and security of an ETF structure. Now, with the imminent arrival of Europe's first spot Bitcoin ETF, many believe that it could herald a new era for bitcoin in the region.

Simultaneously, the United States has witnessed a surge of interest in a spot bitcoin ETF following BlackRock's recent filing. As one of the world's largest asset management firms, BlackRock's entry signals a significant shift in sentiment towards bitcoin. Indeed, several other similarly large firms filed spot bitcoin ETFs afterwards.

The filing indicates that even established traditional financial institutions are recognizing the growing demand for regulated exposure to bitcoin. If approved, a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. could potentially provide a significant boost to the market, attracting institutional investors and further bringing bitcoin mainstream.

Shima Capital founder and managing partner Yida Gao (Shima Capital)

Antoni Trenchev Co-Founder Nexo (Shutterstock/Coindesk)

(Shutterstock)

CleanSpark Inc. has announced the completion of phase two of its mining campus expansion in Washington, Georgia. The expansion is expected to increase CleanSpark's bitcoin mining compute power by 1.8 exahashes per second (EH/s) to a total of 8.5 EH/s. The company has set lofty goals of reaching a target of 16 EH/s by the end of the year. The Washington campus has a power capacity of 50 megawatts (MW) and currently operates over 10,500 mining machines, with a total investment of over $100 million.

Zach Bradford, CEO of CleanSpark, expressed his appreciation for the successful execution of the expansion, highlighting the technical expertise and support from the local community. He stated, "This expansion has already helped us get more than halfway to our year-end guidance of 16 EH/s."

CleanSpark has been actively pursuing growth opportunities, particularly during the recent bear cycle. Last month, the company acquired a turnkey bitcoin mining campus in Dalton, Georgia, consisting of two sites, for $9.3 million. In addition to that, in the same month the company announced the acquisition of more than 12,000 cutting edge mining machines.

The expansion in Washington, Georgia, has marked another milestone for CleanSpark as it continues to increase its bitcoin mining capacity. 

(Vitaly Taranov/Unsplash)

BTC's choppy price action. (CoinDesk/HIghCharts.com)

Mutiny Wallet, the first self-custodial Lightning wallet that operates on the web, has officially launched its open beta. According to the release announcement, the wallet aims to solve the onboarding challenge for Bitcoin users worldwide by providing accessibility regardless of location or device. The announcement described the wallets mission of catering to the five billion global internet users with web browser access by offering complete control of funds and eliminating the need for identity verification. Additionally, the wallet is aimed at introducing unique features that have been restricted by stringent App Store requirements in other Bitcoin wallets.

The first highlighted feature of Mutiny Wallet is its integration of Lightning, a Layer 2 scaling solution built on Bitcoin. The wallet leverages Block's Lightning Development Kit (LDK) project, allowing developers to customize various aspects of the Lightning stack. To facilitate user liquidity management, Mutiny Wallet has partnered with Voltage and their Flow 2.0 product, enabling new users to receive their first Lightning payment within seconds of opening the application.

Furthermore, Mutiny Wallet has introduced separate balances for Lightning channel funds and on-chain spending, aiming for unified balances in the future. The wallet also emphasizes the importance of backups and introduces encrypted and remote storage for restoring Lightning-related data. Users are encouraged to provide feedback during the open beta phase, as the announcement said the team is dedicated to addressing bugs and swiftly implementing new features.

Mutiny Wallet also provides support for Nostr Wallet Connections, a tipping feature for Nostr, a protocol enabling decentralized social media. In addition, Mutiny also intends to introduce subscriptions, offering a pull-based subscription feature built on Nostr Wallet Connect. They offer an example of this in their own subscription, Mutiny+. While Mutiny+ currently provides limited perks according to the announcement, additional paid-only features are planned for the future.

Despite the wallet's progress, some caution is advised due to potential issues, such as payment reliability and force-closes on Lightning channels. The team acknowledged the complexity of Lightning and urged users to avoid loading large sums of funds during the beta phase.

Mutiny Wallet extended its gratitude to the contributors who have aided in its development, including individuals who provided design, frontend and translation support, as well as the teams behind BDK and LDK for their core technology. Users are encouraged to...

Authorities said they had reached a non-prosecution agreement with Celsius, but former CEO Alex Mashinsky will face criminal charges related to fraud and misleading users.

CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently opined that the case would end soon, but the fight for crypto wasnt over yet.

(Unsplash)

Bitcoin and crypto markets seem ready to put in a major move, commentary concludes, as BTC price action coils up below $31,000.

(Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)

Bitcoin daily chart. (CoinDesk Indices)

Circle, the company behind the USDC stablecoin, has recently laid off a portion of its workforce amid a turbulent year for the digital asset industry. According to the company, the recent layoffs aimed to maintain a strong balance sheet. And by streamlining its workforce and reducing costs, the company may be better positioned to weather the challenging market conditions.

Circle has characterized the recent layoffs as a marginal reduction in headcount, which is part of a broader effort to reduce operational expenses and discontinue investments in non-core activities.

According to the Reuters report, a Circle spokesperson said that:

Circle is redoubling its focus on core business activities and execution. It has identified new areas for investment and is continuing to hire in key areas of focus on a global basis.

Circle Had Expressed Plans To Expand The Workforce Earlier

The recent news of Circles workforce reduction comes as a surprise, given that the companys finance chief, Jeremy Fox-Green, had announced earlier this year that the USD Coin issuer had other plans.

Fox-Geen mentioned that Circle had plans to increase this headcount by 15% to 25% by the end of the year, which would have added to its 900-employee workforce. Despite the recent workforce reduction, Circle has indicated that it is still actively recruiting for key areas of focus.

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Fox-Green said that the company is growing and investing and we are fortunate to be in a financial position to be able to sustain our investments.

Circles decision to expand its workforce by up to 25% this year represented a slower growth rate compared to 2022 when the company had doubled its headcount from the previous year.

In other news, Circle had recently announced its new chief legal officer, Heath Tarbert, who previously served as the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission(CFTC).

According to Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire, the company aims to bridge the gap between traditional finance and Web3, and Tarberts experience and legal expertise will be instrumental in advancing the utility value of the USDC stablecoin worldwide.

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