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Coinbase’s institutional trading wing handled electric car-maker Tesla’s $1.5 billion bitcoin investment earlier this month, according to The Block.
The report illustrates Coinbase’s growing role as corporate America marches deeper into crypto. Coinbase handled MicroStrategy’s early allocations; The Block reported it has five Fortune 500 firms as clients.
CoinDesk could not independently confirm the report at press time Wednesday. Coinbase declined to comment.
The price of Bitcoin (BTC) plummeted by more than 17% in the last 24 hours as the futures market saw mass liquidations across the board.
Liquidations occur when leveraged futures positions fall to a certain threshold. For example, a position using 10x leverage would get liquidated or turn worthless if the price of BTC drops by 5%.
If the Bitcoin futures market is highly overleveraged and overcrowded, a minor price movement can trigger mass liquidations.
According to analysts at Santiment, a data analytics firm, an address was responsible for the second-largest Bitcoin transaction of the year, as Cointelegraph reported.
More than 2,700 BTC were transferred right before the drop, which were bigger than the 2,000 BTC inflow seen before the March 2020 crash when Bitcoin dropped below $4,000. The analysts said:
“As we noted yesterday, there was an 11x exchange inflow…
Several major banks across Asia have joined forces to construct a cross-border central bank digital currency, according to a joint announcement issued on Feb. 23.
Dubbed the Multiple Central Bank Digital Currency Bridge — or m-CBDC — the project sees the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Bank of Thailand, the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates, and the Digital Currency Institute of the People’s Bank of China combine to create a CBDC prototype using distributed ledger technology.
Building upon the “Inthanon-LionRock” research project started in 2019, the latest phase of the exploration into CBDCs will develop a proof-of-concept to “facilitate real-time cross-border foreign exchange payment-versus-payment transactions in a multi-jurisdictional context and on a 24/7 basis,” states the announcement.
The stated aim of the project is to address “pain points” in conducting cross-border transfers. These include cost inefficiencies and the complex regulation which accompanies moving…
The State Bank of India, or SBI, a major Indian government-owned bank, is looking to improve cross-border payments with a blockchain solution by American investment bank JPMorgan Chase.
According to a Feb. 23 report by The Economic Times, the SBI has joined Liink, a new blockchain-based interbank data network developed by JPMorgan. By integrating the technology, the bank expects to reduce transaction costs and improve cross-border payments for its customers.
SBI deputy managing director Venkat Nageswar said that the bank has already gone live on Liink. “We are excited to be the first bank in India to go live on the network and look forward to closer partnership with JPMorgan on implementation and exploring applications as part of the network to better serve our clients,” Nageswar stated.
Liink is a peer-to-peer network and ecosystem operating under the umbrella of JPMorgan’s blockchain and digital currency-focused business dubbed “Onyx.”…
Bitcoin (BTC) extended its losses on Feb. 23 as selling pressure took markets below $47,000 for the first time in over a week.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView painted a gloomy picture for bulls on Tuesday as BTC/USD hit lows of $45,000 on Bitstamp.
The losses reverse a rebound that halted Monday’s 20% price crash from all-time highs near $58,000. Bitcoin bounced at $47,400 on the day to return to $54,000 before a fresh dip took hold.
At the time of writing, $47,000 was again acting as some form of focus for support, with the trajectory still unclear amid heavy volatility.
Analysis of buy and sell positions produced little hope for stemming losses should that level fail, with support lacking below $46,500.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has issued a warning to would-be Bitcoin (BTC) buyers looking to follow Elon Musk’s investment strategy. Speaking to Bloomberg’s Emily Chang, Gates suggested Musk had access to sophisticated trade management techniques that the average investor isn’t privy to.
When asked about the susceptibility of Bitcoin to tumble in price in reaction to a mere tweet (undoubtedly a reference to Elon Musk’s own social media posts), Gates said Elon Musk was probably insulated from such market crashes:
“Elon has tons of money and he’s very sophisticated so, you know, I don’t worry that his Bitcoin would randomly go up or down.”
On Feb. 23, little over two weeks since Tesla’s $1.5 billion acquisition of Bitcoin was announced, the price of Bitcoin fell 20% — from $58,258 to $46,624. At the same time, almost $400 billion was wiped off the…
Amid a major downward correction in the cryptocurrency market, the head of South Korea’s central bank is skeptical about digital currencies like Bitcoin (BTC).
Bank of Korea Governor Lee Ju-yeol said that crypto assets like Bitcoin have no intrinsic value, local news agency Yonhap reports Tuesday. The official said that he expects more price swings on the market, stating, “It is very difficult to predict the price, but its price will be extremely volatile.”
Speaking at the National Assembly, Lee also addressed possible reasons behind the recent sharp crypto rally, which led Bitcoin to become a $1 trillion asset. The BOK governor cited a number of factors including global concerns over excessive inflation, growing institutional interest, as well as a massive $1.5 billion Bitcoin purchase by Elon Musk’s Tesla.
“These assets saw a steep rise in the shortest period of time,” Lee stated. “I would…
