Day: March 17, 2025

Solana futures finish first trading day on CME

admin

Solana (SOL) futures traded for the first time on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group’s US derivatives exchange on March 17 as the cryptocurrency’s mainstream adoption gains momentum. In February, CME tipped plans to list two types of SOL futures contracts: standard contracts representing 500 SOL and retail-friendly “micro” contracts representing 25 SOL each.  They are the first regulated Solana futures to hit the US market after Coinbase’s launched in February. The contracts are settled in cash, not physical SOL. On March 17, the contracts’ first trading day, SOL futures…

Bitcoin sees 30% retracement as selling pressure increases — Bitfinex

admin

Bitcoin (BTC) has undergone its second-largest correction of this bull run, according to analysts at crypto exchange Bitfinex. The correction, from the coin’s all-time high of $109,590 set on Jan. 20 to a low of $77,041 during the week of March 9-15, represents a 30% retracement triggered by selling pressure from short-term holders. In its report, Bitfinex defines short-term holders as those who have bought within the last seven to 30 days. According to the exchange, they have suffered net unrealized losses and are often more subject to capitulation. Bitfinex…

Ethena Labs, Securitize launch blockchain for DeFi and tokenized assets

admin

Stablecoin developer Ethena Labs and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization company Securitize are launching a new blockchain for retail and institutional investors seeking access to the DeFi and tokenization economies.  According to a March 17 announcement, the forthcoming Converge blockchain is an Ethereum Virtual Machine that will provide retail investors with access to “standard DeFi applications.” It will also specialize in institutional-grade offerings that will help bridge traditional finance with DeFi opportunities.  The Converge blockchain is announced at the Tokenize NYC conference on March 17. Source: Cointelegraph Converge will launch with…

Hashdex amends S-1 for crypto index ETF, adds seven altcoins

admin

Asset manager Hashdex has amended its S-1 regulatory filing for its cryptocurrency index exchange-traded fund (ETF) to include seven altcoins in addition to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), according to a March 14 filing.  The revision proposes adding seven specific altcoins to the index ETF — Solana (SOL), XRP (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK), Avalanche (AVAX), Litecoin (LTC), and Uniswap (UNI). As of March 17, the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF holds only Bitcoin and Ether. Previous versions of Hashdex’s S-1 suggested the possibility of adding other cryptocurrencies in…

Bitcoin price fails to go parabolic as the US Dollar Index (DXY) falls — Why?

admin

Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen 12% since March 2, when it nearly reached $94,000. Interestingly, during the same period, the US dollar weakened against a basket of foreign currencies, which is usually seen as a positive sign for scarce assets like BTC. Investors are now puzzled as to why Bitcoin hasn’t reacted positively to the declining DXY and what could be the next factor to trigger a decoupling from this trend. US Dollar Index (DXY, left) vs. Bitcoin/USD (right). Source: TradingView / Cointelegraph Up to mid-2024, the US Dollar Index (DXY)…

Standard Chartered drops 2025 ETH price estimate by 60% to $4K

admin

Ethereum price is more than 52% down from its December 2024 high at $4,107 and data from TradingView shows ETH (ETH) down 42% since the start of 2025.  Despite being one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization and holding the dominant spot as the leader in Web3 and DeFi, many analysts believe that ETH’s price prospects remain grim in the short term.  Crypto analyst and chartered market technician Askel Kibar warned traders against assuming that ETH price trades at a discount simply based on how far off it is…

What Are They And What Do They Do?

admin

Covenant : a usually formal, solemn, and binding agreement.  This word has become one of the most charged words in the Bitcoin space. They’re the best thing since sliced bread. They’re the most dangerous thing since the atom bomb. They aren’t really going to do anything to scale Bitcoin, but they’re neat.  Everyone has a completely different attitude towards them. We have the pro-faction, the anti-faction, the ambivalent faction. To make matters worse, covenant is frankly a very vague term in its description of mature and concrete proposals to the…

Here’s How High The XRP Price Would Be If It Flips Ethereum’s Market Cap

admin

Scott Matherson is a prominent crypto writer at NewsBTC with a knack for capturing the pulse of the market, covering pivotal shifts, technological advancements, and regulatory changes with precision. Having witnessed the evolving landscape of the crypto world firsthand, Scott is able to dissect complex crypto topics and present them in an accessible and engaging manner. Scott’s dedication to clarity and accuracy has made him an indispensable asset, helping to demystify the complex world of cryptocurrency for countless readers. Scott’s experience spans a number of industries outside of crypto including…

NymVPN launches fully decentralized VPN amid privacy crackdown

admin

Privacy protocol Nym has launched NymVPN, which it describes as the “world’s most secure VPN” and says will help protect users from government, corporate and AI surveillance. The release comes amid an increasingly hostile global environment for privacy-focused products — one that is seeing governments crack down on privacy projects and demand backdoors to encryption. The decentralized VPN, which launched on March 13, uses the Nym protocol’s “mixnet” to keep users fully anonymous and ensure no metadata can be linked to any specific user, according to a press release shared…

Polymarket bettors say there’s a 100% chance the Fed ends QT before May

admin

Betters on Polymarket believe it’s now a certainty that the US Federal Reserve will wind down its quantitative tightening (QT) program by May of this year, a move many analysts say could trigger the next leg of the crypto bull market.  By March 14, Polymarket’s betting odds that the Fed would end QT by April 30 was 100%, where it remains unchanged at the time of writing. The wager, titled “Will Fed end QT before May?,” has more than $6.2 million in cumulative trading volume. Polymarket users have assigned a…