Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Top Crypto Exchanges Record High Volume Bitcoin Withdrawals Amidst Bull Run

The crypto space has been buzzing with activity in the past few days because of the price surge of bitcoin and altcoins. One of these activities that have gone unnoticed is the movement of bulk bitcoins from exchanges. Transactions on the blockchain show that 92,085 bitcoin was withdrawn from major crypto exchanges in the last 30 days.　　According to Viewbase, this number accounts for about 6% of the bitcoin balance in these exchanges within the timeframe. The exchanges ranked according to their user bitcoin holdings are Coinbase, Huobi, Binance, Kraken, OkEX, Bitfinex, Bitflyer, Bittrex, Coincheck, Gate.io, Bitstamp, Poloniex, and BTC.top.　　Coinbase has experienced the biggest slump in the number of user bitcoin holding. The exchange which reportedly holds the highest amount of bitcoin for users has seen its user holdings drop from 973,000 bitcoin in February 2020 to 805,000 bitcoin presently. Huobi users have withdrawn about 2,085 bitcoins in the past 30 days, while Binance users have withdrawn 2,073 bitcoins in the same period.　　The massive withdrawal from exchanges is quite the reverse of what many analysts expect in the present market. It has raised many questions begging to be answered, most popular is the rationale behind these withdrawals. Could it be institutional

2021-01-07Deep Dive

Total Cryptocurrency Market Value Hits Record $1 Trillion

The total value of all cryptocurrencies passed $1 trillion Wednesday for the first time ever, per CoinGecko‘s index of 6,124 assets. At its prior peak in late 2017, the market’s total capitalization was just above $760 billion, according to TradingView.　　Bitcoin represents roughly 69% of the markets value, according to Messari.　　Traders aren‘t surprised by the market’s soaring value.　　“Is it frothy？ A little bit in the short term,” said Qiao Wang, co-founder of decentralized finance (DeFi) accelerator firm DeFi Alliance and former quantitative trader at Tower Research. “But is it ridiculous,” he asked rhetorically. “Nope.”　　Over the past 12 months, the nearly parabolic rise of bitcoin (BTC, +10.82%) and other cryptocurrencies has come as deep-pocketed institutional investors show increasing interest in bitcoin with a new crop of retail investors following their lead and showing some interesting in alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) as well.　　Bitcoin has already gained 25% in January, following its more than 300% gain in 2020. Ethereum has also soared over the past 12 months, reaching a total gain of roughly 860% Wednesday after trading above $1,200 for the first time since early 2018.　　Cryptocurrency total market value　　Source: TradingView　　“The $1 trillion mark cements cryptocurrency as a investable asset class that no longer sits on

2021-01-07Deep Dive

Maker’s MKR Token Surges to 2-Year High on DeFi Growth

MKR was trading at $1,068.53 as of press time, up 44% in the past 24 hours. However, it was trading at $1,251.14 earlier in the day, close to its Jan. 21, 2018, record of $1,798.70.　　Analysts told CoinDesk the recent rally was just a delayed and long-anticipated result of the rapid growth of the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector. MKR is the governance token for both Makers decentralized lending platform and the decentralized autonomous organization, MakerDAO.　　Yan Liberman, co-founder of Delphi Digital, a research and consulting boutique specializing in digital assets, attributed the price rally to the sharply increased supply in dai, the native stablecoin for MakerDAO.　　The total market capitalization of dai.　　Source: Glassnode　　Dai is created when Ethereum blockchain users deposit one of many assets into the Maker Protocol and borrow against that asset in the form of dai. On the other hand, the MKR gives its holders voting rights on the development of Maker Protocol and dai.　　Subscribe to First Mover, our daily newsletter about markets.　　SUBSCRIBE　　By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms & conditions and privacy policy.　　Notably, the DeFi sector is becoming popular again with more than $21.6 billion total value locked as of press

2021-01-07Deep Dive

Cryptocurrency Mining Firm Marathon’s Market Cap Passes $1B

Shares of the Las Vegas-based company have soared over 1,700% in the past 12 months. Bitcoin gained roughly 330% over the same period.　　Marathon has been mining some cryptocurrency since at least 2016, but considerably increased its focus on mining operations in the past few years. At the cryptocurrency markets prior peak in late 2017, Marathon barely had a $50 million market capitalization.　　Coinciding with its recent nearly parabolic increase in share price, Marathon has aggressively expanded its mining capacity, with a total of 90,000 new machines purchased in October and December.　　In an email to CoinDesk, CEO Merrick Okamoto said the milestone is “a very special moment for our company.”　　“Many of our shareholders stuck with us through the difficult times in our industry,” Okamoto said. “We feel honored that those who stayed on this journey are now reaping this financial reward for their patience and confidence in our company.”　　The company also completed a $200 million capital raise Monday and announced a “clean block” mining pool with DMG Blockchain Solutions “that adheres to the Office of Foreign Asset Controls (OFAC) compliance standards and reduces the risk of mining blocks that include transactions linked to nefarious activities,” per a release.　　Marathon reached the billion-dollar market

2021-01-07Deep Dive

South Korean Whales Accumulating BTC on Exchanges, Can Coinbase Buyers Hold Bitcoin Above 30k?

Bitcoin is currently trying to solidify its position above $32,000 after experiencing high volatility over the past couple of days after the $5,000 price crash. The price volatility is primarily because of Asian whales dumping large portions of their bitcoin holdings on exchanges during the Asian market time which results in a dip in bitcoin price which is followed by a buying spree on coinbase as the US markets opens right after the Asian market closes down.　　Source: CryptoQuant Alert　　The current selling and buying spree between the Asian and US markets is contributing to the high volatility of the top cryptocurrency observed in the past couple of days. The same pattern has started to begin today a little early as South Korean exchange as 1882 bitcoin worth $60 million was just sent to Bithumb an hour ago raising the concern of a possible upcoming dip in bitcoin price.　　Bitcoins price rise of over $34,000 led to heavy traffic and malfunctions on a number of crypto exchanges. The high demand for bitcoin at its current price and billions of spot rallies has led to BTC selling at premium rates on several exchanges especially in South Korea.　　This is one of the key reasons behind

2021-01-06Deep Dive

Here are some of the big projects coming to Polkadot (DOT) in 2021

After signing off on an action-packed year, Polkadot is gearing up for an even more eventful 2021. We take a look at some of the projects that are set to launch on the blockchain platform this year, as well as a few major updates to the networks that are set to see the light of day in the coming weeks.　　Frontier　　With interoperability being one of the key foundation blocks Polkadot was built on, Frontier pops up as one of the most important additions to the blockchain. Developed by Parity Technologies, Frontier is an Ethereum-Substrate compatibility program thats set to be released this year. Substrate is a modular, extensible blockchain network that makes it easier to build custom blockchains and Polkadot parachains.　　Gavin Wood, the founder and lead developer of Polkadot, said that the program was “almost completely done” in his end-of-the-year blog post, adding that it will lead to a major interoperability movement within the blockchain.　　Frontier is Substrate‘s own Ethereum compatibility layer that allows developers to run unmodified Ethereum dApps. The program will allow any Substrate chain to appear exactly as an Ethereum chain would, as well as host any tooling supported by Ethereum’s Solidity programming language, which includes MetaMask, Truffle, and

2021-01-06Deep Dive

Marathon and DMG Create First North American Coop Mining Pool

Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA) and DMG Blockchain Solutions (TSX-V: DMGI) announced on Jan. 5 their intent to create a North American mining pool.　　Increased Profits and More　　Marathon and DMG, through their US daughter company Blockseer, signed a non-binding agreement to create a non-profit organization.　　The NGO, dubbed the Digital Currency Miners of North America (DCMNA), will focus on industry issues. These include pooling resources, sharing profits, lobbying and increasing transparency on several levels.　　Combining Hashrate　　DCMNA will combine the hashing capacity made available by its members. Rewards will be given in proportion to the hashing they make available to the pool.　　Marathon has already offered to commit its entire hashrate, roughly 10.36 exahashes per second, into the pool. This amounts to over 7% of the total BTC network rate.　　Blockseer will contribute its pooling platform. The company announced on Oct. 29, 2020, that it was operating pool software in private beta. External auditors will reportedly confirm the results of pooling on the Blockseer platform.　　AFL/CFT, DCMNA Style　　The pooling platform introduced by Blockseer claims it will increase transparency as well. The pooling technology will remove transactions Walletscore rates as risky.　　As a result, the blocks mined by the pool are less likely to run afoul of the

2021-01-06Deep Dive

Number of XRP Whales Plunges While Active Bitcoin Addresses Come Close to Record Highs

The XRP whale population has shrunk precipitously over the past few weeks due to Ripples legal troubles with the SEC, according to CoinMetrics.　　The cryptocurrency analytics firm has estimated that the number of addresses with at least 1 million tokens has dropped from 1,721 to 1,567 in just two weeks.　　Image by coinmetrics.substack.com　　Exchanges and asset managers drop XRP　　While the whole cryptocurrency market is recovering from yesterday‘s carnage, XRP is the lone coin in the red. It is once again on the verge of slipping below Litecoin after Grayscale Investments, the leading crypto asset manager, has removed the token from its Large Cap Crypto Fund in a widely expected move. On top of that, the firm’s XRP trust also halted subscriptions shortly after the SEC lawsuit was announced.　　Multiple exchanges, including Coinbase, Bitstamp, Binance.US, will suspend XRP trading now that the token is considered to be a security by the much-feared regulatory agency.　　In turn, Ripple lamented the SEC for hurting countless “innocent” retail holders:　　Weve always said that there is a dangerous lack of regulatory clarity for crypto in the U.S. — their lawsuit has already affected countless innocent XRP retail holders with no connection to Ripple.　　Bitcoin and Ethereum addresses near record highs　　In the meantime,

2021-01-06Deep Dive

Bitcoin Futures and Options Offered by CME Group Record Triple-Digit Growth

Bitcoin futures and options offered by Chicago-headquartered CME Group have recorded a 117 percent increase in average daily volume (ADV) since December 2019, according to a full-year report shared on Jan. 5.　　These cryptocurrency products are seeing faster growth than e-micro gold futures, silver futures and even SOFR futures.　　How CME became a major player in crypto　　In December 2017, Bitcoin-tied futures made their debut on CME—back when the previous bull market reached its peak.　　Because of the bear market in 2018, futures-trading activity became anemic, which prompted the rivaling Cboe exchange to discontinue its own product in March 2019. In May of that year, however, CME saw a sharp uptick in volumes, which also coincided with Bitcoins stunning recovery.　　In January 2020, CME also launched Bitcoin options following Bakkts debut.　　On the verge of 2021, CME toppled OKEx and Binance to become the number one destination for trading Bitcoin futures.　　On Jan. 4, the first trading day of the new year, 17,234 contracts changed hands as institutional investors are becoming keener on Bitcoin.　　After three years of deliberation, CME Group will also list Ethereum futures on Feb. 8.　　Gaps keep getting bigger　　Following its weekend rally, CMEs futures had to be temporarily halted at the open because of a

2021-01-06Deep Dive

Altcoins explode higher: Synthetix, Uniswap, and more rally by over 20%

“Altcoin season” may have begun as coins aside from Bitcoin and Ethereum take center stage, outperforming strongly against BTC and the U.S. dollar.　　Nearly every cryptocurrency in the top 100 by market capitalization is up in the past 24 hours, save for Tron (TRX), NEXO, stablecoins, and Siacoin (SC).　　Ethereum has also started to outpace Bitcoin once again, showing the strength of the altcoin market. Many believe that profits that investors took on BTC are cycling into altcoins, hence Bitcoins stagnation in price.　　Altcoins erupt higher　　Altcoins have seen extreme strength over the past 48 hours.　　Synthetix Network Token (SNX) is up 30 percent in the past 24 hours, pushing past $10 for the first time ever. The cryptocurrency is erupting higher as there are high expectations for new products and for the launch of a second-layer scaling solution in collaboration with Optimistic Ethereum, a rollup-based network.　　Uniswap (UNI), too, is up 21 percent in the past 24 hours. There are also expectations that it will launch some sort of second-layer scaling solution in collaboration with Optimistic Ethereum, yet this has yet to be confirmed by developers.　　Cardano (ADA) is also shooting higher. The coin is up 17 percent in the past day.　　This may be set to

2021-01-06Deep Dive

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