Coin360 Daily Dispatch | Crypto Market Updates & Highlights | February 9, 2024

Bitcoin Surges to New Heights

Bitcoin surged to $46,000, with its dominance rising by almost 1% in two days, reaching 52%, driven by expectations of altcoin breakout and increased institutional investment. Reduced GBTC outflows and positive BTC spot ETF inflows drive the uptrend. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a $403 million inflow in one day, totaling over $2.1 billion since launch. 

Analysts predict prices reaching $51,000 before April's halving and $52,000 by mid-March, leveraging technical analysis and historical holiday trends. Additionally, historical data suggests an average 11% increase during the Chinese New Year, as per Matrixport. The breakthrough above resistance levels sets a short-term target at $48,000, with potential for further gains driven by technical and economic factors.  

Ethereum Eyes Lower Fees with Upgrade

ETH rose above $2,450 as the Ethereum Dencun upgrade is set to launch on March 13, integrating EIP-4844's 'blobs', aiming to reduce layer-2 blockchain fees by 10x. The update provides increased block space for layer-2 transactions, potentially reducing fees marginally for Ethereum mainnet transactions. Developer teams must release final Dencun-supported client versions by Feb. 22, allowing validators two weeks to update.  

Do Kwon's Court Win in Montenegro

Do Kwon, Terraform Labs co-founder, wins second appeal against U.S. and South Korea's extradition requests in Montenegro. Court of Appeals overturns previous decision due to procedural violations. Former CFO, Han Chang-joon, extradited to South Korea. Terra's peg collapse in 2022 led to Kwon's charges. His extradition case will be reconsidered at the first-instance court.  

Ex-CEO's Crypto Gamble Causes Bank Failure

Former CEO of a Kansas bank embezzled $47.1 million to invest in crypto, leading to the bank's insolvency. Brian Mitchell exposed the fraud, suspecting the ex-CEO fell victim to a scam. Regulatory bodies intervened, and the bank was acquired to protect depositors. The total crypto market capitalization currently stands at $1.67 trillion, showing a 1.4% increase.  

Legal Heat for Coinbase on Token Control

Coinbase faces legal scrutiny over alleged unauthorized control and conversion of Songbird (SGB) tokens, prompting lawsuits and debates on crypto asset rights. Legal experts criticize Coinbase's actions as potentially breaching unjust enrichment principles, raising significant implications for the crypto industry. Ripple's CLO also highlights inconsistencies in regulatory perspectives, challenging the need for clarity.  

Senators Question SEC's Enforcement Tactics

Republican senators criticize SEC Chair Gary Gensler for the agency's mishandling of evidence in a lawsuit against DEBT Box, raising concerns about its broader enforcement practices. The SEC admitted to misrepresenting evidence, leading to a court-ordered freeze of DEBT Box's assets. The agency is taking corrective action, including mandatory trainings for staff.  

Tradestation Pays $3M in SEC Settlement

Tradestation Crypto settles with SEC and state regulators for $3 million for offering an unregistered crypto asset lending product to U.S. investors, facing charges of violating federal securities laws by failing to register the product. The SEC settlement involves a $1.5 million penalty, while state regulators coordinate a parallel settlement for an additional $1.5 million.  

Kraken's Regulatory Win in Europe

Kraken obtained a VASP registration from the Dutch Central Bank, facilitating its expansion into the Netherlands. The move aligns with the exchange's European growth strategy, which includes acquisitions and regulatory compliance. Kraken also aims to capitalize on the upcoming MiCA regulatory framework, accelerating its presence in Europe ahead of expected changes in crypto asset regulations.  

Block Earner Faces, Wins Regulation Challenge

The Australian court ruled that Block Earner violated regulations by offering unlicensed financial products. Despite this, the court approved the "DeFi Access" product, marking a win for ASIC. This case reflects ASIC's efforts to regulate the crypto sector. The aggressive regulatory stance poses challenges for the industry, which is growing, with around 32% of Australian adults involved in crypto.  

Polygon Reduces Costs with zkEVM Prover

Polygon's zkEVM Type 1 prover enables Ethereum chains to function as ZK layer 2s, reducing transaction costs to $0.002-$0.003. It facilitates ZK-proofs for EVM chains, enhancing security. The open-source prover aligns with Ethereum's ethos and supports optimistic rollups, minimizing the seven-day fund lockup. Polygon aims to launch its "Polygon 2.0" cross-chain protocol in 2024.  

Cairo Verifier: Next-Gen Blockchain Scalability

StarkWare and Herodotus developers are launching the Cairo Verifier, a technology to bridge layer-3 scalability in the blockchain ecosystem. It verifies proofs and reduces verification costs, improving transaction confirmation speed. Designed for Starknet, it allows verification of storage proofs on layer-2s and layer-3s, representing an evolution in blockchain ecosystem verification technologies.  

Bitcoin Leads in Latin American Portfolios

Bitso's report for the second half of 2023 reveals that Bitcoin constitutes 53% of crypto portfolios in Latin America. Dollar-pegged stablecoins are popular in Argentina and Colombia. Women's involvement in crypto is increasing, particularly in Colombia and Brazil. Long-term holders are maintaining their investments, and Bitso's user base exceeds 8 million.  

XRP Rewards for XRPL Sidechain Validators

The XRPL EVM sidechain, developed in collaboration with Peersyst, rewards validators in XRP, unlike the XRPL mainnet where fees are burned. CEO Ferran Prat revealed there's no immediate plan to rename the sidechain. The integration is expected to simplify project launches for developers and benefit decentralized finance (DeFi), according to 'Flip The Chain'.  

Pendle Nears $1 Billion TVL

Pendle, a DeFi platform, approaches $1 billion in total value locked (TVL), with a significant surge in the last six months. The platform added support for the BNB chain and real-world assets (RWA). Its focus on Liquid Restaking Tokens (LRTFi) and unique EigenLayer yield speculation has contributed to its growth and emergence as a pioneer in the field.  

Top Altcoin Gainers and Losers

Gainers:

Dymension DYM (+20.41%) 

Beam BEAMX (+13.89%) 

THORChain RUNE (+13.12%) 

Losers:

Jupiter Space Station JUP (-9.77%) 

Manta Network MANTA (-5.24%) 

Ronin RON (-4.98%)