What happened this week in the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies? The most relevant local and international events, along with engaging background reports, concisely summarized in the weekly review.
Selected articles of the week:
The time has come. After breaking out of a seven-month consolidation phase, Bitcoin cracked the magical USD 100,000 mark. What some see as purely the result of “Trump trades” has a solid fundamental basis. On the one hand, Bitcoin is increasingly finding its way into the portfolios of traditional asset managers thanks to the ETFs approved in January. Exchange-traded companies such as MicroStrategy, Marathon Digital and Tesla are also holding the “digital gold” on their balance sheets. On the other hand, the industry expects a turning point in the regulation of digital assets under the Trump administration. Combined with an easing of monetary policy around the world, this is a potent mix that could further boost the crypto markets.
After a period of consolidation, the Bitcoin price is back above the USD 63,000 mark and thus the 200-day average.
A new number 3: XRP
XRP is a cryptocurrency developed by Ripple Labs to enable fast and low-cost cross-border payments. Unlike many other cryptocurrencies, it is maintained on the XRP Ledger, its own blockchain. According to Ripple Labs, use cases include providing liquidity to financial institutions and streamlining global money transfers. This promise, along with the fallacy of a “cheap price” of a few dollars, has been enticing investors since 2013 despite the lack of fundamental activity.
Over the past 30 days, the price of XRP surged by over 375%, propelling the cryptocurrency into the top 3 by market capitalization.
First signs of an NFT renaissance
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique digital assets that represent ownership of virtual items via blockchain technology. Similar to traditional cryptocurrencies, NFTs experienced a significant boom in the last market cycle. This was followed by a brutal bear market that caused the leading collections to plummet by over 90%. However, NFTs are not dead. During the downturn, projects have been working on technological advances, developing new use cases, and maturing their ecosystems. This work is beginning to bear fruit.
The NFT market shows signs of revival with Yuga Labs and other projects, announcing new developments and strategic partnerships.
The future of Ethereum
Ethereum is the first decentralized blockchain platform that enabled the creation of smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). The network is the basis for the native cryptocurrency Ether (ETH) and supports a wide range of use cases, from financial services to NFTs. During the past boom phase, however, Ethereum had to contend with enormous transaction fees. As a result, many users switched to competing networks such as Solana. Thanks to so-called layer-2 solutions, Ethereum could win these users back.
Despite significant scalability Ethereum faces competition from rivals like Solana and evolving Layer 2 networks within its own ecosystem.
Restructuring of a Swiss crypto unicorn
In addition: With over 10 billion USD in assets under management (AuM), the Swiss “unicorn” 21Shares is one of the largest crypto product providers in Europe. The parent company 21.co is now reorganizing itself in preparation for the next phase of growth in the digital assets sector. The separation of 21Shares and 21.co Technologies will enable both companies to focus on their respective strengths and pursue their specific business objectives more efficiently.
The Swiss crypto ETP issuer 21Shares is restructuring to prepare for the next phase of growth.
