Bitcoin

Franklin Templeton launches Bitcoin, Ethereum Index ETF

Franklin Templeton announces an exchange that holds both spot Bitcoin and Ethereum Funds (ETFs). The Franklin Crypto Index ETF (EZPZ) is the second cryptocurrency index ETF to enter the U.S. market, after asset management company Hashdex launched the Nasdaq Crypto Index US ETF (NCIQ) on February 14. The EZPZ Fund holds a basket of assets referenced by the CF Institutional Digital Assets Index. As of February 20, the index tracks only Bitcoin and Ethereum. As of February 20, the market capitalization weighted index's assets composition were about 87% BTC and 13% ETH, according to CF Benchmarks data. Franklin Templeton plans to hold more cryptocurrencies in the future, and as the index expands, it will eventually provide American investors with a ‘one-stop’ crypto portfolio.

Bitcoin price may be "artificially suppressed".

Samson Mow, CEO of Bitcoin wallet company Jan3 and founder of Pixelmatic, warned at the Consensus Hong Kong cryptocurrency conference that Bitcoin price May be suppressed by "artificially". Although retail buyers are buying Bitcoin in fixed investment, there seems to be still selling pressure. "Although both institutions and retail buyers are increasing their holdings of Bitcoin, the price of Bitcoin has not risen, so it must be someone selling it." Last year, due to With bankruptcy and restructuring, there were structural sellers in the market, but that period was basically over. In addition, the FTX repayment process has also intensified the selling pressure. The company repaid based on the price of Bitcoin of about $20,000 in November 2022. As creditors try to cash in on profits, this could lead to more sell-offs, with FTX selling Bitcoin at a much lower price, which could explain why Bitcoin prices lack momentum to rise.

Bitcoin should be free to trade like gold

According to Bitcoin Magazine, Trump's newly appointed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said: "I think Bit is Coins should be freely traded around the world like gold. "

Lightning Network develops or strengthens the investment value of Bitcoin

Fidelity Digital Assets jointly released with Lightning Network payment service provider Voltage The research report points out that the development of the Lightning Network will enhance the value of Bitcoin as an investment target. Data shows that since 2020, the average capacity of Lightning Network has increased by 384%, and currently holds approximately 5,358.50 BTC, at current 95,The 000 dollar price is approximately US$509 million, and this data does not include private and unpublished payment channels. The report emphasized that 2024 is a milestone year for the development of Lightning Network, and mainstream exchanges such as Coinbase, Bitfinex, OKX, Kraken and Binance have successively completed access. The network shows many signs of maturity: the early inefficient payment channels are gradually closed, replaced by larger and more optimized channels; the transaction fee for optimized nodes can reach as low as 0%, and the payment completion time is less than 0.5 seconds; the network is positive Larger-scale and more connected node development. In addition, Tether plans to connect USDT to Bitcoin Layer 2, which will increase Lightning Network transaction volume by 1197%, according to the Solv Protocol co-founder.

Only Bitcoin and Ethereum don't need foundation

On February 19th, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik targeted "Today's" in a text AMA held on the Tako platform. Should Ethereum be closer to the existence of Bitcoin or the existence of world computers? "In the question, "I think these two ways of thinking are compatible with each other. If we need to distinguish which blockchains are "really decentralized", A relatively simple test can be used: If his foundation disappears, can the chain survive? I feel that only Bitcoin and Ethereum can answer clearly: Of course. Most of Ethereum's development is external, and the client team has an independent business model. Now many vulnerabilities are not in the foundation, and almost all activities except devcon are independent.

Bernstein: The US Cryptocurrency Working Group will focus on establishing Bitcoin reserves

According to CoinDesk, investment bank Bernstein released a research report stating that the US Cryptocurrency Working Group will focus on promoting The establishment of Bitcoin reserves. Analyst Gautam Chhugani team believes that the move may trigger global sovereignty to scramble to include Bitcoin in reserve assets. The report explores the key issues facing reserve establishment: first, the determination of the purchase entity, which needs to be approved by the Federal Reserve if implemented by the Federal Reserve; second, the source of funds, which may be resolved by issuing bonds or selling part of the gold reserves. The report also mentioned that the United States can include approximately $20 billion worth of Bitcoin previously seized from criminal activities in its reserves. It is worth noting that Trump has previously announced the establishment of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), which will regard important cryptocurrency companies in the United States as strategic investment targets. Bernstein advises investors to prepare for a new bull market for Bitcoin and related stocks.

The El Salvador Library will set up a Bitcoin zone

The Bitcoin Office under the leadership of the El Salvador President said on X that the El Salvador Library will set up a Bitcoin zone. No library visitorsOnly all the best books about Bitcoin can be found, and there will also be a chance to see full nodes running, as well as significant information about their use in the Bitcoin network.

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer: Bitcoin adoption will usher in a watershed this year

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan posted on X that he will see more funds flowing into ETFs this year, and in addition , enterprises, wealth management companies and traditional financial institutions will also increase their holdings to buy Bitcoin. On the other hand, regulators create fruitful transparency; the world (geo, currency, etc.) is increasingly in an environment that drives Bitcoin demand. "This will be a watershed year."

Ethereum

Bybit Ethereum's theft market sentiment remains cautiously optimistic, and traders believe it is just a temporary setback

Greeks.Live macro researcher Adam released an English community briefing on X platform to disclose that despite the stolen Ethereum of Bybit, market sentiment remained cautiously optimistic, and traders believed that this was just a temporary setback. The group consensus will focus on US$95,000-96,000 as key support levels, and an average regression rise is expected, but there are some differences on the weekend price trend. The market believes that the impact of the hacking incident is controllable. Binance and Bitget provide emergency liquidity support by depositing 50,000 Ethereum, and traders actively sell low-volatility options (29% volatility), indicating concerns about further declines. limited.

Only Bitcoin and Ethereum don't need foundation

On February 19th, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik targeted "Today's" in a text AMA held on the Tako platform. Should Ethereum be closer to the existence of Bitcoin or the existence of world computers? "In the question, "I think these two ways of thinking are compatible with each other. If we need to distinguish which blockchains are "really decentralized", A relatively simple test can be used: If his foundation disappears, can the chain survive? I feel that only Bitcoin and Ethereum can answer clearly: Of course. Most of Ethereum's development is external, and the client team has an independent business model. Now many vulnerabilities are not in the foundation, and almost all activities except devcon are independent.

Ethereum L1 and L2 need to clearly define the scope of transactions

On February 19, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin responded to "Is rollups generally good for Ethereum or blood sucking, and whether ETH When we really need these L2 issues, we said that Ethereum currently adopts a hybrid L1 + L2 expansion solution, but it still needs to clearly define the respective transaction scope of L1 and L2 layers. Vitalik said that transferring all transactions to L2 could undermine ETH's status as a medium of exchange and a store of value, across L2Operations still need to rely on L1. At the same time, it is also not feasible to keep all transactions at L1, as this may lead to centralization and cannot meet the unlimited growth of on-chain transaction needs. The right balance between these two extremes needs to be found to provide the best solution for users.

Ethereum NFT game "Fantasy Top" expanded to Monad

Ethereum NFT game "Fantasy Top" is expanding from the second-tier network Blast to Three-layer network. On Wednesday, developers announced that the free-to-play version of the game will debut on Monad, the newly launched new layer 1 blockchain test network. The game reflects traditional fantasy sports, replacing football and basketball stars with top crypto social media figures on X (formerly known as "Heroes" on Twitter. For example, just as athletes earn points through their performance on the court (such as touchdowns), “heroes” also earn points through their social engagement metrics. Crypto celebrities like Ansem, ThreadGuy, Truth Terminal, etc. have hero cards that users can insert into their roster in each match.

Vitalik has led Ethereum through many crises, and Ethereum will survive

Eli Ben-Sasson, co-founder and CEO of StarkWare, posted on the X platform that Vitalik Buterin Having led Ethereum through many crises, everything will be fine, Ethereum will survive and solve the problem, and although it is not known how it will happen and is not involved, people need a strong Ethereum.

Vitalik: Ethereum priority should be to improve interoperability between L2

Vitalik Buterin said in an AMA event that Ethereum priority should be to improve interoperability between L2 Operationality, because there are not many Stakeholders, everyone has common interests, so the process will be much simpler. It can then be expanded to do more cross-crypto interoperability, even from cryptocurrencies to fiat currencies.

Other projects

The "Star Gate" project proposed by Trump will support OpenAI's 75% computing power

According to The Information: The "Star Gate" proposed by US President Trump The (Stargate) project will support OpenAI's computing power 75%.

Binance has been restricting employees from speculating in coins and is preparing to try several "local dog" projects in person

Binance Lianchuang CZ posted on the X platform that Binance (CEX) has always been Restrict employees from speculating on currency. This is of course to protect users. But the side effect is that the product manager does not understand user needs very well. CZ said: "I can't control this, let their management decide. On Chain, you should indeed experience the product.Wait and try some local dogs. ”

Split into Next.ID, Web3.Bio and Firefly three projects operate independently

According to the official news of Mask Network, the decentralized social protocol Mask Network announced its ecosystem Mask DAO is undergoing a major restructuring. In this restructuring, the three Web3 social projects Next.ID, Web3.Bio and Firefly will be operated as independent projects, and are all managed by MaskDAO. Mask Network founder Suji Yan said that the spin-off will be Enable projects to independently expand their teams, promote product innovation and conduct token economy simulation to raise funds.

More than two-thirds of Bitcoin L2 projects will no longer exist within three years

< p>Stacks Co-founder Muneeb Ali As the initial excitement fades, more than two-thirds of existing Bitcoin Tier 2 projects will no longer exist within three years. Speaking of the Bitcoin L2 ecosystem, Ali said most projects have already Begin to realize that "the market is very difficult."

Trump family project WLFI bought 548,000 SEI 3 minutes ago

According to Arkham monitoring, Trump family project World Liberty Finance spent 125,000 USDC 3 minutes ago to purchase 548,000 SEI.

The stablecoin project Falcon Finance beta version is now available

February 18th news, DWF Labs Partners Andrei Grachev posted on social media that stablecoin project Falcon Finance beta version is now available. According to reports, Falcon Finance is guaranteed by multiple assets and uses hedging and Farming systems to improve returns and stability.