Crypto market wrap: Sector treads water amid choppy trading
Updated
The cryptocurrency market treaded water on Friday amid choppy trading.
Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), the main coin of the Ethereum blockchain, generated buzz by exceeding $24,000 and $1,900, respectively as conventional markets closed in North America. (All figures based on CoinMarketCap data.) However, on average, digital coin prices remained flat.
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HT to USD
Huobi spikes
The Huobi exchange’s token (HT) spiked 18% after Bloomberg reported that the company’s founder, Chinese billionaire Leon Li, wants to sell a majority stake for more as much as $3bn (£2.47). Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that Li has held talks with a variety of potential purchasers, including TRON founder Justin Sun and crypto-billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX.
Most other gains were modest Friday. But several coins enjoyed large weekly increases.
The beleaguered Celsius Network’s coin (CEL) was up 98% from a week earlier. Meanwhile, avalanche (AVAX), solana (SOL), XDC, and chainlink (LINK) increased about 20%.
BTC coin and ether were up 18% and 15%, respectively, from the previous week.
CEL to USD
Calm end
Friday’s modest performance marked a calm end to a challenging – but not overly burdensome – seven-day stretch. The sector dealt with the Nomad bridge hack, which resulted in the loss of $190m – some of which was later recovered.
Meanwhile, crypto mixer Tornado Cash was sanctioned by the US government, which alleged that the company allowed North Korean state-backed hackers and others to launder stolen funds. Decentralized finance (DeFi) exchange operator Curve (CRV) was also hacked, albeit on a much smaller scale than Nomad.
And, Singapore-based crypto lender Hodlnaut froze withdrawals, swaps and deposits due to the harsh crypto winter. But, overall, the sector showed resilience – unlike in July and June, when the financial troubles of Celsius, Voyager Digital and Three Arrows Capital, macroeconomic turbulence and other factors sparked a market meltdown.
LINK to USD
Coinbase stock soars
Coinbase’s closely watched stock (COIN) concluded a volatile week by jumping 7% on Friday. The token rode a roller coaster as the crypto exchange operator generated a considerable amount of news
Coinbase confirmed it is being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and the company delivered sub-par financial results and signed a partnership with global asset manager BlackRock (BLK).
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