Week in review: Khabib Nurmagomedov announces NFT release as Ethereum hits a new high

Ethereum price hit a new all-time high, BlackRock with assets of $8.7 trillion invested in Bitcoin futures, Khabib Nurmagomedov announced NFT release, and other events from the past week.

\n\n

\n\n

Ethereum hits an all-time high above $2,140

\n\n

On Friday, 2 April, Bitcoin traded above the $60,000 level but failed to sustain it.

\n\n

\n\n

On that day Ethereum tested the $2000 level, and then, in a rapid rally, breached a price high above $2080.

\n\n

Near this level the cryptocurrency was trading at the time of writing, although on 3 April prices had reached an all-time high above $2140.

\n\n

\n\n

According to CoinGecko, the asset rose 21.3% over the past seven days. Of the top ten by market capitalisation, only Polkadot and Binance Coin fared better — up 33.8% and 27.9%, respectively.

\n\n

\n\n

On 1 April, Filecoin rose into the top ten but did not remain there, as did the Theta Network token.

\n\n\n\n

The cryptocurrency market capitalisation neared $2 trillion; Bitcoin’s market cap remains above the $1 trillion mark, but the Bitcoin dominance index fell to 55%.

\n\n

Nevertheless, Bitcoin closed its best quarter since 2013. In January–March, the asset rose by 102.93%.

\n\n

\n\n

Khabib Nurmagomedov to release his own NFTs

\n\n

The mixed martial arts fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov announced the launch of a collection of digital cards in the form of NFT.

\n\n

The release is timed to the end of Nurmagomedov’s sporting career. They are divided into three types — Gold, Platinum and Diamond.

\n\n

Visa to enable USDC payments

\n\n

Payment giant Visa and the cryptocurrency service Crypto.com launched a pilot program to integrate payments in the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin from the Centre consortium.

\n\n

The solution runs on the Ethereum blockchain. Visa representatives noted that it would eliminate the need to convert the digital asset into fiat to complete a transaction.

\n\n

The project also involves Anchorage. In the first transaction Crypto.com sent USDC to the Ethereum address of the payment giant at the bank.

\n\n

PayPal to enable Bitcoin payments at partner stores

\n\n

In the coming months the payments giant PayPal will enable users to pay for purchases with Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin at 29 million points of sale.

\n\n

Initially, the service will be available to U.S. residents.

\n\n

PayPal will not charge a fee for transactions when paying with cryptocurrency. For each purchase, a customer will be able to use only one type of coin.

\n\n

Independent auditor confirms Tether backing

\n\n

The Cayman Islands-based arm of Moore Global issued a report on the sufficiency of reserves backing Tether (USDT) for full backing.

\n\n

The firm confirmed the veracity of information provided by the issuer in its consolidated reserves report.

\n\n

In a statement, Tether Holdings said that Moore Global’s opinion confirms the company’s stance on full backing of USDT. The company pledged to maintain such transparency going forward.

\n\n

Goldman Sachs to offer bitcoin-based products in Q2 2021

\n\n

The major investment bank Goldman Sachs will add Bitcoin-based investment instruments to its product lineup in Q2 2021. This was disclosed by Mary Rich, head of the bank’s Digital Assets division, in an interview with CNBC.

\n\n

According to her, over time the bank will offer a full range of cryptocurrency investments, including traditional products, derivatives and physically backed instruments.

\n\n

Coinbase sets date for direct listing

\n\n

The American exchange Coinbase expects that the direct listing of its Class A shares will take place on April 14. They will trade on Nasdaq under the ticker COIN.

\n\n

On 1 April the SEC approved the company’s S-1 filing. According to the document, the exchange will issue 114,850,769 shares. In Q1, up to 15 March, the stock’s VWAP on Nasdaq Private Market stood at $343.58.

\n\n

In the run-up to the event the company hired former Morgan Stanley managing director and head of regulatory compliance Ian Rooney as head of corporate compliance.

\n\n

Bank of Russia proposes banning stablecoin operations

\n\n

The Bank of Russia is considering restricting the use of stablecoins in settlements within Russia, Ivan Zimin, director of the financial technologies department at the Bank of Russia, said.

\n\n

“We have already taken the first step by banning unbacked cryptocurrencies, and we will likely take a second step, restricting their use, including stablecoins, for settlements,” he added.

\n\n

According to Zimin, the official means of payment can be considered only the ruble and its digital analogue.

\n\n

The head of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, Anatoly Aksakov, said the issue is open to discussion.

\n\n

Blockstream to launch hash-rate-backed Bitcoin token

\n\n

The infrastructure company Blockstream announced the launch of security tokens designed to give investors access to mining the first cryptocurrency.

\n\n

Each BMN will give the holder the right to mine Bitcoin at a hashrate of 2000 TH/s at the company’s facilities in the US and Canada. Mined cryptocurrency will be stored in cold storage until delivery to the eventual owner after 36 months.

\n\n

The first tranche of BMN will go on sale on 7 April 2021.

\n\n

CME Group to launch Micro Bitcoin futures

\n\n

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME Group) announced the launch on May 3 of a new Bitcoin-based product — Micro Bitcoin futures, awaiting regulator approval.

\n\n

The new futures contract will be one-tenth of a Bitcoin. CME believes the smaller contract will enable hedging price risks in the spot market and allow traders to implement trading strategies in the leading cryptocurrency “in an efficient and cost-effective manner.”

\n\n

Bakkt unveils mobile Bitcoin wallet

\n\n

The institutional platform for trading Bitcoin derivatives Bakkt launched a mobile app that allows users to store, buy and sell the premier cryptocurrency.

\n\n

The digital wallet is available on Android and iOS platforms.

\n\n

Justin Sun buys Picasso to tokenize it as NFT

\n\n

TRON founder Justin Sun bought artworks by Picasso and Andy Warhol for $22 million. He now intends to tokenize them through JUST NFT Fund.

\n\n

Sun paid $20 million for Pablo Picasso’s \u201CFemme nue couchée au collier,\u201D and $2 million for Andy Warhol’s \u201CThree Self-Portraits.\u201D Both works were sold at Christie’s on March 23.

\n\n

BlackRock with $8.7 trillion assets invested in Bitcoin futures

\n\n

BlackRock Global Allocation Fund, managed by BlackRock, added to its portfolio Bitcoin futures traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

\n\n

According to the SEC filing, 37 contracts expiring on March 26 accounted for 0.14% of the fund’s net assets ($25.43 billion), unrealised gains stood at $360,458. Each futures contract equals five Bitcoin.

\n\n

Morgan Stanley allows Bitcoin futures in its own funds

\n\n

One of the largest US banks, Morgan Stanley did not rule out adding Bitcoin derivatives to several of its funds. This is stated in an SEC filing.

\n\n

The document mentions 12 funds. Some of them could gain access to the first cryptocurrency through cash-settled futures or Grayscale Investments’ Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

\n\n

On ForkLog this week, also:

\n\n

• Delays the launch of the Ethereum layer-2 solution Optimism
• Ripple acquired a stake in the payments company Tranglo
• Authorities in Tenerife will phase out Bitcoin for ethical reasons
• airBaltic added the ability to buy tickets with Ethereum and Dogecoin
• Tesla helped fix a bug in BTCPay’s Bitcoin processing
• In the ECB, the timeline for launching a digital euro was named
• Developers of NBA Top Shot NFT platform secured $305 million from Michael Jordan and other investors
• At JPMorgan adjusted its Bitcoin price forecast to $130,000

\n\n

What to read and watch next

\n\n

ForkLog has gathered the most notable April Fool’s jokes from crypto industry figures.

\n\n

In traditional digests the magazine presented notable weekly events in cybersecurity, also artificial intelligence.

\n\n

ForkLog has gathered the most important events and news of recent weeks in the DeFi sector in a separate roundup.

\n\n

In the framework of the podcast “Explain Crypto” Max Bit spoke with Vadim Kurilovich — the founder of STEX, UaRoads, CTO at Cryptonomica. They talked about crypto trading — the clash of derivatives and spot exchanges, the choice between centralised and decentralised platforms, and their advantages and disadvantages.

\n\n

\n\n

\n\n

Subscribe to ForkLog news on VK!