Bitcoin Surges Past $48,000 Amid Solana Network Disruptions

The leading cryptocurrency soared above $48,000, MicroStrategy expanded its bitcoin reserves to 190,000 BTC, Solana experienced another network disruption, Bluesky opened to the public, and other notable events of the past week.

Bitcoin Price Surpasses $48,000

Digital gold began the week below $43,000. On Thursday, February 8, bitcoin prices exceeded $45,000, and the following day surpassed $47,000.

At the time of writing, the leading cryptocurrency is trading at $48,000.

All top-10 digital assets by market capitalization ended the week in the “green zone.” Bitcoin (+12%), Solana (+12%), and Avalanche (+11.5%) saw the most gains.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization stands at $1.9 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance index is 53.75%.

MicroStrategy Expands Bitcoin Reserves to 190,000 BTC

In January, MicroStrategy acquired an additional 850 BTC for $37.2 million, bringing its total bitcoin reserves to 190,000 BTC (~$9.1 billion).

According to the report, in the fourth quarter of 2023, MicroStrategy purchased 31,755 BTC at an average price of $39,411.

As of February 5, the cost of acquiring 190,000 BTC by the company amounted to $5.93 billion, with an average purchase price of $31,224.

MicroStrategy’s founder, Michael Saylor, stated that the company will also position itself as a “developer of bitcoin and bitcoin-based products.” Previously, it focused on creating and supporting analytical software.

Solana Network Experiences Disruption; Experts Explain Causes

On February 6 at 09:52 UTC, Solana stopped processing blocks. The network resumed operations four hours later.

Laine, a blockchain software developer and Solana validator, clarified that the disruption was due to a “performance degradation” of the main network.

A team of experts led by journalist Colin Wu concluded that the periodic disruptions are caused by the blockchain’s inability to handle the growing volume of transactions.

Experts noted that this is far from the first disruption in the network: 

• In May 2021, many transactions could not be finalized due to unstable blockchain performance;
• In September, network performance sharply declined for about an hour;
• Later that month, transaction volumes related to the Raydium IDO led to memory overflow;
• In January 2022, arbitrage bot activity caused the network to halt for 30 hours;
• Subsequently, the blockchain could not handle a surge in NFT transactions;
• In June, a vulnerability in the nonce-signature function caused a halt;
• In October, the network went down due to a bug in the centralized Sentry service;
• A subsequent disruption was caused by a node configuration error;
• In February 2023, the network stopped processing transactions, necessitating a restart (achieved only on the second attempt).

“Looking back, we understand that the emergence of a large number of transactions is the main cause of historical network disruptions, which may be related to Solana’s mechanism,” commented Hu Zhiwei, President of Boundary Intelligence Research Institute.

Topics to Discuss with Friends

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Monero Price Plummets 28% Following Binance Delisting Announcement

On February 20 at 3:00 UTC, cryptocurrency exchange Binance will delist Aragon (ANT), Multichain (MULTI), Vai (VAI), and Monero (XMR).

In response to the company’s delisting decision, Monero developers stated they would never compromise on privacy issues and advised trading XMR on other platforms.

Over the past week, the price of the anonymous cryptocurrency token has dropped by 27.9%, according to CoinGecko. At the time of writing, XMR is trading below $120.

SEC Approves Rules for Oversight of “Dealers” in the DeFi Sector

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expanded the definition of “dealer,” bringing more financial operations, including those involving cryptocurrencies, under its jurisdiction.

Three out of five commissioners voted in favor of the proposal. Digital asset advocate Hester Peirce and her colleague Mark Uyeda opposed it.

Under the new provisions, market participants managing and owning assets exceeding $50 million must register with the SEC as dealers.

“The Commission does not exclude any specific type of security, including digital assets, from the final rules. […] The dealer framework represents a functional analysis based on a person’s trading activity in securities, not the type of security traded,” the SEC stated.

The text of the rules notes objections and confusion from crypto industry participants commenting on the SEC’s amendments regarding their application to the DeFi sector.

“While some have stated that the proposed rules should not apply to so-called DeFi, the question of whether a dealer is involved in any particular transaction or structure (regardless of what it is called) is a fact-and-circumstance analysis. There is nothing in technologies like blockchain protocols and smart contracts that would preclude defining activities with cryptocurrencies as dealer activities,” the agency explained.

According to the document, the Commission considered excluding digital assets from the rules but decided it would lead to “negative competitive consequences,” as it would give crypto firms an advantage over traditional organizations.

The provisions will take effect in 60 days and will be fully implemented in April 2025.

Also on ForkLog:

• The Web3 smartphone Saga 2 received 60,000 pre-order requests.
• Access to Binance and Coinbase data was put up for sale on the dark web.
• Another Ukrainian MP disclosed their cryptocurrency portfolio.
• Epic Games Store began selling the blockchain shooter SHRAPNEL.

Decentralized Social Network Bluesky Opens to the Public

On February 6, Bluesky — a decentralized alternative to social network X, supported by Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey — opened to the public after beta testing, which involved over 3 million users.

“When you enter Bluesky, it may seem familiar — user interaction should be simple. But inside, it is designed to return control [over the feed] to your hands. Here, your online experience is not at the disposal of a single company. Whether it’s a timeline or content filters, in Bluesky you can easily customize your personal social experience,” the project’s blog states.

The interface and functionality of the social network indeed resemble early Twitter. The platform’s logo is a white butterfly on a blue background.

However, according to the developers, Bluesky’s algorithms and moderation mechanisms differ significantly from competitors’ approaches. The project is built on the decentralized AT Protocol, which is “effectively uncensored and does not collect personal data.”

Upon registering in the social network, users are immediately offered to choose several areas of interest in the form of tags. Based on this, the algorithm selects suitable accounts for subscription.

Additionally, Bluesky features a system of feed channels that relay content of specific themes.

The personalized moderation mechanism of the social network, where algorithms and users themselves mark specific content, allows for its display customization in the feed.

What Else to Read?

This week, ForkLog covered quantum computing and the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets regulation bill.

In the traditional digest, we compiled the week’s main events in cybersecurity.

The cryptocurrency industry is attracting an increasing number of institutional players. This is evidenced by new infrastructure investments and the growing attention companies are paying to bitcoin as an asset class. The most important events of recent weeks are in ForkLog’s review.