Weekly Summary: Bitcoin Tests $64,000 and Blast Team Launches Mainnet

Bitcoin tested the $64,000 level, Ethereum soared above $3500, MicroStrategy acquired 3000 BTC for $155 million, Blast developers launched the mainnet, and other events of the past week.

Bitcoin Tests the $64,000 Level

On Monday, February 26, the first cryptocurrency’s quotes exceeded the $53,000 level. The next day, the asset continued to rise and reached the $57,000 mark.

On Wednesday, February 28, digital gold tested the $64,000 level but failed to hold and corrected to $60,000.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $62,500.

All digital assets in the top 10 by market capitalization ended the week in the “green zone.” Dogecoin (+64.8%), Solana (+25.7%), and Cardano (+24.5%) gained the most.

The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market is $2.4 trillion. Bitcoin’s dominance index is 53.8%.

MicroStrategy Acquires 3000 BTC for $155 Million

MicroStrategy has acquired an additional 3000 BTC. This was announced by the company’s founder, Michael Saylor.

According to a report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the firm purchased Bitcoin between February 15 and 25 for approximately $155.4 million at an average price of $51,813.

MicroStrategy holds 193,000 BTC worth approximately $6.09 billion (average price $31,544).

TON Rises 25% Following Announcement of Advertising Revenue in Telegram

Pavel Durov announced financial rewards for Telegram channel owners for displaying advertisements.

Starting in March, the Telegram Ads platform will open to all advertisers in nearly a hundred new countries. Local users will receive 50% of the revenue that the messenger earns from displaying ads in their channels.

Payments will be made in the TON cryptocurrency.

The monetization program will not operate in Russia and other CIS countries, The Bell reported, citing sources. According to them, the company is focused on markets where Telegram’s advertising model, launched in 2021, has not yet been implemented.

Following the news, the price of TON approached the $3 mark but did not surpass the psychological barrier. At the time of writing, the asset is trading at $2.6. Over the week, TON increased by 24.7%.

After the announcement, users expressed concern that the messenger might begin to control a large portion of the coin’s issuance. Pavel Durov proposed a solution.

According to him, the Telegram team will be limited to holding about 10% of the total token supply. Any excess will be sold to long-term investors “in accordance with a lock-up and vesting plan of one to four years, but at a discount to the market price.”

“Thus, freely floating TON will be locked, stabilizing the ecosystem and reducing volatility,” wrote the messenger’s founder.

He also announced that he is ready to consider applications from large investors (over $1 million) interested in purchasing the coin.

Topics to Discuss with Friends

• A trader earned $225,000 on a low-volume token.
• Meme coins showed significant growth over the week.
• Microsoft’s AI claimed superiority over humans.
• A “smart” whale earned $3.5 million on PEPE and bought altcoins.

Blast Developers Launch Mainnet

On February 29, developers of the Ethereum Layer 2 solution Blast launched the mainnet.

The team immediately announced that the ability to withdraw assets would only be available after the mainnet launch. Over several months, the total value locked (TVL) on the platform exceeded $2.3 billion with 180,000 users.

According to Blast representatives, users may currently encounter various errors such as incorrect balances or uncredited bonus points.

For those experiencing connection issues, developers recommended changing RPC settings.

El Salvador’s Unrealized Bitcoin Gains Reach $41 Million

El Salvador’s “paper” profit from investments in the first cryptocurrency amounted to 40% or about $41.6 million. This was reported by the country’s president, Nayib Bukele.

“When the market price of Bitcoin was low, they wrote literally thousands of articles about our supposed losses. […] But it is very telling that the authors of these materials, ‘analysts,’ ‘experts,’ ‘journalists’ are now completely silent,” recalled the head of El Salvador.

At the time of writing, the state holds 2381 BTC worth $149.1 million, according to Buy Bitcoin Worldwide.

Bukele also clarified that the country’s profit from investments in the asset is calculated only based on “market purchases.” The president added that the authorities do not intend to sell the coins yet.

“In the end, 1 BTC equals 1 BTC. This was true when the market price was low, and it is true now,” he concluded.

Currently, the main source of digital gold in El Salvador is the citizenship program, Bukele noted.

Also on ForkLog:

• OKX announced its exit from Uzbekistan.
• Binance denied mass blocking of users from Ukraine.
• The Bank of Russia issued additional cryptocurrency guidelines for banks.
• Elon Musk sued OpenAI.

Analyst Declares the Start of a Bull Market

Popular blogger and analyst PlanB announced the start of a FOMO period — a bull market, according to his Stock-to-Flow model.

“The accumulation phase is over: there are no more easy buying opportunities in orderly and slowly growing markets. The bull market has begun,” he wrote.

According to the expert, the digital asset market expects about 10 months of FOMO: “extreme price jumps combined with multiple 30% drops.”

What Else to Read?

In the traditional digest, we gathered the main events of the week in the field of cybersecurity.

The most important news from participants in the crypto industry was collected in a separate digest.