{"id":35998,"date":"2021-02-07T21:05:13","date_gmt":"2021-02-07T19:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=35998"},"modified":"2025-08-29T04:07:29","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T01:07:29","slug":"week-in-review-elon-musk-pumps-dogecoin-again-as-ethereum-hits-a-fresh-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/week-in-review-elon-musk-pumps-dogecoin-again-as-ethereum-hits-a-fresh-high\/","title":{"rendered":"Week in review: Elon Musk pumps Dogecoin again as Ethereum hits a fresh high"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Elon Musk described himself as a Bitcoin advocate, but again tweeted about Dogecoin; Ethereum reached a new all-time high, Forbes listed crypto billionaires, Binance launched a cryptocurrency analogue of PayPal, and other events of the week.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZrBQDd5tiUo\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" frameborder=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Ethereum and Cosmos hit new highs; Bitcoin&#8217;s price temporarily rose above $40,000<\/h2>\n<p>The second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap climbed three psychological levels over the week, setting price records. On February 2, Ethereum prices breached <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/ethereum-price-clears-1500\">the $1500 mark<\/a>, within 24 hours \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/ethereum-price-hits-new-high-above-1600\">$1600<\/a>. On Friday, February 5, the price <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/ethereum-price-breaks-above-1700\">set a new high<\/a> above $1700.<\/p>\n<p>Against the rally, the average transaction fee in the Ethereum network <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/average-ethereum-transaction-fee-tops-20\">rose above $20<\/a>, also setting a record.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_124228\" style=\"width: 957px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-124228\" class=\"wp-image-124228 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ethereum-average-transaction-fee-USD-chart-Blockchair-Google-Chrome.jpg\" alt=\"Week in review: Elon Musk pumps Dogecoin again as Ethereum hits a new high\" width=\"947\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ethereum-average-transaction-fee-USD-chart-Blockchair-Google-Chrome.jpg 947w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ethereum-average-transaction-fee-USD-chart-Blockchair-Google-Chrome-300x178.jpg 300w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Ethereum-average-transaction-fee-USD-chart-Blockchair-Google-Chrome-768x455.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 947px) 100vw, 947px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-124228\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Blockchair.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Bitcoin&#8217;s price rose over the week and on Saturday, February 6, temporarily rose above $40,000. This was accompanied by the network hashrate rising to <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/bitcoin-hash-rate-hits-a-record-174-9-eh-s\">a record 174.9 EH\/s<\/a>, according to Coin Metrics.<\/p>\n<p>As of writing, digital gold was trading around $38,000.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_124229\" style=\"width: 1570px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-124229\" class=\"wp-image-124229 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bez-nazvaniya-3-14.png\" alt=\"Week in review: Elon Musk pumps Dogecoin again as Ethereum hits a new high\" width=\"1560\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bez-nazvaniya-3-14.png 1560w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bez-nazvaniya-3-14-300x96.png 300w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bez-nazvaniya-3-14-1024x328.png 1024w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bez-nazvaniya-3-14-768x246.png 768w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Bez-nazvaniya-3-14-1536x492.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1560px) 100vw, 1560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-124229\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: TradingView.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Forbes revealed list of 11 crypto billionaires<\/h2>\n<p>Forbes&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/forbes-names-11-crypto-billionaires\">list<\/a> of the wealthiest crypto-industry figures included 11 billionaires. At the top of the ranking was Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. His fortune is estimated at $6.5 billion.<\/p>\n<p>Rounding out the top three were FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried with $4.5 billion and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen \u2014 $2.9 billion.<\/p>\n<p>The magazine considered not only asset values but also stakes in companies tied to the individuals and traditional assets.<\/p>\n<p>The list also included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>MicroStrategy chief Michael Saylor ($2 billion);<\/li>\n<li>Binance founder Changpeng Zhao ($1.9 billion);<\/li>\n<li>Gemini founders the Winklevoss twins \u2014 $1.6 billion each;<\/li>\n<li>Digital Currency Group founder Barry Silbert \u2014 $1.5 billion;<\/li>\n<li>co-founder and former Ripple CTO Jed McCaleb \u2014 $1.4 billion;<\/li>\n<li>venture investor Tim Draper \u2014 $1.1 billion;<\/li>\n<li>co-founder of Bloq Matthew Roszak \u2014 $1 billion.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Binance launches payment service with Bitcoin support<\/h2>\n<p>The cryptocurrency exchange Binance <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/binance-launches-payment-service-with-bitcoin-support\">launched<\/a> a beta version of its own payment service.<\/p>\n<p>Binance Pay is available to registered users on the exchange. The account creation process in the system requires completing KYC procedures.<\/p>\n<p>Company representatives said that the beta supports the exchange&#8217;s native token BNB, the Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and a single fiat currency \u2014 the euro. Also available to users is the ecosystem token of the issuer of bank-issued debit cards tied to digital assets Swipe (SXP).<\/p>\n<p>Transfers are limited to up to $10,000 or 10 transactions per day.<\/p>\n<p>The day before the payment service&#8217;s launch, Roskomnadzor <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/roskomnadzor-removes-binance-from-the-register-of-banned-websites\">announced Binance&#8217;s exclusion<\/a> from the registry of domain names containing information prohibited in Russia.<\/p>\n<h2>PayPal chief pledges to expand crypto services<\/h2>\n<p>Dan Schulman said the company <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/paypal-ceo-crypto-trading-volume-through-the-app-exceeded-expectations\">is actively investing in its cryptocurrency unit<\/a>, which has more than justified expectations. He promised to present an &#8220;expanded roadmap&#8221; for blockchain and digital currencies within 2021.<\/p>\n<p>PayPal&#8217;s total revenue for the fourth quarter rose 23% year over year to $6.12 billion. Crypto support, <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/paypal-launches-bitcoin-buying-and-selling-for-us-users\">made available to PayPal customers<\/a> in the United States on November 12, aided the results.<\/p>\n<p>Specific figures in the context of digital assets are not disclosed. It is known that on January 11 users conducted transactions totalling a record $242 million. The company did not include in the overall payment volume those related to cryptocurrency.<\/p>\n<p>Schulman also said that PayPal users who bought cryptocurrencies log into their accounts twice as often as before.<\/p>\n<h2>Visa to test solution for integrating Bitcoin payments by banks<\/h2>\n<p>The company <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/visa-to-test-solution-to-integrate-bitcoin-payments-with-banks\">will provide the technical solution<\/a> for integrating cryptocurrency payments by traditional banks.<\/p>\n<p>The first client will be First Boulevard, a US bank focused on the African American community, whose clients will be able to buy, store and trade digital assets.<\/p>\n<h2>75 Ethereum 2.0 validators penalised<\/h2>\n<p>In the night of February 2\u20133, 75 Ethereum 2.0 validators supported by the staking service Staked <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/75-ethereum-2-0-validators-slashed\">lost a portion of their staked funds<\/a> \u2014 the service had attempted to boost attestation metrics to raise earnings.<\/p>\n<p>Funds are now locked until full network launch, and addresses have been deprived of earning opportunities as balances fell below thresholds.<\/p>\n<h2>Jack Dorsey launched his own full Bitcoin node<\/h2>\n<p>Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/jack-dorsey-has-launched-a-full-bitcoin-node\">launched<\/a> his own full Bitcoin node. He posted a screenshot of a computer screen bearing the phrase &#8220;working Bitcoin&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>He posted a screenshot of the node&#8217;s synchronization with the blockchain, a size of about 325 GB. The process could take weeks; at the time, progress stood at just over 2%.<\/p>\n<p>When asked whether he ran the node on a dedicated single-board Raspberry Pi, the renowned Bitcoin advocate replied that he had chosen a new MacBook Pro M1.<\/p>\n<h2>The r\/Bitcoin subreddit subscriber count reached 2.3 million<\/h2>\n<p>The popularity of WallStreetBets (WSB) on Reddit also affected crypto subreddits. Since January 30, the r\/Bitcoin community&#8217;s subscribers grew by 300,000, <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/r-bitcoin-subreddit-subscribers-reach-2-2-million\">reaching 2.3 million by the end of the week<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_124227\" style=\"width: 958px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-124227\" class=\"wp-image-124227 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Untitled-1-17.png\" alt=\"Week in review: Elon Musk pumps Dogecoin again as Ethereum hits a new high\" width=\"948\" height=\"218\" srcset=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Untitled-1-17.png 948w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Untitled-1-17-300x69.png 300w, https:\/\/forklog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Untitled-1-17-768x177.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 948px) 100vw, 948px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-124227\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Metrics For Reddit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Media even <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/media-netflix-to-film-about-reddit-wall-street-clash-over-gamestop-stock\">reported a potential screen adaptation<\/a> of the story of WSB&#8217;s battle with Wall Street firms for Netflix and MGM. The film by the latter is reportedly to be produced by the Winklevoss brothers <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/winklevoss-brothers-to-produce-film-about-reddits-war-with-wall-street\">based on Ben Mezrich&#8217;s yet-to-be-written book<\/a>\u2014 the author of &#8220;Bitcoin Billionaires&#8221; about the Winklevoss brothers and &#8220;Billionaires&#8221; about the history of Facebook.<\/p>\n<h2>Head of Robinhood explained the reason for halting GME and AMC trades<\/h2>\n<p>During a Clubhouse chat, where Musk confessed an interest in Bitcoin, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/robinhood-co-founder-explains-trading-halt-to-elon-musk\">explained the pause in trading<\/a> of GameStop and AMC Entertainment by &#8220;unprecedented volume&#8221; and the need to meet regulatory capital requirements. The company filed for additional funding and within four days raised $3.4 billion.<\/p>\n<p>The US House Financial Services Committee intends to examine the alleged collusion between Robinhood and large hedge funds. Hearings are scheduled for February 18.<\/p>\n<h2>Russia and Ukraine lead in dark web crypto transactions<\/h2>\n<p>In 2020, the total volume of cryptocurrency payments on the dark web amounted to $1.7 billion. The top three by turnover were Russia, the United States and Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>In Russia, the annual turnover of dark web crypto exceeded $288 million, in the US \u2014 $179 million, in Ukraine \u2014 $98 million.<\/p>\n<p>China ranked fourth with $87 million. Vietnam ranked fifth \u2014 $56 million.<\/p>\n<p>ForkLog also wrote<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A hacker withdrew $2.8 million from the DeFi pool of yEarn.Finance.<\/li>\n<li>BlockFi paid out $28 million in interest on Bitcoin and Ethereum deposits.<\/li>\n<li>German authorities confiscated 1700 BTC, but did not gain access to them.<\/li>\n<li>Media: IBM effectively shut down its blockchain divisions.<\/li>\n<li>Media: four DeFi projects on Binance Smart Chain carried out exit scams totaling 54,000 BNB.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What to read and watch next?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>How to find entry points in the cryptocurrency market using on-chain tools \u2014 a curated set of tools and indicators from Coin Metrics.<\/li>\n<li>From denial to acceptance: how the rhetoric of billionaires who once criticised Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies evolved.<\/li>\n<li>Bitcoin and Ethereum records, miners\u2019 successes, rapid growth of DEX, DeFi, the Reddit factor, and much more in ForkLog&#8217;s new report.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>On Monday, February 1, two ForkLog speakers joined the show. Technical issues were discussed with Bitcoin Core developer Gleb Naumenko, markets and charts with Tone Vays.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_rtuszmx3LM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Subscribe to ForkLog news on Telegram: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/forklogfeed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">ForkLog Feed<\/a> \u2014 full news feed, <a href=\"https:\/\/telegram.me\/forklog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">ForkLog<\/a> \u2014 the most important news and polls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elon Musk describes himself as a Bitcoin advocate, but again tweets about Dogecoin; Ethereum hits a fresh high; Forbes lists crypto billionaires; Binance launches a crypto PayPal analogue and other events of the week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35999,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1233,1244],"class_list":["post-35998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-industry-digests","tag-weekly-summary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"26","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35998"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36000,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35998\/revisions\/36000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}