Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a surge on Tuesday, with a 2% gain resulting from indications that the US banking crisis is not yet resolved. This bullish sentiment was reinforced by the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), revealing a decline in job openings to their lowest level since April 2021. In parallel, Ether (ETH) also saw an increase of 1.5%.
Outperforming the majority of crypto assets, Bitcoin layer 2, Stacks (STX), witnessed a remarkable 13% growth within 24 hours. Recently, Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, announced its support for Stacks’ upgrade and hardfork. The network was updated earlier today to address a bug discovered in another recent upgrade. According to data from Messari, STX surged 177% over the last three months.
Digital Currency Group (DCG) – CoinDesk’s parent company – announced the departure of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Michael Kraines in April and completed repayment of a $350 million senior secured term loan during Q1. Kraines became CFO two years ago, and DCG has now initiated a search for his replacement. Meanwhile, the finance department will be managed by DCG’s President Mark Murphy and Chief Strategy Officer Simon Koster. The company recently reported first-quarter revenue of $180 million, a 63% increase from the fourth quarter, attributing the success to rising crypto prices. However, the first-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) stood at a negative $6 million.
The newly launched PEPE token (PEPE) has gained trading volumes greater than dogecoin (DOGE) and shiba inu (SHIB), thanks to frenzied trading activity. Following a 100% price spike during a weekend rally, PEPE’s trading volumes jumped to over $250 million within 24 hours. In contrast, dogecoin’s trading volumes during the same period reached $225 million, and shiba inu’s volume were just $100 million. CoinGecko’s data reveals that crypto exchange OKX experienced $76 million in PEPE token trading volumes, followed by $43 million at Decentralized ExchangeUniswap.
A significant portion of these trading volumes may come from automated bots that consistently buy and sell tokens, generating trading activity and providing liquidity to investors, resulting in small profits. Analyzing data from QCP Capital reveals that bitcoin’s price movements since the third mining reward halving in May 2020 are similar to those following prior halvings. If this historical trend holds, cryptocurrency prices could be on the rise.
The upcoming fourth halving, which entails a programmed 50% reduction in per-block BTC issuance, is scheduled for next year. Despite concerns of ongoing financial turbulence and the departure of key executives, the latest developments in the crypto market offer a cautiously optimistic outlook for investors.
Source: Coindesk
