Max Levchin, the CEO of buy-now-pay-later company Affirm, has confirmed that they will be shutting down their “Affirm Crypto Program” amid dampening consumer spending and a changing macroeconomic environment. The CEO released a letter to shareholders on Feb. 8 alongside a 19% staff cut. He cited uncertain macroeconomic conditions and the need to offset some liabilities on the firm’s balance sheet as the two main reasons behind the decision: “In a period of increased economic uncertainty, we are doubling down on our core businesses, delaying projects with less certain revenue timelines, and aligning our operating expenses with revenue. Concurrent with …

Bitcoin’s bullish surge in January has helped the Nasdaq Crypto Index to register its third-highest monthly gain, with a 38% surge. The cryptocurrency market started the year on a bullish note, defying major bearish market outlooks. Bitcoin (BTC) and a number of altcoins touched new multi-month highs as inflation cooled off. NCI recorded its third-biggest monthly gain since its inception in February 2021. The crypto asset index was launched by Brazilian asset manager Hashdex in partnership with the United States stock exchange. The index consists of eight cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Chainlink's LINK, and Stellar's …

Bitcoin (BTC) price broke above $22,500 on Jan. 20 and has since been able to defend that level — accumulating 40.5% gains in the month of January. The move accompanied improvements in the stock market, which also rallied after China dropped COVID-19 restrictions after three years of strict pandemic controls. E-commerce and entertainment companies lead as the year-to-date market performers. Warner Bros (WBD) added 54%, Shopify (SHOP) 42%, MercadoLibre (MELI) 41%, Carnival Corp (CCL) 35% and Paramount Global (PARA) managed a gain 35% so far. Corporate earnings continue to attract investors' inflow and attention after oil-producer Chevron posted the second-largest …

Litecoin (LTC) has rebounded by 130% to almost $100 after bottoming out near $40.50 in June 2022. The primary reasons include broadly improving risk-on sentiment and euphoria around the Litecoin halving in August 2023. However, technicals suggest that LTC may wipe out most of these gains in the coming months. LTC price paints giant bear flag Litecoin stands to pare its gains mainly due to a giant bear flag on the weekly char. A bear flag is a bearish continuation pattern that occurs when the price consolidates inside an ascending, parallel channel after undergoing a strong downtrend. It resolves after …

Investors of crypto mining firm Argo Blockchain have filed a class action lawsuit accusing the miner of making untrue statements and omitting key information during its initial public offering (IPO) in 2021. A newly filed lawsuit on Jan. 26 is aimed at Argo and several of its executives and board members. It claims the firm failed to disclose how susceptible it was to capital constraints, electricity costs and network difficulties. "The Offering Documents were negligently prepared and, as a result, contained untrue statements of material fact or omitted to state other facts necessary to make the statements made not misleading," …

Amid bullish action on cryptocurrency markets, Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Argo Blockchain has regained stock listing compliance with Nasdaq. Argo officially announced on Jan. 23 that the company regained compliance with Nasdaq’s minimum bid price rule amid the share price recovery. The Nasdaq stock market listing qualifications department has informed Argo that it successfully met a requirement to maintain a minimum closing bid price of $1 for ten consecutive trading days. This requirement was met on Jan. 13, with Nasdaq confirming that it considers the matter closed. The announcement comes about a month after Nasdaq notified Argo on Dec. 16 …

The Bitcoin (BTC) price rebound to a multi-month high has rubbed onto the mining stocks as well. Many of these crypto-mining stocks recorded their best monthly performance in a year. The surge in mining stocks also came as a relief for the troubled miners who had to sell a significant chunk of their mined coins to boost liquidity last year. Bitfarms, one of the top BTC mining firms registered a 140% surge in the first two weeks of January followed by Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. with a 120% surge. Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd. saw its stock value nearly double in …

Gold and stocks have underperformed in 2022, but the year has been difficult for Bitcoin (BTC) investors, in particular. Worst year for Bitcoin since 2018 Bitcoin price looks prepared to close 2022 down nearly 70% — its worst year since the crypto crash of 2018. BTC's depressive performance can be explained by factors such as the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates to curb rising inflationary pressures, followed by the collapse of many crypto firms, including Terra, Celsius Network, Three Arrow Capital, FTX, and others. Some companies had exposure to defunct businesses, typically by holding their native tokens. For instance, Galaxy …

Major cryptocurrency investment firm CoinShares has debuted trading on Nasdaq Stockholm, the primary securities exchange of the Nordic countries. CoinShares officially announced on Dec. 19, the first day of trading on Nasdaq Stockholm’s main market, with CoinShares’ stock starting trading on the exchange under the ticker CS. The latest trading debut marks a change of listing venue for CoinShares’ stocks. Previously, CS shares were traded on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market, an alternative stock exchange for small and medium-sized companies in Europe. CoinShares first went public by listing its shares on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market in March …

The Canadian Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Bitfarms is facing compliance challenges over its listing on Nasdaq due to the ongoing cryptocurrency winter. Bitfarms received a warning notification from Nasdaq on Dec. 13 because the company’s share price has stayed below $1 for 30 consecutive working days. Announcing the news on Dec. 14, Bitfarms said that it has an initial period of 180 calendar days to regain compliance with the requirements from Nasdaq. In order to regain compliance, Bitfarms’ shares should close at $1 per share for a minimum period of 10 consecutive days at any time before June 12, 2023. …

Bitcoin (BTC) held gains above $21,000 into Nov. 5 as the U.S. dollar posted a rare major daily decline. Dollar dives 2% as risk assets recover Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD building on prior strength to hit highs of $21,473 on Bitstamp — a new seven-week high. The pair had benefited from the latest United States economic data, while the dollar conversely suffered. The U.S. dollar index (DXY) lost 2% in a day for the first time in years, helping fuel a risk asset rally. “And, just like that, Bitcoin took out all the highs, volume …

Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck has confirmed plans to pursue a public stock offering in the United States through Nasdaq — a move that would give the company access to the country's lucrative capital markets. In documents filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Oct. 28, Coincheck’s majority owner Monex Group confirmed that it is proceeding with Nasdaq listing procedures through a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Thunder Bridge Capital Partners IV. If all goes according to plan, Coincheck’s Nasdaq listing will take place on July 2, 2023. Coincheck said the SPAC merger would allow …