Bitcoin (BTC) headed toward $20,000 as United States equities gained at the Oct. 17 Wall Street open. Stocks climb as U.S. dollar heads lower Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching $19,672 on Bitstamp, up 3.5% versus the weekend’s lows. The pair rose in line with stocks, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index gaining 2.7% and 3.2%, respectively within thirty minutes’ trading. The action combined with weak U.S. economic data in the form of the Empire State Manufacturing Index, which fell to -9.1 for October, heavily below the forecast -4.3 and September’s -1.5 reading. “Manufacturing …

Valkyrie Funds, a major cryptocurrency fund manager in the United States, will soon be liquidating one of its Bitcoin (BTC)-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The firm announced on Oct. 11 plans to close the Valkyrie Balance Sheet Opportunities ETF, a crypto investment product offering indirect exposure to BTC. The fund will be delisted from the Nasdaq Exchange as Valkyrie plans to liquidate the ETF on Oct. 31, 2022. According to the announcement, Shareholders will be able to sell shares up until the end of the trading day on Oct. 28, 2022. Any investors still holding the fund shares at liquidation will …

21Shares, a major global provider of cryptocurrency exchange trading products (ETP), is debuting a physical Bitcoin (BTC) ETP in the United Arab Emirates. The new 21Shares Bitcoin ETP has started trading on the international financial exchange Nasdaq Dubai under the ticker ABTC, the firm announced on Oct. 12. The newly launched crypto product is physically backed, which means that it’s fully collateralized by the underlying Bitcoin assets they track with 1:1 leverage, 21Shares co-founder and CEO Hany Rashwan told Cointelegraph. The ETP’s underlying crypto assets are deposited in an offline wallet to ensure better security, he noted. 21Shares’ expansion into …

Nasdaq, the American stock exchange, has no immediate plans of launching a crypto exchange until there’s better regulatory clarity from policymakers, said Tal Cohen, the company’s executive vice president. In an interview with Bloomberg, Cohen said that the retail side of the crypto market is fairly saturated and there are enough crypto exchanges catering to the needs of retail investors. He added that his firm would continue its focus on crypto custody services that were launched on Sept. 20. Cohen also shed some light on other crypto-related services that the exchange is working on, namely building execution capabilities on the …

If you’ve spent any time reading about blockchain and Web3, you know that this industry is filled with big buzzwords and half-baked concepts. But, concepts such as decentralized identity services, or DIDs, bring real meaning and utility to Web3. If you haven’t yet wrapped your mind around DID, it refers to a self-owned, independent identity that enables trusted data exchange. In other words, it puts digital identity management and administration directly in your hands instead of some third party’s. In this week’s Crypto Biz, we take a look at a Web3 partnership designed to bring DID-powered payment solutions to Africa. …

As more institutions become interested in dabbling in cryptocurrencies, multinational financial services firm Nasdaq has reportedly started its preparations to offer digital asset custody services to institutional clients. The company has reportedly created a new group focusing on digital assets and will start with offering Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) custody services for institutions. The firm also onboarded Ira Auerbach, who previously worked at the crypto exchange Gemini's prime broker services, to be the head of its new digital assets division. In a Bloomberg report, Auerbach expressed his belief that the next wave of the financial revolution will be driven …

The 13% gains in the six days leading to Sept. 12 brought the total crypto market capitalization closer to $1.1 trillion, but this was not enough to break the descending trend. As a result, the overall trend for the past 55 days has been bearish, with the latest support test on Sept. 7 at a $950 billion total market cap. An improvement in traditional markets has accompanied the recent 13% crypto market rally. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index gained 6.2% since Sept. 6 and WTI oil prices rallied 7.8% since Sept. 7. This data reinforces the high correlation versus traditional …

Let's rewind the tape to the end of 2021 when Bitcoin (BTC) was trading near $47,000, which at the time was 32% lower than the all-time high. During that time, the tech-heavy Nasdaq stock market index held 15,650 points, just 3% below its highest ever mark. Comparing the Nasdaq's 75% gain between 2021 and 2022 to Bitcoin's 544% positive move, one could assume that an eventual correction caused by macroeconomic tensions or a major crisis, would lead to Bitcoin’s price being disproportionately impacted than stocks. Eventually, these “macroeconomic tensions and crises” did occur and Bitcoin price plunging another 57% to …

Bitcoin Depot, a major cryptocurrency ATM provider in the United States, is planning to go public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Atlanta-based Bitcoin Depot has reached a definitive agreement to merge with the SPAC GSR II Meteora (GSRM) in an $885 million deal in order to go public, the firm officially announced on Thursday. The business combination would result in Bitcoin Depot becoming a publicly listed company as the combined company — to be dubbed Bitcoin Depot Inc. — will trade on the Nasdaq under the new ticker symbol BTM. The merger has been unanimously approved …

Brazilian brokerage giant XP Inc has officially launched its crypto trading platform ‘XTAGE' in Brazil, bringing a potential 3.6 million users to the crypto markets. The news was broke in an Aug. 15 post by the Nasdaq Exchange Twitter account, noting that XP had rung the exchange's “Opening Bell” to celebrate the launch of the XTAGE digital assets trading platform. .@xpinvestimentos joins us for the Opening Bell to celebrate the XTAGE digital assets trading platform. Leveraging @NasdaqExchange’s technology, XTAGE represents a key milestone in democratizing access to the digital assets market in Brazil. pic.twitter.com/DS3RXtWVpb — Nasdaq Exchange (@NasdaqExchange) August 15, …

After more than a year of efforts to acquire the digital asset custodian BitGo, Mike Novogratz’s cryptocurrency investment firm Galaxy Digital has decided to drop the acquisition. Galaxy has terminated the BitGo acquisition, citing a breach of contract, the firm officially announced on Monday. According to the statement, Galaxy exercised its right to terminate the deal in line with the acquisition agreement after BitGo failed to deliver audited financial statements for 2021 by July 31, 2022. Galaxy noted that no termination fee is payable in connection with the termination. As previously reported, Galaxy originally announced plans to acquire BitGo in …

Cardano (ADA) has started painting a bearish continuation pattern on its longer-timeframe charts, raising its likelihood of undergoing a major price crash by August. ADA price in danger of a 60% plunge Dubbed the "bear pennant," the pattern forms when the price consolidates inside a range defined by a falling trendline resistance and rising trendline support after a strong move downside. Additionally, the consolidation moves accompany a decrease in trading volumes. Bear pennants typically resolve after the price breaks below their trendline support and, as a rule, could fall by as much as the height of the previous big downtrend, …