A KPMG report titled “Pulse of Fintech H1 2021,” shows that the total investment in the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector in the first half of this year has risen to $8.7 billion, which is more than double the $4.3 billion worth of deals done in 2020. KPMG global fintech co-leader Anton Ruddenklau said: “Cryptocurrency and blockchain are exploding globally. I think for the rest of this year at least, crypto will be a very hot ticket for investors.” Separate research by blockchain market intelligence Blockdata also shows that 55 out of the top 100 banks by assets under management have …

Bitcoin’s (BTC) strong recovery and march toward the psychological level at $50,000 has improved the overall sentiment in the crypto sector. That has boosted the total crypto market capitalization to over $1.9 trillion. Data from Glassnode shows a sharp increase in the dominance of Bitcoin transactions exceeding $1 million during the past few months. The on-chain analytics firm noted in a report that the transactions by the $1 million–$10 million group surged when Bitcoin corrected to $29,000 in July. This suggests that institutional investors may have been buying, which is “fairly constructive for price.” Further evidence of possible institutional buying …

Bitcoin (BTC) has staged a smart recovery in the past few days and the interest in the crypto sector seems to be picking up. JPMorgan Chase has added access to a new Bitcoin fund created by New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) for its private banking clients. The increasing number of traditional financial institutions opening up crypto trading opportunities for their clients shows there is strong demand for the sector. On-chain analyst Willy Woo said recently that strong holders had been scoping up Bitcoin and locking “them away for long-term investment”, resulting in a supply squeeze. Woo added that he …

Bitcoin (BTC) dropped back below $39,000 on Aug. 2, suggesting that short-term traders were booking profits after the price failed to close above $42,451.67. However, lower levels may attract the type of buying seen in late July. Data from Santiment showed that Bitcoin held on wallet addresses storing between 100 and 10,000 Bitcoin rose to a new all-time high at 9.23 million Bitcoin on Aug. 1. The previous all-time high for this group of investors was recorded on April 5, just over a week before Bitcoin hit an all-time high of $64,854 on April 14. Santiment highlighted that the “addresses …

Bitcoin (BTC) and most major altcoins seem to be faltering near their respective overhead resistance levels. This suggests that some investors are continuing to sell at higher levels. However, 21st Paradigm co-founder Dylan LeClair said that on-chain data shows “big transfer volumes from over-the-counter (OTC) desks over the last week.” Cointelegraph also recently highlighted a historic 57,000 BTC outflow from exchanges on July 28. Ecoinometrics also cited on-chain data to show that "whales" and “small fish'' accumulated Bitcoin when the price recovered from $29,400 to over $40,800 this week. Institutional investors are also not to be left behind in their …

Bitcoin (BTC) and most major altcoins are attempting to break above their respective overhead resistance levels, indicating the return of the bulls. Data from Bybt shows that the Grayscale premium has been climbing and reached -5.88% on July 27, its closest level to zero since May 25. This suggests that institutional investors may have again started building positions via the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Another institutional investment product showing a possible return of buyers is Canada’s Purpose Bitcoin ETF whose assets under management rose to 1.1 billion Canadian dollars on July 27, its highest level since May 13. Swiss private bank …

Bitcoin (BTC) soared from $29,482.61 on July 21 to $40,000 today, its highest level since June 16. This sharp rebound shows a possible change in sentiment. The bulls received a boost on Sunday, following the news from an anonymous source within Amazon proclaiming that the company is planning to accept Bitcoin payments by the end of 2021 and is exploring the launch of its own cryptocurrency by 2022. This news seems to have sent the bears scurrying to the exit, resulting in a short squeeze. Data from Bybt shows about $1.1 billion of liquidations in 24-hours on Monday, the most …

Bitcoin’s (BTC) recovery is facing resistance near $32,500, suggesting that the ride higher may not be an easy one. However, a positive sign is that demand for cryptocurrencies remains strong and lower levels continue to attract buyers. A survey of 150 family office clients of Goldman Sachs shows that 15% have already invested in crypto-assets and 45% want to take the plunge. The family offices manage more than $6 trillion in assets, meaning, even a small percentage of inflow from this sector could eventually boost crypto prices. It is not only the wealthy who are investing in cryptocurrencies. A recent …

Karura, the Kusama implementation of the Acala protocol, has launched its decentralized exchange (DEX) platform, Karura Swap. According to the announcement issued on Friday, the DEX platform is now live, with KSM/KAR being the first trading pair on the exchange. Per details provided by the announcement, Karura Swap has gone live with an initial total value locked north of $3.4 million, with more than 1,000 unique liquidity providers (LP). The team revealed that the DEX launch highlighted the benefits of its “Bootstrap feature” that provides a liquidity sandbox for trading pairs with the walled environment, reportedly preventing front-running and market …

Bitcoin (BTC) is leading the recovery in crypto markets today after the price rallied back above the $32,000 level. Sam Trabucco, a quantitative trader at Alameda Research, said the firm had purchased the dip in Bitcoin on July 20. Trabucco said the sharp recovery in equity markets, fewer long liquidations in the crypto derivatives market and the possible end of FUD caused due to China mining ban and Grayscale unlocking could act as recovery catalysts that could boost the crypto rally further. However, analyst and podcast host Nebraskan Gooner views the recovery in Bitcoin as a shorting opportunity. Veteran trader …

Bitcoin (BTC) broke below the immediate support at $31,000 today and that has resulted in selling across several major altcoins. Coincidently, the fresh push to the downside in Bitcoin has come a day after the much talked about unlocking of shares worth about 16,000 Bitcoin from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. The sell-off in cryptocurrencies could also be due to the broader risk-off sentiment on concerns of rising Covid-19 cases. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 800 points on Monday, on track for its worst decline of the year. Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360 In a bearish environment, positive …

Interlay, a Bitcoin (BTC) interoperability project that first launched on Polkadot, has concluded a $3 million seed round to further develop its flagship decentralized finance product, marking another important capital raise in the blockchain industry. The funding will go towards supporting Interlay’s interBTC platform, which allows users to invest, earn and pay with Bitcoin on any blockchain. Originally commissioned for Polkadot, interBTC will expand to other blockchains including Ethereum (ETH) and Cosmos. As Cointelegraph reported, Interlay began building its Bitcoin bridge in early 2020 after receiving a grant from Web3 Foundation, a technology steward for the decentralized web. Interlay claims …