Bitcoin BTC
+0.90%
's price surpassed the $52,000 mark in the past 24 hours, indicating that the market is entering conditions indicative of a pre-halving rally, according to an analyst.
"The current market movement aligns with a pre-halving rally, a trend observed in previous bitcoin cycles," Bitfinex Head of Derivatives Jag Kooner said in an email sent to The Block.
Kooner added that historically, these rallies have commenced approximately eight weeks prior to the halving event.
"This rally has the potential to push prices beyond previous cycle highs, as notably, the past week marked bitcoin's re-emergence as a trillion-dollar asset, largely driven by spot bitcoin ETF inflows," the Bitfinex analyst said.
GBTC-based sell pressure diminishing
Kooner added that diminishing selling pressure related to Grayscale's converted GBTC fund and consistent daily inflows into other ETFs, averaging $300 to $400 million, have significantly contributed to supporting bitcoin's price.
However, the analyst cautioned that there could still be some uncertainty.
"While historical patterns may provide insights, it's crucial to understand that they do not always guarantee repetition," he said.
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He highlighted that the altcoin market has become particularly interesting in the present environment.
"There has been a gradual flow of capital towards the alt coin market which is common once bitcoin records significant highs in the middle of a bull market. Due to the large number of crypto projects this cycle, however, there has been a flow of capital into specific sectors like the Solana ecosystem and AI based projects rather than a gradual spreading of capital into all alt coin markets," Kooner added.
The upcoming bitcoin halving event
The next bitcoin halving will likely occur in April of this year, and the event will reduce the reward that miners receive for validating and adding new blocks to the blockchain by 50%.
The halving occurs approximately every four years, or after every 210,000 blocks are mined. The last halving occurred in 2020, when the block reward was reduced from 12.5 bitcoin to 6.25 bitcoin.
The next halving will occur after the mining of approximately 840,000 blocks, leading to a further reduction in the block reward from the current 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block. This mechanism is programmed into the bitcoin protocol and is intended to control the supply of new bitcoins, making it more scarce over time.
The world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization decreased by over 1% in the past 24 hours to $52,056 at 1:19 p.m. ET, according to The Block's Price Page.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley posted on social media that on February 16, $21 million flowed into BITB, representing investors buying Bitcoin.  The total inflow this week reached $230 million, and the asset management scale is now about $1.2 billion.
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Klaytn Foundation and Finschia Foundation jointly initiated the Klaytn<>Finschia mainnet merger proposal (KGP-25), which has been approved, to create the largest Web3 ecosystem in Asia and plan to launch a unified mainnet. The merger aims to integrate the technologies and services of both parties, creating the leading and most competitive blockchain in Asia. The two foundations will establish a task force and set up a unified foundation in Abu Dhabi in the second quarter of 2024, and establish a single governance structure to effectively operate the unified mainnet. The new token economics will merge KLAY and FNSA into a new token, expanding governance delegation and community participation, and promoting innovation in the Asian blockchain industry.
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Coinbase is donating $3.6 million to Bitcoin BTC
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-supporting nonprofit Brink as it winds down GiveCrypto, an organization that gave out crypto to those in poverty.
In December, the exchange said that it was ending the initiative due to its inability to create a lasting impact. At the time, Coinbase said it was splitting the remaining funds between Brink and a charity platform called GiveDirectly, but didn't specify amounts.
Founded in 2020, Brink aims to boost the Bitcoin protocol through research and development, and by supporting the Bitcoin developer community. It offers a fellowship program to onboard new software engineers into Bitcoin development and a grants program for existing Bitcoin developers.
Brink said the funds will be directly used to support its grantees, which are a number of developers focused on the Bitcoin codebase.
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“Brink is excited to receive one of the biggest Bitcoin open source developer donations from one of the biggest companies in the space, Coinbase. With these funds, we will continue our mission to support the Bitcoin developer ecosystem through funding, education, and mentoring," said Brink co-founder Mike Schmidt.
In June 2023, Brink raised $5 million from Jack Dorsey’s Smart Small funding initiative to support independent Bitcoin developers through grants. In January 2024, investment firm VanEck pledged 5% of its spot bitcoin ETF profits to Brink.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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Lookonchain has monitored that a whale bought $8.58 million worth of WBTC today at an average price of $51,797. The address previously purchased 4,913 ETH (worth $13.7 million) at an average price of $1,262 between December 13 and December 20, 2023, and 186 WBTC (worth $9.64 million) at an average price of $17,346. The current profit is approximately $13.9 million.
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On February 16th, Bakkt Holdings, Inc. ("Bakkt") announced that the Form S-3 registration statement previously submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been approved and became effective on February 14th, 2024. Bakkt stated that as long as the registration statement is valid, the company will be able to raise a total of $150 million through one or more securities offerings over the next three years, and will describe the specific details of future issuances in subsequent prospectus supplements.
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