We compile the top news stories weekly within the crypto, blockchain, metaverse, and NFT space. The weekly wrap-up covers everything from BTC & ETH updates, recent investments, developments of exciting new projects, and other relevant topics.
Here is everything you need to know for the week of January 22nd to 26th
📈 Weekly BTC and ETH Overview
Since its approval, the spot Bitcoin ETFs have reached $12 billion. Nevertheless, Bitcoin's price is dropping because more people are selling, and it's approaching an important support level. This level includes the critical 200-day moving average and the middle boundary of an upward trend. Analysts say the way the price behaves in this range will significantly impact Bitcoin's future direction. Ethereum recently faced strong resistance at $2.6K and experienced a significant drop, breaking important support levels. Yet, it has reached a crucial range, indicating a potential bullish turnaround.
At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $40.1K, up 0.21% in the last 24 hours. Similarly, ETH is trading at $2.2K, down 0.70% in the previous 24 hours.
🗞️ Top Market News
- Bitwise, the first Spot Bitcoin ETF provider, now offers wallet address functionality. Bitwise became the first among ten spot bitcoin ETF issuers to publicly share its digital wallet address. The disclosed bitcoin address reveals the fund's holdings of 11,858 bitcoins as of January 23, enabling transparent verification of the fund's activities on the blockchain. Read more here.
- The SEC has delayed BlackRock's proposed Ethereum ETF to March. BlackRock filed for its spot Ethereum ETF in November, called the iShares Ethereum Trust. Fidelity's Ethereum Fund application also faced a delay. The SEC must now decide on approval, disapproval, or additional proceedings by March 10. Read more here.
🚀 New Project Developments
- Ethereum developers have established a timeline for the final upgrades on the 'Dencun' testnet. Ethereum developers preparing for the Dencun upgrade have confirmed key test network dates as the last steps before implementing changes on the main network. Dencun introduces "proto-dank sharding" to reduce transaction costs on layer 2s and make blockchain data more cost-effective. Read more here.
- BeFi Labs has revealed the details of the BEFI IDO on the AIT Launchpad. To participate in the token sale, users must stake the AIT token in the 56 Days Pool with a hard cap of $25,000. Additional sale details will be revealed shortly. BeFi Labs is a rapid transaction Native BRC-20 and Ordinals trading terminal with zero fees. Read more here.
- Polymer Labs has successfully raised $23 million in a Series A round, with Blockchain Capital and Maven 11 Capital leading the investment. Notable participation in the round comes from investors such as Coinbase Ventures, Placeholder, Digital Currency Group, North Island Ventures, and Figment Capital. Read more here.
- Drift, Solana's largest perpetual trading protocol, has introduced a points program to reward its users. The program, called Drift Points, commences today and concludes in March, with weekly distributions beginning on February 2nd. Read more here.
🔍 More Featured Stories
Tesla's holdings of Bitcoin remain unchanged in the fourth quarter. According to the latest Wednesday earnings report, no Bitcoin transactions were mentioned, suggesting the value of the holdings at $387 million remains consistent. Read more here.
Related Market Updates
Market Updates: May 13 - May 17
The market is slowly gaining momentum again after the downward trends shortly following the halving. Given the positive spot Bitcoin ETF results of the last week, and movement across multiple projects within the space, Bitcoin broke through the $60K support level, reaching $66K at the end of this week. On the other hand, Ethereum is trading around the $3K level, which is located near the $2.8K support zone.