2024-03-08 14:18

ALPHARETTA, Ga. - Bakkt Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BKKT), a digital asset marketplace, has announced its role as a key agent in Unchained's enterprise collaborative custody product, enhancing security for bitcoin holders. This strategic partnership allows Bakkt to act as an institutional signatory for Unchained customers utilizing multi-signature vaults. The collaboration is aimed at providing a more secure method for institutions to safeguard their bitcoin assets, especially during times of regulatory uncertainty. Bakkt's CEO, Gavin Michael, emphasized the importance of secure and regulated custody, stating that this partnership offers an alternative platform access for large institutions. Unchained's CEO and co-founder, Joe Kelly, expressed that Bakkt's status as a regulated custodian makes it a suitable addition to their network. He highlighted the mission to ensure client assets are protected more securely than any single solution could offer. This move is seen as a way for Bakkt to expand its custody services and for Unchained to bolster the security of its custody model, which is designed to protect over $6 billion in bitcoin. The enterprise collaborative custody product by Unchained is intended to provide clients with financial services while maintaining the benefits of self-custody. Bakkt, founded in 2018, offers institutional-grade custody, trading, and onramp capabilities to its clients, facilitating long-term involvement in the crypto economy. Unchained, established in 2016, focuses on helping individuals and businesses secure their bitcoin assets and truly own their wealth through a collaborative custody model. The announcement is based on a press release statement. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/bakkt-joins-unchaineds-enterprise-custody-network-93CH-3330823

2024-03-08 11:49

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters Investing.com -- A recent surge in digital asset prices to all-time highs has supported increased trading volumes and retail investor participation at cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. In a note to clients on Thursday upgrading their rating of the stock to "Neutral" from "Sell," the analysts noted that daily volumes at Coinbase have "reached levels not seen since 2021." The analysts were now estimating that the trend will push up Coinbase's annual revenues by 48% and increase core earnings by 114%. "[O]ur analysis suggests much of the recent price action has been driven by elevated retail participation (we estimate roughly 20% of volumes), which fundamentally come in at much more attractive take rates for [Coinbase] (though we expect some downward pressure on retail take rates due to higher Advanced trade participation)," the Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note. Earlier this week, Bitcoin touched a fresh record high thanks in large part to steady capital flows into recently-approved U.S. spot exchange-traded funds and anticipation of an upcoming “halving” event. The token has risen more than four-fold from a low of about $15,000 hit in November 2022, in the aftermath of the high-profile collapse of crypto exchange FTX. Bitcoin also surged about 150% in 2023. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/coinbase-trading-volumes-boosted-by-surge-in-cryptocurrency-prices--goldman-sachs-3330457

2024-03-08 09:13

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Investing.com - The U.S. dollar edged higher in early European trade Friday, but was still on course for a hefty weekly drop as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled lower interest rates in coming months, while the euro slipped back from recent highs after the European Central Bank meeting. At 04:15 ET (09:15 GMT), the Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, traded just higher at 102.787, on course for a weekly loss of around 1%, which is set to be its steepest in nearly three months. Dollar faces hefty weekly loss The dollar is rebounding slightly Friday after being hit hard in the previous session in the wake of comments from Jerome Powell, as the Fed chief completed his two-day testimony in front of Congress. "We are waiting to become more confident that inflation is moving sustainably down to 2%,” Powell said in a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee. “When we do get that confidence, and we’re not far from it, it will be appropriate to begin to dial back the level of restriction so that we don’t drive the economy into recession.” This has been taken by the markets that the Fed is preparing to move, probably in the summer, and thus it would take a very strong jobs number later this session to change sentiment. Forecasts are for nonfarm payrolls to have increased by just under 200,000 in February, down from January's massive 353,000 gain, while average hourly earnings are seen rising just 0.2% on the month, a slowing from the 0.6% gain the prior month. “The payrolls will determine the direction of FX markets today. Following Powell’s testimony, we suspect markets will not be too reluctant to price in more cuts,” said analysts at ING, in a note. Euro slips from near two-month high In Europe, EUR/USD edged 0.1% lower to 1.0938, with the euro slipping back slightly after hitting an almost two-month high earlier Friday ahead of the latest reading of eurozone quarterly growth. Data released Friday showed that German industrial production rose in January by 1.0% from the previous month, more than the predicted 0.6% rise, and a significant improvement from the previous month’s revised 2% drop.. The European Central Bank left its benchmark rate steady at 4% and also laid the groundwork for a cut in June, similar to the scenes across the pond. However, with the Fed funds rate at 5.25%-5.5%, traders see the Federal Reserve as having more room to cut aggressively. “US payrolls will determine the direction for EUR/USD: expect some resistance at the key 1.1000 level should the dollar decline further today,” ING added. GBP/USD traded 0.1% higher at 1.2820, with sterling benefiting from the dollar weakness, climbing over 1% this week and hitting a new 2024 high earlier in the session. Yen sees strong weekly gains In Asia, USD/JPY traded 0.2% lower to 147.76, with the yen up over 1.5% so far this week, its strongest percentage rise since December. Traders are positioning for the Bank of Japan potentially ending negative interest rates in the near future, in direct contrast to the expected path of U.S. rates. The yen has weakened for the most part of the past two years as the BOJ maintained its ultra-easy monetary policy stance while other major central banks aggressively hiked interest rates to tame inflation. USD/CNY edged lower to 7.1922, while AUD/USD rose 0.3% to 0.6637 and NZD/USD rose 0.2% to 0.6182, with the Australian and New Zealand dollars 1.5% and 1.1% higher on the week respectively. https://www.investing.com/news/forex-news/dollar-just-higher-ahead-of-payrolls-euro-hands-back-some-gains-3330197

2024-03-08 02:29

Investing.com - EOS was trading at $1.2839 by 21:29 (02:29 GMT) on the Investing.com Index on Friday, up 18.70% on the day. It was the largest one-day percentage gain since March 2. The move upwards pushed EOS's market cap up to $1.4564B, or 0.06% of the total cryptocurrency market cap. At its highest, EOS's market cap was $17.5290B. EOS had traded in a range of $1.2429 to $1.3317 in the previous twenty-four hours. Over the past seven days, EOS has seen a rise in value, as it gained 49.73%. The volume of EOS traded in the twenty-four hours to time of writing was $746.8060M or 0.55% of the total volume of all cryptocurrencies. It has traded in a range of $0.9090 to $1.3571 in the past 7 days. At its current price, EOS is still down 94.41% from its all-time high of $22.98 set on April 29, 2018. Elsewhere in cryptocurrency trading Bitcoin was last at $66,976.3 on the Investing.com Index, up 0.99% on the day. Ethereum was trading at $3,907.46 on the Investing.com Index, a gain of 2.07%. Bitcoin's market cap was last at $1,317.4332B or 51.57% of the total cryptocurrency market cap, while Ethereum's market cap totaled $470.6466B or 18.42% of the total cryptocurrency market value. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/eos-climbs-19-in-bullish-trade-3330037

2024-03-07 23:18

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters. Investing.com - The Canadian Dollar added to gains vs. its U.S. counterpart today, with the loonie supported by broad-risk on sentiment, and as markets continued to digest yesterday’s more-hawkish than expected rate-hold from the Bank of Canada. Meanwhile, the greenback continued to retreat following a reiteration of coming rate cuts this year from Fed Chair Jerome Powell as he continued his testimony to the Senate today. Analysts at Commerzbank (ETR:CBKG) note that the BoC’s more hawkish tone relative to Powell’s comments indicate that the BoC is likely to move in lockstep with - or later than the Fed, implying further upside for the loonie in coming months. Commerzbank analysts note, “Some market participants were expecting a more dovish tone in the statement. The fact that the BoC did not deliver reinforces our view that the BoC is unlikely to cut rates until after the Fed.” “We therefore continue to see upside potential for the CAD in the coming months.” Following the BoC’s rate decision yesterday, markets now expect rate cuts in July rather than in June, as had been priced in before the Canadian central bank’s interest rate announcement. Jerome Powell’s testimony meanwhile has served to strengthen bets of a rate cut from the Fed in June. Further impetus to the pair will come from tomorrow’s Canadian employment data, and U.S. Nonfarm Payrolls for February, which markets will be watching to gain further possible insights on the rate path forward for the Canadian and U.S. central banks. On a technical level for the pair, analysts at FXStreet note that “Thursday’s decline drags the USD/CAD pair back into the 200-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) at 1.3477, and the immediate technical floor is priced in at the last meaningful swing low toward 1.3350.” https://www.investing.com/news/forex-news/canadian-dollar-adds-to-gains-as-markets-bet-bank-of-canada-cuts-rates-before--fed-3329897

2024-03-07 20:31

Copyrighted Image by: Reuters Crypto stocks see mixed performance as Bitcoin (BTC) climbs to $67.7K Bitcoin (BTC) rose higher on Thursday to $67,700, bringing its total gain this week to around 7.3%. On Tuesday, the flagship cryptocurrency notched a new all-time high of $69,210, topping its previous peak recorded during the bull run in late 2021. Bitcoin’s latest upswing led to a mixed performance among crypto stocks. Notably, shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR) added 4.1% on Thursday, and more than 20% since Monday. Earlier in the week, Michael Saylor’s business intelligence firm announced plans to raise $600 million through a convertible debt sale in a private offering. The company said it would use the raised funds to acquire more BTC. Meanwhile, CleanSpark (NASDAQ:CLSK) jumped 7.8% on the day, while Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) added 1.2%. Other big crypto miners including Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:MARA) and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ:RIOT) fell 3% and 1.2%, respectively. https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/crypto-stocks-see-mixed-performance-as-bitcoin-climbs-to-677k-432SI-3329455