An update on the crypto market

Marjory Wildcraft

Well as we watch the US dollar inflate to... nothing (that's coming soon). It is more and more apparent that cryptos will be what most trade and commerce is connected with.

Just skim through these updates on what is going on - got these updates from CoinBase:

Crypto market cracks $2.7 trillion as Bitcoin hits new all-time high just short of $67,000

Following a record-breaking week of trading for the U.S.’s first-ever Bitcoin ETF, BTC surged to a new all-time high on October 20 (just a dollar shy of $67,000). But Bitcoin wasn’t the only success story over the last week: Ethereum, DeFi, and some institutional investors all reached major milestones as crypto’s broader market cap climbed above $2.7 trillion for the first time. Let’s take a closer look.

• Two futures-based Bitcoin ETFs shattered trading records last week after listing on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. ProShares’ BITO, the first to launch, became the fastest ETF to surpass $1 billion in assets held after joining the NYSE last Tuesday. Valkyrie’s BTF fund followed on Friday, trading $10 million in its first five minutes on NASDAQ. Seven more funds are pending approval in the following weeks.
• Ethereum’s market cap notched a new all-time high north of $510 billion, as ETH prices came close to matching May’s all-time high of $4,384. Now, some market watchers predict that ETH futures ETFs (try saying that five times fast!) could arrive this year. Ethereum’s blockchain is also home to many of the most popular decentralized finance protocols. 
• According to new research from Goldman Sachs, DeFi has reached nearly $100 billion in total value, up more than 900% from the first half of 2020. As the report notes, “user adoption may also relate to longer-running trends including digitalization, globalization, and declining trust in centralized institutions.” 
• Fixed-income giant Pimco, which manages over $2 trillion in assets, announced that it would gradually move into crypto. Another traditionally conservative fund made a similar statement this past week: The $5.5 billion Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund invested $25 million in BTC and ETH.
• Mastercard announced that any bank or merchant on its global network will soon be able to offer crypto services to it’s 2.8 billion cardholders. Mastercard users will be able to buy, sell, and hold crypto as well as earn crypto rewards and turn points into BTC. Meanwhile, Visa (which owns a CryptoPunk) has announced plans to make its global network an interoperable hub for all forms of digital payments. And in an earnings call this week, American Express’s CEO shared his belief that digital currencies can make cross-border payments “a lot more seamless” (the company also invested in a crypto exchange last year).

Why it matters… With two crypto futures ETFs publicly trading in the U.S., eight-year-old predictions that such products could bring a wave of fresh capital into the cryptoeconomy now appear prescient. Meanwhile, institutional investors increasingly see BTC as a useful hedge against rising inflation — and even traditionally crypto-averse funds are beginning to see the appeal. That could be a massive deal, given that pension funds hold more than $35 trillion globally.

annbeck62

I am a big believer in crypto but I will say it's a little complicated until you know what you are doing. At first I was interested but it was too different and complicated for me to feel comfortable. Then a friend who has been researching it for a while took the plunge and walked me through it. So I put a little money in but I was not prepared for the wild ride as shortly after the market plunged. I'm happy to see it is finally turning around. I'm in it more for long term protection of assets than to make a huge profit but it was still nerve wracking.