The cryptocurrency market today opened almost flat, gaining 1.3% to reach a market capitalization of US$1.8 trillion.
Bitcoin climbed just above US$23,000 while Ethereum remained close to US$1,650.
Ethereum’s scaling solution, Optimism, continued its strong rally with a 25% rise, while Binance’s US$49 billion BNB coin also saw the biggest gain, rising 6.7%.
Following the announcement of Bored Ape Yacht Club’s partnership with Gucci, the NFT project’s native token, ApeCoin, surged 10% to reach a market cap of US$2.3 billion.
Crypto.com’s US$3.7 billion CRO token fell nearly 4%, while privacy coins Monero and Qtum network tokens also saw their biggest drop Thursday morning.
The biggest gains in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space were 1inch Network with 7.7%, Uniswap with 6.2% and staking platform Lido DAO with 11.5%.
However, the total value locked across the wider DeFi space fell by 2% to US$88.4 billion.
in the news
Another day saw another cryptocurrency hack. This time it was directed to ZB, a China-based centralized exchange that calls itself “the world’s safest digital asset exchange.”
Approximately US$4.8 million allegedly stolenaccording to blockchain security firm Peckshied.
ZB has temporarily suspended deposits and withdrawals “while we resolve the issue”.
MicroStrategy’s share price surged nearly 13% after former CEO Michael Thaler stepped down as chairman and decided to focus on his Bitcoin strategy.
Under Bitcoin evangelist Thaler, MicroStrategy has become the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder. This is a decision that has proven polarizing in the current bear market.
of Digital Goods Consumer Protection Act A bill introduced in the US House of Representatives by Senators Debbie Stabenow and John Boozman on Wednesday was approved within the crypto community.
If passed, the bill would expand the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s role in regulating cryptocurrencies while limiting the influence of the hawkish Securities and Exchange Commission.