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24.12.2023 - 03:36 / tech.hindustantimes.com
The sense of doom that gripped crypto markets at the end of 2022 following a $1.5 trillion wipeout has 12 months later given way to a very different sentiment: avarice.
Bitcoin stormed back with a more than 160% advance this year that added some $530 billion to its market capitalization. In its wake, myriad smaller tokens ranging from Sam Bankman-Fried-backed Solana to dog- and frog-themed memecoins took off as investors embraced risk again. An investor who bought $100,000 of Solana at the start of 2023 would now be sitting on a more than $800,000 gain.
Underpinning much of the bonanza is optimism that US regulators will soon give their first blessing for an exchange-traded fund that invests directly in Bitcoin. Investors will find out by Jan. 10 if that bet, which crypto bulls consider a near-certain winner, pans out.
“The approval of the spot ETFs is going to be a major catalyst, it's going to definitely drive a demand shock” as mainstream investors currently lack a “high bandwidth, compliant” investment channel for the token, Michael Saylor, co-founder of Bitcoin holder MicroStrategy Inc., said on Bloomberg Television.
Digital-asset markets still have plenty of detractors who argue cryptocurrencies are fundamentally worthless and a haven for criminals. Binance, the largest exchange, in November agreed to pay a $4.3 billion fine for a range of violations and Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao was forced to step down. Bankman-Fried has been jailed for fraud at FTX, and liquidity has yet to fully recover from the collapse of his empire.
Here are a selection of charts showing how crypto fared in 2023.
Bitcoin's rally this year topped stocks and gold. Supporters say a quadrennial event due in 2024 known as the halving — or halvening — will curb supply growth, providing a prop for the token alongside potential ETF demand. The dominant cryptocurrency is still trading well below its November 2021 record of almost $69,000.
Bitcoin miners Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. and Riot Platforms Inc., top US crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc. and software-company-turned-Bitcoin-investor MicroStrategy all jumped as crypto markets recovered. Coinbase's almost 400% gain weathered a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly running an unregistered platform, an accusation the company contests.
Bitcoin derivatives saw a burst of activity in 2023. Bitcoin options open interest on Deribit — the largest crypto options exchange — exceeded $16 billion for the first time in December, according to CCData. Bitcoin futures open interest also hit landmark levels at CME Group, which is now vying with Binance to be the top marketplace for such instruments.
The decentralized finance sector has yet to recover
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It’s time to see which PS5, PS4, PS VR2, PS VR, and free-to-play games topped the PlayStation Store download charts last month.
The Indian government stepped up its crackdown on offshore crypto exchanges operating without local registrations, asking Apple Inc. to take the apps of platforms including Binance off its App Store in the country. Bitfinex, HTX and Kucoin are among eight exchanges whose apps are no longer available on the App Store in India. They were removed on directions from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified because the request isn't public.
HBO's The Last of Us scooped up eight awards at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards 2023 last night.
Hiring in crypto isn't heating up as fast as the recent rally the space has seen on expectations of an imminent approval of a US exchange-traded fund investing directly into Bitcoin.
Artificial intelligence technology (AI) has grown by leaps and bounds in the last few months, but so has the number of miscreants using it to defraud people. One of the most prominent dangers emerged recently has been deepfake videos. For the unaware, deepfakes are AI-generated videos, images, and audio that are edited or manipulated to make anyone say or do anything that they did not do in real life. Deepfake videos are mostly being used by cybercriminals for illegal purposes. While nations are drafting and amending IT regulations to deal with this threat, malicious threat actors are all out to carry out these illicit activities, and deepfakes have now entered the crypto world too! Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko recently became the latest victim of deepfakes in the crypto world. Know all about it.
Welcome to 2024, everyone! With our Game of the Year coverage just about wrapped up, we've put together this handy article in which we're going to recap all of 2023's winners. Indeed, it's time to put that last 12 months behind us and look ahead to what should be another exciting year for PlayStation fans.
The largest technology stocks that lifted the broader market last year are having a less-rosy start to 2024.
This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.
Hello! Welcome to the 308th edition of the WoW Economy Weekly Wrap-up! This week we take a look back over 2023 and discuss all the major things that have happened over the year to completely change the face of gold making as we know it. My name is Samadan and I'll be your guide through the World of Gold Making!
A new crop of artificial intelligence startups has shaken up Silicon Valley — and the wider business world — throughout this year, but there's one thing that hasn't changed: Big Tech still wields power. In the wake of Microsoft Corp.'s $10 billion investment in OpenAI in January, other tech giants raced to partner with leading AI startups through funding and cloud computing deals. Salesforce Inc. led a round in Hugging Face at a $4.5 billion valuation. Alphabet Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. invested billions in OpenAI rival Anthropic. And Nvidia Corp. seemed to back almost every AI startup of note.
From politics to films and even war, the year 2023 has demonstrated that not everything one sees or hears on the internet may be real.