$BTC 24 Hour High $21,345.25
$BTC 24 Hour Low $20,606.99
$ETH 24 Hour High $1,583.74
$ETH 24 Hour Low $1,519.44
Happy Monday folks! Highlights from the week:
- Samsung investment arm considering spot-Bitcoin ETF in Hong Kong
- El Salvador has passed a bill that will allow the country to sell bonds backed by Bitcoin
- Polygon (MATIC) announced a proposed hard fork to its blockchain
The $BTC and $ETH market
Last week’s crypto market prices rose remarkably by +23.12%, with BTC and ETH up by +23.6% and +22.0% respectively. BTC price has finally broken above the $18K resistance level. Some analysis say BTC could break the $25K level soon.
It took over 2 months for bitcoin to recover from the damages done by the FTX demise, together with the collapse of Terra and 3AC. BTC topped $21K over the weekend. A primary catalyst for the rally appears to be the positive CPI report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) which showed overall inflation for all urban consumers declining by 0.1% so he bulls geared up and pushed BTC to above $21K.
As for the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum skyrocketed to over $1,500 for the first time in months too. In the past 7 days, ETH continued its rally and booked a 12.7% increase. Looking ahead, ETH remains bullish, and if the buying volume continues to increase, then we could see it move even higher in the coming week.
Mainstream adoption & What’s in the news…
Hot on the heels of its Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) in Hong Kong, Samsung Asset Management has indicated it’s considering the launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF on the city’s exchange if policies allow for it.
In an interview with Bloomberg published on Jan. 13, Hong Kong chief executive for Samsung Asset Management, Sam Park, said: “It really depends on how policy is going to be developed.” He added that the Hong Kong administrators are “clearly” interested in developing the city into a crypto hub.
El Salvador has recently passed a law that establishes a legal framework for the creation of a Bitcoin-backed bond, called the "Volcano Bond", which will be used to pay off government debt and finance the construction of a planned city called "Bitcoin City".
The name "Volcano" for the bonds comes from the fact that the proposed location of "Bitcoin City" is near the Conchagua volcano and will be powered by its hydrothermal energy.
Ethereum scaling project Polygon has announced a proposed hard fork to its proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain. If approved, the software upgrade is set to take place on Jan. 17, and will address gas spikes and chain reorganization (reorgs).
What's in the hard fork?
The first change in Polygon’s new fork involves an adjustment to how it sets gas fees – a kind of tax one pays out to a blockchain in order to transact on it. With the fork, Polygon aims to reduce the spikes in gas prices that tend to occur when there is a lot of activity on the chain.
“Although gas will still increase during peak demand, it will be more in line with the way Ethereum gas dynamics work now,” Polygon said in a statement shared with CoinDesk. “The goal is to smooth out spikes and ensure a more seamless experience when interacting with the chain.”