Crypto market update
Bitcoin keeps struggling with the $50,000 mark as the asset failed to breach it decisively and remains below it as of now. Most altcoins are also slightly in the red on a daily scale. The cryptocurrency market capitalization has remained relatively still at just over $2.3 trillion.
Bitcoin (BTC) is now trading at 48,426 USD (all data from Coingecko.com)
Ethereum (ETH) is now for 4,195 USD
PlatonCoin (PLTC) is now for 0,359 USD
Total marketcap is currently at 2.404 trillion USD
Daily news update
Ledger and Visa: Ledger made a broad range of announcements today at Ledger Op3n, its inaugural conference. They included the launch of a crypto debit card, a new hardware wallet and upgrades to Ledger Live. According to the presentation, it’s a Visa card that’s issued by Baanx, an affiliate of Contis Financial Services. Called the Crypto Life card, it supports a range of cryptocurrencies and can be tracked through Ledger Live, the software companion to Ledger’s range of hardware wallets.
Doge and ETH on Google: In reaction to rising inflation and economic uncertainty, the growth of the cryptocurrency market has resulted in two cryptocurrencies making it into the top ten trending news-related topics on Google Search in 2021. Indeed, both Dogecoin (DOGE) and Ethereum (ETH) feature in the top 10 trending news-related topics in 2021, with DOGE ranked fourth and the search term ‘Ethereum price’ in the tenth position as traders and investors look for alternatives to traditional markets.
Coinbase and wallets: Crypto exchange Coinbase has announced plans to support hardware wallets, starting with Ledger. The integration will be rolled out in phases, beginning Q1of 2022. According to CFO Alesia Haas, Coinbase stores roughly 12% of all crypto assets on the market.
Novi and WhatsApp: Novi, the crypto wallet owned by social media giant Meta (Facebook), has launched the ability to send and receive money via WhatsApp. This integration with WhatsApp comes six weeks after the company launched a pilot for the crypto wallet and will not interfere with the messaging app’s privacy features.
China and CBDC: Mu Changchun, director-general of the People’s Bank of China’s digital currency institute, said today the central bank is working with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to test cross-border payment features for the e-CNY, China’s much anticipated central bank digital currency (CBDC).