On Feb. 2 Ether (ETH) saw its price breakout to a new all-time high at $1,555 as increased activity in the derivatives market provided clear signals that traders were bullish on the long-term prospects of the largest altcoin by market capitalization.
Bitcoin price also saw a bullish breakout as it finally crossed above the $35,000 resistance and currently trades for $36,700.
Prominent business personalities like Elon Musk, Michael Saylor and Mark Cuban continued to engage the public with discussions revolving around the benefits of blockchain technology and decentralized finance. In remarks to the reddit group r/Wallstreetbets, Cuban said that "stocks will be on the blockchain in the future.”
Helen Partz
South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group is reportedly acquiring a stake in the parent company of major local cryptocurrency exchange Upbit. Hanwha Investment and Securities, the securities brokerage arm of Hanwha Group, has reached an agreement to buy a 6.15% stake in Upbit’ operator Dumanu for 58.3 billion won ($52.24 million), The Korea Herald reported on Feb. 3.
According to the report, the acquisition of 2.06 million shares is scheduled to take place on Feb. 22. A representative from Hanwha said that the deal is a long-term investment for the company to keep up with the fast-growing fintech industry and digitization:
“As we are focusing on developing more digital services, we anticipate to achieve meaningful results in fintech related businesses. Since Dunamu already has a high-skilled innovative finance service, we decided to cooperate with the financial technology firm.”
Samuel Haig
The price gains enjoyed by Ether as it hits record highs have propelled Eth2 to rank as the third-largest network by staked capitalization. That’s despite the fact that just 2.09% of Ethereum’s supply is locked up in Eth2 at present.
Ether pushed into new record price highs above $1,480 on Feb. 2, with ETH currently testing $1,550 after gaining 12% in 24 hours. With nearly 2.5 million ETH currently locked up, Eth2's staked capitalization equals $3.6 billion.
Polkadot is currently the largest crypto asset on the measure, with 60% of its supply locked representing $10.8 billion, followed by Cardano with 71% of its supply staked to total nearly $9.5 billion.
Samuel Haig
Leading global business intelligence firm MicroStrategy is hosting an online seminar this week to explain the legal considerations for firms seeking to integrate Bitcoin into their businesses and reserves.
A Feb. 3 tweet from MicroStrategy CEO, Michael Saylor, said that representatives of more than 1,400 firms have already signed up for the event — which is dubbed “Bitcoin for Corporations: Legal Considerations.”
The seminar will take place on Feb. 3 and Feb. 4, with five one-hour sessions scheduled for the first day, and twice as many 30-minute sessions slated for the second.
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