Bitcoin, Binance, Ethereum, Solana and Ripple: Last week’s biggest crypto news

Between groundbreaking announcements, technological developments, and regulatory turbulence, the crypto ecosystem continues to prove itself to be a land of limitless innovation and a field of regulatory and economic battlegrounds. Here’s a roundup of the most notable news from the past week on Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance and Solana, etc.

Hong Kong is paving the way for crypto ETFs

On April 15, 2024, Hong Kong marked a major breakthrough in the digital asset industry by approving the first exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for Bitcoin and Ethereum. This approval by the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) marks an important milestone in the region’s position as a key financial center for cryptocurrencies in Asia. Entities such as China Asset Management, Bosera Asset Management and HashKey were the first beneficiaries of this new regulation, which allowed them to offer regulated and secure crypto investments without requiring investors to physically hold the assets.

The SFC has imposed strict compliance and monitoring conditions on these ETFs to maintain safety and integrity standards equivalent to those of traditional financial instruments. This initiative demonstrates Hong Kong’s commitment to innovation in the financial sector while providing a regulated environment that attracts both institutional and individual investors. A move that should not only protect investors, but also strengthen Hong Kong’s position as a global financial and technology center.

Ethereum is driving DeFi to new heights

During the first quarter of 2024, the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector saw an impressive recovery with a total value locked (TVL) exceeding USD 100 billion, mainly driven by initiatives around Ethereum. This rebound follows a period of decline marked by falling cryptocurrency prices until the end of 2023, but the situation has started to improve significantly with the rise in the price of Ethereum and the introduction of liquidity buyback strategies by key market players.

Staking methods, especially liquid staking offered by protocols such as Lido, have played a key role in this revival. These practices allow users to earn interest on their assets while maintaining liquidity. In addition, innovations like EigenLayer, which enable multiple Ethereum stakes, have increased potential returns and attracted significant investment, pushing the protocol’s TVL to $12 billion in the first quarter of 2024, reflecting the resilience and renewed momentum of the DeFi sector.

Binance dominates the growing cryptocurrency market

In the first quarter of 2024, the cryptocurrency market reached a record market capitalization of $2.9 trillion, representing a 64.5% increase from the previous quarter. This explosive growth is mainly due to the approval of the Bitcoin Spot ETF in the United States, which pushed the price of Bitcoin to a new all-time high of $73,098. At the same time, Ethereum has seen a significant increase in resacking activity, particularly through the EigenLayer protocol, which has contributed to significant TVL in the DeFi sector.

Binance strengthened its dominance in the centralized foreign exchange market, controlling 50% market share by the end of March 2024. The continued influx of new listings and project launches on its platform pushed the total volume of deals to an unprecedented level. In addition, assets such as Solana memecoins have seen skyrocketing growth, increasing market capitalization and strengthening the NFT sector, where platforms like Magic Eden have taken on existing players.

Solana releases major update to combat congestion

Solana recently launched a major update to its mainnet, version 1.17.31, in an effort to effectively combat ongoing network congestion issues. This update introduces a Stake-Weighted Quality of Service (SWQOS) feature that prioritizes transactions from staked validators and allocates 80% of processing capacity to this prioritization. This innovation promises to significantly improve network performance by reserving the remaining 20% ​​for general transactions, enabling more efficient and fair processing of operations.

This update will not only improve the reliability and smoothness of transactions for all users, but also enhance stability for developers on the Solana blockchain. Anza, a Solana Labs spin-off, strongly encourages validators to adopt this update to take full advantage of the improvements, with plans for further releases such as 1.18 that will continue to optimize network performance management already in the works. This series of updates could be a turning point for Solano.

Bitcoin Halving 2024: It’s Done!

On April 20, 2024, the much-anticipated Bitcoin halving took place, a major event in the cryptocurrency world that saw the miner reward for each mined block halve, from 6.25 to 3.125 BTC. This event significantly reduces the amount of new bitcoins generated each day, from 900 to 450 bitcoins. Historically, halvings tend to lead to significant price increases due to reduced supply with sustained demand. This phenomenon is expected by many experts who are counting on a new bull cycle for Bitcoin. Some even predict that the price will reach $122,000 by the end of 2024, thanks in part to the influence of institutional capital and the recent success of Bitcoin ETFs.

Beyond the immediate price implications, the halving symbolizes four years of impressive progress for Bitcoin since its last halving in 2020. Bitcoin adoption has exploded, as evidenced by a 40% increase in daily trading volumes and the multiplication of Bitcoin holder addresses. These developments highlight not only the growing interest in Bitcoin, but also its consolidation as a trusted and increasingly mainstream investment asset.

Runes are shaking up the Bitcoin network after the halving

The launch of the Runes protocol caused severe congestion on the Bitcoin network, which was especially noticeable immediately after the halving on April 20, 2024. In fact, the halving coincided with the adoption of the Runes protocol, which dramatically increased transaction fees to a peak. in the amount of 18.62 BTC. This situation is only a result of the intense competition that existed between users and mining pools to register rare assets in the first block mined after the launch of the new protocol, block 840,000, which cost 37.7 BTC in transaction fees, a historical value. high.

The economic impact of Runes on the network has created a new dynamic that some users believe could offset the reduction in mining rewards due to the halving.

XRP: A staggering 1,500% increase.

According to Ripple’s David Schwartz, who is pleased with the cryptocurrency’s recent performance, XRP has seen a spectacular 1,500% increase in its seven years of existence. Since its inception in 2012, XRP has gone through market ups and downs, including an all-time high of $3.84 in January 2018, followed by a significant decline due to the bursting of a speculative bubble. Despite this turbulence and legal challenges, including an SEC lawsuit in 2020, XRP has maintained its position among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Recently, XRP showed signs of recovery with an increase of 3.12% in 24 hours. This resilience could signal a potential rebound, fueled by the optimism of figures like David Schwartz, who remain confident in XRP’s future despite regulatory hurdles. Meanwhile, bold predictions such as Javon Marks of CryptoGains suggest that XRP could reach as high as $288, although these projections remain speculative in the face of an often unpredictable and volatile market.

That’s the main thing to remember this week. However, if you want a more detailed recap and in-depth analysis delivered straight to your inbox, be sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.