BITCOIN

Bitcoin’s Market Cap Reclaims $1T

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Love was in the air for crypto-hodlers. 

Bitcoin briefly broke above $52,000. Ethereum advanced to $2,760. Solana sailed to its highest price since December 26th. Sei set an all-time high, and Stacks rapidly seeks to set an all-time high in its own right.

Here are the main stories we’ll cover in today’s issue…

Bitcoin’s market cap eclipsed $1T for the first time since November 2021 as the total crypto market cap sits at its highest level since April 2022. Today alone, the total crypto market cap carried +3.6%. Is $3T coming soon? 

Solana surged beyond BNB to become the 4th largest token in the crypto-verse.

The Sei Network released its v2 devnet as the token attempts to tick all-time highs. 

The bitcoin layer-2 protocol Stacks secured an all-time high in total value locked. 

Centralized banks are bridging the gap with the blockchain. Citi completed its proof-of-concept test to tokenize private markets.

A 200-year-old distillery adopted the hottest tech trends, and VanEck leaned into crypto-culture with its Valentine’s Day sweet treat. 

Here are the most active crypto streams on Stocktwits since Friday, sorted by message volume.

CRYPTO
Bitcoin’s Market Cap Reclaims $1T

As bitcoin broke above $51,000, the bellwether crypto crossed a $1T market cap for the first time since November 2021. The total crypto market cap is $1.9T, its highest mark since April 2022. At its peak in November 2021, the total crypto market cap briefly breached $3T. 

Solana’s recent surge resulted in it surpassing BNB to become the 4th largest token in the crypto-verse. 

Here’s an overview of the top 10 cryptos ranked by market capitalization. 

CRYPTO
ADA to Accelerate?

CZ_221 secured today’s Stocktwits Spotlight with an ambitious chart of $ADA.X. CZ writes, 

“$ADA.X Last cycle when the 20 EMA crossed over the 50 on the weekly, we rallied over 3,800%.  

We just crossed again and if we see similar % gains it would put ADA around $19. 

ETH’s market cap last cycle topped out around $571 Billion. The space is growing very rapidly. If we just match that this cycle, ADA = $16.50.”

What’s your $ADA.X price target? Join the conversation here.

If you’d like to be featured in Stocktwits Crypto Spotlight, tag @StocktwitsCrypto as you share simple crypto charts and smart takes.

CRYPTO
Sei Debutes v2 Devnet

The Sei Network upgraded its devnet, allowing apps developed on Ethereum to be deployed on Sei with no alterations. 

The parallelized Ethereum Virtual Machine will be able to handle thousands of transactions per second (TPS). For reference, at its peak, Ethereum has handled 62 TPS, and Solana can service up to 1,600 TPS. 

The network was launched in August 2023 and looks to lure developers by offering “the best of Ethereum and Solana.” 

Sei seeks to upgrade its mainnet in the first half of 2024. 

The Sei Network token, $SEI.X, was up 17% on the day and is up 260% since December 1st, boasting a $2B market cap. Check out the daily chart,

CRYPTO
Stacks TVL Sets ATH

Stacks, a bitcoin layer-2 protocol, set an all-time high in Total Value Locked (TVL). According to DefiLlama, Stacks TVL sits at $70.38M, up more than 400% in the last 4 months. 

The surge in TVL may be attributed to smart contracts on ALEX, an open-sourced decentralized exchange.

Stacks token is on the rise with the uptick in TVL. $STX.X has gained 285% in the last 3 months. Here’s the weekly chart:

Listen to this insightful conversation to learn more about bitcoin layer-2s. 

CRYPTO
HODL Me Close

This Valentine’s Day, VanEck sought to steal the hearts of bitcoin HODLers everywhere as the investment management firm spread BTC love-themed candy hearts across social media. 

Who doesn’t appreciate traditional finance leaning into the crypto culture?

Boxes of the crypto candy hearts are being dished out today at the Exchange ETF conference in Miami and later this week at PuBKey, a bitcoin-themed bar in NYC. 

Keep an eye on the inter-web, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the candy hearts surface on an online auction… The things we do for love.

CRYPTO
Bridging Banks & The Blockchain

Citi announced a successful proof-of-concept tokenization test of private markets in collaboration with Wellington Management and WisdomTree. 

The centralized financial firms leveraged the Avalanche Spruce Subnet to explore how blockchain technology can enable greater automation and enhance transparency. 

The test included end-to-end token transfers and secondary transfers to enable trading and validating new capabilities through collateralized lending.

Nisha Surendran, Emerging Solutions Lead for Citi Digital Assets, commented, 

“Smart contracts and blockchain technology can enable enhanced rule-enforcement at an infrastructure-level, allowing data and workflows to travel with the asset. We believe that by testing the tokenization of private assets, we are exploring the feasibility to open-up new operating models and create efficiencies for the broader market.”

Will more centralized companies dive into decentralized technologies? Time will tell… 

Read the press release here.

CRYPTO
Buzzword Filled Whiskey

The Glenlivet, a Scottish distillery, launched a tech-enabled 50-year-old whiskey collection to celebrate its 200th anniversary. 

Each bottle is paired with an ETH NFT, serving as a digital certificate of authenticity, and boasts a one-of-a-kind label designed by generative AI. The NFT collection, dubbed “The Twelve Elements,” commemorates the 12 essential ingredients in Glenlivet’s renowned single-malt whiskey. 

Pedro Herra, Head of Research at DappRader, commented on the collection, 

“People are starting to grasp the real concept behind NFTs, which is proving ownership, authenticity, and so on.”

We appreciate The Glenlivet buying into the hottest buzzwords of the last half-decade. Learn more about the unique single-malt here.

BULLETS
Bullets From The Day:

👀 Bitcoin’s halving is estimated to arrive on 4/20. Do we live in a simulation?

🪂 Starknet blockchain plans to airdrop STRK tokens on February 20th. The Ethereum layer-2 blockchain will reward ~1.3M wallets. Eligible users will have until June 20th to claim the tokens.

⑤ EigenLayer, a staking platform, has become the 5th largest DeFi protocol. The company removed its staking cap on February 5th and has since seen a $4.3B surge in fresh inflows.

🐶 Revoult, a European fintech platform, plans to list Solana’s biggest meme coin, BONK. The company will distribute up to 93B BONK tokens to incentivize users to learn about the cryptocurrency.

SAY HELLO
Follow Stocktwits Crypto

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Questions? Comments? Email Riley at [email protected]

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LINKS
Links That Don’t Suck

💸 Peter Thiel Made $200M Investment in BTC, ETH Before Bull Run

📈 MOON Holder Makes 550% on Predictions Platform Polymarket as Bitcoin Moves Above $50K

🎶 Spin AI-Music Synthesizer Encourages Users to Explore Nuances of Algorithmic Music

🗣️ Gensler Says SEC’s Approval of Spot Bitcoin ETFs in January Was ‘Cabined’

🚨 Binance Founder Changpeng Zhao’s Sentencing Postponed to April

🌉 Bitcoin Ordinals IRL: Superchief Opens Art Gallery in San Francisco