Author: NBTC

Retail traders are driving up the leveraged ETF boom, which has pushed asset weights to a new record of $100 billion. The market risks from AI and crypto have not stopped these traders from continuing to pile into leveraged funds to make trading gains in stocks such as Microsoft, Tesla, and semiconductor companies. Retail traders drive surge in leveraged tech and crypto ETFs As of last week, assets in long equity leveraged ETFs stood at about $95 billion. These funds, designed to magnify stock movements by two or three times, have outpaced their bearish counterparts, which collectively hold just $9…

The new year brings renewed hope for XRP as analysts predict a significant rally if Ripple achieves a positive outcome in its ongoing legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The long-running lawsuit, launched by the SEC in December 2020, accused Ripple of violating securities laws through the sale of XRP to institutional investors. Judge Analisa Torres ruled last year that XRP was not a security, but the SEC appealed the decision, leaving the case in limbo. Carlos Guzman, research analyst at GSR, said a positive ruling could act as a major catalyst for XRP’s price. “If…

Cryptocurrency analytics firm Alphractal has revealed an intriguing pattern in its latest report: Increases in Wikipedia page views for “Satoshi Nakamoto” and other dubious candidates often coincide with Bitcoin’s price rallies. The report reveals that during the Bitcoin bull rally, pages of people commonly associated with Satoshi Nakamoto, such as Hal Finney, Nick Szabo, and Dorian Nakamoto, experienced a significant increase in traffic. Alphractal’s analysis shows that Satoshi Nakamoto’s official Wikipedia page saw dramatic increases in views during certain periods of the Bitcoin price frenzy. Interestingly, the most significant increases occurred in October 2017, October 2020, and October 2024, coinciding…

SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci, who supported Kamala Harris against Donald Trump during the election process, said he preferred Solana (SOL) over Ethereum (ETH). Speaking to US media outlet CNBC, Scaramucci stated that Solana would be more successful than Etheruem. He said that his company SkyBridge has some ETH but the majority of his investments are in SOL and that SOL will be more successful in the long run. “This doesn’t mean we own any Ethereum. We hold a small amount of ETH. But we hold more Solana than ETH. We do not have a negative opinion about ETH. My…

Meta’s META has just pulled off the most insane winning streak Wall Street has seen in years. As of press time, the tech giant’s stock has risen for 16 straight trading days, making history as the longest rally ever for a Magnificent 7 stock. META’s share price is now up 17% since January 20, demolishing bears who thought the market was turning against tech during the DeepSeek-inspired massacre that saw trillions of dollars wiped out the stock market in less than a day at one point. Tesla, meanwhile, has tumbled by 28% since Jan. 20, and Apple barely even moved,…

This is a segment from the Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe. Toronto-based Cypherpunk Holdings rebranded as Sol Strategies and announced it would be accumulating Solana three months ago. It’s gotten busy since then. The holding company has acquired two separate validator operations, accumulated over 142,000 SOL worth roughly $27 million at current prices, hired Kraken’s former senior director of engineering to be its head of staking, and applied to be listed on the Nasdaq. Just this week, it signed a credit facility with its board chair to buy $17.3 million worth of SOL tokens and announced a private…

This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe. Just days into the new year, bitcoin’s price is back to six figures.The asset’s price rose above $102,400 on Monday morning. It hovered around $101,750 at 2 pm ET — up nearly 9% from a week ago. Crypto is so far seeing its own “January effect” — a term alluding to the potential rise of stock prices during the year’s first month. CoinGlass data shows bitcoin saw price gains — albeit slight ones — during each of the month’s first five days. That hasn’t happened since…

Traders who own Ethereum in their FTX holdings stand to gain back $2,500 as FTX repayments for its Bahamas creditors start this month. The FTX repayment plan, scheduled to start on Feb. 18, will repay creditors’ claims in full, including interests, through BitGo. However, customers will not be able to gain additional profit from current market prices for their FTX holdings, as the repayment plan will refund crypto holdings in accordance with November 2022 prices. This means that traders who held Bitcoin (BTC) in the now-fallen crypto exchange will only receive repayment capped at $20,000 per Bitcoin for 98% of…

Russia and India now conduct nearly 90% of direct transactions in their national currencies, deepening financial ties and accelerating the global shift away from the U.S. dollar. Moscow and New Delhi Tighten Financial Ties—Is the Dollar Era Ending? Countries worldwide are increasingly shifting away from reliance on the U.S. dollar in international trade, a process known as dedollarization. Russia and India have strengthened their financial cooperation, with nearly 90% of direct transactions now conducted in their respective national currencies. Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov stated in an interview with Tass: Mutual payments in national currencies are stable. As of…

SUI surpassed Arbitrum in decentralized exchange (DEX) volume this past week for the first time in history, marking a significant milestone. The data showed SUI’s DEX volume reaching $405,353,494 on January 5, 2025, compared to Arbitrum’s $360,931,092. This development not only highlighted SUI’s growing liquidity and user engagement but also its rising prominence within the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape. The DEX volume surge in SUI reflected broader market dynamics and investor confidence. Such a flip in volume supremacy suggested a shift in user preference and technological robustness, potentially influencing future investment and development strategies across both platforms. SUI DEX Volume…