Blockchain
Interest in Bitcoin (BTC) at Near 2017 Levels According to Google Trends


Organic searches for the term “Bitcoin” are now around its all-time highs, a screengrab by Mati Greenspan, a licensed Portfolio Manager, on Dec 14 shows.
Google Trends Hints
As gleaned from Google Trends, a tool used to indicate retail interest in any topic reveals a growing interest in Bitcoin. BTC prices have more than doubled from one month ago since closing above $20k. These are peaked reached at the ICO-drive hysteria of Q4 2017.
The subsequent rally was primarily driven by institutional interest has seen the BTC/USD surge, blasting past important sell walls to peak at around $42k, roughly three weeks after breaking above $20k.
A Changing Crypto Landscape
Interestingly for observers, the rapid expansion of BTC prices is not anywhere close to the frenzy of December 2017. This, in their assessment, points to different drivers of the world’s most valuable digital asset.
Three years after the climactic rise, Bitcoin as a digital asset has been tempered by several factors, including regulations. Subsequently, with clarity and the expansion of crypto as a potential layer that can disrupt traditional processes, Bitcoin and the sub-sector have diverse investors.
Following MicroStrategy’s Lead
For instance, in the last five months, heavy investors have been following MicroStrategy’s lead, investing in the digital asset citing debasement of fiat and their hedge against inflation.
As BTCManager reported, Square, SkyBridge Capital, PayPal, and some regulated hedge funds are now flocking to Bitcoin. Additionally, family offices managing the wealth of different high net-worth investors are also seeking exposure through regulated crypto-centric facilitators like Grayscale Investment.
Grayscale is the dominant vehicle, preferred by accredited retail investors and institutions in the United States. Their Assets Under Manager (AUM) continue to expand amid the influx of Wall Street cash into the digital asset.
A Bitwise/ETF Trends 2021 Benchmark Survey reveals that 50 percent more financial institutions are now seeking cryptocurrencies as a hedge against inflation and high yield returns.
Part of the report read:
“This year’s survey saw a sharp uptick in advisors highlighting crypto’s ‘high potential returns’ and its role in ‘inflation hedging’ as key attractive features of the asset class.”
According to a BTCManager report, crypto holders expect further gains as Joe Biden’s administration prepares to expand the country’s fiscal policy.
Source: https://btcmanager.com/bitcoin-btc-2017-levels-google-trends/
Blockchain
OpenSea Crashes Following BossLogic NFT Drop via Ethernity


The hype around non-fungible tokens (NFTs) continues to escalate as demand for primary sales is only growing higher.
The last manifestation of this was earlier during the BossLogic NFT drop that took place on the OpenSea marketplace, causing it to essentially crash under the high traffic.
OpenSea Crashes as Traffic Surges
OpenSea, touted as the largest NFT marketplace crashed last night under a serious surge in traffic caused by an NFT drop.
The platform took it to Twitter to explain what happened:
Outage notice: the Bosslogic drop caused a 2X surge in traffic at 19:30 UTC, ultimately causing two spikes of failed requests, at 19:50 and 20:40.
The issue was our servers’ ability to reclaim memory. We will have a fix out shortly, but sincerely apologize to all affected!
Naturally, this caused some users to be upset because they’d lost gas fees as a result of the outage. The team responded that they “will not have to pay gas the next time you bid, for the next auction – that cost is only for the first time you ever bid on anything (converting ETH to wrapped ETH).”
BossLogic’s NFT Drop
BossLogic is a well-known artist with almost half a million followers on Twitter and a lot more across different social media platforms.
His latest NFT drop was through a partnership with Ethernity chain to offer 2501 pieces of art to the very first lucky community members.
The tokens were sold for 0.299 ETH and each one of them represented digital artwork that’s featured in the collection.
This latest NFT drop is the latest to create massive hype around it. As CryptoPotato reported yesterday, the interest surrounding non-fungible tokens have surpassed that of ICOs from back during their peak in early 2018. This has caused many people to believe that they are in a state of a bubble.
Featured image courtesy of Inverse
PrimeXBT Special Offer: Use this link to register & enter CRYPTOPOTATO35 code to get 35% free bonus on any deposit up to 1 BTC.
Checkout PrimeXBT
Trade with the Official CFD Partners of AC Milan
The Easiest Way to Way To Trade Crypto.
Check out Nord
Make your Money Grow with Mintos
Source: https://cryptopotato.com/opensea-crashes-following-bosslogic-nft-drop-via-ethernity/
Blockchain
Norwegian Oil Mogul Sets Up $58 Million Entity to Buy Bitcoin


The institutional bitcoin frenzy continues to spread like an epidemic. After several United States mega corporations added the digital currency to their balance sheet, the floodgates have been opened to major institutions across the world. Norwegian holding company Aker ASA said today that it will establish a new unit dedicated to bitcoin investment and the digital asset’s underlying technology.
Miss Out? “No Way”!
Asian smartphone giants, Meitu yesterday joined the league of institutional bitcoin adopters, as reported by CryptoPotato. With the future of modern-day finance hanging in the balance, companies investing reserve cash in bitcoin is widely becoming a norm rather than an exception. The latest to embrace bitcoin is Norwegian holdings, Aker ASA. It made the announcement in a press release this morning.
Aker ASA is going a step beyond investing in the leading digital currency. It will set up a company devoted to investing in bitcoin and blockchain technology. The new company called “Setee AS” will actively participate in the cryptocurrency space by collaborating with other industry players. It will also invest in other companies with healthy prospects in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry.
The company which majors in offshore fishing, construction, and engineering said it would convert all its liquid assets to bitcoin. The new dedicated bitcoin unit will have a capital of around 500 million Norwegian crowns (approximately $58.6 million).
.. With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
According to Aker, the operation of the new entity will span beyond bitcoin investment. The unit is expected to leverage the capabilities of its parent organization to pursue innovations in cybersecurity, financial transactions, and emissions-free verification operations. As part of the latter, the company will research and work on alternative ways to verify bitcoin transactions in a more environmentally friendly manner.
To set the ball rolling, Setee is collaborating with a Canadian global leader in Bitcoin and blockchain technologies, Blockstream. President and CEO of Aker ASA, Øyvind Eriksen, spoke on the launch of Setee and its first partnership.
“With the launch of Seetee, the Aker Group makes another move into software and fintech. We are very excited about the industrial opportunities that will be unlocked by Bitcoin and blockchain technology, and want to contribute forcefully to that effort. These technologies have the potential to reduce frictions in our day to day lives, enhance the security of our digitally driven economies, and unlock new business models for innovation. We look forward to addressing these and other applications together with Blockstream and other partners”
Aker AS is owned by Norwegian billionaire businessman Kjell Inge Rokke. Rokke shared a letter concerning the latest development to the company’s stakeholders. In the letter, he wrote:
First, we will use bitcoin as our treasury asset and join the community. In Bitcoin speak, we will be hodlers. We will be different, but additive.
PrimeXBT Special Offer: Use this link to register & enter CRYPTOPOTATO35 code to get 35% free bonus on any deposit up to 1 BTC.
Checkout PrimeXBT
Trade with the Official CFD Partners of AC Milan
The Easiest Way to Way To Trade Crypto.
Check out Nord
Make your Money Grow with Mintos
Source: https://cryptopotato.com/norwegian-oil-mogul-sets-up-58-million-entity-to-buy-bitcoin/
Blockchain
ETC Group adds Ethereum ETP on Deutsche Borse

Exchange-Traded Products [ETPs] are gaining prominence and crypto investment firm ETC Group announced the launch of an Ethereum ETP on Deutsche Borse’s Xetra on 9 March. This ETP will go live with the ZET ticker and will be its second crypto investment product after Bitcoin ETP, as per reports.
The firm launched Bitcoin ETP in June 2020 and its assets under management have surged to $1 billion since. Since ETP’s value depended on the underlying security, this growth was a given for Bitcoin. Now that Ethereum has also joined the bandwagon, the results of its growth will also reflect positively for the investment firm.
Xetra, operated by the Frankfurt stock exchange, noted that more than 90% of trading in German shares goes through the marketplace, along with 30% of trading in exchange-traded funds [ETFs]. As per its website, more than 30 new ETFs and 4 ETCs are tradeable on Xetra since January.
However, ETC Group was not the only one listing ETPs on Deutsche Borse. 21Shares AG also announced the launch of the world’s first centrally cleared Ethereum [ETH] and Bitcoin Cash [BCH] ETPs a few days back.
According to reports, this was done to further push the institutionalization of crypto assets. Subject to approval by the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the 21Shares Ethereum ETP [21XE] and 21Shares Bitcoin Cash ETP [21XC] will list on Deutsche Boerse on 9 March, with annual management fees of 1.49% and 2.50%, respectively.
The institutional interest has been increasing for Ethereum ever since the market has been rallying. The second-largest crypto and the most popular altcoin, Ethereum has managed to carve a niche for itself with the addition of decentralized finance [DeFi] and dApps.

Source: CoinStats
At the time of writing, ETH was going strong at $1,713, despite the high volatility in the market. It is returning 142% year-to-date to its investors as more people flock into the Ethereum ecosystem.
Checkout PrimeXBT
Trade with the Official CFD Partners of AC Milan
The Easiest Way to Way To Trade Crypto.
Check out Nord
Make your Money Grow with Mintos
Source: https://ambcrypto.com/etc-group-adds-ethereum-etp-on-deutsche-borse
-
Blockchain1 week ago
Google Finance adds dedicated ‘crypto’ tab featuring Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin
-
Blockchain7 days ago
Why Mark Cuban is looking forward to Ethereum’s use cases
-
Blockchain5 days ago
Amplifying Her Voice
-
Blockchain1 week ago
NBA Top Shot leads NFT explosion with $230M in sales
-
Blockchain5 days ago
Bitcoin Halving: Definitive Guide (In Just 5 Minutes)
-
Blockchain3 days ago
How to Protect Yourself from the Cryptojacking Threat
-
Blockchain5 days ago
Libra Coin – A New Digital Currency Developed by FACEBOOK
-
Blockchain1 week ago
Inverse Finance seizes tokens, ships code: Launches stablecoin lending protocol