This week was particularly eventful in the cryptocurrency market. Without a doubt, the highlight of it was the direct listing of Coinbase shares on Nasdaq. This is the first major cryptocurrency exchange to go public, and it did so in style. The trading opened at around $381 per share (ticked COIN), putting an opening value of around $100 billion.

But that’s not the only exciting thing that happened. The week started off with a blast as bitcoin surged past $60K on Saturday. However, the price was somewhat indecisive, and it couldn’t continue forward during the next few days. All of that ended on Tuesday when BTC skyrocketed above $63K and marked a new all-time high. But there was more to come.

On Wednesday, Bitcoin bulls forced another leg up and painted a fresh peak around $65,000 – where the current ATH lies. Since then, the price has retraced a bit, but the market continues to look primed.

Amid all this, altcoins were thriving. Ethereum is up by around 17% in the past seven days, which is also true for BNB. Ripple exploded by 60%, but the show was stolen by the one and only meme coin – DOGE.

Dogecoin increased by a jaw-dropping 530% in the past week, and it set a new all-time high above $0.45. It is currently the fifth biggest cryptocurrency by means of total market capitalization, surpassing the likes of Tether, Cardano, and Polkadot. Its total valuation is also higher than traditional finance behemoth Barclays, as well as other companies such as Motorola.

In any case, altcoin season is booming, with the majority of large-cap cryptocurrency charting double-digit increases in the past week. This has reduced the BTC dominance towards 51%, despite the fact that bitcoin is also up by around 6% in the same period.

Elsewhere, positive news came from PayPal’s CEO, who said that the company could reach upwards of $200 million in volume in the next few months. The online payment processor recently launched a crypto checkout service that allows its users to spend their cryptocurrency at millions of merchants.

Larry Fink, the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, said that crypto has the potential of becoming a “great asset class,” which is surely a good thing. Regardless, the markets are particularly volatile, and it’s very exciting to see how the next week will shape up.

Market Data

Market Cap: $2,229B | 24H Vol: 287B | BTC Dominance: 51.7%

BTC: $61,650 (+5.49%) | ETH: $2,426 (+17.03%) | XRP: $1.65 (+63.73%)

The Crypto Headlines You Better Not Miss

MicroStrategy Directors Now Receive Board Fees in Bitcoin. In yet another major pro-Bitcoin move, Micheal Saylor’s MicroStrategy made the decision to start paying its non-employee directors board fees in BTC. The company continues with its positive stance towards the cryptocurrency as its total holdings near 100,000 bitcoins.

Coinbase COIN Starts Trading at a Price Around $400 and Over $100 Billion Valuation. Coinbase, the leading US-based cryptocurrency exchange, is now a publicly-traded company on Nasdaq. Its shares are under the COIN ticker and opened at a price of $381 per share, putting a total market capitalization of the company of around $100 billion upon listing.

PayPal’s Crypto Service Could Reach $200 Million in Volume in a Few Months, Says CEO. The CEO of the world’s leading online payment processor PayPal – Dan Schulman, said that his company can reach a cryptocurrency volume of around $200 million in a few months. This comes shortly after they launched a crypto checkout service.

Crypto Can Become a Great Asset Class, Says BlackRock CEO. Larry Fink, the CEO of the biggest asset management company in the world, BlackRock, said that cryptocurrencies can become a great asset class. He also said that he’s fascinated and encouraged by the number of people focusing on it.

Ethereum’s Berlin Hard Fork is Live, but Sync Issues Are Reported. Ethereum’s network went through a planned hard fork called Berlin. The update is already live, but it also caused some node syncing issues for some users which resulted in a few exchanges halting deposits and withdrawals temporarily.

Grayscale Total Assets Value Soars Above $50 Billion Following the Recent Bitcoin ATH. The biggest cryptocurrency asset manager, Grayscale, achieved a serious milestone amid the increasing prices this week. Its total assets under management topped $50 billion for the first time.

Charts

This week we have a chart analysis of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Binance Coin, and Cardano – click here for the full price analysis.