quarter

Feb Volume Report: Leading Markets Post Strongest Month Since Q1 2018

03/03/2019 by Idelto Editor

For many leading markets, February produced the largest monthly volume since the first quarter of last year, with 30-day BTC trade activity surpassing $200 billion, and ETH exceeding $100 billion.

Also Read: Report: Quadriga’s 6 Cold Wallets Have Been Without Funds Since April 2018

BTC Volume Surpasses $200 Billion for February

February saw the highest volume for BTC trade in one year, with BTC pairings generating nearly $206.37 billion in trade during the last 30 days.

The increase in trade activity was driven by the run up to $4,000 during the middle weeks of February, with volume having since retraced amid sideways consolidation. The surge in activity comprised a 34% gain in trade activity month-over-month.

USDT trade also produced its heaviest month of trade since the first quarter of 2018, with $177.12 billion worth of tether changing hands. USDT trade activity increased by 56.50% when compared with January.

30-Day ETH Volume Surpasses $100 Billion

Monthly ETH trade activity reached a one year-high during 2018, with $104.46 billion worth of ethereum having been traded during the last 30 days. As such, ETH trade increased by 34.40% month-over-month.

During February, EOS ranked as the fourth-most traded cryptocurrency for the fifth consecutive month. $33.24 billion worth of EOS were traded during the last 30 days, comprising a 54.75% gain in trade activity. February comprised the strongest month of EOS trade since May 2018.

LTC ranked as the fifth-most-traded crypto asset for February, with $32.85 billion worth of litecoin changing hands. LTC saw a 93.58% month-over-month gain in volume, comprising the strongest month of trade since the first quarter of 2018.

Bitcoin Cash and Dash Ascend Volume Rankings During February

XRP was the sixth-most traded cryptocurrency of February for the second consecutive month, with $17.66 billion worth of XRP changing hands during the last 30 days. XRP trade activity increased by 30% month-over-month, however, failed to exceed the trade volume generated throughout December.

BCH ascended two positions to rank as the seventh most traded crypto asset of the past 30 days with $8.91 billion worth of trade. Despite posting a 40.54% gain monthly trade, February comprised the second-weakest month of trade in more than 12 months.

Dash re-entered the top ten after falling to 12th last month, ranking eighth with $6.22 billion worth of trade. February saw dash produce a 48.45% volume increase month-over-month, comprising the strongest month of trade since September.

NEO Reclaims Top Ten Ranking

NEO produced its strongest month in over 12 months, with $6.21 billion worth of NEO changing hands in the last 30 days. NEO comprised the ninth-most traded crypto asset during February, breaking into the top ten for the first time since November. NEO trade activity increased by 72.5% month-over-month.

QTUM produced its strongest month of trade since the first quarter of 2018, generating $6 billion worth of trade in the last 30 days. Monthly QTUM trade increased 22% when compared with January ranking it as the 10th-most traded cryptocurrency during February.

CKUSD comprised the 11th-most traded crypto asset during February with $5.87 billion worth of trade. February saw monthly CKUSD trade activity gain 38%, comprising the strongest month of trade since Q1 2018.

ETC rose two positions to rank as the 12th-most traded cryptocurrency with $5.75 billion worth of trade in the last 30 days. February posted a 60% gain in monthly ETC volume, comprising the strongest month of trade since August.

TRX Posts Significant Reduction in Monthly Trade

Despite falling from the top ten, ZEC produced its strongest 30 days of trade since Q1 2018 for the second consecutive month, with $5.22 billion worth of ZEC changing hands. February saw ZEC volume increase by 4.4%, ranking as the 13th-most traded cryptocurrency.

TRX comprised the only crypto asset of the top 15 to post a reduction in trade volume during February. $5.08 billion worth of TRX was traded during the last 30 days, ranking as the 14th most trade crypto asset.

XLM posted its strongest month since the first quarter of last year, with $3.99 billion worth of XLM changing hands. XLM comprised the 15th-most traded cryptocurrency during February, with volume increasing 23%.

BTT Ranks Among Top 20

BTT comprised the 16th-most traded crypto asset during February, with $3.86 billion worth of BTT having been traded.

BNB made its second appearance among the top 20 in one year, ranking 17th with $2.84 billion in trade over the last 30 days

BSV ascended one rank to comprise the 18th-most traded cryptocurrency during February, with $2.70 billion worth of trade. BSV trade activity increased 34.33% month-over-month.

PAX saw a nearly 10% decline in monthly trade activity, slipping one position to rank as the 19th-most traded crypto asset with $2.01 billion in trade.

TUSD ranked as the 20th-most traded cryptocurrency for the second consecutive month with $1.87 worth trade, a nearly 17% increase in trade volume.

Do you expect volume to continue to increase heading into the second quarter of 2019? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock

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Pantera Capital Braces for SEC Action Against 25 Percent of ICO Investments

15/12/2018 by Idelto Editor

Pantera Braces for SEC Action Against 25 Percent of ICO Investments

Increasingly frequent action taken by the SEC against initial coin offerings is expected to lead to more cryptocurrency projects being forced to refund investors. Among those expected to be affected is the first U.S.-based cryptocurrency investment firm, Pantera Capital, with the company bracing to receive refunds on a quarter of its ICO investments.

Also Read: BTI Claims Only Two of Top 25 Crypto Exchanges Accurately Report Volume

Pantera Capital Anticipates a Quarter of ICOs in Portfolio May Be Targeted for Securities Violations

In a letter written by Dan Morehead and Joey Krug, Pantera’s co-chief investment officers announced the company’s expectation that one in four of its ICO investments will be deemed to comprise unlicensed securities. If that proves to be the case, the projects may be compelled to issue refunds to investors. The concerns have been sparked by the SEC’s Nov. 16 announcement that coin offerings Paragon Coin and Carriereq had issued tokens to non-accredited investors in violation of securities laws.

The letter states: “While we believe the vast majority of the projects in our portfolio should not be affected, approximately 25 percent of our fund’s capital is invested in projects with liquid tokens that sold to U.S. investors without using regulation D or regulation S,” adding “If any of these projects are deemed to be securities, the SEC’s position could adversely affect them.”

Further elaborating regarding the projects of concern, the letter estimates that “about a third (approximately 10 percent of the portfolio) are live and functional,” noting that “while they could technically continue without further development, ending development would hinder their progress.”

Pantera-Backed Paragon Coin Targeted by SEC

Paragon Coin, an ICO that received backing from Pantera, was fined $250,000 by the SEC on Nov. 16 for having failed to register its token sale with the agency. The company is also required to compensate investors who sold the tokens at a loss, in addition to those who are still holding Paragon Coin.

The SEC then described the action as comprising “the commission’s first cases imposing civil penalties solely for ICO securities offering registration violations,” adding that “Both companies have agreed to return funds to harmed investors, register the tokens as securities, file periodic reports with the commission, and pay penalties.”

Do you think we will see widespread refunds being issued by ICOs as regulatory pressure mounts? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock

The post Pantera Capital Braces for SEC Action Against 25 Percent of ICO Investments appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Capitalization of Cryptocurrency Markets Loses 59% in Q1 2018

02/04/2018 by Idelto Editor

The first quarter of 2018 dealt heavy losses to the cryptocurrency markets, with Coinmarketcap data indicating that the capitalization of the combined crypto markets has dropped by 59% since the start of January. Q1 2018 has also been among the bloodiest quarters in recent memory for the bitcoin markets – with BTC suffering an approximately 50% loss in value since the start of 2018. Despite bitcoin’s heavy drop, it has performed better than many leading altcoins – many which have slumped by over 70% since January.

Also Read: Eight Ways to Profit in a Crypto Bear Market

Q1 Produces Extreme Volatility for Bitcoin Markets

According to price action on Bitstamp, BTC opened the quarter trading between $13,000 and $14,000 on the first of January. Over the course of the following week, BTC made quick gains of more than 20% to establish 2018’s price high of roughly $17,500.

After the high of $17,500, the BTC markets slumped by approximately 66% in a single month, establishing 2018’s current low of roughly $5,900 on the 6th of February. The price then almost doubled in just two weeks, before failing to break above resistance at just below the $12,000 area twice. The failure to break resistance precipitated a drop of approximately 40% during March, with BTC prices currently hovering at approximately $6,500.

Crypto Market Capitalization Shrinks

According to Coinmarketcap, which excludes data from Korean exchanges, the total market capitalization of the combined cryptocurrency markets was approximately $610 billion at the start of January, before quickly ballooning to roughly $820 billion on January 8th. Since the high of $820 billion, the capitalization of the crypto markets has dropped by almost 70% and is currently establishing a low of $250 billion for 2018.

The market capitalization of bitcoin was approximately $236 billion at the start of January, and has since fluctuated within a range of between $300 billion, and $100 billion. The total capitalization of bitcoin is estimated to be $115 billion as of this writing.

BTC Market Dominance Strengthens

Despite the heavy losses, Q1 also saw bitcoin recapture a market dominance of over 40% – with bitcoin boasting a market dominance of approximately 45% as of this writing.

At the start of January, BTC accounted for approximately 38%, before dropping to establish a historic low of almost 32% during the following fortnight. Throughout February and March bitcoin made consistent gains in market share over altcoins, regaining approximately 10% in relative market share in just two months.

ETH Reclaims Position as Second Largest Crypto by Capitalization

2018 opened with Ripple ranked as the second largest cryptocurrency by total market capitalization, with XRP boasting a market dominance over 14%. On the 4th of January, Ripple reached an all-time high for market dominance of over 18% whilst establishing record price highs over $3.

On the 8th of January, Ethereum reclaimed its position as the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, with ETH growing to hold a market dominance over 14% at the same time as XRP fell to comprise 13% of the markets. Since early January, XRP’s market dominance has oscillated between approximately 7.5% and 10%, steadily holding the position of the third largest crypto by market cap. As of this writing, Ripple’s market capitalization is $18.2 billion (down from over 75% from $80 billion at the start of the year), with XRP currently trading at $0.455.

By contrast, Ethereum’s market dominance grew from roughly 12% to over 20% during early January. On the 14th of January, ETH boasted a record price of over $1,400 and a market capitalization of $137 billion. Since then, Ethereum’s market dominance has gradually fallen to current levels of approximately 15%.

Ethereum’s current market capitalization is $37.3 billion (down by nearly 45% from over $73 billion at the start of the year, and 73% since the 2018 high), with ETH trading at $360.

Bitcoin Cash Holds Steady as Fourth-Largest Crypto Market

Bitcoin Cash has consistently been the fourth largest cryptocurrency during 2018, with BCH’s market dominance oscillating between 4.5% and 7% throughout the first quarter. BCH has experienced losses over 70% during Q1, dropping from $42 billion to $11 billion in market capitalization, and from a price of $2,500 to $680.

Since February, Litecoin has consistently comprised the fifth largest crypto market by capitalization. Since the start of January, LTC price and market cap have approximately halved, with Litecoin’s market cap current sitting at $6.2 billion and LTC/USD pairing currently trading at $110.

What is your response to the performance of the cryptocurrency markets during Q1 of 2018? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Coinmarketcap

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