Crypto market analysis: Ethereum hard fork sends price to record high

Bitcoin prices slumped over the weekend, falling to a low of $50,000 on Sunday before rebounding, as a flash crash impacted leading cryptoassets.

Bitcoin, ethereum and XRP, as well as most other major altcoins, were all hit by a sudden flash crash early Sunday morning, sending prices down sharply.

Power outages in China, which consequently caused a huge drop in the bitcoin network hashrate, are being cited as a potential reason for the big pullback.

Prices have climbed off lows overnight, with bitcoin back above $56,000 this morning, and peers such as Cardano also recovering, although both are around 10% off all time highs.

Ethereum hard fork sends price to record high

Ethereum surged above $2,500 a coin last week as its long-awaited Berlin hard fork went live.

The second-largest cryptoasset by market capitalisation introduced the hard fork to try to solve a significant issue for the network - high gas fees. Gas fees have shot up in the last 12 months, with users seeing transaction costs rocket from below 10 cents to a high of $40 in February of this year.

Currently, the average fee is close to $19, but this is far higher than the minimal fees charged by peers such as Cardano and Algorand.

The network’s hard fork has changed the algorithm that calculates gas fees, with the aim being to reduce costs that may otherwise push users on to other platforms.

Having surged to a new high, this weekend’s flash crash has seen the price fall back, leaving it trading around $2,250.

Coinbase lists on main market via IPO

Coinbase has completed its IPO in the US as the cryptoasset market continues to enter mainstream financial markets.

Ben Laidler, eToro's global market analyst, said: "The Coinbase IPO is significant for a few reasons. Firstly, it reflects the institutionalisation and development of the crypto industry. 

"Secondly, it demonstrates how public markets are changing. We've seen a record number of US IPOs raising money through non-traditional approaches, such as direct listings and SPACs. 

"Lastly, it gives people a vehicle to gain exposure to the crypto market without having to invest in cryptoassets themselves. The stock can be included in pension funds and trackers that previously could not directly include cryptoassets, thereby further opening up the crypto market to an entirely new pool of capital."

Binance coin completes biggest ever burn

The Binance platform has completed its 15th quarterly binance coin (BNB) token burn, destroying more than a million coins with a value of $5.8bn.

The burn comes after a mammoth rally for the coin, which has doubled in a month and climbed by some 3,492% in a year.

"This burn effectively took USD 595,314,380 worth of BNB out of circulation forever. With this recent burn, the total supply of BNB has officially decreased from 170,532,825 BNB to 169,432,937 BNB. This 15th quarterly BNB burn is the highest-ever in US dollar terms," CEO Changpeng Zhao said.

NYSE launches “first trade” NFTs

The New York Stock Exchange has said it will launch "First Trade" NFTs which commemorate the true first trade of Spotify, Snowflake, Unity, DoorDash, Roblox and Coupang.

During a company's public debut, the exchange processes over 350 billion order, quote and trade messages across its markets on its busiest days.

Each message is recorded on the exchange's digital ledger, and it is these that the exchange plans to make public in  the form of NFT’s, following similar moves by a variety of different businesses across the world of sports and entertainment.

NYSE president Stacey Cunningham said in a LinkedIn post: "Only one of those messages marks the NYSE First Trade: the exact moment a company became public, creating an opportunity for others to share in their success.

“The NYSE First Trade NFT memorializes that unique moment in a company's history."

TIME Magazine partners with Greyscale

TIME Magazine’s President has announced the world famous publication is partnering with Grayscale Investments to produce a video series on cryptoassets.

In yet another endorsement of the long-term potential of cryptoassets, TIME Magazine said it had partnered with Grayscale Investments to not only launch the educational video series, but also be paid in bitcoin, as well as committing to keep the cryptoasset on its balance sheet.

Founded in 1923, TIME Magazine has over 20 million subscribers worldwide, and is one of the most recognisable publications globally.

Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein tweeted on Monday that he was “thrilled” to be partnering with TIME magazine, adding that the deal to pay TIME in bitcoin was “a first for our media partnerships”.

Societe Generale issues first structured product security token

French investment banking giant Societe Generale (SocGen) has issued the first structured product as a security token, directly registered on the Tezos public blockchain.

SocGen, which launched the token via its Forge division, says the transaction demonstrates the legal, regulatory and operational feasibility of issuing more complex financial instruments on a public blockchain.

The drive behind the token is to use the increased efficiency and fluidity of financial transactions that blockchain can bring. SocGen said the new structured product benefited from unprecedented capacity of product structuration, a shortened time-to-market, automated corporate actions, increased transparency, and speed in transactions and settlements.

The launch follows a covered bond security token issuance on Ethereum, settled in euros, in 2019, and a second such issuance settled in CBDC issued by Banque de France last year.