Coindesk

Bitcoin $120K Target for 2Q May Be Too Conservative: Standard Chartered

Bitcoin (BTC) is poised to hit a new record high, with investment flows now the dominant market driver, according to Standard Chartered (STAN).U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have seen $5.3 billion in inflows over the past three weeks, the investment bank said in emailed comments Thursday.Adjusting for hedge fund basis trades, net real flow is estimated at over $4 billion, the bank said. The basis trade is a strategy that exploits the difference between the spot price of bitcoin and the price of the cryptocurrency in the futures market.Strategy (MSTR) has increased its holdings to 555,450 BTC, or 2.6% of total future supply, which is locked at 21 million BTC. The company's plan to raise $84 billion to buy...

Bitcoin Tops $100K for First Time in 3 Months; Are Upside Targets Too Low?

Bitcoin is back in six figures, continuing yet another of its famous zigs when most were expecting a zag.To review, the world's largest crypto first pushed through $100,000 in December as it rallied hard following Donald Trump's November election victory. The price eventually rose above $109,000 in the hours prior to the Trump inauguration on Jan. 20.With the bulls furiously revising their upside price targets higher, things began to crack at that moment. What followed in ensuing weeks was a steady decline, which reached its denouement at just under $75,000 in the panic following Trump's early April announcements of punitive tariffs against U.S. trading partners.The carnage in many altcions was far worse. Solana (SOL) and ether (ETH), for instance, had...

Crypto for Advisors: Trends in Tokenizing Real-World Assets

Thank you to our sponsor of this week's newsletter, Grayscale. For financial advisors near Chicago, Grayscale is hosting an exclusive event, Crypto Connect, on Thursday, May 22. Learn more.In today’s Crypto for Advisors, Tedd Strazimiri from Evolve ETFs writes about the evolution of tokenization and the value it brings to investors. Then, Peter Gaffney from Inveniam answers questions about what tokenization can do for wealth managers and their clients in Ask an Expert.- Sarah MortonUnknown block type "divider", specify a component for it in the `components.types` optionUnknown block type "divider", specify a component for it in the `components.types` optionThe Tokenization Boom: Why Ethereum Remains the Rails for Real-World Asset TokenizationThe tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) has moved beyond buzzword status to...

Superstate Expands Into Tokenized Equities; SOL Strategies to Be First Listing

Superstate, the tokenized asset management firm behind the $650 million USTB token, is moving into stock tokenization with a new blockchain-based marketplace for public equities, first available on Solana (SOL).The platform, called Opening Bell and unveiled on Wednesday, allows companies to create tokenized versions of SEC-registered shares—not derivatives or synthetic assets—and trade directly on blockchain rails.Unlike current practices that rely on centralized stock exchanges and multi-day settlements, Opening Bell supports real-time, around-the-clock trading and programmable securities. The platform targets both already public firms on traditional stock exchanges and late-stage private companies seeking access to liquidity.Canadian investment firm SOL Strategies said it plans to be the first issuer on the platform, listing its stock for on-chain trading on Solana pending regulatory...

98% of Tokens on Pump.Fun Have Been Rug Pulls or an Act of Fraud, New Report...

A report by Solidus Labs has revealed the alarming scale of fraudulent activity on the Solana blockchain, with 98.6% of tokens launched on Pump.fun being chalked down as rug pulls or pump-and-dump schemes.More than seven million tokens have been issued on Pump.fun since its inception in January 2024, with just 97,000 of those maintaining at least $1,000 in liquidity, the report added.Pump.fun is a token creation platform that lets users issue new crypto tokens on the Solana blockchain at a very low cost.The largest rug pull Solidus Labs identified over the time period was worth $1.9 million and was related to MToken.Whilst the crypto industry has progressed and moved on following the spectacular implosion of FTX, hacks and scams are...