Here’s what happened this week in Bitcoin in 99 seconds. Crypto’s combined market cap rose over 15% from $233 billion late last week to its current level of $270 billion. Trading volumes on Binance and Houbi exchanges were up by over 100% over the last 10 days, with the volume on South Korean exchange Bithumb increasing by 230%.
South Korea intends to legalize crypto and related companies. This will establish a firm legal basis for crypto in the country. Further details are expected later in the month.
Binance deposits and withdrawals were suspended for several hours this week, with the exchange citing system maintenance as the reason. A glitch was reported whereby a user was charged $625,000 for the purchase of a single Syscoin, valued at around 26 cents.
It was also reported that Binance has generated $300 million in total from its 10 million customers for the year-to-date. The exchange stated it expects to reach as much as $1 billion on turnover for the year.
Coinbase officially launched its new Coinbase Custody service. This service caters to hedge funds and financial institutions, making it easy for them to hold crypto in high-security, cold storage accounts.
Finally, Investments by hedge funds into crypto have already surpassed 2017’s total. $638 million has been invested by hedge funds in 2018 so far, versus $497 in 2017. Europe’s largest ETF trader, the Dutch company Flow Traders, is entering the crypto market as well.
That’s what happened this week in Bitcoin. See you next week.
