News Roundup — Bitcoin Tops $65K, Inches Closer to Lifetime Peak

Major news stories this week;

1. Bitcoin Tops $65K, Inches Closer to Lifetime Peak
2. Fidelity Canada Recommend 1-3% of Crypto Allocation in Portfolios
3. Crypto exchange user goes AWOL after being sent $650K by mistake
4. UK bolsters crypto law enforcement efforts with new bill passage
5. USDe developer Ethena raises new funding round at $300 million valuation

Story Summaries;

1. Bitcoin (BTC) crossed the $65,000 mark in European morning hours on Monday, inching closer to its lifetime time peak of $69,000 set in November 2021. BTC added over 6% in the past 24 hours. The CD20, a broad-based liquid index of various tokens, was up 5.6% in the same period. The surge comes ahead of the anticipated halving event and rising inflows on bitcoin ETFs.
2. The company bills its all-in-one products as a way to “get a complete portfolio in one ETF.” That crypto is included as a 1% allocation in Fidelity’s “all-in-one conservative fund,” suggests the asset manager considers at least some digital assets as de-risked in terms of an offering to the average retail investor. The asset manager recommends a 3% allocation on its Growth and Equity portfolios. The development is another step in crypto’s progression towards adoption in traditional finance. With $12.6 trillion assets under administration and 38.7 million retail accounts, according to its 2023 annual report, Fidelity is one of the world’s largest asset managers and has continued its push to offer products for digital assets.
3. An Australian crypto exchange has reportedly been trying to claw back nearly $328,000 from one of its users after a huge fat-finger error when crediting the account. According to ABC News, citing court documents, Rhino Trading, which owns the exchange OTCPro, accidentally credited a user with $653,000 (995,000 Australian dollars) in January — instead of the $65,300 (99,500 Australian dollars), due to an error. The exchange claims that after it realized its mistake on Feb. 4, the user — Kow Seng Chai — hasn’t responded to emails to return the funds.
4. Following the passage of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, the UK law enforcement authorities will now find it easier to confiscate the crypto assets of bad actors. The legislation takes effect in April. A recently issued statutory instrument documentation indicates that U.K. law enforcement agencies will gain the authority to freeze cryptocurrency assets involved in criminal activities without requiring a conviction. Issued on Feb. 29, the bill summarized its amendments to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, expanding the National Crime Agency’s power to confiscate and seize crypto assets suspected of being linked to illicit activities, without extensive legal procedures.
5. Ethena had commitments of over $50 million for the round but capped it at $14 million as it did not need more cash at the moment, founder and CEO Guy Young told The Block. The round began in late December and closed this week, Young said, adding that it was structured as a simple agreement for future equity with token warrants.The round brought Ethena's valuation to $300 million, he added. Ethena also publicly launched its USDe stablecoin following a stealth launch last December that quickly saw over $224 million in total value locked.

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And that’s all for last week’s news! Wishing you a great week ahead!

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