Bitcoin Skyrockets to $43K: A Weekly Growth of Nearly 10%

• Latest Crypto Market Trends
• Altcoins SOL and AVAX Lead Recent Rally
• Binance Grants Larger Traders More Flexibility
• Bitcoin-based Decentralized Exchange Portal Raises $34 Million
• Chart of The Day
• Notable Crypto News

Latest Crypto Market Trends

The Bitcoin$42,260 -0.64% market has seen nearly a 10% increase within the past week, elevating its price above $43,000. This increase is in anticipation of the impending decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve regarding interest rates tomorrow. The majority of speculations lean towards unchanged rates, which could increase the appeal of Bitcoin and its associated exchange-traded funds, according to Tagus Capital's daily briefing.

Altcoins SOL and AVAX Lead Recent Rally

Altcoins SOL and AVAX are at the forefront of the recent crypto market rally, recording gains of 27% and 25% respectively in the past week. Alex Kuptsikevich, a senior market analyst at FxPro, suggests that this steady rise of altcoins is building up optimism for Bitcoin, potentially leading to a further increase towards $46,000. He also notes that the significant performance in major altcoins indicates a wider participant interest beyond the top two cryptocurrencies.

Binance Grants Larger Traders More Flexibility

As reported by the Financial Times, Binance has recently started allowing larger traders to store their assets in independent banks. Prior to this, these traders were obligated to keep their assets within the exchange or with its custodial partner, Ceffu. However, they now have the option to use crypto-friendly institutions such as Swiss banks Sygnum or FlowBank. This development could potentially be due to the rising concerns about Binance's recent regulatory issue in the United States, which resulted in a $4.3 billion fine in November and has been further exacerbated by the bankruptcy of rival exchange FTX$3.28 -5.38% last year.

Bitcoin-based Decentralized Exchange Portal Raises $34 Million

Portal, a Bitcoin-based decentralized exchange, has successfully raised $34 million in seed funding as it comes out of stealth mode. Among the investors in this round were Coinbase Ventures, Arrington Capital, OKX Ventures and Gate$5.17 -0.37%.io. Portal's objective is to create a decentralized structure for peer-to-peer exchange of Bitcoin across various blockchains, eliminating the need for intermediaries such as wrappers, bridges or centralized exchanges, consequently decreasing the risk of hacks. This substantial funding round is indicative of both the improving prospects for capital raising in the crypto industry and the rising interest in the application of Bitcoin in the DeFi arena, which is generally dominated by altcoins like ETH and SOL.

Chart of The Day

The featured chart is a representation of Solana$104 5.03%'s daily price changes and the MACD histogram momentum indicator. SOL has surpassed a minor price pullback trendline and the MACD has crossed over zero indicating restored bullish momentum. Fairlead Strategies, in a recent note to clients, mentioned that A daily MACD 'buy' signal demonstrates a positive shift in short-term momentum, and there is room to short-term overbought territory, supporting follow-through to the December high.

Notable Crypto News

The Floki team has provided a response to the warning issued by Hong Kong's regulatory body. Polymarket traders have predicted a 55% chance of a second Trump presidency. In an attempt to lure investors, Invesco has reduced the fees on its Bitcoin ETF.

Edited by Jonathan Stoker