Weekly Crypto Gains: Avalanche and Near Take the Lead

• Market Overview: Avalanche's AVAX and Near Protocol's NEAR Surpass the Week
• BlackRock Files for iShares Ethereum Trust
• CoinShares Secures Option to Acquire ETF Unit of Valkyrie Investments
• Chart of the Day
• Trending Posts

Market Overview: Avalanche's AVAX and Near Protocol's NEAR Surpass the Week

The AVAX token of Avalanche and NEAR from the Near Protocol concluded the week in a superior position. AVAX escalated nearly 50% throughout the week, while NEAR amplified more than 18%. Experts attribute Avalanche's surge to its recent acceptance into the Monetary Authority of Singapore's tokenization initiative, Project Guardian, earlier this week. Onyx by JPMorgan and Apollo Global, among others, are also part of this project. NEAR, on the other hand, likely benefited from various advancements disclosed at the annual Nearcon conference in Lisbon last week. However, Bitcoin$42,260 -0.64% and ether didn't perform well, dropping 3% and 6% respectively over the week.

BlackRock Files for iShares Ethereum Trust

BlackRock (BLK), the world's leading asset manager, lodged an S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its iShares Ethereum$2,315 -2.42% Trust, which is a spot ether exchange-traded fund (ETF). This follows the corporate registration of that name last week and Nasdaq's submission of a 19b-4 form to the SEC for approval of the spot ETF. The announcement momentarily boosted the price of ether (ETH) by approximately 2% to $2,080, although it has reversed back to the previous level since then.

CoinShares Secures Option to Acquire ETF Unit of Valkyrie Investments

CoinShares, a crypto asset manager, has announced obtaining an exclusive option to purchase the exchange-traded fund (ETF) segment of Valkyrie Investments, thereby expanding its presence in the U.S. The Saint Helier, Jersey-based firm stated that the option concludes on March 31. Although CoinShares did not reveal the amount it paid for the option or the acquisition price details, the company has the option to proceed with the deal. Spot crypto exchange-traded products are already accessible in Europe. However, the U.S. is yet to offer such products, and there are speculations about an imminent launch, which could potentially make bitcoin investment accessible to a broader audience.

Chart of the Day

The chart illustrates that the count of blockchain addresses holding a minimum of $1,000 worth of BTC, which is known to move simultaneously with BTC's price, soared to a new high of 8,306,118 on Nov. 15. This number surpasses the previous peak achieved two years ago. In contrast, bitcoin's price is still 47% below the peak of $69,000 recorded in November 2021, according to Glassnode.

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Edited by Jonathan Stoker