Bitcoin Soars Amid ETF Inflows Increase; BitForex Halts Withdrawals Amid Security Concerns
Summary:
Bitcoin's price experienced a surge following increased inflows into Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), coinciding with the halt of withdrawals by the BitForex exchange and a security breach on MicroStrategy's Ethereum-based MSTR token account. A deadline is set in March for claimants of dividends from the defunct Three Arrows Capital hedge fund. Bitcoin nears a valuation of $55,000, marking a return to figures enjoyed over two years ago. The total assets managed across all cryptocurrency exchange-traded products hit its highest since December 2021, while the overall cryptocurrency market capitalization rose by 4.4% to $2.09 trillion.
Bitcoin's value surged following an increase in inflows into Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) last week. In related news, fears are mounting as it was noted that cryptocurrency exchange BitForex has ceased withdrawals and is not responding to its user base. MicroStrategy, a company possessing Bitcoin, endured a security breach of their X account, resulting in con artists sharing a misleading link, posing as a false airdrop. In the meantime, March is the deadline for those vested in the now non-active crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) to claim their dividends.
A significant boost in Bitcoin's price was observed on 26th February, bringing the cryptocurrency close to a $55,000 valuation. This marks Bitcoin's return to such substantial figures after over two years. The cryptocurrency, which clocks in as the most valuable globally, has seen a surge of over 30% in the past four weeks.
Both Bitcoin and the wider cryptocurrency market experienced this rally due to a spike in spot BTC ETF inflows last week. CoinShares' data reveals a total of $598 million in BTC ETF inflows during this period. Last week also saw the total assets managed across all cryptocurrency exchange-traded products hit $68.3 billion - the highest point since December 2021, as stated by CoinShares’ research head, James Butterfill. On the other hand, CoinMarketCap data showed a 4.4% rise in overall cryptocurrency market capitalization to $2.09 trillion.
Hong Kong's crypto exchange, BitForex, put a stop to withdrawals for at least three days - without any sign of an explanation. Prior to this suspension, approximately $56 million in cryptocurrency had been taken out from the exchange's accounts. As per blockchain detective ZachXBT's post dated 23rd February, withdrawals of around $56.5 million in cryptocurrencies were made from three BitForex wallets before the exchange ceased transaction activity. Users have been reporting a range of issues, from an inability to log in to their accounts, to dashboards appearing asset-less.
MicroStrategy, a business intelligence company, fell prey to a security breach in their X account. This led to the wrongful posting of links aimed at a scam airdrop in the form of the 'official' Ethereum-tied MSTR token. Clicking on the misleading link would lead users to a MicroStrategy impersonator webpage, compelling them to link a wallet to claim the non-existent MSTR airdrop. Submitting to a set of permissions was found to give hackers the power to siphon off the tokens from the user's wallet. Blockchain investigators ZachXBT and Scam Sniffer, an anti-fraud platform, found that this scam has cost users over $440,000, with a single user loss surpassing $420,000 to the phishing attempt.
The information in this report doesn't constitute investment advice or recommendations. Every investment or trading action comes with inherent risk, thus necessitating thorough research prior to decision-making.
Contributions to this report were made by Geraint Price, Sam Bourgi, and Felix Ng.
Published At
2/26/2024 11:26:14 PM
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