The best crypto news of the week

Important crypto news: the best news regarding the blockchain world affected the entire industry over the past week. Specifically, we are talking about the Dogecoin price prediction, for which Elon Musk posted a picture of his dog on Twitter.

This begs the question: is Elon buying more DOGE? Furthermore, Bitcoin’s NFTs have also arrived, which have taken the network’s activity to the highest levels. Again, one wonders what impact they will have on the price of BTC. And it doesn’t end there.

Crypto news: Elon Musk and Dogecoin among the top news stories of the week

Dogecoin’s price gained 3% recently, reaching $0.08881, amid an overall 8% increase for the cryptocurrency market.

DOGE has also risen 6.5% over the past 30 days, thanks largely to the continued support that Elon Musk, owner of Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter, provides to the market’s leading memecoin

After wearing a Dogecoin T-shirt to the Super Bowl, Musk sparked a new online discussion by posting a photo of his dog Shiba Inu (Dogecoin’s mascot) on Twitter.

However, since DOGE has risen less than other major tokens in recent hours, it is likely that the billionaire has not purchased any more meme coins, contrary to what many had thought after seeing the latest tweet from the rocket tycoon.

DOGE indicators suggest that there may be further upside on the horizon for the altcoin. Its relative strength index has risen from 40 a few days ago to nearly 60. Its current level means that it is not yet in the overbought zone and thus could see further gains.

At the same time, the 30-day moving average continues to rise above the 200-day moving average and does not yet appear to have peaked. If DOGE manages to break above the $0.09 mark, it could register sustained gains.

It seems that DOGE’s rise in recent hours is mainly due to the recent market rally, which has also dragged the meme token with it.

However, it is noteworthy that the rise also comes after Musk posted another of his characteristic tweets, in which he makes a vague allusion to Dogecoin but shows no concrete evidence that he has increased his holdings.

This tweet seems to have caused a very brief rally in which DOGE rose to the $0.09 resistance level, but then quickly fell again as other currencies continued to rise. Because of this, one could easily argue that Musk used it to briefly pump DOGE in order to offload some of his holdings.

More crypto news among the week’s top stories: Bitcoin’s NFTs

Bitcoin’s new NFT protocol is called Ordinals. According to data from crypto analytics firm Glassnode, after their arrival, the 14-day exponential moving average (EMA) of the number of transactions on the Bitcoin network reached its highest level since April 2021 earlier this month.

According to reports from crypto firm BitMEX, more than 13,000 Ordinal NFTs were minted on the Bitcoin blockchain on 7 February.

Some analysts are concerned that Ordinal NFTs, whereby many Bitcoin blocks have exceeded the 4MB limit, may put upward pressure on network fees. So far, however, there has been no fee increase yet, according to Glassnode’s data.

In addition, not everyone is enthusiastic about the implementation of NFTs on Bitcoin’s blockchain. Some argue that it runs counter to creator Satoshi Nakamoto‘s view that Bitcoin’s blockchain was created only for financial purposes.

Some believe that if Ordinal NFTs were to lead to an increase, this could be positive for the miners, resulting in a benefit for the security of BTC‘s network. However, since fees currently have not yet increased, Bitcoin miners’ revenues remain low.

In fact, Glassnode’s four-year Z-Score related to miner revenue remains near the lows touched since July 2021. In any case, it is certain that Bitcoin’s NFTs in one way or another could influence the price of BTC.

Ordinal NFTs have so far had little impact on network fees, so it can be assumed that it has also been minimal on the value of BTC. Even though transaction traffic has increased, the number of daily users seems to have remained the same.

Thus, it appears that the arrival of Bitcoin NFTs, via the Ordinals protocol, has not yet had enough impact on the increase in network activity and Bitcoin adoption to affect the price. However, this is a brand new technology and the effect on the network has yet to be seen.

SEC on crypto: limiting hedge fund exposure to cryptocurrencies

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed draft regulations that would make it more difficult for hedge funds, i.e., private equity firms and pension funds, to work with cryptocurrency companies.

The proposal would make it nearly impossible for cryptocurrency companies to hold digital assets on behalf of their clients as “qualified custodians,” a designation that allows companies to hold clients’ assets.

Bloomberg reported this on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the issue. A five-member SEC panel will vote on the proposal in the coming days to decide whether it can move to the next stage.

If approved, the proposal could be amended with feedback if necessary. Hedge funds, some venture capital firms and pension funds, must use “qualified custodians” to hold their clients’ assets.

The new rule change could force some of these companies to change their custodians. Specifically, the report states:

“If finalized, the rule could mean that institutional funds that have dedicated themselves to cryptocurrencies may have to move their clients’ holdings elsewhere. They may also face spot checks related to their custody reports or other consequences.”

Back in 2020, the SEC ruled on the matter regarding who should be required to be a qualified cryptocurrency custodian. However, the recent failure of FTX, once the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, in November last year has forced the agency to examine the issue with renewed scrutiny.

these are the crypto news of this wee.