From Russia, With Love: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin Buoyant Again On Regulatory Hope And BlackRock Crypto Foray

Major coins rose Wednesday night, with Ethereum gains exceeding those of Bitcoin at press time. The global cryptocurrency market cap increased 1.5% to $2 trillion.

Why It Matters: The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, is planning to offer cryptocurrency trading to its client base, CoinDesk reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Cryptocurrency trading will reportedly be offered through the firm’s Aladdin platform, while the rollout timetable is still unclear.

Amsterdam-based cryptocurrency analyst Michaël van de Poppe tweeted on the development and said the coming of institutions and countries regulating the cryptocurrency space is a “sign of strength” for the future of blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and Bitcoin.

BREAKING:

Wall Street is coming towards the markets, as BlackRock is planning to offer #crypto trading to clients.

Institutions are coming.
Countries are regulating.

That's a sign of strength for the future of #blockchain & #crypto & #bitcoin.

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) February 9, 2022

On the regulatory front, Russia is likely to recognize Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a form of currency as that nation’s government and central bank arrived at a deal.

“Russia could be using Bitcoin to hedge against aggressive U.S. foreign policy. I think this will send a message to the United States, and many other nations, that they are falling behind in the crypto revolution, with their ambiguous approach towards regulation,” wrote Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst with the United Kingdom-based digital asset broker GlobalBlock.

Meanwhile, SegWit, a mechanism through which space occupied by each transaction on Bitcoin’s network is reduced and which also helps in segmenting transaction data, has seen increased utilization, according to Delphi Digital.

Weightage of BTC Spent Output Type Vs. SegWit Dominance

“We have seen that SegWit’s utilization increased as its dominance hit 70% of transactions on the Bitcoin network. With exchanges holding up to 40% of all blockspace, their adoption of SegWit has been the reason for their growth,” wrote Delphi Digital, in a note seen by Benzinga. 

On Ethereum, Van de Poppe said that the second-largest cryptocurrency faces resistance in blocks that serve as key reference points for traders, but breaking through these levels could take it to the next area — the $4,000 zone.

For #Ethereum, the same principle lines up here as with #Bitcoin.

Looking at a weekly order block providing resistance, most likely.

If that rejects, we'll be seeing some more consolidation.

Breaking through the weekly block -> next area $4.000 zone. pic.twitter.com/JHZQJthJHS

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) February 9, 2022

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