First Mover Americas: Bitcoin Hits $42K for First Time in Over a Year

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The price of bitcoin (BTC) climbed above $42,000 – a level not seen since before the crash of Terra – for the first time since April 2022 while ether (ETH) moved past $2,200. Bitcoin’s price had been toying with the $40,000 level in recent days, and finally breached it Monday to trade above $41,600 as of press time, according to CoinDesk Indices data, a 24-hour rise of about 6%. Ether was trading around $2,240, a similar percentage gain. The advance spurred crypto stocks higher, too. Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) jumped almost 9% in pre-market trading, as did Microstrategy (MSTR). Crypto miners such as Marathon Digital (MARA) and Riot (RIOT) added more than 10%. The other top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization marked smaller gains, and BNB coin (BNB), a token affiliated with the Binance exchange, was little changed.

Crypto asset manager Grayscale has hired Invesco's former Head of Americas, John Hoffman, to lead its distribution and partnerships team, six weeks before a decision is set to come out on whether the company will be allowed to launch a spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded-fund (ETF). Hoffman – an ETF veteran – spent over 17 years at investment manager Invesco, first as the director of ETF institutional sales and capital markets at Invesco PowerShares Capital Management, before moving into an adviser role and most recently, leading the Americas, ETF and indexed strategies team.

Lawmakers in the U.K. are asking the government to consider lowering holding limits for a potential digital pound and make sure its design won’t block the possibility of paying interest. Both the U.K. and its 27-nation neighbor, the European Union, have said in proposals that retail digital currencies should not be allowed to earn interest as bank deposits do. In a report published Saturday, U.K. legislators in the Treasury Committee of the House of Commons – the lower chamber of Parliament – expressed their concerns about the U.K.’s plans for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in a February consultation. The government has said a digital pound was “likely needed” in the future.

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- Omkar Godbole