First Mover Americas: BTC Peeps Above $69K as Macro Favors Bulls
The latest price moves in crypto markets in context for Oct. 21, 2024.

This article originally appeared in First Mover, CoinDesk’s daily newsletter, putting the latest moves in crypto markets in context. Subscribe to get it in your inbox every day.
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Bitcoin rose above $69,000 at the start of the Asian morning before retreating slightly to trade around $68,350. BTC's jump led to higher prices throughout the rest of the crypto market, with SOL rising nearly 5% to $166.50. The broader digital asset market, as measured by the CoinDesk 20, is 1.9% higher in the last 24 hours. Traders' attention is increasingly turning to the U.S. election, now barely two weeks away, with the pro-crypto candidate Donald Trump heavily favored on predictions site Polymarket. Risk assets such as bitcoin are - expected to be aided by macroeconomic factors in Japan and China, according to Singapore-based QCP Capital.
London-based pensions giant Legal & General is plotting a route into tokenization, which has become popular among traditional finance firms. The tokenization narrative accelerated after the arrival of BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, on the scene with its BUIDL fund on the Ethereum blockchain. Others are available from Franklin Templeton, State Street and Abrdn. “We are evaluating ways to make the Legal & General Investment Management Liquidity funds available in tokenized format,” said Ed Wicks, global head of trading at Legal & General Investment Management. “Digitization of the funds industry is key to improving efficiency, reducing cost and making a broad range of investment solutions available to a wider range of investors. We look forward to continued progress in this space."
Chart of the Day

- Gold has set a new lifetime high of $2,736 per ounce, extending the four-day winning streak.
- "This move into gold (away from treasuries and bonds) may foreshadow a shift toward BTC, with investors looking for risk-on assets in a lower-yield environment," Mena Theodorou, co-founder at crypto exchange Coinstash, said in an email.
- Source: TradingView
- Omkar Godbole
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あなたへの
KuCoin Hits Record Market Share as 2025 Volumes Outpace Crypto Market

KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
知っておくべきこと:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
あなたへの
Here's what bitcoin bulls are saying as price remains stuck during global rally

It's about a lot more than "zooming out." Supply overhangs and investor "muscle memory" regarding gold help explain bitcoin's poor absolute and relative performance.
知っておくべきこと:
- Bitcoin has failed so far to act as an inflation hedge or safe-haven asset, lagging badly behind gold, which has surged amid high inflation, wars, and interest rate uncertainty.
- Crypto advocates argue that bitcoin’s weakness reflects a temporary supply overhang, investor “muscle memory” favoring familiar precious metals and its correlation with risk assets, rather than a collapse in long-term demand.
- Many bitcoin proponents still see BTC as a superior long-term store of value and “digital gold,” predicting that, once traditional hard assets are overbought, capital will rotate into bitcoin, allowing it to “catch up” to gold.











