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Crypto Markets Analysis: Bitcoin, Ether Hold Mid-Week Gains; Crypto Exchange Token OKB Outperforms
The announcement of a new blockchain following the earlier release of a proof-of-reserves report pushed OKB higher. BTC and ETH benefited from short covering.
Feb 17, 2023, 9:22 p.m.
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Despite a Thursday dip, bitcoin added to its 2023 success story, rising 12.4% this week.
The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has now jumped in five of the last seven weeks.
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Ether , the second-largest crypto in market value, has enjoyed a similar upbeat path, gaining 11.7% during the past seven days.
Liquidated short positions drove BTC prices skyward on Wednesday. Data from crypto information platform Coinglass showed approximately $65 million in BTC liquidations and $42 million in ETH liquidations on Tuesday. By contrast, only $16 million in BTC and $5 million in ETH liquidations occurred on Thursday.
The price increase coincided with higher-than-average volume, a bullish signal in its own regard. Equally high volume Thursday, however, pushed prices to the downside, although prices held most of the prior day’s gains, a sign of resiliency in both BTC and ETH.
Momentum in both has risen in line with performance, but has not yet reached technically overbought levels. BTC appears to be establishing support at $24K, while ETH appears to be settling in near $1,650.
When looking at the top 20 coins by market capitalization, BTC and ETH finished near the middle of the pack, at sixth and seventh, respectively.
OKB, the token for Malta-based crypto exchange OKEx, led gainers, rising nearly 33%, while LEO was the laggard, falling 0.28%.
OKB’s rise follows its launching of a new blockchain dubbed “OKBChain,” which is separate from OKXChain, its current EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine)-compatible protocol.
According to OKX founder Star Xu, the new blockchain will focus on creating a decentralized ecosystem that allows users to access decentralized applications. OKB also released a proof-of-reserves report in January, announcing $7.5 billion in BTC, ETH and tether .
OKB is up 168% over the last 90 days and 99.2% year to date.
Crypto exchanges in general are likely to come under more scrutiny in 2023 amid SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s push for more aggressive oversight of the crypto industry. How this trend affects the market will be worth watching.
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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.
What to know:
- 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.
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- 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.
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Bitcoin and ether volatility trading gets easier with Polymarket's new contracts
Polymarket has launched new prediction markets tied to Volmex's bitcoin and ether 30-day implied volatility indices.
What to know:
- Polymarket has launched new prediction markets tied to Volmex's bitcoin and ether 30-day implied volatility indices, allowing users to bet on how high volatility will get in 2026.
- The contracts pay out if volatility indices reach or exceed a preset level by Dec. 31, 2026, letting traders wager on the intensity of price swings rather than market direction.
- Early trading implies roughly a one-in-three chance that bitcoin and ether volatility will nearly double from current levels.
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