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First Mover Americas: Bitcoin ‘Ordinals’ Boom Prompts NFT Activity Surge
The latest price moves in crypto markets in context for Feb. 20, 2023.
Updated Feb 21, 2023, 2:43 p.m. Published Feb 20, 2023, 1:12 p.m.
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.
Latest Prices
CoinDesk Market Index (CMI) 1,180 +10.2 ▲ 0.9% Bitcoin $24,829 +131.0 ▲ 0.5% Ethereum $1,709 +12.8 ▲ 0.8% S&P 500 futures 4,080.25 −7.3 ▼ 0.2% FTSE 100 8,001.30 −3.1 ▼ 0.0% Treasury Yield 10 Years 3.83% ▼ 0.0 BTC/ETH prices per CoinDesk Indices, as of 7 a.m. ET (11 a.m. UTC)
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Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has published its proposed rules for crypto trading platforms. The regulator is seeking comments on whether to allow licensed platforms to serve retail investors and what consumer protection measures to offer. The new rules would also mean all platforms would need to apply for a license, including existing ones. Platforms “should begin to review and revise their systems and controls to prepare for the new regime,” the SFC said. It was misconstrued through a tweet last week that the city was set to offer crypto trading to retail investors, which is not the case. Hong Kong’s new Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) licensing regime kicks in at the start of June, but it only permits exchanges to provide access to professional investors.
Helium is set to entirely shift to the Solana blockchain by March 27, developers have said. That’s prompted a rally of the decentralized wireless network’s HNT tokens, which are up nearly 6% at $3 in the last 24 hours. Following the migration, HNT, MOBILE and IOT will all be issued on the Solana network and continue to be the tokens in the Helium ecosystem. A new version of the Helium wallet app will become available, and users will also have the option of using Solana-based wallets like Phantom and Solfare.
Crypto-focused hedge fund Galois Capital has shut down after losing a sizable portion of its assets during FTX’s collapse last year. Galois told CoinDesk last November that the $40 million stuck on FTX amounted to around half of its funds. The FT reported earlier today that Galois is selling its bankruptcy claims for 16 cents on the dollar. In other FTX-related news, founder Sam Bankman-Fried and other execs have been subpoenaed by bankrupt brokerage Voyager Digital’s unsecured creditors. Their lawyers are investigating FTX's attempt to bail out Voyager when it went bankrupt last July.
Chart of the Day
- The chart shows weekly volumes for bitcoin and ether options listed on Deribit since February 2022.
- Last week, bitcoin options volume totaled $5.4 billion, the highest in three months, while the notional volume in ether options was $3.1 billion.
- "Market participants continue showing preference over Bitcoin," Amberdata's Greg Magadini said.
- Traders opened long positions in bullish calls at $26,000, $28,000 and $30,000 with conviction in the second half of last week, Magadini added.
- Omkar Godbole
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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.
- 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.
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Asia Morning Briefing: Data shows legacy media took a more balanced view of bitcoin in 2025
Media attention shifted from bitcoin’s environmental footprint to crime and kidnapping in 2025, while overall sentiment remained broadly neutral, according to crypto intelligence platform Perception.
What to know:
- In 2025, mainstream media coverage of Bitcoin became more balanced, with neutral reporting surpassing negative stories.
- The shift in narrative was driven by the exhaustion of earlier critiques rather than increased enthusiasm for Bitcoin.
- AI emerged as the dominant topic in media, overshadowing Bitcoin and driving more significant sentiment swings.
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