Author: The Daily Hodl

A crypto investment firm backed by financial giant Citadel is reportedly eyeing a $1 billion valuation after launching its latest round of fundraising. According to a new Bloomberg report, anonymous people familiar with the matter say that Hidden Road Partners, a startup prime brokerage focused on digital assets, is raising funds in a Series B equity round that will bring its overall valuation to nearly $1 billion. Per Bloomberg, Hidden Road, which began in 2018 and completed a $50 million fundraising round in 2022, also provides services for other asset markets, such as precious metals and foreign exchange. The report…

A popular crypto analyst thinks one decentralized exchange (DEX) altcoin is primed for a breakout. The pseudonymous analyst Kaleo tells his 634,800 followers on the social media platform X that he’s “still a believer” in PancakeSwap (CAKE), the top DEX on the BNB chain. He thinks the decentralized finance (DeFi) altcoin looks good against Bitcoin (BTC). “I think the bottom is in for its BTC pair and we see a break out of this downtrend it’s been stuck in the past several years as soon as BNB is pushing new highs.” Kaleo also believes CAKE is due for a leg up…

New analysis from market intelligence firm Glassnode indicates that financial institutions and ‘smart money’ are playing a role in Bitcoin’s (BTC) price action as the halving approaches. In a new article, Glassnode says the top crypto asset by market cap surged 1,000% during its first halving, 200% during its second, and 600% during the third. The next halving is expected roughly on April 19th and will see BTC miners’ rewards cut in half. “These significant upswings highlight the event’s potential to drastically affect supply-demand dynamics and consequently, market pricing. As we approach the fourth halving, these historical patterns offer valuable…

Sam Altman’s eye-scanning crypto project Worldcoin (WLD) is announcing the creation of its own Ethereum (ETH) layer-2 blockchain. The project’s new blockchain, called World Chain, is designed to give priority blockspace to Worldcoin’s 5 million verified World ID holders over bots, and gas allowance for “casual transactions.” World Chain will also be designed for scalability within Optimism’s Superchain concept, and optimized to first increase capacity for new users to join. Using its ID system, the project says World Chain aims to tackle to issue of artificial intelligence-powered bots that can now spam blockchains with traffic that can congest networks and…

Two leading crypto exchanges are adding support for a newly launched Ethereum (ETH)-based altcoin project. In an announcement via the social media platform X, top US crypto exchange Coinbase says it’s adding Omni Network (OMNI) to its trading platform. The Omni Network aims to integrate Ethereum’s rollup ecosystem into a single, unified network. Says Coinbase, “Trading will begin later [April 17th] if liquidity conditions are met. Once sufficient supply of this asset is established trading on our OMNI-USD trading pairs will launch in phases.” The altcoin comes with Coinbase’s “experimental label,” a designation the exchange established for riskier, lower liquidity…

The crypto exchange OKX has launched the public mainnet of its new Ethereum (ETH) layer-2 (L2) network. The L2, called “X Layer,” onboarded more than 200 decentralized apps (DApps) during its testnet stage, according to a new announcement from the exchange. OKX says the network’s DApps include roughly 40 decentralized finance (DeFi) projects, 12 infrastructure projects, five growth tools, 12 bridges, 16 wallets, 10 social finance (SocialFi) platforms, and 10 non-fungible token (NFT) and gaming-focused projects. Popular DeFi projects on X Layer include Curve (CRV), Renzo and the decentralized exchange (DEX) QuickSwap. OKX Chief Marketing Officer Haider Rafique says X…

Castle Island Ventures founding partner and Coin Metrics co-founder Nic Carter still predicts Bitcoin (BTC) hitting six figures this year amid a looming debt crisis. In a new Kitco News interview, Carter says that despite the recent market pullback, Bitcoin “undeniably” could reach $100,000 in 2024. “On the first of the year, I think Bitcoin was trading in the $30,000 range, maybe $40,000. I forecasted $80,000 at some point this year. We were very close to hitting that just recently. $100,000 would certainly not be out of the question this year.” Asked if $100,000 remains his price target in 2024,…

A crypto whale recently lost more than $4.5 million attempting to long Ethereum (ETH) twice, according to the digital asset tracker Lookonchain. Lookonchain notes the whale lost $500,000 on their first attempt to long the top smart contract platform, then lost a lot more on their second try. “This whale sold all 10,701 ETH ($33 million) on Binance to repay debt two hours ago, losing more than $4 million again! He went long ETH by depositing ETH on Compound and borrowing USDT to buy more ETH.” Compound (COMP) is a decentralized lending platform. Lookonchain notes that other whales are accumulating…

Macro guru and ex-Goldman Sachs executive Raoul Pal is revealing that is heavily invested in one Ethereum (ETH) competitor. Pal says in an appearance on the Bankless YouTube channel that the native token of the layer-1 blockchain Solana (SOL) comprises about four-fifths of his crypto holdings while the rest is in memecoins, digital collectibles and in a digital assets-focused investment vehicle. “I am 80% SOL. All of my ETH is now NFTs (non-fungible tokens), I have been buying high-end art NFTs. I then have a bunch of the portfolio in the fund of hedge funds in Exponential Age Asset Management.…

Macro expert Lyn Alden says conditions are favorable for Bitcoin (BTC) to land a $100,000 price tag or more. In a new Blockcworks Macro interview, Alden says BTC is witnessing a supply shock as the majority of long-term Bitcoin holders are not yet ready to let go of their stacks at current prices. According to Alden, the constrained BTC supply coupled with rising global liquidity is proving to be a solid setup for Bitcoin to rally to the six-figure mark in the coming months. “For Bitcoin, most indicators that I track point to being fairly midcycle in terms of the…