CoinDesk Weekly Summary: ETH Sees an Increase

It was an encouraging week for cryptocurrencies as values increased, significant agreements were finalized, and stablecoins made further inroads into the financial landscape. Ethereum, previously a consistent laggard, surged notably, approaching $2300 at the time of writing.

The CoinDesk 20 index, which serves as a measure for the overall market, experienced a rise of over 15% starting from Monday.

Bitcoin neared its all-time high this week, fueled by favorable trading news. Data indicated a liquidation of bearish positions and an uptick in ETF inflows.

The rebound of Ethereum could be linked to its recent Pectra upgrade, which was smoothly implemented—as is typically the case with Ethereum updates. This upgrade aims to enhance the staking process and improve overall efficiency.

Coinbase made headlines by securing the largest acquisition in the crypto space to date, a $2.9 billion purchase of Deribit, an options trading platform in the crypto sector. Analysts on Wall Street suggested that Coinbase is now firmly established as a competitor in the derivatives market, competing with giants like Binance.

However, Coinbase’s stock did not benefit from this news; it saw a decline due to tariff implications affecting the company’s first-quarter earnings.

Turning to stablecoins, Meta (previously Facebook) appears ready to join the integration trend, alongside Stripe. Nonetheless, Senate Democrats have been delaying the stablecoin legislation, raising concerns over several dubious ventures linked to Trump. This postponement may also impact the timeline for a broader market structure bill.

New Hampshire has passed the first state-level law regarding crypto reserves in the U.S., setting the stage for additional states to follow suit.

In another development, Strike, originally focused on bitcoin wallets, has revealed its intention to venture into bitcoin-based lending. Many anticipate significant growth in the bitcoin credit market.

This news coincided with the sentencing of Alex Mashinsky, the founder of Celsius, who received a twelve-year prison term for securities fraud from the previous market cycle. There is hope that bitcoin lending will prove more stable this time around.