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US government plans to sell 41,490 BTC connected to Silk Road

  • The US government sold 9,861 bitcoin on 14 March, netting over $215 million.
  • 41,490 BTC remain from over 51,000 seized in November and will be sold in four batches this year.
  • Court documents show that bitcoin is connected to the darknet market Silk Road.

The US government, which says it recently sold 9,861 bitcoin (BTC), is reportedly looking to liquidate another 41,500 BTC before the end of the year.

According to documents filed in court, the sale is for Bitcoin seized from entities connected to the infamous darknet marketplace Silk Road. The sale will occur in four batches this year.

US government sold over $215 million worth of BTC

Court documents show that the US government netted over $215 million when it sold 9,861.17 BTC out of the 51,351 bitcoin seized last November. 

The liquidation occurred on 14 March, the court filing indicates, with this particular tranche of BTC forfeited by James Zhong following his arrest and arraignment over wire fraud related to Silk Road.

A total of 41,490 BTC remain from what was seized from Zhong, which the US government now plans to sell in four tranches. Justin Sun, the founder of Tron (TRX), says the US government should sell the BTC to him at a 10% discount through an OTC deal.

The post US government plans to sell 41,490 BTC connected to Silk Road appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Solana price prediction: What next for SOL after 110% upside in Q1 2023?

  • Solana price is up 110% in the past three months.
  • SOL closed in the red in February and is likely to end March 4% lower, but January ended with SOL 140% up.
  • Crypto intelligence firm Messari has highlighted Solana’s growth potential as network navigates away from recent outages and other challenges.

Solana price is negative on the monthly time frame in March, with SOL/USD at $20.88 currently seeing the token down 3% in the past 30 days. Notably, Solana price remains 80% down this past year and about 91% off its all-time highs of $260 reached in November 2021.

However, the cryptocurrency is set for its best quarterly returns in nearly two years. This is despite all the downside pressure amid network challenges since late last year, with SOL’s returns over the past three months well over 100%.

Messari highlights Solana growth potential

Crypto market intelligence firm Messari recently highlighted Solana’s growth even as FUD spread, noting that trying to compare the blockchain to some L2s in terms of TVL was missing the point.

“Comparing Solana’s TVL to other emerging chains doesn’t tell the full story. Usage has been driven by non-TVL dominant use cases like derivatives, NFTs, & DePIN networks. If Solana decides to turn on incentives, we could quickly see volume approach parity with the top L2s,” Messari researchers wrote.

According to Messari, Solana developers are focused on simplifying the deployment of innovative DeFi strategies, automation of on-chain instructions, and deployment of Web3-native websites among others. The pivot towards these efforts could prove key to the Solana ecosystem, with greater adoption very much likely.

What next for Solana price?

TradingView data shows the 3-month candle for SOL/USD is currently poised at +110%. It’s the best quarterly return since Q2, 2021, when the price of Solana rose almost 300% as bullish momentum catapulted cryptocurrencies higher.

Looking at the monthly chart, Solana returns are highest in January with a monthly close at $23.93 giving it 30-day gains of 140%. The last time SOL/USD posted more gains on the monthly timeframe was in August 2021 when prices jumped 195%.

Solana price on the 3-month chart. Source: TradingView

February and March were not so profitable for bulls, with prices down 9% in the second month of 2023. A look at the weekly chart for SOL suggests a slight advantage for sellers with the weekly RSI below the 50 line and prices facing an uphill task towards $40.

On the downside, a breakdown below $20 could risk new dump to the 16.

The post Solana price prediction: What next for SOL after 110% upside in Q1 2023? appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Crypto prices: Bitcoin to end first quarter on a bullish note

The cryptocurrency market cap was around $1.24 trillion as Bitcoin price reclaimed the $28,500 level, with crypto poised to end the first quarter of 2023 higher. BTC price was up 24% in the past 30 days, and 83% up year-to-date.

Crypto analyst Rekt Capital says Bitcoin is poised for a historic quarterly close, which could inform upward impetus over the next several months.

Meanwhile, bullish momentum over the past three months has also seen Ethereum price jump nearly 64% YTD. ETH with a daily close at current prices will see it end March 15% higher. The outlook for most top altcoins is the same, with XRP, Binance Coin (BNB), Polygon (MATIC) and Cardano (ADA) set to end Q1, 2023 higher.

Bitcoin and tech stocks higher YTD

While the US stock market opened higher on Friday, with equities buoyed by the latest economic data, the overall gains across tech stocks pale when compared to Bitcoin. For instance, the S&P 500 was 6.75% up YTD at 11:30 am ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.4% down over the period and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was 16.7% up.

However, Bitcoin and some tech stocks have outperformed most other assets this quarter. As noted above, BTC/USD is 83% up YTD and will likely close the quarter with more than 80% in gains. Tesla (TSLA) was 86% up at the time of writing, while Meta Platforms (META) was +63% YTD.

The Apple (AAPL) stock was +30% YTD on Friday, while Amazon (AMZN) had gained more than 20% this quarter.

The post Crypto prices: Bitcoin to end first quarter on a bullish note appeared first on CoinJournal.

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Web3 game developer Gala Games inks strategic partnership with Huobi

  • Gala Games says the partnership will help advance development across the Web3 gaming industry.
  • Huobi will list Gala Games ecosystem coins and invest in top quality gaming projects.
  • Huobi Token price was largely flat on Friday, trading around $3.66.

Web3 gaming company Gala Games has entered a strategic partnership with cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global to boost development and investment in top notch gaming projects.

Huobi to list Gala Games tokens

The partnership will see Huobi Global integrate Gala Game’s highly scalable layer 1 blockchain and list Gala Games ecosystem tokens. The collaboration also allows the two platforms to co-invest in leading game projects and support other growth initiatives.

Jason Brink, President of Blockchain at Gala Games stated that the partnership is a key step towards mass adoption of Gala’s layer 1 blockchain.

“Integration of our layer 1 blockchain into popular exchanges like Huobi is absolutely crucial with the level of mass adoption we’re looking for. This partnership empowers tomorrow’s developers to create a more stable and secure web3 future,” he noted in a press release published on Friday.

Huobi was founded in 2013 and is one of the largest digital assets platforms in terms of daily trading volume. 

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Huobi is the 17th largest exchange in spot volume and the 10th largest in derivatives volume as of 31 March 2023. The exchange’s native token Huobi Token traded around $3.66 at the time of writing. The all-time high for HT was $39.66 reached on 12 May, 2021.

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