Bitcoin’s (BTC) price rose on Jan 10, after losing for 6 days straight, just avoiding a drop below US$40,000 that experts say is a “key psychological level” that could trigger a steeper sell-off.
Image credit: Coindesk
The cryptocurrency’s most recent losing streak would have been its longest since 2018, but its price turnaround has been eking out a small gain, and has stayed on an upward trajectory since, according to a report by CoinDesk.
Other top cryptocurrencies in the past week also experienced deep losses. For instance, tokens of Ethereum rivals Avalanche (AVAX), Terra (LUNA) and Solana (SOL) – the ‘SoLunAvax’ trade – fell by 12% on Jan 6.
At 12:48pm, BTC, AVAX, LUNA and SOL are trading at $57,276.46, $123.09, $99.84 and $194.19 apiece respectively, according to data by Coinhako.
See also: Bitcoin resumes advance, rekindles US$100,000 milestone optimism
Gamestop Corp, which shares experienced a massive surge in price in Jan 2021 due to a Reddit campaign, has announced that it will be entering non-fungible token (NFT) and cryptocurrency markets as it attempts to turn around its central videogame business.
This is in light of GameStop’s financial performance — in the quarter through October, the company saw growth in revenue as well as widened loss compared with the same period in the preceding year. The revenue growth came from sales of hardware and accessories, while revenue from game software slipped 2%, according to a Wall Street Journal article.
“We believe our emphasis on the long term is positioning us to build what will ultimately become a much larger business,” GameStop Chief Executive Matt Furlong said on an earnings call with analysts last month. He also added that GameStop was exploring business opportunities involving blockchain and NFT technologies.
See also: Bitcoin retreats from US$100,000 in worst spell since Trump’s win
In Singapore, two sons of the city’s wealthiest families are working on building a private NFT-based social networking app called ARC amidst the heightening crypto craze.
Kiat Lim, son of reclusive financier Peter Lim, and Elroy Cheo, of the family behind edible oil business Mewah International Inc, have founded ARC to create the exclusive community that eventually intends to expand into an “ARC metaverse”. This is likely to take the form of an extensive virtual community, with a gaming element, according to a Bloomberg report.
“We want to create a community that Asia has never seen before,” said Cheo in an interview with Bloomberg. “We see the world change a lot, especially after Covid-19. People in this target segment now all want a sense of belonging.”
